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[donnie]

That's a good one! I like the Sennett comedies of this period.

[BettyLouSpence]

This was one I'd heard about but never watched. I'm glad I finally did! What a fun short.

[dustin@harpodeon.com]

I do like it. Should I ever do a vamp set, I’d also include the black and white version of the beach scene as an extra. It appears to be exactly the same as the color one, or at least near enough to call it so, but the image quality is far better


I know this has been posted here before:

A Drama on a Locomotive (Lux, 1910)

Henri and Pierre, railroad engineers, are both in love with Jeanne. When Pierre refuses to give her up, a fight breaks out in the engine, imperiling everyone aboard the train.

Starring Joë Hamman and Gaston Modot
Directed by Jean Durand

Originally titled Un drame sur une locomotive and released in the US as The Rival Engine Drivers. The US release was rather shortened, ending just after the trainwreck with both men dying in the collision.

This played at the first Maine Silent Film Festival, back in 2023, and got the biggest response of the three shorts shown before The Juggernaut, although probably not the one the filmmakers were going for. Fairly well everyone in the audience burst into laughter at the wreck scene. To be fair, the models are very obvious. The finale got the intended reaction.

[dustin@harpodeon.com]

Wallace Reid plays very much against his usual type in this Majestic short directed by Griffith protégé Donald Crisp:

At Dawn (Majestic, 1914)

A fortune hunter is thwarted in his scheme to marry an heiress and becomes a beachcomber in the Philippines. When he learns that she is on her way to Manila, he takes desperate measures to get rid of his Filipino wife.

Starring Wallace Reid and Loretta Blake
Directed by Donald Crisp

[donnie]

I enjoyed that one; thanks for posting!

What a curious story. And it's really strange to see Reid in that type of role. And his appearance is so different in the tropical scenes that I wouldn't have recognized him.

This is also the first film I've seen directed by Crisp; it appears to be very well directed, though there are abrupt jumps like

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when the aunt is seen clutching her chest and in the next frame "After the funeral..." And I guess I'm slow, but I didn't realize they'd hanged him until the little vignette showed it. (I assumed they were taking the rope to tie him up for transportation to authorites.)

Excellent score, as always.

One other thing, in reading the Wikipedia article on Billie West, I noticed that she appeared in over 60(!) Majestic films in that period, and that one of them was entitled, interestingly,

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The Body in the Trunk,

also 1914. I assumed that might be an alternate title or something for this film, until I saw the actors were different.

[dustin@harpodeon.com]

Harry Carey stars in this western that is not like Hell’s Hinges in any way. The original, feature-length release is presumed to be lost. This copy of the film was sourced from a 9.5mm home movie abridgment.

Satan Town (Charles R. Rogers, 1926)

Sue tries to reform Satan Town, the wickedest place on earth, running afoul of Malamute and his minions.

Starring Harry Carey and Kathleen Collins
Directed by Edmund Mortimer

[BettyLouSpence]

Wonder what the postcards for Satan Town would look like...

Looking forward to watching this one!

[donnie]

Interesting short! Thanks for posting. That's really an industrial-strength abridgment at the end. Harry Carey had a definite appeal—I'd like to see more of his work.

[dustin@harpodeon.com]

Agreed. I'm not sure if I have any other Harry Carey films. I'd have to check.

One of Larry Semon’s later short comedies released by Chadwick, sourced from a particularly nice-looking print:

Her Boy Friend (Chadwick, 1924)

When star detective Iva Method is kidnapped by smugglers, it falls on the police chief’s son to rescue her.

Starring Larry Semon and Dorothy Dwan
Directed by Larry Semon and Noel Mason Smith

[donnie]

Interesting in that almost the whole film is basically an extended chase scene. There are some amazing jumps and dives there; I assume those were done by doubles? And what was in that smoke being that addled Larry? (Nice score effect at that point by the way.) Thanks for posting.