At It Again (1912) Keystone

Anything and everything silent photoplay!
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donnie
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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Kitty
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

Post by Kitty »

That's nice! Now you have a few more from the magazine! :)
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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donnie
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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Finally got around to checking out the novelization of Mills. When I saw it, I was mystified because the actors and storyline appeared completely different. Then I realized that what I was looking at was the summary of a Vitagraph of that name, while the one I had been thinking of is a Biograph short from 1909. I did some checking at imdb and found that that's just the tip of the iceberg! A mess huh?

http://www.imdb.com/find?q=mills%20of%2 ... n_al_tt_mr

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Kitty
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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Omg! Wow. Unfortunately, in the early days it was common practice to name movies the same, even in the same year. You see, film was viewed as a throwaway medium back then. The films were made to make a few dollars, then to be ditched to make new things. It was not until later that film preservation was a common thought. Films from even a year before were thought of as ancient history. The Answer Man, as they called him, would make annoyed remarks when fans would write in asking about older films.
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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donnie
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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Yes, that's hard for us to wrap our minds around today, when these very films are regarded as treasures to be preserved.

I did a YouTube search for Mills of the Gods. A lot of other stuff turns up. It's even a song by Eddy Arnold. :? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOLLo5C322I

Boy, was that a popular title.

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donnie
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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And say, by the way, if you ever run across anything pertaining to Traffic in Souls (1913) in the movie mags, I would be *highly* interested in reading it. That film is one that has fascinated me for a long time.

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Kitty
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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donnie wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 9:07 am
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I wonder if Linda Griffith was any relation to D.W.? Maybe not, but would be neat.
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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Kitty
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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donnie wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 10:25 pm
And say, by the way, if you ever run across anything pertaining to Traffic in Souls (1913) in the movie mags, I would be *highly* interested in reading it. That film is one that has fascinated me for a long time.
That was produced in November of 1913, so it will be a little while before I get to that month. I'll definitely keep a look out, though. Now I want to go back through the previous issues again to see which ones are still in existence!!
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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donnie
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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Kitty wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 11:30 pm
I wonder if Linda Griffith was any relation to D.W.? Maybe not, but would be neat.
Yes, his wife! :) Did you see the pdf link to her book back in a previous post?

Kind of an odd situation with that book, though. It was published in 1925, so she was looking back on the early Biograph days ca. 1910. But she and Griffith had been divorced long before the book came out, in fact since sometime around 1912, I believe, during the time she is describing in the book. Yet she still refers to herself as "Mrs. D.W. Griffith". And though she describes in great detail their early marriage and all about the personalities and doings of the Biograph players and Griffith during that era, she never mentions one word about their dissolving marriage. Any hint is completely expunged.

I doubt this was because of any great affection for Griffith at that point, because she was very bitter toward him in later years, even suing him for alimony at one point, I believe. It could be that she thought using his name would increase sales (that would be the cynical interpretation); or it could be that those events were just too painful or personal for her to write about. But my gut feeling is that she just loved those happy early Biograph years and wanted to remember them without the unpleasantness.

If you're ever interested in reading it, I can recommend it (though the first 4 or 5 chapters are a little slow). She seems to have been a very likable person, and I think she does an excellent job of getting across the feeling of comradeship and excitement of discovery that all those in the Biograph company felt at that time. There are also a lot of interesting anecdotes, and information on the different actors.

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Kitty
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Re: At It Again (1912) Keystone

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I know I saw it.... But I don't know where the link is. Sorry, Can you link me to the post?
That's interesting about her name. I bet your gut feeling is right. Why mar those happy years, and risk damaging Griffith's name with bitter details?
You trying to tell me you didn't hear that shriek? That was something trying to get out of its premature grave, and I don't want to be here when it does. - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

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