Friday, March 16, 2012

Did you see Street of Forgotten Men at Cinefest ?


If you were at Cinefest 32 and saw last night's presentation of The Street of Forgotten Men, this blog would love to hear from you. Please post your thoughts or observations about the film and its screening in the comments field below. What did you think?

The image below depicts actor Percy Marmont  (left) and director Herbert Brenon on the set of the film in May, 1925. More background on the movie at examiner.com


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Louise Brooks debuts in The Street of Forgotten Men


When The Street of Forgotten Men premiered at the Rivoli in New York City in July of 1925, Louise Brooks was dancing in the Summer Edition of the Follies at the nearby New Amsterdam theater. The film played two weeks, and reportedly took in $60,000 in admissions. That was during a time when ticket prices were well under one dollar. Here is the advertisement for that engagement.


Cinefest the annual movie convention held in Syracuse, New York is set to screen Herbert Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men on Thursday, March 15th at 8:55 pm. This is a rare opportunity to see Louise Brooks in her very first screen role! It is an event not to be missed. 

The Street of Forgotten Men opened in Syracuse in November, 1925 at the Eckels. The local pseudonymous film critic, the "Film Girl," writing in the Syracuse Herald, called the film gripping and a "remarkable production." Here is the advertisement for that engagement.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Street of Forgotten Men decidedly impressive


Cinefest the annual movie convention held in Syracuse, New York will screen Herbert Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) on Thursday, March 15th at 8:55 pm. This is a rare opportunity to see Louise Brooks in her very first screen role. Unfortunately, this acclaimed film is not on DVD and is seldom shown. Don't miss it. Here is what the critics thought of the film when it was first released:
The Street of Forgotten Men dips into the dark pools of life. It shows you the beggars of life - apologies to Jim Tully - and in showing them it shows them up.” -- Mildred Spain, New York Daily News

“An absorbing story, done by a cast of people who really know how to act and directed in a skillful manner by Herbert Brenon.” -- Dorothy Day, New York Morning Telegraph

“It is a startling tale of Bowery life, of the soiled, tawdry ladies and broken men of the underworld. . . . Percy Marmont was an ideal choice for the difficult leading role, and his work, as usual, is quiet, clean cut and convincing. Mary Brian is a sweet peaches and cream heroine. . . . Direction and photography are splendid, making the movie decidedly worth seeing.” -- Roberta Nangle, Chicago Tribune

“This story is decidedly impressive, out-of-the-ordinary and interesting and we believe that it will be quite generally liked.” -- C. S. Sewell, Moving Picture World

“For fine dramatic detail, for unusualness, for giving us a glimpse into a world we never see and into the other sides of characters we simply pass in pity on the streets, The Street of Forgotten Men is a photoplay revelation.” -- A.F. Gillaspey, San Francisco Bulletin

“Here we have an underworld drama, stark and naked in its picturing of the beggars and fakers who prey on the public in the name of charity.” -- Curran D. Swint, San Francisco News

“Percy Marmont, as a bogus crippled beggar . . . has a role that is more closely akin to his great interpretation of Mark Sabre in If Winter Comes than any since the Hutchinson novel was put upon the screen. All of which means that this artist again has an excellent role for the display of his rare genius.” -- Washington Star

“ . . . it will go down as one of those rare films, beloved of the true blue fan, that contain such a wealth of choice parts as to make of nearly every player an outstanding artist.” -- Los Angeles Herald

“The Bowery in the days of long ago is faithfully transcribed to the screen in this story dealing with the lives of the professional beggars who prey on the easy-going public. Herbert Brenon, with the aid of a fine cast, headed by Percy Marmont, has made a gripping and entertaining picture.” -- M. B., Photoplay 


The Street of Forgotten Men was a big hit just about everywhere. Nearly nine months after it’s initial release, the film was still in circulation in the United States. Appearing as an added feature at this 1926 Toledo, Ohio showing was the House of David Band. This musical group was part of a nearby religious community based in Michigan whose members refrained from sex, haircuts, shaving, and eating meat. As followers of the Christian Israelite faith, the group’s touring musical acts were sometimes described as “Shaveless Sheiks of Syncopation.”  

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Street of Forgotten Men: This Film is Something Like Miracle Man


Cinefest the annual movie convention held in Syracuse, New York is set to screen Herbert Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) on Thursday, March 15th at 8:55 pm. This is a rare opportunity to see Louise Brooks in her very first screen role. This acclaimed film is not on DVD.


Monday, March 12, 2012

Street of Forgotten Men shows at Cinefest in Syracuse


Cinefest, an annual movie convention held in Syracuse, New York is set to screen one of the more unusual films from the silent era, Herbert Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men (1925). Long thought lost, this "underworld romance" has seldom been seen since its debut 87 years ago. The Library of Congress holds one of the only surviving prints, and representatives of the LOC will bring their copy to Cinefest for this rare screening.


Described at the time as "strange and startling" and "a drama of places and of people you have never seen before," The Street of Forgotten Men tells the story of a gang of professional beggars whose underworld headquarters is known as a "cripple factory." Led by the colorfully named Easy Money Charlie (played by Percy Marmont), the gang preys on public sympathy by disfiguring themselves and feigning various disabilities. 

The Street of Forgotten Men also tells the story of a Bowery Cinderella, played by winsome Mary Brian, whose life is linked to these con artists as well as to a young millionaire, played by handsome Neil Hamilton. (Yes, that Neil Hamilton –  Commissioner Gordon from the 1960's television series, Batman.)

Set in the Bowery and shot in part on the streets of New York City, the film is a mix of old-fashioned melodrama and gritty realism. It was based on a short story by George Kibbe Turner, a muckraking journalist and novelist of the time. In its review of the film, the New York Daily News stated "The Street of Forgotten Men dips into the dark pools of life. It shows you the beggars of life – apologies to Jim Tully – and in showing them it shows them up." On the other coast, the San Francisco Bulletin noted "For fine dramatic detail, for unusualness, for giving us a glimpse into a world we never see and into the other sides of characters we simply pass in pity on the streets, The Street of Forgotten Men is a photoplay revelation."

The film's most unusual scenes occur when this band of beggars check into work and are fitted with fake bandages, artificial arms and legs, false high heeled shoes and other trick paraphernalia for the luring of sympathetic coins into battered tin cups. Canes and crutches along with signs that read "I Am Blind" and "Please help a cripple" lend atmosphere to the group's "changing room." According to studio press sheets, a mendicant officer and 20-year veteran of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charity served as advisor for scenes shot inside the dingy cripple factory.

Though the film and its source material was a look back at the Bowery and the practices of the disreputable down-and-out, a 1926 article in the New York Times reported that the film may have in turn inspired a group of fake beggars. "The police are investigating the speakeasy. It was recalled that several months ago a motion picture, The Street of Forgotten Men, . . . showed just such an establishment for equipping 'cripples' as that described by Williams, and the police thought the movie idea might have been put to practical use."

Aside from its strangeness, there is much to recommend in The Street of Forgotten Men. The film was shot in the Astoria studios on Long Island, as well as on location in 1925 New York City. One memorable scene – when Marmont and Brian come across the character known as Bridgeport White-Eye – was filmed on a busy Fifth Avenue near Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Shot with a concealed camera, the unaware crowds passing on the street along with images of shops and businesses from long ago – including a vegetarian restaurant – prove striking. According to press reports from the time – which should be taken with a grain of salt, the appearance of pathetic-looking actors dressed in disheveled attire drew spontaneous donations from passers-by not realizing a motion picture was being filmed. Another memorable scene with a good deal of local color takes place at the still standing Little Church Around the Corner on East 29th.

Two performers not listed in the film's credits also made their mark in The Street of Forgotten Men. One was a dog named Lassie. (This bull terrier-cocker spaniel mix predated the more famous Collie.) A 1927 New York Times article about the canine stated, "It is said that the death of Lassie in The Street of Forgotten Men was so impressive that persons were convinced that she must have been cruelly beaten. Her master, Emery Bronte, said that the dog seemed to enjoy acting in the scenes, and that after each 'take' she went over to Mr. Brenon and cocked her head on the side, as if asking for a pat or two." Regrettably, one of the seven reels of The Street of Forgotten Men is missing, and not all of Lassie's scenes are extant. 

The other performer who made an impression was Louise Brooks, who was dancing with the Ziegfeld Follies when she agreed to play a bit part in The Street of Forgotten Men. Though not credited, the film marked her screen debut. As a moll, Brooks' role was slight – she appears on screen for only about 5 minutes. Nevertheless, her brief role drew the attention of an anonymous Los Angeles Times reviewer who singled out the actress when they wrote, "And there was a little rowdy, obviously attached to the 'blind' man, who did some vital work during her few short scenes." This was Brooks' first film review.

Like the film, the director of The Street of Forgotten Men has fallen into the shadows of history. Herbert Brenon enjoyed a long career which lasted from 1912 to 1940, but today he is one of those early directors who is largely forgotten though deserving of greater recognition. The Street of Forgotten Men was made shortly after Brenon made the film for which he is best remembered, Peter Pan (1924). His other notable efforts include The Spanish Dancer (1923) with Pola Negri, Dancing Mothers (1926) with Clara Bow, Beau Geste (1926), The Great Gatsby (1926), God Gave Me Twenty Cents (1926), and Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928) with Lon Chaney. All were big hits.

Though little known today, The Street of Forgotten Men was well regarded in its day. Marmont, a leading star of the silent era, was singled out for his exceptional Lon Chaney-like performance, and director Brenon was praised for his realistic depiction of Bowery life. The National Board of Review named the film one of the best pictures of 1925, and it was picked as one of the best of the year by newspapers around the country. This rare screening gives Cinefest attendees an opportunity to see a film which should be on DVD.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Only two weeks till Napoleon

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival's monumental presentation of Abel Gance's 1927 masterpiece NAPOLEON is only two weeks away! Watch for major coverage of this event in and on...
NY Times
 LA Times
Wall Street Journal
NPR
SF Chronicle.
... and other major local and national media outlets. But don't wait for the press to break... IT'LL MIGHT BE TOO LATE! This event will NOT be presented again in any other American city. There are absolutely, positively FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY: March 24, 25, 31, and April 1 at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA

Tickets are going fast, don't delay -- BUY YOURS NOW!
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"A MAJOR EVENT! Don't wait for it to come to a theater near you - getting Gance's magnum opus up on a screen is a herculean task!" - Martin Scorsese, Vanity Fair
 
"In 10 or 20 or 30 years, when this screening of Napoleon is only a memory, film lovers will ask -- were you there? 'Did you see the Napoleon  at the Paramount in 2012?'" - Thomas Gladysz, Huffington Post
 
"You don't want to kick yourself afterwards for missing out on this experience!" - Leonard Maltin, Movie Crazy
 
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Silent Film Director App
OFFICIAL MOBILE SPONSOR of SFSFF
We are proud to announce Silent Film Director for iPhone as the official mobile partner of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Silent Film Director brings the magic and elegance of the silent era to the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, allowing you to shoot, edit and share your own silent films. With just a few taps you can add music, title cards, transitions, customize soundtracks, video effects and more. Coming soon, MacPhun LLC - the developer of Silent Film Director - will announce an international silent film contest, where everyone with an iPhone will have a chance to create their own silent masterpiece. Maybe it won't be another Napoleon or The Artist, but it will be your work of art and you will be the Silent Film Director.
 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Louise Brooks' first film screens this month

Cinefest in Syracuse, New York is set to screen the first film in which Louise Brooks had a part, The Street of Forgotten Men (1925). Cinefest 32 takes place Thursday, March 15 through Sunday, March 18, 2012. 

The Street of Forgotten Men is very rarely shown, as very few copies of the film are known to exist. In the film, Brooks plays a moll, the girlfriend of a criminal. Her part is uncredited. Brooks was only 18 years old when the film was made. And, she appears on screen for only about 5 minutes.

Here is a scan of a newspaper advertisement for the first time The Street of Forgotten Men was shown in Syracuse, in November of 1925. 


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