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Inspired by the 1938 report of the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee's investigation into the repression of labor organizing, Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand's biting and beautiful Native Land (1942, though largely shot between '37 and '39) combines documentary footage with staged reenactments to depict the struggle of trade unions against corporations, their spies and contractors. Legendary singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson narrates the film through words and song, lending the work a...

A sly, bouncy comedy set in the back alleyways and sunlit avenues of 1930s Paris, Mauvaise Graine (Bad Seed) is the remarkable directorial debut of Billy Wilder, the sharp-witted, inimitable creator of such American classics as Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment and Double Indemnity . Shot in France during Wilder's migration from Germany to the U.S., Mauvaise Graine centers around Henry Pasquier (Pierre Mingand), the spoiled son of a wealthy doctor, who discovers high-octane thrills, jazz-era...

A tragic romance set among the noble classes of 19th century Vienna, Liebelei showcases legendary director Max Ophuls' ( Letter From an Unknown Woman, The Earrings of Madame de ..., La Ronde ) signature themes of love and death, as well as his wonderfully fluid visual style. In the wake of his loveless affair with a beautiful baroness, Fritz (Wolfgang Liebeneiner), a handsome lieutenant of the mounted Dragoons, becomes enamored with Christine (Magda Schneider*), the daughter of a middle-class...

Flicker Alley, in partnership with the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation is proud to present, F.W. Murnau's Phantom. Phantom marked a major turning point in the influential career and the groundbreaking style of cinema poet F.W. Murnau. In this beautifully reconstructed and restored edition from an amazingly detailed, original 1922 negative, Alfred Abel (Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse) plays Lorenz Lubota, a man obsessed with his own desires to achieve fame and wealth, who must confront the barriers...

The film stars Marise Dauvray as Edith, a woman who is unhappily married to an older man, Francois (Severin-Mars), but is actually in love with a young poet, Jean Diaz (Romuald Joube). Both Jean and Francois end up on the front lines of World War I while Edith is captured by German forces and suffers atrocities at the hands of the soldiers. Gance juxtaposes individual human suffering with the more massive horrors of war, all depicted with a mixture of stark realism and avant-garde...

At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimer Berlin and a timeless demonstration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (Berlin, die Symphonie der Grosstadt) offers a kaleidoscopic view of a single day in the life of a bustling metropolis. Carl Mayer (The Last Laugh), influenced by the naturalistic Kammerspiel movement, envisioned "a melody of pictures" sprung from daily reality instead of the stylized artificiality of...

Flicker Alley, in partnership with Disobedient Films, proudly present London Symphony , a brand new silent film a city symphony which offers a poetic journey through the city of London. It is an artistic snapshot of the city as it stands today, and a celebration of its culture and diversity. The film is divided into four parts, corresponding to the four movements of a musical symphony. FIRST MOVEMENT: The first movement (morning) begins by looking at construction in the city, moving from the...

Cecil B. DeMille's 1926 production of The Clinging Vine is a recent rediscovery and perhaps the ultimate '20s gender-bender. Leatrice Joy plays "The President's Assistant - known as A.B. - who hired, wired and fired men - but had never kissed one." Based on the 1922 Broadway musical by Zelda Sears, the movie mocks male stereotypes of women while playfully exploring ideas of gender and romantic love in relation to female professionalism. When expert businesswoman A.B. dutifully fires Jimmie...

At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimer Berlin and a timeless demonstration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (Berlin, die Symphonie der Grosstadt) offers a kaleidoscopic view of a single day in the life of a bustling metropolis. Carl Mayer ( The Last Laugh ), influenced by the naturalistic Kammerspiel movement, envisioned "a melody of pictures" sprung from daily reality instead of the stylized artificiality of...

Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac was a triumph from the moment of its premiere on December 28, 1897. It has become the most popular play of the modern French theater, and Cyrano, despite an ugly visage dominated by an enormous nose, has become a world-beloved symbol of generosity, magnanimity of spirit and beauty of soul. The wonderful Cyrano of this film, Pierre Magnier, understudied Coquelin in the original stage production. He toured with Coquelin and Sarah Bernhardt in 1900, playing...

The tone is set from the opening scene as legendary director Ernst Lubitsch effortlessly sets up the duality of one perfectly happy marriage contrasted with another couple in a perpetual state of grimly endured misalliance. The Marriage Circle is full of scenes with a sense of unspoken formality, of a mutually antagonistic marital standoff that has been going on for years. The move/countermove rhythm slightly anticipates the slow, tit-for-tat rhythms of Laurel and Hardy, but instead of...

LANDMARKS OF EARLY FILM To study where we've been is to better understand where we are, but early film is not of interest only because it illuminates present practices. Beyond considerable historical interest, the material collected here provides immense pleasure on its own terms. These are old films, and they are influential films. But beyond that, the bottom line is that they are wonderful films, rewarding our close attention with great enjoyments. - Excerpts from an essay by Dean W. Duncan...