Attending to details so that the bigger picture can emerge.
“Whither goest thou?” asks the Latin title to one of world cinema’s earliest blockbusters, “Quo Vadis?” When it comes to the film studio that made “Quo Vadis?” back in 1912, however, the question becomes not where was it headed but … Continued
Long before the first silent movie “vamp” and two decades before the public knew of Theda Bara, Olga Petrova, Pola Negri or Nita Naldi, Mrs. Patrick Campbell inspired the iconic myth of the female “vampire”—a sexual predator who sucks … Continued
Rambo’s Hotel was a favorite location spot for Biograph actors and other film companies looking for a rustic backdrop for their motion pictures in the early 1900s. Set back in the trees and grape arbors of Coytesville, New Jersey, it … Continued
“When we come into our own there will be no high, no low, and all will be equal” reads the sign at a meeting of “social justice” warriors in Biograph’s 1909 feature film, “The Voice of the Violin.” D.W. … Continued
In the beginning, the movies were of two minds —D.W. Griffith’s and Mack Sennett’s. Griffith and Sennett were both young men when they came stumbling into the Biograph Co. in 1908. Each had tasted professional failure and was more than … Continued
January 16 marks the 100th anniversary of the law establishing Prohibition. Few people today can understand the grassroots fervor that made the 18th Amendment the law of the land on January 16, 1920. But it did not happen overnight, and … Continued
“Art belongs to the young — born in the passions of loins and hearts, not in the abstractions of mature minds.” – Terry Ramsaye in “A Million and One Nights: A History of the Motion Picture Through … Continued
Flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas this week sent me looking for an old friend who photographed the aftermath of the horrific Galveston hurricane of 1900. The great G.W. “Billy” Bitzer was a cameraman at American Mutoscope and Biograph … Continued
Mrs. Mary Scott Castle’s erratic behavior made headlines both before and after her three-and-a-half year affair with actor Lawrence (D.W.) Griffith. So when she simply vanished from a Manhattan dinner party given in her honor, even her relatives balked at … Continued
Mary Scott’s sudden disappearance from a dinner party on March 23, 1901 was a complete shock to Lawrence (D.W.) Griffith. Until that evening he had seen himself largely as the victim in their relationship. He was a poet and would-be … Continued