Ep 148. WESTERNS 101: The Silent Era

To kick off a new series of episodes that will give an overview of the history of the western genre, Alex and Jonathan start off by talking about three early western films from the pre-sound era: The Testing Block (1920), Sky High (1922), and The Iron Horse (1924). We discuss the development of both the…

Episode 111. Dorothy Arzner’s Due

Dorothy Arzner is one of the largest names in the history of Hollywood's female directors, so today Alex and Jonathan look at the themes and relationships in her films Get Your Man (1927), Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), and Dance, Girl, Dance (1940). We talk about how romance differs in Arzner's films from other…

Episode 110. Blank-Face Buster

Our Patrons voted on what silent film star we should cover and chose the great Buster Keaton! We look at three of his classic films: Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), The Cameraman (1928) and talk about the way Keaton melds comedy into various genres, hallmarks of Keaton's characters and techniques, and ways we still…

Episode 96. Pickford’s Power: The First Queen of Hollywood

Our Patrons voted on which silent film star we should cover, so today Alex and Jonathan look into Mary Pickford's incredibly influential career in front of and behind the camera. We watch The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917), Sparrows (1926), and Coquette (1929) and discuss the "little girl" persona often portrayed by Pickford, the extent…

Episode 38. Charming Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin won our most recent Twitter poll about the silent film stars of Hollywood, so Alex and Jonathan take a look at three of the Tramp's most iconic appearances: The Gold Rush (1925 & 1942), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940). We talk about the universality of physical comedy, Chaplin's technical innovations, and how he…