From Tom Mix’s entry into motion pictures in 1910 for the Selig Company and his quick rise to starring roles, then into feature-length in 1918 for the rest of the silent era, he was never off the silver screen. Movie… Read More »Tom Mix: From Ubiquitous to (Somewhat) Unknown
A Baby Peggy Rediscovery — or: When “Circus Clowns” Doesn’t Mean “Circus Clowns” I was pretty much set with additional material for the DVD of the Library of Congress’ restoration of The Family Secret. After playing for MoMA’s restoration of… Read More »Finding More of Baby Peggy
A lot of one-reel comedy shorts from the late 1920s seem to only survive in 16mm home use prints from the 1930s. Wedding Slips (1928) with Monte Collins now only exists as a digital file. Luckily I snagged this one… Read More »Saving Monte Collins
The Ninety and Nine was one of a handful of stage properties that were very popular and which toured a lot in the early 1900s. Like a few other of its type — such as Ben Hur, East Lynne and… Read More »A Racing Locomotive, a Town on Fire and Colleen Moore
I’ve been complimented on my work by fans, show attendees, people who’ve supported my Kickstarter’s and/or bought my DVDs. It’s gratifying, although my reason for doing what I do has nothing to do with the “has the ‘Thank-you-masked-man Man been… Read More »Is a Spinning Flat Plastic Disc Preservation?
Several years ago a typical conversation I had at holiday parties when introduced to someone got an upgrade. Up to that point, when introduced to someone, a question they’d ask — “Have you scored anything for DVD?” — became “Do… Read More »Wake Me When It’s Streaming
My DVD label Undercrank Productions has a new release, the second in a series that showcases the identification fun we have every year at the “Mostly Lost” workshop at the Library of Congress at it’s Packard Preservation Campus in Culpeper,… Read More »Found at “Mostly Lost”: volume 2 – new DVD
Marion Davies’ 1922 Film Beauty’s Worth Gets a Deluxe Outdoor Screening In the Birthplace of Its Director Robert G. Vignola At the end of this week, on a piazza in the ankle of the boot that is Italy, a crew will… Read More »Marion Davies Makes an Appearance in Italy
Putting Humpty Together Again, Thanks to the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress It isn’t often that a two-reel comedy can be reassembled by accessing a reel from one archive and a reel from another, but we… Read More »What’s a Nice Car Like You Doing in a Comedy Short Like This?
There was a lot of borrowing and sharing of material in the days of silent comedy shorts, a tradition that grew out of vaudeville and circus. In the milieu of live comedy performance, there were certain routines that were a… Read More »Charlie Chaplin, Marcel Perez, and a Pair of Drowning Ladies