mccrohan

By the time of this film,s first release in 1906, the film industry in many countries had many artistic achievements. Witness the great strides by Melies(France), Paul and Hepworth in England and Porter and many others in the USA etc. These film artists knew the value of editing and had sufficient pride in their work as to reject and consign as outtakes any film that did not meet their standards. The makers of the Story of the Kelly Gang were merely astute business and showmen trying to make a fast buck. The only credit due should go to the craftsman photographer. The pioneer Australian director of "The Sentimental Bloke" also saw this film at its initial screenings and he later commented in an interview his opinion that it was a poor quality film and that Australian film makers were soon producing much better films. Let us give credit to the real pioneers..

By the time of this film,s first release in 1906, the film industry in many countries had many artistic achievements. Witness the great strides by Melies(France), Paul and Hepworth in England and Porter and many others in the USA etc. These film artists knew the value of editing and had sufficient pride in their work as to reject and consign as outtakes any film that did not meet their standards. The makers of the Story of the Kelly Gang were merely astute business and showmen trying to make a fast buck. The only credit due should go to the craftsman photographer. The pioneer Australian director of "The Sentimental Bloke" also saw this film at its initial screenings and he later commented in an interview his opinion that it was a poor quality film and that Australian film makers were soon producing much better films. Let us give credit to the real pioneers..

Yhis is a very entertaining movie which contains all of the polish and slickness that the Hollywood studio system with a big budget can provide. That said I do not consider it to be a great movie. I have only to contrast it with Paul Leni,s earlier film "Waxworks" which I regard as vastly superior. It is likely that Paul Leni was entranced by the vast and expensive resources of the Universal Studio. As for Conrad Veidt,s acting and I consider that his ability was not fully utilised. He does not display the genius that was present in his performance in "The Student of Prague. Perhaps I have been a little harsh in my opinions because I derived more pleasure from viewing this film than any of the recent latest 2006 movies from Hollywood.

I have enjoyed many movies featuring USA children actors. Jackie Coogan and Shirley Temple were wonderful. I consider the Hal Roach (Our Gang ) to be classics and I have re-run many of of them with increased delight. I even laugh at many of the antics of Denis the menace. Hovever I started to shudder after the first few minutes of watching Eloise.. This is the most obnoxious brat of a child that I have seen in a movie. Surely, it is the patriotic duty for Hollywood to present a true picture of American family life and not this fiction drivel. I is not many years ago, when the major Hollywood studios had high standards and a film like Eloise in the Plaza would not have seen the light of day.

Here are Lubitsch, Pola Negri and Emil Jannings back in the year 1918 at the start and before they achieved their huge fame. Of course, this is a low budget movie. The Egyptian desert scenes were filmed in a Berlin quarry and the Egyptian tomb is of absurdly cheap quality. However we can see the evident skill of Lubitsch when working with his lead actors. The fascinating personality of Pola Negri shines . I certainly wish that we had more such real women in today,s modern movies. So please enjoy this nostalgic movie. Consider that if it was remade today with millions of dollars, special effects and huge publicity ,that it might be a box-office bonanza

This movie received poor notices from USA and UK critics because the versions presented to them were much shortened and much of the intelligent drama content was lost. (for USA the time was 63 minutes and for Uk only 65 minutes. ) . To gain a full appreciation of this fine Italian movie it is essential to see the original Italian version of 97 minutes (or alternatively view the German version of 95 minutes or French version of 85 minutes) . That said, this film gives an accurate view of certain aspects of Italian life in the 1950,s ( particularly relating to the Mafia ). The acting of Rossano Brazzi and Milly Vitale is splendid. In all this film successfully. continues the tradition of Italian realism

I can only hope that there are still Americans like those in this film in today,s USA. The movie gives us one hour of light popular musical enjoyment. John Payne as usual presents a very likable and professional acting performance. Mae Clarke is pretty and charming and I have fond memories of her in other films. Franklin Pangborne contributes his unique comedy talents. It is good to visit a past era when fine human qualities of USA life were presented to the world via the Movies and universally admired.. Of course, much that was unpleasant was rarely shown but at least we can take a break from the worries of modern life and just relax and enjoy one hour of escape.

Ken Maynard was a champion horse rider and in his early days worked in rodeos. Not for him the effete air-conditioned acting studio but he learned his acting trade the hard practical way by living the life of a real cowboy. He enjoyed the rough and tumble and hard knocks of cowboy life. He would feel the the pain of dare devil horse riding, eating his meals by camp fire and sleeping under the stars in the cold and hot seasons. Therefore we accept the often improbable story plot elements because we believe the people playing the roles are similar to the those who lived in the real Old West. This is a second tier Ken Maynard movie but we treasure the limited hours of being with Ken as he portrays a real cowboy and a real man . Thank you Ken.

There is a splendid performance from the celebrated actor, Slim Summerville in the role of " Juniper Jenkins ". I have fond memories of Slim,s great acting in the Hollywood classics such as "Front Page ",'All quiet on the western front", " Tobacco Road ", etc, etc. His comedy talent was manifest when he was partnered with Zasu Pitts in a very entertaining series of comedy films. People still delight in seeing him with Shirley Temple in : Captain January" and 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ". It is a tragedy that he died so young but I am thankful for his great legacy. But this film has so much also to enjoy in the many delightful songs by very talented Country Music performers. This film is one of my favorites.

Hoot Gibson still has many fans who greatly enjoy his humor and appreciate his fine natural acting. It is such a pity that in the Talkie era he was not given the opportunity to act in big pictures made by the best directors and with the best screen writers. It is wonderful to go back in time when simple standards of respect and decency were the norm . OK, the story is simple in structure, but this true of every day life even in our twenty first century.( the rampant evils of consumerism had not yet reached today,s zenith and illicit drugs did not dominate ) This is a film which will allow a viewer to escape the ills of our age for an hour. So please relax and enjoy.

This movie is a very successful transfer of a hit Broadway play to a feature film. It gives us a chance to step back to the time of 1920 and enjoy the theatrical experience of attending a very popular Broadway play. The actors are splendid . The film is an adaption of the play :The New Henrietta " and it was originally filmed as "The Lamb" starring Douglas Fairbanks and it helped establish him as atop movie star. The print is excellent. I totally enjoyed it as a Silent movie and would very much doubt that it would be improved as a Talkie Enjoy...From personal experience, I have found that I need conditioning for satisfactory enjoyment of Silent films. I usually begin by viewing a short silent comedy such as a Chaplin, etc and thus distance myself from the talkie movie attitude.

It is a Circus story and I will not summarize the plot and thus spoil your enjoyment ( I hate Spoilers). It would have been shown in the as a second feature and preceded the main feature. The director .Karl Brown started his movie career in 1914 working with the great D W Griffith. He become a superb cinematographer and his credits include many of the great films of the Silent Era. He can be seen in the TV series "Holluwood" that is devoted to the silent movie era. I was very impressed by his intelligence and generous good nature. Such men have have made the great heritage of Hollywood movies. Relax and enjoy : Under the Big Top " I only wish that today,s Hollywood would make more pleasant films like this one

During a ninety eight year life he acted in three hundred and sixty five films and also directed three films and edited two films. Thus it is impossible for me to assess his career. But I appreciate his hard working life . His contribution to Hollywood would be typical of the many unsung workers that make THE MOVIES. I enjoyed and found amusing, his acting in "The Phantom Cowboy". The film is certainly made with the very lowest of budgets. However please remember that " The Phamtom Cowboy " was made in 1935 and this was in the middle of The Great Depression and many USA cinemas were in dire conditions,often facing bankruptcy. There was a market for low cost films such as "Yhe Phantom Cowboy". I think even today many people enjoy such B films. W.R Hearst(" of Citizen Kane fame) certainly did so and had repeated showings of favorite B films in his private cinema.

We appreciate that he was a "real Cowboy" and had been a rodeo rider. He acted in 218 movies and directed 9 films. Many of his present day Fans believe that there is more reality of the Old West in his movies than in many of the modern big budget (million $,s) spectacles. We admire his genuine honesty and natural sense of humor. Hoot had his greatest popularity in the 1920,s and his salary was usually $14,500 per week ( source IMDb Biography page which also contains much more fascinating additional information). By 1933, the Western movie was out of fashion and so "The Dude Bandit" was made as a B film. .Also Hoot was older ( he was 42 ) and not as agile. But to us, plain folk fans, Hoot is still great and we get lots of enjoyment from this movie

Firstly a few details of his life (from the IMDb biography and other sources).After leaving school, Mc Coy worked on a Wyoming ranch where he became an expert horseman and roper. A patriotic American, during WW1, he enlisted in the US Army rising to the rank of Colonel. He would also serve his country during WW2 when he would enlist in the Army Air Corps earning several decorations for his service in Europe. In 1921 , he resigned from the army and entered the Movies. His first job was technical adviser for the great epic movie "The Covered Wagon. ( the making of this movie is also an an epic story and would make a fascinating feature movie and a tribute to the courage of American Pioneers).Tim then became an actor and for a time was a major cowboy star. Although , his later movies were low budget , they are all noted for his honesty and high moral qualities and he can properly be compared to Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. The films of these actors are today being enjoyed by numerous fans and movie collectors

It was made in 1931 and this was right in the middle of the terrible years of the Great Depression. Thousands of cinemas closed and many that were left could only afford the cheap B films. Often such cinemas were described as " flea pits" but to the millions of unemployed adults and their children , this was their only chance to escape their daily misery and for a few hours escape in the world of movie make-believe. I believe that many would have preferred "The Law of the Rio Grande" to many of the big-budget films offered by the big studios.Just look at the 1931 offerings by MGM.Paramount which are set in a world alien to the unemployed Americans of that era. At any rate, children attending the Saturday afternoon shows would have have love ""Rio Grand" and similar movies

We can safely laugh at the antics of Kath and Kim and the other characters in this TV series. Kath and Kim live in expensive houses and drive nice cars and often purchase life,s little luxuries. We do not see poverty nor the misery of poor Australian people struggling with debt. Enjoy seeing life in prosperous middle-class Australia. We can have many laughs and ignore the massive problems afflicting Australian society. Australia has an alarming increase in drug use and addiction (includes alcohol)and Australians rate very highly in gambling expenditure (meaning family financial resources are greatly reduced). However enjoy the many laughs in this very successful TV series and enjoy the fine comic performances by these talented actors

a two minute clip with new music can viewed on the Turner Classic Movies web site. It is an excellent restoration of a very interesting film. Many of the leading directors of the 1920,s appear in cameo ( Von Stroheim, Marshal Neilan etc). The TCM data base states that the movie is not available on video. Hovever, they invite voting for its debut as a video.. Based on my seeing that too short clip, I certainly would welcome the chance to obtain a DVD. It is amazing that films that seemed to be lost forever, have now been found. Gloria Swanson always lamented the loss of the feature film that she made with Valentino. It is such a pity that she cannot see the found film that is now on DVD. I hope there will be more treasure found.