Tag Archives: cinema of 1918

A rainbow of silent film

Posted on 21 August 2017 by silentsplease

Regular readers will have noticed that things have been pretty quiet around Silents, Please! for the last year or so. Partly, this was because I channelled a lot of energy into researching, writing and drawing my Feminist Media Histories article: a very … Continue reading →

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Diva December: Elena Makowska in Caino (IT 1918)

Posted on 15 December 2015 by silentsplease

The holy trinity of Lyda Borelli, Francesca Bertini, and Pina Menichelli are generally considered the crème de la crème of diva film actresses. Yet, of course, there were many others working in this loosely-defined genre: prominent names include Hesperia, Leda … Continue reading →

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1918: Fragments of Menichelli. On the trail of “Gemma di Sant’Eremo” and “La passeggiera”

Posted on 9 December 2015 by silentsplease

Recently, I was reading Italo Calvino’s wonderful book If on a winter’s night a traveller (1979), and the following line stuck in my mind: The dimension of time has been shattered, we cannot love or think except in fragments of … Continue reading →

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Film advertising: Italian question marks

Posted on 20 November 2015 by silentsplease

Looking through the Italian 1910s periodical Film, I regularly noticed adverts for coming attractions/productions that prominently use question marks. As a tactic to heighten suspense, I really liked this visual device. So, enjoy an image gallery of these Italian film advertisement question … Continue reading →

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A Japanese man in America: Sessue Hayakawa reclaims … His Birthright (US 1918)

Posted on 24 July 2015 by silentsplease

Japanese-born actor Sessue Hayakawa was one of the biggest talents of his era. In a time of intense anti-Asian sentiment (and, indeed, legally enshrined discrimination against Japanese people in America), he became one of Hollywood’s biggest names and richest stars. … Continue reading →

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Feminine threat! Menichelli in La moglie di Claudio | The Wife of Claudius (IT 1918)

Posted on 25 March 2015 by silentsplease

In 1918, Itala-Film released a film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas fils’ La Femme de Claude (1873), a play which updated the Messalina myth to 19th century France. The wife of Claudius, the legendary monstrous feminine – just what kind of woman is she, here in 1910s … Continue reading →

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