Before the advent of dubbing–replacing the soundtrack recorded on set with another voice and/or actor and/or language in post-production–foreign language versions of movies had to be shot simultaneously with the English language versions. What a pain in the ass! It’s hard enough to shoot one scene correctly but then to
The past three days I’ve been posting the astounding turn of the 20th Century footage shot in England by the team of Mitchell and Kenyon. If you missed the posts I urge you go back and watch some of the videos–they are mesmerizing and as close to a time machine
Here’s an absolutely mesmerizing (to these as yet unjaded eyes anyway) Mitchell and Kenyon documentation of Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1902. The camera appears to have been well concealed on the tram on which it’s been placed which has the refreshing effect of not attracting the attention of the pedestrians
The above ‘Mitchell and Kenyon’ short is a documentation of a country fair in North England, Leeds, shot on a pleasant day in September 1902. Given the fact that most photographs of the era show people standing stiffly and staring sternly at the camera, this goes a tremendously long way
The views of L.A. freeways in the 50s yesterday now gives way to views of the Sunset Strip in the 40s. It’s a cleaner friendlier looking Strip in most ways, though I find it interesting how many of these buildings have survived. The fact that they have makes the Strip
This video is likely to be the closest thing we’ll ever have to a time machine thanks to a very skillful history buff and Youtube artist who calls themselves NASS. The footage shows three views of Fifth Avenue from the back of a moving vehicle. Each view runs from 60th
Did you know that there’s a movie that dramatizes the making of ‘Rome Open City’? It was made in 1996 in Italy and appears to be incredibly difficult to find a viewing copy of. I did manage to find the trailer though and have posted it above. The film was
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBWJzqOTWjc&t=674s Here’s a very good 50 minute doc about Roberto Rossellini, featuring some marvelous color on-set footage of the ‘Stromboli’ shoot (the one he did with Ingrid Bergman after she fled America to take up with the Maestro). The video roll in the first few minutes eventually ceases so don’t
Here’s ‘Brideless Groom’, the Stooges 101st short for Columbia Pictures, released on September 11 1947. It’s one of my top five stooge shorts–nary a frame wasted–with a script that’s tight, Stooge performances that seem more crafted and specific than usual and career-defining supporting cast turns, including Christine McIntyre (‘You’re not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPLhQl9ZLrM The Culver studio was originally created by silent movie pioneer Thomas H. Ince and has operated under a multitude of names: Ince Studio (1918-1925), De Mille Studios (1925–1928), Pathé Studios (1928–1931), RKO-Pathé Studios (1931–1935), Selznick International Pictures (1935–1956), Desilu-Culver Studios (1956–1970), Culver City Studios (1970–1977), and Laird International Studios (1977–1986).Through all these