HOLLYWOOD (1980) – A week ago Balladeer’s Blog took a look at the classic documentaries Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow and Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius, by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. This time around I’m examining their 1980 documentary series Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film.
This series was one of the duo’s earliest masterpieces at capturing the appeal and unique beauty of silent movies from the pre-sound era. Like all their subsequent documentaries about silent films, this one features irreplaceable interviews with many stars, directors and staff members who worked in the industry during the early 1900s.
James Mason’s authoritative voice sets the mood for this educational and moving tribute to a long-lost era. The episodes:
THE PIONEERS – A look at the era when movie production was predominantly in New York and New Jersey, until expenses and encroachments by organized crime forced the industry to migrate to Hollywood, CA, a place then known mostly for its lemon groves. Featuring footage from The Great Train Robbery (1903) on up through films from the mid-teens and the 1920s like Ben-Hur (1925), The Black Pirate (1926), The Fire Brigade (1927) and The Wind (1928).
IN THE BEGINNING – An examination of the movie boom’s virtual conquest of the world, with Hollywood becoming the hub of that multi-million dollar enterprise, partly due to the way World War One severely hindered the formerly dynamic European studios. Featuring interviews with industry legends like Lillian Gish (who had advised Annabeth Gish against going into acting), Henry King and Agnes de Mille, Cecil B’s wife.
SINGLE BEDS AND DOUBLE STANDARDS – Stories from the raucous, hard-partying years of Hollywood’s silent movie era. As covered previously here at Balladeer’s Blog, silent movies at first openly portrayed drug use, marital infidelity, drinking at speakeasies, etc. There was even a silent porn industry. When public scandals involving Fatty Arbuckle and others blackened Hollywood’s reputation, the Hays Code was introduced, blocking many adult themes from the big screen well into the 1960s. Continue reading
Since I’m into mythology I often get asked how I feel about Ancient Astronauts/ Ancient Aliens theories. 
MASERATI: A HUNDRED YEARS AGAINST ALL ODDS (2019) – This fascinating documentary directed by Philip Selkirk is so riveting it flies along like one of the automobiles in the Maserati line. 
THE CREEPY LINE (2018) (AVAILABLE ON I-TUNES) – This is a terrific and highly-detailed look at the abuses involved in selective censorship on Social Media and other internet sites. The techno-fascists at Facebook, Google, Twitter and similar 21st Century Robber Baron domains are finally getting the kind of scrutiny that those privileged (and partisan) one percenters deserve. 
Just a few more days til the 55 minute documentary Aloha From Lavaland premiers at the Hawaii International Film Festival Spring Showcase. The movie, co-produced by Zoe Eisenberg, covers the way Hawaiians pulled together to deal with the Mt Kilauea eruption in 2014. 
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