For Balladeer’s Blog’s latest look at a silent movie star I will cover Elmo Lincoln, who is best known as the big screen’s very first Tarzan but also starred in other films outside the Tarzan series.
TARZAN OF THE APES (1918) – Though Elmo had been appearing as an extra or in small supporting roles since 1913, his portrayal of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan in this movie put him on the map. For nitpickers, Gordon Griffith of silent Tom Sawyer fame played the very young Tarzan when his parents died early in this film, but Elmo Lincoln was the first adult Tarzan performer in movie history.
Surviving prints of Tarzan of the Apes run 61 minutes and cover the basics of the original novel’s opening half in workmanlike if not spectacular fashion. Lord Greystoke and his wife perish after becoming shipwrecked in Africa and their surviving heir is raised by apes.
The boy’s discovery of his late father’s knife among the shipwreck ruins enables him to rise to dominance among the apes by killing off rivals. As he matures, Tarzan becomes a legend in the jungle as he wars on tribes which kill apes plus frees slaves captured by Muslim slavers.
Binns the sailor realizes Tarzan is the long-lost Greystoke heir and an expedition heads to Africa, headed by Professor Porter. The professor’s daughter Jane Porter (Enid Markey) accompanies her father’s expedition and winds up abducted by a villain only to be saved by our King of the Jungle.
Jane uses gentleness to calm down the horny Tarzan when he gets too pushy. Her line “Tarzan is a man, and men do not force the love of women” conveys what we need to know without getting graphic. Charmed by the Ape Man, she eventually canoodles with him willingly. Continue reading
ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP aka Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1917) – Remember how the 1976 movie Bugsy Malone presented a gangster tale with children in all the roles? And how Shirley Temple starred in an entire series of Baby Burlesque shorts with all-child casts in assorted genres? Well, this 80-minute silent film was earlier than all of them. 
THE EAGLE (1925) – Valentino dabbled in 
RIN TIN TIN (1918-1932) – Here at Balladeer’s Blog, I’m even fonder of dogs than I am of silent movies, so this post will combine the two topics. Sadly, most silent films have become so little remembered that few people even realize that there actually WAS a real Rin Tin Tin, adopted by American soldiers during World War One. 
SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE GREAT MURDER MYSTERY (1908) – Shamelessly, the Crescent Film Company of New York adapted Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue but replaced his master detective Auguste Dupin with Sherlock Holmes and the orangutan of the original story with a gorilla. 
THE SEALED ROOM (1909) – Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado was adapted by film pioneer D.W. Griffith in this movie. Besides changing the title, Griffith altered the story to feature a philandering man and woman being walled up to die. Showing up in small parts during this 11-minute short were America’s future sweetheart Mary Pickford, and Mack Sennett, future comedy icon. 
FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (1916) – This 34-minute film is not only one of the most popular shorts teaming Mabel with fellow comedy legend Fatty Arbuckle but it’s one of the most popular silent comedies ever. When Fatty wins Mabel’s hand in marriage his jealous rival (Al St. John) sabotages their honeymoon cottage by the sea. 
THE AUTOMATIC MOTORIST (1911) – Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another silent movie short by England’s Walter R. Booth. It’s a remake of his own 1906 short film The Mad Motorist but taken to the extreme. Running time is 6 1/2 minutes. 
Yes, Happy Easter, ladies and gentlemen! Balladeer’s Blog helps celebrate by combining the holiday with my passion for silent films. I’m providing the following list of silent movies – both shorts and feature films – about Jesus Christ. 
CHRISTUS (1916) – Directed by Giulio Cesare Antamoro, this is a fascinating look at Jesus, from the Angel visiting Mary through his Resurrection and subsequent visit with his Apostles. Christus runs 88 minutes and features some inventive variations on Biblical tableaux. The Star of Bethlehem is depicted as a comet; when Mary finds young Jesus preaching to his teachers His shadow appears as a cross; and Judas gets three visions of the Devil – first urging him on to betray Jesus, then taunting him when he regrets that betrayal, and finally welcoming him into Hell, which opens up under Judas’ swinging corpse. 
MARIE WALCAMP (1894-1936) – Like her fellow silent film icons 
TEMPEST CODY – Marie was already getting above the title billing by the time her two-reel Tempest Cody western shorts came along in 1919. Tempest was a hard-riding, two-fisted, straight-shooting woman of the old west who was always on the side of right. 
FIRE DRILL aka Simulacro de Incendio (1897) – On January 24th of this year, Gabriel Veyre (at left) held the very first exhibition of silent film shorts in Cuban history at a theater in Havana. 
FILM COMMERCIAL FOR LA TROPICAL BEER aka the Missing Sorcerer (1898) – This was the very first film directed by a native Cuban – Jose Esteban Casasús, a noted pioneer of Cuban Cinema. Lasting just under a minute, this short advertised the brewery & product of La Tropical beer and was produced by Cinemataca de Cuba.
CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY (1901) – A film capturing the 1901 assembly, the equivalent of our Constitutional Convention. Following the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War, Cuba produced its first constitution a few years later. That document was openly based on the United States Constitution but had 115 articles instead of America’s 7. 
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