The Patriot [Nominee ~ 1929]

I'm sure there are a million more eloquent ways of saying this, but I've chosen to go with my gut reaction: Lost films kind of freak me out.  Try as I might, I just cannot wrap my head around the idea of recorded footage going completely missing.  "Backing things up" is second nature to anyone raised in the Digital Age, and maybe it's in small part because of films like The Patriot.  But before I delve too much deeper into this, let's step back in time...

By 1930 silent films had gone the way of the dodo.  "Talkies" were all the rage, and silent movies were no longer a sound financial investment.  Furthermore, they were actually starting to cost studios money in the form of storage space.  The decision seemed simple (and innocent) enough: throw out the silent movies that nobody wants to watch anymore and make room for newer sound features.  No thought was given to preserving film history because films weren't viewed as being valuable beyond their theatrical run.  Though many silent films were also lost due to the extremely flammable nature of the nitrate film used extensively throughout the era, the main culprit was intentional destruction.

Though an estimated 80 percent of American films from 1894 to 1930 are considered lost, there are some lucky exceptions.  Popular stars, like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford*, saw their films reissued many times, meaning copies resurfaced even if the originals were destroyed.  Which is why the concept of something ever being completely lost is so difficult for me to understand.  With the rise of television, home movies, and the internet, there are potentially infinite copies of all media currently available.  Even if a film's original and backup are lost, millions of people could step forward with a DVD.

While the concept of lost films in general is haunting, The Patriot's lost status is even more troubling.  This was a popular film, and a well reviewed one at that.  It was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1929, and was the last silent film ever nominated for Best Picture.  It is also the only Best Picture nominee for which there is no complete copy.  How this happens, at a time when film was first being honored as a legitimate art form, is unfathomable.

So people, please check your attics and basements.  Your great-great grandfather may have loved Emil Jannings' portrayal of Czar Paul I so much that he bought a copy.  Crazier things have happened.



*According to Pickford's Wikipedia page, audiences were outraged when she cut her trademark long curls, and her career began to wane shortly after.  Somebody should have warned Keri Russell.
Also, Pickford was Canadian.  Apparently the Great White North's invasion of American media goes back further than I thought.

Seventh Heaven [Nominee ~ 1928]

"It's wonderful the things I feel ~~ sometimes I could reach out and touch a star!"

I took a much longer break after Wings than I had originally planned.  The spring semester started, I'm working more hours, and my mom was dying to watch the final season of The Tudors.  But the break might have been a blessing in disguise, as it gave me time to reflect on silent films.

After viewing Wings, I felt like maybe I was missing something.  As someone who has been raised watching nothing but "talkies," I worried that enjoying a silent movie was perhaps beyond me.  Spoken dialogue is half the story, sometimes even more.  In the past week and a half I've really started to notice how I watch TV and movies, and the truth is, I don't.  It's rare for me to fully invest my attention in what I'm watching.  I grew up in the age of multitasking, and I do it even when I'm supposedly relaxing.  The dialogue and sounds become the primary storytellers, and if I do miss an important visual, I just hit rewind on the DVR.

Silent films are an investment.  You must commit real time and attention to the movie in order to understand what is happening.  Today's media isn't an investment, because we don't want it to be.  We expect things to be concise and easily digested in a few minutes.  If it can't be viewed while surfing the internet, flipping through a magazine, or running on the treadmill, then it will just have to wait.  Even in theaters I see more and more people peeking at their cell phones during the movie.  It's sad to think that going to the movies is no longer a true escape from our daily lives.

Seventh Heaven was well worth the commitment I made to it, and I hope you will be inspired to give it the full attention it deserves as well.  The film tells the story of poor Diane (Janet Gaynor), an orphan living with an abusive sister.  Diane is saved by sewer worker Chico (Charles Farrell), who reluctantly falls in love and marries her.  However, their joy is cut short by the outbreak of WWI.

While both Wings and Seventh Heaven share the backdrop of WWI France, the stories could not be more different.  Wings is a war/buddy movie with a dash of romance.  Seventh Heaven is a romance movie with a dash of war.  I liked Heaven a lot more.  From the very beginning I cared about Diane, and grew to like her more as the story progressed.  Same for Chico, who starts out pretty cocky, and... well he's pretty cocky the entire time, but in a likable way.  (Farrell actually reminded me of actor Nathan Fillion, especially as Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  Something about the jaw line and eyebrow movements.  Keep this in mind for the remake.)

My favorite scene of the entire movie also happens to be a visual representation of the title's meaning.  When Diane first visits Chico's apartment, the pair ascend several flights of stairs to the seventh floor, which Chico describes as heaven because it is so close to the stars.  The scene is a vertical tracking shot, following the actors as they climb their way to the top.  I love how the lighting dims as they climb, and at one point Chico strikes a match to light their way.  It's just a really cool shot.  There's no other way to put it.

There were also a few fun tidbits throughout this film I very much enjoyed:

1. Diane's sister is a prostitute.  This is never actually stated.  The sister is arrested along with a group of other women and accuses Diane of being "just as bad as she is."  I love when old movies beat around the bush like this, especially since they probably weren't fooling anyone back then either.

2. Cars were being named at least as far back as 1927.  Chico's friend owns a taxi he calls "Eloise."  Awesome.

3. This story could easily be changed into a romantic comedy if you take out all the depressing abuse and war stuff.  A woman is rescued by a stranger who pretends to be her husband to help her avoid arrest.  The two must live together until the police investigation is over so as not to arouse suspicion.  Though they dislike each other at first, they soon realize they are soul mates.  This has Kate Hudson written all over it.

In all seriousness, I really enjoyed this movie.  A wonderful, moving story with beautiful imagery.  And now that I understand how to really watch silent films, I may have give Wings a second chance.