Stella Maris (1918)

Almost as soon as there were movies there were movie stars.  Curiosity, humor, and spectacle made movies a viable business, but stars made them the powerhouse industry they are today.  And the biggest star of them all - certainly of the day, and arguably of all time - was Mary Pickford, the original America's Sweetheart (born Toronto, 1892).

I'd never seen a Pickford film before, so I was eager to size her up as an actress, not merely a celebrity, and Stella Maris provided a good opportunity to do so thanks to Pickford's double roles: as the titular Stella, a paraplegic sheltered all her life from the injustice of the outside world, and as Unity Blake, a homely orphan who's known nothing else.

Stella Maris (1918)

This week's film was a little bit confusing.  The main actress, Mary Pickford, played both the title role of Stella Maris and the role of the homely orphan girl Unity.  I'm not quite sure why she played both roles actually.  At first I thought maybe it would turn out to be a "twins separated at birth and joyously reunited at the end" type of story, or perhaps something along the lines of "The Prince and the Pauper".  But this movie is neither.  The two characters are only connected through a shared relationship with one John Riska.  This part was slightly confusing, as I think I missed the explanatory title plate.  For most of the movie I was under the impression that they were cousins, but by the end I knew that was not the case.  Apparently he was the cousin of Lady Blount, the woman taking care of Stella Maris, though why she was being cared for by people unrelated to herself is still a mystery.  There was always a great affection between Stella Maris and John however, as Stella Maris always referred to him as the Great High Belovedest - a title which Robin now wishes to be known as by me.

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Soo.... yeah.  You know, in film school they talk about this movie.  About its significance in film history, and to the craft.  But they don't actually show it.  They show Intolerance, or Broken Blossoms, the films Griffith made by way of apology.  But one of the things that initially inspired this project was my desire to finally take the plunge, and deal with this monster once and for all.  THE movie. THAT movie.  The bush everyone's always beating around.  So, here goes. 

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Revisionist history, for the win!

Okay, that said...what a bizarre movie. First off, it's LONG. Ridiculously long. At 3 hours and 7 minutes, it's the longest movie I have ever watched (I can't count the director's cut of "The Lord of the Rings" because I always fall asleep during it and thus never manage to see the whole thing). Second, it pretty much completely rewrites the Reconstruction period, complete with evil black people, poor oppressed white people, and the dashing and heroic Ku Klux Klan. Yeah...weird.

Another introduction

In the previous post, Robin introduced himself and the project a little bit, so you'll have an idea of what you might be in for over the year. He's the film buff, the critic, and the one who came up with this whole crazy idea in the first place. I'm the wife, and I'm just along for the ride. I know nothing about the technical aspects of movie making, and while I like movies (a lot) I'm not what you could call a film buff. I have my favorite genres (romantic comedies, anyone?) and I know what I like and what I don't like. I've never written a movie review or critique in my life.

Introduction

People often embark upon silly projects for the New Year, often involving itemized lists, to keep themselves motivated and moving forward with their lives.  Sometimes it even works.  So here's my silly project: I intend to watch 52 classic films - one every week of 2011 - spanning the last century of feature cinema and in chronological order.