The Valley Of The Giants (1927)

WHO: This was directed by Charles Brabin, who made over a hundred films in the silent and early sound era, most of them forgotten, and is now best-remembered as the husband of Theda Bara. At least his films have a higher survival rate than hers, which are mostly lost.

WHAT: The Valley of the Giants was one of the real unearthings of the 2007 San Francisco Silent Film Festival. A rip-roaring adventure film made with its married-couple stars Milton Sills and Doris Kenyon on location amidst the redwoods of Humboldt county, it's a wonderful film to behold on the big screen- which is the only place you're likely to see it, as it has yet to become available on home video. David Kiehn wrote an outstanding essay on the film for the SFSFF program book, from which I shall now extract the introduction (in the hopes that you will be intrigued enough to follow the link to read on):

It?s often lamented that only ten to twenty per cent of films made in the silent era still exist. So whenever a coveted film thought lost suddenly turns up, it?s just cause for celebration. But what of the many worthy films no one is looking for, their directors neglected, their stars forgotten, which may be sitting on a shelf in an archive, waiting to be shown? Given the sheer number of silent films produced ? 10,000 features and 50,000 short films, conservatively speaking ? one could theoretically see a silent film every day for thirty years without repetition. Of course, for many films just one viewing would suffice, but at the other end of the scale there are still wonderful rediscoveries; The Valley of the Giants is one of these, preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from an original nitrate print in 1989.

WHERE/WHEN: Tonight only at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Theatre in Fremont, on a bill starting at 7:30 PM.

WHY: David Kiehn programs and projects silent films in Niles every weekend of the year, except for one: the third weekend in July, when the entire silent film world casts its attention on the SFSFF at the Castro Theatre, which has become the premiere North American event for archives around the globe to showcase hidden treasures and new restorations of films from the pre-talkie era. From almost the beginning of the 17-year-old festival, the SFSFF has made room for the silent movie-making traditions from all corners of the Earth, screening films not only from the well-known foreign industries (Germany, France, Italy, the Soviet Union) but also from more unexpected lands: China, India, Mexico, Brazil. Since Anita Monga took on the artistic directorship of the event in 2009, the international component of the festival has grown tremendously, and with the newly-announced 2013 edition (given a fine rundown already by Meredith Brody) the international programs, with films made in nine different countries, actually outnumber the American ones. As the festival will come on the heels of a special June weekend showcase of Alfred Hitchcock's earliest films made in the United Kingdom, might it be time to add a letter to the festival acronym and call it SFISFF?

I'm all for this expansion of international selections at the festival, as some of the very best films screened each year are from foreign industries. Last year's The Wonderful Lie of Nina Petrovna from Germany is a perfect example of a masterpiece that I'd barely even heard of before its Castro presentation. This year I've seen only two of the foreign selections before: Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Chorus and Victor Sjöström's The Outlaw and his Wife. Others, such as A.W. Sandberg's The Golden Clown (the first feature made by the robust Danish silent film industry to screen at SFSFF), are completely unfamiliar to me. But I should note that this expansion hardly comes at the expense of the festival's tradition of presenting well-known classics and little-seen obscurities made by Americans. If you count the Indonesia-set Legong: Dance of the Virgins, as it followed the lead of Nanook of the North and Chang in being filmed outside the U.S. but for an American production company (Constance Bennet's) and an American audience by an essentially American crew, there will be seven programs (the other six of them not at all "borderline") of U.S. films at this year's festival. This is no fewer than have screened at any SFSFF event except for last July's, when there were nine programs of American films. 

Though there are several relatively well-known titles among these seven, including closing night selection Safety Last! starring Harold Lloyd and The Patsy with Marion Davies and Marie Dressler (the festival's only feature being repeated from a prior festival, as it closed the 2008 festival on a high note), there are also films along the lines of The Valley of the Giants in that they're as yet unseen even by the most devoted fans of American silent cinema. Both The Half-Breed starring Douglas Fairbanks (shot in the redwoods of Santa Cruz County) and The Last Edition starring Ralph Lewis (shot in San Francisco) are newly restored by the festival itself in partnership with the European archives that held the only known prints of these American films: respectively, the Cinémathèque Française (which will also awarded the annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival Award at a screening of Jacques Feyder's Gribiche) and EYE Film Institute in Holland.

These partnerships reflect the fact that the silent era had the potential to be the most internationally cross-pollinating of all eras of film history, and in many regards it was. Watching a European or Japanese film with translated intertitles is barely any different from watching one made in the U.S. or U.K., and this made multi-continental careers all the more possible for the era's stars. So although for the first time ever the SFSFF opening night feature is a foreign one (the French Prix De Beauté), its star is the American Louise Brooks. Likewise Germany's The Joyless Street screens in the prime Saturday night slot (hopefully not as delayed a screening as in certain previous years) but stars a Swedish actor who is best known today for her Hollywood films: Greta Garbo. It's great to have a showcase like the SFSFF that intermixes films from Hollywood and from countries around the globe, letting us realize how universal the cinematic medium can feel.

The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum has a reputation for focusing the majority of its attention  on American silent film history, as is appropriate for an organization founded to particularly celebrate the legacy of the filmmakers who lived and worked in Niles itself. And indeed, by comparison only one of the six programs in next month's Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival (named for cowboy star "Broncho Billy" Anderson, who made films at and around his Niles studio precisely 100 years ago), is made up of films from abroad. But there's been an international flavor to the history of cinema since Britain's Eadweard Muybridge started photographing horses in motion in California in the 1870s. The most famous star to work at Niles was Charlie Chaplin (subject of his own Charlie Chaplin Days festival in Niles next weekend), who was of course British himself. And even a thoroughly American picture like The Valley of the Giants was directed by a man from Liverpool: Charles Brabin was born there and didn't emigrate to American until his was 18.

HOW: The Valley of the Giants screens on a bill with two shorts: Jimmie Adams and Doris Dawson in Swiss Movements and Charley Chase with Dog Shy, all in (I believe) 16mm prints, with Judy Rosenberg accompanying on piano.

Read The Full Article:
http://hellonfriscobay.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-valley-of-giants-1927.html

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Lourdes stops Madonna from partying

New York, May 26: Pop star Madonna's 16-year-old daughter Lourdes reportedly stopped her mother from attending a VIP night at Lincoln Center here.

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http://www.realbollywood.com/2013/05/lourdes-stops-madonna-partying.html

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HERCULES 3D First Poster; Scott Adkins Joins Cast

The upcoming Hercules 3D, starring Kellan Lutz, which is currently shooting in Bulgaria has released a first poster via Twitch, which you can see below along with a low-res poster from the Cannes Film Festival. Additionally, it seems Scott Adkins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) has joined the cast as King Amphitryon. Liam McIntyre (Spartacus) has also been confirmed to join the film, but in an unspecified role. Previous reports said that McIntyre would play a young army captain who becomes Hercules’ most trusted battlefield companion. Renny Harlin will direct the 3D feature film, which will go up against Brett Ratner-directed Hercules with Dwayne Johnson, from a script...

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http://www.filmofilia.com/hercules-3d-poster-scott-adkins-joins-cast-152807/

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Bradley Cooper not a good kisser

Los Angeles, May 26: After locking lips with Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper, his "Silver Linings Playbook" co-star Jennifer Lawrence told him he is a "wet kisser".

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http://www.realbollywood.com/2013/05/bradley-cooper-good-kisser.html

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Aditya Singhal wins 'India's Best Dramebaaz'

Mumbai, May 25: He was called "the silent one" on "India's Best Dramebaaz" (IBD), and 13-year-old Aditya Singhal's sheer talent helped him win the reality show meant for children in the age group of five to 15 years.

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http://www.realbollywood.com/2013/05/aditya-singhal-wins-indias-dramebaaz.html

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Tom Cruise Drops Out Of 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'

Tom Cruise is no longer starring in the movie adaptation of cult TV series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." According the The Hollywood Reporter, the actor's deal was never closed, and he walked away fro...

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http://www.starpulse.com/news/Noelle_Talmon/2013/05/25/tom_cruise_drops_out_of_th
e_man_from_u?ref_src=news_rss

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Fund These Films: New Features From Herschell
Gordon Lewis and Roger Corman

Two genre film legends are involved in new projects trying to raise money via Indiegogo, the major crowdfunding site that isn’t Kickstarter. Rather than pick only one of them and then wait a week to maybe write up the other, I decided to throw them together. Besides, those of you who are interested in one are likely interested in the other, too. And when dealing with low-budget masters like Herschell Gordon Lewis and Roger Corman, it’s appropriate to be efficient. Lewis’s project is called Zombificador, and it’s an anthology featuring five connected stories involving “big fat monsters with the ability of transforming people into savage creatures, to human-sized mutant bugs, along with talking puppets and silent psycho killers.” It’s promised to be the “goriest and grossest movie ever” from the 83-year-old director (best known for cult classics Two Thousand Maniacs!, Blood Feast and Monster a-Go Go), which is saying a lot. If you’re not familiar with the “Godfather of Gore,” you can read up on his significance and lesser-known work in Rob’s recent review of his lost films. The goal amount for Zombificador is $100,000, though the project is going with a Flexible Funding campaign, meaning it’ll get whatever money is pledged regardless of whether they reach the number listed. The hope is for the film to star horror vets Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects) and Michael Berryman (the original The Hills Have Eyes) along with other unannounced “gore icons.” Lewis is co-writing the film with young Spanish animation filmmaker

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FilmSchoolRejects/~3/j1QL9hr4YIY/fund-these-films-
new-features-from-herschell-gordon-lewis-and-roger-corman.php

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THE LONE RANGER 4 New Japanese Posters

Four fresh Japanese character posters for Disney’s The Lone Ranger have been released, featuring Armie Hammer as John Reid, Johnny Depp as Tonto, Helena Bonham Carter as Red Harrington and Tom Wilkinson as Latham Cole. As you might know, Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are bringing us a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. If you’re a fan of the Western, enjoy this while you can. The Lone Ranger also stars William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale and James Frain. The film hits theaters on July 3rd. 2013. Take...

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http://www.filmofilia.com/lone-ranger-4-japanese-posters-152794/

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Seen 'Star Trek: Into Darkness' & Need More Kirk
and Spock in Your Life 3 Suggestions To Keep Living The Prime Directive

If you finally had a chance to see Star Trek: Into Darkness this past week and are going through Kirk/Spock withdrawal, we?ve rounded up three things to keep you occupied until it?s either out on B...

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http://www.starpulse.com/news/Alan_Danzis/2013/05/25/seen_star_trek_into_darkness
_and_need_?ref_src=news_rss

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Cannes, Khan, Quicksilver and Arrested
Development Star in the 10 Best Movie Stories of the Week

There sure was a lot to talk about with a certain summer blockbuster this week. So much that this week’s Reject Recap is nearly half-filled with highlights of stuff written on Star Trek Into Darkness. And yes, the villain’s name comes up. It’s not a spoiler anymore. Everyone knows. And it doesn’t even matter if you know or not. Just like it doesn’t matter if Alice Eve has a gratuitous underwear scene or Benedict Cumberbatch has a shower scene if neither of them is otherwise an interesting character — and that’s a more worthwhile debate for this particular film, too. Anyway, I’ve spread the Trek links a bit, giving them the even alternating slots because there used to be (no longer, apparently) that rule that even-numbered Trek films were the good ones. Anything else happen in the past seven days? Well, our man in Cannes, Shaun Munro reviewed I think 400 movies, give or take a few. Arrested Development is returning this weekend so we had something fun to share related to that. And filmmaker Sean Hackett (Homecoming) shared a personal essay in the hopes of helping bullied movie fans out there. Two highlights come from outside the FSR gates this week, and as usual I invite you to suggest great writing on film to include here in the future. Because we can’t always cover everything, and I can’t always read everything. Oh, and one more great thing from the past week, which we humbly didn’t highlight among the ten:

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silver-and-arrested-development-star-in-the-10-best-movie-stories-of-the-week.php

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