Cinematic Era: 1921 Vintage

Silent newsreel footage shows noted British artist Louis Wain in this home

Guido Brignone attempts, rather curiously, the traditionally English whodunit (the overall plot, deduced from the news reports of the period, further highlights this aspect: the guests that have been invited to the lunch at which the solution is to be revealed are all possible suspects). But, above all, the mystery formula as a guarantee to melodramatic functioning, otherwise close to being worn-out, seems to have been one of the marks of the Torino company (e.g. Il quadro di Osvaldo Mars). The result, at least in this final reel, is truely interesting. Flash-backs, subjective takes, alternate editing, all seems to be used without dispersion and beyond that practice of contemplative lingering on the framing that characterizes much of the Italian cinema up to 1920. (Paola Cristalli)

Silent film.

Silent film

Italian silent film

A chemist uses ink poured into water; the water is filmed upside down, and an artist uses the swirling shapes as the basis of fanciful drawings.

The story of Captain Téllez and Lieutenant Doria, who have just completed their pilot training and are commissioned to take part in the battle against the rebels in Pachuca, Mexico. During the night, Doria is wounded and treated by Marina, the daughter of the rebel leader, Canillas. The rebels pursue both Doria and Marina, but they are rescued by Téllez, who escorts them to safety.

In Baja Mexico, poor shepherdess Isola Garcia agrees to marry aging rancher Don Pio Mendoza because he is dying and needs an heir for his fortune. She leaves the hacienda when she hears that bandits have raided her flock, and when a young American schooner captain, Paul Corbin, comes to her rescue, she falls in love.

Billy Ruge in a ugly courtship.

In this one, Snooky is the chauffeur for a family -- the family's children are played by the unknown child actors of A TRAY FULL OF TROUBLE. He is fired for smoking on the job and heads off, where he succors some scampish children who have fallen afoul of a gypsy.

With closeup footage of flies and simulations of their vision.

Silent American newsreel from Selznick news, preserved by the New Zealand Film Archives

Villagers create a Golem to do their labor.

After a drive through Amsterdam in a carriage, "Hadt-je-me-maar", dressed as a gentleman, takes his place as city-councillor in the Amsterdam Municipal Council, where he is warmly applauded by a group of female admirers led by his landlady, but cooly received by the city hall officials. Alas, this is only a dream, as the tramp realizes when he wakes up in his untidy bed in his lodging-house.

The women’s football team are bickering before the camera, giving each other digs with the elbows before the amused eye of their team leader. Further away, strapping men are rolling out the machines, while the referees are officiating in three piece suits. The classic sporting events (high jump, wrestling, sack race) rub shoulders with an unlikely form of boxing: two men confront one another sitting astride a beam. The last one to fall wins.

A wealthy bloater magnate looks for his lost son. His daughter sees a ragged man (Walter) at a construction site with the family birthmark and brings him home. Soon he finds himself in a strange dynamite duel with an excitable Frenchman.

A slapstick comedy featuring Sidney Smith & Harry McCoy.

The film "From Lima to Cerro de Pasco" was shot from the aircraft of the intrepid English aviator, Mr. Sison, by Mr. J.M. McGarrigle, who during the European war was in the service of the American government filming. This is undoubtedly the most important film made in Peru, judged both artistically and for its photographic perfection, which will make us admire the beautiful landscapes of the Andes.

Theater and Cinema Company.

Footage taken by Guilherme Rogato of the carnival in Maceió, Alagoas, in the 1920s.

Two men, flying ace Justin Strong and foreigner Montgomery Lyle are both in love with sportswoman Elsa Hope. Justin and Monty leave by motorcycle on a surveying trip and Monty leads his rival in the desert to die.

This reportage shows the royal ride from Amsterdam’s Central Station to Dam Square, on April 15, 1921. From the balcony of the Royal Palace, the Queen waves to her people. The family then visits an exhibition of South African art. We also see the family returning from a tour of the steamship Johan de Witt, and after their visit to the Stedelijk Museum.

Australian-New Zealand lost film about an interracial romance between a white Australian man and a Māori girl

On the beach, Pip, Squeak and Wilfred have their photo taken. Afterwards they climb a clifftop but drop their lunch over the top. Wilfred goes to rescue it, but is dropped into the sea by a seagull before being rescued. The trio decide to build a car to return to London. After it breaks down, they tie the remainder to a horse and continue the journey.

Documentary on Lotte Pritzel'd dolls

Little information is known about the nature of this film, it is considered lost.

Little information is known about the nature of this film, it is considered lost.

Join Lord and Lady Savile's shooting party for a day's sport and socialising on the moors near Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire It's a fine day at Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, and the Topical Budget newsreel cameras are along for some shooting and hobnobbing with Lord and Lady Savile. The often repetitive activities of the nobility were perennially popular with the newsreels, which erred on the side of the Establishment. This well-photographed item offers a fascinating glimpse at social life for the 1920s upper classes. The splendidly moustachioed Sir John Lumley-Savile, 2nd Baron Savile - seen descending the steps at the start and then shooting from a hide - is surprisingly sprightly given that he would have been nearly 70 at the time of this film. He was the illegitimate son of the 8th Earl of Scarbrough, and had his seat at Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire. His second wife, Esme Grace Virginia Wolton, is seen watching the men shoot.

Film about Ghost-Cat.

Newsreel depicting the first visit of Christian X, king of Denmark and Iceland, to Iceland in 1921. Iceland was from 1918 - 1944 a sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king.

1921 silent film about the Lost Colony at Roanoke, which was produced in Manteo, N.C., by Atlas Educational Film Co., as part of a series of films covering the earliest English Expeditions (1584-1591) in the U.S.

In this small fragment from the cartoon A Wonderful Dream, a rotund man pines for delicious stuff. First, he watches enviously through a keyhole at a clown who’s holding a party. Then a naughty decanter of water on the table conjurs up thoughts of neat whiskey. (stumfilm.dk)

Silent film

Adamson, a cartoon series created by Oscar Jacobson (1889-1945) featuring a middle-aged Swedish man smoking a cigar, began publication in the Turkish children's magazine Çocuk Sesi between 1934 and 1936. Its publication in Turkey likely served as inspiration for a Turkish short comedy film series, which was adapted into a film titled 'Bican Efendi' in 1921. However, due to the Turkish government's modernization reforms requiring the introduction of surnames, a surname was needed for 'Bican Efendi.' The character was renamed 'Bican Aktüre' after being given a surname!

Emile stylists (one is possibly Emile himself) demonstrate the latest in hair fashions. (British Pathé)

Eddie Boland & Ethel Broadhurst on a road trip encountering gypsies.