NitrateVille.com

Guess I've put this off long enough.

Honestly, I can't recall how I first heard of this site. Maybe it was bandied about on the Silent Film Lounge on Facebook. Or on the TCM message boards that I mostly (briefly) lurked on years ago. Either way, I finally signed up & am here now.

I grew up watching things like The Three Stooges & I Love Lucy as a kid. Yearly viewings of The Wizard of Oz as well as The Ten Commandments helped me love the classics.

Wish my first experience with a silent film was as crystal clear to me as some of you. The nearest I can remember was a late night viewing of Chaplin's A Burlesque On Carmen in my teens on PBS. It was a blur. I keep telling myself to watch that one again & it's been nearly 20 years. The reason? When I was in college I remember waking up at 3 am and turning on my old tube tv & the first thing I saw, as the screen warmed up, were the opening titles for Buster Keaton in The Cameraman. I'd never seen anything like it. Needless-to-say, it opened a door to a new world that I was more than happy to find, just as I am happy to have found this site.

Katie

Hello

I'm Emma Mortimore, Producer of the Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema, Scotland's only festival of silent cinema, which takes place each March in Scotland's oldest purpose-built cinema, the 104-year-old Hippodrome in Bo'ness, 16 miles north west of Edinburgh.

Our 7th edition will take place from 22nd-26th March 2017 and the Festival is anything but silent, with all screenings accompanied live by a line-up of acclaimed international silent film musicians. We show a range of classic and rare films and feature outdoor pop-up screenings, a 'Speakeasy', workshops and talks.

You can read more at http://www.hippfest.co.uk and see a short film about last year's Festival. For updates, like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/silentcinemafestival and/or follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/HippFestScot

We're currently raising money to buy a new piano too: http://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hippfestpiano

I don't claim to have a huge knowledge of the silent cinema world, but I'm passionate about it and love discovering new information.

Greetings All-

I am new to Nitrateville, and wanted to make a brief introduction before chiming in on some excellent, existing threads, and possibly starting one or two new ones with details related to a film search project I have embarked upon- a path which I see is quite similar to many others here.

I found my way to Nitrateville in my search for the lost films of silent filmmaker & “star” Billy B. Van. I have read with interest JFK’s post in "Lost and Neglected Comics, Comedy Scripters, & Directors.” Also, his discussion quite some time ago, along with a few others, about R.C. Cropper and Reelcraft (in this thread) has filled in an incredible amount of the Reelcraft story that I have seen nowhere else. Truly an interesting and valuable find.

I am a film archivist, and run a film transfer studio in New Hampshire for clients both large and small. I also happened to have spent quite a bit of time on the waters of Lake Sunapee in NH, where Billy had a casino and movie studio, and where he made films of his own, and for Reelcraft. Once I found this out, it became apparent that I really had no choice but to pick up the trail, with the hope that the found films will be a rich and treasured bit of local history.

To that aim, we did an intensive search about Billy's filmmaking career over at the Media History Digital Library, and, from that, built a new site which lists what we believe to be all of Billy's known films- made both by him and in partnership with Reelcraft (and a few others). We have also put together a timeline of his film career, all intended to be a resource for those interested in Billy B. Van and silent film, as well as a research tool for those who may have leads on locating and preserving these unique local historical artifacts.

The trail of Billy's films clearly leads to the hands of Reelcraft, then the Export Import Film Company, and also Miller and Steen Distributors.

In the process of the search, I have spent quite a bit of time talking with the Newport, New Hampshire Historical Society, who have recently published a new book about Billy (for you serious fans out there), and his time in Newport later in life. Last Summer, a new headstone was placed, with some fanfare, at his grave by a local benefactor.

I have been in the motion picture archives business for 20+ years, and am a member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists. Through AMIA I happen to know quite a few folks in the film archives world- some of whom I see are also members here. I announced the search for Billy's lost films at AMIA's annual conference last month, where I had the chance to to say a quick hello to David Pierce (our Media History Digital Library maven), and also got some exciting interest from folks at the Library of Congress, where a thorough search for Billy's films will get underway in earnest early next year.

2017 will also hopefully include a trip to one or 2 of the silent film festivals ("Mostly Lost" at the L.O.C., and the San Francisco Silent film Festival) to further spread the word of our search.

In addition to the avenues above, I am also interested in touching base with the silent film enthusiast communities on the web, as they often have knowledge (like about Reelcraft here)- or even films- not available anywhere else. To that end, I have come here, and thought introducing myself to everybody would be a good first step. I look forward to making connections here, and have been enjoying lurking for some time to get a sense of what everyone is up to.

I should note that Billy’s minstrel, vaudeville and Broadway career is fairly well documented, but outside the scope of of this particular project. Billy’s IMDb and WikiPedia pages appear to be active and updated with some frequency for those interested in more of Billy’s long and interesting career(s) outside of film.

I will surely stay in touch on here on this thread- but my hope/plan is to post more of our information and questions in relevant forums and existing threads to keep the discussions/questions/ideas contained in their appropriate places.

Many thanks to you all in advance for any info & advice, and will see you in the threads!

My best-

- John Tariot

My name is Chester Berne, even though I've been going by luluthebeast for at least a couple of decades now at various forums. Westegg (even though I haven't seen him in introductions) told me about this forum as we've both been on Scarlet Street for a long time now. Unfortunately I don't think that's going to be around long.

My main interests are monster, science fiction and Japanese movies of any year. There are a lot more but I won't list them all here.

I failed to introduce myself when I first signed on in 11/16 to this site.

My name is Dana and I am a grandson of Mark Hamilton, character actor during the silent film era @1919 to 1929. The details of his career and why he left Hollywood are a bit unclear (divorce ? blacklisted? or no work?) and I have taken on the task for the family to research his career and collect information and make it public to increase the awareness of who he was. His two brothers also worked in Hollywood, Edward was a boom tech and sound assistant in the early 30's for films with sound and his youngest brother was Joseph Hamilton who was a regular on the TV serials and B movies as a character actor from 1954-1964. Both Grandpa Mark and Uncle Joe were military veterans (Army WW1 and Navy post war WW1 respectively) and had vaudeville experience prior to their film careers.

My granny used to tell me to pay attention and not sneeze when watching the only two films that she knew of that he was in, Riders of the Purple Sage and Sparrows, as you will miss the scenes he was in. I don't think she or my mom had any idea how many different films (49 credits and counting) he appeared in and MY QUEST is to thoroughly research his career.

I look forward to contributing to this site to also assist others and gain camaraderie with all of the esteemed members on this site as my main goal is to upload all of his work to the internet and restore any stills and 35 mm nitrate that my family still has and share it with the public through my own funding.
Warm regards, Dana.

Hello, I'm Adam!

I've finally signed up to NitrateVille after lurking in the shadows for some time. I'm not an expert or professional invovled in film, just a fan with a keen interest. I have quite a few other interests too, which is perhaps why I haven't found the time to research films as deeply as I otherwise would (I could easily let it take over my life).

I've always enjoyed silent films since being allowed to stay up late watching Charlie Chaplin on TV as a little kid, but, while I've always kept that interest, I'd only watch the occasional silent movie each year, as I grew up (more than most people, but far fewer than most people here!). I also have a lifelong interest in animation, which is the area where I've watched the most films, read the most books and done the most research. I am now an illustrator, working own on my own storybooks. Certainly my love of classic cartoons comes through in my own work, and the silent movie influence must be in there too (my favourite cartoons share many of the same sensibilities as silent comedies).

For Christmas, I received the new Complete Short Films of Buster Keaton BluRay set (the UK Lobster edition with the little book). Devouring the contents of this gift is what has pushed me over the edge. Receiving so many wonderful films at once, I'm hooked. I want to learn eveything about them and then, beyond that, watch the features, re-discover the Chaplin films, learn about the comedians I know little about, watch more of the films of the great silent directors... I better stop. I could ramble on a list that goes on and on.

Anyway, it's great to be here and thanks for having me!

Welcome out of the shadows!

-Craig

Sir Henry here deciding to dip a toe into the lagoon, a huge Keaton, Chaplin, Lloyd fan extending this to Will Hay, Phil Silvers and other legends such as Nat Hiken, Marx Bros and Gene Wilder.

Too young at 57 to appreciate vaudeville at the time I am a huge admirers of British vaudevillians such as Frank Randle, Dan Young, Betty Jumel and the hilarity they brought to the masses sometimes four times a day, hoping to be educated further by the esteemed members here!

TTFN

Sir Henry

Adam J wrote: I want to learn eveything about them and then, beyond that, watch the features, re-discover the Chaplin films, learn about the comedians I know little about, watch more of the films of the great silent directors... I better stop. I could ramble on a list that goes on and on.

Yep, that's how it starts. Don't worry, you're in good company.

Don't know how it took me this long to get the intro done, but here goes:

Claus Harding, born in Denmark, lived there for 20 years before moving to Washington DC for college (then marriage and work.)

When I was a teen, I was already getting to be a Sentimental Old So-and-So, watching British music-hall shows on TV, and also discovering my love of cinema. The big moment came for me (as for many) when I read "The Parade's Gone By". In '75 in Denmark there were no chances of seeing the films, but I looked at the marvelous stills in the book and just knew one day I would watch these masterpieces. "King Kong" became a life-long obsession then, too, after I had bawled my eyes out over his death the first time I saw the film.
Started doing still photography at 14, Super-8mm film at 15 and by college I knew I wanted to work in media. Moving to the US in 1980, I gobbled up silents, shorts, horror, anything vintage that was on TV in those days, along with what my college classes offered.
Since then, I have been working as a broadcast videographer while collecting some Super-8 and 16mm, in addition to piles of Blu-Rays from all the usual suspects.

I watched "Napoleon" at the Kennedy Center in 1981. I could not imagine I would be going to SF to see the Brownlow version with Carl Davis some 30 years later, and have a chance to finally shake hands with Mr. Brownlow and say "thank you" for all his inspiration.

Twice a year (April 29th this time) I go to a small film-collecting event in Wildwood, NJ called ""Cinesea". We are a group of film buffs who will run anything as long as it is on reels. I would love to go to more of the silent-oriented shows; time will tell...

Very glad to be here; I enjoy the wit and wisdom in equal measure.

Claus

Its taken me a bit to formally introduce myself but here I am. better late than never, I guess.

I'm Joe Christina, hailing from southern NJ by way of Philly. From a professional standpoint, I'm an It solutions consultant in healthcare.

On to the important stuff: I grew up with a facination for Lon Chaney, fueled by Famous Monsters of Filmland and PBS. It just got worse as I got older but I didn't have much outlet for it. In the late 90s I found the alt.movie.silents board and that was an eye-opeing education on the multiplicitious (I think that's a word) facets of silents: the hunt for lost films, the craft of preservation, and the facinating characters that populated Hollywood I those early days. I lurked and I learned. I found out about Nitrateville after mentioning a.m.s. on FB.

I attended Cinefest for several years and claim the title of being the first person to tweet about it. (Possibly true) I mourn its passing every March. I've also attended a few others on the East coast; never made it out West or Toronto but hope to one day.

These days I have a little FB page devoted to silents/precode/early stuff called The Flickers. I like doing research, so rather than just throw up stills I try and add context to them. I've tried my hand at writing some longer pieces but haven't found an outlet for those. I'm really glad to find this forum; some of the more "serious" discussions I missed from a.m.s. never seemed appropriate for the Wild West that is FB.

I look forward to reading and hopefully contributing now that I'm older and a little more "well-seasoned."

Joe

Hello movie lovers, Thx here.

Nice to be at the forum, I have watched classic film sporadically all my life, when I was a kid my favorite movie was "Boy's Town."

But it wasn't until the mid-1980s that I really started to appreciate classic movies, we always watched the Family Film Festival on KTLA channel 5, and I also managed to catch Movies 'til Dawn many nights, my favorite genre is "fim noir" or just plain old "crime drama."

About the mid-1980s I got cable and enjoyed AMC with Bob Dorian for years, but noticed that eventually they were starting to skew the definition of "classic" and were starting to include movies like "Ferris Buehler's Day Off."

So I went to TCM and they were okay for a few years, but I notice they were going the same way as AMC, so I dropped my cable all together and went to Roku, I use the Plex channel to toss youtube vids to my big screen and put them on disk... in three years I believe I am up to about 4000 disks, these I burn for about 30 cents a piece, and they are all commercial-free!

In the early 1990s I started reading Hollywood bios, all the ones I could get my hands on from the public libraries, more than 100 of the biggest stars, a mogul or two and a few production people like Dore Schary.

But that was a long time ago and I have probably forgotten most of it, but I do remember the best stories.

I guess what I like are the "transitions"... A stars first break, the ascent to stardom, the rags to riches, then often the riches to rags, one of my favorite stories is that of Louise Brooks, (and I see you have a scene from "Beggars Of Life" at the top of the forum^ good choice!)

The first Hollywood bio I read was "The Ragman's Son" by Kirk Douglas.

Lately (the last three years) I have been trying to expand my appreciation and base of knowledge into the silent era, to me that was some of the most interesting history, I love that doc from 1980 "Hollywood."

The TCM doc "Moguls and Movie Stars" was also very good, but what I liked about "Hollywood" was the fact that you had first hand accounts from so many who were actually there.

It is slow going though for the silents.

Right now my latest project is to finish a bookshelf DVD collection of "essentials," and A-list pictures of a high quality recording, no pixling or framing or any of the numerous digital maladies that ruin so many fine films.

And again, nice to be here and looking forward to learning and sharing ever more about classic film!

Thx

Hey guys! I just joined this place minutes ago, and I'm excited to be gete and talk to people who share my passion

Well I'm a Teenage boy who has a fascination with really old stuff from the early 20th century. Especially entertainment things. I'm quite obsessed with the movies, music, and fashion of the 1890's through early 40's. I think I first got into silent movies when I was about 4 years ago, but it was only this year I became SUPER obsessed with them. I've taken a liking for Roscoe Arbuckle's work and eventually Laurel and Hardy. So far, I've seen about 30-50 different silent films of various genres. I just find silent movies really "magical" to watch, for lack of a better term. It's nice to get a glimpse of a time long gone. I found this place by randonly searching for silent film forums, after being told those exist by the person who runs MoviesSilently.com. I was excited to see haha! Outside of classical film obsession, I really love studying languages, Art, and Astronomy.

RoscoeOllieFan1929 wrote:Hey guys! I just joined this place minutes ago, and I'm excited to be gete and talk to people who share my passion :D

Well I'm a Teenage boy who has a fascination with really old stuff from the early 20th century. Especially entertainment things. I'm quite obsessed with the movies, music, and fashion of the 1890's through early 40's. I think I first got into silent movies when I was about 4 years ago, but it was only this year I became SUPER obsessed with them. I've taken a liking for Roscoe Arbuckle's work and eventually Laurel and Hardy. So far, I've seen about 30-50 different silent films of various genres. I just find silent movies really "magical" to watch, for lack of a better term. It's nice to get a glimpse of a time long gone. I found this place by randonly searching for silent film forums, after being told those exist by the person who runs MoviesSilently.com. I was excited to see haha! Outside of classical film obsession, I really love studying languages, Art, and Astronomy.

Combine them all with George's Melies!

Bob

I read this entire thread yesterday and concluded it mightn’t be too intrusive if I briefly introduced myself.

I’m not a professional in the field. In fact, I teach philosophy. That means, when I’m not watching them, I like to read the sort of things Stanley Cavell, Noël Carroll, and Stephen Mulhall have to say about films, even if what I work on myself doesn’t really overlap.

Time-constraints and, for different reasons, my location offer little in the way of opportunities for the sort of film-related dynamism many others here manage. I’m more of the record-keeping type anyway. This is perhaps partly a result of relatively limited exposure. I know, for example that I’ve watched only, but exactly 140 silents.

My tastes do run early though: from, say, Bauer to the Apu-trilogy. I tend to watch a lot of Dreyer, Epstein, Sjöstrom, and Murnau. Frequently, and repeatedly.

So, there we are. It’s a pleasure to be here.