Essays, interviews, archives, and video resources on early cinema — curated reading on films, directors, and movements across the silent and early sound eras.
Festival resource on Vidor's romantic tragedy and Gish's acclaimed performance.
Festival resource on Garbo and Gilbert's chemistry and film legacy.
Guide to Hitchcock's exploration of theatrical spaces and wrongful accusation themes.
Analysis of Hitchcock's innovative use of voice-over and sound design in this early talkie.
Critical essay on Chaplin's early comic performance and character development.
Criterion release with essay on this Weimar-era film by young filmmakers including Siodmak and Ulmer.
Essay examining Ozu's distinctive editing and compositional techniques in this family comedy.
Essay on how this film undermined big studios through minimal means and non-professional casting.
Criterion release with essay on Pabst's pacifist war film and its innovative sound design.
Analysis of the film's unique hybrid of documentary and fictional storytelling in Weimar Berlin.
Essay on this early Wayne western musical and its influence on the singing cowboy genre.
Essay examining the film's transgressive elements and cultural significance during Nazi era.
Scholarly essay placing the film within the context of early science fiction cinema.
Critical analysis of Sternberg's direction and Dietrich's iconic performance as Lola Lola.
Criterion's analysis of Lang's political thriller banned by the Nazi regime.
Book-length study of the film's relationship to mass culture and Dietrich's star image.
Scholarly essay examining the film's theatrical traditions and special effects innovations.
Review of this important war film that interprets and stretches the boundaries of aviation cinema.
Festival resource on one of cinema's greatest comedies.
Essay on Ford's Will Rogers comedy and its complex legacy of humor alongside racial insensitivity.
Historical analysis of the film's significance in developing narrative cinema techniques.
Critical perspective on Soviet cinema's approach to revolutionary narrative.
Essay on how the film uses Shirley Temple's innocence as counterpoint to adult corruption and crime.
Critical analysis of Ozu's transitional film blending silent melodrama with postwar formalism.