Essays, interviews, archives, and video resources on early cinema — curated reading on films, directors, and movements across the silent and early sound eras.
Essay analyzing Keaton's bank robbery comedy with elaborate props and supernatural comedy elements.
Analysis of this early sound biography and its historical inaccuracies alongside its artistic merits.
Library of Congress essay on Henry King's coming-of-age drama set in Appalachia with acclaimed cinematography.
Library of Congress essay on the first feature-length talkie.
Library of Congress preservation essay on Keaton's political chase comedy and police slapstick.
Analysis of Hawks' direction of World War I aviation drama and Academy Award-winning story.
Guide to Hitchcock's adaptation of Sean O'Casey's play and his frustrations with theatrical material.
Critical analysis of Griffith's pioneering gangster film and its innovative cinematography.
Critical essay on the film's visual composition and depiction of ancient Roman society.
Archive essay on Griffith's innovative editing techniques and narrative cross-cutting.
Criterion's analysis of this visually poetic Sternberg-Dietrich collaboration.
Analysis of Pabst's effective realism and brilliant use of sound in this anti-war film.
Historical examination of the film's creation of the gangster film genre.
Analysis of Hitchcock's second talkie and its theatrical staginess in cinematic adaptation.
Critical review examining the film's psychological themes and visual style.
Essay on Dreyer's dreamlike approach to horror and psychological terror in his first sound film.
Critical analysis of Chaplin's final Keystone production examining its dream-fantasy device and comic execution.
Festival resource on Hitchcock's directorial debut and early thematic concerns.
Criterion release with essay on Sternberg's direction of Dietrich in her triumphant American debut.
Festival resource on Browning's unique approach to grotesque cinema.
Analysis of Chaplin's screen debut of the Tramp character filmed at the 1914 Pushmobile Parade in Venice, California.
Festival analysis of Dupont's revolutionary mobile camera techniques.
Official preservation essay on this milestone film in Dietrich and Sternberg's collaboration.
Festival documentation of Kinugasa's pioneering avant-garde masterpiece.