EARTH (1930, SOVIET UNION), CHESS FEVER (1925, SOVIET UNION)

Earth

"Alexander Dovzhenko's ode to the beginning of collectivization in the Ukraine is a riot of delirious imagery of swaying wheat fields, ripening fruits, and stampeding horses. The arrival of a tractor is greeted with joy by the peasants who begin to imagine new lives for themselves, but surviving landowners try to assassinate the inspiring young head of the party's village committee. His death, though, only makes the viallagers stronger in their resolve; in a mind boggling finale, Dovzhenko brings together themes of birth, harvest, progress and solidarity as the dead man is reunited with the land he loved so well."-Richard Pena, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Workers of the world...you have nothing to lose but your tractors...but if you lose your tractors, you lose your means of production...and if you lose your means of production, you lose your livelihood and if you lose your means of livelihood...you may lose your life. This is collectivism at it's most inspirational, comrades. I first saw this movie thirty years ago and it is a powerful silent piece regardless of your political point of view.-Comrade Cox, 1001: A Film Odyssey

Chess Fever

After all the heavy films of the Soviet silent era, I decided to end the with a comedy called Chess Fever. This is a funny short film about a man whose addiction to chess is causing all sorts of problems between him and his fiance. Many of the gags are well done and it speaks comically to the Russian obsession during this period (and still today) with the game. It even features a supporting role for the then current World Chess Champion Jose Raul Capablanca!-Comrade Cox, 1001: A Film Odyssey

Until next time, comrades!

PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928, FRANCE), DOCKS OF NEW YORK (1928), THE CROWD (1928), STORM OVER ASIA (1928, RUSSIA)

1928

"It is a painful irony that silent movies were driven out of existence just as they were reaching a kind of glorious summit of creativity and imagination, so that some of the best silent movies were also some of the last ones."-Bill Bryson, One Summer: America, 1927

I was looking at some original film critiques from the  New York Times Film Reviews and thought I would share some of the original thoughts on some films from 1928 from that source.

The Passion of Joan of Arc

 "In The Passion of Joan of Arc, M. Carl Dreyer has produced a singularly arresting and original film, which will certainly be much discussed. He presents the heroine in the new realistic manner as an inspired peasant girl, without the gaudy trappings of legend, and the figure he makes of her is no unworthy companion to the stage picture drawn by Bernard Shaw."-W. L. Middleton, New York Times Film Reviews, August 12, 1928.

The Docks of New York

"Nine-tenths of the persons seeing the Paramount's offering this week will like it. Perhaps the most serious objections the other tenth will have are that The Docks of New York is a little too long and that it has an anti-climax. The picture as a whole is good, however, with able acting and occasional bits of exceptional directing."-Mordaunt Hall, New York Times Film Reviews, September 17, 1928.

Storm Over Asia

"Excellent photography and sterling work by the eminently suitable cast are the conspicuous assets of Vsevolod Pudovkin's silent cinematic contribution, Storm Over Asia...There is, however, much that is compelling in this production in the early scenes, but in the closing episodes it becomes hysterical and absurd events occur, including a man, who through injuries, is hardly able to move around, suddenly becoming a veritable Samson."-Mordaunt Hall, New York Times Film Reviews, September 28, 1930.

The Crowd

"The Crowd is on the whole, a powerful analysis of a young couple's struggle for existence in this city. Throughout this subject, Mr. Vidor shrewdly avoids the stereotyped conception of setting forth scenes and in more than one case he uses the camera in an inspired fashion."-Mordaunt Hall, New York Times Film Reviews, February 20, 1928.

 "The last full year of Hollywood's silent era, 1928, produced some of its greatest masterpieces,"-Martin Ruben, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

"I do wish silent films had endured as an art form alongside the "talkies." But let us enjoy the ones that still survive."-Chris Cox, 1001: A Film Odyssey