#film history

[esperderek]

Hbomberguy did a pretty good job pointing out how Somerton has tried to take up the air of modern queer creators, stealing the works they made to little or no money or exposure, and using them to bolster his own fame. It's a truly reprehensible act.

But I feel like it's also important to briefly touch on what he stole from the past.

The Celluloid Closet is a backbone text on queerness and cinema. Like, if you're at all interested in the subject, please read the book, and watch the doc. Yes, the language will be outdated. It was written in 1981 and the doc published in 1995. Language evolves. I was fortunate enough to both read the book and see the documentary in the early 2000s, when I attended university.

It was written by Vito Russo, who held a Masters in film and a desire to fight for queer rights after witnessing the Stonewell riots. The Celluloid Closet was first a live lecture presentation, then a book. He would try to get the book made into a documentary in the early years, and after he died, others picked up that torch to carry on his work and to pay respect to the man.

Vito Russo was also one of the co-founders of GLAAD. He was a co-founder of ACT UP. You may have, if you've watched documentaries or seen news stories about the AIDS crisis, seen parts of his speech, Why We Fight. He protested, advocated, and educated even as people he knew and loved died, and he himself was dying.

As Hbomberguy notes in his doc, he would go on to pass in 1990. This was a man who fought his ass off, even while dying, for a better tomorrow and better representation.

The fact that Somerton stole his work is beyond insulting to the queer history, and queer film history, that he purports to give a shit about.

#hbomberguy #james somerton #queer history #film history #lgbtqiia+ #vito russo

[lackadaisycal-art]

Puttin on the riiiiiiiitz 🧟‍♂️

#young frankenstein #gene wilder #art #fan art #illustration #marty feldman #mel brookes #teri garr #horror #camp #70s #comedy #film history #slapstick #frankenstein

[anatomicalmartyr]

some rare and gorgeous mugshots photos of Conrad Veidt as Cesare the Somnambulist in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari which I sadly don't know the original source or context for

#conrad veidt #cesare the somnambulist #the cabinet of dr. caligari #if anyone has more info about them please tell me! #das cabinet des dr. caligari #german expressionism #silent cinema #classic horror #goth #gothic #beauty #horror #horror cinema #film #film history #my posts #hulderposts

[zeldahime]

Happy public domain day!

Some notable things that entered the public domain in the US today are:

The Jazz Singer, the first “talkie” or movie with sound

The first three Hardy Boys books

The last two Sherlock Holmes stories

The Lodger, Alfred Hitchcock’s first film

And all other works published in 1927 and unpublished works whose authors died in 1952!

#public domain #happy new year #copyright #the hardy boys #Sherlock Holmes #film history #alfred hitchcock #the original version of this post incorrectly listed Steamboat Willie! #that error has been rectified #it doesn’t enter until next year

[spirk-trek]

Arlene Martel as T'Pring, S2E1 of Star Trek, 1967

#star trek #t'pring #so so so gay for her #she's soooo beautiful #star trek tos #the original series #vulcan #amok time #spock #pon farr #tos #captain kirk #spirk #actress #film history #1960s #screencaps #my edit

[amatesura]

Les résultats du féminisme (1906) | dir. Alice Guy-Blaché

#alice guy-blaché #alice guy blaché #alice guy #filmedit #filmgifs #classicfilmedit #worldcinemaedit #film history #silent film era #silent film #1900's #*

[arconinternet]

Fifty-Five Hollywood Online Interactive Kits (Windows 3.1, Hollywood Online, 1994/1995/1996)

You can play them in your browser here.

Edit: my mistake, they're for WIndows 3.1, emulated in DOSBox.

#internet archive #windows 3.1 #old software #computer history #computing history #movie #movies #movie history #film history #press kit #multimedia #1994 #1995 #1996 #1990s #90s

[fuckyeahhistorycrushes]

Tamara Wiszniewska (1919-1981) - Polish actress

Tamara Wiszniewska was born on December 19, 1919 in Dubno, Poland (now a region in western Ukraine) on the banks of the Ikva River. It was here that she spent her younger years during which she picked up dancing, which eventually led her to her career in film. In her 1981 obituary in the Democrat & Chronicle, it was reported that Tamara, at age 15, “Was a ballet dancer, when German film director Paul Wegener discovered her and gave her a role in the historical film, August der Starke (August the Strong)” which premiered in 1936. This German/Polish co-production is a biographical look into the life of Augustus II, ruler of Saxony and Poland-Lithuania from 1694-1733. Although Tamara played only a small role it marked her debut and eventual rise to fame within the Polish film industry.

Following her appearance in August der Starke, Tamara appeared in thirteen other films between 1936 and 1939, including Trójka Hultajska (The Trio Hultajska, 1937), Ordynat Michorowski (Ordinate Michorowski, 1937), and Kobiety nad Przepaścią (Women Over the Precipice, 1938). Wladyslaw (Walter) Mikosz, Tamara’s future husband, produced two of these films. In an interview, Tamara and Walter’s daughter, Irene, states that, "The two met because of their film careers, and were married [late that same year] in 1937".

Life for the Mikoszs was happy for a time. Tamara continued to pursue her acting career through 1938 and 1939 and had welcomed a new born daughter into the world alongside her husband, Wladyslaw. Unfortunately, these happy times did not last long as the Mikosz family experienced the rise of Nazi Germany and their occupation of Poland in 1939 during World War II. The following excerpt from an interview with Tamara in a 1974 Times Union tells how drastically their lives were changed:

"I always played a rich spoiled girl who had lovely clothes, and for a short time I lived that kind of life too. It was a short, beautiful life that ended when the Germans took over Poland in 1939. We were wealthy and the toast of the town then. We’d go to Prague and Vienna just to see an opera or to play in the casinos. When the Germans came, my intuition told me I should have something on me to exchange. I sewed my jewelry into my clothes. Later, it bought us passes to freedom and bread so we were never hungry."

The German occupation of Poland during World War II brought then “beautiful” life of the Mikosz family to an end. Gone were their illustrious careers in film and the rewards that such a life had brought to them. In a later interview, Irene mentioned that her mother "was preparing to sign a contract for a film career in Hollywood, but Hitler’s invasion of Poland derailed the plans". Sadly, Tamara’s last appearance on the silver screen was in 1939 prior to the invasion of Hitler’s Germany; she never again starred in any films.

Although her dreams had been crushed, Tamara and her family did not lose hope. They made the best of their current situation, and were able to survive by selling the fruits of their labors that they harvested during their days in the film industry; their lives had been consumed with a fight to survive rather than a dream to thrive. However, not being ones to live quiet lives, the Mikoszs volunteered for the Polish Underground, the exiled Polish government that fought to resist German occupation of Poland during World War II. As civilians with backgrounds in film, Tamara and Walter were most likely engaged in spreading Polish nationalistic and anti-German propaganda. Such efforts of the civilian branch of the Polish Underground was in support of what Jan Kamieński refers to as "small sabotage" in his book, Hidden in the Enemy's Sight: Resisting the Third Reich from Within: "In contrast of major sabotage, the idea of small sabotage was to remind the German occupiers of an enduring Polish presence, to ensure that they felt a constant sense of unease and generally undermine their self-confidence". While attending to these duties within the Underground, the Mikosz family was separated and shipped off to separate countries: Tamara and her daughter, Irene, to Czechoslovakia (where Tamara’s parents had been sent) and Walter to Bavaria. The family was not reunited until 1945, when they were sent to the same refugee camp in Bavaria. The Mikoszs remained in the Bavarian refugee camp until the year 1950, in which they emigrated to the United States of America. Tamara and Walter lived quiet lives in Rochester, NY after arriving from a war-torn Europe, and did so until they passed away.

Although they have long since passed away from this Earth, the stories of the Polish film star, Tamara, and her film-producer husband, Wladyslaw Mikosz, will live on so long as there are people around to tell it.

#history #history crushes #submission #tamara wiszniewska #polish #actress #film history #1930s #30s #old hollywood #women in film #women in history #poland #wwii #world war 2 #ww2 #ww2 history #old movies #old phography #20th century

[stevebuscemieyes]

Jurassic Park was released 30 years ago today.

Jurassic Park, June 11 1993

Dir. Steven Spielberg

#jurassic park #steven spielberg #jurassic #dino #dinosaur #horror #movie #film #reblog #film history #today in film #90s nostalgia #90s movies #1990s #followforfollowl4l #follow me #likeforlove #likeforme #follow #like for fun #like this #like #behind the curtain #behind the scenes #behind the magic #visual effects #vfx #sfx #movie magic #set photos

[bobbyhasstardust]

Buster Keaton sewing the dragon used in the Chinatown war scene in The Cameraman (1928)

#buster keaton #black and white #1920s #vintage #silent film #vintage hollywood #aesthetic #film history #the cameraman #he slayed

[vintage-ukraine]

Ukrainian singer Oleksandr Vertynskyi, Ukrainian film actress Vera Kholodna, and Mexican-Russian film director Arcady Boytler posing together in Odesa, 1916

#Oleksandr Vertynskyi #Vera Kholodna #Arcady Boytler #Odesa #ukraine #Ukrainian #vintage photography #1910s #film history

[gael-garcia]

El Crimen del Padre Amaro (2002, Carlos Carrera) 🇲🇽

With release delayed a few months to avoid collision with the Pope's visit, around the time the Catholic church was being exposed for pedophilia all over the world, the film broke box office records in Mexico after the country’s Catholic leadership and conservative / anti-abortion groups tried to ban it, driving even more people to see it.

It proceeded to be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards and won Best Picture at the Ariel Awards.

#the crime of father amaro #el crimen del padre amaro #gael garcia bernal #gael garcía bernal #mexican cinema #ana claudia talancón #carlos carrera #dailyworldcinema #film #filmedit #filmgifs #easter blogging #mexico #film history #ggbedit #gifs #mmm the blasphemies #latin american new wave #mexican new wave #that alchemy that timing

[racefortheironthrone]

Was the Comics Code as bad as the Hays Code?

That's a really good question!

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "as bad" - are we talking about the overall impact of the Code on American pop culture or are we talking about the actual content of the Code and what it banned and/or mandated in terms of artistic expression?

I've written a little bit about the Hays Code here, but my main focus was on subtextual judaism in Hollywood generally rather than what the Code was and what its impact on American cinema was.

So what did the Hays Code actually include?

One of the few positive things you can say about it is that the men who devised it were quite clear and forthright about what would and wouldn't be allowed, in comparison to the vagueness and inconsistency of the modern MPAA. So here's the list of what couldn't be shown:

Pointed profanity—by either title or lip—this includes the words God, Lord, Jesus, Christ (unless they be used reverently in connection with proper religious ceremonies), Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd, and every other profane and vulgar expression however it may be spelled; (You'll notice that the Code is very much a snapshot of the transition from silent movies to "talkies," with the discussion of how profanity is spelled as well as produced via "lip.")

Any licentious or suggestive nudity—in fact or in silhouette; and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture;

The illegal traffic in drugs;

Any inference of sex perversion; (i.e anything having to do with LGBT+ people and culture. For more on the impact of the Hays Code on the LGBT+ community, see the excellent documentary the Celluloid Closet.)

White slavery; (the 1920s version of sex trafficking, but with added racism!)

Miscegenation;

Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;

Scenes of actual childbirth—in fact or in silhouette;

Children's sex organs;

Ridicule of the clergy;

Willful offense to any nation, race or creed; and (this one was really honored in the breach more than the observance when it came to nations, races, and creeds of non-dominant groups in society.)

The following things could be shown, but "special care be exercised in the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the end that vulgarity and suggestiveness may be eliminated and that good taste may be emphasized:"

The use of the Flag;

International Relations (avoid picturizing in an unfavorable light another country's religion, history, institutions, prominent people and citizenry); (again, depended a lot on what country you're talking about.)

Arson;

The use of firearms;

Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, et cetera (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed description of these may have upon the moron); (I guess the idea was that the MPPDA believed very strongly in the idea that media could affect people's behavior through imitation, but the use of the word "moron" gives me eugenics vibes.)

Brutality and possible gruesomeness;

Technique of committing murder by whatever method;

Methods of smuggling;

Third-Degree methods; (i.e, torture)

Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for crime; Sympathy for criminals; (this was a big one; Hollywood had done very well from gangster films, so a lot of creators had to do some careful threading of the needle to keep the genre alive. One dodge that they came up with was that they would have a duplicate "final reel" in which the gangster would have their inevitable comeuppance, and then remove the final reel when the censors had left the theater. Very popular with white rural teens.) Attitude toward public characters and institutions; (again, Hollywood shifting from being anti- to pro-establishment.)

Sedition;

Apparent cruelty to children and animals;

Branding of people or animals;

The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;

Rape or attempted rape;

First-night scenes; (i.e, wedding nights)

Man and woman in bed together; (hence the eventual TV practice of showing married couples in separate beds in the 50s)

Deliberate seduction of girls;

The institution of marriage;

Surgical operations;

The use of drugs;

Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing officers;

Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or the other is a "heavy".

So in general, we can say that the Hays Code was extremely sex-negative, very concerned about crime and anti-establishment thinking, sexist, racist, and homophobic, and in general afraid of offending anybody.

So what about the Comics Code Authority?

So this is what the Comics Code looked like in 1954:

Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals. If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.

Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.

Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.

Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.

No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.

All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.

Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.

Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.

Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.

Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.

Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.

Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.

Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.[16]

You'll notice the similarities when it comes to the Codes' attitude to sex, sexuality, crime, and symbols of authority - so to answer the first part of your question, I would say the CCA was pretty similar to the Hays Code (in part because Charles F. Murphy, who drew it up, was deeply unoriginal and basically cribbed off the Hays Code throughout).

However, there are also some significant areas of difference that have a lot to do with the unique circumstances of the 1950s moral panic over comics. See, in the 1950s, superhero comics were considered deeply uncool and old hat - they had been huge in the 40s during the war, but by the 50s the biggest genre in comics were horror, crime, and romance comics (with cowboy comics bringing up the rear). To quote myself from another post:

"This gave rise to a moral panic in the 1950s, although more accurately it was part of the larger moral panic over juvenile delinquency. The U.S Senate established a Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee in 1953 to investigate the causes of juvenile delinquency and comics became a major target. While Wertham’s book is best known today for its assertions that Batman and Robin were teaching young boys to be gay and Wonder Woman was teaching young girls to be lesbians, the main focus of the Subcommittee [edit mine: and Wertham's academic work] was on horror and crime comics for their depiction of sex, violence, and “subversive” attitudes to law and order."

The CCA made it impossible to publish two of the most popular genres in the industry for a generation (the CCA relaxed its stance on horror stuff a bit in the 70s, which is why Marvel trend-chased werewolves and vampires the moment they could get away with it), which not only scrambled the medium (and potentially created space for the Silver Age of superhero comics to flourish) but drove the former titan EC Comics practically out of business. (Indeed, William Gaines of EC Comics believed that the CCA had been specifically worded to drive him out of business.)

So in some ways, the CCA was worse.

#subtexual judaism #cultural history #film history #hays code #comics #comics meta #comics code authority #cinema

[anatomicalmartyr]

rip 1920′s Conrad Veidt fangirls, you would have loved 2020′s tumblr

#conrad veidt #the hands of orlac #the indian tomb #the cabinet of dr. caligari #horror #eroticism #dark eroticism #classic horror #film history #classic cinema #silent cinema #men #cesare the somnambulist #demon lover #my posts

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Star Wars "Prop" found after 46 Years

You may remember the "Krayt Dragon" seen in the original Star Wars film when C3P0 and R2D2 arrive on the planet Tatooine:

The scene, filmed in 1976, reportedly involved actor Anthony Daniels in costume as C3P0, and a large prop skeleton made of foam. The fake skeleton was left in the desert after filming. But last year, an odd fact came to light: The scene listed in Lucasfilm's records was NOT the one seen in the final film.

According to Lucas sibling and then-assistant-director Billy Bob Lucas Jr., the prop shipped to Tunisia for filming and later rediscovered by famed film archaeologist D.W. Reynolds in the 1990s was deemed "too small" to be compelling, and filming was delayed. Indeed, records newly unloaded at Disney's "Michael Eisner Memorial Cinematic Preservation Site" (a small incinerator in their basement) list the actual filming location as 20 miles south of where the original shoot was to have been filmed.

A small group of traveling Star Wars fans known as "Trekkies" headed to the site shortly after and found what they believed to be the actual remains of the Krayt Dragon prop that was used for the final film:

The story took a strange turn however when they dug up the prop and noticed that the vertebrae were not made of foam:

Indeed, the entire 50ft long skeleton was not a prop, but the image seen in the original movie was, in fact, a genuine colossal skeleton. Lucasfilm prop master Roger Pagan was asked for comment and took a break from filming on "Battlefield Earth 2: The AfterMathematics" to answer. According to Pagan, "Yeah the prop was too small so we headed into the desert where some locals said there was already a big skeleton. We found it, figured it was a whale, shot the scene and headed out."

Analysis however found that the vertebra was not from a whale, but rather a reptile. Nor was it a fossil, but seems to have only died in the late 1800s, suggesting that indeed, a species of undiscovered 50ft reptiles is currently dwelling in the Tunisian desert.

Asked for comment, George Lucas himself explained, "That's nothing, that trash compactor creature was just caught from an LA sewer and we set it free there when we were done filming. Ever feel something weird on your butt on the toilet? That's our Dylan."

#star wars #krayt dragon #george lucas #film history #unreality

[worldwithoutmiracles]

Unbelievable to me that Buster Keaton isn't already a tumblr sexyman

he's cute as hell

yes, that's buster, catching a lit cigarette. I don't want to know how many takes this took

3. literally nobody, NOBODY in the game has done it as well as buster. he is where bugs bunny gets all his style

he's an athlete. he's a stooge. he performed from the time he could walk. he's brilliant. he never breaks. he wins you over instantly. he dances like this:

seriously, go watch him bust a move. or this one, it's my favorite. all his shit is free, it's under an hour, it's incredible and none of it feels like eating your vegetables or forcing yourself to watch "film history"

he's just funny. he just "got" film comedy in a time when most directors were still trying to figure out how far out to put the camera.

#buster keaton #not related to michael keaton #or diane keaton #just since I know you were curious #silent film #is just classic gifs #film history #slapstick #physical comedy #when done by smart people #is just pure bubble joy