During the early years of the last century, a number of itinerant film companies traversed the United States and produced movies set in small and not-so-small towns. Their casts were comprised of local, non-professional actors and, while featuring nominal plotlines, they primarily existed as travelogues of a sort in that they served to promote the town's amenities.
Today, these films are historically significant as records of the look and feel of the locale at a specific moment in time.
One such film is THE LUMBERJACK, which was filmed in Wausau, Wisconsin, exactly one-hundred years ago, in 1914. The discovery of a long-unseen print of THE LUMBERJACK and the whos and hows of its production are detailed in WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP AND I WORE A BIG RED ROSE, one of two documentaries found on WE'RE IN THE MOVIES, a DVD compilation which was recently released by Flicker Alley.
WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP AND I WORE A BIG RED ROSE was made in 1983, which of course is 31 years ago. What this means is that many of those directly involved in one aspect or another of the silent cinema were still alive, and were around to reminisce and have their own histories recorded. In relation to THE LUMBERJACK, one of those interviewed is the film's last surviving cast member. However, among the interviewees in WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP AND I WORE A BIG RED ROSE, the standout is a charming woman who is old enough to have, once upon a time, offered piano accompaniment to silent films during their initial theatrical releases. Her recollections are precise as she explains her approach to accompanying silent films. Plus, while sitting at a piano, she recreates the same sounds that she produced decades earlier.
Not surprisingly, one of the extras on the DVD is the complete, restored version of THE LUMBERJACK, which runs 16 minutes, as well as other examples of similar "itinerant filmmaking."
The other documentary on the WE'RE IN THE MOVIES DVD is of more recent vintage. It dates from 2010, is titled PALACE OF SILENTS: THE SILENT MOVIE THEATRE IN LOS ANGELES, and it chronicles the history of a small Southern California movie house that opened in 1942 and that across the decades has specialized in screening silent films. In other words, this was no ordinary revival house. The films shown there did not feature the likes of Bogart or Cagney, Gary Cooper or Bette Davis. Some were the most celebrated films of their era, while others were obscure. But they all were silent-- and to those aficionados who regularly attended the screenings, the venue was indeed a "magical place."
PALACE OF SILENTS... chronicles the life and times of the individuals who owned the theater. One is John Hampton, a silent film enthusiast who with his wife Dorothy founded the space and who is well-remembered for his film restoration work. Another is Laurence Austin, a mystery man who might be best-described as eccentric. His fate, which will not be revealed here, adds a bit of real-life drama to the dream factory-aspect of the theatre.
PALACE OF SILENTS... and WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP AND I WORE A BIG RED ROSE may cover completely different subjects. But they are related in that they are slices of history, and they serve as compelling examples of the importance of recording history.
Rob Edelman teaches film history at the University at Albany. He has written several books on film and television, and is an associate editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide.
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