Author Archives: chipkaufmann

2007 was a banner year for silent movies on DVD. At least 10 major releases occurred that have brought notable films from the silent era back to life for a 21st century audience. No longer a thing of the past, silent movies are alive and well and are available for a whole new audience toContinue reading “SILENT NIGHTS: Very Old Films In Brand New Releases (2008)”

The ten year period between the end of the 34 year old Hollywood Production Code in 1968 and the emergence of STAR WARS as an unparalleled cultural phenomenon in 1977 was a period of great change for the mainstream Hollywood studios. It was the decade of the auteur, the director who became the focal pointContinue reading “KEN RUSSELL & MICHAEL WINNER: The Filmmaker & The Director (2008)”

The story of Lois Weber is one of the saddest in all of American cinema and one of the least known. One of two prominent women producer-directors to emerge the silent era(the other was the French born Alice Guy-Blache’ who has a similar story), Weber was, in her time, considered to be the equal ofContinue reading “LOIS WEBER: America’s First Woman Director (2008)”

With all the attention that The Artist has received as a silent novelty in today’s cinema, it will probably come as a surprise to many people that there have been several silent films made after sound was introduced in 1928. Up until 1976 they were made right here in America, after that they come from abroad. ThisContinue reading “SOUNDS OF SILENTS: Silent Cinema In The Sound Era (2012)”

It has been 80 years since The Lone Ranger made his debut on radio. 55 years since Clayton Moore & Jay Silverheels last rode off into the sunset, and 32 years since an ill-fated attempt to the resurrect the character, The Legend of the Lone Ranger disappeared right after hitting the local multiplex. Now Disney has releasedContinue reading “THE LONE RANGER: From Radio To Johnny Depp (2013)”

Two years ago in a previous edition of Reel Takes, I wrote an article on England’s legendary Hammer Films to celebrate the company’s rebirth and the upcoming release of The Woman In Black with Daniel Radcliffe. That film opened in February 2012 to mostly positive reviews and went on to gross over $100 million makingContinue reading “HAMMER FILMS REVISITED: 3 Lost 1970s Movies (2013)”

This year marked the 100th anniversary of the debut of a movie icon but, if it weren’t for the intervention of another film comedy pioneer, his first appearance might have been his last. On February 2, 1914 Charlie Chaplin appeared in a Keystone comedy called Making A Living. He hadn’t discovered the Tramp character yet and heContinue reading “MABEL NORMAND: The Film Comedy Pioneer Is Finally Getting Her Due (2014)”

The next time you watch a TV show on the Fox Network, cheer or hiss a talking head on Fox News, see a movie produced by Twentieth Century Fox (or any studio for that matter), or visit the Fox Theater in Atlanta, then spare a thought for the forgotten man who made it all possible,Continue reading “WILLIAM FOX: Hollywood’s Forgotten Mogul (2014)”

Who would have thought that a radioactive, fire breathing dragon, intended to be a metaphor for the fire bombing of Tokyo during World War II would have turned into a cultural icon known and loved (yes, loved!) the world over. Certainly not the Japanese but that’s exactly what happened. Who also would have guessed thatContinue reading “60 YEARS OF GODZILLA: From Metaphor to Icon (2014)”

When I refer to Terence Fisher as “the poor man’s Hitchcock”, I do not mean it in a disparaging way. I mean it as a compliment, for while Fisher made his movies pretty much the way Hitchcock did, he never had the kind of budgets that Hitch had in America. Terence Fisher made all butContinue reading “TERENCE FISHER: The Poor Man’s Hitchcock (2014)”