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#31
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - August 16, 2026, 05:17:34 PMA FOOL AND HIS MONEY (1912):
This 15-minute silent is often called history's first film w/ an all black (in this case, specifically African-American) cast and was directed by Alice Guy-Blanche, who is often cited as history's first female filmmaker. I must've known these facts when I DL'd it in the unspecific past but I forgot it when I watched it... thus I insist immunity on any accusations of "virtue signaling"
when I proclaim that I thought A FOOL AND HIS MONEY was a real gem.
James Russell (who has only two other credits on Letterboxd) plays a lovestruck dude who keeps getting kicked out of his paramour's parlor by her dad in order for her to make eyes at another dude who's got money. Fortunately Russell comes by a larger amount of money, though through less than upstanding means, which allows him to turn the tables for awhile... until he's finally hoist by his own petard. Really there are no "jokes" in A FOOL AND HIS MONEY, but the whole thing is enjoyable and I laughed out loud three separate times. Why? Well, Guy-Blanche knows a trick in 1912 that Charlie Chaplain, Mabel Norman, Mack Sennett, and Mack Swain didn't know in 1914 (as evidenced by the dire FATAL MALLET) and the generally extremely funny Roscoe Arbuckle didn't know around the same time (when he started directing and starring in shorts which wouldn't get really good for about 3 years), and which I often don't think Keaton and Lloyd knew even in many of their films in the 20s.
In AFAHM, Russell and the other actors are clearly acting out the entire scenario for Guy-Blanche's MOS camera - which means that they are obviously saying dialogue in character, based on a general scenario though in lieu of a script, as latter-day improv inventors like Viola Spolin and Del Close would do decades later. Therefore every performance in this film is highly specific - sometimes exaggerated, though often realistic - and thus at nearly every single moment, you know exactly what every character is thinking and even (more or less) saying, in spite of their being very few intertitles. Thus the acting is what makes this film work - and what makes the situations very funny at times. I see Conrad Veidt doing acting like this in the late teens, though the famous white comedians of the era almost never do this - they just mug and gesticulate, refusing to acknowledge that real people (even in silent movies) actually have conversations with one another.
Guy-Blanche wasn't black but rather a white (French) woman who'd been making films for 15 years by the time she made this one. She has a huge resume yet most of her catalog is (of course) apparently lost. That's an almost criminal shame - she really knew how to direct actors! 4/5
This 15-minute silent is often called history's first film w/ an all black (in this case, specifically African-American) cast and was directed by Alice Guy-Blanche, who is often cited as history's first female filmmaker. I must've known these facts when I DL'd it in the unspecific past but I forgot it when I watched it... thus I insist immunity on any accusations of "virtue signaling"
when I proclaim that I thought A FOOL AND HIS MONEY was a real gem.James Russell (who has only two other credits on Letterboxd) plays a lovestruck dude who keeps getting kicked out of his paramour's parlor by her dad in order for her to make eyes at another dude who's got money. Fortunately Russell comes by a larger amount of money, though through less than upstanding means, which allows him to turn the tables for awhile... until he's finally hoist by his own petard. Really there are no "jokes" in A FOOL AND HIS MONEY, but the whole thing is enjoyable and I laughed out loud three separate times. Why? Well, Guy-Blanche knows a trick in 1912 that Charlie Chaplain, Mabel Norman, Mack Sennett, and Mack Swain didn't know in 1914 (as evidenced by the dire FATAL MALLET) and the generally extremely funny Roscoe Arbuckle didn't know around the same time (when he started directing and starring in shorts which wouldn't get really good for about 3 years), and which I often don't think Keaton and Lloyd knew even in many of their films in the 20s.
In AFAHM, Russell and the other actors are clearly acting out the entire scenario for Guy-Blanche's MOS camera - which means that they are obviously saying dialogue in character, based on a general scenario though in lieu of a script, as latter-day improv inventors like Viola Spolin and Del Close would do decades later. Therefore every performance in this film is highly specific - sometimes exaggerated, though often realistic - and thus at nearly every single moment, you know exactly what every character is thinking and even (more or less) saying, in spite of their being very few intertitles. Thus the acting is what makes this film work - and what makes the situations very funny at times. I see Conrad Veidt doing acting like this in the late teens, though the famous white comedians of the era almost never do this - they just mug and gesticulate, refusing to acknowledge that real people (even in silent movies) actually have conversations with one another.
Guy-Blanche wasn't black but rather a white (French) woman who'd been making films for 15 years by the time she made this one. She has a huge resume yet most of her catalog is (of course) apparently lost. That's an almost criminal shame - she really knew how to direct actors! 4/5
#32
Bad Movies / Re: 100 *alliterative* movie t...
Last post by bob - August 16, 2026, 03:39:36 PM79
#33
Television / Re: tv series with no story ar...
Last post by Trevor - August 16, 2026, 01:31:50 PMQuote from: zombie no.one on August 16, 2026, 11:31:18 AMQuote from: Trevor on August 16, 2026, 02:22:14 AMa Trevor clone running around with a machine pistol. 😳
terrifying thought
😄🤣
Just Google Christopher Sean and you will see what I mean. He is so unthreatening looking, he makes me look like Negan 😳😏😉🐢
#34
Bad Movies / Re: 100 *alliterative* movie t...
Last post by LilCerberus - August 16, 2026, 12:39:58 PMQuote from: Rev. Powell on August 16, 2026, 12:19:50 PM77?. The Seventh Seal
77.1 ? The Seventh Sign(1988)?
#35
Bad Movies / Re: 100 *alliterative* movie t...
Last post by claws - August 16, 2026, 12:37:29 PM78. Dr. Detroit (1983)
#36
Games / Re: Answer the question with a...
Last post by bob - August 16, 2026, 12:28:38 PMThe Big Deal on Madonna Street
Why is the stove on?
Why is the stove on?
#37
Bad Movies / Re: 100 *alliterative* movie t...
Last post by Rev. Powell - August 16, 2026, 12:19:50 PM77?. The Seventh Seal
#39
Television / Re: tv series with no story ar...
Last post by zombie no.one - August 16, 2026, 11:31:18 AMQuote from: claws on August 16, 2026, 03:13:54 AMBurn Notice (2007–2013): While there is an overarching background mystery about why the protagonist was blacklisted as a spy, every single episode is a completely standalone "client of the week" rescue/fix-it mission. It channels the exact breezy, high-action, problem-of-the-week energy of 80s classics like The A-Team or The Fall Guy.
sounds potentially up my street.
Quote from: Trevor on August 16, 2026, 02:22:14 AMa Trevor clone running around with a machine pistol. 😳
terrifying thought
#40
Games / Re: Movie Title Chains
Last post by Rev. Powell - August 16, 2026, 09:55:34 AMThe Secret Garden
