Film Dictionary: Jan 14, 1970

January 14, 1970

Top 10 Films of 1914

1. "Cabiria" (Giovanni Pastrone, Italy)

2. "Fantômas: Le Faux Magistrat" (Louis Feuillade, France)

3. "The Virginian" (Cecil B. DeMille, Paramount)

4. "His Majesty The Scarecrow Of Oz" (J. Farrell MacDonald, USA)

5. "Tillie's Punctured Romance" (Mack Sennett, Keystone)

6. "Sealed Orders" (Benjamin Christensen, Denmark)

7. "Fantômas contre Fantômas" (Louis Feuillade, France)

8. "Mute Witnesses" (Yevgeni Bauer, Russia)

9. "The Patchwork Girl Of Oz" (J. Farrell MacDonald, Paramount)

10. "In The Land Of The Head Hunters" (Edward S. Curtis, Canada)

Other great films:

Engelein (Germany)

Neptune's Daughter
The Squaw Man
Tess Of The Storm Country

Short Top 10:

1. "His Trysting Place" (Charles Chaplin, Keystone)

2. "The Rounders" (Charles Chaplin, Keystone)

3. "Dough And Dynamite" (Charles Chaplin, Keystone)

4. "Kid Auto Races At Venice" (Henry Lehrman, Keystone)

5. "The New Janitor" (Charles Chaplin, Keystone)

6. "Max joue le drame" (Lucien Nonguet, France)

7. "The Knockout" (Charles Avery, Keystone)

8. "Tango Tangle" (Mack Sennett, Keystone)

9. "L'Anglais tel que Max le parle" (Max Linder, France)

10. "Making A Living" (Henry Lehrman, Keystone)

Other great shorts:

Caught In A Cabaret
Caught In The Rain
Daisy Doodad's Dial (UK)

Fatty's Magic Pants
His Musical Career
Laughing Gas
Max et sa belle-mère (France)

Obrazek turystyczny Lublin (Poland)

Cartoon Top 3:

1. "Gertie The Dinosaur" (Winsor McCay, Vitagraph)

2. "L'Avenir dévoilé par les lignes de pieds" (Emile Cohl, France)

3. "Hesanut Builds A Skyscraper" (Kalem)

Weak films of 1914:

Home Sweet Home
Judith Of Bethulia
The Perils Of Pauline
The Spoilers
Wrath Of The Gods

Weak shorts:

Between Showers
A Busy Day
Cruel Cruel Love
The Face On The Barroom Floor
The Fatal Mallet
A Film Johnnie
Gentlemen Of Nerve
Getting Acquainted
Gussle The Golfer
His Favorite Pastime
His New Profession
His Prehistoric Past
Leading Lizzie Astray
Little Billy's Triumph
Mabel At The Wheel
Mabel's Blunder
Mabel's Busy Day
Mabel's Married Life
Mabel's Strange Predicament
The Magic Cloak
The Masquerader
Massacre
Max a Monaco (France)
Max asthmatique (France)
Max et la doctoresse (France)
The Property Man
Recreation
The Star Boarder
The Thief Catcher
Those Love Pangs
Twenty Minutes Of Love

Fantômas: Le Faux Magistrat (1914) ****

The last "Fantômas" serial by Louis Feuillade is divided into five episodes ("Prologue", "Le prisonnier de Louvain", "Monsieur Charles Pradier, juge d'instruction", "Le magistrat cambrioleur" and "L'extradé de Louvain").

Tess Of The Storm Country (1914) ***

One of the earliest Mary Pickford's features, remade again in 1922.

Mute Witnesses (1914) ***

Russian melodrama about masters and servants.

Fantômas contre Fantômas (1914) ***

The fourth "Fantômas" serial. 60 minutes. It has four episodes ("Fantômas et l'opinion publique", "Le mur qui saigne", "Fantômas contre Fantômas" and "Le règlement de comptes").

Neptune's Daughter (1914) ***

Engelein (1914) ***

German film directed by a Dane, Urban Gad, and starring Danish actress Asta Nielsen.

The Virginian (1914) ***

One of the very first Hollywood westerns, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It would have been an impressive film even if it was made 10 years later, but considering that it was made before “The Birth Of A Nation” (1915), it's nothing short of a classic.

In The Land Of The Head Hunters (1914) ***

Not quite a documentary, but not a fictional drama neither, but a kind of anthropological/slash/ethnographic hybrid of both. Set among the Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest.

Sealed Orders (1914) ***

The Squaw Man (1914) ***

A double milestone in the history of cinema: the first feature film shot in Hollywood and the first feature-length western ever made.

The Spoilers (1914) *

Silent western set in Alaska.

The Perils Of Pauline (1914) *

Hopelessly overrated American serial about a villain trying to kill a rich heiress in every episode. Very simplistic and extremely boring when compared with contemporary "Fantomas" serials.

Wrath Of The Gods (1914) *

Silent drama set on a volcanic island near Japan.

Home Sweet Home (1914) *

Technically, D.W. Griffith's third feature film (after "Juldith Of Bethulia" and "The War Of The Sexes"), but it's actually four separate shorts exploring the same theme - family values, circa 1914. Very boring.

Judith Of Bethulia (1914) *

It's hard to believe that D.W. Griffith made this boring film a year after “The Mothering Heart” (1913) and a year before “The Birth Of A Nation” (1915). Back in 1914, this four-reel was considered a feature film, but 48 minutes was way to long to tell such a simple story more appropriate for a short.

The Knockout (1914) ***

Fatty (Roscoe Arbuckle) becomes a boxer, but his first match (with Chaplin as a referee) results in a hilarious chase across rooftops, with Keystone Kops in hot pursuit. The slow beginning contrasts sharply with the fast-paced, very inventive conclusion. A Keystone farce directed by Charles Avery.