HEY KIDS!...Lon Chaney Paper Doll from "The Penalty" (1920)!

Make your very own Lon Chaney toy! Copy off the page, glue to cardstock, cut out and there you you go...Holy...er, "unholy" cow! How cool is THAT!? Look into this, you won't regret it....

CLICK RIGHT HERE!!

Get more info. here!

Lon Chaney: "The Unholy Three" (1925)

THE 497 MONSTER CLUB!

Chelsea and Augustina want to talk about forming the class movie club. You may wish to work on that here through "comments". I will monitor and assist if you have questions for me.

"The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema"

Click here to pick up an excellent book on the very topic we are studying right now...German Expressionism and the films of the Weimar Republic. I'm waiting for my copy to get here now. Looks like a great book!

Creeping Terrors!...Works of Art and the Notion of "The Nightmare"

Here's are works by Henry Fuseli, one by Edvard Munch and still another by Phillip Burne-Jones that echo that scene where the Monster, in the Edison version of "Frankenstein", peers through the curtains at the Doctor who has fainted dead away on the bed. All of these paintings mention vampires, nightmares and/or incubuses in their titles, and all were executed in the 1800s.

This symbolistic notion of "the nightmare" and it's invasion of the bed-chamber is found in a lot of classic works of art of this period. A study of these would make interesting fodder for a paper, since this notion of "creeping terror" pops-up in "Nosferatu" and "Calagari" as well (and probably others that I haven't thought of off the top of my head, laying here at 5 am, unable to sleep....wait a minute...what was that!? Arrrgh!!....Heh. heh. heh.).

Tip of the hat to Dr. Robinson who mentioned this great scene while in discussion over the film!

First Class Session: September 4, 2009

Well, hope all of you enjoyed the first class lecture and screening of "Frankenstein", the 1910 version. In case you missed class, you can get the notes on the lecture from a classmate and you can watch the film from here on the blog.

Things to give some thought on this one and perhaps good fodder for a research paper: Why does the film seem to exude a message of morality? What is the historical significance of the "morality play" format, ie. how does it fit into the ideas of a turn-of-the-century changing America? What fears were present that caused this?

From a content perspective: In the film the Monster finally gives in to the fact that he cannot replace the love of Frankenstein's life. With arms outstretched in dramatic posturing, the poor Monster vanishes from our reality and only his reflection is left in the mirror. The Doctor comes in, sees the Monster in the mirror and then the image suddenly changes to the Doctor himself. Give some thought to what this sequence means, and what is it's message do you think?

What did each of you think about the sequence that depicted the creation of the Monster in Frankenstein's lab? How about the Monster in general? Pretty strange looking Frankenstein Monster, eh? This scene along with the mirror sequence is an example of playing tricks with the camera: Something early film-makers really enjoyed using on an audience. These sorts of things were the "special effects" of their day.

Excellent Essay on Edison's "Frankenstein" (1910)

Click here to gain further insight into the lecture on "morality plays", Edison and the censors. A nicely done article on the subject.