HOW TO SEE | Silent Films: Restoring Mary Pickford's Lost Film “Rosita”
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- Опубликовано: 24 май 2018
- It is estimated that over 90% of silent films have been lost, and of those that do survive, many exist only in poor copies. Ernst Lubitsch’s first American film “Rosita” starring Mary Pickford has come down to us only in a badly damaged print discovered in the Soviet archives and repatriated by The Museum of Modern Art in the 1970s. Nearly 50 years later, new digital tools have made it possible to restore “Rosita” to something close to its original appearance. MoMA curator Dave Kehr explains what went into the three year-long restoration of “Rosita,” the story of why Pickford turned against the film in the years after its release, and how audiences and filmmakers today still have much to learn from silent films.
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More about Mary Pickford: marypickford.org
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Footage of United Artists contract signing © Roy Export Company Ltd. • Chaplin, Fairbanks, Pi...
The comments and opinions expressed in this video are those of the speaker alone, and do not represent the views of The Museum of Modern Art, its personnel, or any artist.
#silentfilm #lostfilms #filmrestoration #marypickford #rosita #davekehr #howtosee #film #cinema #classicfilm #hollywood
lost art is the saddest thing ever
I’m incredibly grateful we have the technology to restore some silent films. It feels special to be able to have such easy access to films that have been lost for up to a century.
I grew to love silent films thanks to a college course I took on them. In An interview with Mary Pickford in Kevin Brownlow’s “As the Parade Goes By...” She talks about why she dislikes this movie. She says she couldn’t stand Ernest Lubitsch. She discusses at length her experience working with him.
I've found that silent films are amazingly beautiful, especially with interior design. They're magical and dreamlike.
When I lived in Oregon, there used to be Silent Movie Nights at a local community college. They had live piano accompaniment, and it was a really magical experience. I never missed a single show.
I am the Great grandniece of Beatrice Dominguez from the Tango scene Four Horsemen. I wish her other films were around, such a great history these Silent actors left.
This is incredible! Please release this to the public. So many have been lost forever!
As a child born way past the silent film era, I was very fortunate that my father took me as a small child to one of the sadly, few remaining) revival houses, where we'd spend each Saturday ensconced in the dark, with the beautiful images, and musical accompaniment.
The irony is I'm in the entertainment business (and aside from our being my profession), my love is for films made anywhere from the silent era through to the mid 70's or so.
One channel I highly recommend for 'steamers' is Film Stuck', which is made by as combination of TCM, Criterion, and now - I'm able to sit back - anywhere I have free time, and watch fabulous films (they have a terrific silent collection and I've been watching them for the past few weeks).
This was a terrific, informative clip. Thanks, Mr Kehr, et al!
Excellent work. Thank you, Dave Kehr, for sharing with us the story of this film's restoration. For me, watching a silent film demands more of my attention. That's not to say it's not worth the effort. But what makes so many film-watching experiences shine is when we watch them together. I hope the "shared experience" of watching films can be preserved, as well.
The lack of sound, forced the director to focus on the visual aspects. These compositions are much more powerful than today's cinema.
When I was in college I used to watch silent movies every Sunday night at midnight on TCM. I loved the history of them and the way the stories differed from how we tell stories today. It fascinated me. Thanks for helping keep them alive.
I became entranced with silent film as a child in the 1960s when my dad collected 16mm films of the great comedians: Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, the Keystone Kops, Mabel Normand, Fatty Arbuckle, even early W.C. Fields! He showed them on his 16mm projector and I was hooked. I started researching and reading anything I could find on the silent era and its stars (this meant a lot of trips to the public library as there was no internet!). I will always be grateful to my wonderful father, who has since passed on, for giving me the passion for silent and classic film!
Mary Pickford films are still solid entertainment. Would love to see the best of Marion Davies comedies.
The thing I always appreciated about old contemporary movies is that everything in them is as up to date as possible. The art, appliances and interior design is always fascinating as being the best for the times.
This is the 2nd best explanation of the 'Lubitsch Touch' on RUclips.
3:40 this Pickford sequence seems to have influenced MIlos Forman's "Amadeus" -- the scene when Salieri offers Madame Mozart 'Nipples of Venus'
As an early teenager I discovered Valentino's 1923 "Blood and Sand" on TV in a Public Channel (Ch. 6) in Puerto Rico. Then, in Tampa, Florida's County Library, I discovered 16mm Movies in their entirety which apparently had lapsed copyrights; you could borrow them for a week or so! My dad had a projector and we watched "The Kid", "Way Down East," "Easy Street," "The Gold Rush," "Tol'able David," and many others. Then, with the advent of Video (VHS formats) and Video Cassette Players, I seeked out as many as I could at the video stores and actual libraries, once they began to also have them!
Enjoyed this! Thanks so much for doing what you do & for this post! For me though, Antonio Moreno is my heart & such a neglected silent star. Why oh why can’t more of his films, that HAVE survived, make it onto DVDs for the general public??? For years on The Silent Film Group I celebrate him each Monday there on Facebook and call it my “Moreno Monday.” I’m almost 68 but when a young woman I was married to character actor Carlos Romero. His Mother was Malvina Polo who played the mad girl in Von Stroheim’s “Foolish Wives “ & also played Edna Purviance’s girl friend “Paulette” in Chaplin’s “A Woman of Paris.” HER Father was silent star Eddie Polo & Eddie was friends with Antonio. Knowing of him for so many years of my life while he seems so dreadfully ignored has always been a puzzle to me! Antonio’s story deserves recognition and his films which have survived should some how find a way to reach his fans. He was a very big star & the first Spanish star ever to grace the silver screen. Even before Covid, I did not have the funds or the constitution to globe trot to The Eye in the Netherlands or to Washington DC just to be able to view one of Antonio’s silents such as “The Spanish Dancer” or, “Beverly of Graustark” with Marion Davies! How I wish Antonio’s films which have been found could be marketed. Lots more I could share. Such as also, when a youngster, teen I was very good friends with the then young Bob Cushman who we lost too soon a decade or so ago. He loved Mary so. I was also a busy casual big band / combo singer in my prime in LA for 20 years & knew dear Buddy Rogers. Who doesn’t love Mary? But please, if you could share anything exciting regarding Antonio Moreno & his films, I would surely love hearing back from you! Thanks so much for listening.
I really appreciate this video. Silent film is something to be treasured. The silent film I remember the most that had a big impact on me was Metropolis, especially after the lost footage was found in a 16mm print. I'd never seen such a sweeping epic with science fiction elements before, and it was fascinating from both a story and a historical aspect. You're right- they do require more concentration compared to sound films. But they are enjoyable in their own right. Lately I've been enjoying Charlie Chaplin and my favorite silent actor Buster Keaton. One gripe I do have with modern presentations of silent films is the fact that they're shown at the wrong speed and can be shown with a great deal of digital noise reduction in an ill-fated desire to reduce visible film grain. I didn't know until recently that silent films often had no set frame rate, and that the herky-jerky motion we associate with them is inaccurate because they're shown at the sound speed standard of 24fps. If one presents the film in an interlaced format such as 1080i or even 2160i, you can show it at a proper speed even on modern TVs.
I've loved silent films from highschool, and I'm going to 70. Harold Lloyd came to my school (Hollywood Highschool) with a 16mm print of KID BROTHER. I saw it again a few weeks ago at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
“Silent films are only primitive in the sense that they came first, they were primary. Everything else is built upon that”
God, I love this line here because it’s just so true. Compared to modern film standards they’re “primitive” but they were the building blocks for the standards we have today and I’m so glad people are recognising that!
Thank you Mr. Kehr for your many eye opening comments about silent movies. It is a brand new world to me and I know there are many interesting things about the era if only I take time like you to pursue them. Highest respect goes out to you and the people that work with you to help us to understand our past as I think of silent movies as a form of history. Again, thank you for sharing the movie "Rosita" with all of us!
I love silent film I 1st discovered silents on tcm in the 90s I have films from china Germany Sweden Holland the uk and yes America I just fell in love with this art form and have 150+films I even got my wife to enjoy many.Here in madison wi we even have a theater built in the 1920s with the original theater organ and during the yr for about 30yrs a group called duck soup shows silent film bringing in organist who specialize in playing for these films it's always packed with people of all ages we must keep this great art form alive 😊😊❤
I learned about silent films from the movie singing in the rain. At first I didn’t like the idea of them and thought they were a joke, but after so long, as I got into more and more classic films, I learned about actors who as well as making taking films began in the silent film era. So I wanted to start watching them and I have watched so far maybe a hundred or so, and they’re just like other movies, some are good, some are bad. I really don’t go around telling too many people I like silent films, ‘cause a lot of people won’t understand why, but there’s nothing wrong with looking at what people enjoyed in a time when life was different and people seemed to be more connected then they are today.
A Great Restoration! I am so glad that it exists today!
My first experience watching silent movies was in the 8th, snow day so no school and AMC aired The Gold Rush with Charlie Chaplin. Boy I was captivated! I’ll never forget watching the scene with him eating his shoe! I’ve introduced silent movies to my kids with films by Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton etc. even The Little Rascals in the silent era. With the help of the internet, silent movies are so much more accessible than before.
Thank you so much for the video! I remember the first time i watched a silent film, Nosferatu. I loved it, how the story is told. After that I couldn't stop. "Metropolis", "Der letze man", "Sunrise", "Intolerance", Chaplin's and so on.... even "the birth of a nation". Thank you so much for the work you all do!
My Grandmother was a child and teen back in the teens and twenties and loved Mary Pickford and Lillian and Dorthey Gish and talked about them a lot. I mainly got to see growing up the chaplain and Laurel and Hardy films it wasn't till after my mother passed away a few years ago that I found my grandmothers autograph photo of Lillian Gish and found out just last year that Lillian and Dorthey are actually distant cousins of mine which made it easy for me to understand how my grandmother got the photos back when she was young. I have been able to recently find that Itunes has put a lot of the old movies up for digital buying and I have picked up several of the films for my own collection.
The first silent movie that seriously got my attention was 'Ben Hur, A Tale Of The Christ' (1925). This must have been about 40 years ago; I was about 13 years old by then. It wasn't an easy view, because it was broadcast by a German tv station (!). The screen titles were in English. At the time, the Germans liked anything translated, so a German native voice over translated the titles in German. Some experience, being native Dutch myself: listening to German words (I didn't grasp that much of the language at the time , quite exhausting) and reading English screen titles, being a novice in the English language too. I had to solve the language-and-story-puzzle real time.
What kept me going was the story and the beautiful music that came along with the picture. First I was a bit impatient, being spoiled a bit by viewing movies with sound I guess. But the more the story unfolded, the more I felt relaxed and focused on everything that was happening on the screen.
This experience was quite a lesson in how to watch a silent movie. Another one -about a year or five later- was a 'live' screening in a theatre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (I lived near that city at the time) where Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights' was screened with music by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. I still get a bit emotional when I think of that evening. I went alone, no other people distracted me, I was focused completely on the story and the music. What an experience! At the moment, my wife is quite ill, so I can't go to the movies, with or without her. I'm sorry for that. I would have liked to share the experience with my 'soulmate'.
Maybe one day we will.
Fascinating story and wonderfully told. Thanks Dave. It's always such a treat to hear of old classics unearthed and restored.
I am SO thrilled to see Dave Kehr making these kinds of videos! I love your writing, Dave, and your unique perspective. I will muse about what more to request . . . Thank you!
Great video and amazing restoration! Ernst Lubitsch is one of my favorites. I stumbled upon him when I first starting watching silent movies and fell in love with his whimsical brilliance.
What a beautifully produced and written presentation, Mr. Kehr. Thank you. I came across this as I'm going to see Rosita for the first time next week with an orchestra(with the original score, no less) here in Los Angeles. Words can't convey the affection and respect I have for MoMA's work in preserving and presenting film-especially silent film. Kudos!
Considering the state of the Russian film, the restoration was amazing. Thank you for all your work.
this was super interesting. silent film is an absolute artistic marvel, and mary pickford is an icon. thank you
hope this will get a release, i love the restorations of mary's movies that have come out recently!
Wonderful video by one of the world’s most articulate and insightful film historians. Thank you!
This was just fabulous! Looking forward to seeing this next week. Hoping I can meet you to say thank you in person
Hello-
I find it fascinating that a star of Mary Pickford's stature would allow her own film and one that was financially successful
to decay. probably Pickford's biggest rival during the silent era was Theda Bara. unfortunately virtually all of Bara's films
were destroyed in the infamous 1937 Fox Vault Fire.
Considering the technology now, I would love to see Stan Laurel's take on Valentino, "Mud and Sand," restored as best as possible, but I'm sure others can name dozens more... Thank you, Mr. Kehr!
Wonderful video! very much enjoy stories about restoration and preservation of early film.
Thank you so much for this. I am a media studies major - specifically critical interpretation of film, and this was fascinating.
The first silent feature film I saw was "The Battleship Potemkin." It blew my 13 year old mind.
So wonderful!!
i first encountered silent movies after watching hugo and doing a quick google search of george melies trip to the moon . i hate to admit but at first i thought that silent movies would be boring. i think that was a wonderful first exposure and i cant say that i go out of my way to see silent movies but i do appreciate how much they have gone through over the years and somehow survived more or less intact (i watched a metropolis screening where we were warned about some scenes being especially damaged even with the restoration) and the movies themselves.
I love silent movies! And thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful restoration process of "Rosita" Greetings from Chile ☺️🇨🇱
Thank you very much for this very interesting & informative video.
beautiful restoration and mary pickford was everything
You made me appreciate silent movies
Happy to see this!
One of the cinematic highs of my life was seeing a restored Phantom of The Opera with a live pit orchestra. Tremendous!
One regret was being unable to attend Gance’s restored Napoleon at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
It'd be nice if MoMA put some of their restorations out there to be leased to a home video company for blu-ray release or to air on TCM ....
The restoration looks great; my compliments. As to the mystery about Mary denouncing the movie, I think it depended on when you asked her. I think that in 1933, when she called the film a failure, she was simply in a bad mood: Fairbanks had just left her, she wasn't getting work as an actress, no one wanted to see her, a creature of the past, etc. Perhaps she was embarrassed that Lubitsch did the one thing no one else had ever done: made her a sexy woman, which she must've decided was forever against her image as "America's Sweetheart". She moderated her opinion somewhat later, calling it mostly a director/actor mismatch. But yeah, it wasn't a failure. Quite literally earned $1M at the box office - 1923 dollars, too. That's a lot of moolah.
Beautiful film. Thank you for caring.
Excellent material and very didactic too! Will be showing it in class and to my students interested in film preservation & restoration connected with the activities of the recently created LUPA (Laboratório Universitário de Preservação Audiovisual) at Fluminense Federal University, led by Prof. Rafael de Luna. Congratulations to MoMA's Film Department, to Dave Kehr and all involved into salvaging our audiovisual heritage!
Was always a fan of golden age movies. Became a silent movie fan in the 70s. PBS did some type of show on silent. Lived overseas a couple of eyes read Parades gone by and every book of silent movies and stars I could get my hands on.
Not to worry folks about the over 70% lost silent films but celebrate those that are extant. I personally have over 300 silent films on physical media and have yet to find time to watch over half of them. The only worry is some of these silent film releases are on DVD-R/Blu Ray-R and who knows how long these will last. I can understand if it's a small label/organisation releasing the films on DVD-R but for a large studio (yes the releases on standard blue cover) to do it is just shambolic treatment of some marvelous films (not your usual top 30 must-see silents).
Very good news about "Rosita's" resurrection-- adjust speed to 75% on this segment for more natural movement. Most silents are run at the wrong speed, but nowadays people are so accustomed to this that it's widely accepted.
Silent films show instead of tell, and let the audience engage their imaginations and minds. It is amazing how silent film actors just convey everything they need to with facial and body language.
Thank you, I recently went through the UCLA MLIS media archives program and my ultimate dream is to work on a project like this someday. I am probably one of the biggest Mary Pickford fans in the younger set so I hope to do more to continue her legacy as the years go on.
Between this video and another regarding Biograph 68mm movies, you have brought out some very good short subjects. One problem, how do we see more? MoMA is too far for many of us, and none of your work appears on blu-ray. Can you offer anything? Cheers!
Some of my favorite silent films are silent. I love the German Expressionists like Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau. I also love The Crowd and City Lights.
Great!
Such grand entrance
Expert commentary!
I always knew that Mary Pickford hated Rosita, but I always thought that was because it didn't do good in the box office or something, which now I know isn't true! I wish I could watch more of her movies. I've seen all the ones I can that are on youtube. But I really want to watch her in "The Foundling".
Couldn't the release of this film help support conservation efforts for other vanishing films? Perhaps something done in conjunction with the Pickford Foundation, or the AFI? Who would benefit financially if "Rosita" were released for purchase and home viewing? I have only seen the copy from Russia but I fell in love with Pickford's performance, and would love to see/own the restoration in its entirety. I, too, am mystified why she turned her back on this gem -- Why, Mary, why?
I just got the opportunity to see your restoration at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival! Truly amazing what you accomplished. I have many friends who couldn't go, and everyone wants to see your beautifully done print. Will you be releasing it on DVD, or streaming, for the public to see? I would love to see it again!
I love silent movies! I think I was 11 when I saw "He who gets Slapped" 1924 with Lon Cheney SR, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert. I was hooked. It was so emotional with Lon Cheney falling for a younger woman(Shearer) and she was in love with Gilbert. Shocking he stabbed himself onstage. It's still today.
That is supremely told.
I do photo restoration as a hobby. I would love to get into film restoration.
A lost ART indeed... My favorites are Mr. Griffith's INTOLERANCE, Mr.Eisenstein's POTEMKIN and Mr. Gance's NAPOLEON... Among a host of others including works by the major Comedy Stars and international Filmmakers...
I've loved silent films since I was a kid; don't ask me why. They always appealed to me. I keep hoping that an intact copy of 1927's "The Magic Flame" will show up.
i love r work what shall i do to do it.......i love silent era.......such wonderful time, i imagine
Please convince the Russian State Film Archive to send you copies of its holdings of the "once thought lost" Jackie Coogan silent films they have - even high resolution digital copies would be great. I think they have 4 of his films that exist nowhere else. Thank you...
Does anyone know if there are plans to release this on DVD/Blu-Ray?
she did not like Lubitsh also, she mentions it in an early autobiography. (sorry for the misspelling). She writes poorly about him! I think the book was "Sunshine and Shadow".
I’ve seen the restored version on TCM and haven’t been able to find it on DVD yet.
Thank you. Is the restored Rota available for purchase?
Doesn't appear to be. It's always sad that these restorations get done but then to only sit in archives or to be viewed at a select few festivals.
Just ❤❤❤❤❤em.
I love silent film. I would like to see more modern silent films. Perhaps they could have sound. Just no dialogue.
I wonder if the restored version of Rosita will ever be released to the public.
Wow. Can someone restore the Melies films so well?
In the movie there is a part where Rosalita makes up a poem about the King when he raises taxes. It was cool.... I cannot find it... I cannot even figure out how to watch it again. I saw it on TCM...
Seeing rosita eating the food made me want to watch this film. It was so funny.
Has this restoration been released on Blu-ray?
I often hear that the primary reason early films were lost was because few cared about their preservation. So, how did the world come to decide that it was important to preserve film? What were some of the first films to be given the treatment to last? Was it by public demand or by the demands of a few eccentric millionaires?
I'm only speculating here but maybe it was when it became possible to mass produce and sell the films.
I own a few film and it seem they may be complete lost so I need some help I may sell it if good price
What bout adding live narration to Silent Films?
One day I hope that somewhere, somehow, a copy of "London by Midnight" will be found.
I'm thinking Georges Melies.
No one seems to remember that Mary Pickford was born and raised in Canada. ..
Such a strong smart women. Named my daughter Mariah after her
Any script left of lost silent films
Let's put silent film on radio
When I was a kid back in the 60s my really first encounter with a son of picture was Rudolph Valentino's blood is sand but I saw the ending of it'cause he was dying in the picture in his atypical typical kid fashion ohh he's dead so we don't want about my business that's a kid for you and the rest is history
Silent films trigger our imagination
Is there no way of actually watching this?
The idea that 90 percent of silent films are lost is wrong. Of the nearly 11, 000 feature films produced between 1912 and 1929 25 to 30 percent still survive. Stop saying that 90 percent of silent films are lost.