67 - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

    The showman, Dr. Caligari, uses a man in a trance state to commit murders.
    This is one of the most unique movies I’ve seen, and it isn’t in a way that comes across muddled, like Keyhole.
    The story is interesting.  There’s a framing device, and the whole story is being told from one person to another.  Inside this flashback, the story is linear, although we get a story about Dr. Caligari being the administrator of an asylum, who is fascinated with the story of the real Dr. Caligari, and seeks to attempt to replicate his exploits.
    The way this story is told is actually still in practice.  It moves through phases of revealing information, developments, investigation.  It’s a very standard structure.  This makes it much more watchable than some other early movies.
    The direction itself is nothing special.  But the sets are what sell the movie.  Nightmarish designs of angles that are all wrong, weird shadows, unusual makeup.  All of it rolls together to make an atmosphere that is unique, but also strangely familiar.  These tools have been reused regularly, but seeing this movie in black & white (also tints of yellow, blue, and I think green) has a very unusual effect.
    I’m not surprised that the story has been remade and expanded on.  It has stood up very well.

34 - The Gold Rush

    Charlie Chaplin is a prospector who goes to Alaska to stake a claim.  He has a series of adventures dealing with the harsh weather, the dance halls, and a romance with a girl named Georgia.
    This is the version which was re-released in 1942.  The original film was tightened up a bit.  A score was added, and Chaplin recorded a narration for it.  This goes a long way to making the movie palatable for a modern audience.  There's a lot of interpretation that would have been involved otherwise.
    It's an interesting movie.  It's funny, but it has some dark elements to it.  There's a sequence that was intended to lead the audience to think that a dog had been eaten out of hunger, and another scene where two starving guys eat a shoe.  These gags are handled well, but it still gives a very depression-era feeling to things.
    The humor is largely physical, and Chaplin is a lot of fun to watch.  The early state of film direction at the time works against some of his skills - there are some moments where he gives some masterful expressions.  A lot of scenes seem to be handled in longer takes, although some awkward edits are in there.
    His dance using the rolls is remarkable.  It's a silly piece of comedy, but I haven't seen anything like it in modern times.

13 - The Man Who Laughs

    A surgically disfigured boy grows up to become a famous clown, and discovers this royal heritage.
    This was the 1928 version of the story, which seems to have been filmed many times.  It's based on a story by Victor Hugo.  I wish I could say that I got this, but I really didn't.
    The story seemed reasonably straightforward.  My bigger problem was a common issue with silent films - there's so much dialogue that's being spoken, but we're left to our imagination to fill in the blanks.  But there's an obvious political subtext that I have a hard time understanding.  I also have a hard time with some of the broad ideas in the movie.  Like what it is that Gwnplaine actually does in his act.  It seems to be based around the idea of just letting his face be seen.
    I wanted to see this because his appearance influenced the way that the Joker was designed.  I can see this.  But it's not as dark - or dramatic - as it should be.