Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1888)

Cinematography: Louis Le Prince
Location: Leeds Bridge, Leeds, UK
Date of Filming: Late October 1888
Filming Speed: 7fps

One of the first films ever made and definitely one of the oldest fragments of film to survive.
This was shot around the same time as the Roundhay Garden Scene (1888) by the Louis Le Prince using a single lens camera made by him.

The bridge in question is a cast iron bridge built in 1870. It is still in existence today.
The scene is not only important in the history of film but it also captures a time when the main form of transport on the roads was horse and cart. You can also see the type of dress the common man would be wearing on the street as they continue with their daily lives; and the buildings in the background, some of which may still be there today.

Roundhay Garden Scene (1888)

Cinematography: Louis Le Prince
Location: Roundhay, Leeds, UK
Date of Filming: 14 October 1888
Filming Speed: 7fps
Remastered: 1930

Cast

Annie Hartley
Adolphe Le Prince
Joseph Whitley
Sarah Whitley

The Roundhay Garden Scene footage is believed to be the oldest surviving film in the world. The snippet only lasts for just over two seconds, but was very likely to have been more like 10 or 20 seconds long.

Adolphe Le Prince was Louis Le Prince's son. Joseph and Sarah Whitley were Louis' mother-in-law and father-in-law. Annie Hartley is believed to be a friend of the family.

10 days after this was fimed, Sarah Whitley died at the age of 72.

Louis Le Prince also made two other films around this time, of which fragments still exist, called Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (1988) and Accordian Player (1888).

Irene (1926)

This is the best version of the title screen available.










Directed by: Alfred E. Green
Written by: James Montgomery (as a play)
Cinematography by: Ted D. McCord
Edited by: J. Edwin Robbins
Date Released: 24 January 1926
Production Company: First National Pictures

Plot

Irene O'Dare is a spirited young Irish girl living in Philadelphia with her parents. Trying her best to please, but always failing, Irene clashes with her family and walks out. She heads to New York City to seek a better life and after a misunderstanding in the house of the wealthy Donald, she gets a job as a dressmaker's model. Donald is taken by Irene's beauty and awkward charm, but his mother doesn't approve of Irene and intends to discredit her in front of Donald.

Irene was written as a musical and played on Broadway for 675 performances originally opening at the Vanderbilt Theater on 18 November 1919 starring Edith Day and Walter Regan. Future film actresses Irene Dunne and Jeanette MacDonald were replacement cast members during its long run



Cast

Colleen Moore as Irene O'Dare
Lloyd Hughes as Donald Marshall
George K. Arthur as Madame Lucy
Charles Murray as Pa O'Dare
Kate Price as Ma O'Dare
Ida Darling as Mrs. Warren Marshall
Eva Novak as Eleanor Hadley
Edward Earle as Larry Hadley
Larry Wheat as Bob Harrison (Credited as Laurence Wheat)
Marion Aye as Helen Cheston (Credited as Maryon Aye)
Bess Flowers as Jane Gilmour
Lydia Yeamans Titus as Mrs. Cheston
Cora Macey as Mrs. Gilmour

Betty Francisco as Cordelia Smith (uncredited)
Bobby Lloyd as Child (uncredited)
Ella McKenzie as Chubby Neighborhood Child (uncredited)
Fay McKenzie as Irene's Younger Sister (uncredited) 


Colleen Moore as Irene O'Dare

In an interview she gave in the 1980s Colleen Moore said she got into films after her uncle, who was a powerful newspaper man in Chicago, helped D.W. Griffith get 'The Birth of a Nation (1915)' and 'Intolerance (1916)' past the censors. As a 'pay off' Colleen was given a 6 month contract. She also stated that parts of the scripts for these silent comedies were almost blank so long as they followed the general gist of the story and the actors said the few lines that were written at the right time so that the title cards could be inserted.

By the time Colleen starred in 'Irene' she had already made over 40 feature films, in which she also starred. In 1922 she was chosen as a WAMPAS Baby Star which was an honour bestowed on young starlets who were seen as new and fresh in the film industry. It was supposed to propel an actress's career, but Colleen was already a star and would be for the rest of the silent era and into early talkies.




Lloyd Hughes as Donald Marshall

Lloyd Hughes was also a veteran of silent cinema having appeared in around 40 films by the time he made 'Irene'. The year before he had starred with Colleen Moore in another comedy, 'Sally (1925)' and was paired with Moore again in 'Ella Cinders (1926)', both of which were also directed by Alfred E. Green,.

Welcome

Welcome to The Silent Asylum.

This blog takes you to furthest reaches of silent film, to the earliest known films to exist and to some of the most obscure. Along the way we will also be discussing some of the classics that were made before the introduction of synchronised sound. Please bookmark this blog and come back often as it will be updated regularly.