We’re having a barrels o’ fun with Day 5 of the Classic Movie History Project. Today’s essays show a real passion for film history. Enjoy!
Movie Disasters
Sometimes making movies is difficult, whether it’s the bickering between the director and lead actor, or the harsh conditions while filming on location. Then there are the box-office bombs that keep studio executives awake at night. Movie Disasters is a loosely-defined look at Hollywood, uh, “missteps”.
Century Film Project: Intolerance (1916)
“I somewhat reluctantly placed this movie into the ‘Movie Disasters’ category,” writes Century Film Project. “The film is something of a darling of critics and film historians, and…has been seen as important and influential. The question of how, and whether, it ‘bombed’ is a somewhat thorny one.”
♦
Moon in Gemini: The Preventable Box Office Failure of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Moon in Gemini examines a “famous box office failure”, The Magnificent Ambersons. She argues, “[T]here’s a strong possibility its box office failure could have been prevented.”
♦
The Last Drive In: Keep Watching the Skies! Science Fiction Cinema of the 1950s
Not all movie disasters are related to the box office; many deal with disasters themselves, as evidence in the marvellous sci-fi films of the 1950s. As The Last Drive In writes, these films included “benevolent visitors from space, dreadful beginnings, unknown worlds, funny men, lone survivors, invisible boxers and killer gorillas.”
♦
The Midnite Drive-In: Debacle in the Desert
“[The Conqueror is] considered one of the worst movies of all time, and definitely the worst movie in which John Wayne was ever involved,” writes The Midnite Drive-In, “but John Wayne cannot carry the blame for this movie solely on his shoulders.”
The Wonderful World of Colour
♦
Back to Golden Days: The Restrained Mode of Color Design in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)
Back to Golden Days looks at the history of colour in film. “Despite its artistic potential, hand-painted film died in its infancy,” she writes. “By the mid-1900s, the average length of motion pictures had increased and the number of exhibition venues demanding prints had multiplied, making the process of coloring films…economically unfeasible.”
♦
Silver Screenings 
Reblogged this on Once upon a screen… and commented:
Visit Silver Screenings for entries on The Movies…
LikeLike
Hi Ruth,
I’m very sorry I didn’t manage to write my post this time – it seems my August is a bit messy since I signed up for way too many blogathons and haven’t had the time to write any of the posts, so I guess I’ll take a short break now! Have a great fun with the rest of the blogathon, hope to “see” you soon on another occasion!
Domi
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem, Domi. Life gets busy sometimes. See you around the blogosphere soon! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Ruth! My entry is now up. I’ve called it “The Restrained Mode of Color Design in “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine” (1936). I’m not sure if I was supposed to post it on a specific day, but with all the blogathons I signed up for in August and my recent wisdow teeth removal (which I’m still recuperating from), I kind of lost track of things a little bit. Anyway, here it is:
http://back-to-golden-days.blogspot.pt/2016/08/the-classic-movie-history-project.html
Thanks for hosting.
-Cátia. xo
LikeLike
Wonderful! I’ll add it to the Day 5 recap later this evening. Looking forward to it!
P.S. Hope you have a smooth recovery. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you. 🙂
LikeLike
You’re on the list! 🙂 I’m glad you were able to join us.
LikeLike