...so talkies & TV have ruined our imaginations? I think that's the case. I guess the inflation calculator was just a gleam in someone's eye in 1914.You are right. The inflation calculator says $250 has the buying power of $8057 today! (I always check for inflation.)
When you read a book, you have to imagine pictures, unless it's a comic book. When you watch silents you are supposed to use your imagination on dialogue?
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Raoul Walsh Was a Movie Maker With an Eye Patch and Attitude
- Thread starter Joe Riley
- Start date
Nancy Hart
Well-known member
Not necessarily. The imagination may just have to go to a little deeper level?
In the era of radio & silent films, people were tripping over their imagination, and were reveling in it
Nancy Hart
Well-known member
Visions of Grandeur on The Big Trail
Raoul Walsh (lower left) leans against the two-level platform as technicians attend to six motion-picture cameras, several covered with blimps. A sound recordist (right) works on the top tier. [Blimps are sound deadening covers which fit over the cameras to cut down on the noise they make.]
Raoul Walsh (lower left) leans against the two-level platform as technicians attend to six motion-picture cameras, several covered with blimps. A sound recordist (right) works on the top tier. [Blimps are sound deadening covers which fit over the cameras to cut down on the noise they make.]
Nancy Hart
Well-known member
This is head-scratcher. 
The "person" in the middle looks like Mr. Monopoly in harder times.
The "person" in the middle looks like Mr. Monopoly in harder times.
Raoul Walsh
(A pic of Raoul Walsh with a pet animal he intended to give to his wife. That's a picture he gave to the French film-makers who interviewed him)
Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout
An Eclectic Journal of Opinion, History, Poetry and General BloviatingIn addition to his continuing work with Griffith, in 1915 Walsh made 15 films, most of theme one or two real shorts. But he also made his first feature film as a director and screenwriter. Regeneration staring Anna Q. Nilsson as a social worker out to reform a young gang leader was shot on location in the Bowery and Hell’s Kitchen featuring a cast made up largely of actual street toughs and prostitutes. It is famous for its street scenes and is considered by many the first gangster movie.
In 1916 Walsh married Miriam Cooper, a rising star and one of Griffith’s favorites. She often gave Walsh advice on his career and sometimes acted as an intermediary with producers. Their marriage was interrupted while Walsh served as an Army officer in World War I. When he returned he pressed her to continue her acting career and to work in his films including Evangeline in 1919 despite her desire to retire to family life. MORE
Walsh's first wife, actress Miriam Cooper.
Nancy Hart
Well-known member
Prison Cafeteria scene from White Heat (1949)
(featuring Jim Thorpe at 1:24 and 1:32)
"Cody's problems are central to the film's narrative and contribute to its portrayal of him as a complex and tragic figure. His mental state and dysfunctional relationship with his mother drive his actions and ultimately lead to his downfall.
"The usual route for (Raoul) Walsh is to slow the development by increasing specificity. It is very cunning: by the time his gangster comes apart, is shot down, or shoots his way through an ambush, Walsh has slyly doubled and tripled every move that the gangster makes in terms of height, texture, path, angle, and sound. Cagney’s psychotic break in the penitentiary dining hall involves a messy noisy tantrum after he hears his beloved Ma has been gunned down.
"Every move Cagney makes has been counter-pointed and varied. His incredible frenzy literally swimming through cutlery and china down the length of a table has twice been anticipated with a slow camera dolly down the table and back, picking out each diner who gets splashed and shocked by Cagney’s tantrum crawl across the table. Cagney’s running battle through a half-dozen guards spaced at crucial spots around the hall has been anticipated by a quiet over-the-hall long shot as the prisoners file in and angle off into the various aisles. The battle itself is frenzy improvised with perfect Cagney instincts." -Manny Farber, Raoul Walsh: “He used to be a big shot.” (From Post #25 above)
(featuring Jim Thorpe at 1:24 and 1:32)
"Cody's problems are central to the film's narrative and contribute to its portrayal of him as a complex and tragic figure. His mental state and dysfunctional relationship with his mother drive his actions and ultimately lead to his downfall.
"The usual route for (Raoul) Walsh is to slow the development by increasing specificity. It is very cunning: by the time his gangster comes apart, is shot down, or shoots his way through an ambush, Walsh has slyly doubled and tripled every move that the gangster makes in terms of height, texture, path, angle, and sound. Cagney’s psychotic break in the penitentiary dining hall involves a messy noisy tantrum after he hears his beloved Ma has been gunned down.
"Every move Cagney makes has been counter-pointed and varied. His incredible frenzy literally swimming through cutlery and china down the length of a table has twice been anticipated with a slow camera dolly down the table and back, picking out each diner who gets splashed and shocked by Cagney’s tantrum crawl across the table. Cagney’s running battle through a half-dozen guards spaced at crucial spots around the hall has been anticipated by a quiet over-the-hall long shot as the prisoners file in and angle off into the various aisles. The battle itself is frenzy improvised with perfect Cagney instincts." -Manny Farber, Raoul Walsh: “He used to be a big shot.” (From Post #25 above)
"In re: White Heat, Cagney wanted to make sure that the cameras kept rolling no matter what, because on some level he knew where he was going to go emotionally, and he knew it was going to be huge. Cagney knew his instrument, knew what would happen. He needed to be free to “go there” (of course he already felt free, because that’s the kind of actor he was), but he could only be as free as he needed to be if he trusted that the cameras would catch it."
"In the scene, Cody sits in the cafeteria, and he gets the news. There’s a stunned disoriented moment. Then the event starts. Then it goes to the next level. Then it goes to the NEXT level. And then everything goes REALLY bananas. There is no limit to where it is going to go because there is no limit to where Cagney can go. Cagney is truly awe-inspiring. Watch, in particular, the actors around him."
"As an extra or bit player, they know the scene is going to be big, they know Cagney is going to flip out. That’s the event. But they’re not sitting around rehearsing it beforehand, they don’t get a glimpse of what it will LOOK like and what it will FEEL like, to be present as it goes down. There’s a feeling of true shock and true fear in those around Cagney."https://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=145111
"In the scene, Cody sits in the cafeteria, and he gets the news. There’s a stunned disoriented moment. Then the event starts. Then it goes to the next level. Then it goes to the NEXT level. And then everything goes REALLY bananas. There is no limit to where it is going to go because there is no limit to where Cagney can go. Cagney is truly awe-inspiring. Watch, in particular, the actors around him."
"As an extra or bit player, they know the scene is going to be big, they know Cagney is going to flip out. That’s the event. But they’re not sitting around rehearsing it beforehand, they don’t get a glimpse of what it will LOOK like and what it will FEEL like, to be present as it goes down. There’s a feeling of true shock and true fear in those around Cagney."https://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=145111
Nancy Hart
Well-known member
With Ben Blue on the set of Artists and Models (1937)
Portrait of Veteran Movie Makers
(Original Caption) This group of movie directors, all top names in the business, have all been in pictures for thirty years or more. They were gathered together by Ralph Staub, who filmed them as a group for Columbia's Screen Snapshots subject commemorating the 50th anniversary of motion pictures exhibition. Seated from left to right are Edward H. Griffith, Sam Wood, Cecil B. DeMille, Irving Cummings and William Seiter. Standing are Alfred E. Green, Raoul Walsh, Eddie Sutherland, George Marshall, Robert Z. Leonard and Richard Wallace.
