I went to the Kansas Silent Film Festival http://www.kssilentfilmfest.org/kssff2009/promo.html tonight and saw some interesting cowboy films -- Rowdy Ann (20 min., 1919); Go West (70 min., Buster Keaton, 1925), and The Great K&A Train Robbery (54 min., Tom Mix, 1926). The Keaton film was vintage Keaton, not his greatest but satisfying. The program notes and presenter describe the Tom Mix film as being possibly the best silent film Tom Mix ever did and I'd not argue at all; while it has a cops & robbers plot, it also has a lot of comedy, too.
Animal lovers will especially like these Keaton and Tom Mix films.
In Go West, a little Jersey cow, "Brown Eyes", and Keaton become closely attached to and help each other -- much of it was quite striking (for a cow) and some was staged (for instance a scene where Keaton is riding her surely must have used a light weight dummy rather than a man?).
Tom Mix's horse, Tony, was a remarkable animal. Clever cutting made it seem as if Tony (like Lassie in those flicks) had the tracking ability of a GPS receiver in his ability to find Tom after separations. BUT, a variety of scenes relied on Tony's natural talent plus excellent training -- such as trotting over a swaying, undulating suspension bridge -- WOW!!! If you're a horse lover, see it for Tony's performance. (I think both silent films are available on DVD with music accompaniment.)
Background music was variously supplied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (great!) or either of 2 organists (one being Marvin Faulwell, very experienced, very good) plus a percussionist/sound effects person.
Tomorrow morning I'm looking forward to a new documentary (2nd showing ever, first in the US) on Mary Pickford and a couple of her flicks.
I'll skip their afternoon session (Puff & I have LabFest) but will see those playing tomorrow night.
Animal lovers will especially like these Keaton and Tom Mix films.
In Go West, a little Jersey cow, "Brown Eyes", and Keaton become closely attached to and help each other -- much of it was quite striking (for a cow) and some was staged (for instance a scene where Keaton is riding her surely must have used a light weight dummy rather than a man?).
Tom Mix's horse, Tony, was a remarkable animal. Clever cutting made it seem as if Tony (like Lassie in those flicks) had the tracking ability of a GPS receiver in his ability to find Tom after separations. BUT, a variety of scenes relied on Tony's natural talent plus excellent training -- such as trotting over a swaying, undulating suspension bridge -- WOW!!! If you're a horse lover, see it for Tony's performance. (I think both silent films are available on DVD with music accompaniment.)
Background music was variously supplied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (great!) or either of 2 organists (one being Marvin Faulwell, very experienced, very good) plus a percussionist/sound effects person.
Tomorrow morning I'm looking forward to a new documentary (2nd showing ever, first in the US) on Mary Pickford and a couple of her flicks.
I'll skip their afternoon session (Puff & I have LabFest) but will see those playing tomorrow night.
