All the Movies Podcast

Sorry in advance for anyone I have catfished with my recent Best Movies of the 21st Century list. I saw a huge increase in subscribers after posting that, and I fear most of my new subscribers aren’t aware of what they are getting themselves into. If you’ve been here since the early days, or if you've read my “sticky” Coming Soon post, then you know that I’m watching chronologically through a list...

I hope you didn’t mind my two recent posts that weren’t a part of the film chronology. I did something similar once before, in October, when I rattled off a list of my favorite monster movies, and I may do it again. Who knows? Fear not, however, if you are only here for the films, as nearly every time I post, it will be a podcast about the next film on my list. Meanwhile, I feel I need to reiterat...

I know that in my last podcast I promised another Chaplin movie was coming next, but that was before I discovered the film The Half-Breed , which, as luck would have it, comes exactly next in the chronology. Starring Douglas Fairbanks, The Half-Breed was released 20 days after The Vagabond, and 8 days before One A.M. It was almost as if fate decreed that I find the movie just in time to include it...

I have to admit, every time a Chaplin film pops up in the chronology, I’m a little nervous. I know I’m supposed to love his work, and praise him as an early genius of film, but so far I’ve been unimpressed by him. It’s as if his distinct look is all that sets him apart from his peers, at least so far. Will this be the film that changes my mind? Spoiler alert— sort of! This short opens with a seque...

It’s becoming clear that early filmmakers were not shying away from difficult topics. I’ve already watched movies that deal with abortion, sweatshops, organized crime, class warfare, and race. Poverty has been a common topic as well, and that’s the focus of Lois Weber’s Shoes . Movie studios were clearly onboard with the notion of cinema as an agent of societal change. Lois Weber was one of the bi...

We’ll likely never get to see Theda Bara at the apex of her powers. This is one of only three surviving films in which she had a major role, and none are from her days as a major star. This film, and A Fool There Was , are early works, and the third, The Unchastened Woman , was her final full-length film, and a failed comeback attempt after many years of inactivity. Meanwhile, in between she becam...

If you want a drinking game that will get everyone drunk in 20 minutes, agree to take a shot every time someone gets kicked in the butt in a Charlie Chaplin comedy short. Be sure to have a lot of liquor on hand, because there’s a whole lot of ass-kicking going on. And that’s about it. I know every time a Chaplin movie shows up I seem not to have much good to say about it, but really, his early sho...

Between 1910 and 1915 Norma Talmadge was featured in over 100 short films for the Vitagraph Company, none of which I’ve had the chance to see. Yet, I recognize her name. Like so many stars of the silent film era, Talmadge endures as little more than a shadowy phantom of a bygone day, her name ringing a distant bell in the minds of film fans. We may have seen her name listed among other stars— Marg...

It’s another Charles Chaplin short. So far I’ve enjoyed his shorts, but not to the extent that I quite get yet how he became the legend he is today. When the movie started, Chaplin came onscreen and I was immediately shocked by how much better he looked. His hair was better, his acting less herky-jerky, he even seemed taller. He looked like he’d grown up in the six months span between this and the...

This film began its life in 1899 as a play, also called Sherlock Holmes , written by William Gillette with the blessing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes’ creator. Gillette played Holmes in his play, and by the time Essanay Studios produced a film version, he’d played the role on stage over 1,300 times in the intervening 17 years. Long considered a lost film, a serialized version of the film from...

I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed in this film, for though it is lacking punch overall, it does contain a couple subtle nuggets of enjoyment that offer a glimmer of insight into what the director would eventually be capable of creating. That said, it was a step down from his previous effort, Where Is My Treasure? , and not a film I imagine I will rewatch any time soon. The most disconcerting thing a...

There isn’t much to this film, but it’s important to keep in mind that I’ve been on a run of some really solid films of late, and all things considered this one isn’t half bad. Compared to the average films of its era it’s probably a little bit better than average, but when stacked up against some of my recent entries, it’s a bit lacking The best thing it has going for it is Lilian Gish, but this...

Giovanni Pastrone’s ground-breaking epic Cabiria has been one of the best films I’ve watched so far as a part of this podcast, so I was looking forward to seeing another film that he directed. I had no idea what to expect from this film, as even its title, The Fire , is vague. A film with that title could be about nearly anything. As it turns out, this one is about an incendiary relationship betwe...

This is a quick, fun film, and there’s not a lot to it. The story is simple. The film opens with a double wedding, at which two brothers have married. One marries Lillian Gish, in one of her earliest roles, which makes for a fun chance to catch a glimpse of her before she became a huge star. Her sister Dorothy is also in the film briefly, as a guest at the wedding, as is Mary Pickford’s brother Ja...

I mentioned in the last episode that I would be going back and editing past posts to include the director in each episode’s subtitle. While doing so, I realized that a few episodes were inadvertently marked as viewable only by paid subscribers to my Substack. As I have no paid subscribers, that means they were invisible to one and all. Before I start putting up new episodes, I’m going to go back a...

Hello strangers! (And a few folks I know.) Season 2 of All the Movies is here, which means I am about to start putting up some more podcasts of the movies I’ve been watching. We left off in early 1916, and we’ll pick up there with an Italian film in the next installment, which will be the 59th film I’ve watched thus far. Before I put up that new episode, I’m going to edit the past posts to include...

William S. Hart continues to be the best discovery I’ve made so far during this project. I knew virtually nothing about him before I watched The Bargain , and by virtually nothing I mean his name was vaguely familiar to me as belonging to someone who acted in Westerns. I did not expect to enjoy his films, and in fact, didn’t have any on the original list I made the day I came up with the idea for...

I watched this film entirely because it’s Ernst Lubitsch’s oldest surviving film. I’ve enjoyed a number of his talkies, and was excited to see some of his early work, and while this isn’t on par with his later efforts, it includes some clever moments. The story is fun, and you may find it familiar. We meet our protagonist, played by director Lubitsch, who lives with his wife and mother-in-law. One...

This is a Fatty Arbuckle film I’d not seen before. Granted, I’m very unfamiliar with his work, having seen but a few of his shorts in the past, but nonetheless, this isn’t the sort of role I’m familiar with for him. This is one of his earlier films, so perhaps he hadn’t yet gone the fully comedic route, though this short film is a comedy. The story is simple, at least at first. A married couple is...

This is the second John H. Collins film I’ve watched, and as before, he did not disappoint. He and William S. Hart are without a doubt the biggest discoveries I’ve made so far in this podcast. I’d never heard of him when I started this podcast, but since watching Children of Eve I’ve been looking forward to the next time one of his pictures came up in the rotation. I wrote more about Collins when...

I’m more than a little bit awed right now by just how good this movie is. I was expecting a heavy-handed morality lesson couched as melodrama, and instead got an artful, thought-provoking, emotional rollercoaster ride, filled with delightful visual effects. I must suggest that you leave your politics at the door when you watch this film, which touches on a number of subjects that are as controvers...

This is my least favorite of any of the films I’ve watched thus far. It’s 52nd out of 52. Which is not to say that I hated it, not by any stretch. There were some moments I enjoyed, but as a whole it is a heavy-handed, predictable platitude of a film. The film opens in the difficult-to-pronounce, and wholly fictional, kingdom of Wredpryd, which despite its phony name is clearly meant to represent...

This is the second film directed by Cecil B. DeMille that I’ve watched, and I’m even more impressed this time around. More so than even D.W. Griffith, DeMille demonstrated an almost immediate intuitive grasp of the potential of film. When I first began compiling the list of films I’m working through I saw that DeMille’s second directorial effort was the first film version of Brewster’s Millions ,...

This is one of the most unusual films I’ve watched to this point in the chronology. It’s a strange mix of dream sequences and fantasies, directed by Yevgeny Bauer. It’s a Russian film, and gave me a glimpse into what was happening cinematically outside the U.S. in 1915. It is definitely different than most of the American films I’ve watched. The only one so far that’s been similar is The Avenging...

The Cheat is the 23rd film Cecil B. DeMille directed. That seems like a long career, but those films were released over a span of 22 months, meaning he had less than two years as a director under his belt when he made this movie. Despite being so new to the art, his talent is apparent. This is a beautifully shot film, and includes the most effective usage of lighting and shadow that I’ve seen thus...