1921 Poll 2.0

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Choose your favourite films from 1921 (according to IMDB).

Each person can vote for up to 20 films. Do not feel compelled to fill the maximum allowable number.

Twenty-film ballots can be formatted as follows:
- Five tiers of four films each, 4/4/4/4/4; scored 5-4-3-2-1 pts/film/tier
- Four tiers of five films each, 5/5/5/5; scored 4.5-3.5-2.5-1.5 pts/film/tier
- Two tiers of ten films each, 10/10; scored 4-2 pts/film/tier
- No tiers, unranked; scored 3 pts/film
- A 20-film three-tier ballot is not possible

A tiered ballot can include less than 20 films, but in that case the total number of films must still be able to be factored by the number of tiers, so:
- A five tier ballot can include only 20, 15, 10, or 5 films
- A four tier ballot can include only 20, 16, 12, 8, or 4 films
- A three tier ballot (scored 5-3-1) can include only 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, or 3 films
- A two tier ballot can include only 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, or 2 films
- Ballots that are 19, 17, 13, 11, 7 or 1 films must be no tiers

Users are urged to post their provisional lists as soon as possible, so that others can use them for recommendations. You may revise your lists at any point prior to the deadline.

Deadline for 1921 lists will be Tuesday, May 31st at around midnight EDT.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

[greennui]

The Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch)
Visby
Manhatta (Paul Strand, Charles Sheeler)
Lichtspiel: Opus I (Walter Ruttmann
Opus II (Walter Ruttmann)
Rhythm 21 (Hans Richter)
Invisible Ink (Dave Fleischer)
Hamlet (Heinz Schall, Svend Gade)
Camille (Ray C. Smallwood)
Soul of the Cypress (Dudley Murphy)
Lyman H. Howe’s Famous Ride on a Runaway Train (Lyman H. Howe)
The Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjöström)
Orphans of the Storm (D.W. Griffith)

[flip]

not a year i've seen a lot from... yet! but this may end up as my final ballot:

The Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch)
The High Sigh (Buster Keaton/Edward Cline)

Never Weaken (Fred Newmeyer)
The Goat (Buster Keaton/Malcolm St Clair)

The Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
The Play House (Buster Keaton/Edward Cline)

Be My Wife (Max Linder)
The Haunted House (Buster Keaton/Edward Cline)

Manhatta (Charles Sheeler/Paul Strand)
Der Sieger (Walter Ruttmann)

[sally]

some major GOATs in 1921 for me, namely

hintertreppe / backstairs
scherben / shattered
the wildcat

but also:
the goat
la terre
el dorado
i figli di nessuno / nobody's children
kvarnen / the mill
příchozí z temnot / arrival from the darkness
de zwarte tulp / the black tulip
fièvre
le chemin d’ernoa
la tempesta in un cranio
la nave / the ship
johan
vallfarten till kevlaar / the pilgrimage to kevlaar
der gang in die nacht
be my wife
seven years bad luck
manhatta
the phantom carriage
visby

[St. Gloede]

I can not make an all-great top 20 for this year, unfortunately, so will limit my selection to 12:

Seven Years Bad Luck (1921, Max Linder)
Hamlet (1921, Svend Gade & Heinz Schall)
L'Atlantide (1921, Jacques Feyder)
Eldorado (1921, Marcel L'Herbier)

The Kid (1921, Charlie Chaplin)
Der müde Tod (1921, Fritz Lang)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921, Rex Ingram & Kevin Brownlow)
La terre (1921, André Antoine)

Körkarlen / The Phantom Carriage (1921, Victor Sjöström)
The Sheik (1921, George Melford)
Be My Wife (1921, Max Linder)
Im Kampf mit dem Berge (1921, Arnold Fanck)

Honourable mentions:

Johan (1921, Mauritz Stiller)
Die Geierwally / Wally of the Vultures (1921, Ewald André Dupont)
The Ace of Hearts (1921, Wallace Worsley)
Tol'able David (1921, Henry King)
Schloß Vogeloed / The Haunted Castle (1921, F.W. Murnau)

[rischka]

the wildcat!!!

the high sign
seven years bad luck
l'atlantide
hintertreppe
scherben
tol'able david
orphans of the storm
eldorado
the goat
the kid
the phantom carriage
destiny
soul of the cypress


https://youtu.be/Oh2W63xOYzQ

[sally]

there are a TON of travelogues in 1921 - as usual willy mullens is going berserk even out to the colonies, but everyone else is at it as well

first up is a delightful 'oh, what are they like' reportage of holiday pursuits in ostende, and this one is even on letterboxd and has a named director

ostende, reine des plages - henry-alexandre parys

♥ the beach scenes, but what on earth are hippie pants doing in 1921??

[sally]

the four seasons - raymond l ditmars

self-explanatory nature doc from the US that went beyond the usual fluffy aaaw in the sense of actually trying to show a few (very few) mechanics - the storm clouds & lightning scenes looked cool although i think they struggled with the thunder aspect. unfortunately a lot of animal scenes were clearly shot in a quite inhospitable looking zoo, and some fanatic spent the whole thing torturing a marmot.

on the other hand, all the intertitles were in dutch, so apart from all the words that look like chaucerian old englishe, i had no clue what was going on and the first association i get from dutch+zoo isn't haanstra, but the scurrilous antics of van hoyton, the infamous keeper of owls at amsterdam zoo, so the whole film ended up being a rather merry instructional movie from a lunatic.

[niminy-piminy]

THE CENTAURS (Winsor McCay)
https://youtu.be/hoVHhIoyoO4

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Watched the tinted travelogue Visby. Pretty and soothing. Thanks to Greennui for the word-to-wise on how to find it on www.filmarkivet.se/

[niminy-piminy]

this is all that my (pretty stupid) homeland (that is (however, in no way) some fucking RuZZian "buffer zone") can offer to the 1921 world cinema.

1921
— The Crucified • Ukřižovaná IMDb
— Duel with God • Souboj s Bohem IMDb
— The Arrival from the Darkness • Příchozí z temnot IMDb
— Bet for a Kiss • Sázka o hubičku IMDb
— The Black Gamekeepers / About the Great Passion • Černí myslivci / O veliké vášni IMDb
— The Flames of Life / Heaven and Hell of the Boheme • Plameny života / Ráj a peklo bohémy IMDb
— Gipsies • Cikáni IMDb
— Graduation Ceremony • Promoce IMDb
— The Girl from the Silver Frontier • Děvče ze Stříbrné Hranice IMDb
— Irča’s Little Romance I. • Irčin románek I. IMDb
— Irča’s Romance II. / Irča in a Boarding School • Irčin románek II. / Irča v pensionátu IMDb
— The Romance of a Boxer • Román boxera IMDb
— The Shaft of Burried Ideas • Šachta pohřbených ideí IMDb

out of these i have seen (and can recommend)...

Gipsies → https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/395239/gipsies
https://youtu.be/dF0PVfpp6cw

The Arrival from the Darkness → https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/3 ... e-darkness
https://youtu.be/mhiGZI7PDNM

The Shaft of Burried Ideas → https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/3 ... ried-ideas

unfortunately, only the version without subs and with a ridiculous soundtrack is available online.
but this movie is noteworthy for being the film that the Czechoslovak capitalist regime censored!
https://youtu.be/6_T-mcg0odw

This is the first attempt at making a film with a social theme. The film was banned by the censors on the 8th of October, 1921. After it had been re-edited it was shown on the 17th of February 1922

in the liberal capitalist Czechoslovakia (of the era between WW1 and WW2), an excessive obscenity, an excessive blasphemy, and an excessive sympathy for the Bolshevik-like revolution have been censored.
btw. Czechoslovakia (established in 1918) recognized the Soviet Union de jure and the countries established diplomatic relations only in June 1934.
this very late de jure recognition of the Soviet Union by Czechoslovakia was partly due to the loyalty to allies in the "Little Entente" — i.e. Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 Yugoslavia) — who had their own issues with the eastern (i.e. Soviet) imperialism and resisted an earlier de jure recognition as well.
Little Entente → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Entente

i didn't watch yet (and gonna watch for the poll)...

The Crucified → https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/3 ... -crucified
https://youtu.be/bFJPxo4mdNs

in this case, you can not only watch the film itself ↑ but also (alongside) "the soundtrack in making" ↓
https://youtu.be/2klHI45hkbI

The Poisoned Light → https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/3 ... oned-light
https://youtu.be/-A1EbDE9lCE

film with the tempting title "Duel with God" (seems like) didn't survive in full (have no access to any fragment) → https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/en/film/3 ... l-with-god

about the rest, i have yet to investigate.

plus, there is one more significant 1921 film that is no longer a part of the "local" film heritage (due to the split of Czechoslovakia).
i mean JÁNOŠÍK (Jaroslav Siakel) that is considered the very first Slovak feature film.

[sally]

Gipsies is 1922 on IMDb, but I have the others lined up! (apart from arrival from the darkness & janosik which I've already seen)

[sally]

hello my dreamy fellows!

today i've wistfully globe-spun 1921 and gone into an arm-chair travel-fugue....the more i watch, the more surreal and dear these little portraits of places become (it's actually better when you can't understand a word of the intertitles)....i've some way left to go, but i can't go seem to get anywhere below detroit, in terms of latin america *glares angrily at lencho's FIAF links* - has anyone got ANYTHING from that part of the world? i'll take newsreels even...

anyway this was my letterboxd log-less itinerary today

UK:
hull
flamborough head
dumbarton rock
river conwy (gaston quiribet, hepworth productions) ♥

köln, germany
fuzhou, china
amsterdam, netherlands
scheveningen, netherlands
vlissingen, netherlands (willy mullens)
patuha, indonesia
merapi, indonesia ♥
'the arctic'
písek, CZ
náchod, CZ
litomyšl, CZ ♥
serra da estrela, portugal ♥
detroit, USA (billed as travelogue, in actual fact more like cool, metropolis-kinetic, factory porn) ♥

and in no pic order:

[niminy-piminy]

litomyšl, CZ ♥

omg, my (damn) birthplace and (for the substantial part of my life) my (damn) hometown!
not only never ever saw this footage but never ever heard of it.
i guess i am gonna harass this forum (this thread) with an endless (patriotic) post full of annotated screencaps (some next day).

[sally]

you're from there? does it look like that now? it looks like a fairy tale! (there's this one shot of a woman pushing a pram leading a bunch of people across the screen that looks straight out of the surrealists, or monty python)

did you find the film? it was on the europeana site with a longer title (some dudes, I think related to something Poland, something Ukraine, it didn't matter)

[niminy-piminy]

yes, i was born in Litomyšl, and attended elementary & secondary school there.
then moved to Prague (going to uni), then made a detour back, and then moved to Prague again (for good).
my (off-town) "east bohemian estate" (with hazelnuts and black currants) is near the place.
it looks pretty similar.
yup, i watched it on the Europeana.
gonna explain what was going on there in 1921 in the (upcoming) "endless post".

[sally]

I'll look forward to it!

I found hebden bridge in 1921, but it was 43 seconds of Lord Idiot exploiting poor people & shooting birds so I didn't get that excited

[Lencho of the Apes]

Here's a tour of Mexico City, apparently made in USA in '21, but without anything that would indicate its provenance or makers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9JDi0_PHO0

[niminy-piminy]

1/
because a single "endless" post would be too long i will make (instead) an "endless" series of posts maniacally annotating the film called (in full)...
"Ceremony Unveiling of the Memorial of the Czech Brethren on Růžový palouček (the Pink Meadow) and J. A. Komenský Memorial in the Town of Litomyšl, 1921"

the "official" synopsis says...

The panorama of the town of Litomyšl. Introductory subtitles briefly make us familiar with the town's history. We can see its significant sights (chateau, the Olivetská hora Hospital, a Piarist church, the local grammar school, brewery, the natal home of Bedřich Smetana, houses linked with the stay of Alois Jirásek in Litomyšl, the natal home of Julius Mařák, the natal home of František A. Brauner). In the close vicinity of Litomyšl we can see a momentous place called Růžový palouček (the Pink Meadow). In 1921 the Memorial of the Czech Brethren was unveiled at this place (design of Alois Metelák). The ceremony event was attended by Captain G. V. Figulus - an offspring of J. A. Komenský - and his daughter Gertruda of Johanesburg. Their property includes also a very precious memory piece, a ring once belonging to J. A. Komenský.

besides Europeana, it can be also watched here...
https://vimeo.com/151411206

[niminy-piminy]

CEREMONY UNVEILING... 2/

Introductory subtitles briefly make us familiar with the town's history.

A/
first, it is mentioned "the end of the 10th century" as the time of Litomyšl's foundation (a protective fortified settlement at the local important trade route on the margin between Bohemia and Moravia).
this dating is derived from "Chronica Boemorum" → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronica_Boemorum

The Chronica Boemorum (Chronicle of the Czechs, or Bohemians) is the first Latin chronicle in which the history of the Czech lands has been consistently and relatively fully described. It was written in 1119–1125 by Cosmas of Prague.

Cosmas of Prague → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmas_of_Prague

The Chronica is divided into three books:

— The first book, completed in 1119, starts with the creation of the world and ends in the year 1038. It describes the legendary foundation of the Bohemian state by the oldest Bohemians around the year 600 (Duke Czech, Duke Krok and his three daughters), Duchess Libuše and the foundation of Přemyslid dynasty by her marriage with Přemysl, old bloody wars, Duke Bořivoj and the introduction of Christianity in Bohemia, Saint Wenceslaus and his grandmother Saint Ludmila, reign of the three Boleslavs, the life of Saint Adalbert and bloody wars after year 1000.

— The second book describes Bohemian history for the years 1038–1092.

— The third book (1092–1125) starts with a description of the time of instability and bloody civil wars after Vratislav's death between years 1092 and 1109. The Chronica ends with the reign of Vladislav between 1109 and 1125. The same year, 1125, Cosmas died.

In the later 12th and 13th centuries, Cosmas's continuators brought his history down to 1300.

Cosmas mentions Litomyšl (spelled "Lutomisl") related to the year 981.
thus i personally witnessed (at the age of 8) the dumb & laughable (from the infant's perspective) celebrations of the 1000 years of "existence" in 1981.

B/
the other significant date given in the introduction is 1259 when the settlement of Litomyšl was raised to the status of a town (thus the residents attaining certain specific privileges) by the King Ottokar II of Bohemia → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottokar_II_of_Bohemia

C/
the last piece of history (mentioned in the introduction & relevant to the "plot") is the appearance of the (protestant) Czech Brethren in Litomyšl in the 15th century — later (in 16th century) being persecuted (during the process of "recatholisation") and expelled.

[sally]

Here's a tour of Mexico City, apparently made in USA in '21, but without anything that would indicate its provenance or makers.

perfect, thanks!

[sally]

"endless"

also maybe a how to pronounce it lesson from a native? i don't know if those vowels are eee or eye, and there's that worryingly occult s lurking around....(and probably all the other letters do something weird too)

[niminy-piminy]

CEREMONY UNVEILING... 3/

The panorama of the town of Litomyšl.

(1)
the (panning) panoramic view is taken (i believe) from the then construction site of soon to become "Alois Jirásek Grammar School" — a secondary school ("gymnázium") that i (a few decades later) attended.

btw. in Czech, we refer to a "grammar school" (somewhat confusingly) by the word "gymnázium".
thus whenever a Czech speaks about "gymnázium" he/she doesn't mean a place to do a physical exercise but an educational institution (grammar school) → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(school)

btw. gonna refer to some of the buildings by the links from LAM (Litomyšl Architecture Manual).
LAM is focused on 20th-century architecture and thus i will refer to the older buildings via their 20th-century reconstructions.
if you scroll the entries, you can usually find some vintage pictures of the buildings (and compare the current state with the history)

so, here is the LAM entry of "Alois Jirásek Grammar School" → https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/04-59 ... mar-school

Date:
1920 (Project)
1920–1923 (Realisation)

The first study, dating back to the beginning of 1920 and Neo-renaissance in concept

the Grammar School was put into operation on August 26. 1923

thus, in the forefront of the panoramic view, we can see (1) the foundations of the newly built school.
and from this spot, we observe the following...

(2) (small black dot = 1)
the renaissance castle (Unesco Herritage Site) → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litomy%C5%A1l_Castle
Restoration of sgraffito on Litomyšl Chateau facade → https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-93 ... eau-facade

(3) (small black dot = 10)
the (Piarist) grammar school where Alois Jirásek (an acclaimed writer of the historical prose) taught.
after the new building (1) was finished, the educational institution was moved there, and the "Piarist grammar school" started to serve as a local museum that has been lately thoroughly reconstructed.

Revitalization of Litomyšl's Regional Museum building → https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-9- ... m-building

(4) (small black dot = 9)
(baroque) "Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross" (Piarist Church)
designed by Giovanni Battista Alliprandi (born in Como province, Italy, 1655, died & buried in Litomyšl, 1720)

Reconstruction of Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross → https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-8a ... holy-cross

(5) (small black dot = 15)
tower in the middle of the main square.
i lived in its proximity (on the other side of the main square, almost opposite the tower).

(6) (small black dot = 8)
(in its core gothic) Church of the Raising of the Holy Cross

it has not been lately substantially reconstructed thus all LAM can offer are pics from the reconstruction of the public space in front of the church called "Šantovo Square" → https://lam.litomysl.cz/en/object/01-vp ... ovo-square

btw. notice that the older (gothic) local church is called "Church of the Raising of the Holy Cross" and the newer (baroque) is called "Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross"
one would expect that the logical (chronological) succession of the affairs would be first "discovery" and then "raising (to heaven)". but according to the local (twisted) "logic", the holy cross was first raised (to heaven) and only then discovered. anyway, whatever!

(7)
the building where my elementary education took place — and where (as an infant) i started to think over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (ad infinitum) the first-raised-then-discovered "logic" (while absent-minded gazing out of the window).

[niminy-piminy]

CEREMONY UNVEILING... 4/

(by popular demand) a lesson/intermezzo on how to spell (as good as a native) "litomyšl" (click the loud-speaker! ↓ )...
https://translate.google.cz/?hl=cs&tab= ... =translate

[sally]

little misha? *weeps, joins nunnery of the intentionally tongue-less*

intermezzo over!

[niminy-piminy]

"lil misha of lil misha" gonna be my next nick (if scfz allows this long nick)!

[niminy-piminy]

hebden bridge 1921 43 seconds

btw. can you share the link?

[niminy-piminy]

CEREMONY UNVEILING... 5/

now, for anyone curious who were those (damn) "Czech Brethren" (from the title), this is the must-read installment!

in short, the "Czech Brethren" or the "Unity of the Brethren" (Unitas Fratrum) were Protestants before it was cool (i.e. several decades prior to Martin Luther).

nowadays local successors of them are the "Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren" (founded in 1918).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelic ... h_Brethren

Reformation in the Czech lands started already in the 15th century, one century before the great Luther's Reformation. At that time, most Czechs (~85%) were Protestant; there were two Protestant churches: the Utraquist Hussite Church (1431–1620) and the Unity of the Brethren (1457–1620). (The latter was in the 1720s partially renewed outside of Czech territory as the Moravian Church) However, non-Catholic churches were forbidden in 1620 when the Bohemian Revolt was decisively defeated and victorious Habsburg rulers imposed harsh Counter-Reformation measures on the Bohemian Crown. This ban was mitigated in 1781 by issuing the Patent of Toleration that permitted Lutheran and Calvinist churches in the Habsburg monarchy (yet full equality with Catholic faith and equality before the law Protestants only obtained as late as in 1867, when Austria-Hungary was created). Nevertheless, other minor churches were still forbidden until the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918.

in the 1430s, Litomyšl became part of the estate of a (Hussite affiliated) noblemen family who staunchly supported the Czech Brethren.
they (CB) formed a strong congregation in Litomyšl and started (in 1503) their own printing press (one of the earliest in the Czech lands).
their headquarters (marked on the map by a blue dot (1)) was located in the area featured in the following two shots — seen from two different spots: first marked by the blue dot (2), second, marked by the blue dot (3)...



since 1547 (as a consequence of the Schmalkaldic War → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmalkaldic_War ), local Protestants (including the Czech Brethren) started to become persecuted (by Habsburgs, i.e. Catholics).
and in 1620 (after the Battle of White Mountain → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_White_Mountain ), they became banned (viz quote above) — local Protestants were forced either to convert to Catholicism (or pretend the conversion) or to leave to the exile (keep this on your mind for the installment about the Memorial of the Czech Brethren on the Pink Meadow — unveiled in 1921).
the "Re-Catholization" (Counter-Reformation) process was mostly carried out (in the Czech lands) by Jesuits.
in Litomyšl (specifically) by Piarists → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piarists — viz the "Piarist Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross" or the "Piarist Grammar School" mentioned in the third installment).

film also shows the building (situated out of the map) that served in the past as the Czech Brethren's hospital (first pic).
later, it was rebuilt to serve as the place of prayer of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (second pic).

[sally]

hebden bridge 1921 43 seconds

btw. can you share the link?

it's on the bfi player, so no. not really worth it cuz all you see is a few posh people coming out of a stone building on the moors and the beaters of the hunt having their lunch whilst someone lays out the birds they've killed. could be anywhere. besides, i only live in hebden, i grew up dahn sahrf of london dint i, so i'm inauthentic everywhere now...

but i am amazed you can orient yourself in the old footage enough to know which direction it was shot from, are all the streets so etched in your brain? i get freaked out when people on here go 'real-life' but maybe you're some kind of ghost....