Mania Grade: A-
Disc Grade: B
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: Not Rated
Stars: Lowell Thomas, Sessue Hayawaka, Florence Vidor, Jack Holt, Charles Ogle
Writers: various
Directors: various
Distributor: Image Entertainment
Original Years of Release: 1916, 1917-1920, 1975
Retail Price: $24.99
Extras: three documentaries; one motion picture (THE SECRET GAME)

Related Links

0

WORLD WAR I FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA

"Frankly I'm stunned," said Charles Parker, 57 year old father of three, "Richard has always been so 'Vietnam this, Korea that' and ranting about the exploitation of the proletariat that I thought for sure his intrusion on our little family gathering would have left him irate. But no, he thought the whole thing was 'bitch'n' to use his exact words." While "bitch'n" is hard to adjust to a letter grade, the follow up declaration of "rock'n" seems to suggest either a B+ or an A. "I think 'bitch'n' is a B," says Doug, 30, the oldest son, "'rock'n' is more like a plus, or is it a one grade hike? I'm not sure. The only thing I'm sure of with Uncle Richard is that he always smells of burnt rope."

The DVD WORLD WAR I FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA is a collection of four pictures: three documentaries and one World War I, or Great War, cinema offering, THE SECRET GAME (1916), featuring famous Asian star Sessue Hayawaka. Of the documentaries two are from the period, FIGHTING THE WAR (1916) and THE LOG OF THE U-35 which is itself a composite of two versions of the film, one American (1920) the other British (1919) that are themselves versions of the German film DER MAGISCHE GÜRTEL (THE ENCHANTED CIRCLE) (1917). The third documentary, offered as a bonus, is THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE GREAT WAR, a 1975 award winning documentary on how the war, political/social pressures and motion pictures all affected one another in what has been called by some historians the most horrific of the modern wars, due to the inclusion of chemical warfare and unfamiliarity with the destructive power of the newer, modern weaponry.

The film had been rented by Charles, a self-professed history buff, as a way of introducing the Great War to his youngest boy, John, 19. A wave of curiosity swept the entire family and before the first film viewed, FIGHTING THE WAR, had finished, all of Charles' three sons and his wife were held enthralled in front of the television set. "Usually I think of this kind of film as 'for the boys' but Donald C. Thompson's documentary was riveting," said Charles' wife Mildred, 54. "I couldn't believe some of the images, particularly the trench life footage, the lyrical night battle scenes and the dogfight shots (though I'm not entirely convinced that wasn't staged). It was incredible. There was a jocular undercurrent to it, but it's such a piece of history I couldn't turn away." "I was distracted at first by the use of text cards, not being that familiar with silent films, and the synthesizer music was lame but wow, it really grabs you," said Craig, 28, Charles' son, "And to think Donald C. Thompson made this when he was 26! I read the excellent liner notes included in the disc and I'll be doing some research on this baby." "Yeah, it was good," said Doug, "but the text cards were all over the place, suggesting the film had been re-edited."

While John made popcorn and the family prepared for the second film, the family heard a loud screeching of tires indicating the unexpected arrival of Uncle Richard, 50. "Uncle Richard just barges in the house wearing his twenty year old army jacket with 'USA CORRUPT' stenciled on the back," said Doug, "wanting to show my dad the new dog bong he's created. The guy doesn't even knock!" "I hate that smelly bastard," said John. "He's just so flip flop on everything, all he does is take the contrary position to whatever you say and when you ask him to clarify his position all he does is get all huffy and say, 'Well, it looks like The Man has gotten to you.' What man? Who's the hell is 'the man'?" "Yeah, Richard's had some hard times," said Charles, "So when he comes over and wants to show me something, like a dog bong, I try to humor him, show him I care." "Dog bong!" said Mildred. "He creates this thing that looks like a plastic death bag to 'cure the dog's glaucoma,' a dog I might add that he's never taken to the vet. He only thinks the dog has glaucoma because he tripped over the poor beast one night when came home stoned out of his wits. Did I say one night? Make that every night." Craig wouldn't even leave the couch to greet his Uncle, much less offer comment.

After Uncle Richard spent 40 minutes showing off his latest invention, the family expected him to hit the road. Instead he asked Doug to help him remove something stuck to the grill of his car. "What is it with stoners always having something stuck to the hood of their car," muttered Doug, "It was a piece of frigg'n paper, but in the past it's been a mailbox, barbed wire and even a tire. Well, at least it's not a kid, but having said that I know what'll be on there the next time he shows up." Once the car situation was remedied, rather than leave Uncle Richard decided to stay, to give the kids "some quality time with their favorite uncle." "He's not my favorite Uncle," snapped Craig. "He's a f------ loser."

Starting up THE LOG OF THE U-35, a riveting collection of movie clips shot by German submarine commander Lothar von Arnauld de la Perriè, the majority of which feature footage of ships sunk by this notorious Great War figure, the family was immediately put on their guard by Uncle Richard's non-stop fidgeting. "I'm watching this spectacular footage of these great warships sinking into the blue abyss and I can't help creeping out," said John, "cause I keep thinking Uncle Richard is going to stab somebody." "I really, really enjoyed this picture, I mean it gave me a perspective on the Germans that I never had, like they were real people. The film has an odd element of humanity to it, the German soldiers seem to be clearing the boats, getting the people off and then sinking them. Heck, that's probably just what they wanted everybody to think. I'll have to read up on it," commented Doug. "It was very melancholy and yet at the same time exhilarating," stated Craig, "the music was that same sickly synthesizer garbage, but now it was accompanied by a barrage of 'whoas' and 'no ways' from Uncle Dickard." "Man, this DVD has got some major technical problem: the music's so high up in the mix you can't here what the people are saying," said Uncle Richard, who was then informed it was a silent picture. "Then why can I hear the music?" was his well thought-out reply, followed by an unexpected "awesome."

THE SECRET GAME, a 1917 feature directed by William C. de Mille and featuring Hayawaka, was probably the least enjoyed film on the disc. "I thought it was a bit hokey. I mean they show the bad guy as evil cause he sneers at children, what a cliché. And what about poor Hayawaka! I mean, he's the star, he should get the girl, but the movie tosses the girl off to some third rate sap. Ugh. So obviously racist," commented Doug. "Very much of its time," said Charles, "It was a bit harsh on Hayawaka's character, but it was nice to see an Asian actor in the lead, and they did give the character quite a lot of dignity." "It was harmless Hollywood hokum, but I'm glad I saw it," said Craig, "what I'm not glad of was catching Uncle Dickard staring at my mom's chest while she was absorbed in the film." "Did you know that one acre of hemp can produce as much paper as five billion rain forests?! It's true! I read it in THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES!" Uncle Richard said out of nowhere. No one commented on the film's synthesizer score or that it was a silent picture.

Rounding out the disc was THE MOVING PICTURE BOYS IN THE GREAT WAR, a one-hour documentary that gave perspective to the films just seen. "Wow, it's really amazing how heavy handed the propaganda was back then," said John. "I mean, all those bullying and sentimental tactics they'd used to get people interested in the war! I'm glad I live in a more enlightened time!" "As a documentary it was a very good cursory take on the time, plus the clips and music were wonderful, reminding me of my grandfather's old cylinder record collection," said Charles "I just hope it inspires John or any of the other boys to read up on such a fascinating time period." "I think I would have liked it had not Uncle Dickard been screaming Neil Young's 'Rocking in the Free World' the whole damn movie," snapped Craig. "I don't know how everybody else in the family can zone him out. I hope he dies in a fiery car wreck on his way home." "Stuff like that is just so... deep. It's like two times as deep as the deepest ocean and five times deeper then infinity. You know what I'm saying! You know, if everybody in the world smoked marijuana there would be no cancer, it's the cure!" rambled Uncle Richard. "But as to those films... BITCH'N... ROCK'N... ROCK-A-DOO!"