Silent Films on TCM this May

Hello again my friends and fellow silent film lovers. Once again here is a list of the silent films on TCM this coming month.

Sunday May 3rd

Body and Soul (1925) Director: Oscar Micheaux. Staring Paul Robeson and Marshall Rodgers. 9:15pm Pacific. 12:15am Eastern.

Wednesday May 6th

The Dragon Painter (1919) Director: William Worthington. Staring Sessue Hayakawa and Toyo Fujita. 5pm Pacific. 8pm Eastern.

Piccadilly (1929) Director: D.A. Dupont. Staring Gilda Grey and Anna May Wong. 6pm Pacific. 9pm Eastern.

Sunday May 10th

Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) Director: Charles F. Riesner. Starring Buster Keaton and Ernest Torrence. 9:30pm Pacific, 12:30am Eastern.

The Great Buster: A Celebration (2018, documentary about silent film star Buster Keaton) Director: Peter Bogdonavich. 6:45pm Pacific. 9:45 Eastern.

Sunday, May 17th 
Shoes (1916) Director: Lois Webber. Starring Mary MacLaren and Harry Griffith. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern.

 Sunday, May 24th

Wings (1927) Director: William A. Wellman Starring Clara Bow and Charles "Buddy" Rogers. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Sunday, May 31st

The Big Parade (1925) Director: King Vidor. Starring John Gilbert and Renee Adoree. 3am Pacific. 6am Eastern.

He Who Gets Slapped (1924) Director: Victor Seastrom. Starring Lon Chaney and Norma Shearer. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Silent Films on TCM This March

Hello again my friends. As I know many of you are like me fans of both TCM and silent films, I have complied this list of silent films that will play on TCM this March.

Sunday, March 8th

Siren of the Tropics (1927). Director: Mario Nalpas. Starring Josephine Baker and Pierre Batcheff. 9pm Pacific. 12am Eastern.

Monday March 9th

Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) Director: Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Mabel Normand. 4:30am Pacific. 7:30am Eastern.

Sunday, March 15th

The Blot (1921) Director: Lois Webber. Starring Phillip Hubbard and Margaret McWade. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Monday, March 16th

The Battleship Potemkin (1925) Director: Sergi Eisenstein. Starring Alexander Antonov and Vladimir Barsky. 8:45am Pacific. 11:45am Eastern.

Sunday, March 22nd

Battling Butler (1926) Director: Buster Keaton. Starring Buster Keaton and Snitz Edwards. 9:15pm Pacific. 12:15am Eastern.

Tuesday, March 24th

Falling Leaves (1912) Director: Alice Guy Blanche. Starring Mace Greenleaf and Blanche Cornwell. 7pm Pacific. 10pm Eastern.

The Ocean Waif (1916) Director: Alice Guy Blanche. Starring Carlyle Blackwell and Doris Kenyon. 7:15pm Pacific. 10:15pm Eastern.

The Birth, The Life and Death of the Christ (1906) Director: Alice Guy-Blanche. 8pm Pacific. 11pm Eastern.

A House Divided (1913) Director: Alice Guy Blanche. Starring Marion Swayne and Fraunie Fraunholtz. 11pm Pacific. 2am Eastern.

Canned Harmony (1912) Director: Alice Guy Blanche. Starring Lee Beggs and Billy Quirk. 11:15pm Pacific. 2:15am Eastern.

Algie the Miner (1912) Directed by Alice Guy Blanche and Mary Foy. 11:35pm Pacific. 2:35am Eastern.

Matrimony's Speed Limit (1913) Director: Alice Guy Blanche. Starring Fraunie Fraunholtz. 11:45pm Pacific. 2:45am Eastern.

Sunday, March 29th

Nanook of the North (1922) Director: Robert Flaherty. 9:30pm Pacific. 12:30am Eastern.

Monday, March 30th

The Navigator (1924) Directors: Buster Keaton and Donald Crisp. Starring Buster Keaton and Kathryn McGuire. 3am Pacific. 6am Eastern.



-Michael J. Ruhland  

Silent Film of the Month: Where Are My Children (1916)

Runtime: 64 Minutes. Studio: Universal. Directors: Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley. Writers: Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley. Producers: Lois Weber, Phillips Smalley. Main Cast: Tyrone Power, Helen Riaume, Marie Walcamp, Jean de la Cruz. Cinematographers: Stephan S. Norton, Lois Weber.    



With how hot button topics, abortion and birth control are today, it is easy to think of them as strictly modern day issues and something we wouldn’t except a film from over 100 years ago to ever mention, much less have at the center of its storyline. However these two topics are just what Where Are My Children is about. This is a movie that is just as shocking and controversial today as it was when first released over 100 years ago.

 Not shockingly this movie was co-directed and co-written by Lois Weber. While she does not always receive the credit she is due today, she was one of the best directors of the 1910’s. Her films were often way ahead of their time in filmmaking techniques. They still look visually gorgeous today, yet the visuals are always part of the story reflecting the emotions of the characters in a completely cinematic way. She also was never afraid to confront current issues in her movies, some of which are still prevalent today (The Blot (1921) is about an underpaid teacher). This film does not talk about these issues in a subtle or veiled way. Instead it is all present as open and honest as possible.

There are two separate storylines happening in this film. They are placed together very cleverly by connecting them more emotionally than narratively. This, while something we all know and recognize today was groundbreaking in 1916. They are also woven together seamlessly, with it never feeling like one is interrupting the other. One of these stories involved a doctor (Juan de la Cruz) on trial for writing a book about birth control. This was especially topical in 1916, as it was based on similarly legal trouble for Margaret Sanger who had written publications about family planning. The other story involved a husband (Tyrone Power) who wants nothing more than a child, yet his wife (Helen Riaume, Tyrone Power's real life wife) gets an abortion behind his back. The emotion of this latter story feels completely real and unbelievably effective.

Weber’s flair for visual filmmaking shows itself brilliantly here. There are a few images of the part of heaven where the unwanted and unborn babies are and long to one day actually live on earth. These images are extremely imaginative and beautiful to look at. I will not give it away here, but the closing shot of this film is incredible. Not only is it very beautiful and features an effect that looks just as great today as it did in 1916, but it is also extremely emotionally powerful. This final image is one I will certainly never forget.

This movie was the most finically successful movie of 1916. An article in the Motion Picture News gives us an idea how popular this film was stating “Old timers along the Great White Way who saw the huge mob struggling to gain admission to the GLOBE THEATRE to see ‘Where Are My Children’ pronounced it ‘unbelievable’ that Broadway traffic could ever be blocked by any moving picture ever produced… Inside in the lobby (which is nearly 100 feet deep) another huge crowd was massed from door to entrance. That’s how ‘Where Are My Children’ packed ‘em in on Broadway, the hardest show street in the world. The New York Newspapers, the Clergy, the trade press and the public pronounced it ‘wonderful’ ‘amazing’ ‘sensational’ ‘dignified.’”


For any of you interested in watching this fantastic movie, it is on YouTube.

How Mary MacLaren Got Into the Movies.

Mary MacLaren is not a household name, even among silent film buffs. Still she certainly had a good career. She appeared in multiple films directed by Lois Weber and even had a good sized role in The Three Musketeers (1921). Though her career would last into the late 1940's, during the sound era, she would play mostly uncredited minor roles. Even the actresses who aren't household names have a story of how they got into the movies. This story is told in an issue of The Moving Picture Weekly dated June 24, 1916. The following pages contain that article.





-Michael J. Ruhland