It's peak Gish as Moma's tribute series to Mary Lea Bandy — the late, longtime director of the museum's film department — gets to Victor Sjöström's elemental silent classic. Lillian Gish stars as a Virginia belle uprooted to west Texas, where civilization has just barely fastened itself to the flatland. As you'd expect from the title, the wind howls and punishes all who dare live there; as you'd expect from Gish, the hair, once let free, whips and soars, even as her character, fruitlessly married, edges near madness. That wind comes from airplane propellers, hauled out to the Mojave for the shoot, and if it all seems a little much, just remember that this is how it feels to Gish's luckless bride. There's great hardscrabble beauty, and some ...
- 2/4/2015
- Village Voice
Mary Lea Bandy, who for many years led the film department at New York's Museum of Modern Art and played a decisive role in its growth, died Sept. 22 in New York City after a long illness caused by a stroke. She was 71. Bandy was a mainstay at MoMA for 32 years, having joined the staff in 1973 as associate editor, department of publications after having worked as assistant editor at Harry N. Abrams Inc., where she specialized in art-history textbooks. After a short stint as MoMA's associate coordinator of exhibitions, she became administrator of the department of
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- 9/24/2014
- by Todd McCarthy
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Aside from a few opulent movie palaces and once world-famous stars, not much remains of the silent era of cinema, but one is always shocked to learn how the films themselves were "lost."
Some experts estimate that 85% of the movies made in the first three decades of this century no longer exist, but the fate of even recent works is a cause for concern.
Mostly informative and not just a plea for much-needed funding, "The Race to Save 100 Years" (opening today at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills) focuses on the history and current state of film preservation. Once a concern of dedicated cineastes and industry professionals, but not generally understood or appreciated by the movie-consuming public, preservation has been fighting a losing battle for decades as the fragile treasures in question disintegrate.
Starting with shots of decayed nitrate film turned into brown dust falling out of rusty film cans, "Race to Save 100 Years" is an excellent introduction to the technical aspects of cinema history involving film stock and such historical innovations as two-strip color and the Vitaphone sound system.
Alas, the advent of sound was one of many factors that led to the wholesale destruction and neglect of film vaults by most studios and film companies. The ephemeral aspects of the business and general lack of respect given to cinema, as well as specific instances (such as the executive who threw irreplaceable silent film negatives on a dying bonfire), led to such important works as Theda Bara's "Cleopatra" and Lon Chaney Sr.'s "London After Midnight" existing only in tantalizing stills.
The good news is that a great deal of the massive task of properly storing and caring for our film heritage has been accomplished, and "Race to Save 100 Years" shows many scenes from poor film prints compared to restored versions--from D.W. Griffith's first film, "The Adventures of Dollie", to "Gone With the Wind".
There's no argument that this work is important, but the likes of Martin Scorsese, film historian Kevin Brownlow, UCLA archive head Robert Rosen, Mary Lea Bandy of the Musuem of Modern Art and other passionate proponents of preservation drive home the fact that old films are a cultural and historical "gold mine." Future generations will curse us for our negligence, they warn, but painstakingly restoring or reconstructing negatives (from which pristine new prints can be made) takes resources and the overall situation is not rosy.
Still, such heroes as Ted Turner, who continued MGM's aggressive preservation program when he purchased the studio's library, are praised, and scenes from countless classic movies that might have been lost are featured.
But no concrete solutions are proposed and there's not much talk about how the average person will ever get a chance to see vintage films on a big screen. Ironic but indicative of the basic problem facing archivists who are also dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of their efforts, most viewers will see the fine work of filmmakers Scott Benson, May Adair Kaiser and John de Groot on cable TV or video.
THE RACE TO SAVE 100 YEARS
Warner Bros.
Turner Entertainment Co.,
Director Scott Benson
Producer May Adair Kaiser
Writers May Adair Kaiser, John de Groot
Executive producers James Gentilcore,
Richard P. May, Roger L. Mayer, Patrick Murphy
Editor John de Groot
Restoration film editor Ron Rutberg
Directors of photography Joseph Montgomery, John Simmons Narrator Peter Brooks
Color/B&W
Featuring: Martin Scorsese, Kevin Brownlow, Robert Rosen, Mary Lea Bandy, James H. Billington
Running time -- 57 minutes
No MPAA Rating...
Some experts estimate that 85% of the movies made in the first three decades of this century no longer exist, but the fate of even recent works is a cause for concern.
Mostly informative and not just a plea for much-needed funding, "The Race to Save 100 Years" (opening today at Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills) focuses on the history and current state of film preservation. Once a concern of dedicated cineastes and industry professionals, but not generally understood or appreciated by the movie-consuming public, preservation has been fighting a losing battle for decades as the fragile treasures in question disintegrate.
Starting with shots of decayed nitrate film turned into brown dust falling out of rusty film cans, "Race to Save 100 Years" is an excellent introduction to the technical aspects of cinema history involving film stock and such historical innovations as two-strip color and the Vitaphone sound system.
Alas, the advent of sound was one of many factors that led to the wholesale destruction and neglect of film vaults by most studios and film companies. The ephemeral aspects of the business and general lack of respect given to cinema, as well as specific instances (such as the executive who threw irreplaceable silent film negatives on a dying bonfire), led to such important works as Theda Bara's "Cleopatra" and Lon Chaney Sr.'s "London After Midnight" existing only in tantalizing stills.
The good news is that a great deal of the massive task of properly storing and caring for our film heritage has been accomplished, and "Race to Save 100 Years" shows many scenes from poor film prints compared to restored versions--from D.W. Griffith's first film, "The Adventures of Dollie", to "Gone With the Wind".
There's no argument that this work is important, but the likes of Martin Scorsese, film historian Kevin Brownlow, UCLA archive head Robert Rosen, Mary Lea Bandy of the Musuem of Modern Art and other passionate proponents of preservation drive home the fact that old films are a cultural and historical "gold mine." Future generations will curse us for our negligence, they warn, but painstakingly restoring or reconstructing negatives (from which pristine new prints can be made) takes resources and the overall situation is not rosy.
Still, such heroes as Ted Turner, who continued MGM's aggressive preservation program when he purchased the studio's library, are praised, and scenes from countless classic movies that might have been lost are featured.
But no concrete solutions are proposed and there's not much talk about how the average person will ever get a chance to see vintage films on a big screen. Ironic but indicative of the basic problem facing archivists who are also dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of their efforts, most viewers will see the fine work of filmmakers Scott Benson, May Adair Kaiser and John de Groot on cable TV or video.
THE RACE TO SAVE 100 YEARS
Warner Bros.
Turner Entertainment Co.,
Director Scott Benson
Producer May Adair Kaiser
Writers May Adair Kaiser, John de Groot
Executive producers James Gentilcore,
Richard P. May, Roger L. Mayer, Patrick Murphy
Editor John de Groot
Restoration film editor Ron Rutberg
Directors of photography Joseph Montgomery, John Simmons Narrator Peter Brooks
Color/B&W
Featuring: Martin Scorsese, Kevin Brownlow, Robert Rosen, Mary Lea Bandy, James H. Billington
Running time -- 57 minutes
No MPAA Rating...
- 10/17/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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