Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood
Encyclopedia
Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood was a 1995 documentary
produced by David Gill and silent film
historian Kevin Brownlow
.
The six-part mini-series focused on the origin of European cinema
, from its infancy as a novelty created by French inventors Louis and Auguste Lumiere
to a serious artistic and commercial contender against America (that is, until the surge of the Nazis).
The documentary is narrated by filmmaker and actor, Kenneth Brannagh. Original music in the film was composed by Carl Davis
, Philip Appleby & Nic Raine.
The series originally aired on the BBC in 1995, later airing on TCM in the US in 1996. In 2000, Image Entertainment
released the whole series on a 2-disc DVD
(3 episodes on each disc).
The documentary was shown from time to time on public television stations, usually at late night slots, due to its length and occasional mature content.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
produced by David Gill and silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
historian Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...
.
The six-part mini-series focused on the origin of European cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, from its infancy as a novelty created by French inventors Louis and Auguste Lumiere
Lumière
-Characters:*Lumière , one of the two main characters of the 2002 anime series Kiddy Grade*Lumiere, a character in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast-Places:*Lumière, a restaurant in Vancouver, Canada...
to a serious artistic and commercial contender against America (that is, until the surge of the Nazis).
The documentary is narrated by filmmaker and actor, Kenneth Brannagh. Original music in the film was composed by Carl Davis
Carl Davis
Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....
, Philip Appleby & Nic Raine.
The series originally aired on the BBC in 1995, later airing on TCM in the US in 1996. In 2000, Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
released the whole series on a 2-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
(3 episodes on each disc).
The documentary was shown from time to time on public television stations, usually at late night slots, due to its length and occasional mature content.
Episodes
The documentary is divided into the following episodes (with original BBC airdates):- "Where It All Began" (Introductory Episode)
- October 1, 1995
- Highlighting the world's first public presentation of films in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the silent film industries in DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the comedies by Max LinderMax LinderMax Linder was an influential French pioneer of silent film.-Birth and early career:Born Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle in Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France to a Catholic wine-growing family, he grew up with a passion for the theatre and as a young man joined a theatre troupe touring the country...
and Ernst LubitschErnst LubitschErnst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
, Abel GanceAbel GanceAbel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
's J'AccuseJ'Accuseis an open letter by Émile Zola concerning the Dreyfus affair. may also refer to:* J'accuse , a 1919 French silent film, set during World War I, directed by Abel Gance...
and the onset of World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
- "Art's Promised Land" (Sweden)
- October 8, 1995
- Including Ingeborg HolmIngeborg HolmIngeborg Holm is a 1913 Swedish social drama film directed by Victor Sjöström, based on a 1906 play by Nils Krok. It has been called "the first realistic feature film". It caused great debate in Sweden about social security, which led to changes in the poorhouse laws...
by Victor SjostromVictor SjöströmVictor Sjöström was a Swedish actor, screenwriter, and film director.- Biography:Born in Silbodal, in the Värmland region of Sweden, he was only a year old when his father, Olof Adolf Sjöström, moved the family to Brooklyn, New York. His mother died when he was seven years old in 1886...
and Greta GarboGreta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
's star-making performance opposite Lars HansonLars HansonLars Hanson was a Swedish film and stage actor, internationally mostly remembered for his motion picture roles during the silent film era.-Biography:...
in Mauritz StillerMauritz StillerMauritz Stiller was a Finnish-Swedish actor, screenwriter and silent film director, who was mostly active in Sweden.-Life:...
's Gosta Berling's SagaGösta Berlings saga (film)The Saga of Gosta Berling is a 1924 Swedish romantic drama film directed by Mauritz Stiller and released by AB Svensk Filmindustri, starring Lars Hanson, Gerda Lundequist and Greta Garbo in her native break-out role on film. The film is based on the 1891 debut novel of the same name by the Swedish...
. Directed by Michael WinterbottomMichael WinterbottomMichael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
.
- "The Unchained Camera" (Germany)
- October 15, 1995
- Featuring The Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. CaligariThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
, The Battleship PotemkinThe Battleship PotemkinThe Battleship Potemkin , sometimes rendered as The Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and produced by Mosfilm...
by Sergei EisensteinSergei EisensteinSergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
, MetropolisMetropolis (film)Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...
, Die NibelungenDie NibelungenDie Nibelungen is a series of two silent fantasy films created by Austrian director Fritz Lang in 1924: Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge....
, and Dr. Mabuse, der SpielerDr. Mabuse, der SpielerDr. Mabuse the Gambler is the first film in the Dr. Mabuse series, about the character Doctor Mabuse who featured in the novels of Norbert Jacques. It was directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1922. The film is silent and filmed mostly 16 frames per second. It would be followed by The Testament...
by Fritz LangFritz LangFriedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, Joyless Street starring Greta GarboGreta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, Emil JanningsEmil JanningsEmil Jannings was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar...
, The White Hell of Pitz PaluThe White Hell of Pitz PaluThe White Hell of Pitz Palu is a 1929 silent mountain film directed by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring future filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and World War I flying ace Ernst Udet.-Plot:...
featuring Leni RiefenstahlLeni RiefenstahlHelene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
and Louise BrooksLouise BrooksMary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
becomes a star in G.W. Pabst's Pandora's BoxPandora's Box (film)Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora . Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst, the film stars Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer...
and Diary of a Lost GirlDiary of a Lost GirlDiary of a Lost Girl is a 1929 silent film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring the American silent star Louise Brooks. It is shot in black and white, and various versions of the film range from 79 minutes to 116 minutes in length. This was Brooks' second and last film with Pabst, and...
.
- "The Music of Light" (France)
- October 22, 1995
- Highlighting Abel GanceAbel GanceAbel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
's masterpieces, Napoleon and La RoueLa RoueLa Roue is a French silent film, directed by Abel Gance, who also directed Napoléon and J'accuse!. It was released in 1923. Originally 32 reels in length , the current reconstruction runs 20 reels...
.
- "Opportunity Lost" (Britain)
- October 29, 1995
- Exploring the early career of Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
.
- "End of an Era" (Finale)
- November 5, 1995
- Focusing on the arrival of sound films, The Jazz SingerThe Jazz Singer (1927 film)The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
, The Blue Angel, and the onslaught of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.