160-415: Maxine Elliott (February 5, 1868 – March 5, 1940) also known as Little Jessie , Dettie or by her birth name Jessie Dermott , was an American actress and businesswoman. She managed her own theater and experimented with silent films in the 1910s. Immensely popular, she was rumored to have intimate relationships with highly notable people such as King Edward VII and J.P. Morgan . During World War I , she
320-681: A junior ministerial position he had requested. He worked beneath the Secretary of State for the Colonies , Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin , and took Edward Marsh as his secretary; Marsh remained his secretary for 25 years. Churchill's first task was helping to draft a constitution for the Transvaal ; and he helped oversee the formation of a government in the Orange River Colony . In dealing with southern Africa, he sought to ensure equality between
480-445: A 16 fps projection of the same reel would take 16 minutes and 40 seconds, or 304 millimetres (12.0 in) per second. In the 1950s, many telecine conversions of silent films at grossly incorrect frame rates for broadcast television may have alienated viewers. Film speed is often a vexed issue among scholars and film buffs in the presentation of silents today, especially when it comes to DVD releases of restored films , such as
640-816: A Conservative MP in 1900, he defected to the Liberals in 1904. In H. H. Asquith 's Liberal government , Churchill was president of the Board of Trade and Home Secretary , championing prison reform and workers' social security. As First Lord of the Admiralty during the First World War, he oversaw the Gallipoli campaign , but after it proved a disaster, was demoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster . He resigned in November 1915 and joined
800-511: A Liberal, Churchill attacked government policy and gained a reputation as a radical under the influences of John Morley and David Lloyd George . In December 1905, Balfour resigned as prime minister and King Edward VII invited the Liberal leader Henry Campbell-Bannerman to replace him. Hoping to secure a working majority , Campbell-Bannerman called a general election in January 1906, which
960-425: A distinction between criminal and political prisoners , with rules for the latter being relaxed. There were educational innovations like the establishment of libraries, and a requirement to stage entertainments four times a year. The rules on solitary confinement were relaxed, and Churchill proposed abolition of automatic imprisonment of those who failed to pay fines. Imprisonment of people aged between 16 and 21
1120-555: A flat in London's Mayfair , using it as his base for six years. He stood again as a Conservative candidate at Oldham in the October 1900 general election , securing a narrow victory to become a Member of Parliament aged 25. In the same month, he published Ian Hamilton's March , a book about his South African experiences, which became the focus of a lecture tour in November through Britain, America and Canada. Members of Parliament were unpaid and
1280-413: A key professional in silent film and was often separate from the scenario writer who created the story. Inter-titles (or titles as they were generally called at the time) "often were graphic elements themselves, featuring illustrations or abstract decorations that commented on the action". Showings of silent films almost always featured live music starting with the first public projection of movies by
1440-590: A large majority, it established the principle of a minimum wage and the right to have meal breaks. In May 1909, he proposed the Labour Exchanges Bill to establish over 200 Labour Exchanges through which the unemployed would be assisted in finding employment. He promoted the idea of an unemployment insurance scheme, which would be part-funded by the state. To ensure funding for their reforms, Lloyd George and Churchill denounced Reginald McKenna 's policy of naval expansion, refusing to believe war with Germany
1600-465: A low budget salute to sentimental silent comedies, particularly Charlie Chaplin 's The Kid . The German film Tuvalu (1999) is mostly silent; the small amount of dialog is an odd mix of European languages, increasing the film's universality. Guy Maddin won awards for his homage to Soviet-era silent films with his short The Heart of the World after which he made a feature-length silent, Brand Upon
1760-844: A member of the Conservative Party , which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924. Of mixed English and American parentage, Churchill was born in Oxfordshire into the wealthy, aristocratic Spencer family . He joined the British Army in 1895 and saw action in British India , the Mahdist War and the Second Boer War , gaining fame as a war correspondent and writing books about his campaigns. Elected
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#17330863017691920-645: A much longer time for color to be adopted by the industry and an effective process to be developed. Blue represented night scenes, yellow or amber meant day. Red represented fire and green represented a mysterious atmosphere. Similarly, toning of film (such as the common silent film generalization of sepia -toning) with special solutions replaced the silver particles in the film stock with salts or dyes of various colors. A combination of tinting and toning could be used as an effect that could be striking. Some films were hand-tinted, such as Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1894), from Edison Studios . In it, Annabelle Whitford ,
2080-625: A mutual de-escalation, but this was refused. Churchill pushed for higher pay and greater recreational facilities for naval staff, more submarines, and a renewed focus on the Royal Naval Air Service , encouraging them to experiment with how aircraft could be used for military purposes. He coined the term " seaplane " and ordered 100 to be constructed. Some Liberals objected to his level of naval expenditure; in December 1913 he threatened to resign if his proposal for 4 new battleships in 1914–15
2240-613: A preference for Protestantism over Roman Catholicism because he felt it "a step nearer Reason". Interested in parliamentary affairs, he declared himself "a Liberal in all but name", adding he could never endorse the Liberal Party 's support for Irish home rule . Instead, he allied himself to the Tory democracy wing of the Conservatives and on a visit home, gave his first speech for the party's Primrose League at Claverton Down . Mixing reformist and conservative perspectives, he supported
2400-498: A race to design, implement, and market several rival sound-on-disc and sound-on-film sound formats, such as Photokinema (1921), Phonofilm (1923), Vitaphone (1926), Fox Movietone (1927) and RCA Photophone (1928). Warner Bros. was the first studio to accept sound as an element in film production and utilize the Vitaphone, a sound-on-disc technology, to do so. The studio then released The Jazz Singer in 1927, which marked
2560-648: A reputation as a conciliator. He worked with Lloyd George to champion social reform . He promoted what he called a "network of State intervention and regulation" akin to that in Germany. Continuing Lloyd George's work, Churchill introduced the Mines Eight Hours Bill , which prohibited miners from working more than an eight-hour day . In 1909, he introduced the Trade Boards Bill , creating Trade Boards which could prosecute exploitative employers. Passing with
2720-404: A setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of inter- title cards . The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era, which existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist , theater organist —or even, in larger cities, an orchestra —would play music to accompany
2880-492: A special effect in many of his films. His 1915 epic The Birth of a Nation used a number of colors, including amber, blue, lavender, and a striking red tint for scenes such as the "burning of Atlanta" and the ride of the Ku Klux Klan at the climax of the picture. Griffith later invented a color system in which colored lights flashed on areas of the screen to achieve a color. With the development of sound-on-film technology and
3040-653: A strike in munitions factories along the Clyde and increased munitions production. In his October 1917 letter to his Cabinet colleagues, he penned the plan of attack for the next year, that would bring final victory to the Allies. He ended a second strike, in June 1918, by threatening to conscript strikers into the army. In the House of Commons, Churchill voted in support of the Representation of
3200-408: A wall or screen. After the advent of photography in the 19th century, still photographs were sometimes used. Narration of the showman was important in spectacular entertainment screenings and vital in the lecturing circuit. The principle of stroboscopic animation was well-known since the introduction of the phenakistiscope in 1833, a popular optical toy , but the development of cinematography
3360-771: A war zone. In the autumn, he and friend Reggie Barnes , went to observe the Cuban War of Independence and became involved in skirmishes after joining Spanish troops attempting to suppress independence fighters. Churchill sent reports to the Daily Graphic in London. He proceeded to New York and wrote to his mother about "what an extraordinary people the Americans are!" With the Hussars, he went to Bombay in October 1896. Based in Bangalore , he
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#17330863017693520-600: A wealthy woman, at the age of 72. Elliott was interred at Protestant Cemetery in Cannes and became the subject of a biography titled My Aunt Maxine: The Story of Maxine Elliot c.1964, written by her niece, Diana Forbes-Robertson . Her other descendants include British actor Leo Woodall . Footnotes References Silent films A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue ). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as
3680-571: A wing of Hartsbourne Manor. In 1932, she built le Château de l'Horizon near Juan-les-Pins . There she entertained guests that included Churchill, Lloyd George and Vincent Sheean . In her old age, the diarist "Chips" Channon described her as "an immense bulk of a woman with dark eyes, probably the most amazing eyes one has ever seen", "lovable, fat, oh so fat, witty and gracious"; he recorded having watched her eat "pat after pat of butter without any bread". Elliott died on March 5, 1940, in Cannes , France,
3840-494: A young dancer from Broadway, is dressed in white veils that appear to change colors as she dances. This technique was designed to capture the effect of the live performances of Loie Fuller , beginning in 1891, in which stage lights with colored gels turned her white flowing dresses and sleeves into artistic movement. Hand coloring was often used in the early "trick" and fantasy films of Europe, especially those by Georges Méliès . Méliès began hand-tinting his work as early as 1897 and
4000-448: Is silent during its middle third, complete with intertitles; Stanley Tucci 's The Impostors has an opening silent sequence in the style of early silent comedies. Brazilian filmmaker Renato Falcão's Margarette's Feast (2003) is silent. Writer/director Michael Pleckaitis puts his own twist on the genre with Silent (2007). While not silent, the Mr. Bean television series and movies have used
4160-535: The benshi , a live narrator who provided commentary and character voices. The benshi became a central element in Japanese film, as well as providing translation for foreign (mostly American) movies. The popularity of the benshi was one reason why silent films persisted well into the 1930s in Japan. Conversely, as benshi -narrated films often lacked intertitles, modern-day audiences may sometimes find it difficult to follow
4320-438: The "talkies", "sound films", or "talking pictures" . The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is older than film (it was suggested almost immediately after Edison introduced the phonograph in 1877), and some early experiments had the projectionist manually adjusting the frame rate to fit the sound, but because of the technical challenges involved, the introduction of synchronized dialogue became practical only in
4480-539: The Agadir Crisis of April 1911, when there was a threat of war between France and Germany, Churchill suggested an alliance with France and Russia to safeguard the independence of Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands to counter possible German expansionism. The Crisis had a profound effect on Churchill and he altered his views about the need for naval expansion. In October 1911, Asquith appointed Churchill First Lord of
4640-592: The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), began its assault at Gallipoli . Both campaigns failed and Churchill was held by many MPs, particularly Conservatives, to be responsible. In May, Asquith agreed under parliamentary pressure to form an all-party coalition government , but the Conservatives' condition of entry was that Churchill must be removed from the Admiralty. Churchill pleaded his case with Asquith and Conservative leader Bonar Law but had to accept demotion. On 25 November 1915, Churchill resigned from
4800-539: The Budget League , and warned that upper-class obstruction could anger working-class Britons and lead to class war. The government called the January 1910 general election , which resulted in a Liberal victory; Churchill retained his seat at Dundee. He proposed abolition of the House of Lords in a cabinet memo, suggesting it be succeeded by a unicameral system, or smaller second chamber that lacked an in-built advantage for
4960-519: The Hughligans , but was critical of the Conservative government on various issues, especially increases in army funding. He believed additional military expenditure should go to the navy. This upset the Conservative front bench but was supported by Liberals, with whom he increasingly socialised, particularly Liberal Imperialists like H. H. Asquith . Churchill later wrote that he "drifted steadily to
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5120-546: The Partition of Ireland . Concerning the possibility of partition, Churchill stated: "Whatever Ulster's right may be, she cannot stand in the way of the whole of the rest of Ireland. Half a province cannot impose a permanent veto on the nation. Half a province cannot obstruct forever the reconciliation between the British and Irish democracies". Speaking in the House of Commons on 16 February 1922, Churchill said: "What Irishmen all over
5280-638: The Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front for six months. In 1917, he returned to government under David Lloyd George and served successively as Minister of Munitions , Secretary of State for War , Secretary of State for Air , and Secretary of State for the Colonies , overseeing the Anglo-Irish Treaty and British foreign policy in the Middle East . After two years out of Parliament, he
5440-621: The Russian Civil War , but soon recognised the people's desire to bring them home. After the Soviets won the civil war, Churchill proposed a cordon sanitaire around the country. In the Irish War of Independence , he supported the use of the paramilitary Black and Tans to combat Irish revolutionaries. After British troops in Iraq clashed with Kurdish rebels, Churchill authorised two squadrons to
5600-667: The Siege of Ladysmith and take Pretoria. He was among the first British troops into both places. He and cousin, Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough , demanded and received the surrender of 52 Boer prison camp guards. Throughout the war, he publicly chastised anti-Boer prejudices, calling for them to be treated with "generosity and tolerance", and afterwards urged the British to be magnanimous in victory. In July, having resigned his lieutenancy, he returned to Britain. His Morning Post despatches had been published as London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and sold well. Churchill rented
5760-541: The Siege of Sidney Street ; three Latvian burglars had killed police officers and hidden in a house in the East End of London , surrounded by police. Churchill stood with the police though he did not direct their operation. After the house caught fire, he told the fire brigade not to proceed into the house because of the threat posed by the armed men. Afterwards, two of the burglars were found dead. Although he faced criticism for his decision, he said he "thought it better to let
5920-755: The Star she had planned to marry Wilding, but he was killed on May 9, 1915, at the Battle of Aubers Ridge in World War I. After his death she reportedly became obsessed with the War and moved to Belgium . There she volunteered both her income and her time to the cause of the Belgian relief, being rewarded with the Belgian Order of the Crown . In 1917, Elliott returned to the U.S. and signed with
6080-421: The audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen. Much silent film acting is apt to strike modern-day audiences as simplistic or campy . The melodramatic acting style was in some cases a habit actors transferred from their former stage experience. Vaudeville was an especially popular origin for many American silent film actors. The pervading presence of stage actors in film
6240-552: The greatest British prime ministers . Churchill was born on 30 November 1874 at his family's ancestral home, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. On his father's side, he was a member of the aristocracy as a descendant of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough . His father, Lord Randolph Churchill , representing the Conservative Party , had been elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Woodstock in February 1874. His mother, Jennie ,
6400-553: The nitrate filmstock used in that era was extremely unstable and flammable. Additionally, many films were deliberately destroyed, because they had negligible remaining immediate financial value in that era. It has often been claimed that around 75 percent of silent films produced in the US have been lost, though these estimates are inaccurate due to a lack of numerical data. Film projection mostly evolved from magic lantern shows, in which images from handpainted glass slides were projected onto
6560-545: The "disgusting butchery of the natives" by Europeans. With Campbell-Bannerman terminally ill, Asquith became prime minister in April 1908. He appointed Churchill as President of the Board of Trade . Aged 33, Churchill was the youngest Cabinet member since 1866. Newly appointed Cabinet ministers were legally obliged to seek re-election at a by-election. On 24 April, Churchill lost the Manchester North West by-election to
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6720-522: The 1899 Cendrillion (Cinderella) and 1900 Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) provide early examples of hand-tinted films in which the color was a critical part of the scenography or mise-en-scène ; such precise tinting used the workshop of Elisabeth Thuillier in Paris, with teams of female artists adding layers of color to each frame by hand rather than using a more common (and less expensive) process of stenciling. A newly restored version of Méliès' A Trip to
6880-471: The Admiralty , and he took up official residence at Admiralty House . He created a naval war staff and, over the next two and a half years, focused on naval preparation, visiting naval stations and dockyards, seeking to improve morale, and scrutinising German naval developments. After Germany passed its 1912 Naval Law to increase warship production, Churchill vowed that for every new German battleship, Britain would build two. He invited Germany to engage in
7040-832: The Admiralty. In May 1940, he became prime minister, succeeding Neville Chamberlain . Churchill formed a national government and oversaw British involvement in the Allied war effort against the Axis powers , resulting in victory in 1945 . After the Conservatives' defeat in the 1945 general election , he became Leader of the Opposition . Amid the developing Cold War with the Soviet Union , he publicly warned of an " iron curtain " of Soviet influence in Europe and promoted European unity. Between his terms, he wrote several books recounting his experience during
7200-510: The Brain! (2006), incorporating live Foley artists , narration and orchestra at select showings. Shadow of the Vampire (2000) is a highly fictionalized depiction of the filming of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau 's classic silent vampire movie Nosferatu (1922). Werner Herzog honored the same film in his own version, Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979). Some films draw a direct contrast between
7360-570: The British and Boers. He announced a gradual phasing out of the use of Chinese indentured labourers in South Africa; he and the government decided a sudden ban would cause too much upset and might damage the colony's economy. He expressed concerns about the relations between European settlers and the black African population; after the Zulu launched their Bambatha Rebellion in Natal , Churchill complained about
7520-508: The Conservative candidate by 429 votes. On 9 May, the Liberals stood him in the safe seat of Dundee , where he won comfortably . Churchill proposed marriage to Clementine Hozier ; they were married on 12 September 1908 at St Margaret's, Westminster and honeymooned in Baveno , Venice, and Veveří Castle in Moravia . They lived at 33 Eccleston Square , London, and their first daughter, Diana ,
7680-567: The Conservatives. In April, the Lords relented and the People's Budget passed. Churchill continued to campaign against the House of Lords and assisted passage of the Parliament Act 1911 which reduced and restricted its powers. In February 1910, Churchill was promoted to Home Secretary , giving him control over the police and prison services; he implemented a prison reform programme. Measures included
7840-650: The Dardanelles neutral zone, which was policed by the British army based in Chanak . Churchill and Lloyd George favoured military resistance to any Turkish advance but the majority Conservatives in the coalition government opposed it. A political debacle ensued which resulted in the Conservative withdrawal from the government, precipitating the November 1922 general election . Also in September, Churchill's fifth and last child, Mary ,
8000-594: The Devil (1927). Israel has worked mainly in silent comedy, scoring the films of Harold Lloyd , Buster Keaton , Charley Chase , and others. Timothy Brock has restored many of Charlie Chaplin 's scores, in addition to composing new scores. Contemporary music ensembles are helping to introduce classic silent films to a wider audience through a broad range of musical styles and approaches. Some performers create new compositions using traditional musical instruments, while others add electronic sounds, modern harmonies, rhythms, improvisation, and sound design elements to enhance
8160-525: The First World War began in August 1914. The navy transported 120,000 troops to France and began a blockade of Germany's North Sea ports. Churchill sent submarines to the Baltic Sea to assist the Russian Navy and sent the Marine Brigade to Ostend , forcing a reallocation of German troops. In September, Churchill assumed full responsibility for Britain's aerial defence. On 7 October, Clementine gave birth to their 3rd child, Sarah . In October, Churchill visited Antwerp to observe Belgian defences against
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#17330863017698320-622: The Lady . For her appearance in a production of The Merchant of Venice , she negotiated a contract for $ 200 and one-half of the profits over $ 20,000. She was billed alone when Charles B. Dillingham 's production of Her Own Way opened on Broadway on September 28, 1903. From then on, Elliott was a star. When the production moved to London in 1905, King Edward VII asked that she be presented to him, and they were rumoured to have had an intimate relationship. Goodwin eventually divorced Elliott in 1908. Around this time she became friendly with financier J. P. Morgan . Some biographers of Morgan claim
8480-410: The Liberals won in a massive landslide. Churchill won the Manchester North West seat and his biography of his father was published; he received advance payment of £8,000. It was generally well received. The first biography of Churchill himself, written by the Liberal MacCallum Scott , was published. In the new government, Churchill became Under-Secretary of State for the Colonial Office ,
8640-517: The Lumière brothers on December 28, 1895, in Paris. This was furthered in 1896 by the first motion-picture exhibition in the United States at Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City. At this event, Edison set the precedent that all exhibitions should be accompanied by an orchestra. From the beginning, music was recognized as essential, contributing atmosphere, and giving the audience vital emotional cues. Musicians sometimes played on film sets during shooting for similar reasons. However, depending on
8800-476: The Malakand Field Force , which received positive reviews. He wrote his only work of fiction, Savrola , a Ruritanian romance . To keep occupied, Churchill embraced writing as what Roy Jenkins calls his "whole habit", especially through his career when he was out of office. Writing was his safeguard against recurring depression , which he referred to as his "black dog". Using London contacts, Churchill got attached to General Herbert Kitchener 's campaign in
8960-412: The Middle East, and was involved in the installations of Faisal I of Iraq and Abdullah I of Jordan . Churchill travelled to Mandatory Palestine where, as a supporter of Zionism , he refused an Arab Palestinian petition to prohibit Jewish migration. He did allow temporary restrictions following the Jaffa riots . In September 1922, the Chanak Crisis erupted as Turkish forces threatened to occupy
9120-489: The Moon , originally released in 1902, shows an exuberant use of color designed to add texture and interest to the image. Comments by an American distributor in a 1908 film-supply catalog further underscore France's continuing dominance in the field of hand-coloring films during the early silent era. The distributor offers for sale at varying prices "High-Class" motion pictures by Pathé , Urban-Eclipse , Gaumont , Kalem , Itala Film , Ambrosio Film , and Selig . Several of
9280-402: The People Act 1918 , which gave some women the right to vote. In November 1918, four days after the Armistice , Churchill's fourth child, Marigold, was born. Lloyd George called a general election for 14 December 1918. During the campaign, Churchill called for nationalisation of the railways, a control on monopolies, tax reform, and the creation of a League of Nations to prevent wars. He
9440-404: The Rhine . Churchill was one of the few government figures who opposed harsh measures against Germany, and he cautioned against demobilising the German Army, warning they might be needed as a bulwark against Soviet Russia . He was outspoken against Vladimir Lenin 's Communist Party government in Russia. He initially supported using British troops to assist the anti-Communist White forces in
9600-403: The Sahara desert and a British cricket pitch. War scenes were shot on the plains of Grasmere, Staten Island . The Perils of Pauline and its even more popular sequel The Exploits of Elaine were filmed largely on the island. So was the 1906 blockbuster Life of a Cowboy , by Edwin S. Porter Company , and filming moved to the West Coast around 1912. The following are American films from
9760-636: The Sudan as a 21st Lancers subaltern while, working as a journalist for The Morning Post . After fighting in the Battle of Omdurman in September 1898, the 21st Lancers were stood down. In October, Churchill returned to England and began writing The River War , about the campaign published in 1899. He decided to leave the army as he was critical of Kitchener's actions, particularly the unmerciful treatment of enemy wounded and his desecration of Muhammad Ahmad 's tomb. On 2 December 1898, Churchill embarked for India to settle his military business and complete his resignation. He spent much time playing polo ,
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#17330863017699920-402: The United States. In view of the enormous amount of labor involved which calls for individual hand painting of every one of sixteen pictures to the foot or 16,000 separate pictures for each 1,000 feet of film very few American colorists will undertake the work at any price. As film coloring has progressed much more rapidly in France than in any other country, all of our coloring is done for us by
10080-547: The action—particularly for comedies and action films. Slow projection of a cellulose nitrate base film carried a risk of fire, as each frame was exposed for a longer time to the intense heat of the projection lamp; but there were other reasons to project a film at a greater pace. Often projectionists received general instructions from the distributors on the musical director's cue sheet as to how fast particular reels or scenes should be projected. In rare instances, usually for larger productions, cue sheets produced specifically for
10240-525: The actual song being performed. Films in this category include Griffith's Lady of the Pavements with Lupe Vélez , Edwin Carewe 's Evangeline with Dolores del Río , and Rupert Julian 's The Phantom of the Opera with Mary Philbin and Virginia Pearson . The Silent Film Sound and Music Archive digitizes music and cue sheets written for silent films and makes them available for use by performers, scholars, and enthusiasts. Silent-film actors emphasized body language and facial expression so that
10400-412: The adoption of sound-on-film technology. Traditional film colorization, all of which involved the use of dyes in some form, interfered with the high resolution required for built-in recorded sound, and were therefore abandoned. The innovative three-strip technicolor process introduced in the mid-1930s was costly and fraught with limitations, and color would not have the same prevalence in film as it did in
10560-409: The animosity of party members would prevent him gaining a Cabinet position under a Conservative government. The Liberal Party was attracting growing support, and so his defection in 1904 may have been influenced by ambition. He increasingly voted with the Liberals. For example, he opposed an increase in military expenditure, supported a Liberal bill to restore legal rights to trade unions, and opposed
10720-434: The area, proposing they be equipped with "poison gas" to be used to "inflict punishment upon recalcitrant natives without inflicting grave injury upon them", although this was never implemented. He saw the occupation of Iraq as a drain on Britain and proposed, unsuccessfully, that the government should hand control back to Turkey. Churchill became Secretary of State for the Colonies in February 1921. The following month,
10880-475: The army form. After two unsuccessful attempts to gain admittance to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , he succeeded. He was accepted as a cadet in the cavalry , starting in September 1893. His father died in January 1895. In February 1895, Churchill was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars regiment of the British Army , based at Aldershot . Eager to witness military action, he used his mother's influence to get posted to
11040-562: The beginning of film and 1928. The following list includes only films produced in the sound era with the specific artistic intention of being silent. Several filmmakers have paid homage to the comedies of the silent era, including Charlie Chaplin , with Modern Times (1936), Orson Welles with Too Much Johnson (1938), Jacques Tati with Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953), Pierre Etaix with The Suitor (1962), and Mel Brooks with Silent Movie (1976). Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien 's acclaimed drama Three Times (2005)
11200-445: The besieging Germans and promised reinforcements. Soon afterwards, Antwerp fell to the Germans and Churchill was criticised in the press. He maintained that his actions had prolonged resistance and enabled the Allies to secure Calais and Dunkirk . In November, Asquith called a War Council including Churchill. Churchill set the development of the tank on the right track and financed its creation with Admiralty funds. Churchill
11360-458: The best coloring establishment in Paris and we have found that we obtain better quality, cheaper prices and quicker deliveries, even in coloring American made films, than if the work were done elsewhere. By the beginning of the 1910s, with the onset of feature-length films, tinting was used as another mood setter, just as commonplace as music. The director D. W. Griffith displayed a constant interest and concern about color, and used tinting as
11520-472: The biggest-budgeted films to arrive at the exhibiting theater with original, specially composed scores. However, the first designated full-blown scores had in fact been composed in 1908, by Camille Saint-Saëns for The Assassination of the Duke of Guise , and by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov for Stenka Razin . When organists or pianists used sheet music, they still might add improvisational flourishes to heighten
11680-469: The bill would "appeal to insular prejudice against foreigners, to racial prejudice against Jews, and to labour prejudice against competition" and expressed himself in favour of "the old tolerant and generous practice of free entry and asylum to which this country has so long adhered and from which it has so greatly gained". On 31 May 1904, he crossed the floor to sit as a member of the Liberal Party. As
11840-470: The biography by Diana Forbes-Robertson , her niece. She either miscarried or lost the baby. This incident left a psychological wound on her for the rest of her life. Eliott later developed a relationship with a man from a rich local family, Arthur Hall. When suspicions of her pregnancy developed and when her relationship with Hall was eventually exposed, she and her father left for South America. Later in her older years she would still make bitter remarks about
12000-517: The case of the 2002 restoration of Metropolis . With the lack of natural color processing available, films of the silent era were frequently dipped in dyestuffs and dyed various shades and hues to signal a mood or represent a time of day. Hand tinting dates back to 1895 in the United States with Edison's release of selected hand-tinted prints of Butterfly Dance . Additionally, experiments in color film started as early as in 1909, although it took
12160-498: The crucial differences between stage and screen acting. Directors such as Albert Capellani and Maurice Tourneur began to insist on naturalism in their films. By the mid-1920s many American silent films had adopted a more naturalistic acting style, though not all actors and directors accepted naturalistic, low-key acting straight away; as late as 1927, films featuring expressionistic acting styles, such as Metropolis , were still being released. Greta Garbo , whose first American film
12320-459: The development of motion picture cameras, projectors and transparent celluloid film. Although Thomas Edison was keen to develop a film system that would be synchronised with his phonograph , he eventually introduced the kinetoscope as a silent motion picture viewer in 1893 and later "kinetophone" versions remained unsuccessful. The art of motion pictures grew into full maturity in the "silent era" ( 1894 in film – 1929 in film ). The height of
12480-401: The drama on screen. Even when special effects were not indicated in the score, if an organist was playing a theater organ capable of an unusual sound effect such as "galloping horses", it would be used during scenes of dramatic horseback chases. At the height of the silent era, movies were the single largest source of employment for instrumental musicians, at least in the United States. However,
12640-555: The famous " Mighty Wurlitzer " could simulate some orchestral sounds along with a number of percussion effects such as bass drums and cymbals, and sound effects ranging from "train and boat whistles [to] car horns and bird whistles; ... some could even simulate pistol shots, ringing phones, the sound of surf, horses' hooves, smashing pottery, [and] thunder and rain". Musical scores for early silent films were either improvised or compiled of classical or theatrical repertory music. Once full features became commonplace, however, music
12800-407: The films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music , or improvisation . Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema prior to
12960-475: The first film serial , The Million Dollar Mystery , released in 1914. The first westerns were filmed at Fred Scott 's Movie Ranch in South Beach, Staten Island. Actors costumed as cowboys and Native Americans galloped across Scott's movie ranch set, which had a frontier main street, a wide selection of stagecoaches and a 56-foot stockade. The island provided a serviceable stand-in for locations as varied as
13120-411: The first commercially successful sound film , but silent films were still the majority of features released in both 1927 and 1928, along with so-called goat-glanded films: silents with a subsection of sound film inserted. Thus the modern sound film era may be regarded as coming to dominance beginning in 1929. For a listing of notable silent era films, see List of years in film for the years between
13280-469: The first exhibit of his paintings took place in Paris, with Churchill exhibiting under a pseudonym. In May, his mother died, followed in August by his daughter Marigold, from sepsis . Churchill was haunted by Marigold's death for the rest of his life. Churchill was involved in negotiations with Sinn Féin leaders and helped draft the Anglo-Irish Treaty . He was responsible for reducing the cost of occupying
13440-477: The first health and unemployment insurance legislation, the National Insurance Act 1911 , which Churchill had been instrumental in drafting. In May, Clementine gave birth to their second child, Randolph , named after Winston's father. In response to escalating civil strife in 1911, Churchill sent troops into Liverpool to quell protesting dockers and rallied against a national railway strike . During
13600-622: The formation of the Motion Picture Patents Company in an attempt to control the industry and shut out smaller producers. The "Edison Trust", as it was nicknamed, was made up of Edison , Biograph , Essanay Studios , Kalem Company , George Kleine Productions , Lubin Studios , Georges Méliès , Pathé , Selig Studios , and Vitagraph Studios , and dominated distribution through the General Film Company . This company dominated
13760-453: The government, although he remained an MP. Asquith rejected his request to be appointed Governor-General of British East Africa . Churchill decided to return to active service with the Army and was attached to the 2nd Grenadier Guards , on the Western Front . In January 1916, he was temporarily promoted to lieutenant-colonel and given command of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers . The battalion
13920-538: The house burn down rather than spend good British lives in rescuing those ferocious rascals". In March 1911, Churchill introduced the second reading of the Coal Mines Bill ; when implemented, it imposed stricter safety standards. He formulated the Shops Bill to improve working conditions of shop workers; it faced opposition from shop owners and only passed in a much emasculated form. In April, Lloyd George introduced
14080-459: The image to flicker , and images with low rates of flicker are very unpleasant to watch. Early studies by Thomas Edison for his Kinetoscope machine determined that any rate below 46 images per second "will strain the eye". and this holds true for projected images under normal cinema conditions also. The solution adopted for the Kinetoscope was to run the film at over 40 frames/sec, but this
14240-694: The industry as both a vertical and horizontal monopoly and is a contributing factor in studios' migration to the West Coast. The Motion Picture Patents Co. and the General Film Co. were found guilty of antitrust violation in October 1915, and were dissolved. The Thanhouser film studio was founded in New Rochelle, New York , in 1909 by American theatrical impresario Edwin Thanhouser . The company produced and released 1,086 films between 1910 and 1917, including
14400-828: The industry's acceptance of it, tinting was abandoned altogether, because the dyes used in the tinting process interfered with the soundtracks present on film strips. The early studios were located in the New York City area . Edison Studios were first in West Orange, New Jersey (1892), they were moved to the Bronx, New York (1907). Fox (1909) and Biograph (1906) started in Manhattan , with studios in St George, Staten Island . Other films were shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey . In December 1908, Edison led
14560-499: The introduction of import tariffs. Arthur Balfour 's government announced protectionist legislation in October 1903. Two months later, incensed by Churchill's criticism of the government, the Oldham Conservative Association informed him it would not support his candidature at the next election. In May 1904, Churchill opposed the government's proposed Aliens Bill, designed to curb Jewish immigration. He stated that
14720-532: The introduction of sound with its 24 frame/sec standard speed 2-bladed shutters have become the norm for 35 mm cinema projectors, though three-bladed shutters have remained standard on 16 mm and 8 mm projectors, which are frequently used to project amateur footage shot at 16 or 18 frames/sec. A 35 mm film frame rate of 24 fps translates to a film speed of 456 millimetres (18.0 in) per second. One 1,000-foot (300 m) reel requires 11 minutes and 7 seconds to be projected at 24 fps, while
14880-470: The introduction of talkies, coupled with the roughly simultaneous onset of the Great Depression , was devastating to many musicians. A number of countries devised other ways of bringing sound to silent films. The early cinema of Brazil , for example, featured fitas cantatas (singing films), filmed operettas with singers performing behind the screen. In Japan , films had not only live music but also
15040-421: The invention of synchronized sound, but it also applies to such sound-era films as City Lights , Modern Times and Silent Movie which are accompanied by a music-only soundtrack in place of dialogue. The term silent film is a retronym —a term created to retroactively distinguish something from later developments. Early sound films, starting with The Jazz Singer in 1927, were variously referred to as
15200-559: The late 1920s with the perfection of the Audion amplifier tube and the advent of the Vitaphone system. Within a decade, the widespread production of silent films for popular entertainment had ceased, and the industry had moved fully into the sound era , in which movies were accompanied by synchronized sound recordings of spoken dialogue, music and sound effects . Most early motion pictures are considered lost owing to their physical decay, as
15360-560: The left". He privately considered "the gradual creation by an evolutionary process of a Democratic or Progressive wing to the Conservative Party", or alternately a "Central Party" to unite the Conservatives and Liberals. By 1903, there was division between Churchill and the Conservatives, largely because he opposed their promotion of protectionism . As a free trader , he helped found the Free Food League . Churchill sensed that
15520-426: The longer, more prestigious films in the catalog are offered in both standard black-and-white "plain stock" as well as in "hand-painted" color. A plain-stock copy, for example, of the 1907 release Ben Hur is offered for $ 120 ($ 4,069 USD today), while a colored version of the same 1000-foot, 15-minute film costs $ 270 ($ 9,156) including the extra $ 150 coloring charge, which amounted to 15 cents more per foot. Although
15680-401: The mid-1910s, as the differences between stage and screen became apparent. Due to the work of directors such as D. W. Griffith , cinematography became less stage-like, and the development of the close up allowed for understated and realistic acting. Lillian Gish has been called film's "first true actress" for her work in the period, as she pioneered new film performing techniques, recognizing
15840-597: The mine owners and striking miners as "very unreasonable". The Times and other media outlets accused him of being soft on the rioters; in contrast, many in the Labour Party , which was linked to the trade unions, regarded him as too heavy-handed. Churchill incurred the long-term suspicion of the labour movement . Asquith called a general election in December 1910 , and the Liberals were re-elected with Churchill secure in Dundee. In January 1911, Churchill became involved in
16000-520: The new "talkies" around the mid-1930s. The visual quality of silent movies—especially those produced in the 1920s—was often high, but there remains a widely held misconception that these films were primitive, or are barely watchable by modern standards. This misconception comes from the general public's unfamiliarity with the medium, as well as from carelessness on the part of the industry. Most silent films are poorly preserved, leading to their deterioration, and well-preserved films are often played back at
16160-700: The newly formed Goldwyn Pictures to make the 1917 film Fighting Odds and 1919 film The Eternal Magdalene . Elliott can be seen visiting Charlie Chaplin's studios in 1918 and cavorting with him and her entourage before Chaplin's cameras. Her visit to Chaplin survives and is sometimes included in omnibus videos on Chaplin. Elliott's last stage appearance was in 1920 in Trimmed in Scarlett , aged 52. She then retired from acting, announcing that she "wished to grow middle-aged gracefully". According to biographer Diana Forbes-Robertson, contemporary critics were divided on whether it
16320-400: The only ball sport in which he was ever interested. Having left the Hussars, he sailed from Bombay on 20 March 1899, determined to launch a career in politics. Churchill spoke at Conservative meetings and was selected as one of the party's two candidates for the June 1899 Oldham by-election . While campaigning, Churchill referred to himself as "a Conservative and a Tory Democrat". Although
16480-625: The only woman in the United States running her own theater. Her first production was The Chaperon . She experimented with acting in silent films in 1913. In that year, she was in Slim Driscoll, Samaritan , When the West Was Young and A Doll for the Baby , but she soon returned to Britain. In 1913, she started dating New Zealand's tennis star Anthony Wilding , who was over 15 years her junior, with The Seattle Star calling him her lover. According to
16640-450: The plots without specialised subtitling or additional commentary. Few film scores survived intact from the silent period, and musicologists are still confronted by questions when they attempt to precisely reconstruct those that remain. Scores used in current reissues or screenings of silent films may be complete reconstructions of compositions, newly composed for the occasion, assembled from already existing music libraries, or improvised on
16800-503: The political almanack. In an 1898 letter, he referred to his beliefs, saying: "I do not accept the Christian or any other form of religious belief". Churchill had been christened in the Church of England but underwent a virulently anti-Christian phase in his youth, and as an adult was an agnostic. In another letter to a cousin, he referred to religion as "a delicious narcotic" and expressed
16960-438: The projectionist provided a detailed guide to presenting the film. Theaters also—to maximize profit—sometimes varied projection speeds depending on the time of day or popularity of a film, or to fit a film into a prescribed time slot. All motion-picture film projectors require a moving shutter to block the light whilst the film is moving, otherwise the image is smeared in the direction of the movement. However this shutter causes
17120-543: The promotion of secular, non-denominational education while opposing women's suffrage . Churchill volunteered to join Bindon Blood 's Malakand Field Force in its campaign against Mohmand rebels in the Swat Valley of north-west India. Blood accepted on condition he was assigned as a journalist, the beginning of Churchill's writing career. He returned to Bangalore in October 1897 and wrote his first book, The Story of
17280-478: The rank of major . Back in the House of Commons, Churchill spoke out on war issues, calling for conscription to be extended to the Irish, greater recognition of soldiers' bravery, and for the introduction of steel helmets. It was in November 1916 that he penned "The greater application of mechanical power to the prosecution of an offensive on land", but it fell on deaf ears. He was frustrated at being out of office, but
17440-424: The reasons for the cited extra charge were likely obvious to customers, the distributor explains why his catalog's colored films command such significantly higher prices and require more time for delivery. His explanation also provides insight into the general state of film-coloring services in the United States by 1908: The coloring of moving picture films is a line of work which cannot be satisfactorily performed in
17600-486: The release of D. W. Griffith 's epic The Birth of a Nation (1915). In 1999, the Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki produced Juha in black and white, which captures the style of a silent film, using intertitles in place of spoken dialogue. Special release prints with titles in several different languages were produced for international distribution. In India, the film Pushpak (1988), starring Kamal Haasan ,
17760-453: The rioting. Churchill, learning that the troops were already travelling, allowed them to go as far as Swindon and Cardiff , but blocked their deployment; he was concerned their use lead to bloodshed. Instead he sent 270 London police, who were not equipped with firearms, to assist. As the riots continued, he offered the protesters an interview with the government's chief industrial arbitrator, which they accepted. Privately, Churchill regarded
17920-524: The seats had been held by the Conservatives, the result was a narrow Liberal victory. Anticipating the outbreak of the Second Boer War between Britain and the Boer republics , Churchill sailed to South Africa as a journalist for the Morning Post . In October, he travelled to the conflict zone near Ladysmith , then besieged by Boer troops, before heading for Colenso . At the Battle of Chieveley , his train
18080-557: The separation between her and Hall. She adopted her stage name Maxine Elliott in 1889, making her first appearance in 1890 in The Middleman . In 1895, she got her first big break when Augustin Daly hired her as a supporting actress for his star player, Ada Rehan . After divorcing her first husband, Elliott married comedian Nat C. Goodwin in 1898. The two starred together at home and abroad in such hits as Nathan Hale and The Cowboy and
18240-408: The seventy-year-old Morgan had a sexual relationship with Elliott but no evidence substantiates these rumours. Assuredly Morgan gave her financial advice, which helped her become a rich woman. Shortly after divorcing Goodwin, she returned to New York City and in 1908 opened her own theater, The Maxine Elliott , located on 39th Street near Broadway . She was both owner and manager, and, at the time,
18400-440: The silent era (from the early 1910s in film to the late 1920s) was a particularly fruitful period, full of artistic innovation. The film movements of Classical Hollywood as well as French Impressionism , German Expressionism , and Soviet Montage began in this period. Silent filmmakers pioneered the art form to the extent that virtually every style and genre of film-making of the 20th and 21st centuries has its artistic roots in
18560-470: The silent era. The silent era was also a pioneering one from a technical point of view. Three-point lighting, the close-up , long shot , panning , and continuity editing all became prevalent long before silent films were replaced by " talking pictures " or "talkies" in the late 1920s. Some scholars claim that the artistic quality of cinema decreased for several years, during the early 1930s, until film directors , actors, and production staff adapted fully to
18720-515: The silent film era and the era of talkies. Sunset Boulevard shows the disconnect between the two eras in the character of Norma Desmond , played by silent film star Gloria Swanson , and Singin' in the Rain deals with Hollywood artists adjusting to the talkies. Peter Bogdanovich 's 1976 film Nickelodeon deals with the turmoil of silent filmmaking in Hollywood during the early 1910s, leading up to
18880-479: The silent film era that had earned the highest gross income as of 1932. The amounts given are gross rentals (the distributor's share of the box-office) as opposed to exhibition gross. Although attempts to create sync-sound motion pictures go back to the Edison lab in 1896, only from the early 1920s were the basic technologies such as vacuum tube amplifiers and high-quality loudspeakers available. The next few years saw
19040-427: The silents for nearly four decades. As motion pictures gradually increased in running time, a replacement was needed for the in-house interpreter who would explain parts of the film to the audience. Because silent films had no synchronized sound for dialogue, onscreen inter-titles were used to narrate story points, present key dialogue and sometimes even comment on the action for the audience. The title writer became
19200-501: The silver screen. The animated film Fantasia (1940), which is eight different animation sequences set to music, can be considered a silent film, with only one short scene involving dialogue. The espionage film The Thief (1952) has music and sound effects, but no dialogue, as do Thierry Zéno 's 1974 Vase de Noces and Patrick Bokanowski 's 1982 The Angel . Winston Churchill [REDACTED] Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)
19360-438: The size of the exhibition site, musical accompaniment could drastically change in scale. Small-town and neighborhood movie theatres usually had a pianist . Beginning in the mid-1910s, large city theaters tended to have organists or ensembles of musicians. Massive theatre organs , which were designed to fill a gap between a simple piano soloist and a larger orchestra, had a wide range of special effects. Theatrical organs such as
19520-438: The spot in the manner of the silent-era theater musician. Interest in the scoring of silent films fell somewhat out of fashion during the 1960s and 1970s. There was a belief in many college film programs and repertory cinemas that audiences should experience silent film as a pure visual medium, undistracted by music. This belief may have been encouraged by the poor quality of the music tracks found on many silent film reprints of
19680-462: The standardization of the projection speed of 24 frames per second (fps) for sound films between 1926 and 1930, silent films were shot at variable speeds (or " frame rates ") anywhere from 12 to 40 fps, depending on the year and studio. "Standard silent film speed" is often said to be 16 fps as a result of the Lumière brothers' Cinématographe , but industry practice varied considerably; there
19840-484: The time. Since around 1980, there has been a revival of interest in presenting silent films with quality musical scores (either reworkings of period scores or cue sheets, or the composition of appropriate original scores). An early effort of this kind was Kevin Brownlow 's 1980 restoration of Abel Gance 's Napoléon (1927), featuring a score by Carl Davis . A slightly re-edited and sped-up version of Brownlow's restoration
20000-547: The title character's non-talkative nature to create a similar style of humor. A lesser-known example is Jérôme Savary 's La fille du garde-barrière (1975), an homage to silent-era films that uses intertitles and blends comedy, drama, and explicit sex scenes (which led to it being refused a cinema certificate by the British Board of Film Classification ). In 1990, Charles Lane directed and starred in Sidewalk Stories ,
20160-458: The tour was a financial necessity. In America, Churchill met Mark Twain , President McKinley and Vice President Theodore Roosevelt , who he did not get on with. In spring 1901, he gave lectures in Paris, Madrid and Gibraltar. In February 1901, Churchill took his seat in the House of Commons , where his maiden speech gained widespread coverage. He associated with a group of Conservatives known as
20320-629: The traditional approach include organists such as Dennis James and pianists such as Neil Brand , Günter Buchwald, Philip C. Carli, Ben Model , and William P. Perry . Other contemporary pianists, such as Stephen Horne and Gabriel Thibaudeau, have often taken a more modern approach to scoring. Orchestral conductors such as Carl Davis and Robert Israel have written and compiled scores for numerous silent films; many of these have been featured in showings on Turner Classic Movies or have been released on DVD. Davis has composed new scores for classic silent dramas such as The Big Parade (1925) and Flesh and
20480-468: The viewing experience. Among the contemporary ensembles in this category are Un Drame Musical Instantané , Alloy Orchestra , Club Foot Orchestra , Silent Orchestra , Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Minima and the Caspervek Trio, RPM Orchestra . Donald Sosin and his wife Joanna Seaton specialize in adding vocals to silent films, particularly where there is onscreen singing that benefits from hearing
20640-702: The war. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. He lost the 1950 election but was returned to office in 1951 . His second term was preoccupied with foreign affairs, especially Anglo-American relations and preservation of what remained of the British Empire , with India no longer a part of it. Domestically, his government's priority was their extensive housebuilding programme, in which they were successful. In declining health, Churchill resigned in 1955, remaining an MP until 1964 . Upon his death in 1965, he
20800-545: The whole of the twenty years I had lived". Churchill began boarding school at St George's in Ascot, Berkshire , aged 7, but he was not academic and his behaviour was poor. In 1884, he transferred to Brunswick School in Hove , where his academic performance improved. In April 1888, aged 13, he passed the entrance exam for Harrow School . His father wanted him to prepare for a military career, so his last three years at Harrow were in
20960-462: The world most desire is not hostility against this country, but the unity of their own". Following a Cabinet decision, he boosted the naval presence in Ireland to deal with any Unionist uprising. Seeking a compromise, Churchill suggested Ireland remain part of a federal UK, but this angered Liberals and Irish nationalists. As First Lord, Churchill was tasked with overseeing Britain's naval effort when
21120-409: The wrong speed or suffer from censorship cuts and missing frames and scenes, giving the appearance of poor editing. Many silent films exist only in second- or third-generation copies, often made from already damaged and neglected film stock. Many early screening were plagued by flicker on the screen, when the stroboscopic interruptions between frames lay below the critical flicker frequency . This
21280-685: Was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin 's Conservative government , returning sterling in 1925 to the gold standard , depressing the UK economy. Out of government during his so-called " wilderness years " in the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in calling for rearmament to counter the threat of militarism in Nazi Germany . At the outbreak of the Second World War he was re-appointed First Lord of
21440-788: Was "her beauty or her acting ability that attracted attention" over her career. Elliott was successful in both business and investment. She had homes in America, England, and in France. A photograph of Winston Churchill (accompanied by his wife, Clementine ) working on an oil painting in the grounds of one of her houses, Hartsbourne Manor in England, appears in Andrew Roberts' Churchill: Walking with Destiny . Elliott's sister Gertrude Elliot with her husband Johnston Forbes-Robertson and their children Maxine "Blossom" Miles , Jean , Chloe and Diana lived in
21600-466: Was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 ( during the Second World War ) and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from 1922 to 1924, he was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies . Ideologically an adherent to economic liberalism and imperialism , he was for most of his career
21760-680: Was a black comedy entirely devoid of dialog. The Australian film Doctor Plonk (2007), was a silent comedy directed by Rolf de Heer . Stage plays have drawn upon silent film styles and sources. Actor/writers Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore staged their Off-Broadway slapstick comedy Silent Laughter as a live action tribute to the silent screen era. Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford created and starred in All Wear Bowlers (2004), which started as an homage to Laurel and Hardy then evolved to incorporate life-sized silent film sequences of Sobelle and Lyford who jump back and forth between live action and
21920-531: Was a committed opponent, and targeted his meetings for protest. In November 1910, the suffragist Hugh Franklin attacked Churchill with a whip; Franklin was imprisoned for six weeks. In November 1910, Churchill had to deal with the Tonypandy riots , in which coal miners in the Rhondda Valley violently protested against working conditions. The Chief Constable of Glamorgan requested troops to help police quell
22080-555: Was a daughter of Leonard Jerome , an American businessman. In 1876, Churchill's paternal grandfather, John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough , was appointed Viceroy of Ireland . Randolph became his private secretary and the family relocated to Dublin . Winston's brother, Jack , was born there in 1880. For much of the 1880s, Randolph and Jennie were effectively estranged, and the brothers cared for by their nanny, Elizabeth Everest . When she died in 1895, Churchill wrote "she had been my dearest and most intimate friend during
22240-522: Was abolished except for the most serious offences. Churchill reduced ( "commuted" ) 21 of the 43 death ( "capital" ) sentences passed while he was Home Secretary. A major domestic issue was women's suffrage. Churchill supported giving women the vote, but would only back a bill to that effect if it had majority support from the (male) electorate. His proposed solution was a referendum, but this found no favour with Asquith and women's suffrage remained unresolved until 1918. Many suffragettes believed Churchill
22400-511: Was active on the cause of the Belgian relief . Born on February 5, 1868, to Thomas Dermot, a sea captain and Adelaide Hill Dermot, she had a younger sister, actress Gertrude Elliott and at least two brothers, one of whom, a sailor, was lost at sea in the Indian Ocean. By age 15 in 1883, Jessie had been seduced and made pregnant by a 25-year-old man whom she may have married underage, according to
22560-473: Was born in 1909. The success of their marriage was important to Churchill's career as Clementine's unbroken affection provided him with a secure and happy background. One of Churchill's first tasks as a minister was to arbitrate in an industrial dispute among ship-workers and employers, on the River Tyne . He afterwards established a Standing Court of Arbitration to deal with industrial disputes, establishing
22720-533: Was born, and in the same month he purchased Chartwell , in Kent, which became his family home. In October 1922, he underwent an appendectomy . While he was in hospital, Lloyd George's coalition was dissolved. In the general election, Churchill lost his Dundee seat to Edwin Scrymgeour , a prohibitionist candidate. Later, he wrote that he was "without an office, without a seat, without a party, and without an appendix". He
22880-415: Was compiled from photoplay music by the pianist, organist, orchestra conductor or the movie studio itself, which included a cue sheet with the film. These sheets were often lengthy, with detailed notes about effects and moods to watch for. Starting with the mostly original score composed by Joseph Carl Breil for D. W. Griffith 's epic The Birth of a Nation (1915), it became relatively common for
23040-478: Was controversial, the door had been opened for a new approach to the presentation of classic silent films. Today, a large number of soloists, music ensembles, and orchestras perform traditional and contemporary scores for silent films internationally. The legendary theater organist Gaylord Carter continued to perform and record his original silent film scores until shortly before his death in 2000; some of those scores are available on DVD reissues. Other purveyors of
23200-662: Was derailed by Boer artillery shelling, he was captured as a prisoner of war (POW) and interned in a POW camp in Pretoria . In December, Churchill escaped and evaded his captors by stowing aboard freight trains and hiding in a mine. He made it to safety in Portuguese East Africa . His escape attracted much publicity. In January 1900, he briefly rejoined the army as a lieutenant in the South African Light Horse regiment, joining Redvers Buller 's fight to relieve
23360-451: Was expensive for film. However, by using projectors with dual- and triple-blade shutters the flicker rate is multiplied two or three times higher than the number of film frames — each frame being flashed two or three times on screen. A three-blade shutter projecting a 16 fps film will slightly surpass Edison's figure, giving the audience 48 images per second. During the silent era projectors were commonly fitted with 3-bladed shutters. Since
23520-552: Was given a state funeral . One of the 20th century's most significant figures, Churchill remains popular in the UK and the rest of the Anglosphere . He is generally viewed as a victorious wartime leader who played an integral role in defending liberal democracy against the spread of fascism . He has sometimes been criticised for his imperialism and certain comments on race , in addition to some wartime decisions such as area bombing, but historians nevertheless rank Churchill as one of
23680-410: Was hampered by long exposure times for photographic emulsions , until Eadweard Muybridge managed to record a chronophotographic sequence in 1878. After others had animated his pictures in zoetropes , Muybridge started lecturing with his own zoopraxiscope animation projector in 1880. The work of other pioneering chronophotographers, including Étienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar Anschütz , furthered
23840-549: Was in India for 19 months, visiting Calcutta and joining expeditions to Hyderabad and the North West Frontier . In India, Churchill began a self-education project, reading widely including Plato , Edward Gibbon , Charles Darwin and Thomas Babington Macaulay . The books were sent by his mother, with whom he shared frequent correspondence. To learn about politics, he asked her to send him copies of The Annual Register ,
24000-420: Was inevitable. As Chancellor, Lloyd George presented his " People's Budget " on 29 April 1909, calling it a war budget to eliminate poverty. With Churchill as his closest ally, Lloyd George proposed unprecedented taxes on the rich to fund Liberal welfare programmes. The budget was vetoed by the Conservative peers who dominated the House of Lords . His social reforms under threat, Churchill became president of
24160-741: Was interested in the Middle Eastern theatre , and wanted to relieve pressure on the Russians in the Caucasus by staging attacks against Turkey in the Dardanelles . He hoped that the British could even seize Constantinople . Approval was given and, in March 1915, an Anglo-French task force attempted a naval bombardment of Turkish defences. In April, the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force , including
24320-403: Was later distributed in the United States by Francis Ford Coppola , with a live orchestral score composed by his father Carmine Coppola . In 1984, an edited restoration of Metropolis (1927) was released with a new rock music score by producer-composer Giorgio Moroder . Although the contemporary score, which included pop songs by Freddie Mercury , Pat Benatar , and Jon Anderson of Yes ,
24480-616: Was moved to a sector of the Belgian Front near Ploegsteert . For three months, they faced continual shelling, though no German offensive. Churchill narrowly escaped death when, during a visit by his cousin Marlborough , a large piece of shrapnel fell between them. In May, the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers were merged into the 15th Division. Churchill did not request a new command, instead securing permission to leave active service. His temporary promotion ended on 16 May 1916, when he returned to
24640-514: Was no actual standard. William Kennedy Laury Dickson , an Edison employee, settled on the astonishingly fast 40 frames per second. Additionally, cameramen of the era insisted that their cranking technique was exactly 16 fps, but modern examination of the films shows this to be in error, and that they often cranked faster. Unless carefully shown at their intended speeds silent films can appear unnaturally fast or slow. However, some scenes were intentionally undercranked during shooting to accelerate
24800-575: Was rejected. In June 1914, he convinced the House of Commons to authorise the government purchase of a 51% share in the profits of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company , to secure oil access for the navy. The central issue in Britain was Irish Home Rule and, in 1912, Asquith's government introduced the Home Rule Bill . Churchill supported it and urged Ulster Unionists to accept it as he opposed
24960-669: Was released in 1926, would become known for her naturalistic acting. According to Anton Kaes, a silent film scholar from the University of California, Berkeley, American silent cinema began to see a shift in acting techniques between 1913 and 1921, influenced by techniques found in German silent film. This is mainly attributed to the influx of emigrants from the Weimar Republic , "including film directors, producers, cameramen, lighting and stage technicians, as well as actors and actresses". Until
25120-669: Was repeatedly blamed for the Gallipoli disaster by the pro-Conservative press. Churchill argued his case before the Dardanelles Commission , whose report placed no blame on him personally for the campaign's failure. In October 1916, Asquith resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by Lloyd George who, in May 1917, sent Churchill to inspect the French war effort. In July, Churchill was appointed Minister of Munitions . He negotiated an end to
25280-407: Was returned as MP for Dundee and, though the Conservatives won a majority, Lloyd George was retained as prime minister. In January 1919, Lloyd George moved Churchill to the War Office as both Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air . Churchill was responsible for demobilising the army, though he convinced Lloyd George to keep a million men conscripted for the British Army of
25440-575: Was solved with the introduction of a three-bladed shutter (since 1902), causing two more interruptions per frame. Another widely held misconception is that silent films lacked color. In fact, color was far more prevalent in silent films than in the first few decades of sound films. By the early 1920s, 80 percent of movies could be seen in some sort of color, usually in the form of film tinting or toning or even hand coloring, but also with fairly natural two-color processes such as Kinemacolor and Technicolor . Traditional colorization processes ceased with
25600-454: Was the cause of this outburst from director Marshall Neilan in 1917: "The sooner the stage people who have come into pictures get out, the better for the pictures." In other cases, directors such as John Griffith Wray required their actors to deliver larger-than-life expressions for emphasis. As early as 1914, American viewers had begun to make known their preference for greater naturalness on screen. Silent films became less vaudevillian in
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