Early Cinema
WATCHING early cinema can be a revelation. Some of the old comedy two-reelers are well known - the ones that used to be televised at the wrong speed - but there are also extraordinarily ambitious and sophisticated features that span all genres: dramas, romances, histories, fantasies, and comedies, too. Many of these early films have been lost, but what has been preserved and restored is still a vast treasure trove to be explored.
The Lumiรจre brothers brought cinema as we understand it to the world in 1895. Before the First World War, Europe dominated the film industry, but after 1918 America, and especially Hollywood, developed its big studio system. The so-called silent era was, of course, not really silent - live music and sound effects were played in theatres to accompany the film as an integral part of the package. Films with synchronised sound began to appear in the 1920's, using various techniques. The Jazz Singer (USA/1927) was the first feature-length film to incorporate synchronised dialogue. From the early- to mid-1930's almost all films produced around the world were 'talkies', and the period of Early Cinema drew to a close.
Come to the Eclectic Cinema to see some Early Cinema!
Some examples of films we'd like to show ...
