Da da da dummmmm

The opening four notes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony constitute the most recognizable four note intro in the history of music (with the possible exception of the Dragnet theme). Anybody who doesn't appreciate classical music can still appreciate the portent inherent in the opening - and, very likely, they can appreciate the rest of the work as well.

Here, Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray, playing husband and wife, act out an argument to the strains of the symphony. Not a word is spoken, but everything is said loud and clear.

Man of a Thousand Faces

Lon Chaney is best known for his performance in/as The Phantom of the Opera, and for his ability to work wonders with makeup. I've actually seen him in only one movie, but the work he did for it was great - and we got to see what he really looks like.

In The Unknown, Chaney played a circus performer, a knife thrower named Alonzo the Armless. Only his assistant (a Chico Marx lookalike) knows the truth; Alonzo's got both his arms and is wanted for murder. To complicate things, he's in love with the victim's daughter, played by a so-young-she's-actually-attractive Joan Crawford. Director Tod Browning (pre-Dracula, pre-Freaks) does some fine work here, but the film belongs to Chaney, who actually learned how to throw knives with his feet.

Take a look at this and see if you don't want to see more.

The Lady and the Tramp

The AFI released the results of their 100 Best American Films poll this week. Citizen Kane's still #1, of course, and there wasn't too much movement in the top 10 from the last poll, ten or so years ago. But below that, a lot of films took huge leaps. Dr. Zhivago fell off the charts from #39; Nashville jumped on to #59. Raging Bull rose 20 spots to #4; The Searchers went from #96 to #12. I find those reflections on shifting tastes way more interesting that what does or doesn't make the lest.

One of the biggest leaps was City Lights, Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece, moving from #76 to #11. This has one of the most moving endings of any movie ever; I've watched it any number of times, and the room always gets really dusty in the last two minutes.

A loose recap: Chaplin, as the Tramp, falls in love with a blind flower girl, who thinks he's a rich benefactor. He promises to get her money so she can have an operation that will allow her to regain her sight, which he manages to do (you really have to see the film to find out how). He tells her he's going away on a trip, then gets put in jail for months.

After he's released, this is what happens.

It's German for "The Hard"

Remember the silent Top Gun and the silent Dirty Dancing? Well, it's time for the silent Die Hard.



Too bad Alan Rickman doesn't twirl his mustache and demand the deed to the ranch, or this would be perfect.

Dirty Dancing: The Harding Years

You'll be glad to know that the folks who made the silent Top Gun didn't rest on those awesome laurels. Here they set their sights on Johnny, Baby, and "the Senator."





Here's a tip: get ready to pause it at 2:40.

I say, pip pip, Maverick

I don't suppose you've ever wondered what Top Gun would have been like as a silent movie. What? You have? Well, wonder no more, chaps & chapettes -



Well, even Jerry Bruckheimer had to start somewhere, didn't he?