The Best of the Oughts
December 8, 2009 7:14 PM Subscribe
The best films of the decade if the decade in question is 1900-1910.
"He tells the Ruined Man, Go back to the Wheat Pit and Get It Where I Got It." Love it.
posted by wallstreet1929 at 8:58 PM on December 8, 2009
posted by wallstreet1929 at 8:58 PM on December 8, 2009
Coney Island at Night reminds me of my favorite episode of American Experience, Coney Island by Ric Burns. I think they used this same footage. Really beautiful.
And loved A Corner In Wheat. Though I am familiar with some of D.W. Griffith's work, I had never heard of this before. Amazing. Wish we could get some more of that commentary on naked capitalism today from Hollywood, but I won't hold my breath.
These were all great. Thanks so much for posting this.
posted by marsha56 at 10:58 PM on December 8, 2009
And loved A Corner In Wheat. Though I am familiar with some of D.W. Griffith's work, I had never heard of this before. Amazing. Wish we could get some more of that commentary on naked capitalism today from Hollywood, but I won't hold my breath.
These were all great. Thanks so much for posting this.
posted by marsha56 at 10:58 PM on December 8, 2009
Movies went totally down hill with the introduction of sound. Thank you for reminding us
posted by IndigoJones at 7:11 AM on December 9, 2009
posted by IndigoJones at 7:11 AM on December 9, 2009
Talkies are a passing fad.
posted by brundlefly at 9:11 AM on December 9, 2009
posted by brundlefly at 9:11 AM on December 9, 2009
Since mefite 23skidoo hasn't turned up yet, wiki gives some lovely context for the 2nd movie in the post - and mentions the same wonderful footage:
It is at a triangular site where Broadway and Fifth Avenue—the two most important streets of New York—meet at Madison Square, and because of the juxtaposition of the streets and the park across the street, there was a wind-tunnel effect here. In the early twentieth century, men would hang out on the corner here on Twenty-third Street and watch the wind blowing women's dresses up so that they could catch a little bit of ankle. This entered into popular culture and there are hundreds of postcards and illustrations of women with their dresses blowing up in front of the Flatiron Building. And it supposedly is where the slang expression "23 skidoo" comes from because the police would come and give the voyeurs the 23 skidoo to tell them to get out of the area
[wiki's entry for 23skidoo]
posted by Jody Tresidder at 9:21 AM on December 9, 2009
It is at a triangular site where Broadway and Fifth Avenue—the two most important streets of New York—meet at Madison Square, and because of the juxtaposition of the streets and the park across the street, there was a wind-tunnel effect here. In the early twentieth century, men would hang out on the corner here on Twenty-third Street and watch the wind blowing women's dresses up so that they could catch a little bit of ankle. This entered into popular culture and there are hundreds of postcards and illustrations of women with their dresses blowing up in front of the Flatiron Building. And it supposedly is where the slang expression "23 skidoo" comes from because the police would come and give the voyeurs the 23 skidoo to tell them to get out of the area
[wiki's entry for 23skidoo]
posted by Jody Tresidder at 9:21 AM on December 9, 2009
(er...I don't mean to imply I know 23skidoo - just always loved his username!)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2009
posted by Jody Tresidder at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2009
Who knew the early 1900s were so completely weird
They absolutely were. The technological advances of our recent decades pale next to the social effects of the development-- in a relatively short period of time-- of photography, film, X-ray, telephones, the spread of telegraphy over the globe, sophisticated advertising, the automobile, mass media, and the airplane (not to mention the concentration camp, the machine gun, and barbed wire).
posted by jokeefe at 9:41 AM on December 9, 2009
They absolutely were. The technological advances of our recent decades pale next to the social effects of the development-- in a relatively short period of time-- of photography, film, X-ray, telephones, the spread of telegraphy over the globe, sophisticated advertising, the automobile, mass media, and the airplane (not to mention the concentration camp, the machine gun, and barbed wire).
posted by jokeefe at 9:41 AM on December 9, 2009
Oh, not to mention the Theory of Relativity, which changed, among other things, literature forever.
posted by jokeefe at 9:42 AM on December 9, 2009
posted by jokeefe at 9:42 AM on December 9, 2009
Great post—thanks!
posted by languagehat at 12:00 PM on December 9, 2009
posted by languagehat at 12:00 PM on December 9, 2009
"That tobacco fairy one is amazing. Who knew the early 1900s were so completely weird?"
Pfft. That is not a pipe.
posted by Smedleyman at 7:54 PM on December 9, 2009
Pfft. That is not a pipe.
posted by Smedleyman at 7:54 PM on December 9, 2009
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posted by leesh at 7:56 PM on December 8, 2009