Estronho e esquésito

Let us once again resist the temptation to run straight toward ghosts, demons, stage tricks, and visible monsters. The Avenging Conscience, directed by D. W. Griffith, brings us the horror of the human mind. Released in 1914, the film is often described as a moral drama, almost a Christian parable about crime and punishment. But it is also something more unsettling...

Produced by Ambrosio Film and directed by Luigi Maggi, Una partita a scacchi (1912) is a short film of only 8 minutes that exemplifies how Italian silent cinema was already exploring psychological suspense and the figure of the "madman" as a driver of fear.

What happened to Mary is considered the first American serial. Charles Dwyer, editor of The Ladies World magazine, and Horace G. Plimpton, then manager of the Edison Company, came up with the idea for what may have been one of the first multimedia actions in history, combining the publication of the serial story in The Ladies World, the episodes on cinema screens, and later, a stage play in addition to a book release.

Fantômas was a character created in 1911 by authors Marcel Allain (1885-1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874-1914). His stories appear in more than 30 publications co-authored by both, and in 11 further publications written solely by Allain after Souvestre's death. Fantômas has been translated into more than twenty languages.

In modern cinema, we take for granted that a good story can be told in 90 minutes... maybe 2 hours... perhaps 50 short minutes, with complex characters, drama, and effects. But back in the beginning... the camera was still a novelty. Audiences marveled at simple movement —as I have mentioned in previous articles. Every narrative had to be expressed through pure image, gesture, and minimal editing.

Often, the history of silent cinema is told through grand gestures and explosive personalities. However, Edna Purviance's journey shows us that subtlety and loyalty can be just as impactful as the glamour of the great divas.

Lieutenant Daring emerged in 1911, produced by British and Colonial Kinematograph, to rival the success of Lieutenant Rose (by Clarendon Films) — clearly a blatant copy. Although they shared the same naval rank, Daring set himself apart through physical vigor and acrobatic action sequences, while Lieutenant Rose was more cerebral and focused on mysteries.

While early European cinema played with devils and visual tricks, Japanese cinema began bringing centuries-old haunted stories from theater and folklore to the screen. Fear here is cultural memory. These are not proto-horror1 by accident. They are horror by heritage. These films make one thing very clear: horror in cinema was not born solely from grotesque imagery, monsters, and demons. It also came from the narrative tradition that cinema inherited from other arts and popular legends.

Jeanne Roques was born on 02/23/1889 in Paris, France. Unlike many stars of the time, Jeanne Roques did not come from nowhere. Raised in a vanguard cradle — daughter of a composer and the painter Marie Clémence — she was already a writer and painter before becoming an actress. This intellectual background allowed her to move between cabaret and Paris's literary elite with the same fluidity.

The production is based on the work of Maurice LeBlanc, which is actually titled Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes (that’s right, you read correctly... Herlock Sholmes). In fact, Arthur Conan Doyle did not take the joke very well. He was furious to see his famous character being ridiculed—according to him—in Maurice LeBlanc's book.

There is very little — not to say almost nothing — information available regarding this series, but there are mentions that it was yet another one to ride the success of Nick Carter, under the command of the same director. There is no information even at the Cinémathèque Française, which holds the largest collection of data on films from this era. Only the episode list and a few technical details can be found.