Broom Hilda by Russell Myers for March 25, 2020

We saw “The Great Dictator” when on a trip to British Columbia. It was banned in the US at the time.

No Charlie Chaplin but I do have a couple Harold Lloyd films on tape.

Not even a tinkly piano soundtrack?

I bought a Chaplin DVD just for the roller skating scene.

Time to explain silent films, Broomie!

No piano?

International sales were huge. And uncomplicated.

Today’s generation will NEVER appreciate the start of an industry, which they all enjoy today.

No color and no sound is a good description of a weekly comic strip here.

Thank God, no laugh track!

And they aren’t colorizing it either. (Do they still do that?) My favorite story about why colorizing is a crime against movies is a Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) movie, THE WOMAN IN GREEN. You’d think the woman would be wearing green. Nope, purple. Holmes is commenting about her, and he says something like she acts as if she’s in the purple. That means she acts like she has noble blood. Hence, the purple dress.

A beloved relative who had Alzheimers went on a trip with us in our small motorhome. He was understandably worried because he wasn’t sure who we were or where we were going. He was also very hard of hearing which made explanations more difficult. Feeling like an airline stewardess, I played Charlie Chaplin movies for him. He loved the movies, he could laugh and tell us about what Charlie was doing. Chaplin saved the trip for all of us.

“City Lights,” “The Great Dictator,” “Gold Rush,” and “Modern Times,” all on our short list for this “staycation.”

And Charlie’s granddaughter has done some pretty good work as well, “The Crimson Field,” “The Hour,” and that “Game of Thrones.”

City Lights might be the Best Silent Film I’ve ever seen, certainly my fave Chaplin.

(Sorry, I can’t resist this: Resistance Is Futile!)

Better, get Nerwin fixed….

Not that she didn’t feel old already!