Tired of holiday noise? Check out these silent films

A box set was released this past month that details the foundation of Fox Studios and some of the early films made at Fox in the silent film era. This box set is the follow-up to Ford at Fox.

Murnau, Borzage and Fox

This documentary begins with the story of how Fox Studio came into being when one man named Fuchs Vilmos, later William Fox, felt that anyone should have the right to make a film at a time when Thomas Edison was trying to monopolize the fledgling industry. We watch as Fox grows to become a rival to Edison and emerge as one of the first major film studios.

Fox cranks out an impressive library and continues to grow by buying theater chains, but dealt a heavy blow during the Depression. In the end, Fox became a phoenix and rose from the ashes to become what it is today.

The second part of the documentary refers to Frank Borzage who is an overlooked director of the silent era who made films as Seventh Heaven, Street Angel and Bad Girl that is presented in the box set. The third part centers on F.W. Murnau who made a name for himself in Germany and traveled to the Hollywood with the hopes of artistic freedom. He was disappointed, but did make some impressive films.

I was disappointed in the Murnau section where they did not focus on his German work, especially Nosferatu that was ignored in the documentary. How can you leave out a film like that? However, this documentary still managed to maintain an interest.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

This film is a classic among silent films and when you watch it you will see why.

This film is one of the first American films made by F. W. Murnau, who is famous for making Nosferatu. Murnau was experimenting with cinematography and his efforts make a simple story magnificent, as the camera seems to zoom in and fly over the city and countryside. Murnau also uses the camera to explain the scenes in the place of sound where images show a person's thoughts and the music adds on the scene. Murnau was rewarded for his cinematography with the first Academy Award for photography. He was also awarded the first and only Academy Award for Artistic Film.

Now, on to the story. Our characters have no names but a woman from the city seduces a married man from the country and convinces him to kill his wife to be with her forever. The country wife is brilliantly played by Janet Gaynor whose eyes and charming smile say more than words ever could. Gaynor is so cute in this film that it is no wonder it made her star reign supreme forever. Plus, she won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for this film, and she does a better job than many present day actresses. Murnau tells his silent story beautifully with facial expressions and timing.

The scene where the man tries to kill Gaynor is very suspenseful and is still better than many murder scenes of the present. And if you turn the DVD around you get the European version that has minor differences mainly in lighting. Also, the dialogue does refer to the adulterous affair openly instead of suggested.

I strongly recommend this film to anyone and everyone. If you want to know what a silent film is like, then watch this one. Commentary by cinematographer John Bailey; outtakes with commentary by Bailey; outtakes with text cards; theatrical trailer; original scenario by Carl Mayer with annotations by F.W. Murnau; Sunrise screenplay; restoration notes and a still gallery's

City Girl

This silent film is another of Murnau's attempts to tell a love story but does not come across quite as well as Sunrise.

The film begins on a Minnesota farm where a young man, Lem, has set off to Chicago to sell the farms wheat crop. In the next scene we are in Chicago where a young waitress, Kate, is annoyingly grabbing bread that the farmer has worked hard to provide as a product. In a chance of fate Kate and Lem fall in love, have a quick marriage and are return to Minnesota where farm life is not as nice as Kate imagines it to be.

In Chicago men were vulgar to Kate and made passes at her, but on the farm Lem's father does not hide his disgust in her and the farmhands actually grab her and try to break up the marriage.

This film has a happy ending but it is not as enthralling as Sunrise. I still recommend it; the acting is well done, the cinematography is beautiful and the story is believable. Also, the scenes of a 1930s diner show more than any history lesson can. Special features. Murnau's lost film 4Devils is recreated using still images, sketches and notes; 4Devil's treatment; 4Devils screenplay and still gallery.

The Bad Girl

This film is actually a talking feature, but the audio is in the early era of the "talkies" so it is not very good. The actors were too used to making silent films so they are monotonous and exaggerated.

The story is no help either. We meet Sally Eilers who is a salesgirl in New York City. On a night out she encounters James Dunn who sells radios, and they decide to get married. This is not a good film; aside from being boring the story lacks a few essential elements especially in the couple's department. Dunn never says he loves Sally and she claims to love him but we never get any chemistry. I

t is actually frustrating to watch these two together. I always felt that Dunn was about to hit Sally based on his language, tone and mannerisms but thankfully that never happened. The title must be referring to Sally as "bad" but she never does anything bad so the title is misleading. It is still a boring film that is a good representation of the times but not of the classic talkie film era. Special features: a still gallery.

Other silent films in the box set include: Lazybones about a homeless girl falling in love with the man who raised her, Seventh Heaven that is a love story with Janet Gaynor and Charles Ferrell, Street Angel with Gaynor as an accused prostitute and Lucky Star that is a love story the handicapped Ferrell in love with Gaynor.

Other talking films include: They Had to See Paris is Will Rogers' first talking film, Liliom an early talking film with Charles Ferrell, Song O' My Heart that is features the film debut of Maureen O' Sullivan, Young America with a very young Spencer Tracy as a druggist and After Tomorrow that is similar to Bad Girl in being just bad.