Silent Light
Frank Borzage at Fox, in the shadow of Sunrise and on the brink of sound
by Michael Atkinson
posted Dec 16, 2008
COMMENTS (1)
Add Comment
You must sign in to add comments...
LATEST ARTICLES
Key Man Agonistes
by Peter Tonguette
posted February 9, 2012
Migrating Forms
by Joshua Land
posted February 3, 2012
Multiple Vision
by Aaron Cutler
posted February 2, 2012
Physical Instincts
by Gina Telaroli
posted January 20, 2012
More
Courtesy 20th Century Fox
Janet Gaynor (right) in Frank Borzage's Seventh Heaven
Photo Gallery:
Silent Light
Silent Light
KEYWORDS
silent film | F.W. Murnau | Frank Borzage | DVD | studio system | Hollywood | Charles Farrell | Janet GaynorFURTHER READING
Dave Kehr on "Murnau, Borzage and Fox" (The New York Times)Joe McElhaney on Frank Borzage (Senses of Cinema)
THE AUTHOR
Michael Atkinson is the author/editor of six books, including Ghosts in the Machine: Speculating on the Dark Heart of Pop Cinema (Limelight Eds., 2000), Flickipedia (Chicago Review Press, 2007), Exile Cinema: Filmmakers at Work Beyond Hollywood (SUNY Press, 2008), and the novels from St. Martin's Press Hemingway Deadlights and Hemingway Cutthroat.
More articles by Michael AtkinsonAuthor's Website: Zero for Conduct
Thanks must go to Fox for the incredible DVD set and to Mr. Atkinson for a most illuminating article. For those who suffered through the decades of the "Borzage eclipse," fostered by cynical critics unwilling or incapable of recognizing romanticism as a high and relevant art in the Twentieth Century, it is a miracle to see Borzage masterworks receive just praise. It is also a miracle that LUCKY STAR was rediscovered and restored after 62 years! What's next? Sternberg's CASE OF LENA SMITH? Murnau's FOUR DEVILS? Welles's complete MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS? Stroheim's eight-hour GREED?
John Parker posted 14.04.09