Close Up (Oct 1920 - Aug 1923)

Record Details:

Title:
Close Up
Date:
Oct 1920 - Aug 1923
Volume:
Close-Up (1920-1923)
Leaf #:
000119
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema, Switzerland, and Global Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
As an active film magazine, CLOSE UP lasted only a short time, from 1927 to 1933. Yet the legacy of this English-language periodical, which was published in Switzerland, continues to matter. Edited by Bryher and her husband Kenneth Macpherson, CLOSE UP became THE magazine for energetic debates about the nature of cinema and manifestos imagining new forms of filmmaking and spectatorship. The magazine published articles by filmmakers, such as Sergei Eisenstein, and female literary modernists, such as H.D. and Gertrude Stein. As film scholar Anne Friedberg explains in the anthology CLOSE-UP, 1927-1933: CINEMA & MODERNISM, 'CLOSE UP became the model for a certain type of writing about film -- writing that was theoretically astute, politically incisive, critical of films that were simply 'entertainment.' For six and a half years, CLOSE UP maintained a forum for a broad variety of ideas about the cinema; it never advocated a single direction of development, but rather posed alternatives to existing modes of production, consumption, and film style.' Like Friedberg's own writing, CLOSE UP continues to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of film and media theory. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
June 20, 2024
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LOUIS B. MAYER PRESENTS ANITA STEWART IN “THE WOMAN HE MARRIED,” BY HERBERT BASHFORD. SCENARIO BY BESS MEREDYTH. PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAL CLAUSON. DIRECTED BY FRED NIBLO, KINEMA THEATRE. REVIEWED BY EMM. ELL. Again! A Louis B. Mayer Feature was presented at the above theatre. In the last issue it was “One Clear Call,” with which we found fault; in this issue, as much as I hate to do it, my criticism is directed against Fred Niblo, a man whom I have highly respected, that he should have allowed his directorial ability to be utilized for such a presumed vehicle as “The Woman He Married.” If you do not see any salacious incidents occurring, it isn’t because they were not meant to be conveyed to your intelligence. Personally, I feel that this is nothing but a plain, filthy-minded picture — and I say this advisedly, and Mr. Louis B. Mayer has the privilege of suing this magazine for libel for making such a statement but the film at the same time, in such an event, will be produced in court and I firmly believe that it will be the best way to convince a jury of intelligent people that censorship is absolutely required, when producers, seeking to curry public favor, or the bad taste of low brows, will occupy a screen with vehicles that abound with scenes in which a mere child, or an artist’s model, are presumably employed for no other purpose than to be seduced by the artist, as seems evidenced by the characterization of Donald McDonald playing the part of the villain. Frankly speaking, his part was totally exaggerated and the atmospheric point of view totally distorted from what was intended. Darrell Foss, a rich jjian’s son, fails to accomplish his own bravado meant intentions when he marries the heroine, Anita Stewart. The latter didn’t fail at any time to convince with her sincere acting but, unfortu-. nately, she seems to be cast in dubious roles in which her beauty is ' the prize sought aftet1 by lascivious-minded screen characters. William Conklin, as the father, played a very thankless part, and through some point of reasoning on the part of Bess Meredyth, the scenarist, or the author, it doesn’t transpire until the very end of the picture that the young girl involved in the story also happens to be Conklin’s daughter, who has been away at boarding school. This little phase alone tends to show the paltryneSs and absurdity of the story as a whole. Shannon Day, as usual, plays the part of a ruined girl. She is positively a nauseating type to the screen, to my way of thinking. Charles Belcher looked as if he could have been cast for something much better than a soft-shoed sleuth. Charlotte Pierce, as the hero’s sister, gave a fair enough interpretation of her part. She played the simpering maiden to perfection. Eliminating the cast; eliminating the photography, which was unusually fine; eliminating the direction, which showed that splendid Niblo touch for detail, I would candidly advocate severe censorship for moving pictures, if we are to accept “The Woman He Married” as a criterion of the future productions of certain producers, and the sooner these producers are made to realize that they are cutting their own throats by assembling all-star casts, and famous directors to produce a mediocre story of doubtful tendencies, then the better it will be for them to get into some other line of endeavor wherein their talents can be more fruitfully employed. The Cunningham Car Agency San Francisco 1737 Jackson St. Los Angeles 1925 St. Figueroa St.