User Reviews

"Hollywood" is a truly amazing mini-series about the history of American silent movies. Unlike most documentaries, it's VERY exhaustive and gives so much detail you just won't get anywhere else. In the case of "Trick of the Light", this is even more true than in other episodes--with all sorts of inside information about how films were made from the standpoint of cinematography and camera tricks. For example, the use of matte paintings is not just discussed but examples are shown with and without the painting to show how many great scenes were affordably made. Also, you speeding up or slowing down the cranking speed of the camera is explained and how this was done to heighten the tension of certain types of scenes. Overall, like a how-to guide for wood-be silent filmmakers--an incredibly rich and satisfying show.

In its first ten episodes, the Kevin-Brownlow-David-Gill documentary, "Hollywood," examined stars, directors, and genres of the silent era. However, episode 11, entitled "Trick of the Light," provides a welcome focus on technology. Opening with clips from 1928's "The Mysterious Lady," the images illustrate the brilliant use of light and shadow by cameraman William Daniels. Daniels's rich photography of Greta Garbo created a luminous quality in the legendary actress and Daniels became Garbo's favorite cinematographer. The clips also demonstrate the heights to which cinematography rose before the advent of sound. Through narration, interviews, and clips, the documentary then traces cinematography, camera tricks, and early special effects from the invention of the motion-picture camera through early technical developments in both machinery and technique. Interviews discuss the difficulty in maintaining consistent hand-cranking speeds, illustrate various camera models, and talk about the first use of light reflectors. Not surprisingly, such veteran cameramen as George Folsey, Karl Brown, Byron Haskin, and Lee Garmes provide insight and recollections throughout. Karl Brown, who was an assistant to Billy Bitzer, D.W. Griffith's cameraman, discusses Bitzer and filming 1912's "A Beast at Bay," while director Henry Hathaway tells of Griffith's shooting during the magic hour to capture that special late-afternoon light for 1915's "The Birth of a Nation."

Directors sought thrilling chase footage, and film editor Grant Whytock and cameraman Byron Haskin talk about the challenges and dangers of shooting from platforms attached to cars or strapped to planes or perched on small open boats. The whaling sequences from 1922's "Down to the Sea in Ships" show the perils of filming in open seas, while footage from 1931's "The Viking" was taken during a treacherous location shoot around an ice-bound ship. Even more dangerous was Billy Bitzer's location work with Richard Barthelmess and Lillian Gish on an ice floe that was rushing towards a steep waterfall; Lillian Gish describes the harsh filming conditions she endured for that exciting climax to Griffith's 1920 film "Way Down East."

Harsh filming conditions were not always outdoors. When the early open stages were closed and arc lighting was introduced, the ultraviolet rays damaged performers' eyes; actresses Viola Dana, Colleen Moore, and Bessie Love describe the pain and damage from working under arc lights. However, the closed sets resulted in dramatic use of light and shadow, illustrated by the work of Alvin Wyckoff for Cecil B. DeMille's "The Cheat" in 1915; by John F. Seitz's photography for 1921's "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse;" and by George Folsey's images for 1924's "The Enchanted Cottage."

The trick photography that allowed Colleen Moore's eyes to wander independently in 1925's "Ella Cinders" is explained as is Charles Rosher's work with Mary Pickford on "Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1921; Pickford, who plays both young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother, kisses his mother in one remarkable scene. A brief review of model trains and ships includes a brief clip of a marine battle with waves generated by an egg beater and billowing smoke from cigarettes. However, "The Juggernaut" in 1915 dispensed with miniatures and wrecked a real train. Photographic effects had advanced by the early 1920's, and Douglas Fairbanks's "Robin Hood" in 1922 used matte paintings on glass to expand the sets. A year later, Lon Chaney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" utilized hanging sets to create a convincing illusion of the soaring French cathedral when only the street level had been constructed.

The excellent episode climaxes with a discussion of the most expensive movie of the silent era, "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ." William Wyler, who was an assistant director on the film, describes the film's production, which included the use of early color film, full-size galleys, and a hanging set with moveable miniature people that enhanced the chariot race. Another veteran of that 1925 film, special-effects man A. Arnold Gillespie, expands on Wyler's comments. Extensive footage from the Ramon Novarro epic is excerpted, and the episode closes with the brilliantly edited and still-thrilling chariot race that features Novarro and Francis X. Bushman. The only episode of the Brownlow-Gill documentary to focus on the technical aspects of silent film throws light on some little-known details and ranks among the series's best.

Hollywood: Trick of the Light (1980)

**** (out of 4)

Wonderful episode in the series takes a look at, what the documentary says, are an actresses best friend and that is the cinematographer. This here is without question one of the best episodes because you really don't ever get to hear too much about the men actually holding the camera. In the early portion we take a look at those dangerous stunts that the stuntman got credit for but we must remember there was someone there holding a camera and cranking it. There are some great shots of stunts being done with cameramen on the side of things shooting it all. As the film goes on we turn to Billy Bitzer who really broke all the rules as he and D.W. Griffith were turning out one important picture after another. Lillian Gish is on hand to talk about what he had to do in WAY DOWN EAST once the cameras started to freeze and they couldn't shoot anything. We also get to hear how Bitzer and Griffith came up with the idea of blocking out reflections and making sure that the eyes could always been seen. One of the best moments happen early one with the filmmakers turn on a camera used in the silent days and show how loud it actually was and give us a detailed example of what one would have to do to be sure they weren't cranking too hard. I really had a lot of fun with this episode simply because you don't get to hear about these men too often. We learn about Mary Pickford and her favorite cameraman as well as Greta Garbo who refused to let anyone else photograph her.