Silent films speak to new generation of moviegoers

Film pioneer Siegmund Lubin was a studio mogul, a movie producer, an occasional actor and a close friend (and former enemy) of Thomas Edison.

"There was absolutely nothing on him or the studio at all," said Eckhardt, an associate professor of history at Montgomery County Community College. "Many people never knew of their existence."

Eckhardt will be bringing some of the studio's remaining silent films to this year's 31st Annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. They will be shown at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Schwab Auditorium, with live musical accompaniment.

The retrospective will focus on the films made during Lubin's time at Betzwood, which he ran from 1912 to 1917, before turning it over to new owners. The studio produced over 100 films, of which only 29 survive today.

Lubin was one of film's earliest pioneers, working on both the technological and production elements of film. After moving to Philadelphia in 1883, he set up an optical shop and began experimenting with developing cameras and projection equipment.

After years of making small pictures and continuing to work with new film technology -- some of which would land him in court with Edison, who sued him over patent infringement -- he opened his first movie theater in Philadelphia in 1899 and soon was expanding to Baltimore and Chicago.

In 1910, he established "Lubinville," a movie studio in North Philadelphia where five films could be produced at the same time.

"He wanted to produce something for everybody," Eckhardt said. "That's why there are movies in different genres -- comedy, drama, educational films."

Eckhardt became involved with the project in the late '70s, when citizens of Montgomery County were attempting to write a history of their region.

"When I first came to the area in 1962, I was told there once had been a movie studio nearby," he said. "When the history was being written, most of the people I spoke to had never heard of it."

After he researched the material himself, Eckhardt's interest in the project became more than a mere hobby. This fall he will publish The King of the Movies, a biography of Lubin and the studio.

"It started out almost as a curiosity," he said. "And then it just grew and grew over the years."

Among the approximately 18 short films to be shown at the retrospective is The Price of Victory, a 1913 civil war drama that was produced using all original equipment and costumes.

"Civil war films were very popular back then," Eckhardt said. "At the time, it wasn't too hard to get a confederate uniform."

Another film that will appear is The Silver King, a 1907 movie that is notable for a brief cameo by Lubin himself. Though he appeared in many of his films, The Silver King is the film featuring Lubin that still survives today, as many of the original movies have been lost to fire, neglect and the aging process.

Much of this is due to the fact that silent films, according to Eckhardt, were not originally intended to last as long as they have.

"For a long time, no one in the industry thought anyone would want to see these old movies again," he said. "They thought of them as 'a moment's entertainment.' They would absolutely be amazed that anyone would want to watch them today."

Despite the low expectations the producers may originally have had for their work, silent films are experiencing a revitalization today, as movie aficionados continue to examine their significance in film history.

"There's a great interest in rediscovering our past," said Patrick Trimble, professor of integrative arts, "and one of the forms people have turned to -- particularly scholars and historians -- is silent cinema."

One reason for the renewed interest is the state of films today, Trimble said.

"A part of it is a reaction against modern cinema," he said. "There's not a lot out there that's new and different." Another reason for its resurgence is the effort among filmmakers to preserve and archive older films, Trimble said.

"The belief is that if the effort is made to restore these movies, we can get a greater appreciation of them and why they're still important," he said.

The success of restored films like Vertigo has revived the commercial prospects of older movies. Ultimately, the restoration efforts will continue to draw viewers to silent films, Eckhardt said.

"I'm glad they're having a second renaissance," he said. "They're just really good films, and it's great people are now having a chance to see them."