The Screen Director
★ 7 · 1951 · 9m · Documentary
A behind-the-scenes look at all the responsibilities (and headaches) a director assumes when making a motion picture.
More Like This
Ouaga, the Capital of Cinema
2000
Between 1983 and 1987, Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso and the home city of FESPACO, one of the most important Pan-African film festivals in the world, was the scene of an exciting cinema utopia. With the support of the young president Thomas Sankara, the festival became a symbol of the cultural renaissance of a whole continent. The assassination of Sankara stifled the hopes of millions of young Africans, but the dynamism of FESPACO and African cinema did not stop.
More info →Captain Blood: A Swashbuckler Is Born
2005 · ★ 6.7
This documentary is featured on the DVD for Captain Blood (1935), released in 2005.
More info →
Chaplin Today: City Lights
2003 · ★ 6.7
In 1928, as the talkies threw the film industry and film language into turmoil, Chaplin decided that his Tramp character would not be heard. City Lights would not be a talking picture, but it would have a soundtrack. Chaplin personally composed a musical score and sound effects for the picture. With Peter Lord, the famous co-creator of Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit, we see how Chaplin became the king of slapstick comedy and the superstar of the movies.
More info →
Montgomery Clift
1983 · ★ 4.3
A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.
More info →Women of the Ghetto Bathing
1901 · ★ 6
The subject is a group of women bathing in a public swimming pool. The camera was placed on the edge of the pool and the full extent of the film shows the women in the pool. Only the heads and shoulders of most of the women are visible but it is possible to see they are wearing rented bathing attire.
More info →
Performing Animals; or, Skipping Dogs
1895 · ★ 4.8
A short black-and-white silent documentary film featuring one dog jumping through hoops and another dancing in a costume, which was considered lost until footage from an 1896 Fairground Programme was identified as being from this film.
More info →How the Telephone Talks
1919
"All sounds travel in waves much the same as ripples in water." Educational film produced by Bray Studios New York, which was the dominant animation studio based in the United States in the years surrounding World War I.
More info →
The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
1896 · ★ 7.1
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.
More info →
30 Years of James Bond
1992 · ★ 6.5
An examination of why the James Bond films have proved so popular including a discussion between the four actors who have played Bond, an interview with Cubby Broccoli and contributions from the directors, production designers, special effects and stuntmen.
More info →
In Search of James Bond with Jonathan Ross
1995 · ★ 4.7
Jonathan Ross delves into the world of James Bond and meets with new and former cast members who reveal humorous stories and anecdotes in a series of interviews. All the 5 Bonds at the time are featured, though only Lazenby (reflecting in the usual frank, self criticizing manner), Moore and Brosnan granted an interview. Connery and Dalton are featured through some unused footage from LWT's 30 years of James Bond program. The ever faithful Desmond Llewelyn turns up in character as well as some other less related peeps like Christopher Lee, Paul McCartney and the ultimate playboy: Hugh Hefner -- who all give an interesting perspective on the worlds most famous spy.
More info →
Railway Station
1980 · ★ 4.7
Warsaw's Central Railway Station. 'Someone has fallen asleep, someone's waiting for somebody else. Maybe they'll come, maybe they won't. The film is about people looking for something.
More info →