January 10 – Premiere of a Silent Classic

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If you know anything about Art Deco, you will see this art movement’s influence on this movie. If you don’t know anything about Art Deco – well, go check it out!

nHave you ever heard of the movie Metropolis?
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nThis science fiction movie is rated one of the top movies of all time (sometimes as high as #12, of all movies!) – yet many people have never heard of it!
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nOn the other hand, this movie is so old, it not only doesn’t have Surround Sound, it has no sound track at all!
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nThat’s right, one of the greats (according to many film lovers) is a silent movie! 
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nOn this date in 1927, German filmmaker Fritz Lang released his feature-length futuristic film Metropolis to an audience in Berlin. There was applause – but there may have also been boos. (Reports vary.) The film was ahead of its time in visuals and in special effects – but it some critics thought it was unconvincing, or foolish, or even cliché.  The film was also thought by many to be too long (it lasted 153 minutes – which is more than 2 and a half hours), and after the premiere, the studio cut it down into a shorter version of about 115 minutes (less than two hours); that shorter version was released to audiences in the UK and the US.
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nUnfortunately, this shorter version messed a lot with the plot.
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nAnd, if you found yourself wondering how anyone could have a plot with no sound, remember that silent movies had title cards and intertitles – pieces of filmed, printed text spliced into photographed action – text that provided either dialogue or narrative information that couldn’t be expressed with visuals alone.
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nApparently, it was really hard for modern movie lovers to find a copy of Lang’s original, uncut work. Finally, in 2008, a damaged print was found in the basement of a museum – in far-away Argentina! The film was restored – mostly, and in a difficult and time-consuming process – and in 2010, audiences in Berlin and Frankfurt were able to see the original movie, in all its lengthy glory.
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nAlso on this date:

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nPlan ahead:

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• nJanuary holidays

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• nJanuary birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in January

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• nFebruary holidays

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• nFebruary birthdays

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• nHistorical anniversaries in February

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