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American Madness or, Suggestions for an Anthology

By: Black Irish

- UPDATE: Considering how extensive I planned this project to be, and how exhausting it is to contemplate, I’ve been considering either scrapping the whole lot of it or simply revising it so that this list will represent the total end result of it. -

Inspired by Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, I’ve considered taking a shot at something similar for early American cinema. This anthology will include at least three volumes [in this case lists,] which will come later as this is just for films under consideration, and each will follow a general theme [I have one or two in mind at the moment and would welcome suggestions for others.] I’m not sure how many films each volume will have, but at the moment I’m shooting for a hundred each, with more or less depending on how things play out.

I welcome any suggestions, but only under the following conditions:
- That the films be within the rough timeframe of 1903 – 1953, the former date chosen because it was the year The Great Train Robbery was released and the latter for the combined factors of widescreen’s comeback with The Robe, the growing dominance of television, the general rise of feature-length independent filmmaking and slow decline of the studio system following the Second World War.
- Though not intending to avoid films well-known to any degree entirely, my aim is more towards those that are underappreciated, underseen and/or generally hard to come by but nonetheless good films.
- They should also reflect the culture, people and/or land of the United States in some way, for better or worse, rather than simply having been made in or produced by the U.S.
- Feature, short, ‘mainstream’, ‘experimental’, fiction and documentary films are equally acceptable.

The list proper will contain all films under consideration which I’ve seen. Those which I haven’t yet will be posted here in the information section, the newest ones being temporarily highlighted, though once I’ve seen any and afterward wish to include them in one of the eventual volumes they’ll be moved down to the main list.

Potential Themes: A Narrative, Ballads

Currently Unseen:
- The Kleptomaniac (Edwin S. Porter, 1905)
- The Automobile Thieves (J. Stuart Blackton, 1906)
- Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (McCutcheon/Porter, 1906)
- A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (Earl Miles, 1906)
- College Chums (Edwin S. Porter, 1907)
- The Country Doctor (D. W. Griffith, 1909)
- In Old California (D. W. Griffith, 1910)
- The Battle (D. W. Griffith, 1911)
- The Confederate Ironclad (?, 1912)
- The Heart of an Indian (Thomas H. Ince, 1912)
- A Florida Enchantment (Sidney Drew, 1914)
- A Free Ride (A. Wise Guy, 1915)
- Martyrs of the Alamo (Christy Cabanne, 1915)
- Regeneration (Raoul Walsh, 1915)
- Hell’s Hinges (Swickard/Hart/Smith, 1916)
- One A.M. (Charles Chaplin, 1916)
- Where Are My Children? (Smalley/Weber, 1916)
- Bucking Broadway (John Ford, 1917)
- A Romance of the Redwoods (Cecil B. DeMille, 1917)
- Straight Shooting (John Ford, 1917)
- Bolshevism on Trial (Harley Knoles, 1919)
- Daddy-Long-Legs (Marshall Neilan, 1919)
- A Romance of Happy Valley (D. W. Griffith, 1919)
- True Heart Susie (D. W. Griffith, 1919)
- The Last of the Mohicans (Brown/Tourneur, 1920)
- The Saphead (Blaché/Smith, 1920)
- Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920)
- Manhatta (Sheeler/Strand, 1921)
- Seven Years Bad Luck (Max Linder, 1921)
- Tol’able David (Henry King, 1921)
- One Exciting Night (D. W. Griffith, 1922)
- America (D. W. Griffith, 1924)
- The Chechahos (Lewis H. Moomaw, 1924)
- Manhandled (Allan Dwan, 1924)
- Three Women (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924)
- Wild Oranges (King Vidor, 1924)
- Body and Soul (Oscar Micheaux, 1925)
- Clash of the Wolves (Noel M. Smith, 1925)
- Episodes in the Life of a Gin Bottle (Bela von Block, 1925)
- The Goose Woman (Clarence Brown, 1925)
- Lazybones (Frank Borzage, 1925)
- The Salvation Hunters (Josef von Sternberg, 1925)
- Tumbleweeds (Baggot/Hart, 1925)
- The Unholy Three (Tod Browning, 1925)
- 3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926)
- The Johnstown Flood (Irving Cummings, 1926)
- The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1926)
- Tell It to the Marines (George W. Hill, 1926)
- The First Auto (Roy Del Ruth, 1927)
- Three’s a Crowd (Harry Langdon, 1927)
- The Life and Death of 9143, a Hollywood Extra (Florey/Vorkapich, 1928)
- Lonesome (Pál Fejös, 1928)
- The Sex Life of the Polyp (Thomas Chalmers, 1928)
- Show People (King Vidor, 1928)
- The Trail of ’98 (Clarence Brown, 1928)
- The Wind (Victor Sjöström, 1928)
- Black and Tan (Dudley Murphy, 1929)
- Perfect Day (James Parrott, 1929)
- The Singing Brakeman (Basil Smith, 1929)
- Skyscraper Symphony (Robert Florey, 1929)
- Thunderbolt (Josef von Sternberg, 1929)
- Abraham Lincoln (D. W. Griffith, 1930)
- The Big Trail (Raoul Walsh, 1930)
- City Girl (F. W. Murnau, 1930)
- Madam Satan (Cecil B. DeMille, 1930)
- An American Tragedy (Josef von Sternberg, 1931)
- The Front Page (Lewis Milestone, 1931)
- The Miracle Woman (Frank Capra, 1931)
- The Struggle (D. W. Griffith, 1931)
- American Madness (Frank Capra, 1932)
- Call Her Savage (John Francis Dillon, 1932)
- Me and My Gal (Raoul Walsh, 1932)
- Movie Crazy (Clyde Bruckman, 1932)
- Rain (Lewis Milestone, 1932)
- Strange Interlude (Robert Z. Leonard, 1932)
- A Study in Reds (Miriam Bennett, 1932)
- Tiger Shark (Howard Hawks, 1932)
- The Wet Parade (Victor Fleming, 1932)
- What Price Hollywood? (George Cukor, 1932)
- Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933)
- Deluge (Felix E. Feist, 1933)
- Heroes for Sale (William A. Wellman, 1933)
- Man’s Castle (Frank Borzage, 1933)
- Pilgrimage (John Ford, 1933)
- The Stranger’s Return (King Vidor, 1933)
- Broadway Bill (Frank Capra, 1934)
- A Modern Hero (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1934)
- Our Daily Bread (King Vidor, 1934)
- The President Vanishes (William A. Wellman, 1934)
- Six of a Kind (Leo McCarey, 1934)
- The World Moves On (John Ford, 1934)
- Barbary Coast (Howard Hawks, 1935)
- Black Fury (Michael Curtiz, 1935)
- The Farmer Takes a Wife (Victor Fleming, 1935)
- Remember Last Night? (James Whale, 1935)
- Ruggles of Red Gap (Leo McCarey, 1935)
- Banjo on My Knee (John Cromwell, 1936)
- Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell, 1936)
- These Three (William Wyler, 1936)
- The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (Henry Hathaway, 1936)
- Big City (Frank Borzage, 1937)
- Black Legion (Archie Mayo, 1937)
- Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey, 1937)
- Marked Woman (Lloyd Bacon, 1937)
- The Plainsman (Cecil B. DeMille, 1937)
- The Prisoner of Shark Island (John Ford, 1937)
- Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937)
- Of Human Hearts (Clarence Brown, 1938)
- You and Me (Fritz Lang, 1938)
- You Cant Take It with You (Frank Capra, 1938)
- Let Us Live (John Brahm, 1939)
- The Roaring Twenties (Raoul Walsh, 1939)
- Way Down South (Bernard Vorhaus, 1939)
- Abe Lincoln in Illinois (John Cromwell, 1940)
- The Great McGinty (Preston Sturges, 1940)
- The House of the Seven Gables (Joe May, 1940)
- The Howards of Virginia (Frank Lloyd, 1940)
- Our Town (Sam Wood, 1940)
- Valley Town (Willard Van Dyke, 1940)
- The Westerner (William Wyler, 1940)
- Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941)
- Hellzapoppin’ (H. C. Potter, 1941)
- Kannapolis, N.C. (H. Lee Waters, 1941)
- The Little Foxes (William Wyler, 1941)
- Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (Edward F. Cline, 1941)
- Swamp Water (Jean Renoir, 1941)
- Tobacco Road (John Ford, 1941)
- By Night with Torch and Spear (Joseph Cornell, 1942)
- In This Our Life (John Huston, 1942)
- Keeper of the Flame (George Cukor, 1942)
- The Land (Robert J. Flaherty, 1942)
- Native Land (Hurtwitz/Strand, 1942)
- Night Monster (Ford Beebe, 1942)
- Reap the Wild Wind (Cecil B. DeMille, 1942)
- Saboteur (Alfred Hitchcock, 1942)
- Tennessee Johnson (William Dieterle, 1942)
- The Human Comedy (Clarence Brown, 1943)
- The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)
- Stormy Weather (Andrew L. Stone, 1943)
- An American Romance (King Vidor, 1944)
- Christmas Holiday (Robert Siodmak, 1944)
- Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944)
- The Woman in the Window (Fritz Lang, 1944)
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Elia Kazan, 1945)
- The Valley of Decision (Tay Garnett, 1945)
- John Henry and the Inky-Poo (George Pál, 1946)
- Let There Be Light (John Huston, 1946)
- Body and Soul (Robert Rossen, 1947)
- Mourning Becomes Electra (Dudley Nichols, 1947)
- Pursued (Raoul Walsh, 1947)
- T-Men (Anthony Mann, 1947)
- Unconquered (Cecil B. DeMille, 1947)
- Blood on the Moon (Robert Wise, 1948)
- Good Sam (Leo McCarey, 1948)
- Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (H. C. Potter, 1948)
- The Uncomfortable Man (Munson/Huff, 1948)
- Yellow Sky (William A. Wellman, 1948)
- All the King’s Men (Robert Rossen, 1949)
- Beyond the Forest (King Vidor, 1949)
- I Married a Communist (Robert Stevenson, 1949)
- Pinky (Elia Kazan, 1949)
- Born to Be Bad (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
- The Furies (Anthony Mann, 1950)
- Outrage (Ida Lupino, 1950)
- Riding High (Frank Capra, 1950)
- Stars in My Crown (Jacques Tourneur, 1950)
- When Willie Comes Marching Home (John Ford, 1950)
- Across the Wide Missouri (William A. Wellman, 1951)
- Apache Drums (Hugo Fregonese, 1951)
- Distant Drums (Raoul Walsh, 1951)
- The Red Badge of Courage (John Huston, 1951)
- Westward the Women (William A. Wellman, 1951)
- The Big Sky (Howard Hawks, 1952)
- The First Time (Frank Tashlin, 1952)
- Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (Douglas Sirk, 1952)
- My Son John (Leo McCarey, 1952)
- On Dangerous Ground (Nicholas Ray, 1952)
- Park Row (Samuel Fuller, 1952)
- Plymouth Adventure (Clarence Brown, 1952)
- Ruby Gentry (King Vidor, 1952)
- All I Desire (Douglas Sirk, 1953)
- The Bigamist (Ida Lupino, 1953)
- The Sun Shines Bright (John Ford, 1953)

Not in the Database:
- Maniac Chase (Edwin S. Porter, 1904)
- The Crowd Roars (Howard Hawks, 1932)
- Experiment Perilous (Jacques Tourneur, 1944)

 

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Picture of Arsaib

Arsaib

12Mar12

I second Lily's suggestion of 'Lucky Star'. Borzage's 'Lazybones' (1926) is also pretty underrated. Are you familiar with Alfred E. Green's 'Babyface'? Though it's perhaps too well-known to qualify for this list. But I think you should consider adding 'Marked Woman' (1937).

  • Picture of Black Irish

    Black Irish

    12Mar12

    I actually haven't heard of Baby Face so I'm not sure how well known it may be. :D Thank you for the suggestions though and I'll add 'em to the list. It continues amazes me just how many forgotten films there are from the pre-war era.

  • Picture of Arsaib

    Arsaib

    16Mar12

    'Baby Face' is one of the finest, most incendiary of pre-Code films, so I hope you take a look at it. Warners released the recently rediscovered longer version on DVD as part of its 'Forbidden Hollywood' collection. Yeah, it's rather remarkable how many great films still need to be unearthed. And, contrary to popular belief, everything isn't available on home video.

  • Picture of Black Irish

    Black Irish

    16Mar12

    Great, then I imagine it should be available to rent [I wondered whether it would be.] | Well, if that belief exists it's because we've allowed a cultural blindspot, which will hopefully cease to exist in the future.

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