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Steve Jarrett

@steve-jarrett.bsky.social
341 followers 354 following 77 posts

I teach film history courses at Wake Forest University.

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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Laemmle's faux-outraged denunciation of the story he had planted appeared in the March 12, 1910 edition of "Moving Picture World."
Laemmle's ad denouncing the story that Florence Lawrence had died.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The Somewhat Rowdy Bunch
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Always fun to see him on the phone, since after he played A.G. Bell onscreen people started slangily calling the telephone “the Ameche.” So here we have Ameche on the Ameche.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The latest installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which a celebrated German director is brought to the U.S. amid much fanfare and creates a masterpiece, only to learn that in Hollywood profit always trumps genius. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – July 31, 1926 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
My gateway drug to the world of film collecting.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
“I hate almost all rich people, but I think I’d be darling at it.” — Dorothy Parker
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
No one in this administration would survive a tour of the Willy Wonka chocolate factory.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
America today.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which a small Oregon town welcomes a Hollywood film crew, and its citizens are privileged to witness the filming of a tremendous spectacle, the single most expensive shot of the silent film era. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – April 24, 1926 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
That moment when you realize that you will not be going down in history as the worst U.S. president after all.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which a pioneering animator encounters a vexing roadblock in his career path; a path that will ultimately lead to his being acknowledged as one of the most important innovators in the field. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – January 23, 1926 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
It has been reported that the Mos Eisley spaceport cantina band has canceled a previously scheduled performance at the Kennedy Center. A spokesperson for the group commented, “Just because we’re the house band at a wretched hive of scum and villainy, that doesn’t mean we don’t have standards.”
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Today is the first Silent Movie Day since the entire silent film period entered the public domain (except for a couple of Chaplin outliers). Watch a silent movie today! silentmovieday.org
silentmovieday.org
Silent Movie Day
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
I remember operating one of those quadruplex beasts when I was a videotape engineer at a local TV station in a previous century.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which a prominent writer is hired by a Hollywood studio, then is let go, then returns as an actor, and ends up as a screenwriter again, this time with great success. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/the-cinema-c...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – July 26, 1925 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Sometimes the original is not safe even from its own creator. Chaplin tried to bury the original GOLD RUSH after releasing his quasi-talkie reboot.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
It was John Wayne, of course.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Schumer will write a strongly worded letter, and then by God they'll be sorry.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which a company that helped lay the foundation for the movie industry in this country folds its tent, marking the end of an era. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – May 2, 1925 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Sure, but now ask them if they would vote for him again. Spoiler: an absolutely horrifying number of them will tell you that they would.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
I met Beverly Bayne when I was a 16-year-old silent movie fan attending Cinecon 8 in 1972. She was one of the guests of honor at the con that year, along with Lois Wilson, Zena Keefe, and Leatrice Joy.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which a major star of the silent cinema makes the decision to go independent, and learns that being one's own boss in Hollywood has its downsides as well as its benefits. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – February 27, 1925 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Another silent film discovery. The existence of 16mm reduction prints on safety film stock continues to be our best bet for the continued discovery of silent pictures that were thought to be lost. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUin...
youtube.com
Long-lost silent film uncovered on Long Island
YouTube video by NBC New York
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
CASABLANCA updated: RICK: Sam, I told you never to play that tune! SAM: Why not, boss? RICK: Because we can't clear the rights! www.npr.org/2012/01/03/1...
npr.org
The Big Bad Swap: The Problem With Replaced Music
When is a movie not a movie? When it's a movie with an entirely different soundtrack.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Per the U.S. Supreme Court, Donald Trump can do literally anything he wants, anytime he wants, as often as he wants, for any reason, or for no reason, without consequences of any kind.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
This excellent site deserves the support of every cinephile.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
One of my favorite David Lynch projects was not a film. It was a comic strip -- "The Angriest Dog in the World." www.lynchnet.com/angrydog/
lynchnet.com
David Lynch - Angriest Dog in the World
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Every semester, on the first day of class, I show this clip to my film history students. I know they won't listen when I beg them not to watch the assigned films on their phones, so I have to hope that they will pay heed to a higher authority. RIP David Lynch www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiI...
youtube.com
David Lynch on iPhone
YouTube video by Brittney Gilbert
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
"Orlock can’t die from a stake or holy water and can only be burned to a crispy death by exposure to sunlight. His reach and his accessibility are the results of his ability to project shadows of himself across space. Orlok is cinema. Nosferatu is cinema." lithub.com/what-does-it...
lithub.com
What Does It Mean to Remake Nosferatu Instead of Simply Dracula?
Dracula is back. Dracula hasn’t been away for very long (last year saw two reinterpretations: the corny comic misfire Renfield and genuinely innovative horror film The Last Voyage of the Demeter), …
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
The only remaining artifact from Gertrude Stein's extremely brief career as an office manager.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
I love this story of Mark Evanier's yuletide encounter with Mel Torme. Revisiting it has become as much a part of my Christmas traditions as Dickens and Jean Shepherd. www.newsfromme.com/2024/12/19/m...
newsfromme.com
My Xmas Story – News From ME
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Reposted by Steve Jarrett
Maggie Hennefeld @hennefem.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
“The film is 106 years old. It was stored in conditions we don’t know about. I think there are films that decide to live,” said Cordova. www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture...
thenationalnews.com
Lost John Ford film found in Chile after 100 years | The National
The Scarlet Drop, a western starring actor Harry Carey, was found in a Santiago warehouse a day before it was set to be demolished
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Schroedinger's weather forecast.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Guilty. Sue me.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 21/09/2024
The most recent installment of my “Cinema Century” blog, in which Warner Brothers makes an aggressive move in the theater-buying “arms race” that is transforming the structure of the movie industry. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – September 20, 1924 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 06/09/2024
I think it was Robert Heinlein who said "one should never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by incompetence."
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 03/09/2024
"All-vampire production of DRACULA flops after entire cast fails to show up on film."
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 15/07/2024
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which one of the most successful and celebrated directors in Hollywood abruptly announces that he is packing it in and will abandon filmmaking for good. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – July 12, 1924 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 07/07/2024
Not my image -- original source unknown.
JAWS shirt on a mannequin that is missing one arm
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 16/06/2024
Happy Bloomsday to one and all -- yes! www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sEO...
youtube.com
James Joyce - Ulysses: Molly Bloom's Soliloquy, The Last 50 Lines
The ending of James Joyce's "Ulysses," as read by Marcella Riordan.***God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and the waves ...
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 09/06/2024
One cautionary tale is the restoration of CITIZEN KANE in which the rain outside the window of Bernstein’s office was interpreted by the software as noise and was deleted.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 07/06/2024
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which movie directors band together to preserve their mutual creative autonomy but then learn the hard way that there is a price to be paid for independence. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century – June 7, 1924 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 12/05/2024
RIP Roger Corman, who hired Scorsese, Bogdanovich, Coppola, and many others when nobody else would, and trained them in the logistics of filmmaking so that when major studio opportunities happened for them, they were ready. His cinema legacy is incalculable. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
hollywoodreporter.com
Roger Corman, Giant of Independent Filmmaking, Dies at 98
The fabled "King of the B’s" producer and director influenced the careers of Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme and many others.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 22/04/2024
If you haven't seen HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, what are you waiting for? If Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali had continued to work together, and if they had recruited Chuck Jones as a third collaborator, this might have been the result. Inspired silliness. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h4P...
youtube.com
Hundreds of Beavers | Official Trailer | Coming to Fandor April 19
In this 19th century, supernatural comedy, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper when he los...
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 15/04/2024
I use a couple of excerpts from it in my film history class as an entertaining way of supplementing the unit on the transition to talkies.
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 15/04/2024
One of my favorite films. Several years ago I met Norman Steinberg, who wrote the script. The first thing I said to him, after the initial pleasantries, was “Thank you for writing MY FAVORITE YEAR.”
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 19/03/2024
The most recent installment of my "Cinema Century" blog, in which movie industry entrepreneurs experiment with adding a third dimension to the screen. steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu/uncategorize...
steve-jarrett.sites.wfu.edu
The Cinema Century — March 22, 1924 – Steve Jarrett
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 17/03/2024
As the hope of finding intact 35mm nitrate prints of silent films fades, the hope of future discoveries increasingly lies with 16mm reduction prints on acetate safety stock. It is those prints, made for home rental, that make possible discoveries like this Clara Bow film. www.msn.com/en-us/movies...
msn.com
MSN
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Steve Jarrett @steve-jarrett.bsky.social · 10/02/2024
Yeah, it's an old problem. www.bizarro.com/blog/2020/2/...
bizarro.com
Spoiler Alert — Bizarro | Naked Cartoonist
While it’s fun to imagine dimwitted chumps of yesteryear being frightened by technology, it has been pointed out that even though films of this sort were new, people had stood on platforms and watch...
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