Napoleon -- July 14, 2026

San Francisco Chronicle, 27-December-1981

In honor of Bastille Day, here is an ad for Francis Ford Coppola's 1981 revival of Napoléon vu par Abel Gance. We went to see Abel Gance's Napoleon, with a score by Coppola's father Carmine, at the Opera House. When I read Kevin Bownlow's The Parade's Gone By, I thought I would never get to see the Polyvision triptychs in a theater. Kevin Brownlow led the project to produce this restoration.

Douglas MacLean -- Going Up -- January 31, 2025

Birmingham News, 04-January-1925

I was surprised to see that I have never mentioned Douglas MacLean in this blog. The picture in this ad is not flattering. He was a popular leading man in romantic comedies, which were often called "light comedies." He appeared in one talkie and then retired from acting to become a screenwriter and producer. I'm not sure I have ever seen one of his features. Lloyd Ingraham directed.

Harold Lloyd's "Next Aisle Over" was a 1919 short comedy.

The Ghost of Rosy Taylor -- July 31, 2018

Moving Picture World, 13-July-1918

Mary Miles Minter was a young, beautiful actress who took many parts that could have been played by Mary Pickford.  She was very popular, but she got tangled up in the case of the murder of director William Desmond Taylor, which quickly ended her career.

When I read Kevin Brownlow's The Parade's Gone By, one story that struck me was the chapter about director Edward Sloman.  Brownlow said that The Ghost of Rosy Taylor was one of the few movies directed by Sloman that was available to screen.  He tried to contact Sloman, but found that he was too old and ill to talk.

Moving Picture World, 13-July-1918

Moving Picture World, 13-July-1918

I later learned that the movie was co-directed by Henry King.