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In the early 20th century of motion pictures, there was a monopoly going on, between the producers of movies, coming out of the New York City area. The northeast is where movies began in America and many of the brightest talented stars were feeling their wallets and their creative talents limited by the studio system of the time. In 1919, Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and the star of this film, Douglas Fairbanks, the biggest names of their time, launched the United Artists Corporation and Hollywood was born on the west coast. United Artists released three films in 1919. One was actually a carry-over purchase from another studio, that they released first, Broken Blossoms (1919), which is one of Griffith's finest films. His Majesty, the American (1919), was released second and was the first film produced and released by UA. The most historically significant part of the second and third films (When the Clouds Roll By - 1919, being the third film), was the announcement, in the very beginning of the film credits, when Chaplin, Griffith, Pickford, and Fairbanks, announce the start of their new film-making endeavor. Displayed in text on a curtain, Fairbanks crashes through the curtain, with a big hello to the audience. He says, "They made me start the ball rolling". That is what he did. He was the one, who launched United Artists Corporation into the future. His first two films for the company in 1919 made a lot of money and started things off.

In His Majesty, the American (1919), Fairbanks plays somewhat of a vigilante (thrill-seeker), who cleans up his side of New York City, helping the police and the fire department, with his daring feats of acrobatics. He is basically a Zorro, with no costume, gadgets or a hidden identity. He is eventually put-out of business, by the city and the police force. He then gets the bright idea, to go find more action in a place named Murdero, Mexico. The sands are so hot in Mexico, he can light a cigarette off of it. He somehow finds one of his friends in a Mexican jail in Murdero and breaks him out. He then has to turn his attention towards Europe, where answers to his most sought after questions can be answered. We finally see who the love-interest character is going to be, by the one hour mark of this 96 minute film.

His Majesty, the American (1919), is also famous for being one of the earliest appearances of Boris Karloff, in a quick, uncredited role as a henchmen. I somehow missed him, but apparently he's there. This film has all the great ingredients, of a Fairbanks film, with him flying and jumping around, saving people from burning apartments. His films were always geared towards adults. Even though it was 1919 humor, it still feels mature for its day. There's a scene with a man looking at, what he calls art, which when shown to the audience, is ancient medieval, naked art. There are many funny jokes in this film. His Majesty, the American (1919), is entertaining and keeps your attention. It has a story, that has meat to it, but the direction of the film starts to get out of control by the end. I am still glad I saw this part of film history.

PMTM Grade: 7.1 (C) = 7 IMDB.

Charles Lindbergh was born on February 4th, 1902. If you can't find a copy of The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), with Jimmy Stewart, there are plenty of documentary films (Movietone-like stuff), on YouTube. These documentary films show the real-life footage of what Billy Wilder's film expressed, about Lindbergh's life, albeit in biopic form. This film, Coast to Coast in 48 hours (1929), was made at the start of the talkie era, but shows a true professional use of sound techniques. The music and voice-over tracks are done quite well for the dawn of the talkies. The main goal of this film is to act as an advertisement for Lindbergh and his business partners, new money-making venture, a coast-to-coast passenger air service from New York to Los Angeles, which also includes some train travel.

However, being 1929, the only way to show this advertisement, was to use the traditional form of projecting the film onto a screen. There was no TV or monitors yet, so everything was still displayed cinematically. It's safe to say, that the only way this film could have been shown to audiences would be in an auditorium at the airport or in some local film houses or movie theaters, thus solidifying it as a theatrical motion picture. It's a short one at 18 minutes running time. The paying customers being the passengers and to a lesser extent, the stock-holders. Either way, Coast to Coast in 48 hours (1929), is a great example of a cinematic artifact, that should be seen. It also is surprising technically too.

PMTM Grade: 7.4 (C+) = 7 IMDB.

This film, shot from 1910-1912, is a documentary about Captain Robert Scott's journey to the South Pole. The Great White Silence (1924), is an incredible documentary, that carries the audience across the expanse of Antarctica to the South Pole. Title cards tell the story, as images of cold, treacherous landscapes glide past the screen. This is a great film to watch in January. The cold January days help emphasize the brutal conditions seen in the film. The film begins with the men loading their ship and setting across the southern hemisphere into the iceberg leaden waters of Antarctica.

I can take Antarctica off of my bucket list, because The Great White Silence (1924), showed me everything I'll ever need to know about Antarctica. The film is that good. It covers every aspect of the expedition from the route they took, the animals they brought along and a story, about the Penquins they saw, that started to get a little too lengthy. Think, March of the Penquins (2005), 1910 style. I can't imagine people doing this today, let alone 115 years ago. The fact that this film was even shot, recovered, edited together and released, is remarkable itself.

PMTM Grade: 8.7 (B+) = 8 IMDB.