Romantic Orientalism was fascinated by the color and excitement of a powerful culture, and nearly always approached its subject with love. Kage Baker Read Quote
What has ‘The Patchwork Girl of Oz’ got in its favor? Quite a lot, from our point of view in 2009. If you want to see how Oz’s creator envisioned his own work, here it is. Kage Baker Read Quote
A generation before, it had been sagebrush and coyotes; a generation later, it was a burgeoning movie town. But for that brief idyllic time in 1910, Hollywood looked like the perfect place for a successful writer to settle down, build his dream house, and maybe do some gardening. Kage Baker Read Quote
If you want to see what stage comedians did to get laffs a century ago, watch the 1910 ‘Wizard of Oz.’ I hope you have a high tolerance for pratfalls. Kage Baker Read Quote
People who like to fume about the manner in which Disney changed beloved classics are often ignorant of history, not to mention the realities of show business. Kage Baker Read Quote
In 1921, Harry Houdini started his own film company called – wait for it – the Houdini Picture Corporation. Kage Baker Read Quote
In 1913, the noted German actor and director Paul Wegener was making a film in Prague when he heard the legend of Rabbi Loew, who created a golem to protect the inhabitants of the Prague ghetto from persecution. Kage Baker Read Quote
The 1910 Edison film of ‘Frankenstein’ was itself a dead thing revived by technology. Kage Baker Read Quote
I saw the Kino print of ‘The Man From Beyond,’ but apparently a superior new print has been produced by Restored Serials. Maybe a few snippets of missing footage will close up some of the plot holes, but I have my doubts. Kage Baker Read Quote
Back when the concept of organ transplants qualified as science fiction, novelist Maurice Renard wrote a thriller called ‘Les Mains d’Orlac.’ Call it a bastard offspring of ‘Frankenstein;’ its plot revolved around the old theme of Science Giving Us Stuff We Shouldn’t Have – in this particular case, restoring severed body parts. Kage Baker Read Quote
