Wednesday, October 08, 2008

THE JONATHAN DENNIS MEMORIAL LECTURE 2008. EILEEN BOWSER: THE TELEPHONE THRILLER; OR, THE TERRORS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Eileen Bowser, Curator Emerata (at the MoMA 1954-1993) lectured on the telephone thriller. The new perception of time and space. But in a more fragmented way. The telephone and how it changed life. Telephone-themed postcards.
Are You There? / A Telephone Romance. GB 1901. PC: James Williamson. Starring James Dalton. Print: BFINA.
The typical image was the triple screen. Edwin S. Porter: College Chums (US 1907). The telephone thriller flourished until 1914.
The Telephone. US 1910. PC: Vitagraph. Starring Leo Delaney (husband), Rose Tapley (wife), Dolores Costello (child). Print: BFINA. - Cat overturns gas lamp, fire breaks out, mother calls, switchboard, fire brigade, father learns at the club, fire brigade enters, child rescued, mother faints, fireman rescues mother.
Suspense. US 1913. PC: Rex. D: Lois Weber, Phillip Smalley. SC: Lois Weber. Cast: Lois Weber (wife), Val Paul (husband), Douglas Gerrard (pursuer), Sam Kaufman (tramp). Print: BFINA. - EB: The telephone thriller was well established. LW wanted to see how far one could go. - Always exciting and surprising with the unexpected camera angles, mirror reflections and triangle screens.

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