Silent film interest groups etc

This page is intended to a list of clubs/societies, newsletters etc which are devoted to silent movies, silent film stars etc. If you know of any additional items which should be added to this page, please contact me at pringle@csse.monash.edu.au.

Canada

Toronto Film Society

The Toronto Film Society (myspace page))is a non-profit association for the study and appreciation of film as art. Inquiries by email to: tfs@interlog.com

They have their annual Raiding the Vaults at Eastman House in Rochester NY the first weekend in August with at least five feature and several shorts of silent film accompanied with live piano with Phillip Carli. They also have available to devotees or film history students their extensive archive of film notes on silent film.

TFS is incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario. Membership is open to anyone 18 years of age and over. No one under the age of 18 can be admitted to membership or to any screenings of the society. Admission to screenings is by series membership card only. No guest membership cards will be issued and members are not entitled to bring guests. The name and home address of every member must be on record. TFS does not sell, rent or lend its membership / mailing list. The membership year is from July 1 to June 30, with Annual General Meeting in June. Membership cards for SEASON 48 should be retained until June 30, 1996 and cannot be replaced.

USA

The Silent Film Monthly

The Silent Film Monthly is a newsletter edited by Gene Vazzana which is devoted to silent film. Subscription is $25.00 a year, payable to 'Gene Vazzana'.

Silent Film Society of Atlanta

The Silent Film Society of Atlanta has a web site up at http://www.silentfilmatlanta.com/ with details of events etc.

The Silents Majority

Dedicated to keeping the art of silent film alive. For membership information, please submit your mailing address to the following address:

mdle@primenet.com

Charlie Chaplin Film Company

Quarterly newsletter called LIMELIGHT. Subscriptions are $20 in the US, $25 in Canada; single issues are $6.50/$7.50.

Cinecon

Cinecon is the oldest and most respected organization dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of silent and Golden Age Cinema.

They meet once a year over the Labor Day Weekend. For more information and a press release please write Kevin John Charbeneau - Chairman and President c/o Cinecon@aol.com

The Damfinos

The Damfinos: The International Buster Keaton Society.

Membership is $12.50 per year ($15.00 in Canada; $18.00 overseas) and includes a quarterly journal (The Keaton Chronicle), as well as advance information about Keaton events and discounts on selected merchandise. Their first international convention was held this past October in Keaton's hometown of Muskegon, Michigan, and they plan the second for Oct. 4 and 5, 1996, also in Muskegon.

H.E.L.L.O.!

Harold, Everyman, Lloyd Lives On!

Harold Lloyd Appreciation Society, with quarterly fanzine, The Lloyd Herald. Fully endorsed by The Harold Lloyd Trust. Founder/Editor is author of Harold Lloyd: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood Press, 1994) Membership/subscription rates: $20/year U.S., $25/year Canada, $30/year Overseas, payable to Annette M. D'Agostino.

Harry Langdon Society

Founded by Floyd C. Bennett, Jr. (who is also the president). Have a quarterly newsletter called Wild About Harry which is available for $20 per annum. Contact them by e-mail on harry_l@ix.netcom

John Gilbert

You can visit their website at http://www.johngilbert.org/ or contact them through email at SStinchcum@aol.com.

$10 annual dues, formed in 1986, quarterly newsletter.

Marion Davies

Marion Davies Fan Club: Family Chapter

The Family Chapter is run by Kimberly Lake-Santori, Marion Davies Great Granddaughter. Self addressed stamped envelopes may be sent to:

The Friends of Marion

This is a letter writing campaign aimed at MGM and Ted Turner to try to encourage them to release Miss Davies films to the public. She made forty-five feature films and only two of them are available legally to the public: Show People (1928) and Going Hollywood (1933).

More information can be obtained by contacting Nick Langdon at nlangdon@decofilms.com or for those in Europe:

Silent Film Society of Atlanta

The Silent Film Society of Atlanta (SFSA) was founded in 1990 and has grown steadily ever since. The SFSA has monthly meetings,usually on the 2nd or 3rd Friday of each month, from September - June. Doors open at 7:30pm, meetings/screenings start at 8:00pm. The screenings are currently held at Emory University (Room 206 at White Hall). SFSA Info: call Bill Eggert at (404)-885-1787, e-mail at weggert@emory.edu. or write him at c/o Emory Univ. PO Box 25435, Atlanta, GA 30322.

The Silent Society

The DeMille Barn, located in Hollywood, California, is the home of "The Silent Society" an organization devoted to the screening and preservation of rare silent films.

The DeMille Barn is actually a barn rented by Cecil B. DeMille and Jesse Lasky which they used as a studio to shoot the first feature-length film in Hollywood -- The Squaw Man, starring Dustin Farnum.

For information regarding "The Silent Society", please contact Randy Haberkamp (213-937-0776). Our monthly screening are held at 7:30 pm at:

The Movie Machine Society

Devoted to the exchange of information among all those interested in the technological history of all kinds of apparatus designed to create a moving image, from Arriflexes to Zoopraxiscopes. Membership in the Society includes a subscription to the quarterly newsletter, Sixteen Frames. The Society year begins April 1. Members joining during the year will be entitled to all issues for the current year.

Dues (payable in US funds only):

US$20 for United States Members
US$25 for all other countries

Send your subscriptions to:

and include:

Rudolph Valentino

Quarterly publication called "The Rudolph Valentino Newsletter: A Celebration of His Life & Legacy". Subscriptions are $25 in the US, $30 in Canada, and $35 overseas. Back issues available.

Classic Images

Classic Images is a tabloid format monthly which has been published since 1962. An annual subscription costs $31. As to the content, there's usually a 1920s or 1930s color movie poster on the cover. It basically covers 1890s-1950s, but there's always silent film material in every issue. There are regular sections devoted to upcoming film festivals, discovery of lost films, obituaries, videotape reviews, and book reviews by Anthony Slide. It's illustrated with b/w photos. Some of the really large bookstores like Border's carry Classic Images irregularly with their film periodicals.

The address is: