Tau 1925 - 74

Doing even better than Daniel, American girls dance in the lion's cage.

A defining cultural phenomenon of the Roaring Twenties, the Charles­ton gained widespread popularity af­ter its appearance in October 1923 in the African American Broadway revue Runnin’ Wild. Newsreels captured the dance’s irresistible rise over the course of the decade. Fox News, Vol. 6, Release 74, issued on 13 June 1925, featured Charleston footage filmed at the Fox studio in New York and at Starlight Park, a prominent amusement park in the Bronx. In the studio footage the Charleston was demonstrated by a group of dancers sent by none other than Texas Guinan, the famed queen of New York speakeasies – among them was a very young Ruby Keeler, who, just a few years later, would marry Al Jolson and go on to become a successful actress. The surviving set of outtakes showcases a performance by an unidentified dancer embodying the Charleston’s spirit of freedom, fun, and youthful rebellion that so captivated audiences of the era.

This film, whose German title is a gen­der-flipped play on the proverbial phrase “clothes make the man”, shows how the batik dyeing technique is used to create vividly patterned garments in a small re­tail shop in New York. Different items of clothing are then modelled for the camer­as to the, at times, patronising and sexist commentary provided in the intertitles.

The Funeral of Mr. C.R. Das, the first Indian mayor of the city of Calcutta. Prod.: Gaumont (Journal Actualité Gaumont) DCP. D.: 1’. Bn

Lost Dora Film production

The beginnings of radio broadcasting in Sweden.

Cartoon featuring Bonzo the dog; possibly a lost film.

Bonzo steals aniseed from a man outside a sweetshop, is caught and punished. He is then pursued by a fox, whom he in turn saves from a pack of hounds.

Bonzo sees a cat burglar on his roof and helps a policeman capture him.

Bonzo falls for Cheekee, another dog who gets him into trouble repeatedly. She also sees another dog and he and Bonzo fight, ending as friends when she is seen out with a third.

Animation featuring Bonzo the dog.

Not held by the BFI; possibly lost.

Bonzo goes to work in an old curiosity shop. He ends up flying out of the shop thanks to the spring of a clock turning into a propellor. He becomes trapped on a chimney, plays a joke on a sleeping man with two alarm clocks, then lands on a policeman.

An Aesop’s Film Fables cartoon.

Two small commercials advertising the department store Magasin du Nord. The first is proclaimed to be ‘An amusing little film recorded by Nordisk Films Kompagni’ with the title ‘The Golden Dream’. Having seen a fashion show in Magasin du Nord, the lady of the house dreams of owning a dress from the store’s model salon. She entreats her husband, who sticks to his ‘no’. After a long and scary dream in which he is being chased by mannequins from the Model Salon because he does not want to give his wife a dress, he changes his mind. This is followed by an excerpt from the Storm P. film ‘Peter and Ping in the Department Store’. (Stumfilm.dk)

An Aesop’s Film Fables short.

An Aesop’s Film Fables short.

The main character of the satirical cartoon, the worker Demian, spent all his salary on alcohol. The film describes the city through the eyes of a drunkard: he sees swaying street lamps with serpent heads, flies in his eyes, a "dancing" horizon, and entire surrealistic pictures. He is saved from fever by his neighbor, and the next time Demian goes to school instead of the pub.

Silent puppet animation film in which a thief takes the place of a sick kitchen maid. Meanwhile, two fathers play pool over the marriage between their daughter and son. No one notices the deception and the thief breaks into the safe. However, it explodes, sending the thief into the trash can. However, the booty, the dowry (?), remains in the possession of the rightful owner.