Looking for Mabel Normand

I Saw La Roue . . . and So Can You 

The Wheel has totally spun me in a whole circle of wonder.  It is a symphony for the eyes as Abel Gance said, “Cinema endows man with a new sense. It is the music of light. He listens with his eyes." La Roue (the Wheel) is a lovely film. It is not a movie even if I saw the première at the Silent Movie Theater and it is not pretty storytelling.  It is BEAUTIFUL CINEMA. On April 27, Sunday (11p.m.pct), Turner Classic Movies will show La Roue but a 2-DVD set is available right now as a pre-order at Flicker Alley. www.flickeralley.com 

This was the first time an American audience that saw this terrific classic since it was released in 1923.  Although, I saw almost 4 ½ hours, I didn’t find it too long.  Don’t tell anyone but I would have sat though the 7-hour version.  It is poetry/music for the eye.  A Greek Tragedy, a group of tableaus not a simple narrative. The female power is represented – women are capable of returning again and again.  The male power, the power of steel, each is a wheels. 

This new restoration was accompanied by Robert Israel’s symphonic score, he made interesting chances. This is the fullest presentation of La Roue to reach the public since 1923. It allowed the audiences poetic vision that Abel Gance. I could write more but you need to see this ‘cinema masterpiece’

Producers: Abel Gance, Charles Pathé
Director/Screenplay: Abel Gance
Cinematography: Gaston Brun, Marc Bujard, Léonce-Henri Burel, Maurice Duverger
Film Editing: Marguerite Beaugé, Abel Gance
Original Music: Arthur Honegger
Art Direction: Robert Boudrioz
Cast: Séverin-Mars (Sisif), Ivy Close (Norma), Gabriel de Gravone (Elie), Pierre Magnier (De Hersan), Max Maxudian (Le minéralogiste Kalatikascopoulos).
BW-240m.

RESTORATION CREDITS:
Producers: Eric Lange, David Shepard
Associate Producer: Jeffery Masino
Digital Restoration and Editing: Eric Lange
English Titles: Lenny Forger, David Shepard
Music: Robert Israel Orchestra