The 1910's

Analyse de l'évolution de l'hôtellerie de la Belle Epoque et étude du passage du concept de "Grand Hôtel" à celui de "Palace" par le biais de l'étude des origines du premier véritable "palace" édifié au coeur de la station thermale de Royat-les-Bains : le "ROYAT PALACE HÔTEL". Ouvert en 1910, l'hôtel prend ses racines sous le Second Empire et plus précisément en 1858...

Film Acting, Czech Silent Cinema, and Questions of the Film Style Research / This article focuses on formally analytical research of film acting and raises two questions. (1) To what degree it is a feasible approach towards film acting outline and how does it explain the continuities and discontinuities of a stylistic history of Czech silent cinema till 1922? (2) To what degree such aim is or is not attainable with the help of existing knowledge in the field of international film style historiography? In its first part, this study follows top-down argumentation. It reflects the already existing interpretative frameworks associated with the early history of film acting, mainly in large foreign cinemas (for example the American and the French). These are related to the cinematic practices of Czech cinema in this particular era on one side, and the constructive principles of preserved Czech films from the late teens and early 1920s on the other. Instead of mechanically identifying the similar or even the same features, this article attempts to critically examine the validity, usability and explanatory value of these interpretative frameworks vis-à-vis the stylistic history of Czech cinema. The second part of this article reverses the previous process of the argumentation as it moves from the bottom to the top. It focuses on a thorough stylistic and narrative analysis of particular Czech films on the background of identified period filmmaking practices in Czech cinema. The article thus offers a synchronic explanation of certain stylistic aspects of a one year of Czech film production (1918) and discusses three three-reels films with a strong female protagonist: Čertisko (The Little Rascal), A vášeň vítězí (And the Passion Triumphs), and Učitel orientálních jazyků (The Oriental Languages' Teacher). In connection with these films, the article analyzes the principles of the acting techniques, explores the questions of cinematic staging and, above all, explains their functions in particular film works, which are compared one to another and put in a broader historical context.

Over time the RMS Titanic which was a revolutionary development in shipbuilding has become a symbol for loss and calamity, completely losing its glamour as a state-of-the-art ocean liner. While it is easier to recall these memories of its tragedy over ones of it as a separate entity from its demise, it is imperative to reflect back on what the past has to offer, lest history turns into lost memory. Through various forms of documentation and recollection, the Titanic proves that it is, and always has been, in a class of its own.

Central to early radio exploration and development was the city of Boston, Massachsuetts. Through its early amateur wireless clubs and societies and on to its pioneering amateurs and leading entrepreneurs, including merchant, John Shepard III, the city can lay claim to its share of pivotal advances in the growth of the medium: the first known continuous transmission, the earliest daily news program, the initial chain broadcast (Boston to New York), as well as several openings for black performers, including African-American vaudeville stars Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.  This article reflects on the significant involvement that two Boston radio stations, 1XE and WNAC, had on the trajectory of early radio, with particular emphasis on their roles in construction, transmission, and programming. While the success of radio was for the most part a national progression, arguably nowhere else were the foundations for its success more decisively laid than in Boston.

Meio privilegiado de preservar a memória de seres queridos antes do advento da fotografia, o retrato em miniatura quase desapareceu no século XX. A miniatura do gato Micetto, “Gatinho” em italiano, encomendada em 1917 por seu antigo dono, o embaixador e escrito brasileiro Carlos Magalhães de Azeredo, desolado com a morte do seu animal favorito, é um raro exemplo da sobrevivência desse suporte. Este objeto ao mesmo tempo intimista e sofisticado permite-nos vislumbrar a vivência de certas elites cosmopolitas da Belle Époque, e o forte impacto afetivo desse tipo de retratos em plena “modernidade”.

Before the advent of photography, miniature portraits were a favorite means of preserving the memory of our dearly beloved, but the modality almost disappeared during the 20th century.  The miniature portrait of a cat called Micetto (“Kitten” in Italian), ordered in 1917 by its former owner, Brazilian ambassador and writer Carlos Magalhães de Azeredo, distraught by the death of his favorite pet, is a rare example of the survival of this technique. This object, both intimate and sophisticated, allows us to glimpse into the lives of the Belle Époque cosmopolitan elites, and to assess the strong emotional impact of this type of portraits during the reign of “modernity”.