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Director · 1897–1963

Paul Fejos

2
briefs
13:00
average
26 min
in total
On film.briefs2
13:00

King of Jazz

John Murray Anderson, Paul Fejos · 1930

King of Jazz (1930) is a studio-made musical revue starring Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, filmed in early two-colour Technicolor. With no plot, it strings together musical numbers, blackout sketches, and novelty acts—including the first Technicolor animated segment, featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Though technically ambitious and historically significant (selected for the US National Film Registry in 2013), its static camerawork, dated humour, and promotional framing make it a demanding watch. Its value lies in preservation: as a record of early sound-film craft, Whiteman’s curated jazz, and the industrial logic of Hollywood’s transition to colour.

13:00

Lonesome

Paul Fejos · 1928

Paul Fejos’s 1928 Lonesome follows two New York workers who meet by chance at Coney Island and spend a day falling in love — only to be separated by chaos and rain. Shot in fluid, inventive silent style with three awkward sound inserts, it treats the city as both barrier and bridge. Its emotional force comes from restraint: precise camerawork, minimal intertitles, and a finale rooted in shared geography, not fate.