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Phantom
Solar Explorer
Joined: 06 Sep 2015
Posts: 67
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 Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:52 pm Post subject: The Mechanical Man (1921) |
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The Mechanical Man (1921)
| Quote: | A reign of terror is unleashed by the mechanical man, who is remotely controlled by Mado,the evil female mastermind. The mayhem continues unchecked until the inventor's brother succeeds in creating a second mechanical man, who he sends out to confront the original.When the two mechanical monsters meet at a masked ball in the Opera House,they destroy each other and the Opera House as well, as panicked ball-goers stampede for the exits.
Frantically attempting to control the mechanical men during its final battle, Mado is electrocuted at the control panel by a short circuit. |
This Italian release from the silent era only partially exists today, about 27 minutes of the total length. It was released by Alpha Video (2005) in a restored version that remains severely degraded.
Despite the synopsis above, most of the first half is completely incomprehensible and some scenes are misplaced, including a fire sequence that appears after the fire is supposed to have been put out.
For its time, it is remarkably imaginative. Mado, the mad scientist, wears a concealing mask, predating the fantastic serials of the nineteen thirties and forties like The Crimson Ghost. Dueling robots were not exactly familiar figures on screens in the early 1920's
It is impossible to know what audiences of the era thought about it or their familiarity with the concept of a mechanical man
Historically there was The Mechanical Turk, a robotic chess player, invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen in the early 1700's. This was debunked by Edgar Allan Poe in his 1836 essay Maelzel's Chess Player. Karl Capek's famous play, RUR in which he coined the word Robot, had been written in 1920 and performed the following year. It is entirely possible RUR, which was a sensation eventually translated into some thirty languages, influenced the screenwriters of The Mechanical Man.
The movie is no lost classic, but is fast moving and contains several imaginative sequences, such as the mechanical man chasing a car down the road and Mado controlling the creature from her laboratory by watching it on a wide screen television set, herein referred to as a "silver screen."
Watching the damaged print is a chore, even at 27 minutes, but it is historically important as, perhaps, the movies first depiction of a robot.
Color tinted, with a musical track.
Edit: The movie is available on Youtube in several forms, the best comes with English titles and has the clearest visuals. Here is the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztm0hFv6KQk |
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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Phantom's fine review needed a poster, but the best one I could find was the one shown below, and I wasn't happy with the circular insert that covered the robot's legs.
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So I fixed it! 
I used Paint.net to remove the insert and paint in the missing legs. I also cleaned up all the dirty-looking areas and made the colors brighter, cleaner, and sharper.
It took quite a while, but it as fun!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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Morbius
Astral Engineer
Joined: 25 Oct 2014
Posts: 205
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| Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 11:22 am Post subject: |
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| Great job on the revision! |
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Steve Joyce
Solar Explorer
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 64
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| Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 7:10 pm Post subject: The Mechanical Man (1921) |
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Gosh. I recall being so thrilled to get this on a grey market nth generation VHS tape.
Tempus sure does fugit!!
I can probably fit a good number of my tapes these days on a thumb drive (and aren't they becoming obsolete?... this senile old geezer can hardly keep track!)
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"There is a planet in the Solar System where the people are so stupid they didn't catch on for a million years that there was another half to their planet." - Kilgore Trout. |
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WadeVC
Astral Engineer
Joined: 06 Aug 2024
Posts: 255
Location: Pioneer, CA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 1:55 am Post subject: |
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I have searched both You Tube and Amazon for this, and I can not find it anywhere. If anyone has a link, I would be most appreciative.
The link above no longer has the content.
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"You look like a pooped out pinwheel."
-Robot Monster |
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17637
Location: North Carolina
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| Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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Well now, I hope this version from YouTube will be entertaining! Give it a try. It certainly seems to be a sincere effort to present the film in a proper way. 
______________ The Mechanical Man 1921 EFX
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_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Aug 23, 2024 2:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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WadeVC
Astral Engineer
Joined: 06 Aug 2024
Posts: 255
Location: Pioneer, CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2024 3:00 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the link Bud. I just finished watching it, and it was...different, to say the least.
I think there are large parts missing because it seemed very disconnected. I was not a fan of the dead dog scene, but I did like the Mechanical Man, he was pretty cool.
Too bad this is all that remains of this film as I think a fully restored, properly formatted version would be quite interesting.
It was interesting from a film history point of view though.
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"You look like a pooped out pinwheel."
-Robot Monster |
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