Couldn't find a thread like this one, so I decided to start a new one. Not enough Polish vintage stuff here at the Lounge!
I just wonder... how many of you can tell me anything about cinema in Poland before the second world war? If some of you are thinking the lines "Wajda, Kieślowski, Polański... only earlier" - you're wrong.
My jocular response would be "think of Hollywood on a shoestring budget"
Think of musical romantic comedies, revues, stepdancing... Things were little different than in other parts of the world back then. Just on smaller scale, as our newly-reborn country couldn't dream of the sums available for US based studios.
Pioneers started their first experiments on the turn of the century, just like everywhere else. Foreign administration (remember that our land was occupied by three hostile empires then) and later the Great War didn't give us a good head start, but we did have some successes in this field.
To get things started... a dancing/singing number from a 1934 Polish comedy... I apologize for not including subtitles
[YOUTUBE]nBxVmwG-KgA[/YOUTUBE]
Love songs need no translation either to convey the message:
[YOUTUBE]ugCju5KQS50[/YOUTUBE]
Even in a drama you could ogle some nice revue dancers:
legs, legs, legs! and tootsies too!
[YOUTUBE]sSFnibyDQ28[/YOUTUBE]
And here are some of our stars (ladies first! - my own biased mash-up -)
So, I guess now we're not that strange to you anymore? I hope I did catch your attention? I'd like to introduce you to certain titles and names, provided that you're interested?
I just wonder... how many of you can tell me anything about cinema in Poland before the second world war? If some of you are thinking the lines "Wajda, Kieślowski, Polański... only earlier" - you're wrong.
My jocular response would be "think of Hollywood on a shoestring budget"
Think of musical romantic comedies, revues, stepdancing... Things were little different than in other parts of the world back then. Just on smaller scale, as our newly-reborn country couldn't dream of the sums available for US based studios.
Pioneers started their first experiments on the turn of the century, just like everywhere else. Foreign administration (remember that our land was occupied by three hostile empires then) and later the Great War didn't give us a good head start, but we did have some successes in this field.
To get things started... a dancing/singing number from a 1934 Polish comedy... I apologize for not including subtitles
[YOUTUBE]nBxVmwG-KgA[/YOUTUBE]
Love songs need no translation either to convey the message:
[YOUTUBE]ugCju5KQS50[/YOUTUBE]
Even in a drama you could ogle some nice revue dancers:
legs, legs, legs! and tootsies too!
[YOUTUBE]sSFnibyDQ28[/YOUTUBE]
And here are some of our stars (ladies first! - my own biased mash-up -)
So, I guess now we're not that strange to you anymore?
I hope I did catch your attention? I'd like to introduce you to certain titles and names, provided that you're interested?
