mach bands is an optical illusion named after the physicist ernst mach .

it exaggerates the contrast between edges of the slightly differing shades of gray , as soon as they contact one another , by triggering edge-detection in the human visual system .

mach bands

lane ej , proto av , phillips tw . mach bands and density perception .
mach bands were discovered by the austrian physicist ernst mach . mach is known for his work in optics , mechanics , and wave dynamics , as well as notable advances in the field of supersonic travel ( the mach number is also named for him ) . mach discovered the physiological phenomenon of mach bands during the 1860s . [ 1 ]
knowledge of the phenomenon may help prevent mach bands being mistaken for a true abnormality such as pneumomediastinum .
ratliff , f . : why mach bands are not seen at the edges of a step ? vision res .
daffner rh . pseudofracture of the dens : mach bands . ajr am j roentgenol 1977 ; 128 : 607–12 .
discovered in the 1860s by ernst mach ( hence the name ) , mach bands are actually a set of interrelated phenomena . take a look at this image :
lane ej , proto av , phillips tw . mach bands and density perception . radiology 1976 ; 121 : 9–17 .
ratliff , floyd . mach bands : quantitative studies on neural networks in the retina . holden day , 1965 . isbn 0816270457
we see mach bands everywhere on opening our eyes . look closely at the shadows cast on the ground , there are mach bands of light and dark strips near the edge of each shadow . in discovering biological psychology , the biological processes are elegantly explained .
mach bands , as well as numerous other visual and perceptual illusions , help scientists study the way the eye and brain process visual information .
du buf , j . : ramp edges , mach bands , and the functional significance of the simple cell assembly . biol . cybern .
3 . gordenne wh , malchair fl . mach bands in mammography . radiology . 1988 ; 169 ( 1 ) : 55 - 8 .
ross , j . , morrone , m . , burr , d . : the conditions under which mach bands are visible . vision res .
morrone , m . , ross , j . , burr , d . , owens , r . : mach bands depend on spatial phase . nature
mach bands are an optical illusion consisting of an image of two wide bands , one light and one dark , separated by a narrow strip with a light - to - dark gradient . the human eye perceives two narrow bands of different brightnesses either side of the gradient that are not present in the original image .
( 1 )
zdravković s . ( 2015 ) mach bands . in : luo r . ( eds ) encyclopedia of color science and technology . springer , berlin , heidelberg
lateral inhibition explains a famous visual illusion known as mach bands , named after their discoverer , physicist ernst mach ( 1838–1916 ) . lateral inhibition accentuates the edges of the stimulus . mach noticed that when two bars , one dark and one bright , are next to each other , you see little bands of extra dark at the edge of the dark band and extra light at the edge of the light bar . these bands do not exist but are an illusion caused by lateral inhibition via our center - surround receptive fields . in this illustration , you will be able to manipulate some images to make mach bands appear and disappear . examine the figure to the right .
the following figure has a motion effect that some have described as
flowing electricity
. watch out . some people feel dizzy . the illusion combines mach bands and stripes ( 5 )
the bottom black line shows the physical intensity of light distributed across whilst the red line indicates our perception of light and dark mach band field with the dip indicating the dark mach band and the protrusion indicating the light mach band .
these optical illusions are largely just a bit of fun . the mach bands are relevant to plain film radiography because of the potential to produce the illusion of an enhanced / accentuated interface between two structures .
mach band is a perceptual phenomenon . when the human eye looks at two bands of colours , one light and one dark , side - by - side , a the eye perceives a narrow strip of gradient light to dark light , in the middle separating the two solid bands . however , this is not the actual image .
daffner rh . visual illusions in computed tomography : phenomena related to mach effect .
mach bands are an optical illusion where a band of gradients will appear in places to be lighter or darker than they actually are . mach bands , as well as numerous other visual and perceptual illusions , provide a valuable way to investigate how the eye and brain process visual information . equally , they are used by artists for visual effect , entertaining and satisfying the endless fascination human beings have with novelty and creativity .
mach bands are an optical illusion consisting of an image of two wide bands , one light and one dark , separated by a narrow strip with a light - to - dark gradient . the human eye perceives two narrow bands of different brightnesses either side of the gradient that are not present in the original image .
( 1 ) even when this image is magnified , the illusion persists - the solid grey appears to change where it meets the graduated ctripes
when viewing plain film images we tend to assume that what we see is a real and undistorted anatomical reality . mach bands are an optical illusion that leads us to perceive densities that do not exist in reality .
mach bands or the mach effect refers to an optical phenomenon from edge enhancement due to lateral inhibition of the retina 2 . this is an inbuilt edge enhancement mechanism of the retina , where the edges of darker objects next to lighter objects will appear lighter and vice versa , creating a false shadow 4 .
↑ institute of physics , belgrade , ernst mach . retrieved october 12 , 2007 .
the hering grid illusion , simultaneous contrast , and mach bands , described below , are three examples of the visible effects of lateral inhibition ( usually you are quite unaware of it ) . the diagram below shows the hering grid .
lotto , r . b . , s . m . williams , and d . purves . mach bands as empirically derived associations . proceedings of the national academy of sciences . 96 , 9 ( 1999 ) : 5245 - 50 .
1 lotto , r . b . , williams , s . m . , & purves , d . ( 1999 ) . mach bands as empirically derived associations . proceedings of the national academy of sciences , 96 , 5245 - 5250 .
an alternative explanation of mach bands has to do with the way the eye and brain perceive highlights and lowlights , creating harmonics in the visual waveforms that merge in certain areas and create the illusion of darker or lighter sections . [ 2 ]
wallis sa , georgeson ma ( 2012 ) mach bands and multiscale models of spatial vision : the role of first , second , and third derivative operators in encoding bars and edges . journal of vision ( 2012 ) 12 ( 13 ) : 18 , 1–25
when viewing plain film images we tend to assume that what we see is a real and undistorted anatomical reality . this page starts with an illusion known as mach bands and continues with other optical illusions which question whether we really see what we think we see . these are not all just quaint and quirky optical tricks ( well . . . some are ) . it is widely considered that mach bands , for example , can produce an effect that mimics rigler ' s sign ( pneumoperitoneum ) on abdominal plain film .
when the image is cropped along a line between the triangles the mach band is no longer visible .
stimulus type : change stimulus to a series of bars you can add and remove or a stimulus with a gradual change in luminance . each stimulus has different ways you can change it . number of bars : ( bar stimulus only ) change the number of bars on the screen starting from the darkest bar on the left . center : ( gradient stimulus only ) change the intensity of the region in the middle of the stimulus area from bright to dark . indicate mach bands : draw arrows to highlight where the mach bands may be found .
von bekesy , g . : mach - and hering - type lateral inhibition in vision . vision res .
pessoa , l . : mach band attenuation by adjacent stimuli : experiment and filling - in simulations . perception
the individual bands should appear as gradients , and they may even appear to be curved . in fact , they are all solid colors . now look at this one :
figure 7 . von bersky , g . ( 1967 ) mach band type lateral inhibition in difference sense organs .
when the cropped image is duplicated , flipped horizontally , and juxtaposed , the mach band is similarly not visible .
ernst mach , a famous physicist published many papers such as the principles of supersonics , famously known as mach 1 which represents the speed that an object is travelling at the speed of sound . however , interestingly , he published many papers relating to the neurophysiological theories behind the phenomenon on visual effect which is named after him , mach band . mach’s theories were researched on only after world war ii by floyd ratliff and thereafter , became the basis of many other research studies . one major contribution on mach band theory is to radiology ( papageorges , et al . , 1989 ) .
) . austrian physicist and philosopher ernst mach ( 1838–1916 ) introduced this , now famous , optical illusion in 1865 .
hold your hand over the image on your computer screen so that you can only see the grey bands on the left on their own . they are clearly the same shade of grey !
named after the austrian physicist ernst waldfried josef wenzel mach ( 1838 - 1916 ) who first described it in 1865 5 .
mach bands are ( nearly ) not related to the hermann grid . their explanation is classically linked to processing of the visual input in the retina ( e . g . lateral inhibition ) . that is not really wrong , but the details are markedly more involved , see wallis & georgeson for a current in - depth account .
mach bands are old hat : 1865 , also they ' re weak , but interesting all the same . in brief : mach bands appear at points of inflection in a luminance ( or colour ) gradient . the figure on the right ( modified from mach 1920 , x , 11 , fig . 27 ) shows a pattern which is to be rapidly moved ( in a repeat pattern affixed to a drum ) so fast , that the white and black mix to form a gradient : the gradient starts light on top ( a ) , slowly getting darker , at the inflection point α getting darker faster , at the second inflection point β getting darker more slowly again . my demo above differs in that it is rotated by 90° and the shallow outer gradients are simply on level luminance .
mach e ( 1886 , 1920 ) die analyse der empfindungen und das verhältnis des physischen zum psychischen , 9 . aufl . 1922 ) .
the explanation of mach bands is often based on the concept of lateral inhibition . lateral inhibition is a process by which the collection of light by retinal cells in the eye is affected by the light collection of neighboring cells . in nature , this helps boost the perception of object edges , making it easier to see the edge of an object that might otherwise not be noticed .
the sliders allow to control the width of the ramp and the luminance contrast . i find it surprising how shallow the ramp can be with the mach band remaining visible .
two phenomena ( cervical burnout and mach band ) create radiolucent areas that can mimic carious lesions . this paper discusses these phenomena and provides a technique to aid in interpretation .
1 . daffner rh . visual illusions in computed tomography : phenomena related to mach effect . ajr am j roentgenol . 1980 ; 134 ( 2 ) : 261 - 4 .
look carefully at the grey bars near the middle of the luminance grating below . you should be able to see a darker region just to the left ( on the darker side ) of the edge between two adjacent regions and a lighter region just to the right ( i . e . , on the lighter side ) of the same edge . these are called mach bands , and even though you can see them , they do not physically exist in the stimulus .
when looking at mach bands , one sees a central band of a light to dark gradient surrounded on one side by the lightest color and on the opposite side by the darkest color . when looking at this gradient , one sees a band along both the light edge that appears to be lighter than the solid field surrounding it , and a band along the dark edge that appears darker than its surroundings . in reality , there is no color darker or lighter than the surrounding fields .
the appearance of a light or dark line on a radiograph where there is a concave or convex interface in the subject , a physiologic optical form of edge enhancement . see also : mach band .
lateral inhibition is also responsible for mach bands . the bright halo you can see around a blurred shadow is a mach band . you can create a blurred shadow on a bright sunny day ( winter days are best ) by holding your hand about 5 or 6 feet from a sunlit area of the floor . many people notice a bright halo around the edge of the blurred shadow . you can enhance the halo by moving your hand makes back and forth at about 6 inches per second . the bright halo is not present in the physical stimulus . it is created in the retina by lateral inhibition . the bright halo has the effect of sharpening the edge of the blurred shadow . the same process occurs with a sharp edge , bit it is not easily noticeable .
syrkin , g . , yinon , u . , gur , m . : simple cells may be the physiological basis of the mach band phenomenon : evidence from early monocularly deprived cats . soc . neurosci . abstr .
4 . panikkath r , panikkath d . mach band sign : an optical illusion . proc ( bayl univ med cent ) . 2014 ; 27 ( 4 ) : 364 - 5 . free text at pubmed - pubmed citation
in figure 1 below , we see the two bands as gradient however the colours are solid colours . each solid colour reflects different amount of light with the darker band reflecting lesser than the white band . the borders appear ‘blurred’ due to focus of receptive fields on to the edge . this is caused by competing reaction in the receptor cells in the retina known as lateral inhibition .
if you look closely at this grey scale it appears that each band of grey is not a consistent density . the left side of each band appears slightly darker than the right . this is another example of the mach band optical illusion .
a similar illusion , again caused by lateral inhibition in the retina , is the background contrast effect ( 3 ) . the radiographic density of an image gets altered in comparison with its surrounding structures . this is similar to the mach band effect , but it covers a larger area than the mach effect , which creates only a narrow bandlike effect . cornsweet illusion is a similar optical illusion , where an object of uniform intensity might appear to have different intensities if separated by a line . this effect is similar to the background contrast effect , in that large areas can be affected , but unlike the mach effect , here the region adjacent to lighter structures will appear lighter and the region near darker areas will appear darker .
diagnosis of pseudofractures by the radiologist can be challenging in the emergency setting . this review describes the common pseudofractures , which are attributable to normal variants and anomalies , mach band formation , subjective contour formation , extraneous materials , and previous injuries .
mach e ( 1865 ) über die wirkung der räumlichen verteilung des lichtreizes auf die netzhaut [ on the effect of the spatial distribution of the light stimulus on the retina ] . sitzungsberichte der mathematischnaturwissenschaftlichen classe der kaiserlichen akademie der wissenschaften 52 : 303–322 that source is not easily accessible . find mach ' s own summary here ( a page from the fabulous leipzig wundt collection ) in sectionx - 11 . he even displays the second derivative formula , which corresponds to the points of inflection i mentioned above .
blackmore , j . t . , r . itagaki , and s . tanaka . ernst mach ' s vienna 1895 - 1930 : or phenomenalism as philosophy of science ( boston studies in the philosophy of science ) . springer , 2001 . isbn 0792371224
5 . mach e . über die wirkung der räumlichen verteilung des lichtreizes auf die netzhaut [ on the effect of the spatial distribution of the light stimulus on the retina ] . sitzungsberichte der mathematischnaturwissenschaftlichen classe der kaiserlichen akademie der wissenschaften . 1865 ; 52 : 303–322 .
lateral inhibition and mach band experiments can be done even on the skin . by just using your nail to press into skin of your hand , you will form an obvious imprint caused by the pressure of your nail . the pressure caused a depression followed by a protusion on your skin . there is also an inhibitory effect in the stimulus and sensation effect . however , figure 7 below shows a side view of the imprint on the skin , indicating the light intensity effect causing the dark and white mach band on your skin .
the way in which lateral inhibition could produce the perception of mach bands is shown below . if the receptive field of a retinal ganglion cell lies entirely within the boarders of a band ( e . g . , cells 1 and 2 below ) , then both the excitatory center and inhibitory surround are uniformly illuminated with little net effect on their firing ( i . e . , the excitatory and inhibitory firing cancel each other ) . compare this to cell 3 , whose inhibitory surround is partially in the darker area to its left . as a result , cell 3 will be less inhibited by the surround and fire at a faster rate , resulting in the brain interpreting this as brighter .
physicians rely on radiographs and computed tomography for diagnosis . however , they must realize that radiographs provide shadows of objects , and several artifacts arising from our visual perception can mimic pathologic lesions . this case report illustrates the importance of recognizing one of the most common and important illusions , the mach band effect .
in the graph on the bottom , the black line represents the actual luminance of the figure . the red line reflects the perceived luminance . the red line’s deviation from the black line represents the mach band phenomena , and the little spikes over and above the black line represent the bright and dark lines you see in the second figure above .
this is a supine chest x - ray image . the arrowed structure is the left paraspinal stripe . this stripe appears to be less dense along it ' s edge ( arrowed ) - this is not real , it is a mach band optical illusion . the left paraspinal stripe is approximately uniform density . the appearance of the band being less dense along it ' s edge is anatomically ilogical .
the chest radiograph of a 63 - year - old woman who was found unresponsive was concerning for pneumopericardium , but lacked the other corroborative features suggestive of pneumopericardium . none of the follow - up chest radiographs showed evidence of air around the heart . the radiolucent shadow that mimicked pneumopericardium in this case was due to an artifact known as mach band sign , an illusion created by lateral inhibition in the light receptors in the retina .
in figure 4 , you will see that lateral inhibition process causes the eye to perceive the mach band effect at the edge of each strip of the different shades from light to dark grey and the contouring effect when you scan your eyes across the figure . however , if you were to block of the surrounding strips and focus on one strip of colour , you will notice that each strip is just one solid colour by itself .
the receptive field over the bright mach band gives a stronger response in the center because part of the surround is in the darker area . therefore it receives less inhibition from the surround than did the center at the extreme left and right ends . the receptive field over the dark band receives more surround inhibition because part of the surround is in the brighter area . therefore , the excitatory response is less and this results in our seeing that the area as darker .
a 63 - year - old woman was found unresponsive by her husband . she was intubated on the scene by paramedics and transferred to the intensive care unit . the chest radiograph showed opacities in the mid and lower zones of the right lung ( figure ) . a linear hypodensity at the lateral margin of the right atrium was suspicious for pneumopericardium . no radiolucent line was visible on the left side of the heart or around the great vessels . the patient was treated with broad - spectrum antibiotics for possible aspiration pneumonia . she later improved and was extubated . no chest radiographs during her subsequent hospital course showed pneumopericardium . the radiolucent shadow seen lateral to the right atrium was due to the mach band sign .
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each band appears to vary in brightness as shown on the left ; in reality each band is the same shade across its whole width .
, a neural process in the retina visual system that enhances the sharpness of edges . lateral inhibition refers to the fact that neurons caused to fire by a light stimulus will inhibit firing of neighboring neurons .
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the receptive fields are represented as a disk ( + ) and annulus ( - ) . the center disk is an excitatory area and the annulus an inhibitory area . the receptive fields in the uniformly white and uniformly black areas receive about the same stimulation in their excitatory centers and inhibitory surrounds . therefore the center excitations are in balance with the surround inhibitions .
on the right there is a dark area and a light area , the gap filled by a luminance ramp . the luminance ramp goes up , and then stays constant ( visible in the green profile ) . the visual impression , however , is a bright band a the right end of the ramp , and a darkish band a the left end of the ramp ( the latter being less pronounced ) .
if you look closely at the area above the center two arrows , you should see a thin bright line ( left - middle arrow ) and a thin dark line ( right - middle arrow ) . once again , this is despite the fact that each of the three areas ( dark , light , and in between ) are solid colors .
back to real blogging soon , but before then , i wanted to post this . you probably saw…
in chapter 3 , we finally get to read all about the strict father and nurturant parent . …
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notice the dark band that appears immediately to the right and the light band that appears immediately to the left of the gradient .
↑ colin blakemore , k . adler , and m . pointon . vision : coding and efficiency ( cambridge university press 1993 ) . isbn 0521447690
fineman , mark . the nature of visual illusion . dover publications , 1996 . isbn 0486291057
robinson , j . o . the psychology of visual illusion . dover publications , 1998 . isbn 978 - 0486404493 .
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the center surround receptive fields that we find in our eye have both excitatory and inhibitory regions . review how they operate in isle 3 . 11 ( a ) and isle 3 . 11 ( b ) . as a result of having both excitatory and inhibitory areas , these receptive fields exhibit lateral inhibition . see the text for more information about lateral inhibition .
the goal of lateral inhibition is to facilitate edge detection . edge detection is the process of distinguishing where one object ends and the next begins . that is , it works to make edges as clear as possible . edge detection is important—think about trying to see a camouflaged predator , perhaps a lioness—in the tall dry grass . the lioness ' s fur and the grass are roughly the same color , important for the lioness as she slowly stalks her prey ( you , in this case ) . however , the fur and the grass are not identical , and you want your visual system to pick up where the grass ends and where the lioness begins . this involves edge detection and gestalt figure ground discrimination . it is for this reason that edge detection evolved .
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these are the same grey blocks separated by a white strip . they now appear as solid shades of grey .
the two grey blocks appear to be different shades of grey - the left block appears lighter than the right block . this is an example of the
these are the same two blocks of grey with a black line superimposed over the centre . now the two blocks of grey appear to be the same shade of grey
this is a more extreme example of the cornsweet effect . the top and bottom greys are the same shade of grey . i didn ' t believe they were the same shade of grey when i first saw this image . to prove the point , i extended the grey areas as shown below .
look at the center of a figure and try moving closer and further from the figure semi - quickly . the effect is a change in the apparent brightness
( 4 )
this one is just weird and has absolutely nothing to do with radiography ( if you find a connection please let me know ) .
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in this brightness illusion the physical contrast on the edge between the adjacent shades of gray is exaggerated ( fig .
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ratliff , f . , hartline , h . : the responses of limulus optic nerve fibers to patterns of illumination on the receptor mosaic . j . gen . physiol .
davidson , m . : a perturbation analysis of spatial brightness interaction in flashed visual fields . ph . d . dissertation ( unpublished ) . university of california , berkeley ( 1966 )
fiorentini , a . : foveal and extra foveal contrast threshold data point of a non uniform field . atti delta fondazione giorgio ronchi
heinemann , e . : simultaneous brightness induction . in : jameson , d . , hurvich , l . ( eds . ) handbook of sensory physiology , vol . vii - 4 , pp . 146–169 . springer , berlin ( 1972 )
tolhurst , d . : on the possible existence of edge detector neurons in the human visual system . vision res .
morrone , m . , burr , d . : feature detection in human vision : a phase - dependent energy model . proc . r . soc . lond . b
watt , r . , morgan , m . : a theory of the primitive spatial code in human vision . vision res .
fiorentini , a . , baumgartner , g . , magnussen , s . , schiller , p . , thomas , j . : the perception of brightness and darkness : relations to neuronal receptive fields . in : spillmann , l . , werner , j . ( eds . ) visual perception : the neurophysiological foundations , pp . 129–161 . academic , san diego ( 1990 )
kingdom , f . , moulden , b . : a multi - channel approach to brightness coding . vision res .
refers to the inhibition that neighboring neurons in brain pathways have on each other . for example , in the visual system , neighboring pathways from the receptors to the optic nerve , which carries information to the visual areas of the brain , show lateral inhibition . this means that neighboring visual neurons respond
if they are activated at the same time than if one is activated alone . so the fewer neighboring neurons stimulated , the more strongly a neuron responds .
you might expect that such inhibition would decrease the visual system ' s ability to represent information . in fact , this process greatly increases the visual system ' s ability to respond to edges of a surface . this happens because neurons responding to the edge of a stimulus respond more strongly than do neurons responding to the middle . the
edge
neurons receive inhibition only from neighbors on one side - - the side away from the edge . neurons stimulated from the middle of a surface get inhibition from all sides .
the pictures you see taken from space craft are computer enhanced by a process just like lateral inhibition . computer transformation of the raw image makes neighboring points of the computerized image inhibit each other . this makes the very faint edges in the original image much sharper . this is why lateral inhibition is important : it makes edges stand out
look steadily at the center of the left grid . most people notice faint grey clouds at the intersections of the light bars ( except the one you look straight at ) . the bottom panel of the drawing shows the explanation for this effect . the faint clouds appear because intersections have lateral inhibitions from white areas on 4 sides , whereas the middle of the bars have lateral inhibition from white areas on only 2 sides . so the intersections receive ( roughly ) twice the lateral inhibition that the bars do . this makes the neural signal triggered by the intersection weaker than the signal triggered by a section between intersections . this difference produces the perception of faint clouds at the intersection .
simultaneous contrast is illustrated in the two rectangles in the figure below . most people see the center rectangle on the left as darker than the one on the right , even though physically they are identical .
the center rectangle on the left gets little lateral inhibition from its dark surround . the center rectangle at the right gets considerable lateral inhibition from its light surround . therefore , the light from the center rectangle on the left sends a stronger neural signal to the brain than does the same light from the center of the right rectangle , so the center rectangle on the right appears brighter .
horizontal cells . the centre is excitatory and the surround inhibitory . they compete with each other to activate the bipolar cells in the retina .
figure 3 shows a process of lateral inhibition , d gets more light in the inhibitory surround , thus the excitatory centre will respond at a slower rate . b and c receives same intensity of light , but c receives less light in it’s inhibitory surround , more light in the excitatory , having a faster response than b . the contour effect ( concave and convex curves ) is perceived when in low intensity areas , the amount of inhibition is constant , resulting in darkening and whereas in high intensity areas , there is less inhibition , resulting in a lightening .
figure 4 above shows light entering the eye through the cornea and lenses and projected on to the retina , at the back of the eye . 5 types of neurons ; the rods and cones , bipolar cells , ganglion cells , amacrine cells and horizontal cells form the retinal layers . the receptors made up of rods and cons , bipolar cells and ganglion cells transmit the signals vertically through the retina , whilst the horizontal and amacrine cells transmit signals horizontally across the retina .
light is changed to energy in the receptive fields as electrical signals and sent to the visual cortex neurons of the brain via the lgn ( lateral geniculate nucleus ) through the firing of the ganglion cells when light passes through the receptive field . the ganglion cells respond to the antagonistic receptive photoreceptors . the receptive field consists of on - centre , off - surround ganglion cells and off - centre , on - centre ganglion cells as in figure 5 .
the amacrine and horizontal cells sends signals horizontally across the receptive fields and convergence takes place in the retina . as there are approximately 120 million rods and 6 million cones in the retina , more rods have to come together to deliver their signals to one ganglion cell as opposed to one single cone having access to one ganglion cell .
this process of pulling together allows the rods to be more sensitive to changes in the visual field whilst the cones “zooms” into focus .
figure 5a shows light passing through the on - centre and off - surround receptive field . the firing rate is moderate as light passes through the off - surround receptive field and the firing rates is faster when light reaches the on - centre receptive field .
figure 5b shows that when light passes through the middle off - centre , on - surround receptive filed , the firing rate is faster at the on - surround and is moderately fired at the off - centre , and again at a faster firing rate at the on - surround receptive field .
the eyes see objects and defines boundaries and edges through the firing of the ganglion cells in the receptive fields . in figure 6a , the on - centre , off - surround array of receptor cells is activated when bright light is shone of the on - centre , the firing rate is rapid and when the surround is lighted , the the ganglion cells fire at a moderate rate . our visual system responds to edges in objects in this say . the lgn generates a signal to the visual cortex and sees the edge at a specific angle .
figure 7 shows an example of lateral inhibition and simultaneous contrast . there is same amount of light is reflected on these two squares , however , the grey box in the right square looks darker than the grey box in the black square . both grey boxes are the same colour . simultaneous contrast occur when when the electrical signals received from the receptors in surrounding black box is less intense than the signals received in the surrounding white box . there is more inhibition in the surround of the white box causing less firing in the grey square , thus the grey look darker as compared to the grey square in the black box .
2 . sugita r , sugimura e , itoh m et - al . pseudolesion of the bile duct caused by flow effect : a diagnostic pitfall of mr cholangiopancreatography . ajr am j roentgenol . 2003 ; 180 ( 2 ) : 467 - 71 .
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from the department of internal medicine , texas tech university health sciences center school of medicine , lubbock , texas .
corresponding author : ragesh panikkath , md , dm , texas tech university health sciences center school of medicine , 3601 4th street , ms 9410 , lubbock , tx 79430 ( e - mail : ude . cshutt @ htakkinap . hsegar ; moc . liamg @ phsegarrd ) .
in patients with pneumomediastinum , usually several other findings substantiate the presence of air in the mediastinum . the “continuous diaphragm sign” is due to air tracking on the inferior surface of the heart , giving the appearance of the diaphragm as a continuous line below the heart . radiolucencies may be seen surrounding great vessels due to the air tracking alongside them . moreover , a bright white line ( of parietal pericardium ) bordering the free margin of the radiolucent shadow of air is also seen in true cases of pneumopericardium . these findings were not present in our patient . apart from the phenomenon of optical illusion , the presence of radiolucent lung between the cardiac border and the descending branch of the right pulmonary artery is also believed to be responsible for this appearance .
( a ) chest radiograph showing opacities in the right lower zone and a radiolucent shadow bordering the right atrial silhouette . ( b ) magnified view of the cardiac silhouette showing a curvilinear radiolucent shadow bordering the right atrium .
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the appearance of a light or dark line on a radiograph where there is a concave or convex interface in the subject , a physiologic optic form of edge enhancement .
an optical illusion in radiography . wherever there is a boundary between two objects of different luminosity the retina enchances the image . it leads to the misdiagnosis of fractures in the metacarpal and metatarsal bones .
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copyright © 1983 american dental association . published by elsevier inc . all rights reserved .
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keats te . atlas of normal roentgen variants that may simulate disease . 5th ed . st . louis : mosby year book , 1992 ; 5–704 .
dagirmanjian a , daffner rh . radiographic assessment of the atlantoaxial articulation in patients with os odontoideum . radiologist 1994 ; 1 : 165–70 .
lawson jp . clinically significant radiologic anatomic variants of the skeleton . ajr am j roentgenol 1994 ; 163 : 249–55 .
kleinman pk , belanger pl , karellas a , spevak mr . normal metaphyseal radiologic variants not to be confused with findings of infant abuse . ajr am j roentgenol 1991 ; 156 : 781–3 .
ratliff f . contour and contrast . sci am 1972 ; 226 : 90–110 .
daffner rh . visual illusions effecting perception of the roentgen image . crc crit rev diagn imaging 1983 ; 20 : 79–119 .
daffner rh . visual illusions in interpretation of the radiographic image . curr probl diagn radiol 1989 ; 18 : 62–87 .
smoker wrk , dolan kd . the “fat” c2 : a sign of fracture . ajnr 1987 ; 8 : 33–8 .
harris jh jr , burke jt , ray rd , et al . low type iii odontoid fracture : a new radiographic sign . radiology 1984 ; 153 : 353–6 .
daffner rh , deeb zl , rothfus we . pseudofractures of the cervical vertebral body . skeletal radiol 1986 ; 15 : 295–8 .
wagner ac . “spurious” defect of the lumbar vertebral body . ajr am j roentgenol 1980 ; 135 : 1095–6 .
daffner rh , gehweiler ja jr , rodan ba . subjective contours and illusory roentgenographic images . appl radiol 1984 ; 13 : 95–8 .
daffner rh , khoury mb . pseudofractures due to nec - loc cervical immobilization collar . skeletal radiol 1987 ; 16 : 460–2 .
martel w , seeger jf , wicks jd , washburn rl . traumatic lesions of the discovertebral junction in the lumbar spine . ajr am j roentgenol 1976 ; 127 : 457–64 .


broken blossoms is a 1936 british drama film directed by john brahm and starring emlyn williams , arthur margetson , basil radford and edith sharpe .

director bernard vorhaus was technical supervisor .

the film is based on the short story " the chink and the child " by thomas burke from his collection limehouse nights ( 1916 ) , and was produced at twickenham studios in london .

the story had previously been adapted by d. w. griffith for his film broken blossoms ( 1919 ) starring lillian gish .

broken blossoms ( 1936 film )

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing broken blossoms ( 1936 ) near you .
in that book there’s no mention of ‘broken blossoms’ but you’ll find info on its photographer curt courant . btw what will be your next film posted here ? thanks
of course !
he suddenly thinks .
d . w . griffith : broken blossoms !
the pub is the very image of griffith ' s hollywood recreation of victorian london from his 1919 film .
broken blossoms is an american silent film from director d . w . griffith . this melodrama tells the love story of an abused english woman and a chinese buddhist in a time when london was a brutal and harsh place to live .
broken blossoms was given an a certificate ; a contemporary review in the monthly film bulletin described it as unsuitable for
those who dislike being harrowed
. violence permeates the film and the themes of child abuse , racial bigotry , interracial ( and paedophiliac ) love and murder make this disturbing viewing for any audience .
and there , at the bar , sits d . w . griffith himself . clair approaches this mirage and learns that griffith is in london to direct a remake of broken blossoms at twickenham studios . drink is taken .
in fact , everything about broken blossoms is state - of - the - art for 1936 , building on hitchcock ' s rediscovery of visual storytelling and his adaptation of german expressionism and russian montage to create a new , heightened film language . the only antiquated element is the story . it still plays fine in the griffith original , but by the mid - thirties it ' s questionable if anybody could really believe in it anymore . certainly nobody in this film can quite bring themselves to it , so the result is a kind of attenuated fairy tale , only far grimmer than grimm .
adaptations of three short stories by w . somerset maugham comprise this anthology film where the celebrated author introduces each segment of the film in front of the camera .
although the best silent comedy remains timeless and many silent films remain undated , melodrama such as
broken blossoms
seems old - fashioned to many viewers . watching it involves an act of cooperation with the film - - even active sympathy . you have to imagine how exotic such stories once seemed , how the foggy streets of limehouse and the broadly drawn characters once held audiences enthralled .
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
this film follows father ahmed and son tarik karaga during wwii and the siege of sarajevo .
not going to claim the british remake broken blossoms ( 1936 ) is anywhere near d . w . griffith ' s masterpiece , but it does mirror some of the emotional scenes credibly enough to touch the heart of the story . unfortunately the pacing of the rest of the story is poorly done , so it becomes somewhat of a chore to get through the slow parts . most of the guys also get handicapped by their oriental make - up and stereotypes , but dolly haas does deserve praise for her performance as the poor girl being abused by her brute of a father . she is the shining light in this .
griffith in 1919 was the unchallenged king of serious american movies ( only c . b . demille rivaled him in fame ) , and
broken blossoms
was seen as brave and controversial . what remains today is the artistry of the production , the ethereal quality of lillian gish , the broad appeal of the melodrama , and the atmosphere of the elaborate sets ( the film ' s budget was actually larger than that of
birth of a nation
) .
notebook is a daily , international film publication . our mission is to guide film lovers searching , lost or adrift in an overwhelming sea of content . we offer text , images , sounds and video as critical maps , passways and illuminations to the worlds of contemporary and classic film . notebook is a mubi publication .
lillian gish told d . w . griffith she was too old to play the girl in
broken blossoms ,
and perhaps she was . born in 1896 , she was 23 as griffith prepared the production in 1919 , and not as waiflike as audiences remembered her from
the birth of a nation ,
filmed five years earlier . but griffith wanted a star , and gish was that : incredibly , in an age when silent actors never stopped working , this was her 64th film .
in trying to imagine the film ' s original impact , it might help to look at fellini ' s
la strada
( 1954 ) . pauline kael finds many of fellini ' s inspirations in
broken blossoms ,
including zampano the strongman ( anthony quinn ) , whose costume even resembles battling burrows ' . gelsomina ( giulietta masina ) , his much - abused companion , is obviously drawn from lucy , and richard basehart ' s matto , who gives her shelter from the brute , fills the same function as the yellow man .
dolly haas gives a wrenching performance as the fragile waif , though it is chen ' s glances that carry the emotional registers of the film . given the film ' s strong visual sense , and the exquisite performances , the dialogue seems almost unecessary .
having directed 3 mexican films , director amat escalante grows more ambitious with each film as he refines his sobering long - take aesthetic .
thillu mullu ( tamil : ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ) is a 1981 tamil comedy film starring rajinikanth , madhavi , ' thengai ' srinivasan , nagesh , sowkar janaki and music composed by m . s . viswanathan . the film is directed by noted filmmaker , k . balachander . the film is actually a remake of the hindi comedy film gol maal , which released in 1979 . thillu mullu became a blockbuster upon release , and is in the
top 10 tamil movies
made of all time .
it is not as important as
birth of a nation ,
but neither is it as flawed ; stung by criticisms that the second half of his masterpiece was racist in its glorification of the ku klux klan and its brutal images of blacks , griffith tried to make amends in
intolerance
( 1916 ) , which criticized prejudice . and in
broken blossoms
he told perhaps the first interracial love story in the movies - - even though , to be sure , it ' s an idealized love with no touching .
this story is worth investigating for a number of reasons : the differences in narrative between the short story on which it is based , the silent film and the sound film ; and as a representation of a working - class community , not to mention chinese people , in early cinema .
tippi hedron and her husband set out to make a film with a pride of lions that amounts to a home movie of the dangerous results .
a diplomatic couple adopts the son of the devil without knowing it . a remake of the classic horror film of the same name from 1976 .
remake of a 1956 fritz lang film in which a novelist ' s investigation of a dirty district attorney leads to a setup within the courtroom .
now for the film itself . a germanic style suffuses it . karol rathaus , whose music for 1931 ' s der mörder dimitri karamasoff was described by no less than bernard herrmann as the first full film score , provides the faux - chinese melodies and , more effectively , the tinkly london airs .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
the film , now close to a century old , is dated but contains great performances from the leads , and from donald crisp as gish ' s abusive father .
the film adaptations added the stereotype chinese villain the evil eye , and softened the character of chen , the na├»ve and otherworldly philosopher . viewed from today , the film ' s racism is no less blunt than in the short story , but the several other nationalities that populate the stories - the malays , africans , jews - have been excised .
kid galahad is a 1962 musical film starring elvis presley as a boxer . the movie was filmed on location in idyllwild , california and is noted for having a strong supporting cast . most critics rate it as one of presley ' s best performances . the film is a remake of the 1937 original version starring edward g . robinson , bette davis , and humphrey bogart .
talkie
remake of tod browning ' s 1925 silent film . a trio of former sideshow performers double as the
unholy three
in a scam to nab some shiny rocks .
the resulting film ' s failure would propel brahm to hollywood as he tried to outrun its stench , where he would becomes john brahm , the reliable and often brilliant maker of gothic noirs .
if the attitudes about race in
broken blossoms
are more well - meaning and positive than in
birth of a nation ,
they are nevertheless painfully dated for today ' s eyes . but of course they are . marriage between the races was a crime in 1919 , and so we see cheng ' s face in closeup , looming closer to lucy as if he wishes to kiss her , and then pulling away as the subtitles assure us of his pure intentions . battling , of course , thinks the yellow man has had his way , but the girl cries out ,
t ' ain ' t nothing wrong !
griffith intrigues his audience with the possibility of exotic sex , and then cuts to moralizing titles .
' bad films ' : one - and - a - half - star ( out of five ) film ratings by ' the motion picture guide ' ( jay robert nash and stanley ralph ross , cinebooks , inc . ; 1927 - 1983 )
on a march night in 1964 , 37 neighbors in queens , new york , witness the brutal murder of kitty genovese . none of them takes action or calls the police . 37 tells the story of a few of these people and what led up to the night when they unexplainably remained passive observers . the film is a convincing portrayal of a borough in change and a time characterized by racism , the civil rights movement and political shifts . the actual event that inspired the films plot has been called a symbol for the moment when america lost its innocence . the director puk grasten skillfully weaves into her feature film debut various fates , dreams and family conflicts by leading us through an apartment building that comes to bear a collective failure .
there is an obvious voyeurism in this representation of the east end , illustrated in a scene where a coach load of tourists arrive to gape and exclaim over the horrors of the neighbourhood . this warped fascination is stirred by the presence of immigrant communities and their representation in contemporary literature and film .
american tourist frank ( johnny depp ) meets mysterious british woman elsie ( angelina jolie ) on the train to venice . romance seems to bud , but there ' s more to her than meets the eye . remake of the 2005 french film
anthony zimmer
, written and directed by jérôme salle .
a widescreen , technicolor remake of hitchcock ' s own 1934 film of the same title starring james stewart and doris day . a couple vacationing in morocco with their son accidentally stumble upon an assassination plot . when their son is kidnapped to ensure their silence , they have to take matters into their own hands to save him .
dolly haas , the element of the film griffith objected to , turns out to be its strongest human element . margetsen over - growls his lines , and perhaps lacking confidence in his ability to play
yellowface ,
emlyn williams the screenwriter keeps emlyn williams the actor mute as much as possible , which is all to the good .
42
is the powerful story of jackie robinson , the legendary baseball player who broke major league baseball ' s color barrier when he joined the roster of the brooklyn dodgers . the film follows the innovative dodger ' s general manager branch rickey , the mlb executive who first signed robinson to the minors and then helped to bring him up to the show .
this remake of the 1926 silent film classic and play follows the adventures of a group of marines stationed in france during world war i . two military men , captain flagg ( james cagney ) and sergeant quirt ( dan dailey ) , who are rivals to begin with , grow more at odds with each other when quirt is made flagg ' s top sergeant . and when a local beauty ( corinne calvet ) comes between them , their rivalry escalates even further . but when they discover that the woman has marriage in mind , they now compete to try to avoid marching down the aisle - that is , until they are called upon to march into battle - in this compelling film that also stars robert wagner and william demarest .
according to halliwell it was originally intended that d w griffiths would direct this film . sadly he didn ' t . instead it was given to a total incompetent who seemed to think that he must direct the film as if it were a silent . everything is exaggerated , except of course for emlyn williams who has decided to underplay . he plays the part without a chinese accent . meanwhile dolly haas , plays the cockney female lead with her german accent . it is interesting to note that many of the technical personnel were german and this has clearly had an effect on the photography which is probably the only positive aspect of this whole dreary mess . sometimes it is better to have second thoughts about going through with a remake . clearly this is such an example .
brahm provides numerous expressionist moments , notably in depicting the film ' s own chance encounter . williams ' character has lost all his buddhist faith in the beauty of the world , when he stops in the street , thunderstruck . and brahm jolts the camera from his astonished face and whirls it at accelerated motion to a basement window where haas ' sleeping visage can be glimpsed through the grime .
' the chink and the child ' appeared in a collection of short stories , limehouse nights ( 1916 ) by thomas burke . with its emphasis on atmosphere and descriptive flourishes , it was a natural for early film . lucy ' s neighbourhood is lavishly recreated here as a horror set with dark alleys , lugubrious mists and fetid waterways . the lighting is sepulchral , the production design evokes menace .
as dolly haas parted her lips to address the
chink ,
the voice behind ackland piped up with the sublimely inappropriate
kiss me , sergeant !
ackland turned to see who the hell it was , and found emlyn william himself , mercilessly ripping the piss from his own movie and his own performance . the two friends , happily reunited by the film that had driven them apart , departed the cinema , giggling into the london night .
4 ) it took some time for ackland to get over the pain of rejection , and he still hadn ' t made things up with williams when he crept in to see the film upon its release . williams , he noted , was as bad as could be expected , and he began to suspect that maybe he ' d had a lucky escape from getting cast in this turkey . but his ability to concentrate was being spoiled by a noisome heckler in the row behind him .
set in a california subdivision , the story follows four couples who have bought homes and are neighbors . among the problems facing the couples are alcoholism , racism , and promiscuity . the story truly revolves around the idea of ,
no down payment
and the over extended nature of some of the families economic situation . tony randal is in a role that you would never expect , a car salesman and looking for a good time . other issues include discrimination against a former war hero for lack of education . the morality lesson is clearly the reason for the film .
five years after directing his last feature , dw griffith - the father of narrative film - was invited by twickenham studios to remake his 1919 classic about doomed love in london ' s limehouse . when he dropped out , emlyn williams hurriedly produced a script based on the griffith original , and german exile john brahm was hired to direct . the result is better than might be expected , with brahm emulating the visual delicacy of the silent version . however , the dialogue is excruciating in places , dolly haas is no lillian gish , and williams can ' t match richard barthelmess as the kindly chinaman .
the yosemite valley railroad , which runs through the breathtaking scenery and stunning vistas of yosemite national park , is on the brink of failure . the grandson of a chinese railroad laborer embarks on a romantic , but ultimately doomed , quest to save this railroad from being sold for scrap . his love of trains finds him working as a railroad - man , instead of at his father ' s profitable business . he manages to locate a wealthy eccentric investor to help him acquire the railroad , but its financial inviability makes this a quixotic reprieve , at best . the film also portrays the anti - asian racism present in america at the conclusion of world war ii .
there is all of that , and then there is lillian gish ' s face . was she the greatest actress of silent films ? perhaps ; her face is the first i think of among the silent actresses , just as chaplin and keaton stand side by side among the men . when she was filming
the whales of august
in 1987 , her co - star was another legend , bette davis . the film ' s director , lindsay anderson , told me this story . one day after finishing a shot , he said ,
miss gish , you have just given me the most marvelous closeup !
she should ,
bette davis observed dryly .
she invented them .
the stereotyping of the chinese character begins with the choice of a caucasian to play him . there were many asian actors in silent films , but only one , sessue hayakawa , played leading roles , and the most famous of the early asian characters , like charlie chan and fu manchu , were played by whites . the character of cheng is an anthology of stereotypes : he is a peaceful buddhist , opium addict , shopkeeper . but griffith ' s film was nevertheless open - minded and even liberal in the context of his time and audiences , and we sense the good intentions behind patronizing titles like this one describing the advice cheng gets from a buddhist priest before his journey :
word for word , such as a fond parent of our own land might give .
tragedy of london slum life and of the disillusionment of an idealistic young chinese man . adapted from thomas burke ' s
the chink and the child
and d . w . griffith ' s masterpiece by emlyn williams .
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a chinese missionary comes to england . he helps a young girl ill - treated by her father . a remake of d . w . griffith ' s
masterpiece
.
buzzing comedies such as the spy who dumped me await you in our summer movie guide . check in for all the info you need .
want to share imdb ' s rating on your own site ? use the html below .
a frail waif , abused by her brutal boxer father in london ' s seedy limehouse district , is befriended by a sensitive chinese immigrant with tragic consequences .
this movie is based on a true story as written in a . p . scotland ' s autobiography
the london cage
. the plot has greatly exaggerated the actual events of a . p . scotland ' s experiences , including the addition of a fictional love interest .
a killer called ' the dark man ' commits double murder . this is witnessed by the young aspiring actress molly lester . the dark man tries everything to put molly out of the way . detective . . . see full summary »
an publisher insinuates himself into the mouldering mansion of the centenarian lover of a renowned but long - dead poet in order to find his lost love letters .
short of money the owners of ballyroden hall must attempt to run it as a guest house , but not everyone is happy about the plan .
roger fenton has been released from prison and stared to build a new life . but his past catches up when an elderly visitor is murdered in his office .
a movie executive is framed for the murder of his beautiful promiscuous leading lady by her jealous , estranged husband .
at the end of the civil war , southern beauty belle shirley , indignant at the way yankees treat the southerners , marries confederate guerrilla leader sam starr and continues to raid union towns , becoming a symbol of southern resistance .
two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the french revolution , encountering misery and love along the way .
lucky lyndon and his devoted secretary ruth use their talent agency to find and help unknowns who need an opportunity .
the spiritual and peace - loving chen resides in london ' s limehouse district , where he teaches and promotes peaceful buddhist concepts . he is attracted to the beleaguered lucy burrows , whose prizefighter father beats her persistently . when chen rescues lucy from one of her father ' s attacks , the boxer sets out to avenge himself on the foreigner .
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a buddhist missionary travels from china to london . he meets and falls in love with a young girl in the slums of the east end but tragedy threatens when their relationship is discovered by the girl ' s brutal father .
a frail waif , abused by her brutish boxer father in london ' s seedy limehouse district , is befriended by a sensitive chinese immigrant with tragic consequences .
check out our silent movie site . complete with bios , filmographies and movies to watch urltoken
1 ) rené clair is in london , making the ghost goes west ( 1935 ) . something of a flaneur , he has strolled down to the east end , and his noctivagation leads him to a limehouse pub which strikes him with an intense but mysterious feeling of déjà vu .
2 ) all this comes from screenwriter rodney ackland ' s bittersweet memoir of his work in british cinema , the celluloid mistress , co - written with elspeth grant . he further explains that his idolisation of griffith prompted him to volunteer his services in any capacity as soon as he learned that griffith was preparing a british picture . secretly , his hope was that griffith the great talent scout would cast him as chen , the story ' s chinese protagonist , a role previously taken by richard barthelmess . clearly , nobody expected an actual chinese actor to take the part ( although 1929 ' s piccadilly feature two actors of chinese descent in leading roles , anna may wong and king hou chang ) .
imagine ackland ' s distress when griffith met his screenwriter , welsh playwright emlyn williams , ackland ' s best friend , and gave him the plum part . but this was merely the first of a series of disappointments .
3 ) griffith , known to his enemies as
hook - nose dave ,
was no longer the artist whose reputation was still celebrated in britain ( where the controversy over birth of a nation seems to have gone right over the cinephiles ' heads ) . a susceptibility to drink was accompanied by a susceptibility to female beauty , which had already caused him to cast girlfriend carol dempster in several pictures .
when aspiring starlet ariane borg turned up at griffith ' s hotel , penniless , praying for a part , griffith decided abruptly that she and no other must play the lillian gish role in his remake . since the production was funded on the basis of german singing star dolly haas ' iron - clad contract , the result was that griffith was abruptly off his own picture , and emigré novice hans brahm is thrust into the directing chair , with the talented quota quickie guru bernard
mad
vorhaus assisting .
curt courant , who had just shot the man who knew too much , collaborates with the lodger ' s hal young on cinematography , creating a misty , murky studio limehouse bulging with the kind of dramatically composed close - ups brahm always loved .
but the most teutonic element is the production design of englishman james a . carter , another collaborator from the lodger . he creates a miniature china which wouldn ' t look out of place in murnau ' s magic carpet ride from faust , and a louring london of sweaty , crumbling walls which all seem hewn from catherine deneuve ' s silly - putty apartment in repulsion . like drunken pugilist arthur margetson in the donald crisp role , they seem to lack the moral fortitude to remain upright .
haas ' adorable attempt at a cockney accent , which she crams through her own german accent like garlic through a press , is inexplicable in plot terms but oddly charming to listen to . the sentimental yarn pours the treacle and tragedy on so liberally that everyone else drowns in it , but haas , whose pitiful waif ought to be the most unplayable part , somehow rises above it all , and like gish before her is convincingly childish in a role she ' s more than ten years too old for .
thanks ! hitchcock really synthesised the germanic and russian influences in his work — there was a lot of resistance to this at first , with ivor montague ( producer , experimental filmmaker , ping pong enthusiast and soviet spy ) having to rescue the lodger from the studio . korda was probably the most successful emigre in britain , followed by pressburger , but ernest palmer and allen gray , who worked with the archers , despite their british - sounding names , were in fact germans .
in light of our conversation , there’s a good book about germans working in england called ‘destination london : german - speaking emigres and british cinema , 1925 - 1950 . ’ you can read my amazon review i used to write my previous comment . thanks urltoken
been on a break during cannes but will return this thursday with a post on a series of czech animations . they don’t seem to have a collective name so i can’t tell you more !
marion davies shows us all how to
moon
in king vidor ' s romantic comedy masterpiece ,
the patsy
( 1928 ) .
the director of
alleluia
talks about his killer romance based on the true story that inspired
the honeymoon killers
and
deep crimson
.
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i waited a few hours before reviewing this , just so i could give it a fair hearing .
the silent version from 1919 is one of the greats of early cinema . directed by dw griffith and starring lillian gish as the girl and richard barthelmess as the yellow man , it has some of the most memorable moments of the screen , especially the scenes where gish is forced to push her lips into a smile , and where she cowers in terror in the closet as her father approaches .
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when chinese immigrant cheng huanmoves to london to spread buddhism , he is unprepared for the deplorable conditions and intolerance of its inner city . but huan succumbs to his environment ; his missionary dream turns into indifference and opium addiction , until he finds battered lucy burrows at his doorstep . he devotes himself to her recovery , and the two kindred souls become close , but tragedy awaits in the form of burrows ' abusive father .
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basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …
roger ebert ' s speech on empathy for the
11th hour
series on april 9th , 1994 , being republished here in honor of his birthday june 18 .
roger ebert was born on this day in 1942 , and died a little over five years ago . i owe a good part of my success…
a look back at robert zemeckis ' half - animated classic , who framed roger rabbit , on its 30 - year anniversary .
a tribute to the late tab hunter , a gay matinee idol and hollywood trailblazer .
gish plays lucy , the daughter of a brutal london prizefighter named battling burrows ( donald crisp ) ; the titles tell us she was
thrust into his hands by one of his girls .
a drunken
gorilla ,
he lives in a hovel in limehouse , and when his manager berates him for drinking and carousing , he takes it out on lucy . their story is intercut with the story of cheng haun ( richard barthelmess ) , called
the yellow man
in the titles , a buddhist who journeys from china to bring
a message of peace to the barbarous anglo - saxons .
instead , he turns to opium , and
limehouse knows him only as the chink storekeeper .
griffith shot the movie almost entirely on sets , creating a foggy riverside atmosphere to suggest hidden lives . cheng ' s room is a refuge upstairs over his shop . lucy and battling live in a room without windows , where he sits at a table , wolfing his meals and drinking , while she cowers in a corner . when he orders her to smile , she uses her fingers to push up the corners of her mouth . he gives lucy money for groceries and goes out to drink more , and she timidly ventures out to do the shopping , clutching a precious hoard of tinfoil , which she hopes she can trade for a flower to brighten her grim existence . on the streets , weary housewives warn her against matrimony , and women of the night against prostitution ; thus her only two possible escapes seem closed . through the window of his shop , the yellow man sees her , and
the beauty which all limehouse missed smote him to the heart .
that evening , lucy spills hot food on battling ' s hand , and he whips her almost to death before going out to drink . she stumbles into the chinese man ' s store , and he gives her refuge , with
the first gentleness she has ever known .
she is able to smile at him without using her fingers . when battling burrows finds out where she is , there ' s a violent showdown , including a striking shot where lucy , locked in a room with battling splintering the door with an ax , turns in a helpless circle , screaming .
gish was one of the great vulnerable screamers of the silent era , although she also had a good line in pluck and independence . in a long career that ended with
the whales of august
( 1987 ) , she played many strong women . here she is essentially the passive object of male fantasy - - of battling , who sees her as servant and victim , and cheng , who idealizes her as his
white blossom .
griffith emphasizes both her angelic face and her weakness by often lighting and photographing her from above , and many years later , on the set of robert altman ' s
a wedding
( 1978 ) , i heard her rebuke a photographer who was trying for a low - angle shot :
get up from there ! get up ! if god had wanted you to shoot me from that angle , he would have given you a camera in your belly button . mr . griffith always said , ` shoot from above for an angel ; shoot from below for a devil . '
and its social impact . films like this , naive as they seem today , helped nudge a xenophobic nation toward racial tolerance .
an interview with terry gilliam , director of
the man who killed don quixote .
the ebert club is our hand - picked selection of content for ebert fans . you will receive a weekly newsletter full of movie - related tidbits , articles , trailers , even the occasional streamable movie . club members also get access to our members - only section on urltoken
director john brahm main cast emlyn williams ; dolly haas ; arthur margetson ; gibb mclaughlin genres drama , romance description a chinese missionary comes to england . he helps a young girl ill - treated by her father . a remake of d . w . griffith ' s
masterpiece
.
ram bowen and eddie cook are two expatriate jazz musicians living in paris where , unlike america at the time , jazz musicians are celebrated and racism is a non - issue . when they meet and fall in love with two young american girls , lillian and connie , who are vacationing in france , ram and eddie must decide whether they should move back to america with them , or stay in paris for the freedom it allows them . ram , who wants to be a serious composer , finds paris more exciting than america and is reluctant to give up his music for a relationship , and eddie wants to stay for the city ' s more tolerant racial atmosphere .
this remake of the 1946 movie of the same name accounts an affair between a seedy drifter and a seductive wife of a roadside cafe owner . this begins a chain of events that culminates in murder . based on a novel by james m . cain .
an fbi agent ( debra winger ) falls in love with a white supremacist ( tom berenger ) whose group she infiltrates .
after living in madrid for many years as a teacher , lucia returns to her hometown after her father ' s death results in the inheritance of his tomato farm . while fighting the community ' s racism toward the new illegal workers , lucia falls in love with the farm ' s accountant , curro , a man who shares her cause . the couple is forced to confront the racism of the town and as tensions come to head , they will have to make some decisions that could cost them everything .
philip green is a highly respected writer who is recruited by a national magazine to write a series of articles on anti - semitism in america . he ' s not too keen on the series , mostly because he ' s not sure how to tackle the subject . then it dawns on him : if he was to pretend to all and sundry that he was jewish , he could then experience the degree of racism and prejudice that exists and write his story from that perspective . it takes little time for him to experience bigotry . he soon learns the liberal - minded firm he works for doesn ' t hire jews and that his own secretary changed her name and kept the fact that she is jewish a secret from everyone . green soon finds that he won ' t be invited to certain parties , that he cannot stay in so - called ' restricted ' hotels and that his own son is called names in the street . his anger at the way he is treated also affects his relationship with kathy lacy , his publisher ' s niece and the person who suggested the series in the first place .
an indian family is expelled from uganda when idi amin takes power . they move to mississippi and time passes . the indian daughter falls in love with a black man , and the respective families have to come to terms with it .
air force major lloyd gruver ( marlon brando ) is reassigned to a japanese air base , and is confronted with us racial prejudice against the japanese people . the issue is compounded because a number of the soldiers become romantically involved with japanese women , in defiance of us military policy . ordinarily an officer who is by - the - book , gruver must take a position when a buddy of his , an enlisted man joe kelly ( red buttons ) falls in love with a japanese woman katsumi ( miyoshi umeki ) and marries her . gruver risks his position by serving as best man at the wedding ceremony .
willard young is a 10 - year - old boy who is sent by his mother to stay with her best friend lily reed , who lives in the delta shrimp - fishing country in a town called paradise . lily and her husband ben have been living in an unmentioned emotional vacuum since the death of their own three year old boy . willie makes friends with the local 9 - year - old tomboy billie pike , who teaches him to be comfortable with himself . when willard gains a handle on his own emotions , he can now help lily and ben to connect , overcome grief and rediscover themselves .
a woman ' s life is thrown into chaos after a freak car accident sends her husband and brother - in - law into comas . thrills arrive after the brother - in - law wakes up , thinking he ' s his brother .
vixen lives in a canadian mountain resort with her naive pilot husband . while he ' s away flying in tourists , she gets it on with practically everybody including a husband and his wife , and even her biker brother . she is openly racist , and she makes it clear that she won ' t do the wild thing with her brother ' s biker friend , who is black .
an engagement party is interrupted by the arrival of the russian girl , hired to help an old woman . liubi is the girl who is going to keep company to and help the sick mother of out protagonist . dimitris , the son of the family and liubi eventually fall in love . their love will be tested by the social racism that surounds the origins of the girl .
life has its downs for james , living with his mom in chicago at 39 , an aging performer at second city , eating and weighing too much . a woman he ' s been dating drops him , as does his agent , her brother . james turns down roles in local tv , roles that make him sad . someone ' s remaking his favorite movie ,
marty ,
a role he ' d love , but he doesn ' t even get an audition .
an irishman , finian , and his daughter sharon , arrive in rainbow valley , a southern town of tobacco sharecroppers in the state of missitucky . the town has its own resident dreamer , woody , who thinks that he might be able to put the town on the map by crossing mint with tobacco so that it ' ll grow mentholated . finian ' s came to town because he ' s stolen a leprechaun ' s crock of gold and plans to plant it in the ground . but trouble arrives in the form of og the leprechaun , who has followed finian and wants his gold . meanwhile , the bigoted senator billboard rawkins , in an effort to stop progress in his state in the form of a new dam and hydroelectric system , plans to take the remaining parcel of land needed to stop the project . but the government ' s geologists reveal the senator that gold has been detected on the property ! rawkins and his men confront the sharecroppers to seize their land using as an excuse an obscure law making it a felony for blacks and whites to live together .
a drunken playboy stands to lose a wealthy inheritance when he falls for a woman , his family doesn ' t like .
billy , a struggling young gay photographer ( who likes polaroids ) , tired of being the
other man
, falls in love with gabriel , a waiter and aspiring musician who is probably straight but possibly gay or at least curious . billy tries to get gabriel to model for his latest project , a series of remakes of famous hollywood screen kisses , featuring male couples , while also trying to win his affections .
a spiffy remake of the screwball classic libeled lady , with esther as the lady libeled . van johnson , keenan wynn and lucille ball round out a funny four - sided love triangle .
in this musical remake of the shop around the corner , feuding co - workers in a small music shop do not realize they are secret romantic pen pals .
pit violinist claudin hopelessly loves rising operatic soprano christine dubois ( as do baritone anatole and police inspector raoul ) and secretly aids her career . but claudin loses both his touch and his job , murders a rascally music publisher in a fit of madness , and has his face etched with acid . soon , mysterious crimes plague the paris opera house , blamed on a legendary
phantom
.
a musical remake of ninotchka : after three bumbling soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying soviet composer from paris , the beautiful , ultra - serious ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them . she starts out condemning the decadent west , but gradually falls under its spell , with the help of steve canfield , an american movie producer .
thinking he can overshadow an unknown actress in the part , an egocentric actor unknowingly gets a witch cast in an upcoming television remake of the classic show
bewitched
.
a south korean man named bang tae - sik looks more like someone from southeast asia and has difficulties finding employment . one day , bang tae - sik disguises himself as a man from the country of bhutan named ? bangga ? and succeeds in finding a job . bang tae - sik then witnesses racism that migrant workers face in korea
henriette and louise , a foundling , are raised together as sisters . when louise goes blind , henriette swears to take care of her forever . they go to paris to see if louise ' s blindness can be cured , but are separated when an aristocrat lusts after henriette and abducts her . only chevalier de vaudrey is kind to her , and they fall in love . the french revolution replaces the corrupt aristocracy with the equally corrupt robespierre . de vaudrey , who has always been good to peasants , is condemned to death for being an aristocrat , and henriette for harboring him . will revolutionary hero danton , the only voice for mercy in the new regime , be able to save them from the guillotine ?
a korean remake of the john woo classic . one brother is a criminal . one brother is a cop . both will fight to the death .
remake of the classic hitchcock movie . whilst generally not as good , it is a rather fun movie , and more lighthearted than the original . this is largely due to kenneth more ' s acting .
this is a remake of the movie
let the right one in
which was a movie adaptation of a book . a story of a young boy who is frequently bullied and a young girl that moves in next door with her caretaker . it is established that she is a vampire and , after losing her caretaker , must leave in order to survive . a story of innocent love entangled in murder , mystery , and horror .
in this remake of the 1933 classic about the giant ape , an oil company expedition disturbs the peace of kong and brings him back to new york to exploit him . even though a woman somewhat tames kong , he finally breaks loose and terrorizes the city , and as the military attempt to stop him , he falls to his death from the top of the world trade center .
western remake of high sierra with joel mccrea taking over the humphrey bogart role .
remake of the popular disney classic , this time featuring some well known voices as two dogs and a cat trek across america encountering all sorts of adventures in the quest to be reunited with their owners .
in 1983 , in france experiencing intolerance and racial violence , three young teens and the priest minguettes launching a largely peaceful march for equality and against racism , over 1 , 000 km between marseille and paris . despite the difficulties and resistance encountered , their movement will bring about a real boost of hope in the way of gandhi and martin luther king . they unite with their arrival more than 100 000 people from all walks of life and give france its new face .