Watching policemen chasing a dog in the 1920's and then seeing the police chase in Raising Arizona brought to new light the vast amount of direct and indirect influence old films must have on new directors. Watching both clips side to side raises in my mind the question of what exactly makes a "silent film". Both clips had little to no dialogue, and instead relied upon a simple plot, careful pacing and accompanying music (one improvised, the other pre-recorded) to "hook" the viewer into immersion. Watching the clips I was reminded of two similar films directed early in Spielberg's career: Duel (1971) and Jaws (1975). Perhaps I can assume that Spielberg's approach to making these two films in particular is derived at least in part from such surprisingly old techniques.



In speculation, I can't help feeling sure the thrills from both the antique and the modern chase scenes were both quite genuine in their intended audiences. True, having been spoiled by high-quality filmmaking for years it's obvious to us now that the policemen in the 1920's were climbing on sets and not up actual stone walls, but putting this intellectual criticism aside it must still have been quite exciting for those watching the short movie new. In Film Analysis (page 57) Karin Littau makes a great point in stating that "reflex actions... are not mental phenomena, but are profoundly bodily manifestations of unpleasure or pleasure". I doubt those star-struck audiences went to great lengths criticizing the set design or realism of the chase, because such a short (both back then and now) was never designed to be realistic, only entertaining.