The prohibitive favorite for Best Picture at this Sunday’s 84th annual Academy Awards is Michel Hazanavicius’ black and white silent film The Artist.  The film, which is nominated for a total of ten Oscars, is about a silent era movie star struggling to cope in an industry changing with the advent of “talkies.”  George Valentin, the fictional main character played brilliantly by French actor Jean Dujardin, is one of Hollywood’s first stars in the early...