1 November
The Great White Silence (Dir. Herbert G. Ponting, UK, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 107 mins) This documentary captured the story of the British Antarctic Expedition, led by Captain Scott, to reach the South Pole. With extraordinary footage of many stages of the exploration: on board the Terra Nova ship; life in the base camp; crew preparations and scientific research; and the local penguins, whales and seals. Still images, maps, miniature model shots, diary entries and recreations illustrate the rest of the journey across the ice. “The alien beauty of the landscape is brought dramatically to life and the world of the expedition revealed in brilliant detail.” – BFI. Find out more at bfi.org.uk. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best and the Frame Ensemble. York Concerts at University of York Link
Nosferatu (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) A German Expressionist horror masterpiece starring Max Shreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel. Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaption and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints survived and the film came to be regarded as an inspirational masterwork of the cinema. In the film, Count Orlok travels across Europe leaving a trail of death in his wake. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved. Find out more at wikipedia.org With live musical accompaniment by Minima. Appleby Public Hall, Appleby in Westmorland Link
2 November
Charlie Chaplin Lived Here (Dir. Sean Martin & Louise Milne, UK,2018) + Pay Day ( Dir. Charlie Chaplin, USA, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 45/22 mins) Charlie Chaplin Lived Here is a loving and affectionate tribute exploring Scottish filmmaker Bill Douglas and his lifelong obsession with Charlie Chaplin. Blending archive footage, shot by Douglas in 1969 with present day interviews and excerpts from Chaplin’s autobiography this experimental documentary takes you on a journey between the past and the present and frames the childhood memories of Chaplin, which were heavily tied to places no longer present. Find out more at imdb.com. In Pay Day Chaplin plays a laborer on a house construction site. When he gets paid, his wife takes the money he has hidden in his hat. But he steals her purse so he can go out for the evening. However, there will be a price to pay! Find out more at threemoviebuffs.com. Presented by The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. With Q&A session from directors Sean Martin & Louise Milne. Recorded score. Phoenix Film, Exeter Link
The Golem: How He Came Into The World (Dir. Carl Boese/Paul Wegener, Ger, 1920) (Screening Format – not known, 94mins) The only one of three films directed by and starring Paul Wegener concerning the Golem, a figure from Jewish folklore, to have survived, this is, along with The Cabinet 
Of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920), one of the key works of Expressionism, as well as being one of the earliest and most influential horror films. In medieval Prague, Rabbi Loew fears disaster for the Jewish community at the hands of the Christian Emperor. To defend his people, he creates from clay the Golem, whose awakening leads to a series of disasters in this visual feast. Find out more at filmmonthly.com . With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link
Nosferatu (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) A German Expressionist horror masterpiece starring Max Shreck as the vampire Count Orlok. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel. Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaption and a court ruling ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints survived and the film came to be regarded as an inspirational masterwork of the cinema. In the film, Count Orlok travels across Europe leaving a trail of death in his wake. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved. Find out more at wikipedia.org With live musical accompaniment by Minima. Burgh-By-Sands, Cumbria Link
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Groβtadt) (Dir. Walter Ruttman, Ger, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 65mins) This is a visual symphony in five movements celebrating the Berlin of 1927: the people, the place, the everyday details of life on the streets. Director Walter Ruttman, an experimental filmmaker, approached cinema in similar ways to his Russian contemporary Dziga Vertoz, mixing documentary, abstract, and expressionist modes for a nonnarrative style that captured the life of his countrymen. But where Vertov mixed his observations with examples of the communist dream in action, Ruttman re-creates documentary as, in his own words, “a melody of pictures.” Within the loose structure of a day in the life of the city (with a prologue that travels from the country into the city on a barreling train), the film takes us from dawn to dusk, observing the silent city as it awakens with a bustle of activity, then the action builds and calms until the city settles back into sleep. But the city is as much the architecture, the streets, and the machinery of industry as it is people, and Ruttman weaves all these elements together to create a portrait in montage, the poetic document of a great European city captured in action. Held together by rhythm, movement, and theme, Ruttman creates a documentary that is both involving and beautiful to behold. Find out more at sensesofcinema.com . With live musical accompaniment by Paul Robinson’s HarmonieBand. Square Chapel, Halifax Link
3 November
Phantom Of The Opera (Dir. Rupert Julian, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 103mins) A title that needs no introduction, The Phantom of the Opera has spawned many remakes, remasters and sequels. This original film version, produced with moments of early Technicolor, sees Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ perform one of his most iconic roles. His ghastly make-up and outrageous performance made this title a benchmark in the American silent film era. The film was a critical and commercial success upon release, and still stands as an important film in cinematic history to this day, with press quotes from the time labeling the film an ‘ultra-fantastic melodrama’ (New York Times), ‘produced on a stupendous scale’ (Moving Picture World) and ‘probably the greatest inducement to nightmare that has yet been screened’ (Variety). The mysterious phantom (Lon Chaney) is a vengeful composer living in the catacombs under the Paris Opera House, determined to promote the career of the singer he loves (Mary Philbin). Famed for the phantom’s shock unmasking, incredible set designs and the masked ball sequence, it still packs a punch. Find out more at wikipedia.org With live musical accompaniment by Minima, Village Hall, Lazonby, Cumbria Link
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Groβtadt) (Dir. Walter Ruttman, Ger, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 65mins) This is a visual symphony in five movements celebrating the Berlin of 1927: the people, the place, the everyday details of life on the streets. Director Walter Ruttman, an experimental filmmaker, approached cinema in similar ways to his Russian contemporary Dziga Vertoz, mixing documentary, abstract, and expressionist modes for a nonnarrative style that captured the life of his countrymen. But where Vertov mixed his observations with examples of the communist dream in action, Ruttman re-creates documentary as, in his own words, “a melody of pictures.” Within the loose structure of a day in the life of the city (with a prologue that travels from the country into the city on a barreling train), the film takes us from dawn to dusk, observing the silent city as it awakens with a bustle of activity, then the action builds and calms until the city settles back into sleep. But the city is as much the architecture, the streets, and the machinery of industry as it is people, and Ruttman weaves all these elements together to create a portrait in montage, the poetic document of a great European city captured in action. Held together by rhythm, movement, and theme, Ruttman creates a documentary that is both involving and beautiful to behold. Find out more at sensesofcinema.com . With live musical accompaniment by Paul Robinson’s HarmonieBand. Storyhouse, Chester. Link
6 November
Rob Roy (Dir. William Kellino, UK, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 80mins) Rarely screened, this impressive biopic of one of Scotland’s best-known outlaws stars David Hawthorne in full tartan kilt and tammy and tells the story of the MacGregors in the early 18th century. Shot entirely on location in the Trossachs and nearby Stirling Castle, whilst the 10th Duke of Argyll gave permission to the production to film on his estates, the film makes liberal use of Scots for the intertitles (“dinnae fash yersel”) and includes epic fight scenes, with over 800 men of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders enlisted as extras in a dramatic battle. Find out more at imdb.com With live musical accompaniment by David Allison. Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre, Dunfries Link
The King On Main Street (Dir. Monta Bell, US, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 60 mins) Adolphe Menjou stars as King Serge IV of Molvania, ruler of a rather small and impoverished European country. He comes to New York to help secure a contract to develop his country’s oil, but then sneaks away from his hotel for some fun in Coney Island where he meets and falls for Bessie Love. A charming and rather bittersweet love story of the silent era. Find out more at wikipedia.org. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link
7 November
Rob Roy (Dir. William Kellino, UK, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 80mins) Rarely screened, this impressive biopic of one of Scotland’s best-known outlaws stars David Hawthorne in full tartan kilt and tammy and tells the story of the MacGregors in the early 18th century. Shot entirely on location in the Trossachs and nearby Stirling Castle, whilst the 10th Duke of Argyll gave permission to the production to film on his estates, the film makes liberal use of Scots for the intertitles (“dinnae fash yersel”) and includes epic fight scenes, with over 800 men of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders enlisted as extras in a dramatic battle. Find out more at imdb.com With live musical accompaniment by David Allison. Stirling Castle Link
La Souriante Madame Beudet (aka The Smiling Madame Beudet) (Dir. Germaine Dulac, Fr, 1923) + Menilmontant (Dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 38/38mins) One of the first feminist movies, The Smiling Madame Beudet is the story of an intelligent woman trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband is used to playing a stupid practical joke in which he puts an empty revolver to his head and threatens to shoot himself. One day, while the husband is 
away, she puts bullets in the revolver……..Find out more at houseofmirthandmovies.wordpress.com In Menilmontant, a couple are brutally murdered in the working-class district of Paris. Later on, the narrative follows the lives of their two daughters (Nadia Sibirskaïa and Yolande Beaulieu), both in love with a Parisian thug (Guy Belmont) and leading them to separate ways. Kirsanoff’s second film, Menilmontant is also his best known. It has been described as “une oevre presque parfaite” (“a nearly perfect work”) . Its story is told entirely in images, without the use of explanatory intertitles; Kirsanoff was among the very rare filmmakers of the silent era to attempt this. The film makes use of techniques such as montage, hand-held camera, ultra-rapid montage, and superposition. For more info see seul-le-cinema.blogspot.co.uk . With live music by Jonny Best and Irene Rosnes. University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield Link
8 November
Neil Brand Presents Laurel and Hardy From their earliest days up to their silent masterpieces before the arrival of sound, Neil will tell the touching story of the world’s greatest comedy team, who could not have been two more different men! Fully illustrated with stills, clips, featuring Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, this is a show that promises gales of laughter throughout, as well as getting under the skin of two warm, funny men who continue to make the world laugh when it needs it most. Pickaquoy, Orkney Link
Rob Roy (Dir. William Kellino, UK, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 80mins) Rarely screened, this impressive biopic of one of Scotland’s best-known outlaws stars David Hawthorne in full tartan kilt and tammy and tells the story of the MacGregors in the early 18th century. Shot entirely on location in the Trossachs and nearby Stirling Castle, whilst the 10th Duke of Argyll gave permission to the production to film on his estates, the film makes liberal use of Scots for the intertitles (“dinnae fash yersel”) and includes epic fight scenes, with over 800 men of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders enlisted as extras in a dramatic battle. Find out more at imdb.com With live musical accompaniment by David Allison. Dunoon Film Festival, Dunoon Link
9 November
Silent Movie Comedy Matinee An afternoon of silent comedy classics including; Call of the Cuckoo – (Max Davidson, 1927), Never Weaken – (Harold Lloyd, 1921), Mighty like a Moose – (Charley Chase, 1926) and Two Tars – (Laurel & Hardy, 1928). With live organ accompaniment from Donald MacKenzie. Caird Hall, Dundee. Link
10 November
Neil Brand Presents Laurel and Hardy From their earliest days up to their silent masterpieces before the arrival of sound, Neil will tell the touching story of the world’s greatest comedy team, who could not have been two more different men! Fully illustrated with stills, clips, featuring Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, this is a show that promises gales of laughter throughout, as well as getting under the skin of two warm, funny men who continue to make the world laugh when it needs it most. Presented as part of the Inverness Film Festival. Eden Court, Inverness Link
Alraune ( aka Unholy Love, Mandrake, or A Daughter of Destiny) (Dir. Henrik Galeen, Ger, 1928) (Screening format – 35mm, 108mins) With an amazingly prescient subject matter of genetic engineering, artificial insemination and test-tube 
babies, Alraune is a little known and very rarely screened slice of Weimar Cinema. A scientist (Paul Wegener) embarks on an experiment to answer the question of whether an individual’s humanity is a product of nature or nurture. His plan: to inseminate a prostitute with the semen of a hanged murderer, and to make of the child a model citizen. But things don’t quite work out that way. The child, who grows to be a beautiful woman (Brigitte 
Helm) is incapable of feeling any real emotions – least of all guilt or regret. Eloping from the convent school where she has caused mayhem, Alraune sets about to seduce and destroy every male who crosses her path. And tragedy looms when the scientist begins to fall in love with his own ‘creation’. Amongst a top-notch cast and crew, 
director Galeen was a key figure in German expressionist cinema, as screenwriter for Nosferatu (1922) and Waxworks (1924) and as writer and director of The Golem (1915) and The Student of Prague (1926). Wegener is probably best known for his portrayal of The Golem in both 1915 and 1920 while Brigitte Helm really needs no introduction having played Maria and her robot double in Metropolis (1927). A heavily edited version of Alraune has been in circulation for some years but this afternoon’s screening looks to be the recently restored Munich Filmmuseum’s version. Find out more at moriareviews.com With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne & Martin Pyne. Barbican, London Link
11 November
Man With a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 68mins) “An experiment in the creative communication of visible events without the aid of inter-titles, a scenario or theatre, aiming at creating a truly international absolute language of cinema,” is how the inter-titles describe what is about to be seen. Bold claims indeed, but in its awesome sophistication The Man with a Movie Camera does live up to them, making it one of the most contemporary of silent movies. The subject, the life of a city from dawn to dusk, was not original even for 1928, but its treatment was – the cameraman as voyeur, social commentator and prankster, exploiting every trick permissible with the technology of the day (slow motion, dissolves, split screens, freeze frames, stop motion animation, etc). A young woman stirs in her bed, apparently fighting a nightmare in which a cameraman is about to be crushed by an oncoming train. She wakes up, and the sequence is revealed to be a simple trick shot. As she blinks her weary eyes, the shutters of her window mimic her viewpoint, and the iris of the camera spins open. Self-reflexive wit like this abounds here – there’s even a delicious counterpoint made between the splicing of film and the painting of a woman’s nails. Find out more at openculture.com . Presented as part of the Leeds International Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonathan P. Eyre. Town hall, Leeds Link
The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty (Dir. Esfir Shub, USSR, 1927) (Screening format – 16mm, 87mins) The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty is notable for being constructed almost entirely out of stock footage which was compiled by director Esfir Shub, who had worked as an editor on several other films before making this documentary. Whereas other documentary filmmakers, including Dziga Vertov, created films out of their own footage, Shub constructed a documentary narrative out of newsreel footage shot before the Revolution. Using this footage, she created a narrative about the brutality of the First World War and the neglect on the part of the Tsar and his ministers, one of the catalysts for the 1917 Revolution. Find out more at edinburghfilmguild.org.uk . Presented as part of the Leeds International Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best. Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds Link
12 November
Rob Roy (Dir. William Kellino, UK, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 80mins) Rarely screened, this impressive biopic of one of Scotland’s best-known outlaws stars David Hawthorne in full tartan kilt and tammy and tells the story of the MacGregors in the early 18th century. Shot entirely on location in the Trossachs and nearby Stirling Castle, whilst the 10th Duke of Argyll gave permission to the production to film on his estates, the film makes liberal use of Scots for the intertitles (“dinnae fash yersel”) and includes epic fight scenes, with over 800 men of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders enlisted as extras in a dramatic battle. Find out more at imdb.com Presented as part of the Inverness Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by David Allison. Eden Court, Inverness Link
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. The Assembly House, Norwich Link
13 November
Be Natural: The Untold True Story of Alice Guy Blache Alice Guy-Blaché was first female pioneer filmmaker of the early days of cinema. She understood the potential of the newly-invented cinematograph as a powerful narrative tool and was one of the first ever filmmakers to make films with a plot. Despite her prolific career (over 1000 films) and invaluable contribution to the history of cinema, Alice Guy-Blaché was largely erased from history…until now. Narrated by Jodie Foster, this fascinating documentary tells her story from the beginnings as Gaumont secretary, to her eclectic 20-year career in the film industry. Find out more at benaturalthemovie.com. Presented as part of the Inverness Film Festival. Eden Court, Inverness Link
The Golem: How He Came Into The World (Dir. Carl Boese/Paul Wegener, Ger, 1920) (Screening Format – DCP, 94mins) The only one of three films directed by and starring Paul Wegener concerning the Golem, a figure from Jewish folklore, to have survived, this is, along with The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920), one of the key works of Expressionism, as well as being one of the earliest and most influential horror films. In medieval Prague, Rabbi Loew fears disaster for the Jewish community at the hands of the Christian Emperor. To defend his people, he creates from clay the Golem, whose awakening leads to a series of disasters in this visual feast. Find out more at filmmonthly.com . Presented as part of the Cork Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Stephen Horne. Triskel Christchurch, Cork Link
Steamboat Bill Jr (Dir. Buster Keaton/Charles Reisner, US, 1928) + The Balloonatic (Dir. Buster Keaton/ Edward F Cline, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 71/22 mins) In Steamboat Bill Jr a crusty river boat captain hopes that his long departed son’s return will help him compete with a business rival. Unfortunately, William Canfield Jnr (Buster Keaton) is an effete college boy. Worse still, he has fallen for the business rival’s daughter (Marion Byron). Featuring some of Buster’s finest and most dangerous stunts, it’s a 
health and safety nightmare maybe but it’s entertainment that will live forever. The final storm sequence is still as breathtaking today as it was on first release. Not a commercial success at the time, this is now rightly regarded as a Keaton classic. Find out more at Wikipedia. In The Balloonatic, Buster plays an amusement park attendent who finds himself on a runaway balloon that floats into the wilderness. When the balloon eventually lands he encounters a young outdoorswoman (Phylis Haver) who seems to be far more cut out for life in the wild than our hero. But while romance blossoms, there are still a lot of misadventures to endure. Find out more at busterkeaton.org. With live musical accompaniment by Andy Quin. Keele University Link
14 November
Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 mins ) Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city. Filming took place in 1925 at a cost of approximately five million Reichmarks, making it the most expensive film ever released up to that point. It is regarded as a pioneering work of science fiction and is among the most influential films of all time. Following its world premiere in 1927, half an hour was cut from Fritz Lang’s masterpiece and lost to the world. Eighty years later a spectacular discovery was made when the footage was found in a small, dusty museum in Buenos Aires. The film was then painstakingly reconstructed and digitally restored so that at last audiences could see the iconic futuristic fairy tale as Lang had envisioned it. Find out more at silentfilm.org Presented as part of the Gateway Film Festival. With recorded score. Arts Cinema, Peterborough Link
Safety Last (Dir. Fred C Newmeyer/Sam Taylor, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making it in the big city is harder than it looks. When he hears that a store manager will pay $1,000 to 
anyone who can draw people to his store, he convinces his friend, the “human fly,” (Bill Strother) to climb the building and split the profit with him. But when his pal gets in trouble with the law, he must complete the crazy stunt on his own. The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! is one of the great icons of film history (although it was achieved with a certain amount of film trickery) and this remains one of the best and best loved comedies of the silent era. Find out more at rogerebert.com. Presented as part of Southampton Film Week. With live organ accompaniment by Donald MacKenzie. Guildhall, Southampton Link
The Golem: How He Came Into The World (Dir. Carl Boese/Paul Wegener, Ger, 1920) (Screening Format – DCP, 94mins) The only one of three films directed by and starring Paul Wegener concerning the Golem, a figure from Jewish folklore, to have survived, this is, along with The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920), one of the key works of Expressionism, as well as being one of the earliest and most influential horror films. In medieval Prague, Rabbi Loew fears disaster for the Jewish community at the hands of the Christian Emperor. To defend his people, he creates from clay the Golem, whose awakening leads to a series of disasters in this visual feast. Find out more at filmmonthly.com . Presented as part of the Cork Film Festival. With recorded soundtrack. Triskel Christchurch, Cork Link
15 November
Blackmail (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 84mins) Alice White is the daughter of a shopkeeper in 1920’s London. Her boyfriend, Frank Webber is a Scotland Yard detective who seems more interested in police work than in her. Frank takes Alice out one night, but she has secretly arranged to meet another man. Later that night Alice agrees to go back to his flat to see his studio. The man has other ideas and as he tries to rape Alice, she defends herself and kills him with a bread knife. When the body is discovered, Frank is assigned to the case, he quickly determines that Alice is the killer, but so has someone else and blackmail is threatened. Alfred Hitchcock’s sinister, suspenseful tale of crime and romance is one of the last British silent films to be made. With his traditional cameo appearance in the first reel, to a spectacular moonlit chase through the British Museum in the final reel, Blackmail is a classic thriller from the Master of Suspense. Find out more at screenonline.org.uk With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Derby Cathedral, Derby Link
16 November
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Dir. Lotte Reiniger , Ger, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 65mins) The first feature-length animation in film history, masterminded by Lotte Reiniger and hand-tinted frame by frame. Based on ‘The Arabian Nights’, the film tells the epic tale of Prince Achmed, who is tricked into mounting a magical flying horse by a wicked sorcerer. The horse carries Achmed off on a series of adventures, over the course of which he joins forces with young Aladdin, battles ogres and monsters and romances the beautiful Princess Peri Banu.Find out more at wikipedia.org . Presented as part of the Gateway Film Festival. With recorded score. St John Church, Peterborough Link
Passion of Jon of Arc (Dir. Carl Theodore Dreyer, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 82 mins) In 1926 Danish film director Dreyer was invited to make a film in France by the Societe Generale des Films and chose to direct a film about Joan of Arc, due to her renewed popularity in France (having been canonised as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1920 and subsequently adopted as one of the patron saints of France). Apparently discarding a script provided by the Societe, Dreyer spent over a year researching Joan of Arc including study of the actual transcripts of her trial before producing a script of his own. In the title role Dreyer cast the little-known stage actress Renee Jeanne Falconnetti who had previously acted in just two previous, inconsequential films, both back in 1917. The film focuses upon the trial and eventual execution of Joan of Arc after she is captured by the English. Although not a popular success at the time, the film attracted immediate critical praise. The New York Times critic wrote “…as a film work of art, this takes precedence over anything so far produced. It makes worthy pictures of the past look like tinsel shams. It fills one with such intense admiration that other pictures appear but trivial in comparison.” Falconnetti’s performance has been widely lauded with critic Pauline Kael writing in 1982 that her portrayal “…may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.” The film was subsequently re-edited against Dreyer’s wishes and his original version was long thought lost. But in 1981 a near perfect copy was found in the attic of a psychiatric hospital in Oslo. The Passion of Joan of Arc now regularly appears in ‘Top Ten’ lists not just of silent films but best films of all time. Find out more at rogerebert.com . With live musical accompaniment by Mike Nolan (piano) and vocalist (tbc). Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link
De Mille Day A celebration of legendary film-maker Cecil B. DeMille Film titles to be confirmed but provisionally include; Why Change Your Wife? (1920), a classic romantic comedy in which a bored husband (Thomas Meighan) seeks to divorce his staid wife 
(Gloria Swanson) in favour of a jazz-age girl (Bebe Daniels); Let ‘Er Go Gallagher (1928), starring Frank Coghlan Jr. and Harrison Ford (the original one!) in an adaptation of Richard Harding Davis’s 1891 story about a newspaper copy boy who turns detective; The Affairs of Anatol (1921), starring Wallace Reid as a serial philanderer, Gloria Swanson as his wife and Bebe Daniels among his paramours; The Volga Boatman (1926), starring William Boyd and Elinor Fair in a romantic adventure set against the background of the Russian Revolutio, and ; Male and Female (1919), a version of J. M. Barrie’s play The Admirable Crichton, starring Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan among the desert island castaways who find the established social order changes in their new setting. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. Curated by Kevin Brownlow. With live piano accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth, London Link
17 November
Chicago (Dir. Frank Urson & Cecil B.DeMille (uncredited), US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 118mins ) Seventy-five years before Bob Fosse’s Oscar-winning musical version of Maurine Watkins’ successful stage play, Cecil B. DeMille’s production company made this saucy silent film version. Phyllis Haver is hugely entertaining as the brazen Roxie Hart “Chicago’s most beautiful murderess” – a woman so pathologically shallow she sees notoriety for a murder rap as an 
opportunity to secure her fortune. Egged on by her crooked lawyer (“they’ll be naming babies after you”) Roxie neglects her long-suffering loyal husband and sets about milking her celebrity status for all she’s worth. The sequence in the prison is an absolute delight – particularly the rivalry between Roxie and fellow-murderess Velma (played by DeMille’s mistress), as are the climactic courtroom scenes. A cracking, satire on fame and the media, this fun-filled tale of adultery, murder and sin (so sinful that DeMille – known for his Biblical epics – was at pains to keep his name off the credits) is as fresh and relevant as ever. Find out more at wikipedia.org . Presented by South West Silents. With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. Curzon, Clevedon Link
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Dir. Robert Wiene, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 77 mins) In the village of Holstenwall, fairground hypnotist Dr Caligari (Werner Krauss) puts on show a somnambulist called Cesare (Conrad Veidt) who has been asleep for twenty three years. At night, Cesare walks the streets murdering people on the doctor’s orders. A student (Friedrich Feher) suspects Caligari after a friend is found dead and it transpires that the doctor is the director of a lunatic asylum. Fueled by the pessimism and gloom of post-war Germany, the sets by Hermann Warm stand unequaled as a shining example of Expressionist design. Find out more at wikipedia.org. With live organ accompaniment by Donald MacKenzie. Musical Museum, Brentford Link
18 November
Sherlock Holmes ( Dir. Arthur Berthelet, Us, 1916) (Screening format – not known, 116mins) Long considered lost until a complete dupe negative was identified in the vaults of la Cinémathèque française in 2014 this William Gillette film is a vital missing link in the history of Sherlock Holmes on screen. By the time it was produced at Essanay Studios in 1916, Gillette had been established as the world’s foremost interpreter of Holmes on stage-having played him approximately 1300 times since his 1899 debut. This newly-restored edition, thanks to the monumental efforts of both the San Francisco 
Silent Film Festival and la Cinémathèque française, represents the sole surviving appearance of Gillette’s Holmes on film. The film faithfully retains the play’s famous set pieces-Holmes’s encounter with Professor Moriarty, his daring escape from the Stepney Gas Chamber, and the tour-de-force deductions. It also illustrates how Gillette, who wrote the adaptation himself, wove bits from Conan Doyle’s stories ranging from A Scandal in Bohemia to The Final Problem, into an original, innovative mystery play. Film restorer Robert Byrne says, “It’s an amazing privilege to work with these reels that have been lost for generations. William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes has ranked among the holy grails of lost film and my first glimpse of the footage confirms Gillette’s magnetism. Audiences are going to be blown away when they see the original Sherlock Holmes on screen for the first time”. Find out more at moviessilently.com. With live musical accompaniment by Francis Strange. The Clockwork Rose, Bristol Link
Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Dir. Benjamin Christensen, Swe., 1922) ( Screening format – not known, 105mins) A fictionalized documentary with dramatic reconstructions showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in modern (1922) Europe. Based partly on Christensen’s study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century 
German guide for inquisitors, Häxan is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch hunts. Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden when first released, Haxan was heavily censored or banned outright in many countries. But it is now considered to be Christensen’s finest work, a witches’ brew of the scary, the grotesque, and the darkly humorous. Find out more at thedevilsmanor.blogspot.co.uk .Presented as part of the Leeds International Film Festival. With live organ accompaniment by Darius Battiwalla. Town Hall, Leeds Link
20 November
South West Silents Club Night – featuring Anna Ondra For this evening SWS promise you a fascinating film that you are unlikely to have seen before, an early time-shifting horror/drama starring the immortal Anny Ondra. Polish born (but very much classed as a Czech actress) Ondra’s career would take her all over Europe starring in Czech, Austrian, and German comedies in the 1920s; and in some British dramas, most notably Alfred Hitchcock’s The Manxman and Blackmail (both 1929). Later on Ondra made some 40 more films in the sound era, the last in 1957. Presented by South West Silents. With recorded score. The Lansdown Public House, Clifton, Bristol Link
21 November
Working in Shadows (Dir. unknown, UK,1943) (Screening format – not known, c60mins) It’s 1943 and it’s all hands to the pump on the Home Front. When the Second World War was declared in 1939, the female population of Britain were called upon to fill all manner of roles. Women stepped up on the Home Front and abroad, which saw their lives drastically change. Elliott’s of Newbury was a manufacturing firm whose workforce, during the 1940s, was predominantly female. The factory was adapted to war work, and amongst other things was responsible for producing various Spitfire components as one of many Shadow Factories. The firm commissioned a series of films from this period detailing the work it was doing. These films are held in the extensive collection of Hampshire County Council’s Wessex Film & Sound Archive and this is an unmissable opportunity to see archive footage that has not been publicly shared in over 75 years. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. The Forge, Basingstoke Link
22 November
Moulin Rouge (Dir. E.A. Dupont, Br, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 122 mins) Directed by the great E. A. Dupont (Varieté, Piccadilly) and one of the most lavish British films of the silent era in both budget and scope, Moulin Rouge stars Jean Bradin, Eve Gray and Russian-German screen sensation Olga Tschechowa in the story of a young aristocrat driven to a suicide attempt after falling in love with a young dancer and her elegant, ravishingly beautiful 
mother. Set in and around the famous dance-halls of Paris, Moulin Rouge showcased British International Pictures’ engagement of leading Continental film-makers during the late 1920s. The first British film directed by expressionist pioneer Ewald Andre Dupont, it also features Werner Brandes’ stylish, distinctively European cinematography and art direction by Oscar winner Alfred Junge. Filmed at Elstree through the winter of 1927, Moulin Rouge is an incredibly entertaining, energetic and sexy film which pulls you right back into 1920s Parisian life and society, an era, in which, anything goes. Find out more at thespinningimage.co.ukPresented by South West Silents. With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. Cube Cinema, Bristol Link
23 November
A Cottage on Dartmoor (Dir. Anthony Asquith, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 84mins) Joe (Uno Henning) works as a barber in a shop in a Devon town, alongside a manicurist called Sally (Norah Baring). He becomes infatuated with her and asks her out but it is clear that Sally does not reciprocate Joe’s feelings. Joe’s infatuation with her develops into obsession. Meanwhile a young farmer Harry (Hans Schlettow), begins to woo Sally and the couple begin seeing each other which leaves Joe in despair. After a fight with Harry, Joe is jailed but swears revenge on Harry and Sally. A Cottage on Dartmoor is a tale of love and revenge set in the bleak landscape of Dartmoor and a thoughtful distillation of the best of European silent film techniques from a director steeped in the work of the Soviet avant-garde and German expressionism. One of the last films of the silent era and a virtuoso piece of film-making, A Cottage on Dartmoor was a final passionate cry in defence of an art form soon to be obsolete. Find out more at silentfilm.org. With live musical accompaniment by Wurlitza. Art Cinema, Plymouth Link
A Trip to the Moon/ Le Voyage Dans la Lune (Dir. Georges Melies, Fr, 1902), (Screening format – not known, 13 mins). A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 French adventure film inspired by a wide range of sources, including the works of novelist Jules Verne The film follows a group of astronomers who travel to the moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore its surface, escape from an underground city of lunar inhabitants and return to Earth. Filmed in the overtly theatrical style which marked out Méliès work, the film remains the best-known of the hundreds of films made by Méliès, and is widely regarded as the earliest example of the science fiction film genre and, more generally, as one of the most influential films in cinema history. Find out more at filmsite.org. Tara Franks from Soundscreative will be asking the audience (Age 5+) to work together to come up with sounds, effects and music that form a new soundtrack to Georges Méliès’ silent classic. Barbican, London Link
24 November
Working in Shadows (Dir. unknown, UK,1943) (Screening format – not known, c60mins) It’s 1943 and it’s all hands to the pump on the Home Front. When the Second World War was declared in 1939, the female population of Britain were called upon to fill all manner of roles. Women stepped up on the Home Front and abroad, which saw their lives drastically change. Elliott’s of Newbury was a manufacturing firm whose workforce, during the 1940s, was predominantly female. The factory was adapted to war work, and amongst other things was responsible for producing various Spitfire components as one of many Shadow Factories. The firm commissioned a series of films from this period detailing the work it was doing. These films are held in the extensive collection of Hampshire County Council’s Wessex Film & Sound Archive and this is an unmissable opportunity to see archive footage that has not been publicly shared in over 75 years. With live musical accompaniment . Forest Arts, New Milton Link
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blache Alice Guy-Blaché was first female pioneer filmmaker of the early days of cinema. She understood the potential of the newly-invented cinematograph as a powerful narrative tool and was one of the first ever filmmakers to make films with a plot. Despite her prolific career (over 1000 films) and invaluable contribution to the history of cinema, Alice Guy-Blaché was largely erased from history…until now. Narrated by Jodie Foster, this fascinating documentary tells her story from the beginnings as Gaumont secretary, to her eclectic 20-year career in the film industry. Find out more at benaturalthemovie.com. Presented as part of the French Film Festival 2019. IFI, Dublin Link
Napoleon (Dir. Abel Gance, 1927) (Screening format – 3 screen polyvision, 332 mins) Gance’s astounding biopic of Napoleon traces his career from his schooldays (where a snowball fight is staged like a military campaign), his flight from Corsica, through the French Revolution (where a real storm is intercut with a political storm) and the Terror, culminating in his triumphant invasion of Italy in 1797. The film ends here because it was intended to be part one of six, but 
Gance was unable to raise the money to make further episodes. The film’s legendary reputation is due to the astonishing range of techniques that Gance uses to tell his story (including fast cutting, extensive close-ups, hand-held camera shots, location shooting, point of view shots, multiple camera set-ups, multiple exposure, superimposition and under water shots) culminating in the final twenty-minute triptych sequence, which alternates widescreen panoramas with complex multiple- image montages. This is the most complete version of the film available, compiled by Academy Award-winning film-maker, archivist and historian Kevin Brownlow who spent over 50 years tracking down surviving prints from archives around the world since he first saw a 9.5mm version as a schoolboy in 1954. Find out more at BFI and Wikipedia With recorded Carl Davis orchestral score. The Walwyn Hall, Lambourn, Berkshire Link
26 November
Phantom Of The Opera (Dir. Rupert Julian, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 103mins) A title that needs no introduction, The Phantom of the Opera has spawned many remakes, remasters and sequels. This original film version, produced with moments of early Technicolour, sees Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ perform one of his most iconic roles. His ghastly make-up and outrageous performance made this title a benchmark in the American silent film era. The film was a critical and commercial success upon 
release, and still stands as an important film in cinematic history to this day, with press quotes from the time labeling the film an ‘ultra-fantastic melodrama’ (New York Times), ‘produced on a stupendous scale’ (Moving Picture World) and ‘probably the greatest inducement to nightmare that has yet been screened’ (Variety). The mysterious phantom (Lon Chaney) is a vengeful composer living in the catacombs under the Paris Opera House, determined to promote the career of the singer he loves (Mary Philbin). Famed for the phantom’s shock unmasking, incredible set designs and the masked ball sequence, it still packs a punch. Find out more atwikipedia.orgWith live organ accompaniment by David Briggs. Temple Church, Temple, London EC4 Link
27 November
Claire (Dir. Robert Dinesen, Ger, 1924) (Screening format – 35mm, ? mins) Claire – or, in full, Claire: die geschichte eines jungen mädchens (`the story of a young girl’) – is a 1924 German drama produced by Paul Ebner and Maxim Galitzenstein for Maxim-Film. It stars Hungarian actress Lya de Putti, in a role felt by some to anticipate that played by Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box (1928), as she strives to avoid the attentions of five men. Other cast members include Eduard von Winterstein, Theodor Loos, Erich Kaiser-Titz, Frida Richard, Maria Peterson, Eberhard Leithoff, Alfred Haase, Johanna Zimmermann, Karl Platten and Ilka Grüning. Photography was by Julius Balting. Copenhagen-born director Robert Dinesen is best recalled for his acting role opposite Asta Neilsen in her 1910 debut, Afgrunden (The Abyss). The original German release of Claire, through Süd-Film, was on 25 October 1924. It took until 1927 for the film to reach Britain, where it was released as Passions of Men. It is this version, in a print from the BFI, that will be screened tonight. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live piano accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link
28 November
Working in Shadows (Dir. unknown, UK,1943) (Screening format – not known, c60mins) It’s 1943 and it’s all hands to the pump on the Home Front. When the Second World War was declared in 1939, the female population of Britain were called upon to fill all manner of roles. Women stepped up on the Home Front and abroad, which saw their lives drastically change. Elliott’s of Newbury was a manufacturing firm whose workforce, during the 1940s, was predominantly female. The factory was adapted to war work, and amongst other things was responsible for producing various Spitfire components as one of many Shadow Factories. The firm commissioned a series of films from this period detailing the work it was doing. These films are held in the extensive collection of Hampshire County Council’s Wessex Film & Sound Archive and this is an unmissable opportunity to see archive footage that has not been publicly shared in over 75 years. With live musical accompaniment . Eldon Building, Portsmouth University, Portsmouth Link
Steampipes Silent Film Concert – Supporting the historic Festiniog, Talyllyn and Welshpool & Llanfair narrow gauge railways of Wales, rare and classic archive films from the golden age of steam railways are introduced by compere Rob Foxon, with Len Rawle on the Mighty Wurlitzer accompanying the silent films. Enjoy newly discovered footage being screened for the first time, including railways on the Isle of Wight in the 1930’s, a day in the life of an engine driver (Nine Elms locomotive depot) in 1949, Welsh narrow-gauge railways and much more. Screened as the original film-makers intended; using real film projected on the big screen! Musical Museum, Brentford Link
30 November
The General (Dir. Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman, 1926) (Screening format – DCP, 75mins) Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made and one of the most revered comedies of the silent era, Buster Keaton’s effortless masterpiece sees hapless Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray (Keaton) facing off against Union soldiers during the American Civil War. When Johnny’s fiancée, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is accidentally taken away while on a train stolen by Northern forces, Gray pursues the soldiers, using various modes of transportation in comic action scenes that highlight Keaton’s boundless, innovative wit and joyful, lighthearted dexterity, to reclaim the train and thereby save the South. Find out more at busterkeaton.com . With recorded score. BFI Southbank, London Link
Nanook of the North (Dir. Robert J Flaherty, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 79 mins) Robert Flaherty’s classic film tells the story of Inuit hunter Nanook and his family as they struggle to survive in the harsh conditions of Canada’s Hudson Bay region. Enormously popular when released in 1922, Nanook of the 
North is a cinematic milestone that continues to enchant audiences. Filmed from 1920-1921 in Port Harrison, Northern Quebec, Flaherty brought an entirely unknown culture to the western world. It describes the trading, hunting, fishing and migrations of a group barely touched by industrial technology. Nanook of the North was widely shown and praised as the first full-length, anthropological documentary in cinematographic history, but it is a film around which controversy still rages, particularly over Flaherty’s inclusion of staged sequences. In a sad footnote, the hunter at the centre of the film Allakariallak (dubbed Nanook by Flaherty) died of starvation not long after the film’s release. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com. With live musical accompaniment by Edinburgh group ‘Sink’. Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link
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