Live Screenings – February 2023 – Silentfilmcalendar.org

4 February

Battleship Potemkin (Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925) (Screening format – digital, 75mins) Considered one of the most important films in the history of silent pictures, as well as possibly Eisenstein’s greatest work, Battleship Potemkin brought Eisenstein’s theories of cinema art to the world in a powerful showcase; his emphasis on montage, his stress of intellectual contact, and his treatment of the mass instead of the individual as the protagonist. The film tells the story of the mutiny on the Russian ship Prince Potemkin during the 1905 uprising.Their mutiny was short-lived, however, as during their attempts to get the population of Odessa to join the uprising, soldiers arrived and laid waste to the insurgents. Battleship Potemkin is a work of extraordinary pictorial beauty and great elegance of form. The Odessa Steps sequence is unquestionably the most famous sequence of its kind in film history, and Eisenstein displays his legendary ability to convey large-scale action scenes. The shot of the baby carriage tumbling down the long staircase has been re-created in many films. Find out more at classicartfilms.com With recorded score. BFI IMAX, London Link

Sherlock Jnr (Dir. Buster Keaton, US, 1924) + City Lights (Dir. Charlie Chaplin, US, 1931) (Screening format – digital, 45/84 mins) In Sherlock Jr, a kindly movie projectionist (Buster Keaton) longs to be a detective. When his fiancée (Kathryn McGuire) is robbed by a local thief (Ward Crane), the poor projectionist is framed for the crime. Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station – only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theatre, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes. Although not a popular success on its initial release, the film has come to be recognised as a Keaton classic with its special effects and elaborate stunts making it a landmark in motion picture history. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Subtitled ‘A Comedy in Pantomime’, City Lights is viewed by many as Chaplin’s greatest film – a ‘silent film’ released three years into the talkie era. The melodramatic film, a combination of pathos, slapstick and comedy, was a tribute to the art of body language and pantomime – a lone hold-out against the assault of talking film. The writer-director-star achieved new levels of grace, in both physical comedy and dramatic poignancy, with this silent tale of a lovable vagrant falling for a young blind woman who sells flowers on the street (a magical Virginia Cherrill) and mistakes him for a millionaire. Though this Depression-era smash was made after the advent of sound, Chaplin remained steadfast in his love for the expressive beauty of the pre-talkie form. The result was the epitome of his art and the crowning achievement of silent comedy. Find out more at rogerebert.com. With recorded score. BFI Southbank, London Link

The Kid (Dir. Charles Chaplin, US, 1921) + Chess Fever (Dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin and Nikolai Shpikovsky, USSR,1925) + The Cameraman’s Revenge (Dir. Ladislaw Starewicz, Russia, 1912) (Screening format – not known, 68/28/13mins) Chaplin’s first full-length feature The Kid is a silent masterpiece about a little tramp who discovers a little orphan and brings him up but is left desolate when the orphanage reclaims him. Beneath the comedy, there are definitely some more serious thematic elements at work and and the film is noted for its pathos. In that regard, the opening inter-title proves to be true: “A picture with a smile — and perhaps, a tear.”Chaplin directed, produced and starred in the film, as well as composed the score. Find out more at wikipedia.org . In 1925 Soviet citizens were transfixed by the International Chess Tournament being held at Moscow’s Hotel Metropol in November 1925 and the then up-and-coming director Pudovkin was asked to make a topical comedy about the ‘chess fever’ sweeping the nation. , simply titled Chess Fever. Find out more at moviessilently.com Ladislaw Starewicz was a pioneer of stop-motion animation, often using dried insect specimens and The Cameraman’s Revenge features a cast of beetles, dragonfly and grasshopper acting out a marital drama. Find out more at wcsu.edu With live musical accompaniment by Wurlitza. The Tolmen Centre, Constantine . Link

An evening of silent cinema Prepare to be transported back to an era when film soundtracks were orchestrated in front of spectators by live musicians. This is an unforgettable evening of early cinema with internationally acclaimed silent film pianist Stephen Horne. The programme includes: The High Sign (Buster Keaton), Le rêve des Marmitons (Segundo De Chomon), Now you tell One (Charley Bowers), L’écrin du Radjah (Gaston Velle) and The Immigrant(Charlie Chaplin). The evening will conclude with a Q&A where Stephen Horne will answer questions and chat to Simon Tyler of Creekside Vinyl. Gulbenkian Cinema, Canterbury Link

5 February

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 recorded score. Picture House Cinemas: Clapham, Crouch End, East Dulwich, Finsbury, Fulham Road, Greenwich, Hackney, Central, Ritzy, Stratford, West Norwood, Cambridge, Ashford, Edinburgh, Norwich, York, Brighton, Exeter, Liverpool, Bath, Oxford and Henley On Thames. Link

7 February

8 February

Beverly of Graustark (Dir. Sidney Franklin, US, 1926) + I Don’t Want to Be a Man (Dir. Ernst Lubitsch, Ger, 1918) The question posed in I Don’t Want to Be a Man is ‘Why do men have all the fun?’ Chastised for her lack of ladylike manners, a rebellious young woman (the ever exuberant Ossie Oswalda) dons top hat and tails and heads off to a fashionable Berlin night haunt. This gender-bending romp, made shortly before the end of WWI, is an utter delight Find out more at sensesofcinema.com. In Beverly of Graustark Marion Davies starred in yet another dual role as the American Beverly Calhoun who masquerades as her cousin Oscar, who happens to be the Prince of Graustark, a small European monarchy. This was the second time that Davies masqueraded as a male (the first being Little Old New York), and critics and audiences applauded the effort. The film is often cited as Davies’ most profitable film because of low production costs and big box office. Beverly of Graustark was the movie that really brought out Davies’ aptitude for physical comedy, establishing the persona later seen to such delicious effect in Show People and The Patsy (both 1928). Find out at moviessilently.com Presented by the Kennington Bioscope and the Vito Project. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, London Link

10 February

The Kid (Dir. Charles Chaplin, US, 1921) + One Week (Dir. Buster Keaton/Eddie Cline, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 68/19mins) Chaplin’s first full-length feature The Kid is a silent masterpiece about a little tramp who discovers a little orphan and brings him up but is left desolate when the orphanage reclaims him. Beneath the comedy, there are definitely some more serious thematic elements at work and and the film is noted for its pathos. In that regard, the opening inter-title proves to be true: “A picture with a smile — and perhaps, a tear.”Chaplin directed, produced and starred in the film, as well as composed the score. Find out more at wikipedia.org . One Week sees Buster and his new bride struggling with a pre-fabricated home unaware that his bride’s former suitor has renumbered all of the boxes. Find out more at wikipedia.org With live musical accompaniment by Wurlitza. Plymouth Arts Centre . Link

11 February

12 February

Neil Brand presents Laurel and Hardy Neil Brand, composer, pianist, broadcaster and champion of silent cinema, tells the touching story of what he regards as the world’s greatest comedy team, Laurel and Hardy. Abundantly illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment, the programme culminates in two of the Boys’ best silents from 1929, Big Business and Liberty. It’s an event that promises gales of laughter throughout. With live piano accompaniment. BFI Southbank, London Link

15 February

The Cigarette Girl from Mosselprom (Dir. Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky, USSR, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 78mins) In stark contrast to most films made immediately after the Russian Revolution, this is a delightful and boisterous comedy satirizing Soviet life and the making of movies in the 1920’s. Zina (Yuliya Solntseva) a cigarette girl, is loved by a middle-aged assistant bookkeeper, but before he can declare his affections, a movie company discovers and hires Zina as an actress. On the set, Zina meets the movie’s cameraman and they fall in love. But all seems lost when the studio, an American businessman and fate tear them apart and Zina has to return to her old job. Director Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky received his early training at the famous Rus Film Studio where he started off as a cameraman eventually working as cinematographer for Soviet SF classic Aelita: Queen of Mars (1924) which also starred Yuliya Solntseva who would herself go on to become a director, eventually becoming the first woman to win a Best Director award at Cannes. The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom, though declared a “bourgeois comedy,” was one of the most successful of all Russian silent films and remains the director’s greatest work of art. Find out more at moviessilently.com Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by comedian and actor Lucy Porter. With live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. Watershed , Bristol Link

Fred Karno: The Legend Behind The Laughter Without the wit, grit and creativity of Exeter-born Fred Karno, the Slapstick Festival itself might not exist. Karno was the acrobat, gag deviser and impresario who recruited and trained many of the physical performers who gave Hollywood its slapstick comedy stars, such as Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Will Hay. The festival is delighted, therefore, to host an illustrated conversation between Andrew Kelly (Bristol ideas) and David Crump – author of a definitive new biography of the man whose mantra “If in doubt, fall on your arse” influences so many of the entertainers Slapstick celebrates. Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Watershed , Bristol Link

Onscreen Wonder Women Comedian and Slapstick favourite Lucy Porter and Jane Duffus, author of the ‘What The Frock Book of Funny Women’, present and discuss their picks from a new collection of rarely-seen silent comedy films in collaboration with Kino Lober. The films, made between 1898 to 1926, feature slapstick high jinks, swipes at authority, gender swaps, feminist protests, and rebellions against the behaviour generally expected or demanded of women in those times. The collection is drawn from international film archives. Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival in partnership with Bristol Ideas.. With live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. The former Bristol Imax Cinema, Bristol Aquarium Link

16 February

Charlie’s London: A Success Story Join Ayşe Behçet for insights into how the discovery that she, her mother and grandmother were all born in the same part of London as Charlie Chaplin led to her becoming an internationally respected authority on the star’s early years, a blogger with many thousands of social media followers and to gaining enough support from crowd-funders to publish Charlie’s London: From East Lane to the Limelight – a Chaplin Estate-blessed biography in full-colour graphic comic format. In conversation with Andrew Kelly (Bristol Ideas). Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival in partnership with Bristol Ideas. Followed by a book signing with Ayse and illustrator Karl Stephan. Watershed, Bristol Link

I Kiss Your Hand, Madam (Dir. Richard Land, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 66mins) A rare chance to see Marlene Dietrich in one of the last films she made in Germany before she was spotted by actor/director Josef von Sternberg and taken to the States to star as Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), thus beginning her stratospheric Hollywood career. In this, her only silent comedy, she plays Laurence Gerard – her character was retitled Lucille for the film’s US release – who is newly divorced and switches her affections from the obese Percy Talandier (a scene-stealing performance from Károly Huszár, credited in the US as Charles Puffy) to someone she thinks is a rich Russian count ( Harry Liedtke), disbelieving her ex’s claims that the man is penniless and working as a waiter.. The introduction of class issues comes when she discovers that he really is a waiter and, thinking that he has been taking advantage of her, has him fired from his restaurant job. Find out more at imdb.com Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by renowned film historian Kevin Brownlow. With live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. Watershed , Bristol Link

Paths To Paradise (Dir. Clarence Badger, US, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 67mins) Paths to Paradise is one of the few surviving works of the almost-forgotten Raymond Griffith, a suave comic figure of the silent film genre. Without more of his films coming to light, there seems to be little to rescue Griffith & place him in the front ranks of silent film comedy even though in his day, he was as popular as Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd & Langdon. Paths To Paradise is a terrific screwball-type tale of two rival cat-burglars. Griffith and Betty Compson are both wonderful in this witty and stylish comedy, constantly playing a game of one-upmanship before deciding to join forces to steal a diamond. The film shows exactly what made Griffith special; it’s hard to imagine any of the other major clowns playing a role on the wrong side of the law like this in their mature work. That Griffith plays a rogue and gets away with it speaks volume for his skill at creating a character. The film also benefits from snappy direction by Clarence Badger, and some excellent comic support (as always) from Edgar Kennedy. Find out more at nitratediva.wordpress.com Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced live from New York by Silent Comedy Watch Party hosts Steve Massa & Ben Model Watershed , Bristol Link

Silent Comedy Gala: 1924 – Buster Keaton At The Double Two of Buster Keatons finest comedies; The Navigator (Dir. Donald Crisp/Buster Keaton, US, 1924)+ Sherlock Jnr (Dir. Buster Keaton, US, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 59/45 mins) In The Navigator, when wealthy and impulsive Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) decides to propose to his beautiful socialite neighbor, Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn McGuire), things don’t go as planned. Alhough Betsy turns Rollo down, he still opts go on the cruise that he intended as their honeymoon. When circumstances find both Rollo and Betsy on the wrong ship, with no one else on board, they end up with some hilarious high adventures on the high seas, which allows Keaton plenty of opportunities to display his trademark agility. Find out more at busterkeaton.com In Sherlock Jr, a kindly movie projectionist (Buster Keaton) longs to be a detective. When his fiancée (Kathryn McGuire) is robbed by a local thief (Ward Crane), the poor projectionist is framed for the crime. Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station – only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theatre, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes. Although not a popular success on its initial release, the film has come to be recognised as a Keaton classic with its special effects and elaborate stunts making it a landmark in motion picture history. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by comedian Graeme Garden and Keaton aficionado Polly Rose. With live musical accompaniment from the Ensemble ImproCinema, featuring Slapstick’s musical director Günter A. Buchwald and on percussion Frank Bockius. The former Bristol Imax Cinema, Bristol Aquarium Link

17 February

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 by South West Silents. With live piano accompaniment by Meg Morley. Pound Arts, Corsham Link

You’d Be Surprised (Dir. Arthur Rosson, US, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 65 mins) A diamond is stolen at a houseboat party given by the district attorney. He gives the thief a chance to return it by putting an empty box on a table and turning out the lights. When the lights are turned back on the box is gone, and the district attorney has a knife in his back and is quite dead. The police and the coroner arrive. There are several attempts made on the life of the coroner. Ruth Whitman is found hiding in a grandfather-clock, holding the gem box. She claims the box was pushed into her hands and she was pushed into the clock. The district attorney’s butler/valet tells the coroner he saw who killed his employer and a few minutes later he is also murdered. The mystery deepens. Newly restored and re-issued on DVD/Blu-Ray thanks to a successful crowd-funding campaign from Ben Model, a contemporary critic described it as “One of the very best or very worst comedies I ever saw” but when shown recently at Cinecon, Hollywood, it was judged the undisputed hit of the weekend. Find out more at moviessilently.com Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by renowned film historian Kevin Brownlow. With live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. Watershed , Bristol Link

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (Dir. Harry Edwards, US, 1926 ) ( Screening format – not known, 62mins) When baby-faced comedian Harry Langdon left Mack Sennett Studios to make features for First National, he wisely brought along the two Sennett staffers who helped make him a star: gag writer Frank Capra and director Harry Edwards. Langdon’s first feature-length comedy at his new studio was Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, which not only ranks as one of Harry’s best efforts, but also one of the funniest comedies ever made. Our hero plays a bumbling cobbler’s son who enters a cross-country walking race sponsored by shoe manufacturer John Burton (Edwards Davis). This he does partly to save his dad’s business, but mainly out of love for Burton’s daughter Betty (Joan Crawford), whom Harry knows only from her appearances on the Burton Shoe advertising billboards. As our hero tramp, tramp, tramps along, one mishap after another befalls him. At one point he is arrested and placed on a chain gang, leading to pantomimic tour de force in which the hapless Harry tries his best to make little rocks out of big ones. He also runs afoul of a belligerent herd of sheep, nearly plummeting off a cliff as a result. The climax finds Harry being literally swept off his feet by an outsized cyclone — a surprisingly convincing special-effects sequence staged entirely within the studio! Find out more at threemoviebuffs.com Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by renowned film historian Kevin Brownlow. With live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. Watershed , Bristol Link

Speedy (Dir. Ted Wilde, US, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 86mins) Harold Lloyd’s final silent film sees him reprise his ‘glasses character’ as a baseball-obsessed New Yorker (the film features a cameo by baseball legend Babe Ruth, evocative scenes shot at Coney Island and – pay attention – the first known use of the middle finger gesture, later banned under Hays Code rules) who becomes determined to save the city’s last horse-drawn streetcar, motivated in no small part by its owner being the grandfather of his love interest. Filled with Lloyd’s trademark rapid-fire visual humour and elaborate set-ups, it’s a fine example of his innovative approach to comedy. Find out more at allmovie.com. Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by renowned film historian Kevin Brownlow. With live musical accompaniment from the Ensemble ImproCinema.. The former Bristol Imax Cinema, Bristol Aquarium Link

18 February

The Extraordinary World Of Charley Bowers. Even heroes have heroes and for the internationally-admired animator, director, producer and Aardman Animations co-founder Peter Lord, one is Charles R (Charley) Bowers (1877 – 1946) – not only an accomplished cartoonist, creator of hundreds of the Mutt & Jeff animations beloved by audiences in the 1920s and a popular comedy actor, but also the inventor of a process enabling him to insert jaw-dropping stop-motion-based special effects into live action sequences. Presented as part of the Slapstick Festival. Introduced by Peter Lord. With live musical accompaniment Guenter A. Buchwald. Watershed, Bristol Link

19 February

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 With recorded score. Picturehouse Cinemas: Bromley, Clapham, Crouch End, East Dulwich, Finsbury Park, Fulham Road, Greenwich, Hackney, Central, Ritzy, Stratford, West Norwood, Cambridge, Ashford, Edinburgh, Norwich, York, Brighton, Exeter, Liverpool, Bath, Oxford and Henley on Thames. Link

21 February

L’Argent (Dir. Marcel L’Herbier, Fr, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 168mins) The tale of an innocent man getting caught up in the wreckage created by the speculations of rival bankers is an apposite one for our times. Inspired by Zola’s novel of the same name, L’Argent had a budget of five million francs and was a big international co-production featuring German stars Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel, three days of shooting in the Paris Bourse itself using 1500 actors and over a dozen cameramen, a night scene of expectant crowds in an electrified Place de l’Opéra, the construction of large sets of luxurious apartments and offices and even the interior of a bank. And yet within this film of excessive scale there is another, far more intimate film at work. For all the international high finance in operation, this is also a chamber piece that tells the story of solitary people in large rooms, who meet now and again, play out their power games and attempt to possess others. Find out more at silentfilm.org Without any soundtrack. Sands Films Cinema Club, Rotherhithe. Link NB Can also be watched on-line

26 February

Underground (Dir. Anthony Asquith, GB, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 84 mins) In 1920s London, during a normal hectic day on the Underground, mild mannered Northern Line porter Bill (Brian Aherne) falls for shop worker Nell (Elissa Landi). But their relationship is threatened by power station worker Burt (Cyril McLaglan) who also has eyes for Nell. Consumed by jealousy, Burt plots to discredit Bill with a plan that results in a daring chase through London’s underground and across rooftops of the city. Although Underground was only Asquith‘s second film he handles the melodramatic story with confidence and great sophistication. Underground is a rare study of 1920s working-class London, and offers a fascinating and historically interesting glimpse of its public transport system. Find out more at screenonline.org.uk With live piano accompaniment by Lillian Henley. Palace Cinema, Broadstairs Link

28 February

Steamboat Bill Jr (Dir. Buster Keaton/Charles Reisner, US, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 71 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 Presented by the Lucky Dog Picturehouse. With live musical accompaniment by Tom Temple Marlow. Wilton’s Musical Hall, London Link

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