North of England

8 May

Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns Roll up for a night of cracking silent film slapstick introduced by Paul Merton and accompanied live at the piano by Neil Brand. Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy all performed on the City Varieties stage – tonight, they’re back, side-by-side, in a packed bill of silent comedy masterpieces. Paul Merton and Neil Brand’s acclaimed blend of live performance and classic silent film has entertained audiences all over the UK. Tonight, they kick off the 3rd Yorkshire Silent Film Festival with a one-off gala event in Yorkshire’s most beautiful comedy venue. Paul Merton says: “I’m thrilled beyond words to be presenting my favourite silent comedians – Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy – at the iconic City Varieties theatre in Leeds, in some of the funniest films ever made. With live music provided by the brilliant Neil Brand, the evening promises to be a comic cavalcade of fantastic fun and laughter.” Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds Link

11 May

Oliver Twist (Dir. Frank Lloyd, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 74mins) Oliver Twist is brought up in the workhouse along with all the other orphans – until the day he asks for more gruel. An outraged Mr Bumble takes Oliver out into the street to be sold, beginning an adventure that will take Oliver to the depths of London’s criminal underworld and the heights of wealthy London society. Charles Dickens’ novel is brought to vivid life in this 1922 version starring Jackie Coogan (fresh from his success the year before in Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid), and the great Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces, as Fagin. Find out more at tcm.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With a specially commissioned score from celebrated composer and musician Neil Brand, performed live by the Covent Garden Sinfonia conducted by Ben Palmer. Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

12 May

Another Fine Mess – A Laurel and Hardy Triple Bill Film titles TBC. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment from Neil Brand. Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Dir. Maurice Elvey, UK, 1921) (Screening format – not known, 60 mins) Investigating the mysterious death of Charles Baskerville, Sherlock Holmes and his faithful assistant Dr Watson discover the existence of a terrifying supernatural hound roaming the dark hills of Dartmoor. Conan Doyle’s most famous Sherlock Holmes story is brought to spooky life in this 1921 British silent film, with Eille Norwood in the role of Holmes, a casting approved of by Conan Doyle himself. This film was one of 45 shorts and 2 feature length films of the Sherlock Holmes stories made by Stoll Studios between 1921 and 1923, all featuring Norwood in the role of Holmes, giving him the record for the most appearances as Sherlock Holmes in film. Find out more at imdb.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion). Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

South (Dir. Frank Hurley, UK/Aus, 1919) (Screening format – not known, 88mins). Australian filmmaker Frank Hurley’s record of Shackleton’s 1914-17 Antarctic expedition is also a document of life – human and otherwise – striving to survive in the most adverse climatic conditions imaginable. More than a mere chronicle of an epic undertaking, the film is visually magnificent, its images of the vast frozen wilderness composed with a meticulous attention to framing and light. Find out more at moviessilently.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Neil Brand. Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

French Cinema Double Bill – Menilmontant (Dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff, Fr, 1926) + L’invitation au Voyage (Dir. Germaine Dulac, Fr, 1927) (Screening format – 35/16mm, 38/37 mins) 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 . One of the major figures of the French film avant-garde of the 1920s and an early feminist, Germaine Dulac combined narratives of psychological realism with the visual techniques of the French Surrealist movement. In the rarely screened L’Invitation au Voyage, she employs a minimum of plot and maximum of atmosphere to convey her tale of the intense desire generated between a bored young wife and a handsome naval officer who meet in a Paris cabaret. Find out more at imdb.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Sue Harding (foley), Rebecca Glover (foley), Jonny Best (piano). Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

Beggars of Life (Dir. William Wellman, 1928) (Screning format – not known, 81 mins) Nancy (Louise Brooks), is a young woman on a farm who kills her foster father when he attempts to rape her. She is assisted in escaping from the farm by Jim (Richard Arlen), a young hobo who has stopped to ask for food. By dressing in rough men’s clothing, Nancy, with the assistance of Jim, eludes the police. They hop a freight train and, when thrown off by the brakeman, they wander into a hobo camp. The hobo camp is run by Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery), a villain….or maybe not! Alternately action-packed and lyrical, and with a nail-biting final scene set atop a speeding train, Beggars of Life is an American classic. Find out more at silentfilm.org . Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from harpist Elizabeth Jane Baldry. Picture House, Hebdon Bridge 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 from the legendary Babe Ruth) 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. An engaging caper, shot on location in New York, Speedy shows off the city as it was in 1928, including a breathtaking sequence at Coney Island’s Luna Park and a hair-raising finale chase through the streets of Manhattan. Find out more at allmovie.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Neil Brand. Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

The Unknown (Dir. Tod Browning, US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 51 mins) To escape the police, serial killer Alonzo poses in a sideshow as an armless wonder. He falls in love with Estrellita, and when his identity is discovered by her father, Alonzo kills him. Then, discovering that the girl abhors the touch of a man’s hand, he has both his arms amputated. Returning, he finds to his dismay that she has fallen in love with Malabar, the strong-man. Is all lost for Alonzo….The Unknown was the sixth of ten collaborations between Chaney and director Tod Browning. Its circus theme was a favorite of Browning’s, both on and off screen. Chaney was already “The Man of a Thousand Faces” when he appeared in The Unknown but in this film Chaney didn’t need to rely on heavy make-up to transform himself for a role. For The Unknown, Chaney reported, “I contrived to make myself look like an armless man, not simply to shock and horrify you but merely to bring to the screen a dramatic story of an armless man.” Find out more at moviessilently.com . Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion). The film will be introduced by Vanessa Toulmin from the University of Sheffield. Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

Salome (Dir. Charles Bryant, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 74mins) This is a film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play of the same name and is a loose retelling of the biblical story of King Herod and his execution of John the Baptist at the request of Herod’s stepdaughter, Salome, whom he lusts after. The film stars Alla Nazimova who, though largely forgotten today, was an international sensation in the early 20th century. Born in Yalta in 1879, she studied acting at Constantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Arts Theatre in the 1890s. In 1907, she found acclaim on Broadway, where her groundbreaking performances in European Modernist plays by Anton Chekov, August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen generated millions of dollars. Six years later, Metro put Nazimova under contract at $13,000 per week, making her the highest-salaried actress in the industry. The highly stylized costumes, exaggerated acting, minimal sets, and absence of all but the most necessary props in Salome make for a screen image much more focused on atmosphere and on conveying a sense of the characters’ individual heightened desires than on conventional plot development and as such it has been labelled by some as one of the first ‘art films’ to be made in the US. But for all its style, the film was a popular failure and a financial disaster for Nazimova who had bankrolled its production and from which she never really recovered. But in the years since, its weirdly beautiful atmosphere and aesthetic – combining Art Nouveau, modernism and the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age – have led to its growing recognition as an exotic gem, and a cornerstone of camp. To find out more see www.loc.gov. With live musical accompaniment by Circuit des Yeux’s Haley Fohr and her band performing a newly commissioned original soundtrack. Howard Assembly Rooms, Leeds Link

13 May

Another Fine Mess – A Laurel and Hardy Triple Bill Film titles TBC. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment from Jonny Best. St Margaret’s Church, York Link

Sunrise; A Song of Two Humans (Dir. F W Murnau, US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 94mins) F W Murnau’s debut American film, made at the technical zenith of the silent era but already heralding the arrival of the talkies being one of the first silents made with synchronized musical score and sound effects soundtrack. The simple story of a husband’s betrayal of his wife with a treacherous city girl, Sunrise moves from a fairytale-like depiction of rural life to a dynamic portrait of the bustling modern American city. Explored in elaborate tracking shots by Charles Rocher and Karl Struss’s pioneering camerawork, the city set was one of the most costly yet produced. The result was a commercial flop, though the achievement did not go unheralded: Sunrise was awarded a special Oscar for unique and artistic production at the first ever Academy Awards and Janet Gaynor won the first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. The film’s legacy has endured, and it is now widely considered a masterpiece with many calling it the greatest film of the silent era. Find out more at theguardian.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live accompaniment from harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry. National Centre for Early Music, York Link

Shiraz (Dir. Franz Osten, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 97mins) Based on a play by Indian author Niranjan Pal, Shiraz tells the fictionalised love story of the 17th-century princess who inspired the construction of the Taj Mahal. It was directed by Germany’s Franz Osten, one of at least 17 films he made in India between 1925 and 1939, best known of which are The Light of Asia (1925) and A Throw of Dice (1929). Shot entirely on location in India with an all-Indian cast, it features lavish costumes and gorgeous settings – all the more impressive in this restoration by the BFI National Archive with specially-commisioned score. The film was the brainchild of producer Himansu Rai, who also stars as humble potter Shiraz, who follows his childhood sweetheart (Enakshi Rama Rau) when she’s sold by slave traders to the future emperor (Charu Roy). Upon its release Shiraz was a considerable critical and popular success and received rave reviews when the restored version was screened at last year’s London Film Festival. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live accompaniment by internationally acclaimed pianist Utsav Lal (making his silent-film score debut). Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Link

14 May

Oliver Twist (Dir. Frank Lloyd, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 74mins) Oliver Twist is brought up in the workhouse along with all the other orphans – until the day he asks for more gruel. An outraged Mr Bumble takes Oliver out into the street to be sold, beginning an adventure that will take Oliver to the depths of London’s criminal underworld and the heights of wealthy London society. Charles Dickens’ novel is brought to vivid life in this 1922 version starring Jackie Coogan (fresh from his success the year before in Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid), and the great Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces, as Fagin. Find out more at tcm.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano), Elizabeth-Jane Baldry (harp). Trinity Church, Ossett, Yorks Link

15 May

Oliver Twist (Dir. Frank Lloyd, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 74mins) Oliver Twist is brought up in the workhouse along with all the other orphans – until the day he asks for more gruel. An outraged Mr Bumble takes Oliver out into the street to be sold, beginning an adventure that will take Oliver to the depths of London’s criminal underworld and the heights of wealthy London society. Charles Dickens’ novel is brought to vivid life in this 1922 version starring Jackie Coogan (fresh from his success the year before in Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid), and the great Lon Chaney, the man of a thousand faces, as Fagin. Find out more at tcm.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano), Elizabeth-Jane Baldry (harp). Choppards Mission, Holmfirth, Yorks Link

16 May

17 May

Professor Vanessa’s Performing Wonders Yorkshire Silent Film Festival is taking part in a nationwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of circus. Professor Vanessa’s Performing Wonders features early films of dancing pigs, eye-popping circus performers, balancing wonders and other amazing sights. This extravagant musical showcase of the late-Victorian and Edwardian performance will be introduced by Professor Vanessa herself. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. Curated and presented by Vanessa Toulmin. Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough Link

Hamlet (Dir. Svend Gade/Heinz Schall, Ger, 1921) (Screening format – not known, 130mins) A unique vision of the cursed Dane, this silent take on Shakespeare’s drama stands the test of time thanks to a unique and brilliant twist. Starring the gorgeous Danish siren Asta Nielsen this adaption supposes that Hamlet’s inner turmoil centred on having been born a girl but having to pass incognito as the male heir to the throne. Find out more at silentsplease.wordpress.com Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live accompaniment from harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry. Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough Link

0º00 Navigation and Buster Keaton in The Railrodder Simon Faithfull is an artist whose work has been directly influenced by Buster Keaton. Like Keaton, Faithfull often appears on screen within his work as a lone, blank-faced figure and both Faithfull and Keaton are often on doomed or absurd quests that usually end in disappointment. In the first half of the evening, Simon Faithfull introduces a screening of his film 0º00 Navigation, which is in part a homage to Keaton and records an obsessive and deranged journey exactly along the Greenwich Meridian (the 0º line of Longitude). To follow, a rare opportunity to see one of Buster Keaton’s last film appearances in the 1965 Canadian short The Railrodder, in which Keaton doggedly crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. Both films will have live musical accompaniment and a post-screening Q&A with artist Simon Faithfull. Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds Link

18 May

Beggars of Life (Dir. William Wellman, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 81 mins) Nancy (Louise Brooks), is a young woman on a farm who kills her foster father when he attempts to rape her. She is assisted in escaping from the farm by Jim (Richard Arlen), a young hobo who has stopped to ask for food. By dressing in rough men’s clothing, Nancy, with the assistance of Jim, eludes the police. They hop a freight train and, when thrown off by the brakeman, they wander into a hobo camp. The hobo camp is run by Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery), a villain….or maybe not! Alternately action-packed and lyrical, and with a nail-biting final scene set atop a speeding train, Beggars of Life is an American classic. Find out more at silentfilm.org . Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best (piano), Jacqui Wicks (ukeleke/voice), Seonaid Mathieson (violin). Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough Link

Man With a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 68mins) Part documentary and part cinematic art, this film follows a city in the 1920s Soviet Union throughout the day, from morning to night. Directed by Vertov, with a variety of complex and innovative camera shots (filmed by Vertov’s equally talented and innovative brother Mikhail Kaufman), the film depicts scenes of ordinary daily life in Russia. Vertov celebrates the modernity of the city, with its vast buildings, dense population and bustling industries. While there are no titles or narration, director and cameraman still naturally convey the marvels of the modern city. Find out more at rogerebert.com . Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Laurene Durantel (bass, piano, vocals). Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Link

19 May

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 from the legendary Babe Ruth) 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. An engaging caper, shot on location in New York, Speedy shows off the city as it was in 1928, including a breathtaking sequence at Coney Island’s Luna Park and a hair-raising finale chase through the streets of Manhattan. Find out more at allmovie.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best. Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough Link

20 May

Silent Film Accompaniment Workshop Musicians from Yorkshire Silent Film Festival will lead a fun, practical workshop performing live musical accompaniment to silent film. Working with a selection of silent film scenes, we’ll create a score as a group and then perform it. The workshop is suitable for musicians of all types and levels of experience. Organised as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. Chapel FM Arts Centre, Leeds Link

Another Fine Mess – A Laurel and Hardy Triple Bill Film titles TBC. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment from Donald Sosin. Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds Link

French Cinema Double Bill – Menilmontant (Dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff, Fr, 1926) + La Souriante Madame Beudet (The Smiling Madame Beudet) (Dir. Germaine Dulac, Fr, 1923) (Screening format – 35/16mm, 38/38 mins) 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 . 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 . Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Sue Harding (foley), Rebecca Glover (foley), Jonny Best (piano). Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds Link

Hamlet (Dir. Svend Gade/Heinz Schall, Ger, 1921) (Screening format – not known, 130mins) A unique vision of the cursed Dane, this silent take on Shakespeare’s drama stands the test of time thanks to a unique and brilliant twist. Starring the gorgeous Danish siren Asta Nielsen this adaption supposes that Hamlet’s inner turmoil centred on having been born a girl but having to pass incognito as the male heir to the throne. Find out more at silentsplease.wordpress.com Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live accompaniment from pianist Donald Sosin. Film introduced by Judith Buchanan, University of York. Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds. Link

21 May

22 May

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 from the legendary Babe Ruth) 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. An engaging caper, shot on location in New York, Speedy shows off the city as it was in 1928, including a breathtaking sequence at Coney Island’s Luna Park and a hair-raising finale chase through the streets of Manhattan. Find out more at allmovie.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Donald Sosin. Victoria Hall Kirkgate Settle Link

23 May

The Late Mathias Pascal (Dir. Marcel L’Herbier, Fr, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 171mins) Mathias Pascal (Ivan Mosjoukine), only son of a once rich family, marries beautiful Romalinda, but his wife’s mother soon makes both his home life and his job as assistant librarian in his home town a nightmare. Shocked by the death of both his own mother and his son, Pascal sneaks off to Monte Carlo, where he wins a fortune at the Casino. Returning home, he reads his own obituary in a paper. A body found in a creek is mistakenly believed to be Pascal. Mathias, now apparently free from all ties to his old live, decides to start a new one, and moves to Rome. But fate has much more in store for Mathias Pascal. Find out more at tcm.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best (piano), James Wood (percussion) & Trevor Bartlett (vibraphone). The screening will be introduced by Elisabetta Girelli from University of St Andrews. Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Link

24 May

25 May

The Mark of Zorro (Dir. Fred Niblo, US, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 90mins) The mysterious Zorro – who he is, nobody knows. Appearing as if from nowhere, clad all in black, sword flashing, he defends the weak and strikes fear into the hearts of villains throughout the land as he carves his trademark ‘Z’ into the cheek of his opponent. The Hollywood adventure movie began here, with the greatest swashbuckler of them all, Douglas Fairbanks. The Mark of Zorro is silent cinema at its most dashing and romantic. The film was produced by Fairbanks for his own production company, Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corporation, and was the first film released through United Artists, the company formed by Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and D W Griffith. Fairbanks biographer Jeffrey Vance, assessing the film’s legacy in 2008, writes: “The Mark of Zorro is a landmark, not only in the career of Douglas Fairbanks, but also in the development of the action adventure film. With this, his thirtieth motion picture, Fairbanks was transitioning from comedies to the costume films for which he is best remembered. Instead of reflecting the times,The Mark of Zorro offers an infusion of the romantic past with a contemporary flair….Beyond reenergizing his career and redefining a genre, Fairbanks’s The Mark of Zorro helped popularize one of the enduring creations of twentieth-century American fiction, a character who was the prototype for comic book heroes such as Batman.” Find out more at moviessilently.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Donald Sosin (piano) and Joanna Seaton (vocals). Leyburn Arts Centre The Old School House, Leyburn Link

South (Dir. Frank Hurley, UK/Aus, 1919) (Screening format – not known, 88mins). Australian filmmaker Frank Hurley’s record of Shackleton’s 1914-17 Antarctic expedition is also a document of life – human and otherwise – striving to survive in the most adverse climatic conditions imaginable. More than a mere chronicle of an epic undertaking, the film is visually magnificent, its images of the vast frozen wilderness composed with a meticulous attention to framing and light. Find out more at moviessilently.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion). Hull Truck Theatre, Hull Link

26 May

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 from the legendary Babe Ruth) 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. An engaging caper, shot on location in New York, Speedy shows off the city as it was in 1928, including a breathtaking sequence at Coney Island’s Luna Park and a hair-raising finale chase through the streets of Manhattan. Find out more at allmovie.com. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best (piano). Hull Truck Theatre, Hull Link

Prix de Beaute (Dir. Augusto Genino, Italy, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 113 mins) Louise Brooks plays Lucienne Garnier, an office typist who enters a beauty contest. When her jealous fiancé Andre (Georges Chalia) expresses his contempt for beauty contests she tries to withdraw but it is too late and she wins. Unbeknownst to Andre she leaves for Spain where she is entered in the Miss Europe contest. When Andre finds out he follows. By the time he arrives she has won the contest and is being courted by various rich socialites. Andre gives her an ultimatum, return home with him or they are through. But having experienced the highs of fame she now finds domestic life in Paris dull and tedious. The reappearance of one of her rich new acquaintances with the offer of a movie contract proves tempting but could also lead to tragedy. The last and least well known of Louise Brooks’ three forays into European film making, this is a beautiful film which offers Brooks huge scope to demonstrate the full range of her acting ability. Not to be missed. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment. Showroom Cinema, Sheffield Link

27 May

Empire (Dir. Andy Warhol, US, 1964) (Screening format – not known, 485 mins) The 3rd Yorkshire Silent Film Festival reaches its finale with the first UK cinema screening of Andy Warhol’s notorious, almost-never-seen minimalist epic, Empire (1964). Empire consists of a single stationary shot of the Empire State Building filmed from 8:06 p.m. to 2:42 a.m., July 25–26, 1964. The passage from daylight to darkness becomes the film’s narrative, while the protagonist is the iconic building that was the tallest in New York City. According to Warhol, the point of this film—perhaps his most famous and influential cinematic work—is to “see time go by.” This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a classic of experimental cinema. Find out more at wikipedia.org Presented as part of the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. Complementing the film will be newly composed original music by Monty Adkins. Abbeydale Picture House, Sheffield Link

NB. Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the information contained in these listings is accurate, silentfilmcalendar.org can take no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies. You are strongly advised to confirm with the venue that the event remains as detailed, particularly if traveling any distance to attend.

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