1 October
Bela (Dir. Vladimir Barskiy, USSR, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 83 mins) Against a backdrop of ravishing mountain scenery, the morally vacuous ‘hero’ Perochin, arrives at a mountain regiment near a Circassian village in the Caucasus. After a few months of agonising boredom, he is drawn to the 
youngest daughter of the Circassian prince, Bela. He hatches a plot with her brother Azamat to kidnap Bela but tragedy looms. Bela is the second film in director Vladimir Barskiy’s trilogy based on Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time and made in Georgia. Barskiy is perhaps best known for his performance as Commander Golikov in Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin having started directing and acting in theatre in 1892. As well as working in Georgia he was also active in establishing film industries in Uzbeckistan and Turkmenistan. Find out more at imdb.com. Presented as part of the London Georgian Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. Cine Lumiere, London Link
A Buster Keaton Trio In The Love Nest, Buster escapes an unhappy love affair by taking to see in a little boat, and in The Balloonatic, he accidentally floats away on top of an enormous hot-air balloon. These were Keaton’s final short films, made exactly a hundred years ago. We finish with Cops, which sees Buster chased through the streets by an entire police department in one of silents cinema’s most brilliant action-comedy sequences. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Will Pound (harmonicas and accordions) and Jonny Best (piano). Winter Gardens, . Link
Would You Believe It (Dir, Walter Forde, UK, 1929) (Screening format – 35mm, 57mins) Although now sadly almost forgotten, Walter Forde was one of the biggest British comedy stars of the silent era before going on on to become a successful and versatile director, making over 40 films in the 1930s and 1940s. In Would You Believe It he plays Walter (he nearly always played a 
character called Walter!), a would-be inventor. After trials and failures he comes up with a remote-control system with military potential. At this point the invention and Walter become the target of foreign spies. Whilst this is going on Walter, who fills in his time working in a toy shop, is also trying to win the affections of Pauline (Pauline Johnson, his regular female lead), who happens to work for the Ministry of War. A chase in the London Underground is one of the film’s highlights. Would You Believe It! was Forde’s final comedy feature as actor and it was subsequently re-released as a talkie. Find out more at screenonline.org.uk Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Trevor Bartlett (percussion) and Jonny Best (piano). Winter Gardens, . Link
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 Julia Faye, 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 Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by a specially-assembled four-piece band playing a jazz-style musical score featuring songs from the 1920s and 30s. Musicians include Jonny Best (piano) and Ben McCabe (percussion). Winter Gardens, . Link
The Last Laugh (Dir. F W Murnau, Ger, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 90mins) A landmark work of the silent era, F.W. Murnau’s masterpiece Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) is one of the most notable films made during the Weimar Republic. Emil Jannings, probably the greatest actor of his time, stars as an ageing doorman whose happiness crumbles when he is relieved of the duties and uniform which had, for years, been the foundation of his pride and which compensates for him living in a slum. The 
Last Laugh is not just the plight of a single doorman, but a mournful dramatisation of the frustration and anguish of the universal working class, a clash of the old and the new, and how one individual is lost in the modern cityscape of the early twentieth century. However, the plot of The Last Laugh is just half the story. Dispensing with the customary 
inter-titles and filming while moving the camera in extraordinarily inventive ways, Murnau and his cinematographer, Karl Freund, transformed the language of film. In shooting the opening sequence, the camera descended in the hotel’s glass elevator and was then carried on a bicycle through the lobby. In addition, The Last Laugh succeeds in combining expressionist elements—such as extreme camera angles, distorted dream imagery, and disturbing light and shadow effects—with a complex psychological study of the main character in his fall from privilege. Find out more at rogerebert.com . Introduced by South West Silents’ James Harrison. With live piano accompaniment by Meg Morley. Watershed, Bristol Link
3 October
Our Hospitality (Dir. Buster Keaton/John G Blystone, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) Our Hospitality is a riotous satire of family feuds and Southern codes of honor. In 1831, Keaton leaves his home in New York to take charge of his family mansion down South. En route, Keaton befriends pretty Natalie Talmadge (Keaton’s real-life wife at the time), who invites him to dine at her family home. Upon meeting Talmadge’s father and brothers, Keaton learns that he is the last surviving member of a family with whom Talmadge’s kin have been feuding for over 20 years. The brothers are all for killing Keaton on the spot, but Talmadge’s father insists that the rules of hospitality be observed: so long as Keaton is a guest in the house, he will not be harmed. Thus, Keaton spends the next few reels alternately planning to 
sneak out of the mansion without being noticed or contriving to remain within its walls as long as possible. But once he is out of the house the chase is on, with the father and brothers in hot pursuit. In the climactic waterfall stunt a dummy stood in for Talmadge but Keaton used no doubles, and nearly lost his life as a result. This 7-reel silent film represents the only joint appearance of Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge; Keaton hoped that by spending several weeks on location with his wife, he could patch up their shaky marriage (it didn’t work). Also appearing are two other members of the Keaton family: Keaton’s ex-vaudevillian father Joe (who performs an eye-popping “high kick”) and his son Joseph Keaton IV, playing Buster as a baby. Find out more at wikipedia.org Presented by South West Silents, With live musical accompaniment by Meg Morley. Pound Arts, Corsham Link
4 October
Slapstick Afternoon A trio of slapstick mayhem with Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy. In One Week, Buster Keaton 
attempts to build his own house. In Big Business, Laurel & Hardy go door-to-door selling Christmas trees in Los Angeles which leads, somehow, to a spectacularly destructive finale. In Liberty, the boys find themselves trapped at the top of builder’s scaffolding, balanced precariously high above the city. Presented by Northern Silents. With live piano accompaniment by Adam Fairhall and Jonny Best.
NB ******* POSTPONED UNTIL 25 OCTOBER ****** Manolescu (Dir. Viktor Tourjansky, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – digital, 124mins) Known in German as Manolescu – Der König der Hochstapler (`the king of imposters’), the film stars Ivan Mouskojine as a confidence man working his way from Paris to New York. On a train journey to Monte Carlo he becomes involved with Cleo (Brigitte Helm), a society 
woman who is fleeing her husband. Made at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, the film also features location work at St. Moritz and Monte Carlo. Inspired by the true story of the Romanian fraudster Manolescu, a famed figure in the Berlin press in the years around 1900, Victor Tourjansky’s Manolescu was the second of four film adaptations of the short story by Hans Székely made in Germany between 1920 and 1972 ). It was the first truly major production by the Ukrainian director in Germany, where he arrived after being Abel Gance’s assistant director on Napoléon (1927), preceded by experience in Paris with Les Films Albatros, during which he established a working relationship with Ivan Mosjoukine. Find out more at ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu (1922) is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his 
ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live musical accompaniment by Minima. Venue TBC, Oxford Link
5 October
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 master work 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 Chris Green. Riverside Theatre, Colraine Link
6 October
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 master work 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 Chris Green. Market Place Theatre, Armagh Link
Another Fine Mess A trio of Laurel & Hardy shorts showcasing their slapstick brilliance. Ulverston-born Stan Laurel first appeared on the screen with Oliver Hardy in 1927 and they would go on to become the most beloved comedy duo of all time. In Duck Soup (their first film together), they break into a stately home and pretend to be aristocrats. In Do Detectives Think, they 
are a pair of inept policemen hired to protect Judge Foozel (played by James Finlayson) from a dangerous killer. And in The Finishing Touch, they’re house builders whose professional skills leave something to be desired. But whatever they try their hand at, and no matter how hard they try, they always make a mess of it. Presented by Northern Silents. With live piano accompaniment by Adam Fairhall and Jonny Best. Following the screening, Jonny Best of Northern Silents will be joined by Mark Cubin of the Laurel & Hardy Museum, Ulverston, for a Q&A and discussion on all things Laurel & Hardy.
7 October
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 musical accompaniment by Chris Green. Strand Arts, Belfast Link
Lotte Reiniger’s Fairy Tales Lillian Henley’s music and narration brings to life a selection of stories featuring princes, princesses, woodcutters, frogs, geese and more in a selection of fairy tale films featuring the beautiful silhouette animations of Lotte Reiniger. With live piano accompaniment by Lillian Henley. Barbican, London Link
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 piano accompaniment by Mike Nolan. Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link
13 October
Diary Of A Lost Girl (Dir. G W Pabst, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 106mins) A masterpiece of the German silent era, Diary of a Lost Girl was the second and final collaboration of actress Louise Brooks and director G.W. Pabst, just months after their first collaboration in the now-legendary Pandora’s Box 
(1929). Brooks plays Thymian Henning, a beautiful young woman raped by an unscrupulous character employed at her father’s pharmacy (played with gusto by Fritz Rasp, the villain of such Fritz Lang classics as Metropolis, Spione, and Frau im Mond). After Thymian gives birth to his child and rejects her family’s expectations of marriage, the baby is torn from her care, and Thymian enters a purgatorial reform school that seems less an institute of learning than a conduit for fulfilling the headmistress’s sadistic sexual fantasies. Find out more at rogerebert.com Presented by Northern Silents. With live piano accompaniment by Jane Gardner.
14 October
Neil Brand Presents Laurel And Hardy After the national success of his long-running show ‘Neil Brand Presents Buster Keaton’, the composer/writer/broadcaster/musician returns with an all-new show about the immortal comedy duo recently portrayed in the hit film ‘Stan and Ollie’. Fully illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, ‘Big Business’ and ‘Liberty,’ 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. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton Link
15 October
Hands of Orlac (Dir. Robert Weine, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 92mins) A gruesome psychological horror about a talented concert pianist (Conrad Veidt, ‘Casablanca’), whose precious hands are amputated after a calamitous accident. Replacements are grafted on but soon after his operation Orlac learns the horrible truth – his new hands were from the cadaver of a recently executed killer. Plagued by nightmarish visions, Orlac fears his hands are possessed by evil and that he has become a murderer himself. Made five years after his landmark ‘Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ director Robert Weine strikes a more sombre and restrained look for this creepy drama but wrings every terrible shudder out of the theme of an alien body with a mind of its own. Find out more at slantmagazine.com . With live piano accompaniment by Lillian Henley. Palace Cinema, Broadstairs Link
Sunday Slapstick In One Week, Buster Keaton is newly married and he attempts to build his first house from a flatpack kit. In The Immigrant, Charlie Chaplin arrives by boat in New York and attempts to make his way in the big city. In From Soup to Nuts, Laurel and Hardy are a pair of spectacularly inept waiters catering a high society banquet. Presented as part of the Northern Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Susannah Simmons (violin) and Jonny Best (piano). Link
A Chaplin Tribute To Composer Carl Davis In tribute to legendary film composer Carl Davis, Bar Short’s will screen three silent Charlie Chaplin Mutual Films with scores composed by Carl. These shorts are rarely seen in the cinema and chart the trajectory of the young Chaplin as he made his way from the new kid on the block to iconic film star. These films were programmed for Bar Shorts by Carl just before his passing. The films are: Behind the Screen (1916), The Cure (1917) and The Immigrant (1917). Recorded score. Followed by a Q&A with Carl Davis’s daughter Jessie Davis. Garden Cinema, London Link
The Black Pirate (Dir. Albert Parker, US, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 97mins) Actor and producer Douglas Fairbanks, having swashed his buckle as every other action hero – Zorro, Musketeer, Robin Hood – here turned pirate. It’s the perfect vehicle for his athleticism and sensational stunt work, as well as his not insignificant on-screen charisma. Importantly, he chose to film it in two-strip Technicolor, in a 
subtle ‘Old Master’ palette, which set a high bar for colour features to come. The story involves a young nobleman (Fairbanks) whose father is killed by pirates. He vows to avenge his dad’s death by becoming a buccaneer himself and routing out the villains. Along the way, he rescues damsel-in-distress Billie Dove (likewise of noble birth) and engages in a few bloody duels with the swarthy likes of Sam De Grasse and Anders Randolph. Charlie Stevens, a grandson of American Indian chief Geronimo — and whom Fairbanks regarded as a lucky charm — appears in several tiny roles. Find out more at silentfilm.org Presented as part of the London Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. BFI Southbank, London Link
16 October
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 musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Prince Charles Cinema, London Link
17 October
Sounding the Silents: Meet the Festival Musicians How do musicians go about creating new music for silent films? How do improvisers make up new music apparently on-the-spot? What are the differences between accompanying slapstick comedy and emotional drama? Just how does it all work? Musicians from this year’s Northern Silent Film Festival will spill the beans and share their insights in this fascinating online event. . Presented as part of the Northern Silent Film Festival. With a live Q&A session. On-line only. Link
19 October
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 . With live organ accompaniment. Regent Street Cinema, London Link
Neil Brand Presents Laurel And Hardy After the national success of his long-running show ‘Neil Brand Presents Buster Keaton’, the composer/writer/broadcaster/musician returns with an all-new show about the immortal comedy duo recently portrayed in the hit film ‘Stan and Ollie’. Fully illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, Big Business and Liberty, 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. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth Link
20 October
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 Jane Gardner (piano) and Hazel Morrison (percussion). Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link
Neil Brand Presents Laurel And Hardy After the national success of his long-running show ‘Neil Brand Presents Buster Keaton’, the composer/writer/broadcaster/musician returns with an all-new show about the immortal comedy duo recently portrayed in the hit film ‘Stan and Ollie’. Fully illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, Big Business and Liberty, 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. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Walker Theatre, Shrewsbury Link
21 October
Slapstick For Children Join Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and a host of others as they spread chaos and laughter in this Saturday morning show for children of all ages (and their adults!) Laurel & Hardy try to build a house, Charlie Chaplin makes a mess 
of moving a piano – plus a mischievous cartoon cat and a strange band of disappearing street musicians. This 50 minute show brings live-scored silent film alive for children, and includes opportunities to join in with making music and sound effects. The performance is most suitable for children five years old and over, but children and babies of all ages are welcome. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Liz Hanks (cello) and Jonny Best (piano)
Buster Keaton at 100 In 1923, Buster Keaton made his final short film and his first feature. The Love Nest sees Buster escape from an unhappy love affair by putting to sea in his little boat. In his first feature, Three Ages, Buster playfully sends up D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance by adopting a trilogy structure, with three parallel stories taking place in prehistoric times, Ancient Rome, and the Roaring Twenties. Three Ages contains plenty of Buster’s trademark slapstick gags and stunts as our charming but diminutive hero attempts to compete with macho Wallace Beery for the love of Margaret Leahy. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Trevor Bartlett (percussion) and Jonny Best (piano)
Aelita – Queen Of Mars (Dir. Yakov Protazanov, USSR, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 113mins ) Reality and fantasy, revolutionary zeal, and bitter jealousy mix in Yakov Protazanov’s hugely influential yet rarely screened drama, whose impressive constructivist production design by 
Aleksandra Ekster has been a reference point for countless sci-fi films since. Tormented by a cryptic wireless message from Mars, engineer Los embarks on a journey into the unknown that sees him woo the Martian queen Aelita – fiercely portrayed by iconic actress and director Yuliya Solntseva – and lead an uprising against the planet’s corrupt rulers. Aelita remains one of the most ambitious endeavours of Soviet Russia’s silent cinema, and a bold showcase of its avant-garde design. Find out more at silentfilm.org . Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Frame Ensemble, a group of Northern musicians specialising in improvised silent film accompaniments, comprising Liz Hanks (cello), Trevor Bartlett (percussion), and Jonny Best (piano).
22 October
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. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by electronic musician Field Lines Cartographer.
Asphalt (Dir. Joe may, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 94mins) From its amazing opening sequence of human and vehicular traffic sweeping through a nighttime cityscape entirely created inside the Ufa film factory, Asphalt marks a late addition to the eye-catching, mind-bending artistry of the German Expressionist cinema of the 
’20s. Joe May’s Asphalt is a love story set in the traffic-strewn Berlin of the late 1920s. Starring the delectable Betty Amann in her most famous leading role, Asphalt is a luxuriously produced Ufa classic where tragic liaisons and fatal encounters are shaped alongside the constant roar of traffic. A well-dressed lady thief (Betty Amann) steals a precious stone from a jewellery shop. The aged jeweller prefers to let the young woman go, but the policeman who catches her explains he is obliged to pursue the case further. She tries to seduce the policeman (Gustav Fröhlich), and he gradually succumbs to her 
charms, but her criminal background dooms their relationship when an argument leads to murder. Joe May’s sensual drama of life in the Berlin underworld is in many ways the perfect summation of German film-making in the silent era: a dazzling visual style, a psychological approach to its characters, and the ability to take a simple and essentially melodramatic story and turn it into something far more complex and inherently cinematic. Find out more at moviessilently.com Introduced by South West Silents’ James Harrison. With live piano accompaniment by Meg Morley. Watershed, Bristol Link
23 October
The General (Dir. Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman, 1926) + The Great Train Robbery (Dir. Edwin S Porter, US, 1903) (Screening format – not known, 75/12mins) 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 The General 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 The Great Train Robbery is a twelve-minute escapade which wowed audiences in 1903 and still packs a punch 120 years later. Find out more at moviessilently.com Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Will Pound (harmonica).
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu (1922) is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Prince Charles Cinema, London Link
24 October
So This is Paris (Dir: Ernst Lubitsch, US, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 80mins) A clever American silent comedy from Germany’s master director Ernst Lubitsch starring Monte Blue and Patsy Ruth Miller. Paul is happily married to Suzanna, living together in a quiet suburb. Then Suzanna discovers their new neighbours are expressive dancers with revealing outfits and demands that Paul complain to them about their lack of morality. But when Paul knocks on their door, he meets an old flame. Four-way complications result and are only resolved finally in an astounding Charleston sequence! Find out more at sensesofcinema.com. Presented as part of the Northern Silents Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by pianist Jonny Best. Link
25 October
NB **** Rescheduled from 4 October ****
Manolescu (Dir. Viktor Tourjansky, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – digital, 124mins) Known in German as Manolescu – Der König der Hochstapler (`the king of imposters’), the film stars Ivan Mouskojine as a confidence man working his way from Paris to New York. On a train journey to Monte Carlo he becomes involved with Cleo (Brigitte Helm), a society woman who is fleeing her husband. Made at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, the film also features location work at St. Moritz and Monte Carlo. Inspired by the true story of the Romanian fraudster Manolescu, a famed figure in the Berlin press in the years around 1900, Victor Tourjansky’s Manolescu was the second of four film adaptations of the short story by Hans Székely made in Germany between 1920 and 1972 ). It was the first truly major production by the Ukrainian director in Germany, where he arrived after being Abel Gance’s assistant director on Napoléon (1927), preceded by experience in Paris with Les Films Albatros, during which he established a working relationship with Ivan Mosjoukine. Find out more at ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link
Blackmail (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1929) (Screening format – digital, 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 (and subsequently re-issued in a sound version). 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 Introduced by BFI National Archive Curator Bryony Dixon. With live musical accompaniment. BFI Southbank, London Link
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. Presented by Northern Silents. With live electro-acoustic musical accompaniment by musicians Ben Gaunt, Naomi Perera and Rob Bentall.
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 musical accompaniment by Minima. St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol Link
26 October
Slapstick For Children Join a host of silent comedy stars as they spread chaos and laughter in this Saturday morning show for children of all ages (and their adults!) This 45 minute show brings live-scored silent film alive for children, and includes opportunities to join in with making music and sound effects. The performance is most suitable for children five years old and over, but children and babies of all ages are welcome. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano)
The Haunted House (Dir. Edward F. Cline, US, 1921) ( Screening format – not known, 21 mins) ) Keaton plays an honest young bank teller. But there is scheming afoot; the cashier (big Joe Roberts) is part of a ring of crooks. Factor in a house the crooks have have fixed up to appear haunted in order to throw off the police, plus a troop of itinerant actors in skeleton costumes who unknowingly take shelter in the house and you have all the elements for hilarious chaos. Find out more at wikipedia.org Complementing Buster Keaton will be a collection of spooky silent short films including Edison’s 1910 Frankenstein, and a creepy and experimental adaptation of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Neil Brand.
27 October
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. St John’s Church, Notting Hill Link
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 musical accompaniment by Chris Green. Guildhall, Leicester Link
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dir.Wallace Worsley, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 117mins) A classic silent film, full of drama, frights, romance, and excitement – Quasimodo’s story is told with the thrilling addition of a live score – bringing this extraordinary movie to life like never before. Quasimodo is ordered to kidnap a gypsy girl, Esmerelda, by his wicked master, and an unlikely friendship forms between them. However, the reclusive hunchback is tested to his limits when Esmerelda is framed for attempted murder, and must fight back against the powers that have subjugated him. Victor Hugo’s tragic tale of the deformed bellringer and his love for Esmeralda, a doomed gypsy girl, has been filmed so many times and it’s not hard to see the film’s ageless appeal. While some movie lovers who cite the 1939 Charles Laughton version as their favorite interpretation, the general consensus is that Chaney remains the definitive Quasimodo. Find out more at wikipedia.org. With live organ accompaniment by Aaron Hawthorne. Worthing Theatres and Museum, Worthing Link
The Fall of The House of Usher (Dir. Jean Epstein, Fr, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 63 mins) An unnamed man pays a visit to the decaying, aristocratic mansion of his childhood friend, Roderick Usher. He finds Usher to be demented… obsessed by death, consumed with fear that his beloved wife Madeline will die, and no less fearful that she will be buried alive. He spends his days painting an eerily lifelike portrait of Madeline, but with each brushstroke the life seems to drain from her. Director Jean Epstein and screenwriter 
Luis Buñuel studiously avoided cheap shocks and opted for a controlled, spookily subtle technique, in this tale of hereditary madness. Epstein’s version changes the relationship of Madeline and Roderick from brother and sister to husband and wife but matches the horror and menace of Poe’s story, with weird, surreal images and an insidious atmosphere conveyed by the glowering halls, fluttering curtains, and nightmarish suggestiveness of the veil and coffin. Look out for French director Abel Gance, fresh from directing Napoleon (1927) in a minor role while his then wife, Marguerite, stars as Madeline. Find out more at rogerebert.com. Presented as part of the London Month of the Dead Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne and Elizabeth Jane Baldry Guy’s Hospital Chapel, London Link
28 October
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live musical accompaniment by Chris Green. The Arc, Winchester Link
Another Fine Mess Three fantastic Laurel and Hardy silent film comedies, comprising Duck Soup in which the boys pose as aristocrats and squat in a stately mansion, in Two Tars they’re sailors on shore leave, and in Big Business they try selling Christmas trees in sunny Los Angeles. Whatever these two get up to, they make a mess of it! Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment.
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 Julia Faye, 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 Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by a specially-assembled four-piece band playing a jazz-style musical score featuring songs from the 1920s and 30s. Theatre, Link
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 musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Prince Charles Cinema, London Link
29 October
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live musical accompaniment by Chris Green. Arts Centre, Shaftesbury Link
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dir.Wallace Worsley, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 117mins) A classic silent film, full of drama, frights, romance, and excitement – Quasimodo’s story is told with the thrilling addition of a live score – bringing this extraordinary movie to life like never before. Quasimodo is ordered to kidnap a gypsy girl, Esmerelda, by his wicked master, and an unlikely friendship forms between them. However, the reclusive hunchback is tested to his limits when Esmerelda is framed for attempted murder, and must fight back against the powers that have subjugated him. Victor Hugo’s tragic tale of the deformed bellringer and his love for Esmeralda, a doomed gypsy girl, has been filmed so many times and it’s not hard to see the film’s ageless appeal. While some movie lovers who cite the 1939 Charles Laughton version as their favorite interpretation, the general consensus is that Chaney remains the definitive Quasimodo. Find out more at wikipedia.org. With live organ accompaniment by Aaron Hawthorne. New Victoria Centre, Howden-le-Wear Link
Faust (Dir. F W Murnau, Ger, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 107mins) Like Fritz Lang, F.W. Murnau is a towering figure of Weimar cinema, thanks to films such as Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), and, after moving to America, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927). Murnau’s approach to framing and his use of liberating camera movements suggested to subsequent filmmakers a new way of using the pictorial space. Faust, the director’s final German film, draws on sources including Marlowe and Goethe in service of the story of a man who makes a deal with the devil. Murnau’s Faust was the most technically elaborate and expensive production undertaken by Ufa until it was surpassed by Metropolis the following year. Filming took six months, at a cost of 2 million marks, only half of which was recovered at the box office. According to many film historians, Faust seriously influenced subsequent studio shooting and special effects techniques. Murnau used two cameras, each filming multiple shots; with many scenes requiring multiple takes. Faust was Murnau’s last German film, immediately prior to his move to the US. Find out more at rogerebert.com. Presented as part of the London Month of the Dead Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Guy’s Hospital Chapel, London Link
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 labelling 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 Grok. Genesis Cinema. London Link
The Magician (Dir. Rex Ingram, US, 1926) (Screening format – 35mm, 83 mins) The heart blood of a virgin. That’s what deranged medical student Oliver Haddo needs for his malevolent scheme to create life. He finds it in a lovely sculptor he hypnotizes and spirits off to an ancient sorcerer’s 
tower, preparing to rip her heart from her living body. Director Ingram (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) cast his wife and frequent leading lady Alice Terry and Paul Wegener, who terrified movie audiences in The Golem, in this seminal horror-fantasy film based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Bizarre, nightmarish, enhanced by top production values and elegant European locations, The Magician is a must for aficionados of the horror genre or indeed of imaginative movie-making. Find out more at apocalypselaterfilm.com. Introduced by BFI National Archive Curator Bryony Dixon. With live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. BFI Southbank, London Link
Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde (Dir. John S. Robertson ,US, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 79mins) Not the first cinematic version of Stevenson’s famous story but one of the most memorable with John Barrymore’s classic transformation scenes, a mixture of facial and bodily contortions as well as make–up. He tends to be hammy as the leering beast of a thug but brings a tortured struggle to the repressed doctor, horrified at the demon he’s unleashed, guilty that he enjoys Hyde’s unrestrained life of drinking and whoring and terrified that he can no longer control the transformations. Martha Mansfield co-stars as his pure and innocent sweetheart, and Nita Naldi (the vamp of Blood and Sand) has a small but memorable role as the world-weary dance-hall darling who first “wakens” Jekyll’s “baser nature”. The film uses elements from a 1887 stage version of Stevenson’s original novella by Thomas Russell Sullivan. A huge box office success on its release. Find out more at moviessilently.com With live organ accompaniment by Donald MacKenzie. The Musical Museum, Brentford Link
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 labelling 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 organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. Regent Street Cinema, London Link
Neil Brand Presents Laurel And Hardy After the national success of his long-running show ‘Neil Brand Presents Buster Keaton’, the composer/writer/broadcaster/musician returns with an all-new show about the immortal comedy duo recently portrayed in the hit film ‘Stan and Ollie’. Fully illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, Big Business and Liberty, 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. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Elgiva, Chesham Link
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 musical accompaniment by Minima. Turnberries Community Centre, Thornbury Link
30 October
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live musical accompaniment by Chris Green. Little Theatre, Leicester Link
31 October
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dir.Wallace Worsley, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 117mins) A classic silent film, full of drama, frights, romance, and excitement – Quasimodo’s story is told with the thrilling addition of a live score – bringing this extraordinary movie to life like never before. Quasimodo is ordered to kidnap a gypsy girl, Esmerelda, by his wicked master, and an unlikely friendship forms between them. However, the reclusive hunchback is tested to his limits when Esmerelda is framed for attempted murder, and must fight back against the powers that have subjugated him. Victor Hugo’s tragic tale of the deformed bellringer and his love for Esmeralda, a doomed gypsy girl, has been filmed so many times and it’s not hard to see the film’s ageless appeal. While some movie lovers who cite the 1939 Charles Laughton version as their favorite interpretation, the general consensus is that Chaney remains the definitive Quasimodo. Find out more at wikipedia.org. With live organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. Town Hall, Birmingham Link
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live musical accompaniment by Chris Green. Theatre @41, York Link
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) Nosferatu is one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com With live organ accompaniment by Nicholas Miller. Heath Street Baptist Church, London NW3 Link
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Dir. F W Murnau, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 96mins) To mark its 100th anniversary, this is a very special screening of the recently fully restored version of F W Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), one of the most iconic films of the German expressionist era, let alone cinema itself. In this first-ever screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, a simple real-estate transaction leads an intrepid businessman deep into the superstitious heart of Transylvania. There he encounters the otherworldly Count Orlok (portrayed by the legendary Max Schreck, in a performance the very backstory of which has spawned its own mythology) who soon after embarks upon a cross-continental voyage to take up 
residence in a distant new land… and establish his ambiguous dominion. The film was an unauthorised adaption of Stoker’s ‘novel with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain the rights to the story. 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 master work of the cinema. Brilliantly eerie, with imaginative touches which later adaptions never achieved and featuring some of the most iconic images in cinema history, Nosferatu continues to haunt modern audiences with its unshakable power of gothic imagery and blood curdling suspense.. Find out more at www.rogerebert.com Presented as part of the Northern Silents Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Liz Hanks (cello) and Jonny Best (piano). Link
Neil Brand Presents Laurel And Hardy After the national success of his long-running show ‘Neil Brand Presents Buster Keaton’, the composer/writer/broadcaster/musician returns with an all-new show about the immortal comedy duo recently portrayed in the hit film ‘Stan and Ollie’. Fully illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment and culminating in two of the Boys’ best silent short films, Big Business and Liberty, 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. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Stables, Milton Keynes Link
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