May
3 May
Man With a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – DCP, 68mins)“An experiment in the creative communication of visible events without the aid of inter-titles, a scenario or theatre “aiming at creating a truly international absolute language of cinema,” is how the inter-titles describe what is about to be seen. Bold claims indeed, but in its awesome sophistication The Man with a Movie Camera does live up to them, making it one of the most contemporary of silent movies. The subject, the life of a city from dawn to dusk, was not original even for 1928, but its treatment was–the cameraman as voyeur, social commentator and prankster, exploiting every trick permissible with the technology of the day (slow motion, dissolves, split screens, freeze frames, stop motion animation, etc). A young woman stirs in her bed, apparently fighting a nightmare in which a cameraman is about to be crushed by an oncoming train. She wakes up, and the sequence is revealed to be a simple trick shot. As she blinks her weary eyes, the shutters of her window mimic her viewpoint, and the iris of the camera spins open. Self-reflexive wit like this abounds here–there’s even a delicious counterpoint made between the splicing of film and the painting of a woman’s nails. Find out more at openculture.com . With recorded score performed by The Alloy Orchestra. Picture House Cinema Exeter. Link
7 May
Greed (Dir. Erich Von Stroheim, US, 1924) (Screening format – 35mm, 132mins) The story of a brutish, but basically good-natured, miner McTeague (Gibson Gowland), who after setting up as a dentist in San Francisco, falls in love with Trina (ZaSu Pitts) who was previously the girlfriend of McTeague’s best friend Marcus (Jean Hersholt). Initially just mildly resentful when McTeague and Trina are married, Marcus becomes bitter when Trina wins a fortune on the lottery and causes McTeague to loose his dental practise. Corrupted by her financial gain Trina turns into a miserly shrew, hoarding her money to McTeague’s growing chagrin. Eventually all of this boils 
over into violence and murder. Filmed almost entirely on location and an almost page-by-page realisation of the Frank Norris novel it was based upon, Von Stroheim’s original cut of the movie came out at 42 reels or some ten hours of film. Repeatedly edited down by the studio to a mere two and a half hours Von Stroheim decried the ‘butchering’ of his film and apparently refused ever to watch the finally released version. This version divided the critics, between those who regarded it as a masterpiece and those dismissing it as an ‘epic of the sewer’. But by the early 1950s Greed‘s reputation began to grow, subsequently appearing on several lists of the greatest films ever made and remains extraordinary for its unflinching vision of the corrosive power of money.. The uncut version (believed to have been melted down by MGM to recover the silver nitrate content) has come to be known as the “holy grail” for film archivists, amid repeated false claims of the discovery of the missing footage. Find out more at filmsite.org . With live musical accompaniment. BFI Southbank, London Link
Safety Last (Dir. Fred C Newmeyer/Sam Taylor, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making it in the big city is harder than it looks. When he hears that a store manager will pay $1,000 to anyone who can draw people to his store, he convinces his friend, the “human fly,” (Bill Strother) to climb the building and split the profit with him. But when his pal gets in trouble with the law, he must complete the crazy stunt on his own. The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! is one of the great icons of film history (although it was achieved with a certain amount of film trickery) and this remains one of the best and best loved comedies of the silent era. Find out more at rogerebert.com. With recorded score. Chorley Theatre, Chorley Link
13 May
Another Fine Mess A trio of Laurel & Hardy’s classic silent comedy shorts comprising; Angora Love (Dir.Lewis Foster, US, 1929) in which Stan and Ollie are followed home by a stray goat; From Soup To Nuts (Dir. Edgar Kennedy, US, 1928) where the boys play inept waiters catering a posh dinner party, and: Liberty (Dir. Leo McCarey, US, 1929) where they are construction workers building a skyscraper….what could possibly go wrong! Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live improvised musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Jeff Davenport (percussion). , Link
The General (Dir. Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 75mins) Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made and one of the most revered comedies of the silent era, Buster Keaton’s effortless masterpiece sees hapless Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray (Keaton) facing off against Union soldiers during the 
American Civil War. When Johnny’s fiancée, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is accidentally taken away while on a train stolen by Northern forces, Gray pursues the soldiers, using various modes of transportation in comic action scenes that highlight Keaton’s boundless, innovative wit and joyful, lighthearted dexterity, to reclaim the train and thereby save the South. Find out more at busterkeaton.com . Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live improvised musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Jeff Davenport (percussion). , Link
14 May
Greed (Dir. Erich Von Stroheim, US, 1924) (Screening format – 35mm, 132mins) The story of a brutish, but basically good-natured, miner McTeague (Gibson Gowland), who after setting up as a dentist in San Francisco, falls in love with Trina (ZaSu Pitts) who was previously the girlfriend of McTeague’s best friend Marcus (Jean Hersholt). Initially just mildly resentful when McTeague and Trina are married, Marcus becomes bitter when Trina wins a fortune on the lottery and causes McTeague to loose his dental practise. Corrupted by her financial gain Trina turns into a miserly shrew, hoarding her money to McTeague’s growing chagrin. Eventually all of this boils 
over into violence and murder. Filmed almost entirely on location and an almost page-by-page realisation of the Frank Norris novel it was based upon, Von Stroheim’s original cut of the movie came out at 42 reels or some ten hours of film. Repeatedly edited down by the studio to a mere two and a half hours Von Stroheim decried the ‘butchering’ of his film and apparently refused ever to watch the finally released version. This version divided the critics, between those who regarded it as a masterpiece and those dismissing it as an ‘epic of the sewer’. But by the early 1950s Greed‘s reputation began to grow, subsequently appearing on several lists of the greatest films ever made and remains extraordinary for its unflinching vision of the corrosive power of money.. The uncut version (believed to have been melted down by MGM to recover the silver nitrate content) has come to be known as the “holy grail” for film archivists, amid repeated false claims of the discovery of the missing footage. Find out more at filmsite.org . With live musical accompaniment. BFI Southbank, London Link
The Wild Cat (aka Die Bergkatze) (Dir. Ernst Lubitsch, Ger, 1921) (Screening format – not known, 82 mins) Subtitled ‘A Grotesque in Four Acts’, The Wild Cat is an anarchic and playfully subversive satire of military life from one of the great comedy filmmakers. At a remote fort, the commander awaits the arrival of a new lieutenant, who is captured en route by a band of outlaws that 
roam the nearby, snow-covered mountains. But the daughter of the bandits’ leader quickly falls for the young officer, thus setting in motion an outrageous farce that is Lubitsch at his most unrestrained. Peter Bogdanovich described The Wildcat as “an uproarious, hard-edged anti-military spoof,” and ranked the film among the five funniest movies he’d ever seen. The film’s refreshingly unhinged approach is also reflected in it’s visual style, including a fortress that looks like a giant toy box and even the film’s framing, which continuously changes size and shape. Film writer Scott EymanIn in his book ‘Ernst Lubitch: Laughter in Paradise’, states, “In style, it is like nothing else committed to film,” and ultimately dubs it “an exercise in riotous artifice, as much pure fun as anything in Lubitch’s canon”. Find out more at moviessilently.com Presented as part of the Hexham Jazz Festival. With live musical accompaniment by pianist Paul Edis, bassist Paul Susans and drummer Steve Hanley performing a new jazz score composed and performed by saxophonist Graeme Wilson. Forum Cinema, Hexham Link
Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 mins ) Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city. Filming took place in 1925 at a cost of approximately five million Reichmarks, making it the most 
expensive film ever released up to that point. It is regarded as a pioneering work of science fiction and is among the most influential films of all time. Following its world premiere in 1927, half an hour was cut from Fritz Lang’s masterpiece and lost to the world. Eighty years later a spectacular discovery was made when the footage was found in a small, dusty museum in Buenos Aires. The film was then painstakingly reconstructed and digitally restored so that at last audiences could see the iconic futuristic fairy tale as Lang had envisioned it. Find out more at silentfilm.org Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) Link NB Double bill with Blade Runner (1982)
16 May
In Spring (Dir. Mikhail Kaufman, Ukr/USSR, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 54mins) In Spring is a masterpiece of Ukrainian avant-garde cinema, a non-fiction film made by Mikhail Kaufman, brother of the rather better known Dziga Vertov. Following the brothers joint work on Man With A Movie Camera (1929) creative differences led to them going their own 
separate ways. According to Kaufman “That year with Vertov we diverged in views for good and all and began to work independently. I was armed with a movie camera and had a multitude of methods concerning reflection of life. Regarding the topic of spring, I actually stumbled upon it by accident.” In Spring was Kaufman’s first solo project and is a cinematic poem to arrival of spring in nature as well as a new life in a society. With the first use of hidden camera it also offers a rare glimpse on everyday life in Soviet Ukraine during the New Economic Policy and the Soviet “indigenisation” programme. The film was long considered lost until a copy was discovered in 2005 at an archive in Amsterdam. Find out more at imdb.com . Presented as part of Birmingham’s Flatpack Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Ukrainian musicians Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin. Moseley Road Baths, Birmingham Link
17 May
The Westbound Limited (Dir. Emory Johnson, USA, 1923) + The Last Outlaw (Dir. Arthur Rossen, USA, 1927). (Screening format – 16mm, 62/63 mins) In The Westbound Limited, rugged young Johnny Buckley becomes an instant hero when he saves the life of Esther Miller, the only daughter of railroad tycoon Bernard Miller, when she is pinned by her horse on railroad tracks mere seconds before the thunderous arrival of Train 99, the very train that Johnny’s father Henry works as the engineer. When romance blossoms between 
Johnny and Esther, Miller’s closest adviser J. Lawrence Wilton becomes insanely jealous — because he wants Esther for himself. When she spurns his advances, he resolves to sabotage the train, even if it means killing everyone on board, including Miller. Once again, Johnny is thrust into the role of hero, racing against the clock to save the people who mean the most to him from certain death. Find out way more than you ever thought you needed at wikipedia.org. The Last Outlaw casts Gary Cooper as Buddy Hale, a young sheriff tasked to break a cattle rustling ring. But the problem is deciding just who is doing the rustling and why? Cooper is deterred somewhat from duty by falling for Janet Lane whose brother Jack is suspected of being one of the rustlers. Later on, when Jack is shot and killed and Janet believes the sheriff to be responsible it looks like their romance is at an end. Or is it…? Find out more at wikipedia.org Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, London. Link
19 May
Neil Brand presents Laurel and Hardy Neil Brand, composer, pianist, broadcaster and champion of silent cinema, tells the touching story of what he regards as the world’s greatest comedy team, Laurel and Hardy. Abundantly illustrated with stills, clips (both silent and sound) and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment, the programme culminates in two of the Boys’ best silents from 1929, Big Business and Liberty. It’s an event that promises gales of laughter throughout. With live piano accompaniment. The Corn Hall, Diss. Link
20 May
An Evening Of Early French Shorts Author and expert on early cinema Deac Rossell introduces a selection of colourised and black and white early Pathe and Gaumont short films including work by the great Segundo de Chomón. With live musical accompaniment by The Crooks Saxes, a South London based saxophone quartet. Cinema Museum, London Link
21 May
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 With live piano accompaniment by Lillian Henley. Palace Cinema, Broadstairs. Link
Man With a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 68mins)“An experiment in the creative communication of visible events without the aid of inter-titles, a scenario or theatre “aiming at creating a truly international absolute language of cinema,” is how the inter-titles describe what is about to be seen. Bold claims indeed, but in its awesome sophistication The Man with a Movie Camera does live up to them, making it one of the most contemporary of silent movies. The subject, the life of a city from dawn to dusk, was not original even for 1928, but its treatment was–the cameraman as voyeur, social commentator and prankster, exploiting every trick permissible with the technology of the day (slow motion, dissolves, split screens, freeze frames, stop motion animation, etc). A young woman stirs in her bed, apparently fighting a nightmare in which a cameraman is about to be crushed by an oncoming train. She wakes up, and the sequence is revealed to be a simple trick shot. As she blinks her weary eyes, the shutters of her window mimic her viewpoint, and the iris of the camera spins open. Self-reflexive wit like this abounds here–there’s even a delicious counterpoint made between the splicing of film and the painting of a woman’s nails. Find out more at openculture.com . Presented as part of Birmingham’s Flatpack Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment from Ukrainian musicians Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin and Birmingham’s own Sarah Farmer. CBSO Centre, Birmingham Link
Queens Of Disruption A programme of silent short films produced between 1903 and 1922 which explore feminist protest, slapstick rebellion, and suggestive gender play, spotlighting women who refuse to be boxed in, in rebellious and playful ways. The films will come with live musical accompaniment composed by students currently studying at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The programme comprises; Rosalie and her Phonograph (dir. Roméo Bosetti, France 1911, 4 mins) Composer: James Knowles ; The Nursemaid’s Strike (dir. André Heuzé, France 1907, 12 mins) Composer: Vato Klemera; Mary Jane’s Mishap (dir. George Albert Smith, UK 1903, 4 mins) Composer: Vinicius Faria Motta; Leontine’s Boat (dir. Roméo Bosetti, France 1911, 5 mins) Composer: Yizhou Wang; and, Cinderella (dir. Lotte Reiniger, Germany 1922, 13 mins) Composer: Kinna Whitehead. Presented as part of Birmingham’s Flatpack Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment. Printmaker’s Arms, Birmingham Link
The Unknown (Dir. Tod Browning, US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 63 mins) To escape the police, Alonzo, who has two thumbs on one hand, poses in a sideshow as an armless wonder. He falls in love with Estrellita, and when detected by her father, he 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 . Introduced by BFI Curator of Silent Film Bryony Dixon. With live musical accompaniment by Neil Brand. BFI Southbank, London Link
25 May
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org . With premier of new score performed live by composer and musician Malvern Brume (Rory Salter). Garden Cinema, London Link
27 May
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org . Introduced byJohn Wischmeyer. With recorded Nita Sawhney score. Garden Cinema, London Link
June
3 June
Slapstick For Children (And Their Adults) A 50 minute show which 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 of five years and over, but children and babies of all ages are welcome. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by the YSFF Ensemble. , Link
Cinema’s First Nasty Women – Strike. Striking nurses, violent milkmaids, and destructive housemaids run riot in this thirteen-film selection of badly-behaved women. Silent film curators Maggie Hennefield and Laura Horak have selected this programme from their Cinema’s First Nasty Women compilation disc of 99-films drawn from thirteen archives around the world and celebrating feminist protest, slapstick destruction, and gender non-conformity. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by the YSFF Ensemble. , Link
The Girl In Tails: A Light Summer Film Story (Flickan i frack: En sommarlätt filmhistoria) (Dir. Karin Swanström. Swe, 1926) (120 mins) Katja is about to graduate, but she has nothing to wear for the graduation ball. Her father, the eccentric inventor Carl Axel Kock does not spend much of his income on Katja while her brother Curry gets everything he wants. So on the day of the ball, Katja simply dresses up in her 
brother’s brand new evening attire and attends the dance, smokes cigars, drinks brandy–and causes a scandal. Director Karin Swanström plays the somewhat unflattering role of an ageing and overweight matriarchal widow (sporting double chin, flaring nostrils and piercing stare) in this amusing take on the conflict between diversity and conformity, tradition and change, with a surprisingly (for its time) feminist perspective. Find out more at silentfilm.org Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best. , Link
Steamboat Bill Jr (Dir. Buster Keaton/Charles Reisner, US, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 71 mins) In Steamboat Bill Jr a crusty river boat captain hopes that his long departed son’s return will help him compete with a business rival. Unfortunately, William Canfield Jnr (Buster Keaton) is an effete college boy. Worse still, he has fallen for the business rival’s daughter (Marion Byron). Featuring some of Buster’s finest and most dangerous stunts, it’s a health and safety nightmare maybe but it’s entertainment that will live forever. The final storm sequence is still as breathtaking today as it was on first release. Not a commercial success at the time, this is now rightly regarded as a Keaton classic. Find out more at Wikipedia. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by jazz pianist Adam Fairhall. , Link
The Live Ghost Tent The quarterly meeting of The Laurel and Hardy Society. Films being screened include Angora Love (Dir. Lewis R Foster, US, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 21 mins) in which Laurel and Hardy are adopted by a runaway goat, whose noise and aroma in turn get the goat of their suspicious landlord. Attempts to bathe the smelly animal result in a waterlogged free-for-all. Find out more at laurelandhardycentral.com . With recorded score. Cinema Museum, London Link
4 June
Menilmontant (Dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff, 1926) + shorts (Screening format – not known, 90 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 With live musical accompaniment by the Electronic & Produced Music Department. Barbican, London Link
Where The North Begins (Dir. Chester M. Franklin, US, 1923) + short (Screening format – not known, 60/?mins) Bonafide movie royalty Rin Tin Tin takes the lead in his first star vehicle, released 100 years ago in 1923. A German Shepherd puppy (‘the Wolf-Dog’) is adopted by a wolf pack in northern Canada. He encounters a French fur-trapper and the pair develop a bond, becoming inseparable… until their happy unit is disrupted by a corrupt trading post manager. The film’s star had been rescued as a puppy from a French WW1 battlefield by soldier Lee Duncan who trained him and, recognising the handsome hound’s talent to “register emotions and portray a real character”, wrote the scenario for Where the North Begins. The film cost Warner Bros. around $1.2 million in today’s money but made back many times this much – reputedly rescuing the studio from bankruptcy and earning Rin Tin Tin the nickname: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood. Find out more at wikipedia.org. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Will Pound (harmonica) , Link
Foolish Wives (Dir. Erich von Stroheim, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 117mins) In Stroheim’s 1922 film a con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat. When released in 1922, the film was the most expensive film made at that time, and billed 
by Universal Studios as the “first million-dollar movie” to come out of Hollywood. Originally, von Stroheim intended the film to run anywhere between 6 and 10 hours, and be shown over two evenings, but Universal executives opposed this idea. The studio bosses cut the film drastically before the release date. Find out more at sensesofcinema.com. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) , Link
7 June
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org . With recorded Nita Sawhney score. Garden Cinema, London Link
9 June
The First Born (Dir. Miles Mander, UK, 1928) (Screening format – 35mm, 101mins) This is both the best work of a fascinating talent (writer, director and actor Miles Mander) and a chance to admire the beautifully honed screenwriting of Alma Reville, distinct from her work with husband Alfred Hitchcock. The film concerns the double standards of the political élite in its domestic setting, as prospective MP Sir Hugo Boycott (Mander) and upper-class beauty Madeleine (Carroll) battle to overcome her initial ‘failure’ to produce an heir and his serial philandering. With innovative touches, such as hand-held camera and delicate tinting, The First Born is a fine example of a sophisticated, all-British late silent film. It was restored from a gorgeous tinted nitrate print preserved by the BFI, supplemented with some material from the George Eastman Museum. Find out more at wikipedia.org Presented as part of the Film On Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne. BFI Southbank, London Link
11 June
The Boatswain’s Mate (Dir. H. Manning Haynes, UK, 1924) + Sam’s Boy (Dir. H. Manning Haynes, UK, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 24/63mins) Written by Lydia Hayward from the humorous story by the now largely forgotten W.W. Jacobs,The Boatswain’s Mate sees Florence Turner (famed as the ‘Vitagraph Girl’ and one of the film industry’s first stars) plays savvy pub landlady Mrs Waters. According to lazy ex-boatswain George Benn, who fancies himself as a publican by proxy, she is the ideal woman. Benn enlists a ‘mate’, a burly out-of-work seaman, in an over-complicated plan to appear heroic in Mrs Waters’ eyes. This doesn’t quite go to plan. This adaptation was accorded a rapturous reception by the press; Motion Picture Studio pointed out that Artistic Pictures – the company owned by H. Manning Haynes, and through which he released all of his W. W. Jacobs adaptations – had developed such an excellent reputation for their cinematic adaptations that even the most hardened admirer of Jacobs’ writing would find little fault in the film. Sam’s Boyis a real charmer of a comedy. It revels in the adventures of Billie Jones (a delightful turn by child actor Bobbie Rudd), an orphan living rough in the London docks who, inspired by a stray dog, adopts as his ‘father’ the first man he sees: seaman Sam Brown. Beautifully photographed coastal locations add to this masterly adaptation by respected screenwriter Lydia Hayward. Presented as part of the Film On Film Festival. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. BFI Southbank, London Link
14 June
The Beloved Rogue (Dir. Alan Crosland, US, 1927) (Screening format – 16mm, 94mins) A lavish spectacle boasting the set designs of Oscar winning art director William Cameron Menzies (The Thief of Baghdad), The Beloved Rogue is Hollywood myth-making at its most ambitious…and entertaining. Hollywood star John Barrymore sought to out-swashbuckle Douglas Fairbanks in his breathless depiction of France’s rapscallion poet, 
thief and vagabond: François Villon (1431-1463). To prove his mettle, he bounds over the snowy rooftops of Paris, scales a castle tower, and is hurled skyward by the royal catapult, but this is no mere stunt picture. Barrymore wielded a simmering sexuality that Fairbanks lacked, endowing the film with an element of eroticism that perfectly suits Villon, who loved “France earnestly, Frenchwomen excessively, French wine exclusively.” Beyond Barrymore, the cast is sprinkled with celebrated 
character actors. Fresh from a series of diabolical roles in the German silent cinema, Conrad Veidt (The Man Who Laughs, Casablanca) made his American film debut as the sinister King Louis XI. Appearing here as the scheming Thibault d’Aussigny and François’s sidekick Beppo the Dwarf, Henry Victor and Angelo Rossitto would reunite five years later in Tod Browning’s Freaks. The Beloved Rogue is a star studded action packed roller coaster which symbolises the true greatness of Hollywood in the silent era. Find out more at moviessilently.com. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, London Link
25 June
The Secrets Of The Silent Film Pianist Discover the art of the silent film pianist. The craft of the improvising silent film pianist can seem mysterious. While watching the film with the audience, a musical score is invented and performed spontaneously – without any notated, composed music. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. Holmfirth musician Jonny Best is one of the UK’s leading silent film improvisers and a researcher of silent film music. In this short, accessible event Jonny will explain how this little understood practice works and demonstrate some tricks of the trade using clips from a variety of silent films. There’ll be a few minutes for a Q&A too. Link
Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 mins ) Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city. Filming took place in 1925 at a cost of 
approximately five million Reichmarks, making it the most expensive film ever released up to that point. It is regarded as a pioneering work of science fiction and is among the most influential films of all time. Following its world premiere in 1927, half an hour was cut from Fritz Lang’s masterpiece and lost to the world. Eighty years later a spectacular discovery was made when the footage was found in a small, dusty museum in Buenos Aires. The film was then painstakingly reconstructed and digitally restored so that at last audiences could see the iconic futuristic fairy tale as Lang had envisioned it. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano). Link
26 June
Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 mins ) Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city. Filming took place in 1925 at a cost of approximately five million Reichmarks, making it 
the most expensive film ever released up to that point. It is regarded as a pioneering work of science fiction and is among the most influential films of all time. Following its world premiere in 1927, half an hour was cut from Fritz Lang’s masterpiece and lost to the world. Eighty years later a spectacular discovery was made when the footage was found in a small, dusty museum in Buenos Aires. The film was then painstakingly reconstructed and digitally restored so that at last audiences could see the iconic futuristic fairy tale as Lang had envisioned it. Find out more atsilentfilm.org Presented as part of the Proms at St Jude’s Festival. With live orchestral accompaniment by the Covent Garden Sinfonia, conducted by Ben Palmer with a new arrangement of Gottfried Huppertz’s richly romantic original 1927 score. St Jude’s, Hampstead Link
July
3 July
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. Find out more at allmovie.com. With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
4 July
The Freshman (Dir. Fred C Newmeyer, US, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 76mins) One of Harold Lloyd’s best feature-length comedies and his biggest hit, The Freshman features the bespectacled regular guy as Harold Lamb, a naïve young man who heads off to college believing campus life will be just as it is in the movies; he even learns a little dance he saw one of his favorite actors do in a film. However, Harold soon discovers that real life isn’t all that much like the pictures, and he quickly becomes the laughing stock of the university. Determined to prove himself, Harold tries out for the football team, but he serves as water boy and rides the pine until he finally gets a chance to redeem himself at the big game. Along the way, Harold also tries to woo a lovely co-ed, Peggy (Jobyna Ralston). Find out more at threemoviebuffs.com. With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
8 July
Echoes of the North; Four Chapters in Time This is a specially created film of rarely seen early 20th century archive footage shot around the North of England. It is accompanied by a new score – the first ever all-brass soundtrack for a silent film – composed by Neil Brand and performed by the world-famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Echoes of the North has been created in partnership with Yorkshire Film Archive, North West Film Archive, North East Film Archive, and Archive Film Agency. . Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With recorded score. Link
16 July
Echoes of the North; Four Chapters in Time This is a specially created film of rarely seen early 20th century archive footage shot around the North of England. It is accompanied by a new score – the first ever all-brass soundtrack for a silent film – composed by Neil Brand and performed by the world-famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Echoes of the North has been created in partnership with Yorkshire Film Archive, North West Film Archive, North East Film Archive, and Archive Film Agency. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With recorded score. Link
20 July
Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927) (Screening format –not known , 149 mins ) Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder (Gustav Frohlich), the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city. Filming took place in 1925 at a cost of approximately five million Reichmarks, making it the most expensive film ever released up to that point. It is regarded as a pioneering work of science fiction and is among the most influential films of all time. Following its world premiere in 1927, half an hour was cut from Fritz Lang’s masterpiece and lost to the world. Eighty years later a spectacular discovery was made when the footage was found in a small, dusty museum in Buenos Aires. The film was then painstakingly reconstructed and digitally restored so that at last audiences could see the iconic futuristic fairy tale as Lang had envisioned it. Find out more at silentfilm.org. Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion). Link
22 July
Echoes of the North; Four Chapters in Time This is a specially created film of rarely seen early 20th century archive footage shot around the North of England. It is accompanied by a new score – the first ever all-brass soundtrack for a silent film – composed by Neil Brand and performed by the world-famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band. Echoes of the North has been created in partnership with Yorkshire Film Archive, North West Film Archive, North East Film Archive, and Archive Film Agency. . Presented by the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival. With recorded score. Stoller Hall, Manchester Link
31 July
Safety Last (Dir. Fred C Newmeyer/Sam Taylor, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making it in the big city is harder than it looks. When he hears that a store 
manager will pay $1,000 to anyone who can draw people to his store, he convinces his friend, the “human fly,” (Bill Strother) to climb the building and split the profit with him. But when his pal gets in trouble with the law, he must complete the crazy stunt on his own. The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! is one of the great icons of film history (although it was achieved with a certain amount of film trickery) and this remains one of the best and best loved comedies of the silent era. Find out more at rogerebert.com. With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
August
1 August
Safety Last (Dir. Fred C Newmeyer/Sam Taylor, US, 1923) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) A boy (Harold Lloyd) moves to New York City to make enough money to support his loving girlfriend (Mildred Davis), but soon discovers that making it in the big city is harder than it looks. When he hears that a store manager will pay $1,000 to anyone who can draw people to his store, he convinces his friend, the “human fly,” (Bill Strother) to climb the building and split the profit with him. But when his pal gets in trouble with the law, he must complete the crazy stunt on his own. The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! is one of the great icons of film history (although it was achieved with a certain amount of film trickery) and this remains one of the best and best loved comedies of the silent era. Find out more at rogerebert.com. With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
2 August
The Navigator (Dir. Donald Crisp/Buster Keaton, US, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 59mins) When the wealthy and impulsive Rollo Treadway (Buster Keaton) decides to propose to his beautiful socialite neighbour, Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn 
McGuire), things don’t go as planned. Although Betsy turns Rollo down, he still opts go on the cruise that he intended as their honeymoon. When circumstances find both Rollo and Betsy on the wrong ship, with no one else on board, they end up with some hilarious high adventures on the high seas, which allows Keaton plenty of opportunities to display his trademark agility. Find out more at busterkeaton.com With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
3 August
Seven Chances (Dir. Buster Keaton, US, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 56mins) One of Buster Keaton’s funniest comedies, the film features Keaton as Jimmy Shannon, a junior partner in the brokerage firm of Meekin and Shannon, which is on the brink of financial ruin. A lawyer (whom they dodged, mistakenly believing he was trying to add to their woes) finally 
manages to inform Jimmy of the terms of his grandfather’s will. He will inherit seven million dollars if he is married by 7:00 p.m. on his 27th birthday, which happens to be that same day. Shannon immediately seeks out his sweetheart, Mary Jones, who readily accepts his proposal. However, when he clumsily explains why they have to get married that day, she breaks up with him. The race is then on to find Jimmy a bride, any bride, but he hardly expects hundreds to turn up!! From this leisurely start, the film takes off into a fantastically elaborate, gloriously inventive chase sequence, in which Buster escapes the mob of pursuing harridans only to find an escalating avalanche of rocks taking over at his heels as he hurtles downhill. Added only after an initial preview, the rocks make for one of the great Keaton action gags. Find out more at film.avclub.com With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
4 August
Battling Butler (Dir. Buster Keaton, US, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 74mins) Buster Keaton found rich possibilities for physical comedy in this tale of a wealthy milquetoast who is forced, through a series of outlandish coincidences and misunderstandings, to train as a boxer. Based on a popular Broadway musical comedy, the story revolves around two Alfred Butlers – one (Keaton) a timid, mild-
mannered millionaire, the other a boxing world champion. When Butler-the-fop finds love with a mountain girl (Sally O’Neil), he assumes the identity and arouses the wrath of Butler-the-Brute, leading to a dramatic showdown in which the brawl is very much on. Keaton always selected Battling Butler as one of his favourite features and the picture proved Keaton’s biggest success, outgrossing Douglas Fairbanks’s Black Pirate in its first week on Broadway, encouraging Joe Schenck to give the go-ahead for Keaton’s most ambitious production, The General, with a budget set at half a million dollars. Find out more at silentfilm.org. With live musical accompaniment by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse. Wilton’s Music Hall, London Link
October
29 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 Minima. Turnberries Community Centre, Thornbury Link
November
12 November
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 Minima. Assembly Rooms, Melbourne, Derby Link
13 November
The Mark Of Zorro (Dir. Fred Niblo, US, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 85mins) Don Diego Vega (Douglas Fairbanks) masquerades as an ineffectual fop to bamboozle his enemies and conceal his secret persona: ‘Zorro’: avenger of the oppressed. The first King of Hollywood – dashing, athletic Fairbanks, pretty much defined the swashbuckling genre with 
this rip-roaring adventure flick. Featuring horseback stunts, witty chase sequences and sword fighting, this entertaining romp achieves a satisfying blend of humour and heroics that remains the benchmark for action films today. Find out more at silentfilm.org Presented by South West Silents. With live musical accompaniment by pianist Meg Morley. St George’s, Bristol Link
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