Live Screenings – Sep – Dec 2026 – Silentfilmcalendar.org

September

1 September

Piccadilly (Dir E A Dupont, UK, 1929) (Screening format – digital, 92 mins) A film noir before the term was in use, uncredited German director E.A. Dupont’s Piccadilly is one of the true greats of British silent films, on a par with the best of Anthony Asquith or Alfred Hitchcock during this period. Valentine Wilmot (Jameson Thomas) owns a nightclub featuring dancers Mabel (Gilda Gray) and Vic (Cyril Ritchard). After a confrontation with Wilmot, Vic quits performing at the club. When the joint starts losing business, a desperate Wilmot hires former dishwasher Shosho (Anna May Wong) as a dancer. She is an instant hit and forms a rapport with Wilmot, which makes both Mabel and Shosho’s friend (King Ho Chang) jealous, leading to a mysterious murder. A stylish evocation of Jazz Age London, with dazzlingly fluid cinematography and scenes ranging from the opulent West End to the seediness of Limehouse. One of the pinnacles of British silent cinema, Piccadilly is a sumptuous show business melodrama seething with sexual and racial tension – with an original screenplay by Arnold Bennett. Find out more at screenonline.org.uk . With recorded Neil Brand score. BFI Southbank, London Link

3 September

The Hands of Orlac (Dir. Robert Weine, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 92mins) A gruesome psychological horror about a talented concert pianist (Conrad Veidt), 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 film The 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 Jonny Best. Stratford Methodist Church, Stratford upon Avon Link

9 September

Quo Vadis (Dir. Enrico Guazzoni, It, 1913) + shorts (Screening format – 35mm, 120mins) Released in 1913, Quo Vadis? demonstrated radical advances in the powers of the motion picture. It offered a detailed adaption to screen of a popular Polish novel in which a romance between a Roman soldier and a Christian girl is played out in the dangerous conditions of Rome where Nero burns the city down and persecutes the Christians, while Saint Peter flees but returns to protect his suffering flock. The film’s title comes from the question the apostle is supposed to have asked when he sees a vision of Christ walking along the Via Appia: ‘Where are you going Lord? ‘ (in Latin: quo vadis, domine?). The film began a whole international cycle of spectacular epics set in the ancient world that continue to this day. It was greatly admired for the rich detail of its sets, the choreography of its vast crowds, its suggestive use of location shooting, the spectacular quality of its arena scenes, the emotional draw of its private love story and the uplift of its religious dimensions. A coloured version of Quo Vadis? is being loaned for the occasion from the Eye Filmmuseum in the Netherlands. Find out more at trettleman.medium.com. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. Introduced by Professor Maria Wyke from the Department of Greek and Latin, UCL, London. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

12 September

Finis Terrae (Dir. Jean Epstein, Fr, 1929) (Screening format – DCP, 80 Mins) On a tiny island off Brittany two young men eke out a living by harvesting seaweed to burn for prized soda. When one of them cuts his thumb and an infection sets in, it challenges the boundaries of their relationship and galvanises the neighbouring community. Jean Epstein’s timeless narrative about survival in extremis is underpinned by avant-garde techniques and deeply resonant images, such as the recurrent lighthouse or the sight of women sheltering by rocks like giant black birds. Even without sound you can almost hear the ocean. This is a film about the possibilities of cinema and anyone thinking of picking up a camera should watch and be inspired. Find out more at worldscinema.org. With live musical accompaniment by Dan Abrahams and Philippe Boudot. Montrose Playhouse, Montrose Link

The Live Ghost Tent – quarterly meeting of The Laurel and Hardy Society. The day’s programme includes; Mother’s Joy (1923) a silent short directed by Ralph Ceder and Isn’t Life Terrible? (1925) a silent short directed by Leo McCarey. With recorded score. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

13 September

Cops (Dir. Edward F Cline/Buster Keaton, US, 1922)(Screening format – not known, 18 mins ) Cops sees Buster Keaton ending up with a load of furniture in the middle of parade of policemen. An anarchist’s bomb lands in his carriage. After lighting his cigarette with it, he tosses it into the ranks of police. When it explodes the police chase him all over town by the entire Los Angeles Police Department. Find out more at wikipedia.org . Presented by South West Silents. Recorded score. Megascreen, Bristol Link

Marvellous Méliès: The Magician of Cinema Amusical cornucopia of fantastical adventures, mind-teasing illusions, and shimmering visions from the very beginnings of cinema. In December 1895, a young Paris magician attended the first demonstration of moving pictures – a year later, Georges Méliès had built his own camera and started to experiment. But rather than record ordinary life as so many early film makers were content to do, Méliès unleashed his imagination, creating bizarre and beautiful cinematic visions of angels and aliens, shooting stars and spaceships. Northern Silents partners with the National Science and Media Museum to present a selection of Méliès’s shorts, some painstakingly hand‑coloured, including his most famous work, A Trip to the Moon, which gave cinema its first truly iconic image—the rocket in the moon’s eye. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best. Pictureville Cinema, Bradford Link

14 September

15 September

The Bamforth Story: How Holmfirth Entertained The Nation Founded by James Bamforth in 1870, the company played a leading role in three creative industries: lantern slides, early cinema, and picture postcards. As well as looking at the company’s history the event includes a selection of Bamforth’s lantern slides and short films, tracing their significance in the story of early twentieth century entertainment and the emergence of cinema. Presented by Northern Silents. Introduced by Katina Bill, Senior Curator at Kirklees Museums and Galleries and by Northern Silents’ artistic director Jonny Best who will also provide live musical accompaniment. The Picturedrome, Holmfirth Link

19 September

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 Darius Battiwalla. St Matthew Church, Northampton Link

20 September

The Flying Scotsman (Dir. Castleton Knight, UK, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 50mins) Made in silent and talkie versions, this British thriller is set largely on the Flying Scotsman express between London and Edinburgh. A disgruntled railwayman (Alex Hurley) attempts to wreck the train after he is sacked after being caught drinking by the train’s driver Bob White (Moore Marriot), who is working his last day before retirement. White’s daughter Joan (Pauline Johnson) is also on the train, having fallen for White’s new fireman, Jim (Ray Milland). As well as being Milland’s first starring role, the film is also notable for all the stars doing their own stunts, including Pauline Johnson who was doubly challenged by wearing high heels while hanging off the side of the train. Find out more at heyuguys.com . With live organ accompaniment by Donald MacKenzie. The Musical Museum, Brentford Link

Strike (Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, USSR, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 82mins) Eisenstein’s landmark first film tells the story of a workers’ revolt in a factory in Czarist Russia. Featuring historic experiments in the art of montage, Eisenstein used editing to juxtapose complementary images to create rapid and dynamic shifts in rhythm. Exploring themes of collectivism versus individualism, with an explicit revolutionary agenda and laden with visual metaphors; indeed, the emotive sequence towards the end in which the violent suppression of the strike is cross-cut with footage of cattle being slaughtered, has been compulsory viewing for film students ever since. An exemplary film of Russian revolutionary cinema. Find out more at classicartfilms.com. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best. Showroom Cinema, Sheffield 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 With live musical accompaniment by Mike Hatchard. Electric Palace, Hastings Link

Queen Kelly (Dir. Erich von Stroheim, US, 1929) (Screening format – digital, 101mins) A young convent girl is seduced by a European nobleman, arousing the ire of his bride-to-be Queen Kelly and eventually finding herself exiled to a brothel in East Africa. This film solidified Stroheim’s reputation for extravagance and insistence on complete artistic freedom regardless of economic considerations. It would cost him his Hollywood career. Visually striking and perverse, this film was Erich von Stroheim’s last silent film and final directorial project. The production of the costly film was shut down after complaints by the star, Gloria Swanson, about the direction the film was taking. In later interviews, Swanson had claimed that she had been misled by the script which referred to her character arriving in, and taking over, a dance hall; looking at the rushes, it was obvious the ‘dance hall’ was actually a brothel. Stroheim was fired from the film and much of the story-line scrapped. Swanson and producer Joseph P Kennedy (with whom Swanson was having an affair) still wanted to salvage what was left, as it had been so costly and time-consuming, and had potential market value. An alternate ending was shot and the film was released in Europe and South America (but never in the US). This is the UK premier of a newly restored version of the film. Basing his reconstruction on von Stroheim’s original scripts, Milestone Films’ Dennis Doros and Amy Heller employed multiple techniques to recreate the film’s lurid dénouement. This vital new digital reconstruction brings von Stroheim’s original script to life, and the result is Queen Kelly in its most complete and spectacular form to date. Find out more at sensesofcinema.com. Introduced by film writer Pamela Hutchinson. With live musical accompaniment . BFI Southbank, London Link

26 September

Queen Kelly (Dir. Erich von Stroheim, US, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 101mins) A young convent girl is seduced by a European nobleman, arousing the ire of his bride-to-be Queen Kelly and eventually finding herself exiled to a brothel in East Africa. This film solidified Stroheim’s reputation for extravagance and insistence on complete artistic freedom regardless of economic considerations. It would cost him his Hollywood career. Visually striking and perverse, this film was Erich von Stroheim’s last silent film and final directorial project. The production of the costly film was shut down after complaints by the star, Gloria Swanson, about the direction the film was taking. In later interviews, Swanson had claimed that she had been misled by the script which referred to her character arriving in, and taking over, a dance hall; looking at the rushes, it was obvious the ‘dance hall’ was actually a brothel. Stroheim was fired from the film and much of the story-line scrapped. Swanson and producer Joseph P Kennedy (with whom Swanson was having an affair) still wanted to salvage what was left, as it had been so costly and time-consuming, and had potential market value. An alternate ending was shot and the film was released in Europe and South America (but never in the US). This is the UK premier of a newly restored version of the film. Basing his reconstruction on von Stroheim’s original scripts, Milestone Films’ Dennis Doros and Amy Heller employed multiple techniques to recreate the film’s lurid dénouement. This vital new digital reconstruction brings von Stroheim’s original script to life, and the result is Queen Kelly in its most complete and spectacular form to date. Find out more at sensesofcinema.com. With live musical accompaniment by Neil Brand. Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link

27 September

South (Dir. Frank Hurley, UK/Aus, 1919) (Screening format – not known, 88mins). Australian filmmaker Frank Hurley’s record of Shackleton’s 1914-17 Antarctic expedition is also a document of life – human and otherwise – striving to survive in the most adverse climatic conditions imaginable. More than a mere chronicle of an epic undertaking, the film is visually magnificent, its images of the vast frozen wilderness composed with a meticulous attention to framing and light. Restored with its original tinting and toning by the BFI National Archive and EYE Filmmuseum, this incredible film of true-life heroism and survival in the most formidable conditions is over a century old. It lives on as an enthralling testimony to the delicate balance between humanity and the natural world.Find out more at moviessilently.com Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Jonny Best. Forum Cinema, Hexham Link

30 September

An Extravaganza of Silent Films About Filmmaking A special Kennington Bioscope Gala Show, with all proceeds going towards their host venue the Cinema Museum to help it raise the funds to buy its building. The main feature is A Girl’s Folly (1917), directed by Maurice Tourneur, and edited by future director Clarence Brown. The film shows filmmaking at Fort Lee, New Jersey, including the lab, editing room, and film sets. Variety noted ‘The public should be greatly interested in seeing how moving pictures are made – it is all here.’ Maurice Tourneur appears in front of the camera, as do an uncredited Leatrice Joy and Josef von Sternberg. Find out more at moviessilently.com. Plus a full programme of rare supporting shorts, including unseen footage of a British studio at work in 1921, a tinted 35mm print of Hello Hollywood (1927), Chaplin’s Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) in which we see the birth of the Tramp character, a short film taking us behind the scenes of French productions of 1929, Feuillade’s Erreur Tragique (1913), infidelity caught on film in the background of shooting an Onésime short and the world premiere of Dave Glass’s brand new restoration of the rare Snub Pollard film In the Movies (1922) Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

October

1 October

Away Up North – An Evening Of Movie Mavericks From Finland. A diverse programme but with several silents, including; Jean Sibelius at Home (Bir. Aho & Soldan, 1927, 6mins) – Late autumn, 1927, at the home of maestro Jean Sibelius in Ainola, Finland. A charming, little, free-form documentary about Sibelius and his family celebrating an autumn day. Heidi and Margareta Sibelius play four-hand piano, Aino is busy in the garden, the morning papers and a cigar start the master’s day. A classic from Finnish documentary pioneers Heikki Aho and Björn Soldan; Once Upon Time There Was Winter – and Snow (Unknown,1934, 6 min)The Finnish realm of snow and ice. In this unknown gem from almost a century ago, the progress of an icebreaker ship feels like a symbol of the modernisation and urbanisation of the world: slow but inevitable. The relationship with nature is still carefree. Joys of winter are taken for granted, and the urban core of Finland produces images that may seem like a fairytale to an outsider. Greetings from a time of innocence; and, Distant Planet (Juha Kuosmanen, 2023, 16 min) Using handmade trickery, silent cinema is reawakened with a modern twist. From the Cannes-winning director Juho Kuosmanen , the final instalment of the celebrated silent trilogy tells a story of lighthouse-keeper Marlanda and her little brother Maximilian. It’s a bedtime story about the end of everything and the extraordinary attempts to survive it. But it’s not bedtime, it’s just the interval. With live musical accompaniment by Lau Nau and Henri Utan K. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

2 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 Hugo Max. Prince Charles Cinema, London Link

4 October

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Dir. Robert Wiene, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 77 mins) In the village of Holstenwall, fairground hypnotist Dr Caligari (Werner Krauss) puts on show a somnambulist called Cesare (Conrad Veidt) who has been asleep for twenty three years. At night, Cesare walks the streets murdering people on the doctor’s orders. A student (Friedrich Feher) suspects Caligari after a friend is found dead and it transpires that the doctor is the director of a lunatic asylum. Fueled by the pessimism and gloom of post-war Germany, the sets by Hermann Warm stand unequaled as a shining example of Expressionist design. Find out more at wikipedia.org. With live musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Prince Charles Cinema, London 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. With live organ accompaniment by Darius Battiwalla. Holy Trinity Church, Eccleshall Link

7 October

A Page of Madness (aka Kurutta Ippēji) (Dir.Teinosuke Kinugasa, Jap, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 73mins) A man (Masao Inoue) takes a job as a caretaker at a mental asylum in order to be near his wife (Yoshie Nakagawa). Although his wife suffers genuine mental anguish, the man believes he can rescue her , but all is not quite as it seems….Considered lost for some 45 years, Kinugasa thankfully found the print in his garden shed in the early 1970s. A Page of Madness is a visually stunning, and technically dazzling work of surrealism. Teinosuke utilizes flashbacks, rhythmic intercutting, and impressionistic symbolism in this independently produced, experimental, avant-garde work with its cinematic technique equal to if not superior to that of contemporary European cinema and very much reminiscent of Robert Weine’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). The film contained no intertitles as it was intended to be exhibited with live narration delivered by a benshi who would stand to the side of the screen and introduce and relate the story to the audience. Find out more at midnighteye.com . With live musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford Link

9 October

10 October

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Dir. Lotte Reiniger , Ger, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 65mins) The first feature-length animation in film history, masterminded by Lotte Reiniger and hand-tinted frame by frame. Based on ‘The Arabian Nights’, the film tells the epic tale of Prince Achmed, who is tricked into mounting a magical flying horse by a wicked sorcerer. The horse carries Achmed off on a series of adventures, over the course of which he joins forces with young Aladdin, battles ogres and monsters and romances the beautiful Princess Peri Banu.Find out more at wikipedia.org . With live musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. The Magic Lantern Cinema, Tywyn Link

11 October

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org . With live musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Chiswick Cinema, London Link

17 October

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 Mike Nolan (piano). Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link

The Blinking Buzzards Quarterly meeting of The UK Buster Keaton Society, dedicated to the appreciation of the silent comedian. The last meeting of the year is a request session, so expect to see beloved gems chosen by Society members. With recorded score. The Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

21 October

The Arrival From Darkness (aka Prichozi z temnot) (Dir. Jan S. Kolár, Czech, 1921) (Screening format – digital, 62 mins) A 1921 supernatural fantasy from Czechoslovakia which follows a collector who revives his 16th-century ancestor using an ancient manuscript and the Elixir of Life, unleashing a gothic tale involving alchemy, plague-era mysticism, ruined castles, and occult rituals. Shot at Czech castles and historic locations, the film also showcases the work of cinematographers Otto Heller and Otto Hoffmann. Heller would later become a major figure in British cinema, photographing films including The Ladykillers and Peeping Tom. Director Jan S. Kolár, born in Prague in 1896, was among the defining figures of the Czech silent era, working as a director, screenwriter, actor, and producer during the industry’s formative years in that country. The cast includes Theodor Pistek, Josef Svab and Anny Ondra. Find out more at www.filmovyprehled.cz Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth. Link

22 October

The Man Who Laughs (Dir. Paul Leni, USA, 1928) (Screening format – not known, 110mins) In an effort to top the critical and financial success of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, studio head Carl Laemmle recruited two influential artists of the German Expressionist school: actor Conrad Veidt (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) and director Paul Leni (Waxworks). The shadowy exteriors, the carnival setting, the demonically misshapen “hero” made The Man Who Laughs something entirely new to American cinema-the foundation upon which the classic Universal horror films would be built. Veidt stars as Gwynplaine, a nobleman’s son who is kidnapped by a political enemy, and then is mutilated by a gypsy “surgeon” who carves a monstrous smile upon his face. Finding shelter in a traveling freakshow, he falls in love with a blind girl (The Phantom Of the Opera‘s Mary Philbin), the one person who cannot be repulsed by his appearance. As years pass, the hand of fate draws Gwynplaine back into the world of political intrigue. He becomes the plaything of a jaded duchess (Freaks‘ Olga Baclanova), and his enemies renew their efforts to control him. The distinctive ‘look’ of Gwynplaine is cited as a major influence for the American comic book writer, animator and artist, Bob Kane, when he created the visual aesthetics of Batman’s grinning nemesis: the Joker. Veidt’s extraordinary performance, and the film overall however, deserve to be celebrated for far more than this. The gripping story is propelled by director Paul Leni’s masterful visual style, rewarding us with excitement, pathos plus a triumphant star-turn by Zimbo the dog!Find out more at rogerebert.com. Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by pianist Jonny Best and cellist Liz Hanks. Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds Link

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Dir. Benjamin Christensen, Swe., 1922) ( Screening format – not known, 105mins) A fictionalized documentary with dramatic reconstructions showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in modern (1922) Europe. Based partly on Christensen’s study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century German guide for inquisitors, Häxan is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch hunts. Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden when first released, Haxan was heavily censored or banned outright in many countries. But it is now considered to be Christensen’s finest work, a witches’ brew of the scary, the grotesque, and the darkly humorous. Find out more at thedevilsmanor.blogspot.co.uk . With live musical accompaniment by Hugo Max. Prince Charles Cinema, London Link

23 October

24 October

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. With live musical accompaniment by Jane Gardner (piano) and Hazel Morrison (percussion). Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link

25 October

28 October

The Woman That Men Yearn For (aka Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt) (Dir, Curtis Bernhard, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 78mins) The dreamy Charles Leblanc (Oskar Sima), about to marry into a wealthy steel-making family, glimpses Stascha (Marlene Dietrich) and her companion Karoff (Fritz Kortner) as they pause for a drink at a bar in his small southern France town. They meet again on the train taking him and his wife on their honeymoon. Overwhelmed by Stascha’s sexuality, and ignoring his distraught new wife, Leblanc agrees to help her escape from the domineering Karoff, setting in motion a chain of obsessive, destructive events. Long before von Sternberg brought us Dietrich as Lola Lola in The Blue Angel, the actress had already created her femme fatale persona with this, her first starring role. Although made on something of a shoestring budget and wholly studio shot, the film benefits from excellent direction from Bernhardt, Dietrich smoulders superbly and the rest of the cast are excellent. Unfortunately the film was released just as audiences were clamouring for sound films and as a result it was not particularly successful. But this is a welcome opportunity to see this rarely screened classic which marked an important milestone in Dietrich’s career development Find out more at silentfilm.org . Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by pianist Jonny Best. National Centre for Early, York Link

29 October

30 October

31 October

The Bat (Dir. Roland West, US, 1926) (Screening format – not known, 90 mins) The Bat, a master criminal terrorizing the city wearing a fearsome bat costume, sets his sinister sights on the eerie Fleming mansion. Within the walls of this spooky house, a bank robber has stashed $20,000 in stolen loot. Leasing the mansion is the wealthy Cornelia Van Gorder, along with her niece Dale. Dale’s fiance, Brooks Bailey, a cashier at the bank, becomes the prime suspect in the robbery investigation. But after the bank president is found dead, we’re in old dark house territory and everybody is a suspect. Based on the famous play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, The Bat is renowned for its expert use of miniatures and striking set designs by William Cameron Menzies. In 1930, Roland West skill-fully remade the film as a talkie, The Bat Whispers. Vincent Price starred in yet another version of The Bat in 1959. West, an innovator of movie-making techniques in the silent era, also made The Monster in 1925 with legendary silent star Lon Chaney. Along with the 1927 classic, The Cat And The Canary, The Bat is highly regarded as a prototype for the haunted house film genre that flourished in the ’30s and ’40s. Find out more at silentology.wordpress.com With live organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. Musical Museum, Brentford Link

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 . Presented by Northern Silents. With live musical accompaniment by Frame Ensemble (Jonny Best piano, Susannah Simmons violin, Liz Hanks cello and Trevor Bartlett percussion). The Stoller Hall, Manchester Link

November

7 November

Man With a Movie Camera (Dir. Dziga Vertov, USSR, 1929) (Screening format – not known, 68mins) Part documentary and part cinematic art, this film follows a city in the 1920s Soviet Union throughout the day, from morning to night. Directed by Vertov, with a variety of complex and innovative camera shots (filmed by Vertov’s equally talented and innovative brother Mikhail Kaufman), the film depicts scenes of ordinary daily life in Russia. Vertov celebrates the modernity of the city, with its vast buildings, dense population and bustling industries. While there are no titles or narration, director and cameraman still naturally convey the marvels of the modern city. Find out more at rogerebert.com . With live musical accompaniment by S!nk (Daniel Dumnov, Matt Wright, Tim Vincent-Smith) Hippodrome Cinema, Bo’ness Link

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Dir. Robert Wiene, 1920) (Screening format – not known, 77 mins) In the village of Holstenwall, fairground hypnotist Dr Caligari (Werner Krauss) puts on show a somnambulist called Cesare (Conrad Veidt) who has been asleep for twenty three years. At night, Cesare walks the streets murdering people on the doctor’s orders. A student (Friedrich Feher) suspects Caligari after a friend is found dead and it transpires that the doctor is the director of a lunatic asylum. Fueled by the pessimism and gloom of post-war Germany, the sets by Hermann Warm stand unequaled as a shining example of Expressionist design. Find out more at wikipedia.org. Presented as part of the Norwich Film Festival. With live musical accompaniment by Minima. Norwich Theatre, Norwich Link

9 November

Sherlock Jnr (Dir. Buster Keaton, 1924) (Screening format – not known, 45 mins) In Sherlock Jr, a kindly movie projectionist (Buster Keaton) longs to be a detective. When his fiancée (Kathryn McGuire) is robbed by a local thief (Ward Crane), the poor projectionist is framed for the crime. Using his amateur detective skills, the projectionist follows the thief to the train station – only to find himself locked in a train car. Disheartened, he returns to his movie theatre, where he falls asleep and dreams that he is the great Sherlock Holmes. Although not a popular success on its initial release, the film has come to be recognised as a Keaton classic with its special effects and elaborate stunts making it a landmark in motion picture history. Find out more at silentfilm.org. With live organ accompaniment by Darius Battiwalla. Christ Church Spitalfields, London Link

11 November

Gentlemen Amongst Themselves (aka Die fidele Herrenpartie) (Dir. Rudolf Walther-Fein, Ger, 1929) (Screening format – 35mm, 88mins) A comedy directed by Vienna-born Rudolf Walther-Fein, who began his career as an actor. He made his stage debut aged 17 in Iglau – a German-speaking region now part of the Czech Republic – and went on to appear in cities that included Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and, finally, Berlin. It was there, in 1919, that he first obtained work as a screenwriter and director. During the 1920s, Walther-Fein directed numerous films while simultaneously serving as a production manager for the Aafa-Film company and also taking on the role of artistic supervisor for other productions. His films were mostly comedies or romantic dramas, among them 1929’s Dich hab’ ich geliebt (It’s You I Have Loved or Because I Loved You), Germany’s first all-talking feature film. Gentlemen Among Themselves was filmed at the Staaken Studios in Berlin with sets designed by Botho Hoefer and Hans Minzloff. The story, by Franz Rauch, is of a woman warning her husband that his forthcoming stag party will be his last. Because he and his friends are determined to make the most of it, things get out of hand and the husband is knocked unconscious and his engraved lighter stolen. The lighter is subsequently used to identify a thief and the now-sober reveller believes himself to be a wanted man. Husband and wife are played by Hermann Picha and Lydia Potechina, with Maria Paudler as their daughter and Walter Rilla as her erstwhile suitor. Find out more at en.wikipedia.org Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

13 November

14 – 15 November

Kennington Bioscope – Silent Comedy Weekend Details to follow. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

14 November

Phantom Of The Opera (Dir. Rupert Julian, 1925) (Screening format – not known, 103mins) A title that needs no introduction, The Phantom of the Opera has spawned many remakes, remasters and sequels. This original film version, produced with moments of early Technicolour, sees Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ perform one of his most iconic roles. His ghastly make-up and outrageous performance made this title a benchmark in the American silent film era. The film was a critical and commercial success upon release, and still stands as an important film in cinematic history to this day, with press quotes from the time 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 Andrew Wasylyk and Tommy Perman. Garden Cinema, London Link

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 91 mins ) In The Lodger, a serial killer known as “The Avenger” is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man (Ivor Novello) arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting’s daughter (June Tripp) is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives (Malcolm Keen) assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. Based on a best-selling novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, first published in 1913, loosely based on the Jack the Ripper murders, The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first thriller, and his first critical and commercial success. Made shortly after his return from Germany, the film betrays the influence of the German expressionist tradition established in such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu (1922). Find out more at silentfilm.org Presented by South West Silents. With live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Megascreen, Bristol Link

22 November

Grandma’s Boy (Dir. Fred C Newmeyer, US, 1922) (Screening format – not known, 60 mins) Grandma’s Boy is a brilliant blend of comedy, pathos, and character development, showcasing Harold Lloyd’s unique ability to combine physical slapstick with genuine human emotion. The story follows “Sunny” Harold (Lloyd), a timid, cowardly young man who is afraid of almost everything—from the local bully to the very idea of confrontation. When a crime occurs in town and the sheriff is too afraid to pursue the culprit, Harold is pressured to step up. His grandmother gives him an old umbrella handle, claiming it is a “magic charm” that once gave his grandfather the courage to be a hero during the Civil War. Empowered by the belief in the charm, Harold undergoes a transformation, discovering the bravery that was inside him all along. Find out more at www.tumblr.com/dweemeister. With live organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. Musical Museum, Brentford. Link

29 November

December

5 December

The Live Ghost Tent – Quarterly meeting of The Laurel and Hardy Society. Programme tba. With recorded score. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

9 December

Early Colour Live A collaboration between legendary magic lanternists Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker, and the Kennington Bioscope, this unique evening will feature a fantasia of colour from the era of the magic lantern through to early cinema. The Brookers will use an original triunial lantern to show how spectacular and inventive a magic lantern show could be, while Christopher Bird will demonstrate examples of colour in early cinema, including stencil colour, hand-coloured Méliès, and genuine Kinemacolor, the first true colour system, on his hand-cranked 35mm projector. Presented by the Kennington Bioscope. With live musical accompaniment. Cinema Museum, Lambeth Link

13 December

The Little Match Girl (Dir. Jean Renoir, Fr, 1928) + Play Safe (Dir. Joseph Henabery, US, 1927) (Screening format – not known, 34/50mins) Based on the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, this 1928 adaptation of The Little Match Girl is not a standard narrative film, but rather a work of “visual poetry.” Jean Renoir, later to become one of the most influential directors in cinema history, used this film to experiment with light, shadow, and surreal imagery, creating an atmosphere that is both haunting and beautiful. The film tells the tragic yet ethereal story of a young, impoverished girl struggling to sell matches on a cold, snowy New Year’s Eve. As she strikes her matches to keep warm, she experiences vivid, dreamlike visions of warmth, comfort, and joy. The film captures the stark contrast between the harsh reality of her surroundings and the magical, imaginative world she enters as she drifts away. Find out more at en.wikipedia.org In Play Safe A gang of bad guys menace Monty’s (Monty Banks) girlfriend, played by Virginia Lee Corbin . She hides in a freight car and a misstep sends the otherwise-empty train out of the station with the lever pushed to full speed. As the train gains speed, Monty attempts a daring rescue. An oncoming locomotive, a water tower, a steep grade, a frayed rope and a broken plank between cars complicate the hero’s task. Although long remembered for the climatic runaway train sequence, the film was not particularly successful. An abridged two-reel version was shown in the United States as Chasing Choo Choos and the original version fell into obscurity. Find out more at strictly-vintage-hollywood.blogspot.com. With live organ accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie. Musical Museum, Brentford Link

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