Its time once again to take a look back over the last 12 months of silent film viewing, to highlight a few trends, pick out some of the highs (and lows!) and come up with our favourite silent film events of the year.
Film Listings
Any thoughts that silent film screenings this year would bounce back to pre-Covid levels were sadly not borne out. With just 402 individual screenings recorded over the past 12 months, this was not just way down on the number of screenings seen, for example, in 2018 (735) and 2017 (715) but also significantly below the number recorded last year (506).
This fall in screenings compared to previous years may in part be explained by the reduced number of multiple screenings of the same films. For example, in 2022, the three most heavily screened titles (Vampyr, Nosferatu and South) accounted for over 200 of that year’s screenings, as did the three 
most screened films in 2018 (Pandora’s Box, Shiraz and Arcadia). In comparison this year, the three most regularly screened films (Caligari, Metropolis and Man With A Movie Camera) accounted for fewer than 100 screenings.
The most frequently screened silent film of 2023 was The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari, with 40 separate showings, much helped by a nationwide one-off screening at the Picture House chain as well as by the touring efforts 
of accompanists Minima and Chris Green. In second spot was perennial favourite Metropolis with 34 screenings and in third was Man With A Movie Camera with 24 screenings, again helped by a Picture House chain one off screening.
Further down the order, that other perennial favourite Nosferatu came in fourth with 20 screenings, Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last had 15 screenings, while The 
Hunchback Of Notra Dame tied with Neil Brand’s live Presenting Laurel and Hardy tour each with 11 screenings. Apart from The Lodger (8 screenings), The Kid and Sunrise (7 screenings), The General (6) and Chess Fever (4), no other silent films had more than three screenings during the year.
While the overall number of silent film screenings may have gone down, there are some positives in 2023. The year saw the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival morph into Northern Silents and their regular screenings plus their October Northern Silents Film Festival is doing fine work spreading the silent film word all across the north of England. A shout out also to the Rex Cinema in Wareham which launched its own Silent Film Weekend in December which hopefully will become a regular feature on the silent film calendar.
Screening Venues
Perhaps not surprisingly given the fall this year in the number of individual silent film screenings, there has also been a fall in the number of venues screening silent films, down to just 137 different 
venues during the year, compared to 155 in 2022 and well over 250 per year pre-Covid.
Even amongst established silent film venues there was a decline in silent film screenings (which was another factor accounting for the overall fall in individual film screenings this year). The BFI Southbank still remains the leading venue for silent film but with just 38 screenings (42 if you include the BFI Imax) compared to 102 last year, 
this is a significant decline. Similarly, screenings at The Cinema Museum were down, from 44 last year to just 28 in 2023, down too at Scotland’s Hippodrome Cinema, from 25 in 2022 to 19 this year and down also at Bristol’s Watershed Cinema, from 18 in 2022 to 14 this year. 
In more positive news, screenings at Wilton’s Music Hall went up from 9 last year to 11 this and the tiny Palace Cinema in Broadstairs managed a very respectable 7 screenings. Pound Arts in Corsham (6 screenings) is now becoming an established silent film venue, as are the Abbeydale Picture House in Sheffield (6 screenings), the Holmfirth Picturedrome (4) and the Morcambe 
Winter Gardens (6) thanks largely to the Northern Silent Film Festival. London’s new Garden Cinema (6) is also becoming a regular venue and there is a welcome new silent film venue in the shape of The Rex Cinema in Wareham which screened 12 events during its silent film weekend.
This year’s silent film screenings also got a big boost with the 67 individual screenings at some 20 Picture House Cinema chain venues nationwide.
Silent Film Highlights Of 2023
The year got off to an epic start in January with the Kennington Bioscope’s screening of Siegfried (1924), the first part of Fritz Lang’s Die Nibelungen saga, with an equally epic piano accompaniment from Costos Fotopoulos. Costos put in another shift later in the month accompanying Metropolis (1927) at BFI Southbank. Electronic group Minima hit the road with The Lodger (1927) in Melbourne and 
Nosferatu (1922) in Nottingham. Down in Cornwall, accompanists Wurlitza also took to the road with a double bill of The Kid (1921) and Chess Fever (1925), beginning in Liskeard. In a now all-to-rare silent film screening at London’s Barbican, musicians Stephen Horne and Martin Pyne accompanied The Unknown (1927), starring Lon Chaney as an armless circus knife thrower. However, that wasn’t the 
oddest film of the month. That accolade must go to a recently rediscovered 35mm print of the silent horror Go And Get It (1920), presented by the Gothique Film Society at the Cinema Museum. Considered the fore-runner of the ‘killer gorilla’ horrors that would feature so heavily in the decades to come, with mad Dr. Ord putting a criminal’s brain into an ape. What could possibly go wrong?! On piano, John Sweeney had to work hard to keep up with the deranged goings on. 
February saw a delightful evening of cross-dressing at the Cinema Museum with Beverly of Graustark (1926) and I Don’t Want to Be a Man (1918) in a joint presentation by Kennington Bioscope and the Vito Project with piano accompaniment by John Sweeney and Colin Sell. Battleship Potemkin (1925) had a rare outing at the BFI IMAX in London, albeit with a recorded score while both the Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) and Metropolis (1927) got a wide one day release at many Picture House cinemas. The Palace Cinema in Broadstairs also kicked off its 2023 season with Underground (1928) and regular piano accompaniment from Lillian Henley. But the main feature of the month was 
Bristol’s Slapstick Festival. Amongst the highlights, The Cigarette Girl from Mosselprom (1924) a delightful Soviet comedy at the Watershed Cinema with piano accompaniment from John Sweeney; I Kiss Your Hand Madam (1929) a rare Marlene Dietrich silent comedy (which she would subsequently deny ever having made), also at the Watershed and with accompaniment by John Sweeney; plus a couple of superb Raymond Griffith comedies, Paths To Paradise (1925) and You’d Be Surprised (1926). Also at this year’s festival, use was made to great effect of the Bristol IMAX to screen Buster Keaton in The Navigator/Sherlock Jr (both 1924) and Harold Lloyd in Speedy (1928). In March, the highlight a
s usual was Bo’ness’ Hippodrome Silent Film Festival, with included the classic film about film-making Shooting Stars (1928) accompanied by Stephen Horne, C T Dryer’s ahead-of-its-time examination of domestic life Master of the House (1925) accompanied by John Sweeney, Chinese melodrama Volcanic Passions (1932) also accompanied by Mr Sweeney, Mikhail Kaufman’s cinematic poem In Spring (1929) accompanied by Ukrainian musicians Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin and finally the classic Man Who Laughs (1928) accompanied by 
Frank Bockius and Meg Morley. In fact it was a busy month for Meg, who also accompanied The Passion Of Joan of Arc (1928) at BFI Southbank, Au Bonheur des Dames (1930) and Foolish Wives (1928) at the Borderlines Film Festival as well as I Was Born But…(1932) at Pound Arts in Corsham. Meanwhile, back in London, Cyrus Gabrysh accompanied Fritz Lang’s other monumental sci-fi epic Woman In The Moon (1929) at the Institut Francais and the KenBio ended the month with romantic comedy The Love Expert (1920) at the Cinema Museum with live piano accompaniment from Colin Sell.
April kicked off with a 100th anniversary screening of Harold Lloyd classic Safety Last (1923) at St George’s Bristol with live accompaniment from the Stephen Horne Trio. The Yorkshire Silent Film Festival were busy, screening ice bound true life epic South (1919) in York and Louise Brooks classic Pandora’s Box (1928) in Pudsey, both with live accompaniment from Frame Ensemble together with Metropolis (1927)at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth with piano accompaniment from Jonny Best. Rudolf 
Valentino put in an appearance as The Eagle (1925) at the Glasgow Film Theatre with piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. In Bristol, South West Silents brought us Clara Bow in The Primrose Path (1925) with accompaniment by Dominic Irving while across the harbour at The Watershed there was a cross dressing double bill of Beverly of 
Graustark (1926) and I Don’t Want to Be a Man (1918) both accompanied by Meg Morley. Finally, there was also another one day nationwide Picture House screening, this time for Man With A Movie Camera (1929). In May, Birmingham’s Flatpack Festival took on a Vertov/Kaufman theme with Man With A Movie Camera (1929) and In Spring (1929) both accompanied by Ukrainian musicians Roksana Smirnova and Misha Kalinin. The Hexham Jazz Festival screened Lubitsch’s subversive satire of military life The Wild Cat (1921) 
with a new jazz score from Paul Edis, Paul Susans, Graeme Wilson and Steve Hanley. The Yorkshie Silent Film Festival put on an unmissable double bill of Metropolis (1927) with live accompaniment from Jonny Best, plus Blade Runner (1982) while the KenBio matched it with a great western double bill of The Westbound Limited (1923) and The Last Outlaw (1927) with piano accompaniment by Meg Morley and Colin Sell at the Cinema Museum. Meanwhile, the Garden Cinema had a double screening of The Lodger (1927)with the premier of new score performed live by composer 
and musician Malvern Brume (Rory Salter). June saw another busy month for the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival with screenings of Swedish rarity The Girl In Tails (1926), Rin Tin Tin in Where The North Begins (1923), Stroheim melodrama Foolish Wives (1921), Keaton classic Steamboat Bill Jr (1928) plus some slapstick and ‘first nasty women’ all at the Abbeydale Picture House, and all with live accompaniment. The 
BFI’s Film on Film Festival included silents The First Born (1928) accompanied by Stephen Horne and a glorious Manning Haynes/Lydia Hayward double bill The Boatswain’s Mate (1924) and Sam’s Boy (1924). Meanwhile, at St Giles’ Church Camberwell, a curiously contrasting double bill of dreamy inter-title free French melodrama Menilmontant (1926) twinned with Keaton comedy Sherlock Jnr (1924) screened with organ accompaniment from Ashley Valentine.
July began and ended with screenings from the Lucky Dog Picture House at the famous Wilton’s Music Hall, all starring Harold Lloyd, starting with Speedy (1928) and The Freshman (1925) and ending with the classic Safety Last (1923) and all with live accompaniment. The Yorkshire Silent Film Festival brought us Metropolis (1927) and Echoes of the North; Four Chapters in Time, a specially created film of rarely seen early 20th century archive footage shot around the North of England. They were even brave enough 
to put on a Rin Tin Tin compendium with a ‘bring your own dog’ invite. Finally, at Bristol’s Watershed Cinema, camp classic Salome (1923) starring Alla Nazimova got a knockout accompaniment from Meg Morley. August kicked off much the same way as July, with a Lucky Dog Picture House comedy fest at Wiltons, beginning with Harold Lloyd in Safety Last (1923) before moving on to Buster Keaton in The Navigator (1924), Seven Chances (1925) and the brilliant but all too infrequently screened Battling Butler (1926), all with top notch live accompaniment. The Chichester Film Festival included Safety Last (1923), Steamboat Bill Jr (1928) and Phantom Of The Opera (1925) but the highlight was the delightful French comedy The Italian 
Straw Hat (1928) with live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. Meanwhile, in nearby Arundel there was a rare outing for Tansy (1921), one of the few surviving Cecil Hepworth feature length films. Nosferatu (1922) screened as part of the Edinburgh Film Festival with live accompaniment by Graeme Stephen and Aidan O’Rourke while Safety Last (1923) got another screening, this time at Old College Quad in Edinburgh with Mike Nolan on piano. September saw the start of a long overdue Yasujiro Ozu season at BFI Southbank with a good selection of his silent films including I Was Born But…(1932), I Flunked But…(1930), the wonderful Story Of Floating Weeds (1934) and Tokyo Chorus (1931). Complementing this last film, a fine example of Ozu’s shomin-geki, or “common people drama”, 
the BFI also screened King Vidor’s The Crowd (1928) which Ozu cited as an inspiration for his own film. Pound Arts in Corsham screened DeMille’s biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1923) with Meg Morley on piano while down in Newton Abbot musicians Wurlitza accompanied the oh so geographically appropriate screening of Cottage On Dartmoor (1929). At the Hippodrome in Bo’Ness, Stephen Horne accompanied early Hitchcock silent The Manxman while back in London John Sweeney was on piano at the Institut Francais accompanying Ukrainian rarity The Selfseeker (1929).
Silent film screenings in October were dominated by the Northern Silents Film Festival, twenty events all across the north of England. As well as old favourites such as The General (1926), The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari (1920), Chicago (1926 ) and Salome (1923) there were also some quality rarities such as the Lubitsch comedy So This Is Paris (1926), Walter Ford in Would You Believe It (1929) and Russian sci-fi epic Aelita – Queen Of Mars (1924), all screened with top quality live accompaniment. In the rest of the country South West Silents brought us Weimar gem Asphalt (1929) with music by Meg Morley, Lillian Henley accompanied The Hands of Orlac (1924) at 
the Palace Cinema in Broadstairs and the KenBio presented Ivan Mouskojine and Brigitte Helm in romantic drama Manolescu (1929) accompanied by John Sweeney. As is usual in Halloween month there were multiple screenings of Nosferatu (1922) and Caligari (1920) but Stephen Horne and Elizabeth Jane Baldry brought a touch of the unusual with their accompaniment to Epstein’s ever-so-creepy Fall Of The House Of Usher (1928) and Murnau’s Faust (1926). November kicked off with the welcome return of the KenBio’s Silent Comedy Weekend. As well as old favourites 
such as The Cameraman (1928) there were some brilliant new discoveries such as Mabel Normand in The Floor Below (1918) and, in particular, Poker Faces (1926), with accompaniment from Ashley Valentine. There was also a heartfelt tribute to the much missed Dave Wyatt. Elsewhere during the month, British rarity The Flying Scotsman (1929) got a couple of outings with organ accompaniment from Donald Mackenzie, there were lots of Hunchback Of Notra Dame (1923) screenings on tour with accompanist Aaron Hawthorne, The Mark Of Zorro (1920) was screened in Bristol with fabulous accompaniment from Meg Morley while back in London The Lucky Dog Picture House screened Underground (1928) and Battleship Potemkin (1925) at Wilton’s Music Hall and as part of the Jewish Film Festival there was a 
screening of Czech melodrama The Crucified (1921) a troubling representation of Jews and anti-semitism in 19th century Europe. And finally December, usually a thin month silent film wise, but not this year, thanks to the first ever Wareham Silent Film Festival, which focused upon the films of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. There were old favourites such as The Mark Of Zorro (1920) and Stella Maris (1918) but also some very rarely screened gems including Fanchon The Cricket (1915) and the utterly bizarre When The Clouds Roll By (1919). Then there was just time for The Jew Of Mestri (1923) screened by the KenBio and A Woman Of Paris (1923) at BFI Southbank and that was it for 2023.
Our Top Ten Of The Year
So, what then were our ten favourite silent films of the year (not necessarily the ten best films, but those screenings and accompaniment which we most enjoyed). They are as follows (by screening date order);
Siegfried (Dir. Fritz Lang, Ger, 1924) 11th January Kennington Bioscope at the Cinema Museum with live piano accompaniment by Costos Fotopoulos. the first part of Lang’s Die Nibelungen saga, Siegfried is epic in every way, in scale, in set design, in visualisation, in special effects. A stunning example of German expressionistic film making and with an equally epic accompaniment from Costos Fotopoulos.
The Cigarette Girl from Mosselprom (Dir. Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky, USSR, 1924) 15th February Slapstick Festival at the Watershed Cinema, Bristol with live piano accompaniment from John Sweeney. Just going to prove that Soviet cinema of the 1920s wasn’t all heavyweight propganda, this is a nicely structured light romantic comedy, well acted, very funny and with beautiful location shooting in Moscow and John Sweeney added to the enjoyment with just the lightest touches on piano.
The Boatswain’s Mate (Dir. H. Manning Haynes, UK, 1924) and Sam’s Boy (Dir. H. Manning Haynes, UK, 1924) 11th June BFI Southbank with live piano accompaniment by Neil Brand. Never miss any opportunity to catch these glorious but rarely screened comedies scripted by Lydia Hayward. Pure pleasure and it was clear from Mr Brand’s accompaniment that he too was enjoying the screening.
Salome (Dir. Charles Bryant, US, 1923) 29th July Watershed Bristol with live musical accompaniment by Meg Morley. Screen diva Alla Nazimova may really have been way too old to portray Salome but she nevertheless puts in an astounding performance in this visually stunning camp classic. On electric keyboard Meg Morley choose a piano/xylophone combination for a superb accompaniment.
The Italian Straw Hat (Dir. Rene Clair, 1928) 15th August Chichester Film Festival at Guildhall, Chichester with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney. The lightest of light French comedies, tightly scripted, beautifully choreographed, wonderfully acted. A Belle Époque era story of the chaos that ensues when a horse eats a ladies hat. John Sweeney once again just catches the tone of the film perfectly.
The Crowd (Dir. King Vidor, US, 1928) 10th September BFI Southbank with live piano accompaniment from Stephen Horne. This potentially dour tale of the struggles of ‘an ordinary man’proves to be an extraordinary film. Visually stunning, wonderfully acted ( by Eleanor Boardman in particular) and brave enough to conclude with an open ending. Stephen Horne provided his usual stellar accompaniment, beautifully capturing the highs and lows of this ordinary man’s existence.
The Magician (Dir. Rex Ingram, US, 1926) 29th October BFI Southbank with live piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Full marks to BFI for picking a Halloween film that wasn’t Caligari or Nosferatu. The Magician, detailing an occultist’s search for a virgin’s blood to complete his spell, is perhaps not a great film but is visually stunning and builds to an exciting climax. Mr Horne’s accompaniment worked wonders in building the suspense.
Poker Faces (Dir. Harry A Pollard, US, 1926) 3rd November Kennington Bioscope at the Cinema Museum with live piano accompaniment by Ashley Valentine. Laura La Plante and Edward Everett Horton are perfectly paired as battling husband and wife in this frequently laugh-out-loud funny farce. Pianist Ashley Valentine coped admirably with the often frenetic pace of the film.
The Mark Of Zorro (Dir. Fred Niblo, US, 1920) 13th November St George’s, Bristol with live piano accompaniment by Meg Morley. I’ve seen this Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckler no end of times but never enjoyed it as much as this time which was due to Meg Morley’s knockout accompaniment on the venue’s Steinway Grand. Right from the opening overture we knew we were in for something special and so it proved.
When The Clouds Roll By (Dir. Victor Fleming/Theodore Reed (uncredited), US, 1919) 3rd December Wareham Silent Film Weekend at the Rex Cinema, Wareham. With live accompaniment by Meg Morley. Having seen Fairbanks’ earlier Mystery Of The Leaping Fish I should have been prepared for this but nothing really prepares you for dancing vegetables, surreal dreams of trousers falling down, Mr Fairbanks’ athleticism and a dramatic flood climax. All held together brilliantly by Meg Morley’s accompaniment.
And A Few Misses Of The Year!
Biggest disappointment had to be Tansy (Dir. Cecil Hepworth, UK, 1921). Given how few Hepworth features survive and how rarely they are screened I was really looking forward to seeing this one. But never was a film so utterly destroyed by an inappropriate accompaniment. This story of Sussex sheep herders came with endless variations on Baa Baa Black Sheep, an attempted rape scene was accompanied by a cheery ‘If You Were The Only Girl In The World’ and the climactic scene of the hero racing to catch the heroine came with a Keystone Cops chase theme. Truly dreadful. Even more depressing, an audience of 50 or so people, most of whom were new to silent film, will now see this as a benchmark for silent film accompaniment. Oh where are Messrs Sweeney, Horne or Morley when you need them!!
Apart from that, there wasn’t really much to complain about during another year of silent film watching, other than that I seem fated never to get to see Frau im Mond (1929) or Asphalt (1929) with live musical accompaniment. Oh well, maybe next year!
And that pretty well wraps up this review of the year, other than to express, as usual, our thanks to all of those venues, programmers, projectionists, accompanists, hosts, speakers and volunteers who give so generously of their time, energies and skills to make these silent events happen. Your efforts as always are really appreciated.
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