Showing posts with label The Show Off. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Show Off. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Reminder : Louise Brooks film THE SHOW OFF to screen in New Hampshire

A New Hampshire theater will host a relocated version of the Kansas Silent Film Festival, an annual vintage film event cancelled this year due to Covid-19. In honor of the scrubbed Kansas festival, a three-day program of classic silent films with live music will be shown on the last weekend of February at the Town Hall Theatre, a two-screen independent movie house in Wilton, N.H. 

The "Kansas Silent Film Festival in New Hampshire," running from Friday, Feb. 26 through Sunday, Feb. 28, will feature vintage comedies and dramas starring performers with ties to the Sunflower State.
Among highlights is Louise Brooks in 'The Show Off' (1926); notably, a couple of the other films scheduled for the festival feature other personalities Brooks worked with, such as Wallace Beery, Ford Sterling, and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
 
 
The festival also includes a rare screening of 'The Little Church Around the Corner' a 1923 melodrama featuring Kansas-raised Claire Windsor and actor Walter Long, a native of Milford, N.H. 
Also on the festival's program: the original silent film version of 'The Wizard of Oz' (1925), with comic Oliver Hardy playing the Tin Man. 
 
All screenings will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist who travels each year to perform at the Kansas Festival, held at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas."When this year's Kansas festival was cancelled," Rapsis said, "we figured we could stage a tribute event here in New Hampshire, where movie theaters are able to show films while observing Covid-19 safety precautions."
 
 
The Town Hall Theatre, a well-known independent movie house, reopened in July. It currently shows only classic films and other specialty programs due to the lack of first-run features in release. The theatre follows all recommended Covid-19 safety guidelines.
 
All "Kansas Silent Film Festival in New Hampshire" screenings are free and open to the public, with no tickets needed or available in advance. Donations are welcome, with proceeds going to support the Kansas Silent Film Festival, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Organizers plan to add Kansas flavor to the event by bringing in selected local delicacies from the Sunflower state. Between screenings, movie-goers may sample sunflower seeds alongside Porubsky's hot pickles, to be shipped in from an iconic Polish deli in Topeka. 
 
 
In Kansas, in lieu of live performances this year, the Kansas Silent Film Festival will host a program of virtual screenings for online viewing. For more info, visit www.kssilentfilmfest.org. In New Hampshire, each day of the relocated tribute festival includes two feature films separated by an intermission.
 
• Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, 7:30 p.m.: Claire Windsor in 'The Little Church Around the Corner' (1923) and Fatty Arbuckle in 'The Round-Up' (1920). Kansas-born star Claire Windsor stars in 'The Little Church Around the Corner' (1923), a labor relations melodrama with a role for Milford, N.H. native Walter Long; followed by 'The Roundup' (1920), a rarely screened feature film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (also from Kansas) that wasn't released in the U.S. following accusations of murder against the comedian, leading to a notorious series of court trials that exonerated Arbuckle, but left his career in ruins.
• Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, 7:30 p.m.: Silent screen icon Louise Brooks in 'The Show-Off' (1926) and Kansas-born actress Zasu Pitts in 'Casey at the Bat' (1927). In 'The Show Off,' actress Louise Brooks (from Cherryvale, Kansas) stars in the story of a working-class family's reluctance to accept their daughter's suitor. The film also stars Ford Serling in the title role, and Lois Moran. In 'Casey at the Bat,' Zasu Pitts (from Parsons, Kansas) stars with Wallace Beery, Ford Sterling and Sterling Holloway  in a cinematic retelling of the classic baseball story.
• Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, 2 p.m.: The original silent 'Wizard of Oz' (1925) plus Buster Keaton in 'The Navigator' (1924). In the final program, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore with the original silent version of 'The Wizard of Oz,' starring comedian Larry Semon as the scarecrow and featuring Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man! Then it's the timeless visual comedy of Kansas-born Buster Keaton, often called the most silent of the silent comedians. In 'The Navigator' (1924), Buster sets sail on a deserted ocean liner, riding a high tide of hilarity. Classic silent film comedy! 
 
 
For more about the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H., please visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456. For more about the Kansas Silent Film Festival, visit www.kssilentfilmfest.org. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.
 

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Louise Brooks film to screen at Kansas Silent Film Festival in New Hampshire

This month, a New Hampshire theater will host a relocated version of the Kansas Silent Film Festival, an annual vintage film event cancelled this year due to Covid-19. In honor of the scrubbed Kansas festival, a three-day program of classic silent films with live music will be shown on the last weekend of February at the Town Hall Theatre, a two-screen independent movie house in Wilton, N.H. 

The"Kansas Silent Film Festival in New Hampshire," running from Friday, Feb. 26 through Sunday, Feb. 28, will feature vintage comedies and dramas starring performers with ties to the Sunflower State.
Among highlights: Kansas-born starlet Louise Brooks in 'The Show Off' (1926); and Buster Keaton (born in Kansas when his parents were in a traveling medicine show) in the classic silent comedy 'The Navigator' (1924.)
 
 
The festival also includes a rare screening of 'The Little Church Around the Corner' a 1923 melodrama featuring Kansas-raised Claire Windsor and actor Walter Long, a native of Milford, N.H. 
Also on the festival's program: the original silent film version of 'The Wizard of Oz' (1925), with comic Oliver Hardy playing the Tin Man. 
 
All screenings will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist who travels each year to perform at the Kansas Festival, held at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas."When this year's Kansas festival was cancelled," Rapsis said, "we figured we could stage a tribute event here in New Hampshire, where movie theaters are able to show films while observing Covid-19 safety precautions."
 
 
The Town Hall Theatre, a well-known independent movie house, reopened in July. It currently shows only classic films and other specialty programs due to the lack of first-run features in release. The theatre follows all recommended Covid-19 safety guidelines.
 
All "Kansas Silent Film Festival in New Hampshire" screenings are free and open to the public, with no tickets needed or available in advance. Donations are welcome, with proceeds going to support the Kansas Silent Film Festival, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Organizers plan to add Kansas flavor to the event by bringing in selected local delicacies from the Sunflower state. Between screenings, movie-goers may sample sunflower seeds alongside Porubsky's hot pickles, to be shipped in from an iconic Polish deli in Topeka. 
 
 
In Kansas, in lieu of live performances this year, the Kansas Silent Film Festival will host a program of virtual screenings for online viewing. For more info, visit www.kssilentfilmfest.org. In New Hampshire, each day of the relocated tribute festival includes two feature films separated by an intermission.
 
• Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, 7:30 p.m.: Claire Windsor in 'The Little Church Around the Corner' (1923) and Fatty Arbuckle in 'The Round-Up' (1920). Kansas-born star Claire Windsor stars in 'The Little Church Around the Corner' (1923), a labor relations melodrama with a role for Milford, N.H. native Walter Long; followed by 'The Roundup' (1920), a rarely screened feature film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (also from Kansas) that wasn't released in the U.S. following accusations of murder against the comedian, leading to a notorious series of court trials that exonerated Arbuckle, but left his career in ruins.
• Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, 7:30 p.m.: Silent screen icon Louise Brooks in 'The Show-Off' (1926) and Kansas-born actress Zasu Pitts in 'Casey at the Bat' (1927). In 'The Show Off,' actress Louise Brooks (from Cherryvale, Kansas) stars in the story of a working-class family's reluctance to accept their daughter's suitor. The film also stars Ford Serling in the title role, and Lois Moran. In 'Casey at the Bat,' Zasu Pitts (from Parsons, Kansas) stars with Wallace Beery, Ford Sterling and Sterling Holloway  in a cinematic retelling of the classic baseball story.
• Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, 2 p.m.: The original silent 'Wizard of Oz' (1925) plus Buster Keaton in 'The Navigator' (1924). In the final program, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore with the original silent version of 'The Wizard of Oz,' starring comedian Larry Semon as the scarecrow and featuring Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man! Then it's the timeless visual comedy of Kansas-born Buster Keaton, often called the most silent of the silent comedians. In 'The Navigator' (1924), Buster sets sail on a deserted ocean liner, riding a high tide of hilarity. Classic silent film comedy! 
 
 
"Thanks to everyone at the Kansas festival for giving us permission to stage this socially distanced tribute," said Rapsis, who has attended every Kansas Silent Film Festival since 2000. "We may be 1,500 miles away, but our hearts are in the same place." For more about the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H., please visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456. For more about the Kansas Silent Film Festival, visit www.kssilentfilmfest.org. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.
 

Friday, December 4, 2020

Reminder - Little seen Louise Brooks film The Show Off to screen in Australia

REMINDER: The little seen 1926 Louise Brooks film, The Show Off, will be shown in a theatre in Australia on Saturday, December 5th. This rare pandemic era screening will take place at The Majestic Theatre in Pomona, QLD. More information about this event can be found HERE. (I have seen The Show Off a number of times, and think it is one of Brooks' better comedies, though her role is that of a supporting player.)


The Majestic Theatre is located in the heart of the Noosa Hinterland in the small historic town of Pomona, in Queensland, Australia. The Majestic Theatre is a not for profit, small community run theatre and cinema that has been in operation for almost 100 years as both a community hall and a silent film theatre. They show silent films every Saturday at 12 noon, and claim to be the "World's Longest Running Silent Film Theatre." Check their calendar for other silent film offerings, including Clara Bow's It on November 28.


The Majestic Theatre description of its upcoming Louise Brooks screening reads:  "The Show Off is a 1926 American silent film comedy produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, based on the play of the same name by George Kelly. Directed by Mal St Clare, the film stars Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks. This film is one of two films that co-starred popular Broadway actor Gregory Kelly (first husband of Ruth Gordon who died shortly after The Show-Off wrapped production. The film was produced in Philadelphia and New York City thus becoming a sort of time capsule record of buildings long gone and neighbourhoods changed. No need to book. Tickets at the door. 12 noon to 2pm. Doors & Bar open 11.30am. $15 for adults & free for kids. Snacks & refreshments available."

Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson, Gregory Kelly, and Louise Brooks in The Show Off
 

Though released in the United States in August, 1926, The Show Off only debuted in Australia in mid-January, 1927 when it opened in Brisbane (Queensland), Sydney (New South Wales), and Hobart (Tasmania). To learn more about the film, visit the Louise Brooks Society webpage on the film.

Pomona, the site of next month's screening, is about 124 kilometers from Brisbane, the capital and the most populated city in the Australian state of Queensland. When The Show Off first opened in Brisbane, it played briefly at the Valley Theatre as part of a double bill with Romola, starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Ronald Colman and William Powell. Ahead of its showing, the local Brisbane Truth newspaper described The Show Off as a "sparking comedy," while the Sunday Mail described it as a "interesting and humorous production."

A couple of months later, The Show Off played elsewhere in Queensland, including March and April runs in Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, and the Toowoomba region. It was described favorably, and said to be "well worth seeing." None of the Queensland articles or reviews singled out Brooks beyond mentioning her and Lois Wilson were in the cast; instead, most of the coverage was focused on comedian Ford Sterling, one of the original Keystone Cops. Below is the advertisement which ran when the film showed in Mackay.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Little seen Louise Brooks film The Show Off to screen in Australia

The little seen 1926 Louise Brooks film, The Show Off, will be shown in a theatre in Australia on Saturday, December 5th. This rare pandemic era screening will take place at The Majestic Theatre in
Pomona, QLD. More information about this event can be found HERE. (I have seen The Show Off a number of times, and think it is one of Brooks' better comedies, though her role is that of a supporting player.)


The Majestic Theatre is located in the heart of the Noosa Hinterland in the small historic town of Pomona, in Queensland, Australia. The Majestic Theatre is a not for profit, small community run theatre and cinema that has been in operation for almost 100 years as both a community hall and a silent film theatre. They show silent films every Saturday at 12 noon, and claim to be the "World's Longest Running Silent Film Theatre." Check their calendar for other silent film offerings, including Clara Bow's It on November 28.


The Majestic Theatre description of its upcoming Louise Brooks screening reads:  "The Show Off is a 1926 American silent film comedy produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, based on the play of the same name by George Kelly. Directed by Mal St Clare, the film stars Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks. This film is one of two films that co-starred popular Broadway actor Gregory Kelly (first husband of Ruth Gordon who died shortly after The Show-Off wrapped production. The film was produced in Philadelphia and New York City thus becoming a sort of time capsule record of buildings long gone and neighbourhoods changed. No need to book. Tickets at the door. 12 noon to 2pm. Doors & Bar open 11.30am. $15 for adults & free for kids. Snacks & refreshments available."

Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson, Gregory Kelly, and Louise Brooks in The Show Off
 

Though released in the United States in August, 1926, The Show Off only debuted in Australia in mid-January, 1927 when it opened in Brisbane (Queensland), Sydney (New South Wales), and Hobart (Tasmania). To learn more about the film, visit the Louise Brooks Society webpage on the film.

Pomona, the site of next month's screening, is about 124 kilometers from Brisbane, the capital and the most populated city in the Australian state of Queensland. When The Show Off first opened in Brisbane, it played briefly at the Valley Theatre as part of a double bill with Romola, starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Ronald Colman and William Powell. Ahead of its showing, the local Brisbane Truth newspaper described The Show Off as a "sparking comedy," while the Sunday Mail described it as a "interesting and humorous production."

A couple of months later, The Show Off played elsewhere in Queensland, including March and April runs in Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, and the Toowoomba region. It was described favorably, and said to be "well worth seeing." None of the Queensland articles or reviews singled out Brooks beyond mentioning her and Lois Wilson were in the cast; instead, most of the coverage was focused on comedian Ford Sterling, one of the original Keystone Cops. Below is the advertisement which ran when the film showed in Mackay.

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