This should be a big year for the
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
in Fremont, California. In addition to the annual Charlie Chaplin Days and Broncho
Billy Film Festival held later in the year, Niles Essanay will mark the
100th anniversary of the building of the Essanay Film Studio. A century
ago, Niles hosted what was one
of the major studios on the West Coast. The venerable film museum also
celebrates its eighth year of showing silent movies every Saturday night
at its historic Edison Theater (which is also marking its 100th
anniversary).
Niles Essanay starts the new year with a great line-up of
films in January. One highlight is
Anna Christie
(1923), the first film adaption of Eugene O'Neill's famous Pulitzer
Prize winning play. Notably, it was produced by Thomas Ince (the subject
of a major
new biography)
only two years after O'Neill's stage drama debuted on Broadway. That
film is part of the weekly series "Saturday Night at the Movies." There
is also the monthly "Comedy Short Subject Night" and "Laurel & Hardy
Talkie Matinee." Notably, each silent film is presented with live
musical accompaniment featuring some of the Bay Area's leading
accompanists. All together, it's a great month of early cinema in the
East Bay. Here's what's playing.
"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday January 5 at 7:30 pm
Today, we think of Wallace Beery as a memorable character actor who
often played the "heavy" (as he did in the 1928 film, Begg
ars of Life). But in the 1920's he was one half of one of
the most popular comedy teams of the silent era. His screen partner was
Raymond Hatton, and together they appeared in a series of so-called
service comedies (army, navy, air force, fire department, etc...) which
included the now lost smash hit,
Now We're in the Air (1927), which also featured Louise Brooks. In
Behind the Front
(1926, Paramount), Beery and Hatton join the army and head off to
France to fight in this WWI comedy directed by Eddie Sutherland (Brooks' one-time husband). The
film also features Mary Brian, Richard Arlen, Chester Conklin, and
Gertrude Astor (all of whom appeared in a film in which Louise Brooks appeared). This seldom screened silent feature will be preceded by
two shorts,
One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912, Biograph) with Edwin August and Blanche Sweet, and
Pink Pajamas (1929, Mack Sennett) with Billy Bevan and Natalie Joyce (the latter played in
A Girl in Every Port).
"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Frederick Hodges at the piano
Saturday January 12 at 7:30 pm
In
Power (1928, Pathe), William Boyd and Alan Hale are
friends and rivals for the affections of the lovely Jacqueline Logan in
this light comedy with wisecracks penned by future director Tay Garnett
(best known for
The Postman Always Rings Twice). Beauties Joan
Bennett and Carole Lombard (who starred in the 1931 film,
It Pays to Advertise, which included Brooks in a cameo), are also featured, as is the fluid camerawork
of J. Peverell Marley. [See the previous blog entry for a bit more about this film.] The feature will be preceded by the comedic
shorts
Hale and Hearty (1922, Hal Roach) with Snub Pollard, and
Many Scrappy Returns (1927, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase and Eugene Pallette (who was featured in
The Canary Murder Case).
"Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee"
Sunday January 13 at 4:00 pm
This month's "
Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee"
is themed "The Sounds of Silents." It's comprised of four late silent
short films originally released with Vitaphone soundtracks containing
music and sound effects. Each of the four shorts --
Liberty (1928) and
Bacon Grabbers (1929) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and
Barnum & Ringling (1928) and
Cat, Dog & Company (1929) -- will be screened with their original, vintage soundtracks.
"Comedy Short Subject Night" with Greg Pane at the piano
Saturday January 19 at 7:30 pm
If you love to laugh, then don't miss this monthly program of shorts
featuring some of the most famous comedians of the silent film era. On
the bill are
The Pawnshop (1916, Lone Star) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance,
The Paleface (1921, Comique) with Buster Keaton,
Among Those Present (1921, Rolin) with Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis, and
Putting Pants on Philip (1927, Hal Roach) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Judy Rosenberg at the piano
Saturday January 26 at 7:30 pm
Blanche Sweet and William Russell star in
Anna Christie
(1923, Ince), the first film adaption of Eugene O'Neill's play about a
troubled young woman who comes to live with her estranged father on the
New York waterfront.
Anna Christie has been remade many times
as a film, most famously with Greta Garbo in 1931. This earlier version
features Eugenie Besserer, Chester Conklin and Fred Kohler (the latter two actors each appeared in a Brooks' film). The feature
will be preceded by two shorts,
A Ten-Minute Egg (1924, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase, and
The Cry of the Children (1912, Thanhouser), starring future director James Cruze, whose credits include
The City Gone Wild, with Kohler and Brooks). This latter short was based on a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
"Mary Pickford Short Film Program" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday February 2 at 7:30 pm
Looking ahead to February, Niles Essanay celebrates Mary Pickford at
the beginning of her career with a selection of her Biograph and IMP
films in 35mm prints from the Library of Congress. Christel Schmidt will
be on hand to talk about the films and sign copies of her big new book,
Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies (University Press of Kentucky).
For more info: The Niles
Essanay Silent Film Museum is located at 37417 Niles Blvd. in Fremont,
California. For further information, call (510) 494-1411 or visit the
museum website at
www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/.