SFSFF is happy to announce the complete program for its holiday extravaganza A DAY OF SILENTS: one glorious day of live cinema on December 1 at the Castro Theatre
in San Francisco, California with six programs, 10 musicians, and plenty of holiday cheer.
From Laurel and Hardy to Beatrice Lillie, from French Impressionism to German Expressionism, from the romanticism of Frank Borzage to the feminism of Dorothy Davenport, plus live musical accompaniment by Wayne Barker, Jon Mirsalis, Alloy Orchestra, and Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra—an all-around wonderful day is in the offing. TICKETS and PASSES on sale now!
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were part of Hal Roach's Comedy All Stars when filmmaker Leo McCarey had an inspiration—to team them up. McCarey served as the team's supervising director in the late silent era and he and Laurel developed the classic Laurel and Hardy slow-burn style that made them stars worldwide far into the sound era. As the brilliant new film Stan & Ollie—starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly—prepares for an early 2019 release, it's time to check in with the comedy duo that inspired it.
The program includes THE FINISHING TOUCH (1928, d. Clyde Bruckman, Leo McCarey), LIBERTY (1929, d. James W. Horne, Leo McCarey), and BIG BUSINESS (1929, d. James W. Horne, Leo McCarey). Total running time approximately 65 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis
Prints (35mm and DCP) from the Library of Congress and Lobster Films with permission by Jeff Joseph
Inspired by a true story in ripped-from-the-headlines style, The Red Kimona was the third in a trilogy of social-issue dramas by actress/screenwriter/director Dorothy Davenport. The story of a small-town teacher lured into prostitution was adapted for the screen by Dorothy Arzner from Adela Rogers St. John’s sensational story, and produced and co-directed by Davenport (as Mrs. Wallace Reid). Gabrielle (Priscilla Bonner) is a young naïf who’s swept off her feet by a Lothario, who abandons her in New Orlean’s red-light district. When she sees him buying an engagement ring for another woman, she shoots him dead. At trial Gabrielle becomes a cause celebre—and the pawn of a self-aggrandizing socialite.
USA, 1925. Directed by Walter Lang and Dorothy Davenport. With Priscilla Bonner, Nellie Bly Baker, Carl Miller, Mary Carr, Virginia Pearson, and Tyrone Power Sr.
Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra Print (DCP) courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. The film is part of Kino Lorber’s Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers collection. Preservation was funded by The Stanford Foundation, George Eastman Museum, and UCLA Film & Television Archive
From Laurel and Hardy to Beatrice Lillie, from French Impressionism to German Expressionism, from the romanticism of Frank Borzage to the feminism of Dorothy Davenport, plus live musical accompaniment by Wayne Barker, Jon Mirsalis, Alloy Orchestra, and Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra—an all-around wonderful day is in the offing. TICKETS and PASSES on sale now!
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were part of Hal Roach's Comedy All Stars when filmmaker Leo McCarey had an inspiration—to team them up. McCarey served as the team's supervising director in the late silent era and he and Laurel developed the classic Laurel and Hardy slow-burn style that made them stars worldwide far into the sound era. As the brilliant new film Stan & Ollie—starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly—prepares for an early 2019 release, it's time to check in with the comedy duo that inspired it.
The program includes THE FINISHING TOUCH (1928, d. Clyde Bruckman, Leo McCarey), LIBERTY (1929, d. James W. Horne, Leo McCarey), and BIG BUSINESS (1929, d. James W. Horne, Leo McCarey). Total running time approximately 65 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis
Prints (35mm and DCP) from the Library of Congress and Lobster Films with permission by Jeff Joseph
Inspired by a true story in ripped-from-the-headlines style, The Red Kimona was the third in a trilogy of social-issue dramas by actress/screenwriter/director Dorothy Davenport. The story of a small-town teacher lured into prostitution was adapted for the screen by Dorothy Arzner from Adela Rogers St. John’s sensational story, and produced and co-directed by Davenport (as Mrs. Wallace Reid). Gabrielle (Priscilla Bonner) is a young naïf who’s swept off her feet by a Lothario, who abandons her in New Orlean’s red-light district. When she sees him buying an engagement ring for another woman, she shoots him dead. At trial Gabrielle becomes a cause celebre—and the pawn of a self-aggrandizing socialite.
USA, 1925. Directed by Walter Lang and Dorothy Davenport. With Priscilla Bonner, Nellie Bly Baker, Carl Miller, Mary Carr, Virginia Pearson, and Tyrone Power Sr.
Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra Print (DCP) courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. The film is part of Kino Lorber’s Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers collection. Preservation was funded by The Stanford Foundation, George Eastman Museum, and UCLA Film & Television Archive
One of legendary stage actress Beatrice Lillie’s few films—the superbly comic Exit Smiling,
her debut and her only silent—demonstrates why theater audiences found
her so captivating. Lillie’s character works wardrobe in a touring
theatrical company—“Violet, the drudge of the troupe”—and she’s
determined to break into the limelight. A talented crew in front of the
camera (Jack Pickford, Franklin Pangborn in his feature debut!) and
behind (writer/director Sam Taylor was a veteran of some of Harold
Lloyd’s best comedies) adds nuance and grace to the hilarity. The
portrayal of low-rent theater life is beautifully realized, with the
seedy small-town halls, crummy dressing rooms, and camaraderie that come
with the theatrical calling.
USA, 1926. Directed by Sam Taylor. With Beatrice Lillie, Jack Pickford, and Franklin Pangborn. 80 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Wayne Barker
Print (35mm) courtesy of the British Film Institute with permission by Warner Bros.
USA, 1926. Directed by Sam Taylor. With Beatrice Lillie, Jack Pickford, and Franklin Pangborn. 80 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Wayne Barker
Print (35mm) courtesy of the British Film Institute with permission by Warner Bros.
Director Jean Epstein was one of the central
figures in French cinema of the 1920s and his writings and cinematic
innovations have inspired filmmakers from Buñuel to Cassavetes. The
romantic triangle at the center of Couer Fidèle is played out on
the streets and docks of working class Marseilles as Marie (the
breathtaking Gina Manès) dreams of escaping a bad relationship with
drunken layabout Petit Paul (Edmond van Daële) for dockworker Jean (Léon
Mathot). Epstein aimed to create, in his own words, “a melodrama so
stripped of all the conventions ordinarily attached to the genre, so
sober, so simple, that it might approach the nobility and excellence of
tragedy.” In Coeur Fidèle he achieves that nobility—his blend of experimentation and naturalism is visually and emotionally riveting. In Cahiers du Cinema,
Henri Langlois wrote, “Coeur Fidèle is the triumph of impressionism of
movement, but it is also something else – the triumph of the modern
spirit. Its images were seemingly in 3D; they literally burst from the
screen…”
France, 1923. Directed by Jean Epstein. With Léon Mathot, Gina Manès, and Edmond van Daële. 75 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Alloy Orchestra
Restoration by Cinémathèque Française. Print (DCP) courtesy of The Festival Agency
One of three titles nominated for Best Picture at the very first Academy Awards, 7th Heaven helped to establish Fox Film Corporation as a major studio. Although it lost to Wings (the category was called Outstanding Picture at the time), director Borzage took the top prize for directing, star Janet Gaynor for acting, and screenwriter Benjamin Glazer for adaptation. Set in Paris on the cusp of WWI, 7th Heaven is the story of two ordinary people who become involved by chance, separated by war, and transfigured by love. Beautifully photographed and supremely romantic in the telling, 7th Heaven was the first pairing of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, who would become the romantic duo of the era.
USA, 1927. Directed by Frank Borzage. With Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. 110 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Restoration by MoMA. Print (DCP) courtesy of 20th Century Fox
France, 1923. Directed by Jean Epstein. With Léon Mathot, Gina Manès, and Edmond van Daële. 75 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Alloy Orchestra
Restoration by Cinémathèque Française. Print (DCP) courtesy of The Festival Agency
One of three titles nominated for Best Picture at the very first Academy Awards, 7th Heaven helped to establish Fox Film Corporation as a major studio. Although it lost to Wings (the category was called Outstanding Picture at the time), director Borzage took the top prize for directing, star Janet Gaynor for acting, and screenwriter Benjamin Glazer for adaptation. Set in Paris on the cusp of WWI, 7th Heaven is the story of two ordinary people who become involved by chance, separated by war, and transfigured by love. Beautifully photographed and supremely romantic in the telling, 7th Heaven was the first pairing of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, who would become the romantic duo of the era.
USA, 1927. Directed by Frank Borzage. With Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. 110 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Restoration by MoMA. Print (DCP) courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Lotte Eisner’s groundbreaking history of cinema The Haunted Screen
(1952) had the unintended effect of popularizing the idea of
expressionism—suddenly every Weimar title was considered an example of
German Expressionism. Eisner set out to redress that misreading and in
1958, she declared that there were no more than three genuinely
expressionist films: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Waxworks, and From Morn to Midnight. With its painted sets, distorted perspectives, and artificial acting, Morn
is quintessentially expressionist in style. The story is of a
small-town bank teller who, after becoming bewitched by a glamorous
customer, decides his own life is paltry, steals a large sum of money
from his bank and flees to the big city to pursue fulfillment. Produced a
few months after Caligari’s release, the film had a negligible
release in Germany but it found success in Japan in 1922. The film was
considered lost for many years but in one of those wonders of cinema
history, a copy was found at the National Film Center, Tokyo (now the
National Film Archive of Japan) in 1959. Our print from NFAJ is from the
2004 restoration with the Munich Filmmuseum.
Germany, 1920. Directed by Karlheinz Martin. With Ernst Deutsch, Roma Bahn, and Ema Morena. 69 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Alloy Orchestra
Print (35mm) courtesy of National Film Archive of Japan
Germany, 1920. Directed by Karlheinz Martin. With Ernst Deutsch, Roma Bahn, and Ema Morena. 69 minutes
Live musical accompaniment by Alloy Orchestra
Print (35mm) courtesy of National Film Archive of Japan
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