The 19th San Francisco Silent Film Festival
May 29–June 1, 2014
Castro Theatre, San Francisco
silentfilm.org
True art transcends time.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2014 – Live cinema takes the spotlight at the 19th San Francisco Silent Festival from
May 29th through
June 1st at the Castro Theatre. For information, please visit
www.silentfilm.org.
From iconic silent film actors to fantastic restorations, the lineup for
this year spans the globe to bring an outstanding mix of classic film
from this golden age of movies – all accompanied by live music. Here are
some highlights from this year’s stellar lineup:
OPENING NIGHT: THE FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE (USA, 1921)
The film that made Rudolph Valentino a star and brought director Rex Ingram to prominence
, Four Horsemen
is one of the greatest of the Great War chronicles. Valentino brought a
new kind of leading man to the screen in the role of Julio Desnoyers:
the Latin lover. Desnoyers is the favorite grandson of a wealthy
Argentinean rancher, who spoils the boy. After his grandfather’s death,
Julio moves to France, falls in love with a married woman (Alice Terry)
and is finally shamed into joining the army. Based on the best-selling
novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and adapted for screen by June Mathis,
Four Horsemen
was among the biggest box office hits of the silent era, premiering in
March 1921 to great critical acclaim. The film was re-released in a
shortened version in 1926, the year Valentino died, and was seen in that
truncated form until Kevin Brownlow and David Gill undertook a
restoration in the early 1990s. Brownlow and Gill returned the film to
its original length with its original color tints, as well as restoring
the famous tango to its scintillating splendor. SF Silent’s presentation
commemorates the 100th anniversary of World War I, as well as the 25th
anniversary of the accompanying ensemble—who started life as a Ragtime
and Tango Orchestra.
Musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (
9:15 p.m., Thursday May 29)
An opening night party will follow the screening at the top floor loft
of the historic McRoskey Mattress Company Building (1687 Market Street
in San Francisco) with party food by Bartavelle and Poesia.
CLOSING NIGHT: THE NAVIGATOR (USA, 1924)
Cinema legend Buster Keaton stars and co-directs this brilliant comedy
with Donald Crisp. As his fourth feature film, Keaton stars as a wealthy
man who tries to win the heart of Kathryn McGuire only to end up adrift
at sea. THE NAVIGATOR is a wonderful feat of filmmaking, complete with
elaborate stunts and an amazing underwater sequence. The film was a
critical success at the time and was one of Keaton’s favorites
. Musical accompaniment by the Matti Bye Ensemble (
9 p.m., Sunday June 1st)
SPECIAL EVENT: AMAZING TALES FROM THE ARCHIVES
The Silent Film Festival continues their AMAZING TALES FROM THE ARCHIVES
program with a three behind-the-scenes presentations. The first
presentation features Bryony Dixon, the British Film Institute’s Curator
of Silent Film. Dixon will present early innovative nature films
preserved by the BFI National Archive. Daniel Streible, Founder and
Director of the Orphan Film Symposium, takes an in-depth look at the
iconic snippet of film known as FRED OTT’S SNEEZE, which had been
missing almost half of the frames shot in 1894. Finally, Craig Barron
(Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor) and Ben Burtt (Academy
Award-winning sound designer) explore the technical effects Charlie
Chaplin used in his legendary films. From matte shots to sound effects
to miniatures, Barron and Burtt’s presentation shows how Chaplin adapted
new technology to his process via behind-the-scenes stills and film
clips. The event is free.
Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne on piano (
10 a.m., Friday May 30)
COSMIC VOYAGE (USSR, 1936)
The Soviet Union was serious about its science fiction, bringing in
rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky as a technical consultant on
Cosmic Voyage.
Tsiolkovsky designed miniatures for this big budget project that
enjoyed the full backing of the Communist Youth League. A trip to the
moon, what better way to inspire the youth of a nation! Set in 1946 (a
mere 10 years away!),
Cosmic Voyage portrays the Soviet space
program fractured by warring factions—those who want to play it safe and
those who are eager to go to the moon. Professor Sedikh (of the
pro-moon-trip faction) is considered too old to lead the first manned
moon flight, but he and his assistant Marina elude the naysayers and
blast off on their mission, aided by a boy scout (Andryusha) and a
fluffy Cat.
Cosmic Voyage is a wonderful adventure with
hilarious subplots and remarkably sound science. In fact, the film is
visionary in its relevance to real-life developments in space
exploration.
Cosmic Voyage had a brief release in early 1936
before Soviet censors took it out of release. Scenes of cosmonauts
hopping across the low-gravity lunar surface didn’t fit with their ideal
of socialist realism.
Musical accompaniment by Guenter Buchwald and Frank Bockius, as Silent Movie Music Company (
10 p.m., Friday May 30)
DRAGNET GIRL (Japan, 1933)
Best known for his gentle family comedies and dramas, Japanese master
Yasujiro Ozu also made three silent gangster films. Dragnet Girl, the
last and best of them, stars future Mizoguchi muse Kinuyo Tanaka as a
typist by day, and gun-toting gangster’s moll by night. As her ex-boxer
lover, Joji Oka matches her tough bravado. Ozu, a fan of American films,
pays stylish homage to the genre, filling the frame with
Hollywood-style décor and costumes, moody lighting and noir shadows. The
sets and cinematography were reportedly influenced by the work of
Joseph von Sternberg. Not typical Ozu, but a surprising, delightful
anomaly.
Musical accompaniment by Guenter Buchwald on piano (
12 p.m., Sunday June 1)
THE GOOD BAD MAN (USA, 1916)
Douglas Fairbanks is producer, writer, and star of this silent western
directed by Allan Dwan and photographed by Victor Fleming. Fairbanks
stars as the character Passin’ Through, a Robin Hood-like bandit who
robs from the rich to aid unwanted children. The film also stars Bessie
Love and Pomeroy Cannon and was beautifully photographed in picturesque
Tucson. THE GOOD BAD MAN was thought to be lost for many years, but
materials were found and restored by the SFSFF’s Tracey Goessel and Rob
Byrne for the World Premiere screening at the festival.
Musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin on piano (
10 a.m., Saturday May 31)
THE EPIC OF EVEREST (UK, 1924)
This extraordinary documentary is the official film record,
shot by Captain John Noel, of the third British expedition to attempt to
reach the summit of the world’s highest peak. We begin with the large
contingent of men, animals and equipment gathered to journey across the
Tibetan Plateau towards Everest. En route the film records some of the
earliest images of the Tibetan people and their culture and when the
camera can go no further on the slopes of Everest, a specially designed
telephoto lens records the final attempts of climbers Mallory and Irvine
to reach the summit. Noel’s film served both as an absorbing
documentary of an extraordinary journey into the interior of Tibet and
as a memorial to a tragedy. The loss of Mallory and Irvine turned the
failed expedition into one of the 20th century’s most compelling
mysteries. Musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne on piano and Frank
Bockius on Tibetan bells (
2 p.m., Saturday May 31)
THE GIRL IN TAILS (Sweden, 1926)
A fizzy comedy that makes some serious feminist points,
The Girl in Tails was
directed by forgotten multi-hyphenate Swedish director Karin Swanström.
The film is based on one of a series of novels satirizing small-town
life by one of Sweden’s leading early 20th writers. Katja (Magda Holm)
wants a new dress for her graduation dance, but her father won’t buy her
one. So Katja dresses up in her brother’s tuxedo and attends the dance,
smoking cigars, drinking brandy, and shocking the locals. Director
Swanström gives herself a juicy role as a formidable dowager who is the
town’s leading citizen. Today, Swanström is a footnote in film history, a
studio talent scout who is sometimes credited with discovering Ingrid
Bergman. But during the 1920s and ’30s, Swanström—a character actress,
director and studio executive—was one of the most powerful people in the
Swedish film industry.
Musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (
2:30 p.m., Sunday, June 1)
RAMONA (USA, 1928)
Edwin Carewe directed the 1928 version of what had by then proven a
durable story, filmed twice previously (and at least once subsequently).
Adapted from Helen Hunt Jackson’s hugely popular 1884 novel, RAMONA’s
narrative is set in early California where powerful rancher Señora
Moreno (Vera Lewis) is raising the mixed-race orphan Ramona (Dolores del
Rio) along with her own son Felipe. Ramona falls in love with
Alessandro (Warner Baxter), a Temecula Indian who works at the ranch.
Defying Señora Moreno, Ramona elopes with Alessandro, and starts a new
life embracing her Indian heritage. But her new family endures tragedy
and persecution in an age that held little tolerance for Native
Americans. Director Carewe, himself of Chickasaw descent (a very rare
thing in Hollywood), represented a felicitous match for the material and
a sensitive interpreter of the action. Also inspired was the choice of
Dolores del Rio as the star of the 1928 version, being herself a proud
Mexican actress who famously declined to be identified as “Spanish”
during her career. Thought lost for many years, RAMONA was restored from
a surviving print discovered in the Czech National Archive in 2010.
Musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (
7:30 p.m., Friday May 30)
Tickets Information, Festival Dates and Public Contact Numbers
The 19th San Francisco Silent Film Festival will take place May 29-June 1
at the historic Castro Theatre. For the complete lineup of films and to
purchase tickets and festival passes, go to
www.silentfilm.org. Festival passes are available for sale in person with no fee at McRoskey Mattress Company (1687 Market Street at Gough, SF).
For more information, visit the SFSFF website at
www.silentfilm.org.
