San Francisco Silent Film Festival Where Silents Are Golden

Willaim Bakewell in The Last Edition

 

It is time for all silent film fans to make their pilgrimage to the gorgeous Castro Theater to enjoy the 2013 edition of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.  It’s a festival I look forward to every summer and while I confess there are times I do grumble to myself about some of the choices, I come away at the end of the long weekend thrilled with the films I’ve seen.

The festival this year has a lot of variety and my initial not-to-be-missed films and programs (for me) are: Tales From the Archives; The First Born; Tokyo Chorus; The Patsy; Winsor McKay His Life and Art; The Half Breed; Legong: Dance of the Virgins; Gribiche; The House on Trubnaya Square; and The Last Edition.

If you’ve not bought tickets to any films yet, or the entire magilla, get them here.

Prix de Beaute

Thursday, July 18 at 7:00 pm
Musical Accompaniment Stephen Horne
France, 1930 • Director Augusto Genina
Cast Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, H. Bandini, A. Nicolle, M. Ziboulsky, Yves Glad, Alex Bernard

Prix de Beauté marks Louise Brooks’s last starring role in a feature. Less known than her work with G.W. Pabst (Pandora’s Box, Diary of a Lost Girl), Prix de Beauté was marred by its foray into early sound (Brooks’s voice was dubbed). Our presentation is the superior silent version recently restored by the Cineteca di Bologna. Brooks is stunning as Lucienne, the “everygirl” typist who enters a beauty contest and is introduced to a shiny world of fame and modernity. But Prix’s script, a collaboration between René Clair and G.W. Pabst, doesn’t leave Lucienne in a fairy tale bubble but leads to a powerful, moving denouement. Cinematographers Rudolph Maté and Louis Née make beautiful use of Brooks’s glorious face. Approximately 108 minutes. 2012 Restoration courtesy of Cineteca Bologna, screening in DCP

 

Tales from the Archives

Friday, July 19 at 11:00 am – Free Admission!
Céline Ruivo, Director of Film Collections at the Cinémathèque française, will present on the Cinémathèque's restoration of films from the Paris Exposition of 1900, Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre. Rob Byrne, film preservationist, will present on his restoration of Allan Dwan's The Half-Breed starring Douglas Fairbanks (and premiering on Saturday, July 20 at 12 noon!).

 

The First Born

Friday, July 19 at 2:00 pm
Musical Accompaniment Stephen Horne
UK, 1928 • Director Miles Mander
Cast Miles Mander, Madeleine Carroll, John Loder, Margot Armand, Ellat Atherton, Ivo Dawson Scenario Miles Mander, Alma Reville

The directorial debut of actor, writer, and producer Miles Mander, The First Born was adapted from his own novel and play, set in a British upper-class milieu and touching on morality, politics, and the disintegration of a marriage. Sir Hugh Boycott (Mander) and his young bride Madeleine (Madeleine Carroll) have a passionate marriage that is rocked when she fails to produce an heir. Mander’s gem rises above standard melodrama with its deft observance of character, perhaps helped by its co-writer Alma Reville, a well-known advisor to her husband Alfred Hitchcock. The First Born was recently restored by the BFI National Archive. Approximately 88 minutes. 35mm restored print from the BFI National Archive

 

Tokyo Chorus

Friday, July 19 at 4:30 pm
Musical Accompaniment Günter Buchwald
Japan, 1931 • Director Yasujiro Ozu
Cast Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Hideo Sugawara, Hideko Takamine, Tatsuo Saito, Chouko Iida

Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Chorus is a delicately composed tale of parental love, middle-class dreams, and suburban and urban realities. A young insurance salesman finds his life turned upside-down when he defends a fired co-worker. His family’s response, particularly his young son who wants a bicycle, is the heart of this film which shows the emergence of Ozu’s mature style—and a wonderful blend of comedy and drama. Approximately 90 minutes. 35mm print from Janus Films

 

The Patsy

Musical Accompaniment Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
USA, 1928 • Director King Vidor
Cast Marion Davies, Orville Caldwell, Marie Dressler, Dell Henderson, Lawrence Gray, Jane Winton

Before William Randolph Hearst decided that comedic roles were beneath her, Marion Davies had already established herself as a madcap comedienne on the musical stage. Director King Vidor had enough Hollywood clout to defy Hearst and play to Davies’ true strengths and the result is demonstrated in her incandescent performance in The Patsy. J.B. Kaufman writes, “Energetic, irrepressible, bubbling over with good humor yet capable of quiet sensitivity, she proves herself once and for all a genuine star. In her most celebrated scene she demonstrates her talent for mimicry by offering devastatingly accurate impressions of Mae Murray, Lillian Gish, and Pola Negri. (Mae Murray and Lillian Gish were, like Davies, MGM stars at the time, and Pola Negri's Three Sinners was released almost simultaneously with The Patsy.)” Approximately 84 minutes 35mm print from the Library of Congress

 

Gosta Eckman in The Golden Clown

 

The Golden Clown

Musical Accompaniment Matti Bye Ensemble
Denmark, 1926 • Director A.W. Sandberg
Cast Gösta Ekman, Maurice de Féraudy, Kate Fabian, Karina Bell, Robert Schmidt, Erik Bertner

Gösta Ekman is the eponymous clown in this tale of rural ways confronting the glamour and danger of the big city. The small town Joe (Ekman) and his circus princess Daisy (Karina Bell) find success in Paris, but become embroiled in a love triangle with a Parisian bon vivant. This beautiful restoration by the Danish Film Institute highlights the exquisite cinematography of Chresten Jørgensen and Einar Olsen. Approximately 128 minutes. 35mm restored print courtesy of the Danish Film Institute

 

Winsor McCay His Life and Art

Saturday, July 20 at 10:00 am
A Special Presentation by John Canemaker
Musical Accompaniment Stephen Horne

John Canemaker acclaimed biography Winsor McCay: His Life and Art celebrates the early-twentieth-century genius who gave the world Little Nemo and Gertie the Dinosaur. This special presentation is illustrated with stunning images from Canemaker’s book, as well as screenings of four of McCay's greatest films: Little Nemo (1911, 3 mins), the first adaptation of a comic strip to a film format; the indelibly disturbing How a Mosquito Operates (1912, 6 mins); Gertie the Dinosaur (1914, 18 mins), the charming and infinitely influential animation McCay designed as part of a Vaudeville act; and The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918, 12 mins), a somber animated counterpart to McCay's editorial cartoons. Approximately 70 minutes.

 

Douglas Fairbanks in The Half Breed (and in the altogether)

The Half-Breed

Saturday, July 20 at 12:00 noon
Musical Accompaniment Günter Buchwald on the Mighty Wurlitzer
USA, 1916 • Director Allan Dwan
Cast Douglas Fairbanks, Alma Rubens, Sam De Grasse, Tom Wilson, Frank Brownlee, Jewel Carmen, George Beranger

The great Allan Dwan directed this western drama set amongst the redwoods and filmed in part near Boulder Creek (with Victor Fleming behind the camera!). Based on a story by Bret Harte and adapted by Anita Loos, The Half-Breed stars Douglas Fairbanks as Lo Dorman, a half-Indian outcast from society who lives in the forest and makes his home in a hollow tree. The coquettish pastor’s daughter (Jewel Carmen) toys with his affections, but it is Teresa (Alma Reuben) on the run from the law, who shares Lo’s status as an outsider. This brand new restoration is the result of a partnership between Cinémathèque Française and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. World Premiere! Approximately 70 minutes. 2013 Restoration 35mm print

 

Legong: Dance of the Virgins

Saturday, July 20 at 2:15 pm
Musical Accompaniment Gamela Sekar Jaya and the Club Foot Orchestra
Bali, 1935 • Director Henri de la Falaise
Cast Poetoe Aloes Goesti, Bagus Mara Goesti, Saplak Njoman, Njong Njong Njoman

One of the last features shot in two-strip Technicolor, Legong was filmed entirely on location in Bali in 1935 by the Marquis Henry de la Falaise (a WWI hero, the ex-husband of Gloria Swanson, and the current spouse of Constance Bennett). The film is a tragic tale of love denied—Poutou, a respected Legong dancer, falls in love with young musician, Nyoung. Her father is delighted with Poutou's choice and wants to help her to conquer Nyoung's heart. But Poutou's half-sister Saplak pines for the musician. When Nyoung chooses Saplak, Poutou drowns herself. Legong's real theme is much more than mere melodrama—it is the delineation of Balinese culture. De la Falaise captured religious rituals including frenetic dances and mystical parades, and everyday dealings at the local marketplace. Small details chronicling the life of the villagers make the film an absorbing and mesmerizing quasi-documentary in gorgeous Two-Color Technicolor! Approximately 65 minutes. 35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive

 

Gribiche

Gribiche

Saturday, July 20 at 4:00 pm
Musical Accompaniment Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
France, 1926 • Director Jacques Feyder
Cast Jean Forest, Françoise Rosay, Cécile Guyon, Rolla Norman, Charles Barrois, Andrée Canti, Armand Dufour, Serge Otto, Alice Tissot, Major Heitner, Georges Pionnier, Soufflot, Mme. Surgères

Jacques Feyder’s first film for Films Albatros is the story of a young boy (Jean Forest) who lives with his widowed mother (Cécile Guyon) in a lower-middle-class Paris neighborhood when he is “discovered” by a rich American widow, Mrs. Maranet (Françoise Rosay in her first important role), who decides to adopt the boy and give him a “proper education.” This charming film was recently restored by the Cinémathèque Française with the collaboration of the Franco-American Cultural Fund—DGA, MPA, SACEM, WGA. Approximately 112 minutes. Restored 35mm print from the Cinémathèque Française

 The House on Trubnaya Square
Saturday, July 20 at 6:30 pm
Musical Accompaniment Stephen Horne
USSR, 1928 • Director Boris Barnet
Cast Vera Maretskaya, Vladimir Fogel, Yelena Tyapkina, Sergei Komarov, Anel Duakevich, Ada Vojtsik

Our vote for Best Soviet Silent Comedy ever, Trubnaya is a brilliant look at class distinctions in the newly urbanized Soviet Union. “Set in a Moscow housing project, where a young scrubwoman discovers a new sense of self after she sees a film about Joan of Arc, this silent 1928 comedy displays a superb technique, a grace with actors, and a talent for eccentric characterizations that suggest Leo McCarey more than Karl Marx.” —Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader. Approximately 64 minutes. 35mm print courtesy of the Pacific Film Archive

 

The Joyless Street (Die freudlose Gasse)

Saturday, July 20 at 8:30 pm
Musical Accompaniment Matti Bye Ensemble
Germany, 1925 • Director G.W. Pabst
Cast: Asta Nielsen, Greta Garbo, Gräfin, Agnes Esterhazy, Werner Krauß, Henry Stuart, Einar Hanson, Grigori Chmara

Not only one of the most important films of Weimar-era Germany, The Joyless Street is also one of the most spectacular censorship cases of the era. The story from the inflationary period in Vienna in the years immediately after World War I was considered too much of a provocation with its juxtaposition of haves and have nots—that and its frank sexuality. Pabst’s film was twice shortened by the German censors and other countries made cuts or outright banned the film. This painstaking restoration supervised by Stefan Drössler has reconstructed the film as close as possible to Pabst’s intention. It is a magnificent achievement. Approximately 150 minutes. Restored 35mm print from Filmmuseum München

 

Kings of (Silent) Comedy

Sunday, July 21 at 10:00 am
Musical Accompaniment Günter Buchwald

Preservationist and showman Serge Bromberg has selected some of his favorite silent era shorts to make gorgeous new transfers using the best materials possible. The films in our program feature titans of silent comedy—Charley Chase, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and of course, Felix the Cat. The Silent Film Festival starts Sunday morning right—with a program fit for the entire family. Titles include: Felix Goes West (USA, d. Otto Messmer, 1924), Mighty Like a Moose (USA, d. Leo McCarey, 1926), The Love Nest (USA, d. Buster Keaton, 1923), The Immigrant (USA, d. Charles Chaplin, 1917). Approximately 71 minutes. DCP presentation

 

The Outlaw and His Wife (Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru)

Sunday, July 21 at 1:00 pm
Musical Accompaniment Matti Bye Ensemble
Sweden, 1918 • Director Victor Sjöström
Cast Victor Sjöström, Edith Erastoff, John Ekman, Jenny Tschernichin-Larsson, Artur Rolén, Nils Aréhn

Produced during a renaissance in the Swedish film industry, The Outlaw and His Wife confirmed the promise of director Victor Sjöström, whose previous film, Terje Vigen, had been a big success for Svenska Biograf. Like a western with a romanticized renegade hero, The Outlaw and His Wife is the ballad of an accused thief on the run (played by Sjöström) who finds work on the farm of a generous, self-sufficient widow, and their growing attraction turns to love. When a jealous rival alerts the authorities to the thief's real identity, the couple take off together into the wilds of Iceland. Approximately 105 minutes. 2013 35mm restoration courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute

 

The Last Edition

Sunday, July 21 at 3:30 pm
Musical Accompaniment Stephen Horne
USA, 1925 • Director Emory Johnson
Cast Ralph Lewis, John Bailey, Billy Bakewell, Wade Boteler, Joseph Campbell, Will Frank, Ray Hallor, David Kirby, Rex Lease, Lisa Leslie

In 2011, film preservationist and SFSFF Board President Rob Byrne learned that an original nitrate print—the only known surviving copy—of The Last Edition existed in the vaults of the Dutch national archive. One of the few surviving films created by Emory Johnson in the mid-1920s, The Last Edition stars veteran actor Ralph Lewis as a pressman at the San Francisco Chronicle. Shot in and around the Chronicle building, the action-packed drama features thrilling chases throughout San Francisco, newspaper production from press to print, and a (literally) “stop the presses” climax that includes a dramatic fire and rescue. This brand new restoration is the result of a partnership between EYE Film Institute Netherlands and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. World Premiere! Approximately 105 minutes. 2013 35mm restoration

 

The Weavers (Die Weber)

Sunday, July 21 at 6:00 pm
Musical Accompaniment Günter Buchwald
Germany, 1927 • Director Friedrich Zelnik
Cast Paul Wegener, Valeska Stock, Georg Burhahrdt, Emil Lind, Wilhelm Dieterle, Hermann Picha, Herta von Walther, Camilla von Hollay, Theodor Loos, Dagny Servaes Intertitles designed and hand drawn by George Grosz

Based on the 1892 play by Gerhart Hauptman dramatizing a Silesian cotton weavers uprising of 1844, The Weavers was once known as the German Potemkin. Its makers downplayed its radical message, but The Weavers resonated with viewers in 1927 whose social reality reflected a chasm between rich and poor. George Grosz’s sardonic, beautifully drawn intertitle art has been restored to this riveting film. Approximately 97 minutes. 2012 restoration courtesy of F. W. Murnau Stiftung and Transit Film GmbH. Screening in DCP

Special Addition to this Presentation!

Ken Winokur of the Alloy Orchestra made an amazing discovery while the orchestra was traveling in the Ukraine—a two-minute trailer for Dziga Vertov's THE ELEVENTH YEAR, created by Aleksander Rodchenko!  As a special gift to San Francisco, he and Beth Custer will perform the World Premiere of their score accompanying Vertov's trailer just before the July 21 screening of THE WEAVERS. The 35mm print of THE ELEVENTH YEAR trailer is courtesy of EYE International, The Netherlands.

Harold Lloyd in Safety Last

 

Safety Last!

Sunday, July 21 at 8:30 pm
Musical Accompaniment Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
USA, 1923 • Directors Sam Taylor, Fred Newmeyer
Cast Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Westcott B. Clarke

A bespectacled man hanging off the hands of a collapsing clock on the side of a skyscraper high above teeming city streets is one of the most indelible images of cinema. The thrilling climax of Safety Last! is made all the more exciting because Harold Lloyd, one of the masters of silent-era comedy, didn’t need CGI to make it happen. But why he is up there in the first place? A girl of course! Safety Last! takes a familiar story of a boy meets girl and turns it into high-art comedy. Layered with expert gags, the 1923 film inspired Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Agee to write of the climb: “Each new floor is like a stanza in a poem.” Approximately 70 minutes. 2013 restoration courtesy of Janus Films, screening in DCP

 I'll be live posting during the festival, via my iPhone.  I beg indulgence for the typos that will surely be forthcoming as I really stink at texting!  See you there!