Day of Silents - The San Francisco Silent Film Festival Program for 2017

The Winter program for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival is happening on December 2nd.  The annual one day program is filled with some really terrific cinema.  Before you read further, go ahead, go buy your day pass now, then come back and read!

After years of wishing! 
I will get to see this terrific film on the big screen.


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Frame-Grab from The Adventures of Prince Achmed

10:00 am - The Adventures of Prince Achmed the amazing 1926 animated classic by Lotte Reiniger.  If you have not seen this truly magical film you are in for a real treat.  Accompanied by Dr. Philip Carli, I'm really excited to welcome him to SF.

Here is a short clip from this amazing film to whet your appetite.

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12:00 pm - The Last Man on Earth (1924) looks like it will be a complete romp.  Earle Foxe stars (seen at the SFSFF previously in the John Ford Upstream) in this comedy which co-stars Grace Cunard and climaxes with an all-female boxing match.  You cannot make this up, you know!  This will also be accompanied by Dr. Carli.

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The great Ernest Torrance in Tol'able David

2:00 pm - Tol'able David (1921) is an old favorite of mine.  I have had this on my wish list for an SFSFF screening for decades.  Henry King's rural David and Goliath fable is a beautifully constructed film.  Shot on location in Burke, Virginia the film is brutal and beautiful to behold.  Ernest Torrance is especially memorable and amazing (especially if you realize off screen he was a much beloved and lovely man).  Accompanied by Frederick Hodges.  Not to be missed.

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Ivor Novello

4:30 pm - The Rat (1925) is a British box office smash starring British heartthrob Ivor Novello and D.W. Griffith alumni Mae Marsh.  Directed by Graham Cutts, who later founded the Gainsborough Studios (and had an assistant named Alfred Hitchcock).   I do not know a thing about this film, excepting what I've seen on the SFSSF website.  We have a new group set to accompany, Sascha Jacobsen and the Musical Art Quintet. 

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7:00 pm - Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) Heartthrob Ronald Colman stars in this Ernst Lubitsch confection that is another film I have long wanted to see on the big screen.  Co-starring May McAvoy (best remembered from Ben-Hur) and Irene Rich this film is a delight from start to finish.  Accompanies by The Mont-Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. 

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9:15 pm Sex in Chains (1928) William Dieterle who was more famous in America as a director later on, both directs and stars in this tale of life and love in prison.  Phil Carli returns to accompany the last film of the day.

See you there!  Be there or be square!