San Francisco Silent Film Festival - 25th Anniversary Recap
 |
| photo: Donna Hill |
 |
| Erich von Stroheim in Foolish Wives |
Opening Night: May 5, 2022
It pained me to miss out on the new restoration of Erich von Stroheim's 1922 film Foolish Wives. This restoration is a co-restoration between the Museum of Modern Art and SFSFF. The musical accompaniment was be the debut of Timothy Brock's score who was conducting the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra. I had a hell day at work so by the time I clocked off, I knew I would not make it to the movie alive. I regret this more than I can say. Fingers crossed this important restoration gets a physical media release.
Day 2: May 6, 2022
 |
| The Fire Brigade Glorious tinting & the Handschiegl color process |
I am always excited about the Amazing Tales from the Archives free morning program. This year proved to be no exception in presentations from Senior Film Restorer Kathy Rose O'Regan who presented on The Gault Collection from 1925 Ireland which featured fascinating and rare glimpses of Ireland. and Heather Linville of the Library of Congress who spoke about the restoration of The Fire Brigade and triple color restorations for the film. I bugged out for a scheduled lunch with an old, old friend. So I missed the presentation on Sylvester, I resolve to catch up on this via the SFSFF Screening Room.
 |
| Below the Surface had some great underwater sequences |
A real rarity was Irvin Willat's 1920 film Below the Surface starring Hobart Bosworth, Lloyd Hughes and Grace Darmond (fun fact, Darmond was Jean Acker's paramour for a time). This is the second film I have seen by Irvin Willat starring Hobart Bosworth. Not nearly as twisted or dark as the previous Behind the Door (that was wild). This was a more simple tale of deep sea divers, love gone wrong and the baddies getting their karmic justice in a very damp manner. Fabulous underwater photography! Good pie action, too. Philip Carli provided the excellent accompaniment.
 |
| Clara Bow in The Primrose Path |
A chance to see Clara Bow is always an opportunity not to be missed. Here she was featured in a small part in the 1925 film The Primrose Path. Bow biographer David Stenn was on hand to introduce the film and talk about the miraculous discovery of print that had been purchased by an online friend of mine (the guys who collect and share treasures are to be thanked for all they do). Through his generosity this film was restored and we got to enjoy seeing Clara charm as only she could. This is an early film for Clara, she's not in it much, but what is there is choice. You can see right off the bat she was star material and she stole every scene she was in. Musical accompaniment by Wayne Barker kept the film moving along briskly.
My day ended there, alas. Blind Husbands, Erich von Stroheim's first directed film was restored by the Austrian Film Museum. Accompaniment was by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Wishing this and Foolish Wives gets a physical media release.
Paul Leni's fabulous film Waxworks which stared future director William Dieterle, Emil Jannings, Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt is a film I am familiar with and have it on DVD so I skipped.
Day 3: May 7, 2022
The King of the Circus 1924 is the final film of the great Max Linder. I had the pleasure of seeing this film at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in October of 2021 so I took a leisurely breakfast at home and allowed people who had not seen the film to enjoy it in my stead. I spoke with several once I arrived at the Castro and they loved it, too.
 |
| Image courtesy BFI |
The Great Victorian Picture Show was presented by Bryony Dixon of the BFI. The range of early films were from 1897-1901 and seeing these large format films on the big Castro screen were a real treat. The clarity and, yes, majesty were amazing. Having seen some large format Biograph films at the online 39th edition of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto were wonderful. Seeing these in a theater was an entirely different thing. Among the very rare treats was "new" film of Queen Victoria tgat was not her mostly hidden by a black parasol. I was envious when this presentation was announced for the BFI, oh for a magic carpet! This was a dream come true see them, narrated with knowledge and dry humor by Bryony Dixon (always a pleasure to have her presenting something) and the films musically supported by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius. This was one of my most favorite programs as well you might guess.
Next was the fabulous 1928 film Steamboat Bill, Jr. starring Buster Keaton. Keaton is always a crowd pleaser, he is innovative in his comedy and entirely modern. His films seem to translate to a modern viewer almost more than any of the other silent comedians. Co-starring the gruff Ernest Torrance as Steamboat Bill Sr. (who knew he had such a comedic touch?) the film has some of Keaton's most memorable gags, the cyclone, the falling house facade and the thrilling river rescue. Musical accompaniment was handled expertly by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
Japan remained silent well into the sound era. I am excited about this new to me director Mikio Naruse and film 1933 Apart From You. I have a great love of Japanese cinema and the silent films that I have seen have all been fantastic. I missed this film, but, have the dvd from Criterion on the to-be-watched pile.
Like many of my friends, I skipped out on Rebirth of a Nation that featured DJ Spooky returning to SFSFF. I am going to let his trailer for an earlier iteration do the talking here:
The evening closed out with Alla Nazimova in the 1923 film Salome. This film featuring the incredible design work of Natacha Rambova is one of my favorite silent films. Again, I have seen this many times, twice before on the big screen. I opted to skip it and put my feet up.
 |
| Alla Nazimova as Salome |
Day 4: May 8, 2022
 |
| Ben Alexander and Cameo |
Penrod and Sam 1923 is a wonderful film (bring Kleenex). Not to be missed. I saw it streamed for the 39th Le Giornate del Cinema Muto online festival in 2020. Nevertheless, I found this film so beautifully made and acted I wanted to see it on the big screen. It did not disappoint at all. Ben Alexander playing the boy Penrod (let's face it, he is a bit of a bully) still, he reached deep and was incredible in the more dramatic aspects of the film. What a fine actor he was (seek him out in All Quiet on the Western Front, he's great in that too). The cast was filled out with Mary Philbin playing Penrod's elder sister, Gareth Hughes as her boyfriend, Gladys Brockwell as his Mother and Rockliffe Fellows as his Father. The children cast in the film all blossomed under the direction of William Beaudine. Beaudine was a very talented director who clearly had a way with children. It's a film I very much love and find it very special, was great to see on the big screen. Accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Frank Bockius was note perfect. The Baby Peggy short The Kid Reporter preceded the main feature. The film looked as if it were filmed yesterday, the print was sparkling. This was a quite enjoyable short. I confess that I find many of the Baby Peggy shorts to be painfully exploitive of the young star. This seemed less so since she was a five year old whose personality was allowed to shine. William Lewis provided the jaunty accompaniment.
 |
| Baby Peggy as The Kid Reporter |
Prem Sanyas 1925 is a third film of Franz Osten shot in India and was looking forward to seeing Seeta Devi once again. I did not realize until I started watching the film that I had seen this before. Musical accompaniment by the Club Foot Hindustani was really great and really supported the film, it flew by.
 |
| Himansu Rai (right) co-directed and starred in Prem Sanyas |
In these terrible times with our thoughts of the genocide happening in Ukraine, we got the chance to do our part and donate to help feed refugees via World Central Kitchen and support film preservation by donating to the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre in Kyiv at the same time with the screening of Arrest Warrant a 1926 Ukrainian film. Introduced eloquently and passionately by the Czar of Noir Eddie Muller who plead the case for the suffering of the people of Ukraine. Before the film I was not alone in wiping away tears as the Sascha Jacobsen Quintet played the Ukraine national anthem and the audience rose to their feet as one in solidarity, hands over our hearts. After this emotional start, came the film. The basic plot is this (per the SFSFF website): In the midst of civil war, Nadia’s revolutionary husband flees the city as the White Army advances, leaving her behind with a cache of secret documents to guard. Will leave it there, much more to the film. In this timely and timeless film, the star was Vira Varetska as Nadia. WHAT a performance, she was just shattering. Incredible range and as heartrending as Ita Rina was in Tonka of the Gallows. The emotional and dramatic accompaniment by the Sascha Jacobsen Quintet was note perfect.
 |
| Vira Varetska in Arrest Warrant |
After this I had to go home to process what I'd just seen.
Day 5: May 9, 2022
The morning started off with the delightful Reginald Denny and Laura La Plante in Skinner's Dress Suit (1926). This is a comedy of manners and a lesson in not spending beyond your means and telling little white lies. The rapport between Denny and La Plante is adorable, 100% adorable. Philip Carli accompanied with his delightful touch.
One of my most anticipated films was up next, the 1926 film The Fire Brigade. Any film buff who has seen Kevin Brownlow & David Gill's epic series Hollywood The Pioneers would feel exactly as I did after viewing episode 1:
Now, Brownlow did not gloss over the fact that The Fire Brigade is nothing special. It's a programmer starring Charles Ray past his prime as a star (having lost his shirt in producing the 1923 film The Courtship of Miles Standish) was cast as the youngest brother in a family of Irish firefighters. Programmer it may have been, the film co-starred May McAvoy (best remembered as Esther in Ben-Hur) MGM put money in the film where it counted, color sequences using tinting and toning, two color Technicolor and the Handschiegl color process. As Heather Linville set out in her presentation during Amazing Tales From the Archives, very little of the two-color footage survives, but the last reel was worth the price of admission alone. Utilizing color toning, tints and Handschiegl it was not only exciting filmmaking and editing, the color heightened the drama and the audience was cheering at the end. Such is the power of a well made silent film, even a programmer. Accompanied by Stephen Horne and Frank Bockius is was a rollicking good fun film. Well worth waiting to see it since 1980.
Limite got a pass so a group could meet for dinner. That is ever the problem, if you want to socialize, sometimes you need to miss a film. One cannot live on goodies from Hot Cookie every day.
Dans la Nuit is at home on dvd, so I skipped it.
Day 6: May 10, 2022
What a great start to the day was the hilarious A Sister of Six (1926) from Sweden. Starring the absolutely fabulous new discovery of Betty Balfour and Willy Fritsch. Romance, comedy, mistaken identities and drag made for a laugh out loud hit with the audience. Guenter Buchwald and Frank Bockius added hilarious and festive accompaniment. Absolutely delightful!
 |
| Percy Marmont in The Street of Forgotten Men |
Another highly anticipated film was the 1925 The Street of Forgotten Men starring Percy Marmount, Mary Brian and Neil Hamilton. The film was highly anticipated by most of the audience because Louise Brooks makes her film debut as a opportunistic moll in close to the last reel. Reminiscent of 1926 Silence starring H.B. Warner, Marmont plays a professional beggar who is supporting a foster daughter and aims to give her a better life (and she has no idea what he does for a living). It was a fun Paramount film shot on location in New York and at the Astoria Studios. Brooks is the eye-catcher in the bar sequence, her onscreen magnetism is undeniable. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Donald Sosin accompanied with aplomb and some touches of authentic New York.
The History of the Civil War got skipped so we could fuel up for Hunchback of Notre Dame. We got back to the theater before it ended and did not want to disturb people going in to find a seat. We waited it out in the lobby and every time we thought the Anvil Orchestra was winding up for a big finish, it went on. Seriously, it seemed like the movie that would never end.
 |
| Lon Chaney as Quasimodo |
Jon Mirsalis introduced The Hunchback of Notre Dame since he had a hand in the restoration of the film by Universal in providing the beautiful show-at-home print on which the restoration was based. A new score by The Mont Alto Motion Picture made this an epic night of silent cinema. Remarkably, I asked Jon later on if this was different from the recently released bluray (KINO Lorber) and he said no, the same restoration. I was amazed! It was like seeing the film for the first time, I have the bluray and it looked not nearly as impressive as it did on the big screen. The crowd cheered lustily and long after the screening. Well deserved, I agree with what Jon said in his introduction, this film is a masterpiece.
Day 7: May 11, 2022
My final day was short, only for the first film, an old favorite Smouldering Fires (1925) starring Pauline Frederick, Laura La Planta and Malcolm McGregor (who looks like he could be Neil Hamilton's brother). The print restored by Universal originates from Kevin Brownlow's show-at-home print and it was a revelation. That this was blown up from 16mm and so beautiful, like Hunchback the night before, it was like seeing this film for the first time, because it practically was. The grey-market dvd I have does not do the film justice at all. Big caveat was in the introduction of the film saying the 1933 precode Female was a remake. The four women I was sitting with all gasped because, it's not and we were shocked at this announcement. It shares a theme of a woman running a factory and there it ends. That got our hackles up, I have to say. Accompanied with sensitivity by Stephen Horne, it was an emotional treat. Pauline Frederick was one of the finest actresses of her day and is nearly forgotten today. Clarence Brown's direction is well regarded as it should be. This is a great film and I pray it comes out on a legit dvd/blu because it's a great one.
So ended my attendance for the festival. I had a great time. Great to see friends, old and new and spend time in The Castro for what may well be the last time in its un-altered state. There is a lot of uncertainty here in San Francisco about the fate of the much beloved and only vintage theater in the city that has not been gutted or changed. Changed it may well be, we have to wait and see what happens in 2023.
Comments