Silent Wednesdays-June 2011
Laurel & Hardy Silent Shorts!
The most instantly recognizable, iconic and uproarious duo in silent film, this comic pair actually made only a few dozen shorts together for Hal Roach before they seamlessly transitioned into the talkie era, but virtually all of them are sparkling golden. One can point to the universality of their foibles as the root of their massive appeal, their birdbrained, dimwitted antics being a mirror of our own travails, but it was also the pace of their timing — a steady, patient waltz as opposed to the manic ragtime of most other slapstick — that elevated Laurel and Hardy’s already powerful comedy to genius level. This program is not only a total joy, but is your chance to witness the lightning-fast stylistic evolution of whom J.D. Salinger described as “two heaven-sent artists and men”.
Watch an excerpt from the Laurel and Hardy silent short “Do Detectives Think?”!
Sunrise (w/ live score by Brian LeBarton!)
Multi-instrumentalist and electronic music whiz Brian LeBarton, who for years has been the close collaborative partner of Beck Hansen, returns to the Cinefamily to bring his unique aural vision to classic films from the silent era. For June’s visit, Brian and guest drummer Joey Waronker score Sunrise, a picture widely regarded as one of the best films of the 1920s! In F.W. Murnau’s morality tale, Anses (George O’Brien), a sensitive and easily-swayed farmer, falls under the spell of The Woman From The City (Margaret Livingston), a jezebel who convinces him to run off with her — but only after he murders his innocent wife Indre (Janet Gaynor). Murnau used his expert German Expressionist techniques to craft a fairytale ride through the tortured mental landscape of a man caught between devotion and seduction, making Sunrise the most vibrant of all his Hollywood productions.
Dir. F.W. Murnau, 1927, 35mm, 95 min.
Watch the original silent 1920s trailer for “Sunrise”!
Battleship Potemkin
On the heels of their incredible job on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis comes Kino’s brand-new restoration of Battleship Potemkin, still one of most important experiences in film history 85 years after its original release! It is Odessa, 1905. Enraged with the deplorable conditions on board the armored cruiser Potemkin, the ship’s loyal crew contemplates the unthinkable: mutiny. Seizing control of the Potemkin and raising the red flag of revolution, the sailors’ revolt becomes the rallying point for a Russian populace ground under the boot heels of the Czar’s Cossacks. When ruthless White Russian cavalry arrive to crush the rebellion on the sandstone Odessa Steps, the most famous and quoted film sequence in cinema history is born. For eight decades, Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 masterpiece has remained one of the most influential silent films of all time — yet each successive generation has seen Battleship Potemkin subjected to censorship and recutting, its unforgettable power diluted in unauthorized public domain editions from dubious sources. This all-new restoration — available for the first time in 35mm — restores dozens of missing shots, all 146 original title cards, and Edmund Meisel’s definitive 1926 score, returning the film to a form as close to its creator’s bold vision as has been seen since the film’s triumphant Moscow premiere!
Dir. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925, 35mm, 75 min.
Watch the trailer for the new restoration of “Battleship Potempkin”!
