Tweet Pordenone Silent Film Festival 2012

http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/giornate/questa_edizione.html

EVENTI MUSICALI/MUSICAL EVENTS
[Schede sezione/Programme notes]
- 06.10.2012 | 20.30 | Serata inaugurale/Opening event
THE PATSY (King Vidor; cast: Marion Davies, Marie Dressler; US 1928)
Partitura di/Score by Maud Nelissen; esegue/performed by
FVG Mitteleuropa Orchestra

- 07.10.2012 | A colpi di note/Striking a New Note
WE FAW DOWN (Leo McCarey, 1928)
Orchestra della Scuola Media Centro Storico di Pordenone
LIBERTY (Leo McCarey, 1929)
Orchestra della Scuola Media “Leonardo da Vinci”, Cordenons

- 10.10.2012 | Duomo di Pordenone
LA PASSION DE JEANNE D’ARC (Carl Th. Dreyer, FR 1928)
Partitura/Score: Touve Ratovondrahety; esegue/performed by
Orchestra e Coro San Marco di Pordenone

- 13.10.2011 | 20.30 | Serata finale/Closing event
A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (Clarence Brown, 1928)
Partitura scritta e diretta da/Score composed and conducted by Carl Davis
Esegue/performed by FVG Mitteleuropa Orchestra


CHARLES DICKENS
IL PADRE DELLA SCENEGGATURA / FATHER OF THE SCREENPLAY
[Schede sezione/Programme notes]
Prog. 1 - Prime prove/Early Essays
- THE DEATH OF POOR JOE (G.A.Smith, 1900/1901)
- MR PICKWICK’S CHRISTMAS AT WARDLE’S (Paul, 1901)
- MR PICKWICK'S PREDICAMENT Edison, 1912)
- THE PICKWICK PAPERS (Vitgraph, 1913)
- THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP (Thanhouser, 1911)
- DOTHEBOYS HALL (Gaumont, 1903)
- NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (Thanhouser, 1912)
- THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH (Biograph, 1914)
- THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP (Thanhouser, 1911)
Prog. 2 - Oliver Twist
- TWIST OLIVER (Corvin, 1919)
- OLIVER TWIST (Coogan, 1922)
Prog. 3: Chuzzlewit and Dombey
- MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT (Biograph, 1914)
- DOMBEY AND SON (Ideal, 1917)
Prog. 4: A Christmas Carol - Six Scrooges
- SCROOGE, OR MARLEY’S GHOST (Paul, 1901)
- SCROOGE (ZENITH, 1913)
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Edison, 1910)
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL (London F.C., 1914)
- TENSE MOMENTS WITH GREAT AUTHORS 7: SCROOGE (Master Films, 1922)
- GEMS OF LITERATURE 5: SCROOGE (B & C, 1923)
Prog. 5: David Copperfield
- DAVID COPPERFIELD (Hepworth, 1913)
- LEAVES FROM THE BOOKS OF CHARLES DICKENS
- DICKENS’ LONDON (Frank Miller, H.B. Parkinson)
Prog. 6: Bleak House
- GRANDFATHER SMALLWEED (British Sound, 1928)
- BLEAK HOUSE (Ideal, 1920)
Prog. 7: Little Dorrit
- LILLE DORRIT (Nordisk, 1924; dir. A.W. Sandberg)
Prog. 8: A Tale of Two Cities I
- A TALE OF TWO CITIES (Vitagraph, 1911)
- A TALE OF TWO CITIES (Fox, 1917)
Prog. 9: A Tale of Two Cities II
THE ONLY WAY (Herbert Wilcox, 1925)
Prog. 10: Great Expectations
- THE BOY AND THE CONVICT (Williamson, 1909)
- STORE FORVENTNINGER (Nordisk, 1920)
Reference Screening
– VOR VAELLES VEN (Nordisk, 1921; dir. A.W. SANDBERG) incomplete (orig. 210’)


I FILM MUTI DI ANNA STEN/THE SILENT FILM OF ANNA STEN
[Schede sezione/Programme notes]
- DEVUSHKA S KOROBKOI [La ragazza con la cappelliera / The Girl with the Hatbox]
(Mezhrabpom-Rus, USSR 1927; dir.: Boris Barnet)
- ZEMLYA V PLENU (The Yellow Ticket) [La terra prigioniera / Earth in Chains]
(Mezhrabpom-Rus, USSR 1928; dir.: Fedor Otsep)
- PROVOKATOR [Il provocatore / Agent Provocateur]
(VUFKU, Yalta, USSR 1927; dir.: Viktor Turin)
- MOY SYN [Mio figlio / My Son]
(Sovkino, Leningrad, USSR 1928; dir.: Yevgenii Chervyakov
- BELYJ ORYOL [The White Eagle/The Governor]
(Mezhrabpomfilm, USSR 1928; dir: Yakov Protazanov)
- TORGOVZY SLAVOJ [Mercanti della gloria/Merchants of Glory]
(Mezhrabpomfilm, USSR 1929; dir.: Leonid Obolensky)
- LOHNBUCHHALTER KREMKE [Payroll Accountant Kremke]
(DE 1930; dir: Marie Harder)
- STÜRME DER LEIDENSCHAFT (Tempeste di passione / Tempest)
(Ufa, Berlin, DE 1931; dir: Robert Siodmak)


SELIG POLYSCOPE
GLI INNOVATORI DIMENTICATI/THE FORGOTTEN INNOVATORS
[Schede sezione/Programme notes]
Prog. 1: Francis Boggs & California
- TRACKED BY BLOODHOUNDS; OR, A LYNCHING AT CRIPPLE CREEK
(Selig Polyscope Company, US 1904; dir. William N. Selig)
- THE SERGEANT (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1910; dir. Francis Boggs)
- CAPTAIN BRAND’S WIFE (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1911; dir. Francis Boggs)
- THE COMING OF COLUMBUS (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1912, dir. Otis Turner)
- IN THE MIDST OF THE JUNGLE (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1913; dir. H. McRea)
Prog. 2: The West and the Wilderness
- THOR, LORD OF THE JUNGLE (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1913; dir. F. J. Grandon)
- THE COWBOY MILLIONAIRE (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1913)
- SAVED BY THE PONY EXPRESS (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1911)
- THE STAGE-COACH DRIVER AND THE GIRL (Selig Polyscope, US 1915; dir. Tom Mix
- LEGAL ADVICE (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1916; dir. Tom Mix)
Prog. 3: Selig & Rex Beach (1)
- THE SPOILERS (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1914; dir. Colin Campbell)
Prog. 4: Selig & Rex Beach (2)
- THE NE’ER-DO-WELL (Selig Polyscope Company, US 1916; dir. Colin Campbell)


CINEMA D'ANIMAZIONE TEDESCO/GERMAN ANIMATION
[Schede sezione/Programme notes]
Prog. 1: In sogno/In Dreams
- MÜNCHNER BILDERBOGEN NR. 17: PIERETTES SPIELZEUG
(Moeve-Film GmbH, DE 1921)
- KHASANA, DAS TEMPELMÄDCHEN (Werbefilm GmbH, DE 1923)
DIE GEHEIMNISVOLLE STREICHHOLZDOSE (Deutsche Bioscop GmbH, Berlin, 1910)
- FISCHER OLAS TIEFSEEABENTEUER (Excentric-Film Zorn, DE 1929)
- DER KAISER DER SAHARA (Venus Film, Leipzig, DE 1921)
- UNIDENTIFIZIERTER DEUTSCHER ZEICHENTRICKFILM] (?, DE, c.1920-29)
- DIE ZAUBERFLASCHE (Vaterländischer Filmvertrieb, DE 1918)
- SCHNIPPS BOXKAMPF IN DER HÖLLE (Architekt G. Germroth, Frankfurt, DE 192-?)
- DAS WIEDERGEFUNDENE PARADIES (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, DE 1925)
- LOUIS SEEL FILMBILDERBOGEN: AMORS TAGEBUCH II:
EIN ZEICHNERISCHER SCHERZ (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, DE 1924)
- DIE BARCAROLE [ (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, per/for Mauxion, Aachen, DE 1924)
- DER BÖSE TRAUM (Pinschewer-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1928)
- DIE BREMER STADTMUSIKANTEN (Ufa, per/for Kaiser’s Brust-Caramellen, DE 1926)
- SCHLARAFFENLAND (Pinschewer-Film, Berlin, DE 1927)
- JORINDE UND JORINGEL (Institut für Kulturforschung e.V., Berlin, De 1920)
Prog. 2: Il meraviglioso mondo delle cose/The Wonderful World of Things
- DER ZAHNTEUFEL (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, DE 1915?/1921?; dir. Harry Jaeger)
- DER SIEGER (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, DE 1922; dir. Walter Ruttmann)
- DAS WUNDER (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, DE 1922, dir. W. Ruttmann;
prod: Julius Pinschewer)
- DER ERSTE EHEZWIST (Döring-Film Werke, Hannover, DE 1924;
dir. Resl Bucher, Karl Pindl)
- DER HARTNÄCKIGE SELBSTMÖRDER (Werbe-Kunst-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1925;
dir: Curt Schumann)
- IN SCHNEEKÖNIGS REICH (Deulig-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1926;
dir: Ewald Mathias Schumacher
- FLAMMENTANZ (Deulig-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1926; dir. Ewald Mathias Schumacher)
- DAS ZÜNDHOLZ (Werbefilm GmbH, Berlin, DE 1926; dir. Lutz Michaelis)
- FELITA, DIE KATZE (Werbe-Kunst-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1926; dir. Curt Schumann)
- IM FILMATELIER (Pinschewer-Film, Berlin, DE 1927; dir. Gerda Otto, Hedwig Otto)
- NUR DU! (Mode-Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, DE 1927)
- HERR JEDERMANN IST WISSENSDURSTIG!
(Werbekunst Epoche Reklame GmbH, Berlin, DE 1928; dir. Hans Fischerkoesen)
- PITJE BACKSPIER ALS PELZJÄGER (Ewald-Film GmbH, per/for Sanitas, DE 1928)
- KÜCHENREBELLEN (Pinschewer-Film AG, Berlin, per/for Lever Brothers, DE 1928)
- DAS WETTERHÄUSCHEN (Pinschewer-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1929; dir: G. & H. Otto)
- DIE KATASTROPHE (Pinschewer-Film AG, Berlin, DE 1930; dir. Leni Fischer)
- [WERBEFILM FÜR TISCHTÜCHER VON BIELSCHOWSKY]
(?, per/for Bielschowsky, DE, c.1920-29?)
- [WERBEFILM FÜR DIE NEUE FORD-LIMOUSINE]
(?, per/for Ford Motor Company, DE, c.1920-29?)

L'EREDITÀ KEYSTONE/THE KEYSTONE HERITAGE
[Schede sezione/ Programme notes]
- THE MISSING LINK (Warner Brothers, US 1927; dir. Charles F. Riesner)
- THE RED MILL (Cosmopolitan/M-G-M, US 1927; dir. William Goodrich [R. Arbuckle])
- TOPSY AND EVA (United Artists, US 1927; dir. Del Lord;
- A WOMAN OF THE WORLD (Famous Players-Lasky, US 1925; dir. Malcolm St. Clair)


IL CANONE RIVISITATO/THE CANON REVISITED - 4
[Schede sezione/Programme notes]
- DIE FREUDLOSE GASSE (Sofar-Film-Produktion GmbH, DE 1925; dir. G.W. Pabst)
- HANDS UP! (Famous Players-Lasky, US 1926; dir. Clarence Badger)
- MÉNILMONTANT (Dimitri Kirsanoff, FR 1924-1926; dir. Dimitri Kirsanoff)
- LA PASSION DE JEANNE D’ARC (SGF, FR 1928; dir. Carl Theodore Dreyer)
- PROSTOI SLUCHAI (Rasskaz o prostom sluchae/Ochen’ khorosho zhivetsa)
[Un caso semplice; Si vive proprio bene / A Simple Case; Life is Beautiful]
(Mezhrabpomfilm, USSR 1932; dir: Vsevolod Pudovkin)
- DIE WEBER [I tessitori/The Weavers] (Friedrich Zelnik-Film, DE 1927; dir. F. Zelnik)
- ZVENYHORA (VUFKU, Odessa, USSR 1928; dir. Oleksandr [Aleksandr] Dovzhenko


CINEMA DELLE ORIGINI/EARLY CINEMA
Evento special/Special event
- PHONO-CINÉMA-THÉÂTRE (Paul Decauville, FR 1900)
Mèliès
- AUTOMABOULISME ET AUTORITÉ (Georges Méliès, Star-Film, FR 1899)
- LES AVENTURES DE ROBINSON CRUSOÉ (Georges Méliès, Star-Film, FR 1902)

Corrick Collection 6 (74'30")
- APPARTEMENT À LOUER (Pathé, FR 1906) 3'38"
- LES CHIENS CONTREBANDIERS (Pathé, FR 1906) 8'31"
- DREAM OF A RAREBIT FIEND (Edison, US 1906) 7'03"
- L’ENFANT PRODIGUE (Pathé, FR 1909) 13'36"
- LES VOLEUSES VOLÉES (Pathé, FR 1906) 3'39"
- CHARMEURS DE SERPENTS (Pathé, FR 1903) 49"
- EXCURSION EN ITALIE (Pathé, FR 1904) 11'3"
- A DASH TO DEATH (EDISON, US 1909) 11'12"
- [BURGLAR AND BABY] (?, ?, c.1906) 1'33"
- ROYAL SHOW (Corrick, AU 1909) 7'52"
- LA PEINE DU TALION (Pathé, FR 1905) 5'11"

RISCOPERTE E RESTAURI/REDISCOVERIES & RESTORATIONS
- DE BERTHA [La Berta/The “Bertha”] (Maatschappij voor Artistieke
Cinematografie Haarlem, NL 1913; dir. Louis H. Chrispijn, Sr.)
- A COUPLE OF DOWN AND OUTS
(G.B. Samuelson, Napoleon Films, GB 1923; dir. Walter Summers)
- FAMILIENTAG IM HAUSE PRELLSTEIN
(Herrnfeld-Film/Rex-Film per/for Ufa, DE 1927; dir. Hans Steinhoff)
- THE GOOSE WOMAN (Universal-Jewel, US 1925; dir. Clarence Brown)
- IDILLIO INFRANTO (Apulia-Cine, Acquaviva delle Fonti, IT 1933; dir. Nello Mauri)
- JENSEITS DER STRAßE. EINE TRAGÖDIE DES ALLTAGS (Harbor Drift)
(Prometheus-Film Verleih- und Vertriebs-GmbH, Berlin, DE 1929; dir: Leo Mittler)
- DER LEBENDE LEICHNAM [Il cadavere vivente/The Living Corpse]
(Mezhrabpomfilm, Moscow/Prometheus Film, Berlin; USSR/DE, 1929; dir: F. Otsep)
- RUPTURE (C.A.P.A.C., FR 1961; dir: Pierre Etaix, Jean-Claude Carrière;
- THE SPANISH DANCER (Famous Players-Lasky, US 1923; dir. Herbert Brenon)
- GLI SPAZZACAMINI DELLA VAL D'AOSTA (Pasquali & C., IT 1914; dir. U. Paradisi)
- THE UNWANTED (Napoleon Films, GB 1924; dir.: Walter Summers)
- THE VIKING (Technicolor Motion Picture Corp., dist: MGM, US 1928; dir. R. W. Neill)

The Apollo Mystery
- DAS GEHEIMSCHLOSS (Miss Clever contra de “Zwarte Hand”)
(Apollo-Film-GmbH, DE 1914)
- WENN VÖLKER STREITEN [Quando le nazioni litigano/When Nations Quarrel]
(Apollo-Film-GmbH, DE 1915; dir. Rino Lupo)

Haghefilm/Selznick School Fellowship 2012
- SPORTS OF MANY LANDS (Colorart Pictures, Inc., dist. Tiffany-Stahl, US 1929)
- THE BROADWAY MELODY (M-G-M Corp., US 1929; fragment; dir. Harry Beaumont)
- SONG OF THE ROSES (M-G-M Corp. US 1929; fragment; dir. Gus Edwards)
- THE SHOW OF SHOWS (Warner Bros., US 1929; fragment; dir. John G. Adolfi)
- THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (M-G-M Corp., US 1929; fragment; dir. Lucien Hubbard)
- AND HOW (Warner Bros. Pictures, US 1930; fragment; dir. Max Scheck)
- THE JAZZ REHEARSAL (Warner Bros. Pictures, US 1930; fragment; dir. Roy Mack)
- AFFINITIES (Ward Lascelle Productions,US 1922); fragment; dir. Ward Lascelle)

Late Thanhouser
- MODERN MONTE CRISTO
(Thanhouser/Pathé Gold Rooster Play, US 1917, dir. W. Eugene Moore)
- FIRES OF YOUTH
(Thanhouser/Pathé Gold Rooster Play, US 1917; dir. Emile Chautard)

La suocera!/“Oh! Mother-in-Law”
- LA COURSE DES BELLES-MÈRES (Pathé Frères, FR 1907; dir. Louis Feuillade)
- LA GARÇONNIÈRE DE RIGADIN (Pathé Frères, FR 1912; dir. Georges Monca)
- JOBARD A TUÉ SA BELLE-MÈRE (Pathé Frères, FR 1911; dir. Émile Cohl)
- LE CRIME DE CAZA (De Misdaad van Caza) (Pathé Frères, FR 1915)
- FINALMENTE SOLI (Itala-Film, IT 1912; cast: Ernesto Vaser)
- I SUOCERI (Cines, IT 1912; cast: Lorenzo Soderini, Giuseppe Gambardella)
- POLIDOR CONTRO LA SUOCERA (Pasquali, IT 1912; cast: Ferdinand Guillaume)
- JERRY’S MOTHER-IN-LAW (Vitagraph, US 1913; dir. L. Rogers Lytton, James Young;
cast: Sidney Drew, Clara Kimball Young, Kate Price)
- THE MAKING OVER OF MOTHER (Christie Film Co., US 1916; dir. Horace Davey;
cast: Neal Burns, Betty Compson)

Sigh...someday

Sigh...someday

Ditto

LE GIORNATE DEL CINEMA MUTO 2012 - PROGRAMME

MUSICAL EVENTS
This year will see the sixth edition of "A Colpi di Note" with the childrens' orchestras of Pordenone providing musical accompaniment to a programme of vintage silent comedies. The closing performance, with Carl Davis conducting the theatrical premiere of his score for A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS, starring Greta Garbo, will be repeated the following day in the context of the concert programme of the Teatro Verdi. An unprecedented collaboration between city and Giornate will be a screening of Carl Dreyer's LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC in the Duomo of Pordenone, in which the Orchestra e Coro San Marco will perform. The new score - celebrating the 600th anniversary of St Joan - has been composed by Touve Ratovondrahety for organ, chorus, solo 'cello, trumpets and trombones. The opening gala celebrates comedy, with King Vidor's THE PATSY, starring Marion Davies and Marie Dressler. Accompanied by a score by another Pordenone favourite, the Dutch composer Maud Nelissen.

SPECIAL EVENTS
Outstanding in the programme are two phenomenal discoveries from the early years of cinema, of which the CInemathèque française have generously granted us word premières. At the moment when Martin Scorsese' HUGO has familiarized world audiences with the name and work of Georges Méliès (1864-1938), a print of what is arguably the most beautiful film yet seen by the cinema's first true artist has come to light. Made in the same year as the more famous A TRIP TO THE MOON, but unseen for more than a century, it is a sparkling and witty reduction of Defoe's classic, with an unfamiliarly youthful Méliès in the title role. What makes the film uniquely remarkable however is the vividly creative use of exquisite hand-colouring, giving starling effect to every gun-shot or flash of lightning. The film, without intertitles, will be presented with the original live commentary of a "bonimenteur" and sound effects as indicated by Méliès.
The second of the historic restorations from the Cinémathéque française is an almost complete recreation of PHONO-CINÉMA-THÉÂTRE, one of the technological marvels of the Paris Exposition of 1900. In a specially constructed theatre in the Exposition was presented a programme of short films, many accompanied by carefully recorded and synchronized wax cylinders. Other films in the programme were accompanied by live music: the films were tinted. Thanks to the collaboration of the Cinémathèque and Gaumont, both of whom hold materials from the show, and a search that extended, among other sources, to the archives of the Opéra de Paris, the major part of the show has been reconstructed: out of the original 41 films, 34 have been traced. What makes these films remarkable - quite apart from the technical accomplishment - is that the artists filmed were the greatest figures of their time: actors including Bernhardt as Hamlet, Gabrielle Réjane, and Coquelin Ainé as Cyrano de Bergerac, the role he had first created on stage three years earlier; Jeanne Hatto the new 21-year-old star of the Opéra; and the successive etoiles of the ballet, Risita Mauri and the legendary Carlotta Zambelli, who had caused a sensation in 1896 when she was the first dancer in France to execute 15 fouetté turns. The lighter stage is also represented, with the British comedian Little Tich, the Americans Mason and Forbes, the legendary clowns Foottit et Chocolat, and stars of the Parisian cafés chantant. Most remarkable is to see and here Cléo de Mérode whose dancing, figure and exquisite beauty made her an international celebrity and the reputed mistress of King Leopold II of the Belgians. PHONO-CINÉMA-THÉÂTRE is a true time machine, enabling us to see the French stage of 1900 - hitherto known to us only from the dazzling posters of the Belle Epoque, in living movement, sound and colour.

CHARLES DICKENS - FATHER OF THE SCREENPLAY
The Giornate's presentation of films adapted from the works of Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is recognized as a conclusion and climax of the world-wide celebrations of the British author's bi-centenary; and represents the most comprehensive assembly of silent films on Dickens subjects. Notably the programme includes the first public screenings for more than a century of the two earliest Dickens-inspired films, George Albert Smith's 1900 THE DEATH OF POOR JOE and Robert Paul's 1900 MR PICKWICK'S CHRISTMAS AT WARDLE'S. Later adaptations are, of course, more sophisticated, and reveal how readily the style and structure of Dickens' novels lent itself to the screen - a point emphasized by two great film-makers, D.W.Griffith and Sergei M.Eisenstein. Perhaps not surprisingly the majority of the adaptations are American or German, though we will be presenting the premiere of the (incomplete Hungarian version of OLIVER TWIST - a fascinating comparison with the 1922 Hollywood version starring Jackie Coogan, with Lon Chaney as Fagin - as well as two of the faitfhful and masterly Danish adaptations directed by A.W.Sandberg, whose DAVID COPPERFIELD was shown at the Giornate a few years ago. Two films of special note are THE ONLY WAY which preserves the legendary 19th century stage performance by Sir John Martin Harvey as Sidney Carton in A TALE OF TWO CITIES; and LEAVES FROM THE BOOKS OF CHARLES DICKENS, made to celebrate the Dickens centenary, one hundred years ago, and directed and acted by the young Thomas Bentley, who was to become a significant film interpreter of the novels.

THE SILENT FILMS OF ANNA STEN
Though now unjustly eclipsed, Anna Sten must be regarded as one of the great screen actresses - as well as one of the most beautiful - whether in such a comedy as THE GIRL WITH THE HATBOX or high drama, like MY SON. She rose to international fame in the Soviet Union (she was born in Ukraine), then went to Germany where she consolidated her reputation with the BROTHERS KARAMAZOFF. She was thereupon snatched off to Hollywood by Samual Goldwyn, who was looking for a star to eclipse the current sensations, Garbo and Dietrich. Goldwyn organized a huge campaign to groom and launch her (she features in Cole Porter's song "Anything Goes"); no expense was spared on her first three starring vehicles; yet the hoped-for Hollywood career simply did not take off. Peter Bagrov, who has curated the Giornate programme of the films of Anna Sten, considers that she was too good and too dedicated an actress. While Garbo, Dietrich and the other great stars were fantasy women, magnificent creations whose personality and presence dominated any character they played, Sten subsumed herself completely to each individual role. A dedicated actress, she could not make herself a star in the conventional sense. Hollywood eclipsed her: she ontincontinued to work, seriously and modestly, and was a well-love figure in the film community.
The Giornate gives its guests the first-ever chance to see the entire silent work of this brilliant and fascinating artist

THE KEYSTONE HERITAGE
To mark the centenary of the foundation of the Keystone Comedy Company - whose alumni include most famously Charlie Chaplin - the Giornate presents a small selection of feature films from the 1920s directed by or starring people who had taken their first steps in film making at Keystone, under the tough guidance of Mack Sennett. Two films, both from 1927, have involved a degree of controversy. THE RED MILL, starring Marion Davies, is a delightful comedy, whose director was obliged to adopt for the film the psudonym of "Will B.Goodrich". He was in fact Roscoe Arbuckle (1887-1933), the hugely gifted heavy-weight comedian and director, who had been virtually black-balled by Hollywood, following a sensational scandal of 1921, when he was charged with the manslaughter of a young actress who had died after a party in San Francisco. Although he was absolved on all charges, with a special apology from the jury, Hollywood banned his films, and he remained virtually unemployable until the early 1930s when he was able to make a few shorts. TOPSY AND EVA is adapted from a hugely successful stage musical starring the Duncan Sisters which had toured theatres since 1923. A parody of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" what was accepted as delirious comedy 85 years ago today appears as the acme of political incorrectness. Some people of 1927 were not insensitive to the problem: Lois Weber, the director first assigned to the film, withdrew on principle because she found the content racist. It was taken over by Del Lord, an old Keystone collaborator, and finally some scenes were directed by D.W.Griffith - who was himself to suffer charges of racism for his own films. The Giornate has to recognize that some 2012 audiences will experience difficulty with the content; but it seems vital not to be tempted to suppress a film which - even though it now seems misdirected - involved so much talent, and had such appeal for the public of a former era.

SELIG POLYSCOPE - THE FORGOTTEN INNOVATORS
Col. William Nicholas Selig (1864-1948) is probably the least known of the founders of the American motion picture industry, yet he may be the most important. He established the first studio in California, having already produced the first Western narratives in the West starring real cowboys and Native Americans, thus establishing the essential properties of the genre that became the bedrock of American cinema. These two achievements alone are enough to qualify William Selig as a major figure in the development of motion pictures, yet he was involved in many other important innovations also. The success of a bogus Theodore Roosevelt African safari filmed on the backlot of his Chicago studio (HUNTING BIG GAME IN AFRICA, 1909) led Selig to create the jungle-adventure genre, and in time to build a 33-acre zoo and jungle backlot in Los Angeles for the production of such stories, which in turn became the first movie-studio theme park open to the public. In partnership with legendary newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, Selig produced the first successful American newsreel.
Two other major innovations of William Selig continue to affect the industry he helped create. Selig and Vitagraph were the only two American motion picture producers to open their own European sales and distribution offices prior to World War I. This resulted in cultivating an international appreciation for American cinema, which continues to dominate world markets today, long after the demise of both companies. Just as important, William Selig consistently fought resistance from exhibitors to produce longer and more complex narratives. The most important of these productions are The Coming of Columbus, the first 3-reel movie distributed by General Film in America; The Adventures of Kathlyn, the first action-adventure serial produced in America; and The Spoilers, the first 2-hour feature film made by an American producer.
Three major contributors to his success were Tom Mix, Francis Boggs, and Kathlyn Williams.
Of the 3,500 movies made between 1896 and 1936 by the Selig Polyscope Company and William Selig as an independent producer, only about 225 are known to survive. The 2012 Pordenone Silent Film Festival is proud to present 12 of these films.

THE CANON REVISITED
Paolo Cherchi Usai, now curator of the film collection of George Eastman House, Rochester, USA, continues his mission to establish a new "canon" of silent cinema. The task is epecially significant in 1912, since August sees the publication of the 7th decennial poll of the best films of all time organized by the British film magazine, SIGHT AND SOUND. Of the 2012 selection, only three of the titles - LA PASSION DE JEANNE D'ARC, Olexandr Dovzhenko's ZVENYHORA and and G.W.Pabst's JOYLESS STREET have ever appeared in international polls. This year's propositions for a new canon are Friedrich Zelnick's DIE WEBER, Clarence Badger's Civil War comedy HANDS UP, starring Raymond Griffith, Pudovkin's A SIMPLE CASE and Dimitri Kirsanov's short avant-garde melodrama MENILMONTANT.

EARLY CINEMA
With two more programmes still to come, the Giornate presents the sixth selection from the collection of the Corrick family, early 20th century showmen whose repertoire of films has been conserved by the Australian National Film and Sound Archive. The curator Leslie Anne Lewis describes the programme as "running the gamut from candy-colored confections to straightforward actualities, familiar favorites, and new discoveries". The programme will also include more newly-discovered films by Georges Méliès, from the archives of Paris and Turin.

GERMAN ANIMATION
To follow the success of last year's programmes of Japanese animation the GIornate is presenting two programmes of German animation, one of them devoted entirely to commercials. Very inventive, original and lively, these will be a revelation to people only familiar with the "art" school of German animation of the silent era.

ITALIAN REDISCOVERIES
In the constant search for lost treasures of Italian cinema, the Giornate is proud to show the new restoration of the 1914 film GLI SPAZZACAMINI DELLA VAL D'AOSTA, directed by Umberto Paradisi, from the novel by Giovanni Sabatini (1809-1870). Paradisi's evident intense concern with the continuing abuse of the child chimney sweepers is shown by a portrayal that sometimes has a documentary look.
The Giornate will also show the fine new digital restoration by the Cineteca Nazionale and Teca del Mediterraneo of Nello Mauri's IDILLIO INFRANTO (1933), the "celluloid dream" of a Pugliese businessman Orazio Campanella, that was lost for half a century but now emerges as a strong and unromanticised folkloric drama of feudal society in Puglia in the early 20th century.
Giornate habitués will also discover a forgotten Italian peripatetic, Rino Lupo, who began making films in Italy in 19o8, but therafter worked in many parts of Europe. The Giornate is showing a film he made in Germany in the second year of the First World War, WENN VOLKER STREITEN - a surprisingly humane story of two pre-war friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Lupo has a singular place in film history. In the late twenties he moved to Portugal, where he made a number of features, and opened a school for young film-makers. Among his students was Manoel de Oliveira, still active at the age of 103. Thus these two artists between them represent more than a century of active filmmaking.

RESTORATIONS AND REDISCOVERIES
Finally, under this general heading, the programme includes several outstanding films.
THE SPANISH DANCER, directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Pola Negri and Antonio Moreno, was Hollywood's wonder film of 1923. Over the years however it had come to survive only in worn and truncated prints whose faded images and confused story gave no impression of what it had once been. Now however a massive restoration effort by the EYE Film Institute of the Netherlands has restored its spectacular qualities and sparkling wit.
FAMILIENTAG IM HAUSE PRELLSTEIN (1927) concludes the project to show the varied and gifted silent oeuvre of Hans Steinhoff (1882-1945) who was subsequently to become notorious as the director of two of the best-known Nazi propaganda films, Hitlerjunge Quex (1933) and Ohm Kruger (1942). Given this context, FAMILIENTAG is especially startling, as an ethnic comedy adapted from a play of Berlin's Jewish Herrnfeld-Theater. The producer, Lupu Pick, and the entire cast were Jewish, including two character actors, Sig Arno and S.Z.Szakall, who were to become famous émigré character actors in Hollywood after the rise of Fascism. People, it seems, can change.
THE VIKING (1928), directed by Roy Wiliam Neil and starring Pauline Starke is a "taster" for the Giornate's plan for a major programme to mark the centenary of Technicolor in 2015. The film is the story of the Viking explorer Leif Ericsson's supposed discovery of North America around 1000 A.D. The new print made by Warner Brothers includes the original synchronised music track arranged by one of the major Hollywood musical directors of the era, William Axt.
A COUPLE OF DOWN-AND-OUTS (GB, 1923), Walter Summers' moving account of a down-and-out ex-soldier who saves the horse who had been his companion on the battle-fields of France from being sold for meat, provides a remarkable comparison with Steven Sielberg's WAR HORSE - a comparison in no way unflattering to the modest but contemporary silent film.
THE GOOSE WOMAN, directed in 1925 by Clarence Brown, has been championed as a masterwork by Kevin Brownlow for fifty years (it was one of the films that launched his Oscar-rewarded career of saving the Hollywood film heritage, and has finally been fully and handsomely restored by the UCLA archive.
"OH, MOTHER-IN-LAW!": variations on an age-old joke as seen by comedians of a century ago, in Italy, France and the United States.

No disrespect to Touve Ratovondrahety but I was hoping for the Eindhorn score; but apart from that minor gripe.....on paper it seems like it's going to be a cracking week. With two Walter Summers films too !!!!And it'll be cooler than Bologna.......

Wow! Sounds like a another terrific Festival. Wish I could hear the Maud Nelissen score to THE PATSY. All I have found of the Photoplay version is the short clip on her website. This seems to imply that THE VIKING has a new restoration? Any chance of a more recent transfer of A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS? It's good to know that THE SPANISH DANCER and THE GOOSE WOMAN are receiving additional screenings.

:o Wow! Sounds like a another terrific Festival. This seems to imply that THE VIKING has a new restoration?

THE VIKING is a new print, made especially for this showing by Warner Bros.

David Pierce
Media History Digital Library
http://mediahistoryproject.org/" target="_blank" target="_blank

David,

That's good news. Could this have a bearing on why the movie hasn't been released through Warner Archive yet? Is there a chance that when it is we will actually see this new restoration?