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Full programme just announced...
http://www.silentfilm.org/event-home.html

FRIDAY, JULY 10
The Gaucho 7PM

SATURDAY, JULY 11
Amazing Tales from the Archives 10AM
Bardelys the Magnificent 12 noon
Wild Rose 2:30PM
Underworld 5PM
The Wind 7:30PM
Aelita, Queen of Mars 9:45PM

SUNDAY, JULY 12
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit 10:30AM
Erotikon 1:30PM
So’s Your Old Man 4PM
The Fall of the House of Usher 6:15PM
Lady of the Pavements 8:15PM

As posted on the AMIA-Listserv...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2009


Tickets are on sale now for the foremost celebration of silent cinema in the Americas—The 14th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival, scheduled for July 10–12 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.

In the space of a mere three days audiences will have the chance to experience the breathtaking vitality and depth of the silent era with 12 programs of classic films and rediscoveries—complete with live musical accompaniment in a grand movie palace setting!

Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert, Lillian Gish—superstars of the silent era, all—are just a few of the legendary talents returning to the big screen, and we're thrilled to welcome back some of the finest musicians to match music to image—including Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Philip Carli, Stephen Horne, Dennis James, and Donald Sosin.

Mont Alto will premiere its brand new original score, written expressly for the Silent Film Festival, to accompany our Opening Night presentation of THE GAUCHO (1927), starring Douglas Fairbanks and the revelation of the festival—Lupe Velez. Fairbanks, a huge star at the time, wrote this glorious adventure and generously shares the spotlight with the dazzling newcomer in her first starring role. Mont Alto will also accompany the West Coast Premiere of the restored legendary “lost” King Vidor film starring John Gillbert, BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT (1927), as well as playing for the Czech scorcher, EROTIKON (1929).

Pianist Stephen Horne of the National Film Theatre in London will return to accompany Jean Epstein's surrealist masterpiece—THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (1928). Luis Buñuel, fresh from his collaboration with Salvador Dali on Un Chien Andalou, assisted Epstein on this French take on USHER. Horne will also play for Josef von Sternberg's proto-noir UNDERWORLD (1927), which will be introduced by the Noir City's Eddie Muller; and AMAZING TALES FROM THE ARCHIVES, the fourth edition of our free-admission spotlight on film preservation. This special program will include the World Premiere of SCREEN SNAPSHOTS—7TH SERIES, a rare short subject preserved by last year's recipient of our Silent Film Festival Preservation Fellowship, Anne Smatla. We will announce this year's Fellowship recipient at this program.

Philip Carli of George Eastman House, returns to the baby grand to accompany our Director's Pick program. Director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World, Bad Santa) has selected the rarely-screened comic gem SO'S YOUR OLD MAN, featuring the hilarious comedian W.C. Fields—a star well known for his work in talking pictures who proves to be a master of the silent screen as well!

The gloriously rousing Chinese film WILD ROSE (1932) starring Jin Yan, the Valentino of China will be accompanied by master pianist Donald Sosin, and the 2009 Silent Film Festival Award will be presented at this program to the Chinese Film Archive. Yan's widow Qin Yi, herself a celebrated entertainer in China, will introduce the program. Sosin will also accompany our family-friendly matinee program, featuring the wonderful Disney character OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT (1927–1928). Leonard Maltin and animator Ub Iwerks' granddaughter Leslie Iwerks will guide us through this enchanted animated program.
Our Closing Night film will be D.W. Griffith's last silent film—LADY OF THE PAVEMENTS (1929), starring the beautiful Lupe Velez—who opens the festival as well! With its splendid cinematic flourishes, LADY marks the master's return to the cinematic firmament after years in the critical wilderness. The film was completed as a silent, then partially re-shot to qualify as a part-talkie including two musical numbers—Griffith's innovative experimentation with “sound modulation.” Our presentation will include piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin, and vocal recreation of the musical numbers by Joanna Seaton!

The master of the Mighty Wurlitzer, Dennis James, will premiere his original score—commissioned by the Silent Film Festival—at our Centerpiece Presentation of Victor Sjöström's brilliant THE WIND (1928), starring Lillian Gish in her finest role. Along with Griffith and Murnau, Swedish director Sjöström was one of the giants of the silent era who convinced critics that the motion picture was not a bastard child of the stage, but a vital art form in its own right. Our presentation will include a special wind effect (the kind used in silent movie scores in the 1920s)! The Centerpiece Presentation will be introduced by Leonard Maltin. James will also accompany the delirious Soviet futurist drama AELITA, QUEEN OF MARS (1924) on the Mighty Wurllitzer and the Theremin, backed up by Mark Goldstein on the Buchla Lightning!

This year we celebrate Biograph Studios, director D.W. Griffith, and the company's most famous star Mary Pickford. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Pickford's screen debut and to celebrate the centenary of her career on the silver screen, we will present several shorts featuring America's Sweetheart, as well as recent preserved and restored Biograph titles from the Library of Congress and George Eastman House.

McRoskey Mattress Company will once again be the festival's lead sponsor. As part of their sponsorship they have generously donated a Salem Day Bed (a $2,700 value) which will go to the lucky winner of our Grand Prize Raffle!

For complete program information and to buy tickets, please visit www.silentfilm.org

PRESS CONTACT: Anita Monga, Acting Artistic Director
[email protected]
510-843-4245

Well, I've seen a fair number of the films, and on the big screen, too. That said, a fun looking program with not one, but 2 cant em 2 action pictures (assuming there is some action in Bardleys).

I'll enjoy seeing The Gaucho again on the big screen. The Wind will be fun with a crowd and I've never seen Lady of the Pavements.

Leonard Maltin and Leslie Iwerks will be great, too to see the Oswald toons.

Can't wait for it to be July already. Alas, for me no podcast this year, I do not know Anita Monga and I suspect everyone has their hands full. Maybe next year.

rudyfan wrote:Well, I've seen a fair number of the films, and on the big screen, too. That said, a fun looking program with not one, but 2 cant em 2 action pictures (assuming there is some action in Bardleys).

Don't worry, Bardelys has QUITE the action. Not as nonstop as a Fairbanks film, but extremely witty and well choreographed, including what's now my favorite silent-film duel of all time (though I have yet to see Barrymore's Don Juan, so I may change my mind).

The lineup of musicians is quite impressive too, with Phil Carli, Dennis James, Stephen Horne, and Donald Sosin. It'll be fun to meet with them.

Note also that if you want more comedy than is being presented at the festival, hang out for a couple of days. We'll be presenting our score for Buster Keaton's THE CAMERAMAN at the Rafael Theater across the bridge on Tuesday, July 14.

And Rudyfan: If you can't get anyone else to do a podcast, you can give me a call. I'm out of town until mid-next-week, but after that I'd be happy to talk about the three films we're accompanying and their scores. I don't know much about the other films, other than having seen some of them.

And to head off any confusion, I'd like to point out that the Erotikon (1929, Gustav Machaty) being shown at SFSFF is a completely different film from the Swedish Erotikon (1920) that has been released on DVD. The 1929 Erotikon briefly appeared on DVD on a European label, but no longer seems to be available. We've only performed our score once before, at the Telluride Film Festival, and it's not shown very often in the U.S.

rudyfan wrote:The Wind will be fun with a crowd .

While there is much to admire in Ms. Gish's film, *fun* and The Wind do not belong in the same sentence.

We're contemplating doing SFSFF instead of Cinecon this year. Mike? Bob? Can anything be announced now to change our minds?

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:We're contemplating doing SFSFF instead of Cinecon this year. Mike? Bob? Can anything be announced now to change our minds?

The SFSFF is only a dozen miles away from me, and they're showing a few things I'd like to check out (even at $17 for a Lady of the Pavements ticket, which is probably what it costs to spend time with an actual lady of the pavements in San Francisco).

But I can't even conceive of ditching Cinecon for the SFSFF! Cinecon rules!

Without going all Gagman on you, I must repeat:

Chris Snowden wrote: But I can't even conceive of ditching Cinecon for the SFSFF! Cinecon rules!

Well, we haven't been to SF since 2000 and finances pretty much dictate one festival per year - if that.

And I'd *really* like to see Bardelys on the big screen, so, yes, it *is* tempting me this year.

Chris Snowden wrote: Without going all Gagman on you, I must repeat:

Isn't there medication available fro that now?

Harlett O'Dowd wrote: Well, we haven't been to SF since 2000 and finances pretty much dictate one festival per year - if that.

And I'd *really* like to see Bardelys on the big screen, so, yes, it *is* tempting me this year.

(Sigh.) My finances must have been speaking to your finances. I won't be attending SFSFF this year, either, so I'm really, really hoping Bardelys is shown at Cinecon (hint???). I too have the "one film festival per year" rule, only this year my "one festival" is a trip to the Sierras. Bardelys lost out to Tufa Rock formations and Bristlecone Pines.

Fred

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:

rudyfan wrote:The Wind will be fun with a crowd .

While there is much to admire in Ms. Gish's film, *fun* and The Wind do not belong in the same sentence.

We're contemplating doing SFSFF instead of Cinecon this year. Mike? Bob? Can anything be announced now to change our minds?

OMG! Puleeze come to the SF Fest, I'm dying to meet you! Is this even slightly persuasive? Prolly not, but, but....think of the fun with Aelita Queen of Mars. I've seen Dennis James play this and it's faboo.

Chris Snowden wrote:

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:We're contemplating doing SFSFF instead of Cinecon this year. Mike? Bob? Can anything be announced now to change our minds?

The SFSFF is only a dozen miles away from me, and they're showing a few things I'd like to check out (even at $17 for a Lady of the Pavements ticket, which is probably what it costs to spend time with an actual lady of the pavements in San Francisco).

But I can't even conceive of ditching Cinecon for the SFSFF! Cinecon rules!

Without going all Gagman on you, I must repeat:

A few miles away? Well I guess if you flew in to CA and really wanted to make a time of it. Im 20 mins from Cinecon...but quite a few hours from Frisco!

Sadly my finances talked with the other finances...I dont think I'll be there either. I would like to see The Wind...everything else either I've seen or meh to. I did like The Gaucho though. ONE OF THESE DAYS I will get up to Frisco...I want to go so badly.

misspickford9 wrote:ONE OF THESE DAYS I will get up to Frisco...I want to go so badly.

Frisco? (ducks)

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:

misspickford9 wrote:ONE OF THESE DAYS I will get up to Frisco...I want to go so badly.

Frisco? (ducks)

We Californians have come to an understanding with each other. San Franciscans try not to wince when a Southern Californian refers to the city as "Frisco," and Southern Californians try not to resent us for referring to everything within a 75-mile radius of Compton as "L.A."

The other thing we agree on is that "Los Angeles" must be mispronounced "Las Anjelas." We don't remember why.

Chris Snowden wrote:San Franciscans try not to wince when a Southern Californian refers to the city as "Frisco,"

As a former BayArea resident (and I want to go back ASAP) we MIGHT let you slide with "Frisco", but don't, ever, call them "trollys"

Chris Snowden wrote:
The other thing we agree on is that "Los Angeles" must be mispronounced "Las Anjelas." We don't remember why.

I've noticed in old movies and radio it's pronounced with a hard g as in Angle, which is the way my uncle who lived there in the 60s also pronounced it. I've also heard it with a long e as in Los AngelEEZ.

In Northern California, you have to mispronounce San Rafael as "San RafEL" We don't remember why that is either.

greta

Chris Snowden wrote:
We Californians have come to an understanding with each other. San Franciscans try not to wince when a Southern Californian refers to the city as "Frisco," and Southern Californians try not to resent us for referring to everything within a 75-mile radius of Compton as "L.A."

The other thing we agree on is that "Los Angeles" must be mispronounced "Las Anjelas." We don't remember why.

It must be noted, however, that the strictures against calling our neighbor city to the North "Frisco" are of relatively recent origin, didn't that start with Herb Caen? Oldsters had no problem with the nickname. We southerners do, however, get a charge out of those who refer to the northern metropolis as "The City."

The change from pronouncing the "g" in Los Angeles from hard to soft has occurred within my lifetime, can't tell you why, other than that's how "Angel" is pronounced in English. Just thank your lucky stars we don't insist on using the full name. You'd drive through Los Angeles before you finished reading the "Welcome to..." signs.

And we all derive a lot of childish pleasure out of hearing the uninitiated mangle "La Jolla."

Fred

Frederica wrote:

Chris Snowden wrote:
We Californians have come to an understanding with each other. San Franciscans try not to wince when a Southern Californian refers to the city as "Frisco," and Southern Californians try not to resent us for referring to everything within a 75-mile radius of Compton as "L.A."

The other thing we agree on is that "Los Angeles" must be mispronounced "Las Anjelas." We don't remember why.

It must be noted, however, that the strictures against calling our neighbor city to the North "Frisco" are of relatively recent origin, didn't that start with Herb Caen? Oldsters had no problem with the nickname. We southerners do, however, get a charge out of those who refer to the northern metropolis as "The City."

The change from pronouncing the "g" in Los Angeles from hard to soft has occurred within my lifetime, can't tell you why, other than that's how "Angel" is pronounced in English. Just thank your lucky stars we don't insist on using the full name. You'd drive through Los Angeles before you finished reading the "Welcome to..." signs.

And we all derive a lot of childish pleasure out of hearing the uninitiated mangle "La Jolla."

Fred

Well jeesh is my rube-ness showing! I had no clue Frisco was off bounds...and honestly I used it mostly because I find the whole name hard to spell as I suck at spelling. I try not to get annoyed name shortcuts...the only one that grates me is Cali. Its so very OC and The Hills. I hate that.

greta de groat wrote:
I've noticed in old movies and radio it's pronounced with a hard g as in Angle, which is the way my uncle who lived there in the 60s also pronounced it. I've also heard it with a long e as in Los AngelEEZ.

Well, Atlanta has y'all beat on the mangling of Spanish names. About the only major thorofare in town that does *not* have "Peachtree" somewhere in its name is Ponce De Leon Avenue.

Except here, it's pronounced "Pahnse deh LEE-on" or "Pahnse" for short. On several occasions I've witnessed visitors pronounce the street correctly and the locals *literally* have no idea what they're talking about.

And in Manhattan we can tell the tourists by the way they pronounce Houston Street like the city in Texas.... although even the radio announcers give 'Van Wyck' a short 'i' these days.

Bob

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:

greta de groat wrote:
I've noticed in old movies and radio it's pronounced with a hard g as in Angle, which is the way my uncle who lived there in the 60s also pronounced it. I've also heard it with a long e as in Los AngelEEZ.

Well, Atlanta has y'all beat on the mangling of Spanish names. About the only major thorofare in town that does *not* have "Peachtree" somewhere in its name is Ponce De Leon Avenue.

Except here, it's pronounced "Pahnse deh LEE-on" or "Pahnse" for short. On several occasions I've witnessed visitors pronounce the street correctly and the locals *literally* have no idea what they're talking about.

You should hear my attempts to pronounce La Cienega. I dont have too bad a time with the Spanish names, what with Florida and all. But occasionally there is something that'll throw me. My sisters are the worse though...my 13 year old one said, "Then you go to pAYCdAHnah?" Im like "Child even I knew how to say Pasadena long before I was here!" LOL!

Here in the Seattle area we have a ton of "fun to hear visitors pronounce" towns like Issaquah (ISS a kwah) and Sequim (skwim) and of course Puyallup (I think it's PEW al up)

I grew up outside Philadelphia in an alternate universe for pronunciation: Sproul = Sprole, Ithan = Eyethan, Schuylkill = Schoolkill, Bala Cynwyd = Kinwood, Clwyd = kloo-id, etc.

Daniel Eagan wrote:I grew up outside Philadelphia in an alternate universe for pronunciation: Sproul = Sprole, Ithan = Eyethan, Schuylkill = Schoolkill, Bala Cynwyd = Kinwood, Clwyd = kloo-id, etc.

where outside Philly?

and don't forget that "creek" is the sound that a door makes when its hinges need oiling, but a "crik" is larger than a stream and smaller than a river.

And who doesn't love Italian wooder-ice on a hot summer day?

There's the story of the mapmakers coming through a town and asking a local what they called a small water flow. "We call it the Crick." So it's labelled ont he map as "Crick Creek."

For a less apocryphal version of this, consider Torpenhow Hill in Blighty.

Bob

boblipton wrote:There's the story of the mapmakers coming through a town and asking a local what they called a small water flow. "We call it the Crick." So it's labelled ont he map as "Crick Creek."
Bob

You left out the punchline!

After the map comes out with "Crick Creek" on it, the same mapmakers come through town again and ask the oldtimer what he thinks of their inclusion of Crick Creek.

He considers the question, takes a spit, and drawls, "Shoulda put 'em the other way around!"

Jim

misspickford9 wrote:
You should hear my attempts to pronounce La Cienega.

La See-en-egg-ah. Or just say "the swamp."

Have fun with Cahuenga.

Fred

Frederica wrote:

misspickford9 wrote:
You should hear my attempts to pronounce La Cienega.

La See-en-egg-ah. Or just say "the swamp."

Have fun with Cahuenga.

Fred

Ironically I got Cahuenga (kaHAUNGA) just not La Cienega. Dont know why. Downtown has some pretty wild names...cant think of the example I want though off of the top of my head.

misspickford9 wrote:

Frederica wrote:
La See-en-egg-ah. Or just say "the swamp."

Have fun with Cahuenga.

Fred

Ironically I got Cahuenga (kaHAUNGA) just not La Cienega. Dont know why. Downtown has some pretty wild names...cant think of the example I want though off of the top of my head.

Yikes! (fans self rapidly.) Not KaHAUNGA. KaHWENGA. It's Tongva.

Er...what downtown names are you talking about? The street names I know are Main, Olive, Hill, Grand, Hope, etc. and then 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

Fred

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:

rudyfan wrote:The Wind will be fun with a crowd .

While there is much to admire in Ms. Gish's film, *fun* and The Wind do not belong in the same sentence.

We're contemplating doing SFSFF instead of Cinecon this year. Mike? Bob? Can anything be announced now to change our minds?

I would *highly* encourage you to try the SFSFF. After the last couple of years, it has become my favorite movie weekend. (Although that may change this year as I am finally going to make it to Telluride.)

--John A.

azjazzman wrote:

Harlett O'Dowd wrote:

rudyfan wrote:The Wind will be fun with a crowd .

While there is much to admire in Ms. Gish's film, *fun* and The Wind do not belong in the same sentence.

We're contemplating doing SFSFF instead of Cinecon this year. Mike? Bob? Can anything be announced now to change our minds?

I would *highly* encourage you to try the SFSFF. After the last couple of years, it has become my favorite movie weekend. (Although that may change this year as I am finally going to make it to Telluride.)

--John A.

Yes, we kinda morphed away from the subject line, didn't we? But I agree with John, the SFSFF is a wonderful festival and this year's lineup looks great.

Fred