We'll be featuring two light comedies courtesy of the EYE Filmmuseum and their Jean Desmet collection; 'Gontran and the unknown neighbour' (Eclair company, France, 1913), and 'Over The Back Fence' (Vitagraph, USA 1913). Both are absolutely charming. There are also a couple of late additions we've been able to include as a nice surprise! Introductions are from film historian Michelle Facey, with piano performances from John Sweeney and Cyrus Gabrysch, who's also running the streaming tech again.
The YouTube channel's at https://www.youtube.com/kenningtonbioscope, thanks to the subscribers who took us over the threshhold to get a custom URL. You can watch our pilot show from last month there currently.
Hope to see some of you there!Kennington Bioscope are pleased to present another screening on their YouTube channel, including two light comedy shorts with a social distancing theme, courtesy of the Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. Web event in association with The Kennington Bioscope and The Cinema Museum, Kennington, London, closed like other arts spaces for the duration of the Covid-19 outbreak.
You can access the YouTube channel here.
The screening goes live at 19:30 BST (UTC+1) on Wednesday May 13 2020. Click ‘subscribe’ and then the bell symbol next to it to keep up to date on future uploads, and follow the Kennington Bioscope and the Cinema Museum on Twitter for the latest news and links.
Both films come from the Jean Desmet collection, and thanks to the continued kindness and generosity of Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam. There are a couple of extra additions to make up the rest of the programme. Piano accompaniment will come from the two of the Bioscope’s regular musicians Cyrus Gabrysch and John Sweeney, and introductions on the films from historian Michelle Facey.
Gontran et la voisine inconnue (Gontran and the unknown neighbour) (France, 1913).
Gontran (René Gréhan) is so obsessed with playing the piano that he completely neglects his wife Arlette (or Alida as she is called in the Dutch intertitles). She moves to a house within hearing distance and begins to take piano lessons. Gontran is entranced by the music and starts courting this mysterious and talented neighbour from behind the garden fence, much to her satisfaction. (Notes courtesy of Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi.)
Over the Back Fence (USA, 1913)
Directed by C.J. Williams, a prolific producer of silent shorts between 1910 and 1916, and written by Marion Carr.
Colonel Crompton (William Wadsworth), a bachelor, and his nephew, Charles (Harry Beaumont), live in a house adjoining that of Matilda Scraggs (Alice Washburn), an old maid, whose niece, Nell (Bessie Learn), is very much in love with the bachelor’s nephew. The old folks are neighbourly neighbours until one day the colonel’s dog bites the old maid’s cat and the trouble begins.
