San Francisco Silent Film Festival

[Kirk G]

Perhaps I've missed it, but there doesn't seem to be a general posting for the festival this year (though there have been some for a few separate showings).

What I really want to know now, if anyone can help me, is what authors are scheduled to be there, as I always enjoy getting to see the new books and chatting with the authors.

[Bob Furem]

Kevin Brownlow and Leonard Maltin will be there. The complete list of authors has not yet been published. The lastest info, including schedule, can be found at www.silentfilm.org. Who else from our esteemed little village will be there?

[missdupont]

I'll be there, and I'll be signing.

[Bob Furem]

Pardon my ignorance. What is your book?

[rudyfan]

I'll be there, watching and schmoozing

[missdupont]

It's the Arcadia Publishing book "Hollywoodland", about the neighborhood of Hollywood where the Hollywood Sign is located.

[precode]

I'll be there, but the only thing I'll be signing is autographs to anyone foolish enough to want one.

Mike S.

[thomas_gladysz]

Further details along with the complete line-up of films (and accompanying musicians) can be found at http://www.silentfilm.org/event-home.php

And (drum roll please) here is the line-up of signings at the 2011 Festival. All signings will take place after the noted film. The schedule will be printed in the Festival program with exact times. Admittance to the signings is by Festival ticket.

Thursday, July 14
7:00 pm Upstream
9:15 pm Sunrise

Friday, July 15
11:00 am Amazing Tales from the Archives I
2:00 pm Huckleberry Finn -- William Wellman Jr., signs "The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture"
-- Donald Sosin signs his CDs and DVDs
4:15 pm I Was Born, But… -- Richie Meyer signs "Ruan Ling-yu: The Goddess of Shanghai" (DVD)
7:00 pm The Great White Silence -- William Wellman Jr. signs "The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture"
9:30 pm Il Fuoco

Saturday, July 16
10:00 am Disney’s Laugh-O-Grams -- Leonard Maltin signing his books
-- JB Kaufman & Russell Merritt signing their Disney-related books
12:00 noon Variations on a Theme --- Festival musicians sign their CDs and DVDs
2:00 pm The Blizzard -- Thomas Gladysz signs "The Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks edition)"
4:00 pm The Goose Woman -- Mary Mallory signs "Hollywoodland"
-- Karie Bible signs "Location Filming in Los Angeles"
6:30 pm Mr. Fix-It
8:30 pm The Woman Men Yearn For

Sunday, July 17
10:00 am Amazing Tales from the Archives II -- Kevin Brownlow signs "The Parade's Gone By"
12 noon Shoes -- John Bengtson signs "Silent Visions: Discovering Early Hollywood and New York Through the Films of Harold Lloyd"
2:00 pm Wild and Weird -- David Shepard, Jeffrey Masino, and the Alloy Orchestra sign "Wild and Weird" (DVD)
4:30 pm The Nail in the Boot -- Julie Lindow signs "Left in the Dark: Portraits of San Francisco Theaters"
7:30 pm He Who Gets Slapped

And of course, Books Inc and the Niles Essanay gift shop will be on hand selling books and DVDs including many new releases

[nsps]

I haven't been around the forum much lately, but I will be in SF!

[Jim Roots]

I'll be there, but the only thing I'll be signing is autographs to anyone foolish enough to want one.

Mike S.

Me! Me! Oh please, Mr. Schlesinger!


Jim

[rudyfan]

I know the scheduling is tight at the SFSFF weekend. If you have a chance, do make an effort to go and see the 3 exhibits devoted to silent film.

Reading the Stars is excellent. I'm not going to comment on the books on Valentino since I provided those. The other cases are filled with wonderful books and other fun silent era memorabilia. The majority (if not all) items displayed are from the incredible collection of Thomas Gladsyz and Christy Pascoe. The books displayed cover the very beginings of film through the end of the silent era. They include books on how to write for the films, book by film stars and directors (including Erich von Stroheim's novel Paprika). It was fascinating and it was a really impressive collection of books. Beautifully displayed.

I'll be going back this week on a lunch hour to check out the two other exhibits on movie theaters and films made in San Francisco.

The library has done a beautiful job promoting the exhibits and the signage and such are all top rate. It's well worth your time for a visit.

[Frederica]

I know the scheduling is tight at the SFSFF weekend. If you have a chance, do make an effort to go and see the 3 exhibits devoted to silent film.
.

I am envious of those trekking to the City by the Bay this coming weekend, as I won't be able to attend this year. SFSFF is a lot of fun, and San Franciscans really get into the spirit of things. My favorite SFSFF moment occurred two years ago at dinner. Our waiter honored the festival by pantomiming the menu.

[thomas_gladysz]

Some Highlights of the upcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival can be found at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/tgl ... y_id=92969

[rollot24]

Who else from our esteemed little village will be there?

I'll be there. Can't wait!
Tim

[silentfilm]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/309206

San Francisco Silent Film Festival is an archive of film history


Lines were forming an hour before the 2 PM matinee started for “Huckleberry Finn” on July 15 at the Castro Theater. San Franciscans are very enthusiastic about the 16th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
Unfortunately this reporter missed the Opening Night on Thursday with a gala celebration. Yet the matinee was still thrilling to attend and to this reporter’s surprise Lenard Maltin of television’s “Entertainment Tonight” was among the movie-goers as an honored guest.

Maltin has been to the SF Silent Film Festival before and was pleased to attend again as Maltin loves movies and movie history.

Founded in 1992 by Melissa Chittick and Stephen Salmons, over 1,800 people came to the first festival, and annual attendance has grown over the years to nearly 11,000.

The organization now involves a nine-person board of directors, a staff of four, a 22-member advisory committee, and more than a hundred event volunteers.

Judy Wyler Sheldon serves as chair for the Board of Directors for the film festival. This reporter had the privilege to meet and speak to her in person as she and many others like Bruce Goldstein were gathered in the upstairs lounge for the "Tales from the Archives" luncheon that included a lecture and presentation on historic film preservation.

“When people see a silent film, they are seeing a piece of history. Silent films are the history of movies,” said Sheldon.

She noted that movies are a historical record and movies in in their earliest days were not just something in America. People from all over the world were making films, it quickly became a universal art form.
The film festival strives each year to bring to San Francisco silent films from all over the world.

Bruce Goldstein who serves on the festival’s advisor committee agreed with Sheldon as he said, “I especially like the music.” Both he and Sheldon noted that seeing a silent film on the big screen with an audience is part of the movie experience.

“You can’t duplicate that experience at home with the television,” Sheldon said. “You have to experience it on the big screen with an audience in a place like this, the Castro Theater, “she said.

Sheldon also said that San Francisco was so fortunate to have one of the few remaining examples of the original movie theater palaces of that silent film era.

The grandest and most luxurious of all the movie palaces was the Fox Theater on Market Street near 10th Street. Unfortunately, it got torn down in the 1960’s because it was considered outdated and too big to upkeep.
"People at that time tried to save it but it was demolished," said Joseph Bartlow. He now lives near Mount Shasta in Northern California. Yet he likes to visit San Francisco his former home, for events such as this.
This is perhaps why, according to Bartlow, San Franciscans are so protective of The Castro Theater and cherish the opportunity to see vintage films through venues like the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
“We only select the best films,” said Sheldon. Yet she also noted that without such festivals and the auxiliary groups to help them, many films important to film history would be lost.

The staff at the SF Silent Film Festival believes the best way to truly appreciate the power and beauty of a silent film is by seeing it as it was meant to be seen. And, that is on the big screen with live musical accompaniment.

For the past fifteen years, the staff at the film festival have hand-selected the finest 35mm prints, engaged leading musicians to compose and perform live era-authentic musical scores, and invited filmmakers, authors, stars, archivists, and scholars to provide context and commentary for each film.

And, it seems such dedication has reaped the benefits because each year, the festival grows. It now includes frequent “mini-festivals” that allow movie-goers to see a classic silent film throughout the year, not just at festival time.

Like Sheldon, Rory O’Connor was introduced to the film festival by friends and then became a volunteer. Now he serves as a captain of volunteers helping to keep the flow of the lines of patrons moving along and answering questions, etc. for each of the 16 or more films and shorts that are shown for the four-day festival.

“We do very well as we have 20 to 25 or more of volunteers for each of the shifts during the festival,” said O’Connor. Shifts usually begin with the morning showing at 10 AM and continue until after 11 or in some instances after Midnight, depending upon the running time of the film.
“Every person who volunteers gets a ticket as payment to see a film,” said O’Connor. He noted that offering tickets to anyone who volunteers is a great way to attract people to the festival. “And not only to see a film at the festival but also to support the festival,” he said.

Many people this reporter interviewed said that they became more involved with the festival after they had volunteered. Many attending were festival pass holders such as Gretta & Ray de Groat; they were among those who showed up in 1920’s era costumes.

Steven Russell, also a festival pass holder commuted from the Peninsula about 30 minutes away from the City to attend the festival.

“I have been coming to the Silent Film Festival for about six years now and I quickly became a festival pass holder,” said Russell.

He noted that buying a pass works out well, because as he said, “I like movies in general,” he said. “And the silent movies in particular, he added, have a lot of historical aspects to them.” “But what I really like most is the live music that accompanies the film,” said Russell.

Donald Sosin provided the accompaniment on piano for the matinee of “Huckleberry Finn” that Thursday afternoon. And, even though the film was faded in parts with pieces missing and a script that was embellished from Mark Twain’s original book, the audience was still enthralled.

Certainly many in the audience were wise to some the naive notions of the world as depicted by filmmakers of the 1920’s. Yet, it seemed to this reporter, that afternoon that the audience still marveled at the artistry. Directed by William Desmond Taylor and released in 1927 “Huckleberry Finn” was almost lost entirely. But a foreign release print was found, most of the titles in Dutch and was painstakingly restored.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival ends on Sunday, July 17. But the staff continues to prepare for not only next year’s festival but the “mini-festivals” throughout the year. In March of next year the SF Film Festival will present "Napoleon" by director Abel Gance. Donations and benefactors are needed and of course, volunteers are always welcome.
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/3 ... z1SPBZu5HH

[Jim Roots]

Maltin has been to the SF Silent Film Festival before and was pleased to attend again as Maltin loves movies and movie history.

Even from a reporter who obviously has never heard of Maltin or probably ever seen a film older than two years, this statement takes the cake for sheer banality and cluelessness.

Jim

[rudyfan]

It was a great weekend. I can't do a full rundown on what I saw yet. Back at work and swamped.

That said, I can say the highlight for me this weekend, bar none, was The Goose Woman. I've waited 35 years to see this film and it was SO worth the wait. My expectations and hopes for it were more than met. A tremendous performance by Louise Dresser and a wonderful one by Jack Pickford. Constance Bennett had little to do but look pretty. Poor Marc McDemott had little to do, but was his usualy creepy self! Gustav Von Seyffertitz as the DA, always a pleasure for a Gustav sighting.

Gustav also made an unexpected appearence, briefly, in the Doug Fairbanks Mr. Fix-It. More on that later.

A fabulous weekend. Saw Greta & Ray, Derek B (missed you the rest of the weekend) Tim H was a delight to meet and spend some time with. Of course MissDupont was in the house (literally). Got to spend time yakkiing with Hugh Neely, Leonard and Alice Maltin, Judy Sheldon and of course, Kevin B and Patrick S. Always a thrill to talk to them!

[rollot24]

I had a great time (still recovering) Donna, Greta, Ray, Derrick, Mary and everyone else were all wonderful. The films weren't too bad either.
More when I collect my wits.
Tim

[missdupont]

Enjoyed the festival, but particularly enjoyed being with people this year. Tim, Derek, Ray and Greta, Hugh, Michael S., Jeff Masino, the Niles folks, John Bengston, Thomas Gladysz, and of course, Donna. Loved the wide variety of music, a little something for everyone. The NAPOLEON trailer on Thursday brought down the house. I enjoyed seeing UPSTREAM again, Donald Sosin's score was energetic and fun. Didn't stay to see SUNRISE.

"Tales from the Archives" opened Friday, and it was another informative and entertaining event. Chris Horak explained the process of identifying the orphan film THE FALL OF JERUSALEM with a PowerPoint presentation. The graduate student who created new titles for the restored MR. FIX-IT explained the process involved in trying to match original titles. An archivist from the Academy Film Archive spoke about trying to identify unidentified titles in the Lobster Film Collection, along with scene images. The administrator at Eastman House explained the process in trying to identify unknown film, from investigating the film stock to understanding clothing, car, and hairstyles of the period. This was followed by a screening of William Desmond Taylor's HUCKLEBERRY FINN, a beautiful looking film, but not quite the quality of TOM SAWYER, and a little slow in places. I didn't see I WAS BORN, BUT...," but was thoroughly fascinated with THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE, an intriguing documentary by Ponting of the ill-fated Scott expedition to Antartica. The Matti Bye Ensemble really brought it life in an almost magical way. I skipped IL FUOCO.

Skipped a couple of programs Saturday, but found THE BLIZZARD very poetic and hypnotic, like a folk tale, and once again enlivened by the excellent Matti Bye Ensemble. What can I say about THE GOOSE WOMAN except that it's a masterpiece of acting by Dresser, supported by the terrific Pickford, and beautifully shot and directed by Moore and Brown. Great to see it a second time. Fairbanks MR. FIX-IT was entirely delightful, full of humor and sweet sentiment. Fairbanks showed his athletic prowess, along with his charming comic skills. Dennis James brought a big sense of fun to the piece. Rudyfan was right, an uncredited von Seffyertitz played the head of surgery. Hard to miss that nose. The night ended with the Marlene Dietrich film THE WOMAN MEN YEARN FOR, another elegantly shot picture, with a mesmerizing performance by Dietrich, elegant lighting, and captivating accompaniment by Mont Alto.

Kevin Brownlow ushered in Sunday with a talk about his love of NAPOLEON and the never ending struggle to restore it to its original length. The event was as touching as it was informative. He announced during the talk that the film wouldn't be coming out on DVD or Blu-Ray, and that the Oakland dates were the only performances of the film, there is only one print, and it's much too expensive to put on in other locations. SHOES was hard hitting, emotional, and seemed to echo what's happening now with our economy. The Alloy Orchestra gave a new twist to popular and offbeat short films, like DREAM OF A RAREBIT FIEND, LE SPECTRE ROUGE, THE THIEVING HAND, PRINCESS NICOTINE, and LIFE AND DEATH OF 9413, A HOLLYWOOD EXTRA. Their animated playing along with sound effects, gave a nice ironic touch to the screenings. I didn't view the last two features.

Another very nice addition was the delightful selection of shorts by Orphan Film Symposium organizer Dan Streible, including outtakes of Fox Movietone newsreel footage showing a pre-Atlantic crossing Charles Lindbergh accepting a box of newsreel film as an airmail pilot, F. W. Murnau and George O'Brien leaving Paris for Berlin, Mrs. Harding shooting newsreel footage along with President Coolidge shooting trap, and pianist Harry Rosenthal playing for different types of silent newsreels; the Oakland Tribune American Dream Picture (funny and delightful), a fragment of the 1911 Wallace Reid A TRIBAL LAW, and the sweet CHUMMING WITH CHIPMUNKS.

Music was eclectic and excellent, ranging from Dennis James on the mighty Wurlitzer, Stephen Horne, Donald Sosin, Alloy Orchestra, Mont Alto, Matti Bye Ensemble. I didn't see SUNRISE with accompaniment by electric guitarist Giovanni Spinelli.

[greta de groat]

Oh dear, was i the only DoN to see Il Fuoco? I was delighted with it, though i knew what to expect (i have to admit that Ray was getting impatient by that time, it had been a long day). It was a lovely tinted print and Pina Menichelli was at her most delightfully bizarre (especially with that wacko owl hat). Febo Mari was overwrought, as were the over-the-top intertitles (in Italian and read aloud--"Burn my soul!!!!"). I think Stephen Horne did the score, accompanied by a woman who made sort of muttering sounds that were either compelling or annoying, i can't decide which. But i certainly won't forget it. If you want to catch a bit of the film, it is excerpted in the film Diva Dolorosa, which is on DVD and includes lots of great Diva clips.

Later seeing The Woman Men Yearn For, i found parallels with Il Fuoco--both starring an enigmatic blonde with hooded eyes, and featuring self-destructive men behaving stupidly. That film was very good, with excellent performances by Uno Henning and Fritz Kortner.

Random other impressions--i enjoyed the Oakland film particularly, and kept trying to read the business signs and figure out where things were shot. It featured amateurs, presumably the people submitting the winning "dream," but was more entertaining than i had expected.

Yes, the chipmunks were cute.

Shoes was very powerful and even better than i had hoped. I do think that Dennis James came on a little too strong with the opening didactic titles, but to their credit there was no giggling from the audience.

Enjoyed all the others i saw--The Great White Silence was gripping (i wondered whether younger audience members actually knew how this would end). I still can't get used to the title "The Blizzard" (i keep thinking of Lon Chaney), but it was beautifully shot, and the reindeer sequences were superb. I was surprised at how handsome Einar Hanson was in this, he looked quite dissipated in Children of Divorce, shot shortly before his death in a car crash. I was pretty surprised by the ending of Huckleberry Finn even though we had been warned--i guess it was still too radical for 1920. It was a good film, but i did feel there was too much of Huck's father and the two crooks. Upstream was really a programmer, but cleverly directed and quite cute. I'm afraid i find Doug Fairbanks a bit overbearing, and Mr. Fix-It has him at his most hyper. Yes, Gustav von Seyffertitz was the head of surgery--but he was operating on a rag doll in a sequence i thought was clever and funny, but somehow in the back of my head i kept wondering if this rich guy was displacing real human patients with his whim. I was surprised at the frankness the film had about the "massage parlor" where the kids lived, but this was, after all, the 1910s when, as with Shoes, social ills were not as routinely supressed in mainstream films (except for slavery, apparently). Wallace Reid was great eye candy in the fragment of A Tribal Law. And what more can i say about The Goose Woman? Perfect!

I'm curious as to whether anyone saw A Nail in the Boot.

I'll second everyone else's comments, it's great to see friends, old and new, at the festival. I'm already looking forward to next year!

greta

[Bob Furem]

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet more of you folks. I still think we should have a get-together one of these years. I thought the Dietrich film was the highlight. Mesmerizing, and hats off to Rodney and crew for a great job. I wasn't super excited about seeing Sunrise again, but I thought the electric guitar backing was great and found myself sucked in as always. Upstream, though not a masterpiece, was extremely enjoyable and it was interesting to see some of Ford's classic themes, such as the family of outcasts, already in place. Clearly, he already hated actors! Il Fuoco was fascinating, but far from great. I guess I'm the only one who doesn't consider the Goose Woman a masterpiece. I thought Dresser was great, but Pickford only passable. I wanted more of Dresser and less of the murder plot, which I found less interesting than her character. Great White Silence was excellent and I liked Nail In the Boot more than I expected I would. The Fairbanks was not the best of his comedies and not the worst. I was, however, a bit disappointed in the print quality. I know it's all they had and it was well worth seeing, but I'd liked to have known in advance that it was going to be the poorest quality print of the weekend. All in all a fine time, plus I finally summoned the nerve to speak with Kevin Brownlow away from the autograph table. What a guy! I'm envious of those who live in the Bay area because I don't think I'll be able to get in from Chicago for Napoleon. Cheers!

[Rodney]

Leonard Maltin has posted a response to the festival, which includes the highly entertaining and informative introduction that Eddie Muller wrote and presented for The Woman Men Yearn For.

I actually liked what I heard of the score to Sunrise, though it was admittedly a big departure for SFSFF. The electric guitar, assisted by loops, pedals, and effects to make it more full and give it a wider variety of sound, had the risk of getting tedious after a few minutes. But I thought Spinelli was good at getting inside the head of the characters, and varying his sound from scene to scene. When Janet Gaynor is moping on the bed with her child as her husband meets the city woman in the swamp, in our score we play a rather "pathetic" and emotionally rich piece, to underline her grief. Spinelli, instead, played an angular and highly distorted guitar line, which could easily describe what must have been going on in her mind. Anger, righteousness, betrayal, and hopelessness were all in there. It was an interesting take on the scene.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Fix-It as well. Doug does some great throw-away stunts, traditionally never walking down stairs in a normal way but by walking on his hands, sliding on his belly, leaping over the balcony at the high end, or carrying five children simultaneously. At one point he attempts to get the attention of a mooning woman with a very silly handkerchief trick that prefigures the running gag in The Mark of Zorro. While he does pull some tricks that should really piss off the other characters but -- this being movie-land -- bring them around to his way of thinking, in this particular film it's not so over-the-top as in other early Fairbanks films like Down to Earth, where he strands them all on a desert island and makes them exercise for their breakfast. And it's established that his character does, in fact, own the house the rich relatives live in, so they do need to put up with him.

And I noticed a strange Mr. Fix-It / P.G. Wodehouse connection. Though a very different sort of character, Reginald finds himself in a house of dominating elderly aunts who are attempting to control their nephew's behavior and romantic involvements, the most imperious one of which is named Aunt Agatha. It's unclear when Bertie Wooster's own Aunt Agatha made her first appearance -- a quick Internet search reveals that Jeeves first appeared in 1915 but the first Jeeves/Wooster novel wasn't until 1933. Could Wodehouse have been remembering this film when creating his most memorable Aunt?

[rollot24]

I agree with everything Miss Dupont said. For Il Fuoco I thought the use of the voice was perfect. It added a sense of etherial mystery to the whole affair and, as hoped by the composer, helped it from descending into total camp. The audience just about gasped at the ending. Very well done.

As I stated earlier, I had a wonderful time, the whole event exceeded my expectations.

[Kirk G]

Well, I started this thread, so I guess it’s appropriate if I offer my thoughts on this year’s Festival.

(Third time’s the charm, I hope. I’ve typed this in twice before and just before posting, both times, it went the way of London After Midnight…or, given the length, maybe the uncut Greed).

Thursday, July 14

Not expecting a John Ford classic (lowered expectations can be useful) I really enjoyed Upstream. The backstage milieu was interesting to me, and I actually thought the humor was handled better than in many of Ford’s later films.

I admit I the solo electric guitar score for Sunrise did not work for me. I’m not one of those who requires period scoring, but in this case the music seemed to work against the film most of the time (rather than opening up new interpretations). It started loud and discordant and seemed to have nowhere to build from there. However, I applaud the Festival for trying this kind of programming. I wouldn’t want a whole weekend of this sort of thing, but I’m glad they provide a mix of experiences.

Friday, July 15

The first Amazing Tales from the Archives presentation this year was one of the best from all the times they’ve done this. Following the kind of detective work archivists do to identify films was fascinating, a kind of CSI for silent film geeks.

The 1920 Huckleberry Finn was a reasonably good adaptation of one of those books I hold close to my heart. Of course, not all my favorite passages made it in (not unusual in most adaptations of novel to film) but those that did were well visualized (I loved the performance of The Royal Nonesuch). But, oh, why did they have to change the ending?

I confess I love the films of Ozu. Their depictions of family life always touch me deeply. Therefore (even though it’s easily available on video) I loved seeing I Was Born, But… on the big screen, with a fine score performed live by Stephen Horne.

I have mixed feelings about The Great White Silence. The first part of the film featured remarkable documentary footage of the travel to Antarctica, the landscape and wildlife of the continent, and the preparations for the expedition. The second part, covering the actual race for the pole, was handicapped by Ponting and his cameras not being on that part of the journey (though if they had been, we might not have any film at all) and so it was blunted somewhat by an overreliance on intertitles and recreations. Still the story is a powerful one, and the final still photographs were very moving. The Matti Bye Ensemble played an excellent and varied score, alternating moments of spectacle, humor and tragedy.

Il Fuoco was quite something. It’s over-the-top storytelling could have been grating, but fortunately the film played out quickly. The tinting on this well supported the overall tone of the picture. I also liked the few little touches, like the little physical defect of which “She” was so self-conscious, that allowed just a little lift of the characters above the stereotypical. Also, Jill Tracy’s vocals (part of a fine Stephen Horne score) help play up both the fantastic (a siren song) and the human (a breathy voice).

Saturday, July 16

Second confession: Though I enjoy animation, I rarely find silent cartoons enjoyable. Most have a crude drawing style and an overreliance on cycling through the same motion over and over that tends to dim even their historical interest for me. Walt Disney’s Laugh-O-Grams didn’t really change my opinion. However, Donald Sosin, who always does good work, brought along two young people to play for two of the shorts, and they were outstanding. There is hope for the future.

I’ve looked forward to Variations on a Theme for the past two years, but it’s never really lived up to its potential. Let me say that I always enjoy Dennis James’ artistry on the Mighty Wurlitzer, I agree that researching and performing contemporary scores is important and adds to the experience, and I believe he had a lot of valid points to make. However, once again he overwhelmed most of the discussion. I was interested to hear Giovanni Spinelli’s comments on (defense of?) his Sunrise score. New compositions for silent films are equivalent to modern (and in fact any non-Elizabethan era) productions of Shakespeare. Directors, actors and designers provide their own interpretations. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. But when Mr. James says that if you want to write new music for silent film, you should make new silent films, do we really think someone needs to write new Elizabethan drama?

The Blizzard (and no, Greta, you weren’t the only one to think of Lon Chaney) didn’t do much for me. Maybe it just showed at the wrong time in the afternoon. The early scenes in the outdoors with the reindeer stampede were dynamic, but I lost interest from there on. The ending certainly seemed, um, rushed, to say the least (oh, he’s cured of his madness and he happens to have located a copper mine that will solve all their financial worries).

The ending of The Goose Woman also seemed rushed (her character did a 180 a little too quickly when she realized her son was the murder suspect) but in this case I didn’t care. Louise Dresser gave a remarkable performance and, for the most part, the rest of the cast kept up with her. Clarence Brown’s direction was superb, reminding us that it’s not so much the story, it’s how it’s told.

Third confession: I often enjoy Douglas Fairbank’s early comedies more than his later swashbucklers. His energy and joy can just burst off the screen. Now, that can get to be a bit much, but the films are (usually) quick enough that they don’t overstay their welcome. There’s nothing really special in Mr. Fix-It, but it was a lot of fun, and Dennis James did his usual good job with this type of material. By the way, Rodney, you weren’t the only one to notice a P. G. Wodehouse connection, but it might have been closer than you thought. In 1910, Wodehouse wrote a novel called A Gentlemen of Leisure. The next year, he adapted it for the stage and the lead was acted by…Douglas Fairbanks! There’s an aunt in that one, too, though not Bertie’s Aunt Agatha.

Eddie Muller introduced The Woman Men Yearn For, and he drew a distinction between the (overused term) femme fatale and the (term used by the director to describe Dietrich) intrigante. According to Muller, the intigante is “A woman who fosters intrigue…can’t help being an object of so much passion and desire…the one most desperately trapped by fate and circumstance.” Far be it from me to disagree from the “Czar of Noir,” but it seems to me Stascha may have been a little too complicit in her first husband’s murder and was using a succession of men (and wasn’t it nice to see Uno Henning from A Cottage on Dartmoor which we enjoyed so a few years back) to get along. This was one of those interesting films from the late silent period which seems as if it could have been made in the ‘30s or ‘40s. The performance by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra was, as always, a standout.

Sunday, July 17

I have to say that after four days, the trailer for the upcoming presentation of Napoleon was starting to lose its appeal (especially as I don’t think I’m going to be able to go) but that took nothing away from the second Amazing Tales from the Archives presentation with Kevin Brownlow relating his pursuit of the film. The best part of the talk was his fond recollections of her mother’s support (we should all have a mother like that, indeed). The worst part was the revelation that there would be no DVD or Blu-Ray release (if we can have The Complete Metropolis, why not The Complete Napoleon?).

I found Shoes to be very effective, not least because of Mary McLaren’s central performance. She’s one of those who seems to be a real person who wandered into a fictional film. You knew where the film was going, it might have been a bit preachy, but it didn’t try to pull off a happy ending, and it worked. I was also glad they let Dennis James play for this, as it’s not the sort of film you’d normally expect him to play. In a way, avoiding a more modern score for this was as fascinating as some of the other scoring choices this weekend.

It wasn’t so much The Alloy Orchestra that made the Wild and Weird program a bit of a slog for me. It was that I’ve seen most of these shorts before, several times, and I must say the new scores didn’t add much for me.

The Nail in the Boot was certainly interesting. Propaganda, yes, but very well done visually, and the switching from an apparent actual incident of war, to a training exercise, to a tribunal (while leaving some plot holes) kept me involved in the story. I had never seen Chess Fever before and enjoyed both the humor and the contrast of two different kinds of Russian cinema.

The finale of the night and the Festival featured one of the best introductions, a thoughtful and personal discussion of the film and silent cinema in general by director Alexander Payne (he says he’ll be coming back to the Festival and I hope they draft him to do more introductions). The film was He Who Get Slapped, again one that is well-known and easily seen on TCM and Warner Archive, but so much more wonderful on the Castro screen and with an outstanding Matti Bye Ensemble score. I love Lon Chaney in this, especially the scene where he is bound and gagged (as part of his act) and must react to the sight of his rival with only his eyes.

Conclusion

While there may have been no great revelations this year, the magic of this Festival is he opportunity to see so many silent films (both old favorites and ones you might not have sought out) in the wonderful Castro Theatre with live musical performances, surrounded by so many who share your enthusiasm. I went to my first festival as sort of a lark in 2003, never expecting it to be an annual thing for me. I loved it so much, I have had to attend every year since, and I hope to do so for many years to come.