Friday, July 29, 2011

Top Ten Reasons to See Abel Gance's Napoleon in 2012

10. As of this posting, there are no plans to release this restored version on DVD or Blu-Ray.  You wanna see it and you gotta see it on the big screen!

9. The GORGEOUS Oakland Paramount Theater.


Image swiped from Ron's Log (click to enlarge and be awestruck)

8. To hear the score performed live and conducted by the composer, Carl Davis.

7. To learn how to pronounce Albert Dieudonne correctly from Kevin Brownlow himself.


Albert Dieudonne as Napoleon (courtesy Photoplay Productions)

6. To meet many other like-minded film geeks from all over the country and, indeed, the world.

5. To experience a silent film as it was always meant to be experienced.

Title Lobby Card from the 1927 US Release

4. To see a remarkable performance by Vladimir Roudenko.

Vladimir Roudenko (courtesy Photoplay Productions)

3. It's a once in a lifetime experience and a helluva movie.

2. The triptychs baby!


(courtesy Photoplay Productions)

1. Kevin Brownlow!

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Abel Gance's 1927 epic Napoleon will be screened as a "Live Cinema" event at the Oakland Paramount Theater. Presented by The San Francisco Silent Film Festival and Photoplay Productions (in association with American Zoetrope, The Film Preserve, and the British Film Institute).  This is a once in a lifetime event.



Tickets for Napoleon are available online at Ticketmaster.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

This n That

This n That is my monthly posting on old news, new news and various tidbits that strike my fancy.


In case you've not read about this, maybe you've had your head burined in the sand?  Kevin Brownlow's massive restoration of the Abel Gance epic Napoleon will screen at the Oakland Paramount Theater in March/April 2012.  Carl Davis will be on hand to conduct his score for the film with the Easto Oakland Symphony Orchestra.  Four performances only, in the SF Bay, no other dates for the US are planned.  Tickets can be had at Ticketmaster.

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In the 1920s, Diana Serra Cary was known as "Baby Peggy." Signed to a million dollar contract at age five, this child actress was once one of the biggest little film stars in the world. At this special event, Cary will speak about her remarkable life in Hollywood more than 80 years ago, her recent work as a writer and film historian, and her lifelong love of books and reading.

Diana Serra Cary will be in conversation with arts journalist Thomas Gladysz. A short Baby Peggy film will also be shown. More info at the SFPL website.

This special event will take place in Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Public Library. A book signing with Diana Serra Cary will follow.

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Milton Sills Alert!  I make no secret of my love for Milton Sills.  Sadly, I cannot be in LA for the screening of the 1928 film The Barker (also featuring Douglas Fairbanks Jr - equally hubba hubba)

Cinefamily @ Silent Movie Theatre (in LA)

The Silent Treatment Series: THE BARKER (1928)
Dir. George Fitzmaurice, 1928, 35mm, 80 min. (Archival 35mm print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive)

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 - 8:00 PM

$10 / free for members


It’s hard to imagine that the majority of films from the silent era, despite their level of cinematic innovation and critical acclaim, could all but vanish from our narrowing narrative of film history. The Barker is the exemplar of lost classics — originally a hit play on Broadway, and adapted for the screen in 1928 with a stellar cast including the likes of burgeoning stars such as Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Betty Compson (who received an Academy Award nomination for her performance). Such was the film’s success that it merited two further high-profile remakes in 1933 and 1944, plus a syndicated Lux Radio Theater adaptation. And somehow, a film that managed to remain in the public consciousness for nearly two decades has disappeared. The Cinefamily and The Silent Treatment are proud to launch this picture back into the limelight with a spectacular 35mm print so crisp that it’ll leave the images lingering in your mind long after the curtains close. The film has a hopeful take on the troubles of modernization, when the greatest carnival barker in the world turns his back on the antiquated biz, only to rediscover his passion through the exploits of his city-bound son. Come participate in the resurrection of this fantastic film, and let your mind reel at the thought that something this good could go missing for so long! The evening’s feature is also one of the first films to utilize the “Vitaphone” process, so get ready to also experience a restored version of its original music/effects/minimal dialogue track!

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Soviet Film Posters (many from the silent era) have been on display in New York at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery.  The exhibition ends July 30th, but you can view the posters by clicking the link on this page marked "images."  Some wild poster art, including several Soviet posters for Harold Lloyd films like Safety Last and Buster Keaton.  Fabulous exhibit that I wish I could have seen in person.

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Have you purchased a DVD and absolutely loathe the score?  What do you do?  Do you watch the film in silence?  Do you grit your teeth and watch it anyway with a score that neither fits the film or your taste?  I admit, I'm rather traditional in my silent film score taste.  Well, you have another option to remedy a silent film headache.  Ben Model, acclaimed historian and performer has created altscore.com with modestly priced and wonderful alternate scores for many films on DVD.  The scores can be downloaded to your iPod, PC or burned on a CD to synch with the film.  Check it out! 

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Ronald Colman will be the star of the day during TCM's Summer Under the Stars on August 4th.  Scheduled are three silent films with the divine Ronnie.  The White Sister (1923) with Lillian Gish, Kiki with Norma Talmadge (directed by Clarence Brown) and Her Night of Romance with Constance Talmadge.  Don't miss them!

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The Silent Treatment is a quarterly newsletter that relates to silent film.  TST is also the presenter/promoter for the monthly silent film screenings with Cinefamily and The Silent Movie Theater mentioned above.  Brandy and Steve do great work and if you want to keep yourself in the loop, the newsletter is free and delievered to your email inbox.  Back issues are downloadable at the TSTNews website.  Always free and always worth a read!

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Lastly, I've been offloading bits and pieces of memorabilia, including some really nice vintage postcards of Rudolph Valentino.  You can check out my eBay auctions here or search for the seller ID rudyfan. More good movie stuff and decorative pieces and some vintage jewelery (including bakelite) will be posted soon.




Tuesday, July 26, 2011

San Francisco Silent Film Festival Recap - Part 2

Mary McLaren in Shoes


Saturday, July 16
Disney’s Laugh-O-Grams featuring J.B. Kaufman & Russell Meritt
Variations on a Theme with silent film musicians and composers

Sadly, I had freaked myself out to such a degree over making sure I got exactly the Napoleon tickets I wanted, I stayed home and camped on Ticketmaster in true geek fashion and skipped the Laugh-O-Grams and the Variations on a Theme programs.  Then I met some fellow geeks for lunch before the Mauritz Stiller.


The Blizzard
Mauritz Stiller’s film The Blizzard was a simple tale of love and madness with a really huge herd of reindeer thrown in and an excellent tracking action sequence of the hero of the story being dragged across the ice by a rampaging reindeer. The poetic hero spent the remainder of the film not recovering until the magic of music heals him and brings us a happy ending. My pithy comments above do not do justice to the film. Yes, the plot seemed rather silly, even from the well regarded and revered Selma Lagerlöf. All that being said, I found myself moved and touched by the end of the film. The action sequences were thrilling and thrillingly filmed. The sensitive scoring by the Matti Bye ensemble lifted and supported the film.

The Goose Woman
I've waited 30+ years to see this film. It was SO worth the wait. The plot of the film might be considered a tad hackneyed, but who cares when you’re watching a tour de force performance by Louise Dresser? In what can only be called a very brave actor, Louise Dresser spends much of the film, sans makeup and a complete and utter mess of a woman. In fact, I think she was made up to look far worse. Behind the makeup or lack thereof, in her eyes, you see every emotion of hate, self loathing, tenderness and she barely moves a muscle. It’s epic and awe inspiring. Jack Pickford also shines as her illegitimate son. He tries to be understanding and a good son, especially when he is reviled by his own mother. You can see the family resemblance, Jack Pickford’s face morphs into his sister Mary’s at time. You see that Jack had some real talent, and not simply as a womanizer and drinker as he was in his off screen life. Constance Bennett has little to do except look pretty and be the object of affection. That said, you can see glimpses of the glamorous screen presence she would become in the 1930’s. Stephen Horne accompanied the film. This was my pick of the weekend (so far). It was the film I most wanted to see and it did not let me down.  Kevin Brownlow did not steer any of us wrong with this one.

Mr. Fix-It
Previously considered a lost film, Mr. Fix-It was restored with the aid of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and the contributions of The Goessel Family Foundation. We can thank them all for this, Mr. Fix-It may not be top drawer Fairbanks, but, it was 100% delightful and vintage pre-swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks. While Doug appears a little old (mostly due to make-up) to be a young collegian, once he hits US shores, the action rarely stops. Even with all the speed bumps in the road, he manages to make good on his promise to fix things up for a happy ending.

The Woman Men Yearn For
Lacking in stamina, I skipped this and the wonderful Mont-Alto score. I regret it, but I will have the opportunity to screen the film for a proper review. Reports from all were that Marlene was luminous and Mont-Alto was wonderful.

Sunday, July 17
Amazing Tales from the Archives II featuring Kevin Brownlow
Initially announced to have Kevin speak about 50 years of restoration, he really did that anyway in chronicling his journey of discovery through Abel Gance’s Epic Napoleon. Kevin narrated during clips, stills and some wonderful rare footage of Abel Gance circa 1965 was shown. Kevin cribbed from his 1980 era book Napoleon and it only served to whet the collective appetites of the audience for the complete restoration to be shown in 2012. At least that is what it did for me.

Shoes
This was my first film with Mary McLaren. I only knew of her, really, from her tragic later years, impoverished in a home that was beyond condemned. Having met her in 1980 at a memorial service for Rudolph Valentino, I recognized in this young delicate woman the same beautiful eyes, cornflower blue. In this film, as the put upon heroine, she was luminous, beautiful and sad. Her performance was subtle and her communication of heartbreak was intense.  A young girl, the sole support of her family longs for a new pair of shoes. Her salary is controlled by her mother and portions are wasted by her wastrel of a father. Unable to stand it any longer, she sells herself to a cabaret singer (portrayed sleazily by William V. Mong) to obtain the shoes. Filmed on location in Los Angeles, it was a tad preachy, but nonetheless effective. The drama was only heightened and almost was overwrought by the mighty Wurlitzer under the capable hands of Dennis James. We had the added bonus of the introduction of the film by Robert Byrne, who helped restore the film.  The before and after clip reel was astonishing.

Wild and Weird featuring David Sheppard
This was a preview of a new Flicker Alley release produced by David Sheppard. A collection of weird and wonderful short films. This included the most beautiful print I’ve ever seen of The Red Spectre and one of my favorite early Vitagraph films The Thieving Hand. Avant Garde and just plain bizarre films were shown and accompanied with a percussive beat by the Alloy Orchestra. Friends know I am rather traditional in my approach to music that accompanies silent films, in this Alloy hit the right notes (or drums). It was a loud and very fun program. And this ended the festival for me.

Due to taking the Friday off from work to attend, I had to make it a very early night for the Monday to come. I do regret missing He Who Gets Slapped, but it’s a film I’ve seen several times and have seen previously on the big screen.

I’m biased because I am a local, but I do love the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and I am already looking very much forward to what the summer will bring in 2012. The volunteers, the staff, Anita Monga, Stacey Wisnia and the Castro Theater are all to be commended, it was a great weekend.

Monday, July 25, 2011

San Francisco Silent Film Festival Review - Part 1


I do plan to post some individual and much more detailed reviews of films in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, here is the first part of the overall run down of the 16th Annual festival.

The 16th Annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival is now but a memory. I’ve just now recovered from taking an extra day off work to attend the festival. In a continuing tradition, I missed a few movies I should not have missed during the three and a half days.


Opening Night, Thursday, July 14

Upstream

I saw Upstream at the Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles last year and thought it was a so-so programmer. Initially I had not intended to attend the opener and I’m rather pleased I had a change of heart. The Donald Sosin Ensemble provided a delightful new score for the film which, to me, lifted the ordinariness of the plot to a slightly higher level of comedy. I noticed, as well, some very funny digs at John Barrymore. Do not be misled, great silent arte this isn’t. That said, the film is fun and has a happy ending after a few bumps in the road. It was an enjoyable beginning to the weekend. If you did not know this was directed by John Ford, I do not think you’d be able to tell otherwise.

Napoleon
The trailer for the 2012 screenings of Napoleon was met with rapturous applause, including shouts from yours truly.  Tickets are purchased and I can cardly wait!


Sunrise

I love Sunrise, it is one of my favorite silent film. I am sure this is true for many a silent film fan. Having seen a preview of the new score by Giovanni Spinelli, it was not an experience I was looking forward to. So, I skipped it using the excuse that I had had a hard day at work and wanted to go home and crash. This was true to a degree, but I also am too much of a traditionalist to was a more orthodox score for a film I dearly love. I quizzed a few people the next day and it was 5-1, 5 absolutely hating it (“I sat with my fingers in my ears”) to 1 who thought it was an interesting take (“not a sentimental note”).

Friday, July 15

Amazing Tales from the Archives I

I always enjoy the archive programs and wish that they were longer, the time always flies. The presentations this year were a tad longer and all fascinating. It began with Ken Fox who worked on the restoration of the Douglas Fairbanks Mr. Fix-It. He took us through the journey of how they recreated the titles for the film, down to the accuracy of matching the font (a wonderful font called Pabst, yes, same as Pabst Blue Ribbon beer). Jan-Cristopher Horak of UCLA presented on the puzzle of finding out where a film was originally produced. A biblical film that was distributed in the US via a distributor of spiritual films for screening in churches and no clue on where it was made nor it’s cast or original title. Anthony L’Abbate of Eastman House taught us how to identify film clips via a number of methods. Finally, Melissa Levesque of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showed some of the clips acquired from Lobster Films that still needed some identification. You can help in that effort by visiting here.


Huckleberry Finn

Director William Desmond Taylor is better remembered for his murder in 1922 (still unsolved) than as a director. Many of his films are lost, happily, his 1920 version of Huckleberry Finn still does exist. The star really was the wonderful and very natural Lewis Sargent as Huck. Not entirely true to the story, but a swift paced and engaging film. Shot on location in Northern California subbing for the mighty Mississippi. Donald Sosin provided lively accompaniment.

I Was Born, But…

I skipped the Ozu’s 1932 film in favor of a leisurely meal with some friends.


The Great White Silence

A friend speculated that there were probably many in the audience who might not have known the unhappy outcome of this film. The beautiful photography was accompanied by an equally magnificent and beautiful score by the Matti Bye Ensemble. The moving vistas, the penguins and the build up to the doubly tragic ending was almost overwhelming. It was a beautifully constructed film and scored sensitively.

Il Fuoco

Sadly, I skipped Il Fuoco. I have an opportunity to view it again and I will report on it in detail once I’ve screened it.


Days 3 and 4 to be continued!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Pordenone - Il Giornate del Cinema Muto 2011



I just receiveed my invitation to Pordenone for the 2011 Silent Film Festival.  Alas, I already know I won't be in attendance.  This is #1 on my bucket list.

Some very interesting things in the lineup.  Looks like Photoplay Productions will present The Wind with Carl Davis conducting his score.  The Kertész before Curtiz looks very interesting.  I was just watching My Brother is Coming from 1919 at the Europa Film Treasures site.  A nice bit of synchronicity!

Two words:  Italian Divas!

Here's the lineup:

To celebrate three decades of rediscovery and restorations of the national cinema, and Italy's 150th unification anniversary, we present "People of Italy's Golden Age", with programmes devoted both to superstars and to less-known personalities, including Francesca Bertini, Pina Menichelli, Nino Oxilia, Febo Mari and the galaxy of clowns of the first decade - Cretinetti, Polidor, Kri-Kri, Robinet and friends.

"Shostakovich and the Factory of the Eccentric Actor" focuses on the association of the composer and the film-makers Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, which began with the unparalleled marriage of music and image in NEW BABYLON and ODNA. This is a rare opportunity to see all the surviving work of the Factory of the Eccentric Actor (FEKS), unique in Soviet cinema for its vitality, originality and audacity. NEW BABYLON will provide the festival's gala opening show.

Although NEW BABYLON has often been performed before, this performance can be claimed as definitive. After the debacles of the first performances, Shostakovich's score was lost for 45 years, until 1975, when Gennadi Rozhdestvensky found a set of orchestral parts in the Lenin Library, Moscow, and adapted a suite from the score. Subsequently other, fuller copies of the original orchestral parts became available; but it was not until this century, thanks to the work of the Paris-based Shostakovich Centre, that the most complete versions of the score, as well as Shostakovich's own much-corrected manuscript (the original of which is in the Glinka Museum, Moscow) became freely available. Mark Fitz-Gerald, who began his studies of the score twenty years ago, has been able to extensively revise his work in preparing the new Naxos recording, and with assistance from another fine Shostakovich scholar, Pierre-Alain Biget, has brought the score and its synchronisation to a new level, at which Shostakovich's genius can finally be fully appreciated. A second film in the FEKS programme, THE OVERCOAT, after Gogol, will be accompanied by a new score for quartet by Maud Nelissen.

More films from the vast and largely unexplored treasury of Soviet silent films can be seen in a presentation of Georgian cinema, including the remaining two films from the oeuvre of Lev Push - a gifted director, prevented from direction after 1930, whose name was virtually unknown until last year's Giornate.

"Kertész before Curtiz" surveys the little-known European career of a Hungarian, who, as Michael Curtiz, was to become a major Hollywood director. His special gifts for narrative and character are already evident in his rare surviving Hungarian films and the operetta stories and spectacles he made in Vienna after emigration in 1919.

The popular "Canon Revisted" series this year includes an orchestral show, with Günter Buchwald conducting Chaplin's own accompaniment to THE CIRCUS. Other "Canon" titles include Marcel l'Herbier's ELDORADO, Joe May's ASPHALT and Friedrich Ermler's FRAGMENT OF AN EMPIRE.

A dramatic rediscovery featured in the Early and Transitional Cinema series is Robert William Paul's 1896 THE SOLDIER'S COURTSHIP, which has been regarded as a key work in film history, as the first British fiction film - and indeed one of the world's first fiction films. Believed lost for almost all its 115 years, a fine print recently surfaced in the Roman archive of Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and will be premiered at the 2011 Giornate. Also in this series are two more programmes from the Corrick Collection, and a centenary programme which explores the exceptional narrative qualities of the films of the American Thanhouser Company.

A small but selective programme to celebrate the American National Film Preservation Foundation's DVD issues of early Westerns will include screenings of W.S.Van Dyke's LADY OF THE DUGOUT (1918), Victor Fleming's MANTRAP (1926) and the little-known SALOMY JANE (1914), directed by Lucius Henderson and William Nigh.

Other highlights of this year's Giornate: a special series to commemorate the centenary of the great polar expeditions of 1911-12; Japanese silent animation film; the recently re-assembled full series of Walt Disney's 1922 LAUGH-O-GRAMS; and a special selection of early films depicting the experience of going to the cinema drawn from the collections of EYE, Amsterdam.

The closing show will be a full orchestral performance of Victor Sjostrom's THE WIND (1928), with Carl Davis conducting his own score.

More details on the programme will be posted on the Giornate website as they become available (www.giornatedelcinemamuto.it).

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Kevin Brownlow Discusses Abel Gance and Napoleon circa 1980

In what will be a monthly, (or semi monthly) posting about the upcoming US Premiere of the restored Napoleon, I'm going to begin with a bit of video capturing Kevin Brownlow. Though the film was playing to packed houses at the time this interview was filmed, I think it would be not inaccurate to say that Kevin was still in mid-restoration of Gance's 1927 epic film. 



Napoleon will screen at the Oakland Paramount on March 24, 25, 31 and April 1, 2012.  Kevin Brownlow will introduce the film and Composer Carl Davis will conduct the Oakland East Bay Symphony Orchestra live at each screening. 

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is presenting the film in association with American Zoetrope, The Film Preserve, Photoplay Productions, and BFI. 

You can buy tickets through ticketmaster. Seriously, do not hesitate, this really will be a once in a lifetime event.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Napoleon vu par Abel Gance


If you have only a nominal interest in film, you've probably already heard the news that in March/April 2012 the complete (or current) restoration of Abel Gance's 1927 epic Napoleon will be screening as a "Live Cinema" event at the Oakland Paramount Theater.  Presented by The San Francisco Silent Film Festival and Photoplay Productions (as well as American Zoetrope, The Film Preserve, and the British Film Institute), the film will be screened with Carl Davis conducting the East Oakland Symphony Orchestra.  This is a once in a lifetime event



Abel Gance's Napoleon from San Francisco Silent Film Festiv on Vimeo.

Okay, you have watched the trailer, you can buy tickets through ticketmaster.  Do not hesitate, this really will be a once in a lifetime event. 

The complete press release from the SFSFF (dateline July 14) is reproduced below:

SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL TO PRESENT

ABEL GANCE’S LEGENDARY MASTERPIECE NAPOLEON

AT OAKLAND PARAMOUNT, MARCH 24, 25, 31 & APRIL 1

U.S. PREMIERE OF COMPLETE RESTORATION

BY ACADEMY AWARD®-WINNER KEVIN BROWNLOW & BFI

U.S. PREMIERE OF ORCHESTRAL SCORE BY CARL DAVIS,

WHO WILL CONDUCT THE OAKLAND EAST BAY SYMPHONY

(July 14, 2011—Bastille Day) The San Francisco Silent Film Festival announces today that it will present the U.S. premiere of Abel Gance’s legendary NAPOLEON in its complete restoration by Academy Award®-winning historian, documentarian and archivist Kevin Brownlow, in four special screenings at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on March 24, 25, 31 and April 1, 2012.

The Brownlow restoration, produced with his partner Patrick Stanbury at Photoplay Productions in association with the BFI, is the most complete version of Gance’s masterpiece since its 1927 premiere at the Paris Opéra.

The SFSFF screenings also mark the U.S. premiere of the renowned orchestral score, written over 30 years ago (and twice expanded since), by Carl Davis, who will conduct the Oakland East Bay Symphony.

The spectacular presentation at the 3,000-seat, Art Deco Oakland Paramount will be climaxed by its finale in “Polyvision”—an enormous triptych, employing three specially installed synchronized projectors, that will dramatically expand the screen to triple its width. The logistics and expense of screening Napoleon properly with full orchestra and special equipment have made it nearly impossible to mount. Gance’s Napoleon hasn’t
been screened theatrically in the U.S. with live orchestra for nearly 30 years and there are no plans to repeat the SFSFF event in any other American city.

Says Stacey Wisnia, Executive Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, “This will be ‘the cinema event of a lifetime’ and for once that’s not just hype, considering that we may never have another chance to see Napoleon presented on this scale, and with Carl Davis’ magnificent score. But we’re also referring to the lifetime of passion that Kevin Brownlow has devoted to bringing Abel Gance’s original vision back to life.”

Mr. Brownlow, who last year became the first film historian ever honored with a special Academy Award, became fascinated with Gance’s film when, as a schoolboy in the 1950s, he ran two 9.5mm reels he had stumbled upon at a street market. “I was stunned by the cinematic flair,” says Brownlow. “I was exhilarated by the rapid cutting and the swirling camera movement. What daring! I had never seen anything comparable—and I set out to find more of it.” That determination led to a lifelong quest.

The first major Brownlow/BFI restoration culminated in a screening at the Telluride Film Festival in 1979, with 89-year-old Gance watching from a nearby hotel window.  Under the auspices of Francis Ford Coppola and Robert A. Harris, a version of this restoration, accompanied by a score composed by Mr. Coppola’s father Carmine, was presented to great acclaim at Radio City Music Hall and other venues in the U.S. and around the world in the early 1980s. Mr. Brownlow and the BFI did additional restoration work in 1983.

The current restoration, completed in 2000 but not previously seen outside Europe, reclaims more than 30 minutes of additional footage discovered since the 1979 screening and visually upgrades much of the film. This unique 35mm print, made at the laboratory of the BFI’s National Archive, uses traditional dye-bath techniques to recreate the color tints and tones that enhanced the film on its original release, giving a vividness to the image as never before experienced in this country.

Each screening of the 5 1/2-hour epic will begin in the afternoon and will be shown in four parts with three intermissions, including a dinner break. Tickets will be available online through the SFSFF website, www.silentfilm.org, beginning July 18.

Abel Gance’s NAPOLEON is being presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, in association with American Zoetrope, The Film Preserve, Photoplay Productions, and the BFI. Technical services will be provided by Boston Light & Sound.

Founded in 1994, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival has showcased the finest films of the silent era as they were meant to be seen: on the big screen with live music composed and performed by accomplished artists. While its annual July festival remains its flagship event, the SFSFF now produces special events throughout the year.

Says Robert Byrne, SFSFF board president, “This extraordinary presentation of Gance’s masterpiece is a major cultural coup, not just for our festival, but for the whole Bay Area.”



Thursday, July 7, 2011

Sad Farewell - The Red Vic in San Francisco


The San Francisco Chronicle confirmed that the funky indie theater The Red Vic is closing down at the end of July.  So sad, they've just hit their 30th anniversary.

According to the article linked above, they'll be having sales of their collection of movie posters and assorted memorabilia.  The space will be absorbed and another rep movie house in SF closes the doors. 

Thank goodness we still have The Balboa and The Castro!


Sad face today.