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San Francisco Silent Film Festival makes weekend
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Wang Renmei in the 1932 Chinese silent film, "Wild Rose,"
which screens Saturday at the San Francisco Silent Film
Festival.
By Thomas Gladysz
SF Silent Film Examiner
The thing to do in this weekend is to attend the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Why? Because this event – the largest silent film festival in North America – has got everything. And, it all takes place within the comfy confines of the 1922 movie palace Bay Area residents know affectionately as The Castro.
The 14th annual Festival – which starts Friday July 10th and runs through Sunday July 12th – features an exciting and eclectic line-up of films, live music, special guests, and more. Is there anything better than sitting together with like-minded souls spellbound in darkness?
Where else, for example, can you catch some of the most popular films of their day (like The Gaucho and Bardelys the Magnificent) starring some of the biggest names of the era (still famous enough to be recognized by only their last name - Pickford, Fairbanks, Gish) directed by some of the most acclaimed movie makers of all time (D. W. Griffith and King Vidor, to name just two)?
Where else, over the course of a weekend, can you see an international program of classic cinema – films from Czechoslovakia, France, China and the Soviet Union? And what’s more, each of the ten films and two multi-film programs which take place over the weekend feature live music performed by actual LIVE musicians!
Flying in from all over the country and accompanying the films are such highly accomplished musical artists as Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton, Philip Carli, Stephen Horne, and the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
Certain to thrill is Dennis James, who will accompany The Wind (1928) on the Castro Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer. Will he make it howl, as the wind seems to howl in Victor Sjostrom's poetic melodrama? Quite possibly. Word is, James has acquired a vintage wind machine especially for his performance. Certainly, he will shake the place – and make you feel you are there with Lillian Gish in her lonely, wind-buffeted shack.
James, along with Mark Goldstein, will strike a very different note when they accompany the delirious Russian agit-prop flick Aelita, Queen of Mars (1924) – a kind of Soviet style Metropolis. The sci-fi set designs and costumes alone are worth the price of admission, but add live James’ accompaniment on the Mighty Wurlitzer – and Goldstein on the Theremin-like Buchla Lightning - and you have an event not be missed! San Francisco filmgoers are fortunate to have James perform – far more fortunate than filmgoers in, say, Seattle.
Most of the musicians performing at this year’s Festival have performed at past Festivals, and each has drawn deserving, rousing ovations for their often thrilling performances. The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra’s original score for the 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life (performed at the Festival in 2007), for example, was especially fine. More on the musicians performing at this year’s Festival can be found at http://www.silentfilm.org/event-musicians.html
And then there are the special guests. There, standing on the stage introducing films will be the likes of Leonard Maltin, Terry Zwigoff (director of Ghost World), and film noir authority Eddie Muller - and let’s not forget about the many authors and film historians who will be dropping in over the course the weekend to meet with the public and sign books (among them film scholar Richard J. Meyer, novelist Glen David Gold, comix artist Dan Clowes, and San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle).
If you own any silent films on DVD, chances are film preservationist David Shepard – a legendary figure in the field - has had a hand in their release. Shepard will be on hand to introduce Bardelys the Magnificent, whose DVD release is making its debut at the Festival. He will also be signing DVD’s and books after the film he introduces.
If you can’t make every day and each film of the Festival, here are a few highlights not to be missed - Josef von Sternberg's Oscar-winning gangster tale Underworld (1927) starring the luscious Evelyn Brent, Gustav Machaty's scandalous and little seen Czech film Erotikon (1929), and the early W.C. Fields comedy So's Your Old Man (1926), introduced by acclaimed contemporary director Terry Zwigoff.
Another highlight is the enchanting Chinese love story Wild Rose (1932). Wang Renmei is the title character in writer-director Sun Yu's tale of a mischievous country girl, a wealthy Shanghai boy with an artist's eye, and the historical events that ultimately determine their love story. Renmei (who was given the nickname “Wildcat” for her unbridled performance) and co-star Jin Yan (considered the Rudolph Valentino of China) married her once filming was over. Remarkably, Qin Yi, the widow of Jin Yan and now 88 years old and, will make a stage appearance before the film.
Another highlight of this year’s Festival (and many festivals past) is the presence of Frank Buxton. This congenial guest, almost master of ceremonies, and member of the SFSFF Board of Directors is a regular – and someone worth meeting. If you don’t know who he is – google him. And if you have any interest in Buster Keaton, Woody Allen, Batfink, the Odd Couple, or old time radio (OTR), then shake his hand, at least. Heck, he was at one time the spokesperson for Safeway Markets in Northern California!
All together, this year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival promises to be an exciting and eclectic event. Is there anything better than sitting together with like-minded souls spellbound in darkness?
The complete line-up of films, along with who will introduce them and who will provide musical accompaniment, is detailed at http://www.silentfilm.org/event-home.html
For more info: Everything you need to know about the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and this weekend event can be found at http://www.silentfilm.org/
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