Back to school time! Here’s a roundup of the silent movie news I really want to share with you as summer turns into autumn. Just think how many of these forthcoming delights you could enjoy for less than the cost of a dynamically priced Oasis ticket.
Screenings and festivals
- I missed StummFilmTage Bonn this year again – both in person and online. But Paul Joyce and Paul Cuff both kept us up to date with their fabulous blogs.
- Kennington Bioscope. Speaking of great things, the south London silent crew continue to smash it out of the park. Next up in their impressive schedule of events: John Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924).Keep up to date here.
BFI National Archive
- Silent Sherlock! More on the London Film Festival to follow, but we have already had the welcome announcement that this year will see the premiere of three new restorations of three classic British Sherlock Holmes silents. These Stoll films star Eille Norwood as the Baker Street sleuth and the BFI is restoring all 45 of them. For the Festival, on 16 October at the Alexandra Palace Theatre, the LFF Archive Special Presentation will feature one episode from each of the three series: A Scandal in Bohemia, in which Holmes uncharacteristically falls for a woman; The Golden Pince-Nez, a classic example of Holmesian detection; and The Final Problem in which Holmes meets his nemesis, the sinister Dr Moriarty, with Cheddar Gorge famously standing in for the Reichenbach Falls. The Special Presentation celebrates a new partnership between the BFI and the Royal Academy of Music, with Joanna MacGregor conducting an ensemble of ten young Academy players performing three newly commissioned scores composed by MacGregor, Neil Brand and Joseph Havlat.
- Intrigued by the idea of silent Sherlock? Check out Will Bird’s new documentary, A Case of Identity, all about how the sleuth appeared on screen between 1900 and 1939:
- A taste of HippFest! HippFest’s Taste of Silents 2024 will run for three Saturdays from 12 October to 2 November, with screenings of the rare, fully-silent version of The Flying Scotsman (1929), accompanied by Jane Gardner, a slapstick triple-bill of The Rink (1916), The High Sign (1921) and Never Weaken (1921), accompanied by Neil Brand and Nosferatu (1922) accompanied by Hugo Max. Find out more.
- Don’t know Hugo Max? He is a supremely talented musician who is playing regularly for silent films at the Prince Charles Cinema in London and at venues across the country. Here is his formidable tour schedule. Check him out.
Silents on disc
- Eureka has just released Laurel and Hardy: the Silent Years (1927), which includes films such as Battle of the Century (1927), with a feast of commentaries and other goodies. I reviewed this one in the new issue of Sight and Sound.
- If you like your silents spooky – and who doesn’t at this time of year? – Radiance Films has produced this beautiful edition of Häxan (1922). It looks great and I am proud to say that I have written one of the essays for the booklet.
More
- Nasty Weimar. The excellent people at the Weimar Film Network host regular online seminars. The next one, on 25 September is all about the fabulous Women Film Pioneers Project, with Kate Saccone (University of Amsterdam), and Professor Maggie Hennefeld (University of Minnesota), Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi (Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam) of the Nasty Women project. Read more and register here.
- Slow film podcasts. Perhaps thorough, not slow. Two of these, both proceeding along similar tracks in different styles. Tristan Ettleman is producing ‘casts on The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever, with multiple episodes devoted to each year and special guests, many of whom you will know. I will be up shortly, on 1901. My friend the critic and author Caspar Salmon is embarked on an adjacent project, briefly discussing one film from every year, solo. He started way back in 1888 with Roundhay Garden Scene and “the possibilities of time travel”. We like that style.
- Silent London will always be free to all readers. If you enjoy checking in with the site, including reports from silent film festivals, features and reviews, please consider shouting me a coffee on my Ko-Fi page.
