The Silent Clowns Film Series

Our fall/winter 2009 line-up:
(please note our new theater location)

	Sunday, October 11 at 2pm Comedy on the Bum - or - The Elegance of Indigence Tramps (a.k.a. “Knights of the Road”) were popular comic characters on stage, in comic strips, and in early films. While Charlie Chaplin used it for his regular screen persona, most of the other big name comics spent some time cinematically "on the bum". Today’s down-and-outers include Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in Fatty's New Role ('15), Charlie Chaplin’s Easy Street ('17), Harold Lloyd in From Hand To Mouth ('19 ), Buster Keaton’s The Goat ('21), and Fiddlesticks ('27) with Harry Langdon.
	Sunday, October 25 at 2pm Daytime for Nightmares: Lloyd takes on healthcare! Keaton takes on Wall St! Remembered today as the "third genius" of silent comedy, Harold Lloyd was always first at the box office. Dr. Jack ('22), although not as well known as Grandma's Boy ('22) or The Freshman ('25), is equally funny and presents Harold as a country doctor who uses scares and thrills to help a young rich girl get rid of parasitic doctors. Also on this Halloween program is Buster Keaton surrounded by eerie goings-on in The Haunted House ('21).
	Sunday, November 8 at 2pm Slapstick Show-Biz Part One: Stagecraft Shenanigans Since most of the silent film comedians came from the stage, it was only natural that they would use their theatre background and experiences for comic material. Tough company managers, over-ripe melodramas and fly-by-night theatre troupes are some of the subjects at hand today in the Thanhouser company’s The Soap Suds Star (215), Charlie Chaplin’s The Property Man ('14), The Play House ('21) with Buster Keaton, Charley Chase’s Bromo and Juliet ('26), and Lupino Lane in Drama Deluxe ('27).
	Sunday, November 22 at 2pm Slapstick Show-Biz Part Two: Chaos on the Set The second part of our Show-Biz programs finds our silent clowns poking fun at themselves and their style of filmmaking. Nothing could be simpler or handier (not to mention cheaper) than using their own studios as background for slapstick antics, which today gives us precious behind-the-scenes glimpses of where and how these films were made. On the bill is Everett True Breaks into the Movies ('16), Charlie Chaplin’s Behind the Screen ('16), Hey There ('18) with Harold Lloyd, Our Gang’s Dogs of War ('23), and The Daredevil ('23) starring Ben Turpin.
	Sunday, December 6 at 2pm – at the Museum of the City of N.Y. Laurel & Hardy: U-Pick 'Em! Audience Favorites After years of solo work, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy came together at the Hal Roach Studio in 1927.In their comedies human foibles and the frustrations of everyday life were magnified a hundred times over. Now you have the opportunity to select which of their silent shorts you’d like to see. Vote online on our website, and the four finalists will be screened at this show! Click here to go to our online voting page to send in your picks!