This past spring (February - April 2006) we presented:All programs (except Nov 6*) are held at the
New-York Historical Society, Central Park West
at West 77th Street. Tickets are $8 all adults,
and $5 for seniors, kids and members.
Live piano accompaniment by Ben Model at all shows.
Our fall/winter 2007 line-up:
Sunday, September 23 at 2pm
"Safety Last"
Hair-Raising Harold Lloyd
Remembered as the “Third Genius” of silent comedy, Harold Lloyd was always first at the box office. Safety Last (’23) is not only his most famous film, but the image of Harold hanging from the clock is one of the most indelible bits of movie iconography. Also on the program is Lloyd’s high and dizzy warm-up, Never Weaken (‘21).
Sunday, October 14 at 2pm
Madcap Mabel NormandAlthough Mabel Normand is the most famous female name in silent comedy, she’s better remembered for the scandals she was linked to than for her deft comedic talents and lively screen presence. To highlight both her dramatic and comic skills we’re presenting The Nickel Hopper (‘26), followed by her 1921 Goldwyn feature What Happened to Rosa?
Sunday, October 28 at 2pm
"The Cat and the Canary"
Spooks Run Silent!
Our Halloween feature, The Cat and the Canary (’27), mixes chills with humor for a tongue-in-cheek whodunit. One of the first of the Universal horror films, the atmospheric camerawork and set design set the tone for films such as Dracula (’31) and Frankenstein (’31) that would follow. Our Gang’s antics open the show in Shootin’ Injuns (‘25).
Sunday, November 11 at 2pm (Veterans Day)
Clara Bow in "WINGS"
Honored by the National Film Registry and celebrating its 80th anniversary this year
Our silent clowns take a brief break so that we can present the first epic of the air, which not only won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture, but was the only silent film to ever do so. Based on director William Wellman’s own experiences as a flyer in World War I, Wings features incredible camerawork and action scenes still unrivaled in these days of modern digital effects.
Sunday, November 18 at 2pm
Forgotten Clowns: Medium Rare
On the bill for our annual tribute to neglected comics is Mack Sennett in The Would-Be Shriner ('12), She Landed A Big One ('14) with Wallace Beery as "Sweedie," the Three Fatties in ('25), All Tied UpAnything Once ('27) with Mabel Normand, Cliff Bowes in Pep Up ('29), and bringing up the rear, Lloyd Hamilton in Blazing Away ('28). [note: as these titles are very rare and hard to access on film, this program will utilize video projection]
Sunday, December 2 at 2pm
Stan Laurel
Stan’s "Salad Days" Cinema: Early Roach Comedies of Mr. Laurel
Before his 1927 teaming with Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel had toiled away for ten years as a solo comic. A number of those days were spent working at the Hal Roach studio, and our salute to solo Stan is made up of the early comedies Just Rambling Along (’18) and Hustling for Health (’19), plus a string of 1923 shorts: The Noon Whistle, White Wings, Kill or Cure, Oranges and Lemons, and Frozen Hearts.
Our spring 2007 line-up:
National Treasures: silent films listed on the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress
In 1988 the Library of Congress established the National Film Preservation Board, which in turn created the National Film Registry. Every year since then the Registry has chosen 25 films that fit the criteria of being “culturally, historically and aesthetically important.” The selectees encompass a wide range of films – from logical shoo-ins like Citizen Kane ('41) and Casablanca ('42) to the early sound oddity Gus Visser and his Singing Duck ('25) – and include a number of silent comedies. This season we’re taking a look at some of the silents honored, while endeavoring to bring focus to other deserving comedies and performers that haven’t yet made the cut.
Sunday, March 11 at 2pm
Classic Comedy Shorts
Our opening program is a series of comedy shorts that have been deemed national treasures by the Registry, and we certainly second the motion. The classics getting the nod are Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant ('17), Fatty’s Tintype Tangle ('15) with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Laurel & Hardy’s well-known Big Business ('29) and the often over-looked Max Davidson in Pass the Gravy ('28).
Sunday, March 25 at 2pm
"The General" (1927)The General ('27) is not only Buster Keaton’s most highly praised and famous film, but was one of his own personal favorites. So accurate that it looks like Matthew Brady Civil War photographs come to life, Buster nevertheless made sure that the film is as funny as it is authentic. Extra-added attraction Cops ('22) has Buster on the lam from the entire Los Angeles police force.
Sunday, April 15 at 2pm
"The Son of the Sheik"
This week the clowns take a break, and a silent era idol steams up the screen. Rudolph Valentino became the romantic movie icon of the early 1920's, and set the standard of Latin lovers for the rest of the decade. Tragically dying at age 31, The Son of the Sheik ('26) was his last film and an ideal showcase for his screen chemistry. First on the bill is the experimental short film H20 ('29).
Sunday, April 22 at 2pm
"Wild and Woolly"
Before becoming the silent screen’s foremost swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks was a popular comedian. Breezy and fast-paced, his comedies spoofed conventions of the day. The registry-selected Wild and Woolly ('17) takes on the Horace Greeley ethos of “Go west, young man,” plus the already-set movie clichés of the Wild West. Opening the program for Doug is Edwin S. Porter's innovative early western The Great Train Robbery ('03).
Sunday, May 6 at 2pm
Nominate: Lupino Lane!
Forgotten clown Lupino Lane was a huge star of the stage and screen, in addition to being one of the greatest acrobats ever captured on film. None of his action-packed comedies, full of funny gags and eye-popping stunts, has made the registry’s list yet, but here’s a chance to check him out and write in a nomination. Our L.L. sampler includes Maid in Morocco ('25), Who’s Afraid? (27), Hello Sailor ('27) and Good Night Nurse ('29).
Our fall/winter 2006 line-up:
Sunday, October 8 at 2pm
Cartoon Centennial
The first animated cartoon was released in 1906, and to celebrate this milestone we have a selection of early cartoon stars such as Koko the Clown in Koko's Earth Control ('28), Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Sick Cylinders ('28), and Felix the Cat in Two Lip Time ('26); plus a live re-creation of Windsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur ('14) vaudeville act. Rounding out the bill are the live-action cartoon-style antics of Ben Turpin in A Clever Dummy ('17) and It’s A Gift ('23) with Snub Pollard.
Sunday, October 22 at 2pm
"The Phantom of the Opera" (1925)
Our clowns take a break for this special Halloween program in which we present the original 1925 classic. Star Lon Chaney is remembered for his elaborate make-ups in horror roles such as this and The Hunchback of Notre Dame ('23). Known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces,” he played everything from legless gangsters to Chinese laundry men, with an intense dedication that made him the cinema’s first method actor. Score will be performed on theatre organ.
Monday, November 6 at 6:30pm*
"Love 'em and Leave 'em" (1926)
The legendary Louise Brooks has her own centennial on Nov. 14th, and to mark the occasion we present her 1926 comedy Love 'Em and Leave 'Em. Made at Paramount's Astoria Studio (today the Kaufman-Astoria Studio), Louise plays a girl who “innocently” gets ahead by dating influential men, including her own sister’s boyfriend. Also in the cast are Evelyn Brent, Lawrence Gray and Anthony Perkins' dad Osgood.
NOTE: this SCFS special event will be held at the Museum of the City of New York, located at Fifth Ave & 104th Street, NYC. Visit the MCNY website for further details. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for members.
Sunday, November 12 at 2pm
Forgotten Clowns Ride Again
This salute to some very funny comics who have gotten lost in the shuffle with the passage of time is headlined by neglected comedienne Fay Tincher in Ethel’s Roof Party ('14), and Don’t Tell Everything ('27) with Max Davidson and Spec O’Donnell. Also on the bill: Snub Pollard in Fully Insured ('23), Hop To It! ('25) with Bobby Ray and Oliver Hardy, Monty Collins in Three Tough Onions ('28) and Snooky’s Fresh Heir ('21) starring Snooky the human-zee.
Sunday, December 3 at 2pm
Buster's Stunning Stunts
The house façade falling on Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill Jr. ('28) is one of the most recognized and evocative images of silent comedy. But Buster’s films are filled with similarly amazing “how did he do that” moments that are as integral a part of his comedy as his famous deadpan. Special guest speaker Cliff Cronan, a stuntman and Keaton scholar, will talk about how Buster did what he did, showing clips and the classic shorts: Convict 13 and The Paleface.
Sunday, December 10 at 2pm
The Charming Charley Chase
Charley Chase was the matinee idol of the silent clowns, whose penchant for embarrassing situations made him the put upon everyman of the Hal Roach studio. After many years as one of the era’s most overlooked masters, he’s gotten some well-deserved attention due to some recent DVD releases. Our selections (most of which are not available on DVD) take Chase from his "Jimmy Jump" one-reelers through his peak period of two-reelers. The program: Hard Knocks ('24), Stolen Goods ('24), The Rat's Knuckles ('24), Looking For Sally ('25), Fluttering Hearts ('27), and Limousine Love ('28).
A Season of Buster Sunday, February 19 at 2pm
(with Keaton & Co.)
"The Cameraman" (1928)
Keaton’s first starring feature for MGM, THE CAMERAMAN ('28), finds him as a timid New York City tintype photographer who aspires to be a newsreel man. Partially shot on location in NYC, there’s great footage of 5th Avenue and Yankee Stadium. Buster also opens the show with BLUE BLAZES ('36), one of his talking Educational comedies that was made just across the river in Astoria, NY.
our screening of The Cameraman is a special program was held at:
The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Ave at 103rd St, NYC
for this program only: film program is free with museum admission – $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $15 for a family. All remaning programs in March and April are presented at the New-York Historical Society. Click on "theater/tkts" for details.
THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS WILL BE PRESENTED AT
THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY -- Central Park West at W. 77th Street
Sunday, March 12 at 2pm
"Three Ages"
THREE AGES (’23) was Keaton’s leap from shorts into feature films, and chronicles his misadventures in the Stone Age, Roman Era and modern day (well...1920's). Epoch-bending slapstick is explored further by Laurel & Hardy in FLYING ELEPHANTS ('28) and ROAMING ROMEO ('28) with Lupino Lane and Wallace Lupino.
Sunday, March 26 at 2pm
Buster Keaton and the "Comedy Grapevine"
Ideas never exist in a vacuum, particularly in the world of silent comedy. Gags, routines and whole plots turn up in myriad films, each one given a personal spin by the comic mind doing the re-using. This program affords the opportunity to take at look at some of Keaton’s similarities, and differences, with his contemporaries Billy Bevan, Snub Pollard, and Laurel & Hardy. We’ll compare COPS ('22) with BE REASONABLE ('21), THE GOAT ('21) to PUNCH THE CLOCK ('22), and ONE WEEK ('20) to THE FINISHING TOUCH ('28).
Sunday, April 9 at 2pm
"Go West"
In 1925 Keaton explored the wide open spaces in GO WEST where he endured starvation, gamblers and cattle stampedes, in addition to sharing the screen with his most photogenic and devoted leading lady – a cow named Brown Eyes. First on the bill is Buster’s mentor and best friend Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle in his wild west short FATTY AND MINNIE HEE-HAW ('14)
Sunday, April 30 at 2pm
Buster Keaton Through the Ages
Keaton was the hardest working of the classic film comedians. He certainly had the most eclectic career of them all and from his first film appearance in 1917, never stopped working till the day he died in 1966. This whirlwind tour through Buster's career features THE BALLOONATIC ('23), rarely-screened sound shorts such as ONE RUN ELMER ('36), later television work from the 50's and 60's, and concludes with his full color swan song, THE RAILRODDER ('65).
