Tigris
(Vincenzo Denizot, Italy 1913, 48 min., 35mm)
The Gangsters and the Girl
(Scott Sidney, US 1914, 21 min., 35mm)
Films depicting robbery, murder, and kidnapping were wildly popular in early cinema, to the point where social reformers decried the cinema as a breeding ground for moral depravity. At the same time, the urgency of crime stories and their often semi-documentary quality pushed cinema towards greater rhythmic pacing, scenic realism, and dramatic flair. These early films comprised one of James Card’s early lectures on silent films. In Tigris, Edoardo Davesnes plays three roles — criminal, victim, and detective — in this caper that will remind you of Fantômas. And in The Gangsters and the Girl, Molly (Betty Burbridge), a child of the slums, is mistakenly implicated in a shoplifting case. She falls in with a group of gangsters until a policeman (Charles Ray) goes undercover in the gang.
Live piano accompaniment by Philip Carli.
35mm Prints from the George Eastman Museum collection.
Upcoming Events in this Series
Film Screenings, Special Events | Metropolis (DCP)
Schweigen! | The Sight and Sound Club Director Fritz Lang’s prescient vision of an urban world in disarray has been digitally restored to its original premiere length. With this science fiction epic, Lang brought to the screen one of the most ambitious and iconic movies ever made.
Free To All, Film Screenings | Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (35mm) - Free to All!
Silent Tuesdays | Latin Cinematic Heritage The most expensive spectacle of its time, this film tells the familiar story of Judah Ben-Hur (matinee idol Ramon Novarro) in the early days of Christianity. His wealthy family is persecuted for their faith by the Romans, including Judah’s childhood friend Messala.
Film Screenings | The Soul of Youth (16mm, DCP)
Silent Tuesdays The same year they collaborated on the definitive silent version of Huckleberry Finn, director William Desmond Taylor, writer Julia Crawford Ivers, and star Lewis Sargent re-team for this social drama about welfare, politics, and familial love.