An integral part of Dryden Theatre programming, the silent film is presented as it was intended to be experienced, with live accompaniment. Twice a year the theater presents a months-long series dedicated to the first thirty-five years of cinema. This spring, that focus encompasses revered restorations, classic adventure tales, and Russian re-discoveries, highlights some of the period’s most influential artists, and celebrates the theater’s 75th anniversary with re-creations of some of its earliest programs. Both released in the mid-1920s, The Lost World and The Sea Beast demonstrate how the silent screen could get the audience’s heart racing. Our series dedicated to the museum’s growing roster of George Eastman Award honorees highlights Gloria Swanson and King Vidor. Rarely seen, the films of director Boris Barnet come to the Dryden, and our 75th anniversary celebration continues with re-creations of original director James Card’s educational lectures on the beginnings of silent film. As a special treat, renowned composer and pianist Makia Matsumura makes her long-awaited return to the Dryden to accompany Stage Struck (March 24). All other accompaniment is provided by house musician Philip Carli.
Dates and Titles:
February 24: The Lost World (Harry O. Hoyt, US 1925, 110 min., 35mm)
March 10: The Sea Beast (Millard Webb, US 1926, 136 min., 16mm)
March 13: Nana (Jean Renoir, France 1926, 115 min., 35mm)
March 14 (11 a.m.): Short Silent Comedies
March 17: James Card Program #1: The Pioneers
March 24: Stage Struck (Allan Dwan, US 1925, 70 min., 35mm)
March 31: James Card Program #2: Development of the Narrative
April 7: Happiness (King Vidor, US 1924, 76 min., 35mm)
April 14: James Card Program #3: The Development of Comedy
April 21: The Girl with the Hat Box (Boris Barnet, Soviet Union 1927, 66 min., 35mm)
April 28: James Card Program #4: From Narrative to Drama
May 5: The House on Trubnaya (Dom na Trubnoy, Boris Barnet, USSR 1928, 64 min., 35mm)
May 12: James Card Program #5: Enlarged Vistas: Film Spectacle
May 19: Steichen and the Garden
Events in this Series
James Card Program #5: Enlarged Vistas: Film Spectacle (35mm/16mm)
James Card's First Programs | Silent Spring While natural light provided the best illumination for early motion picture stock, and Edison constructed his Black Maria studio to take advantage of this, filmmakers soon decided that the constraints of shooting on sets limited the types of stories they could tell, so some decided to move their crews outdoors.
James Card Program #4: From Narrative to Drama (16mm)
James Card's First Programs While stringing together multiple scenes allowed filmmakers to tell more dense and involving stories, there were a few directors in the second decade of cinema who reached beyond to create tension within their films, otherwise known as drama.
The Girl With the Hat Box (35mm)
Silent Spring Lost in the better-remembered post-revolutionary cinema of the USSR, director Boris Barnet is perhaps the ideal representation of the populist cinema of the country at that time.
Happiness (35mm)
Silent Spring | George Award Winners: King Vidor Based on a Broadway play of the same name written by J. Hartley Manners, Happiness tells the story of the sunny dispositioned Jenny, a Brooklyn errand girl who is persuaded to move in with the young and wealthy Mrs. Chrystal Pole.
James Card Program #2: Development of the Narrative (35mm, 16mm)
James Card’s First Programs | Silent Spring Beyond the actualities and trick films of cinema’s early days, the medium needed to develop and expand to tell increasingly complex stories. This required larger casts, multiple sets, and, most importantly, clear editing in order to tell a story that spanned multiple scenes.