SILENCE!
SILENT FILMS SELECTED BY TERRENCE MALICK
Sept. 17 | 7pm | Alamo Drafthouse Downtown
Austin Film Society and Cinematexas present a program of films selected by Terrence Malick.
Sherlock Junior (1924, 45 minutes)Directed by Buster Keaton. Starring Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Ward Crane and Joseph Keaton
Sherlock Junior captures that wonderful sad tension between reality and cinema. Between the person we want to become and the person we actually are. Sherlock Junior is a film about film–not filmmaking, but film appreciation. Keaton plays a film projectionist who falls asleep one day and daydreams of being the great detective, Sherlock Junior. Keaton literally walks into the screen (the similarities between Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo and Sherlock Junior, are unquestionable) and becomes the great detective. Keaton illuminates this tension between reality and cinema, but also transcends it. Does reality ever imitate the cinema? Perhaps for Keaton...only in moments. Back to the triumphant mundane. A must see!
The Battle of the Century (1927, 15 minutes)
Directed by Clyde A. Bruckman and Hal Roach. Supervised by Leo McCarey. Photographed by George Stevens. Story by Hal Roach and Stan Laurel. Starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
This film is comprised of hands down the greatest, most astonishingly brilliant, over the top, ridiculously crazy pie fight in the history of cinema. The talent involved with this little piece is extraordinary! The gag was supervised by the gifted comedy director of the 30s and 40s, Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth, My Son John) and photographed by the great director of the 40s and 50s, George Stevens (Shane, Giant, A Place in the Sun). I’ve read that the pies in this film are real fruit pies with lots of whip cream. I assume to soften the blows.
The Immigrant (1917, 20 minutes)
Directed by Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance and Eric Campbell
However sentimental Chaplin’s work can be, the emotional power and social relevance of his films is undeniable. Decades later, Chaplin’s films still leave audiences laughing and crying. My grandfather saw The Immigrant at the time of its release. Growing up not having a critical interest in cinema just yet he would periodically reference this Charlie Chaplin film. He would say in severely broken English, “the tramp… coming to America… I love this film.” This was all I really had to go on. Years later I found the film on video and we watched it together. I never saw a man so old cry and laugh so hard. This is the power of Chaplin!
Pool Sharks (1915, 10 minutes)
Directed by Edward Middleton. Written by and starring W.C. Fields
W.C. Fields’ very first film! An extremely rare glimpse into the Fields persona, minus the use of his smug lip. Pool Sharks was born out of a very famous vaudeville billiards routine that Fields became known for. When I was a kid my dad took me to a place W.C. Fields used to eat and drink at, I think it was called Smith and Wolensky’s. I never had a huge appetite for W.C Fields, that is, until I tasted the beer and saw a picture of Mae West on the wall.
*all films will feature live musical accompaniment
Special thanks to the Douris Corporation and Kino International
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