| THE MAN OF 1,000 FACES: LON CHANEY / Silent Wednesdays in October at 8pm |
 Through a mixture of makeup craftsmanship, physical endurance and skilled pantomime, Lon Chaney, Sr. shocked and horrified silent audiences with an endless variety of magical transformations that earned him the nickname "The Man Of 1,000 Faces". Not one to merely wear masks or gain/lose a couple pounds, Chaney embraced roles that called for him to undergo massive and sometimes painful alterations, from contact lenses that ruined his eyesight, to contorting costumes that permanently damaged his spine. His performances weren't mere stunts--through the sensitivity of his portrayals and his careful manipulations of audience pathos, Chaney was able to lend his monsters to what Eugene O'Neill called "the transfiguring nobility of tragedy...[in] seemingly the most ignoble, debased lives". As moving as they are frightful, Chaney has left a legacy of horror films that set the bar for everything monsters can, and should, be.
10/1 @ 8pm / SERIES: the man of 1,000 faces: lon chaney
 He Who Gets Slapped
Chaney was terrific at playing the hopeless and tortured, because each time he managed to bring out their noblest intentions of self-sacrifice and instantly endear them to audiences. In He Who Gets Slapped, based on a highly-regarded Russian play, he took this notion a step further by playing a circus clown with the simple moniker HE, whose specialty is getting repeatedly slapped in the face, giving joy to audiences unaware of his pain. Before his circus life, HE was Paul Beaumont, a brilliant scientist whose rich patron stole his wife, and in retreat, he became HE--but fate deals him yet another turn as Beaumont's ex-benefactor comes back to steal the woman HE now pines after: the circus's bareback rider (Norma Shearer). A classic romantic plot with a macabre undercurrent, the film contains one of Chaney's finest performances, and is wonderfully served by "the father of Swedish cinema", master director Victor Sjöstrom (The Wind).
Dir. Victor Sjöstrom, 1924, 35mm, 71 min.
Tickets - $10
10/8 @ 8pm / SERIES: the man of 1,000 faces: lon chaney
 The Unholy Three
Whereas Tod Browning's The Unknown was all about Chaney seeking refuge within the confines of the circus, The Unholy Three gives us a Chaney that wants out. In a loopy yet highly entertaining plot, ventriloquist Echo (Chaney), hungry for cash, leads a midget (Harry Earles) and a strongman (Victor McLaglen) in a serial robbery scheme involving selling parrots through a pet store front. When unsuspecting customers buy a bird, Echo (disguised as a grandmother!) uses his skills to throw its voice; when the bird doesn't talk in the customer's home, the Unholy Three arrive to refund the customer--and to case their house. In addition to the usual stellar turn by Chaney in yet another outrageous guise, Earles is particularly unsettling in the role of an adult posing as a baby in a carriage. This very successful picture was remade five years later, as Chaney's only talkie before his death in 1930.
Dir. Tod Browning, 1925, 35mm, 86 min.
Tickets - $10
10/15 @ 8pm / SERIES: the man of 1,000 faces: lon chaney
 The Unknown
Before macabre master Tod Browning turned in his masterpiece Freaks, he crafted another moody circus piece. The Unknown stars Chaney as a supposedly armless talent with a bravura knife-throwing act in which he uses only his feet! On the lam from the law, he bides his time in Zanzi's Circus, pretends not to have arms in order to hide his identity, and develops a serious crush on Nanon, Zanzi's daughter (Joan Crawford, in an early role). Nanon is a strange one, with a severe phobia of mens' hands, so things are looking up for Alonzo's romantic prospects. That is until he murders Zanzi in a rage, and, to throw off suspicion, bribes a doctor to amputate his arms for real. Through deftly-controlled pathos, Chaney manages to make his selfish, criminally-minded lead the object of our affection, right through to the film's startling, unpredictable finale.
Dir. Tod Browning, 1927, 35mm, 63 min.
Tickets - $10
10/22 @ 8pm / SERIES: the man of 1,000 faces: lon chaney
 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Even after Chaney became a name actor following the success of his 1919 film The Miracle Man, it took three years of lobbying before he managed to convince producer Irving Thalberg to get behind an adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel "Notre Dame De Paris". In Chaney's reimagined version, the novel's tragic side figure Quasimodo would become the star, and even after 85 years, his portrayal of the hunchback remains the definitive one. A shocking grotesquerie with impeccable character design by Chaney himself, the performance easily stands out amongst the grandeur of an epic production filled with lavish sets, gazillions of extras and sumptuous costumes. The now-familiar medieval story revolves around dancer Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) and her dalliances with different men, but it's Chaney's athletic, physically eloquent turn as the sympathetic hero that will keep you riveted.
Dir. Wallace Worsley, 1923, 16mm.
Tickets - $10
10/29 @ 8pm / SERIES: the man of 1,000 faces: lon chaney
The Phantom of the Opera
Even those who are intimately familiar with the story of The Phantom of The Opera will be awestruck by Lon Chaney's devastating portrayal of Erik, who sports The Man Of A Thousand Faces' most recognizable face. In one of the most physically tortured performances in all of silent film (made all the more impressive by makeup effects that included actually painting his eyeballs darker), a masked Chaney lurks in the shadows of the Paris Opera House while its new owners stage a production of "Faust". Rather than starring the diva Mme. Carlotta (Virginia Pearson), the Phantom demands that beautiful understudy Christine (Mary Philbin), whom the Phantom loves from afar, take the role, or else there will be grave consequences! The blend of Chaney's shocking visage, along with his emotive rendition of Erik's' tortured soul, made The Phantom the most iconic role of the actor's entire career.
Dir. Rupert Julian, 1925, 16mm, 92 min.
Tickets - $10
| HAROLD LLOYD / Silent Wednesdays in November at 8pm |
Description coming soon..
11/5 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD
 Saftey Last
The simple story of an everyman literally climbing the ladder of success, Saftey Last contains one of the most hilarious extended gags ever filmed. Lloyd plays a meager clerk given the opportunity to earn $1000 if he concocts a memorable publicity stunt for his department store. His idea: get his daredevil roommate to climb the store's exterior like a human fly. When the roommate runs afoul of the law, it's up to Lloyd to perform the feat. And perform it brilliantly he does; taking up the whole last third of the picture, Lloyd's ascent is a masterwork of comic tension, with the added bonus of the thrilling reality of Lloyd actually dangling off a very tall building. The image of Lloyd gripping the hands of its clock tower remains one of the most iconic American film images, but it's just one of the many terrific gags in this fast-paced feature.
Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923, 35mm, 73 min.
Tickets - $10
11/12 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD
 Why Worry?
shown with
A Sailor-Made Man
In Why Worry?, hypochondriac Lloyd arrives on a South American island vacation, to find himself caught up in the locals' political revolution, which at first, he doesn't even notice! Mistaken for a freedom fighter and jailed, he meets the giant Colosso, and together they plan an escape and an end to the island's violence. The film benefits from a breathtaking abundance of non-stop gags and the eye-catching presence of giant Johan Aasen as Lloyd's sidekick, a device not unlike Andre The Giant's turn in The Princess Bride. As well, Why Worry? marked the first appearance of Jobyna Ralston in a Lloyd film, who was to be his romantic foil in five subsequent features. Originally conceived as a simple two-reeler, an expanded A Sailor-Made Man became Lloyd's lavish first feature. Lloyd portrays a wealthy slacker who joins the Navy, and finds intrigue by the armful as he rescues his girl from the clutches of a Turkish harem.
Why Worry Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1923, 35mm, 63 min.
The Sailor-Made Man Dir. Fred. C. Newmeyer, 1921, 35mm, 47 min.
Tickets - $10
11/19 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD
 Girl Shy
Girl Shy highlights two of Lloyd's major strengths: the sweetness and warmth of his shy, sensitive persona--and the high energy of his elaborate trademark chase sequences, of which Girl Shy ranks as his greatest. Lloyd stars as a country fellow who's extremely nervous around women, yet has written a seduction self-help book! On his way by train to meet a publisher, he chats up Mary (Jobyna Ralston), who proves to be the girl of his dreams, but is on her way to marry a man who's totally wrong for her. After they meet up once more with her sleazy suitor in tow, Lloyd realizes he must save Mary from the mistake of her bad marriage. His ensuing madcap race to stop the wedding is a phenomenal avalanche of setpieces, a stream of vehicular chaos so crazed and masterfully handled that it will leave you breathless.
Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1924, 35mm, 80 min.
Tickets - $10
11/26 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD
 The Freshman
Widely regarded as Lloyd's masterpiece, The Freshman was hugely popular upon its 1920s release, and is also a scathing satire of what was then a pop culture fad: interest in the "college life". Skewering his usual "everyman" persona, Lloyd plays a middle-class kid obsessed not with career, but with becoming a Big Man On Campus, and once he's enrolled at Tate College, his inability to hit that mark is a expert mix of comedy and pathos. Eager to get recognition of any kind, Lloyd zeroes in on an impossible goal: to lead the school's football team to victory for its final big game. As usual, the film is worth seeing for its epic setpieces alone: a superbly choreographed number in which Lloyd's falling-apart cheap suit is constantly re-stitched by his stealthy tailor during a college dance, and the climactic football game, partially filmed at the Pasadena Rose Bowl.
Dirs. Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor, 1925, 35mm, 76 min.
Tickets - $10
11/26 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD
 For Heaven's Sake
shown with
The Kid Brother
Lloyd alternated between making character-driven and "thrill"-driven pictures, and For Heaven's Sake ranks as one of his best gags-for-gags'-sake films. Lloyd plays a wealthy man who funds a homeless mission, falls for a volunteer worker, is kidnapped by his rich friends offended by his breaching of class, and must escape their clutches to “make it to the church on time”. His ensuing escape on a double-decker bus remains one of Lloyd’s finest chase numbers. Next up is The Kid Brother, one of Lloyd's most visually elegant pictures. He plays the meek youngest son of a rural sheriff, whose family is accused of stealing town funds. The real culprits are layabouts employed by a traveling medicine show, and it's up to Lloyd to right their wrongs. This picture's fantastic epic chase takes place on a creaky grounded frieghter, as Lloyd and a simian(!) companion track down the heavies at a 45-degree angle.
For Heaven's Sake Dir. Sam Taylor, 1926, 35mm, 58 min.
The Kid Brother Dir. Ted Wilde, 1927, 35mm, 84 min.
Tickets - $10
12/10 @ 8pm / SERIES: HAROLD LLOYD
 Speedy
Lloyd's final silent film, Speedy, offers up humorous stakes laid on the struggle between the ol' horse-drawn trolley and the upcoming urban rail system--a clever metaphor for the transition from silents to talkies. Lloyd plays an underemployed baseball fanatic whose sweetie's grandfather is about to lose his trolley to evil rail kings. To save the business, Lloyd must keep the train running, no matter what, including interference from the rail thugs. Shot mostly on location in The Big Apple without the rear projection technique of later Hollywood car chases, Speedy's risky chase sequences feature a cab-driving Lloyd delivering Babe Ruth (in a cameo apperance) to Yankee Stadium, and a climactic gallop through the crowded streets of Manhattan. As well, the film offers a frenzied, impressive look at a bustling 1920s New York City and Coney Island, sneaked with the era's equivalent to "guerrilla filmmaking."
Dir. Ted Wilde, 1928, 35mm, 86 min.
Tickets - $10
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