| Silent Movie Mondays return to the Uptown
PREVIEW
Silent Movie Mondays
February 4 to 25
Uptown Screen
Organist Dennis James returns to Calgary this February to brighten the lives of movie lovers with his historically accurate presentations of silent film classics.
James, a film revivalist, strives to bring film history to life by providing musical accompaniment to underappreciated movies from the silent era. It’s one thing just to see pristine prints of films like Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) in a theatre, but it's a real spectacle to witness them accompanied by live music, as they would have been when they were first exhibited so many years ago.
Last year, James’s performances resulted in sold-out shows at the Uptown Screen, the host venue, and this year’s program will no doubt be packing them in again.
Another Keaton masterpiece, The Navigator (1924), kicks off the series on February 4, with more of the patented deadpan slapstick that made Old Stoneface famous. The Navigator is about a young suitor (Keaton) set adrift on an ocean liner with the woman of his dreams – who, of course, wants nothing to do with him. Keaton milks this scenario for big laughs, and some of the most impressive visual set pieces of his career.
The Navigator will be followed by screenings of La Boheme (1926), starring Lillian Gish, on February 11; Sparrows (1926), starring Mary Pickford, on February 18; and Wings (1927), starring Clara Bow, on February 25. It’s an excellent opportunity to become acquainted, or re-acquainted, with the biggest stars of the silver screen – and with the musician who ensures that their legacy never dies. |
