In silent film, no one can hear you scream
In silent film, no one can hear you scream. Only in Los Angeles can film fans indulge every possible niche of cinema. This month, nine of the best horror classics from the silent era are screening all over the city in a variety of novel ways. Some feature lavish orchestral scores; some are reimagined with 21st-century music and others are presented with piano accompaniment added in later years.
From our grandest concert hall and Art Deco theaters to neighborhood parks and public library auditoriums, the most terrifying and stylish images committed to film a century ago will unspool in Southern California throughout October.
Conrad Veidt in The Cabinet of Dr. CaligariCredit: Public domain photo/wikipedia
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Described as the quintessential work of early German Expressionist cinema, the highly stylized and influential film is presented with a live musical score by Cliff Retallick at the New Beverly Cinema.
October 25 at the New Beverly Cinema
October 27 at Brain Dead Cinema
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
You’ve probably seen the 1930s version, but the silent original with John Barrymore as the kind doctor with the split personality is extra terrifying. Accompanied on the organ at the Walt Disney Concert Hall by Clark Wilson.
October 31 at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Faust (1926)
This ‘deal with the devil’ story is the show that the characters in Phantom of the Opera are watching in that film. Go meta and see them both. Host Rich Procter will introduce the film and share the artistic legacy of director F.W. Murnau
November 13 at the Sierra Madre Playhouse
Häxan (1922)
Danish for “Witch,” Häxan unfolds as a cross between a narrative and a documentary, exploring the history of witchcraft. It screens with live piano accompaniment as part of the Silent Horror Fest at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills.
October 23 at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills
Conrad Veidt in The Man Who LaughsCredit: Public domain/wikipedia
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Are Conrad Veidt’s acting and makeup enough to make a romantic drama into a horror? Film critic Roger Ebert called it “A melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film.”
October 24 at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills
Nosferatu (1922)
An icon of German Expressionism, and a creepy vampire story directed by F.W. Murnau, will be accompanied by the Jack Curtis Dubowsky orchestra at the Art in Long Beach and at the Gardena Cinema.
October 21 at the Beverly Hills Public Library
October 24 at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills
October 29 at the Gardena Cinema
October 31 at the Art Theater in Long Beach
Nosferatu (1922)Credit: Public domain/wikipedia
A Page of Madness (1926)
This formerly lost silent horror from Japan takes place in a mental institution with a delusional janitor.
October 18 at the Gardena Cinema
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
The Swedish silent about a drunk who meets a ghost on New Year’s Eve, noted for its early special effects, is a free screening at the public library.
October 16 at the South Pasadena Public Library
Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Lon Chaney’s big reveal as the tormented organ player has become perhaps the most iconic image of the whole silent era. Experience the film with Robert York on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ, a spooky singalong before the show, and an introduction by silent film historian Stan Taffel.
October 22 at the La Mirada Theatre
October 24 at William S. Hart Park in Santa Clarita