The Siren at the AFI Silver
Part one of a rundown on summer activities
Hello, and happy summer! The Siren is here to tell you about a few things that are happening over the warm-weather months. This is Part One — there is more coming!
Are you in the Washington D.C. area? Then please consider coming to the AFI Silver Classic Film Weekend, running June 13 to 16 at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Springs, Maryland. The theme is “Pre-Code: Sex and Censorship,” co-curated by author, archivist, and film historian David Pierce. The complete schedule is right here and a pass to the full weekend can be purchased here.
There will be guests introducing each film, including film historians Richard Koszarski, Steven C. Smith, Katie Gee Salisbury, and Friend of the Blog (and many restorations) David Stenn. David’s introductions will include the recently restored Man, Woman and Sin with glorious Jeanne Eagels, and Clara Bow’s swan song, Hoop-La, on a double bill with the newly rediscovered The Pill Pounder, in case you didn’t get a chance to see it in San Francisco.
The Siren will be there all weekend to introduce a number of different films. Here they are, with dates and times:
SHE DONE HIM WRONG (Lowell Sherman, 1933)
Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 4:15 PM
What a great one to start with, huh? Mae West’s first starring vehicle at Paramount, adopted from her own play, Diamond Lil. And if Mae’s rendition of “I Wonder Where My Easy Rider’s Gone” isn’t the epitome of pre-Code, I dunno what is.
FANFARE D'AMOUR (Richard Pottier, 1935)
Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 09:10 PM
Stop me if you’ve heard this one … two out of work male musicians learn of one sweet-sounding gig that would pay handsomely and take them both to a beautiful resort town. The catch? It’s an all-woman orchestra. No matter, they grab the lipstick, the dresses and the stockings and audition anyway. Does that sound like Billy Wilder’s SOME LIKE IT HOT? Well, it’s not, it’s Richard Pottier’s Fanfare d’Amour from fully 25 years earlier—both films cite story by Robert Thoeren. Come see a movie that inspired the great Wilder!
Friday, June 14, 2024 at 3:30 PM
This one starts with the Siren’s doing a Q&A with the festival’s co-curator, the great film historian and preservationist David Pierce, about “Women in Pre-Code Films.” There will be plenty to say about that topic, you can imagine. The discussion and the intro to the film will last about 45 minutes, and then the Siren will have the pleasure of introducing this fantastic early talkie, a Siren favorite, with its astounding camerawork from director Tay Garnett and cinematographer Edward Snyder. The cast is wonderful — this movie could change your mind about Philips Holmes.
LADIES MUST LOVE in 35mm (E.A. Dupont, 1933)
Saturday, June 15, 2024 at 3:45 pm
One of the rarest films in a program full of them, this is a cynical “three girls” comedy about Broadway babies Sally O’Neil, Dorothy Burgess, and Mary Carlisle, who reel an unwitting June Knight into their plan for Easy Living Ever After. Helmed by the fascinating German director E.A. Dupont, who also gave us Piccadilly and Variety, this should be a treat for all those who, like the Siren, love wisecracking showgirls.
CHRISTOPHER BEAN aka HER SWEETHEART in 35mm (Sam Wood, 1934)
Sunday, June 16, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Haul yourself out of bed for this one, because it’s a chance you may not get again for a while. The Siren is thrilled to be introducing a movie she’s never seen: the fabulous Marie Dressler's last film, which got good reviews and posted solid box-office, but has been screened publicly just once to my knowledge in the past 30 years. Maybe twice? In any event, pounce. The Siren mentioned her inability to see Christopher Bean when she did an episode on Marie Dressler for Karina Longworth’s great podcast, You Must Remember This. There’s an interesting discussion over at Nitrateville. Aside to Bruce Calvert: the Siren will try to discuss the rights, but can’t make guarantees, because she doesn’t understand them any more than anyone else seems to.
ALRAUNE aka A DAUGHTER OF DESTINY (Henrik Galeen, 1928)
Sunday, June 16, 2024 at 3:45 PM
The Siren wrote this essay for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s 2023 screening of Alraune, which stars the magnetic Brigitte Helm as a monster who, in the way of such creators, becomes more sympathetic than her ostensibly human creator. A must for those who love Weimar film.
HOT SATURDAY in 35mm (William A. Seiter, 1932)
Sunday, June 16, 2024 at 7:15 PM
Closing out the Siren’s contributions is this wonderful movie about small-town hypocrisy, directed by William A. Seiter, who is a favorite of the Mighty Dave Kehr. Watch Nancy Carroll torn between Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, and shake your head all over again at how Carroll’s career stalled out just a few years later.
Unfortunately, the Siren won’t be making it to Il Cinema Ritrovato at Bologna this year…
…but there are other things coming up. Watch this space!
This might be off-topic but I was recently reading a book entitled “the science of reading” and to my surprise Gloria Swanson name came up. Supposedly in the 1930s she was quite the businesswoman and invested in the most cutting edge technology of the day. Who knew?
What an amazing lineup! I'm very curious about the ones I haven't seen (most of them). The people who can attend will be lucky to have you there. Have fun!!