 |
The KSFF is underwritten by donations.
Please consider helping with your donation.
This program is subject to change. More details will be added as they are confirmed.
Friday, Feb. 28, 2020
@ White Concert Hall,
Jewell @ 17th St., Washburn University, Topeka, KS
FREE EVENT
Evening: 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Comedy Double Feature!
Overture by Marvin Faulwell, organ
Welcome & Introductions by Denise Morrison, Film Historian
Introduction of the Griffith project and short by Tracey Goessel
Short: A Smoked Husband (1908) with John Cumpson & Florence Lawrence
Considered the first in the “Mr. Jones” series (despite being called Mr. Bibbs), co-starring Mack Sennett and directed by D. W. Griffith. The bumbling husband, Jones, was a favorite character in the silent era, going back to early Edison films. You can also see elements of the character in future Sennett comedies.
— 7 min.
Accompanied by Jeff Rapsis, piano
 Introduction by Denise Morrison
Feature: Why Worry? (1922) with Harold Lloyd & Jobyna Ralston
Harold plays a hypochondriac who seeks rest in a tropical country; he fails to take note of the brewing revolution until it's almost too late! This short feature signifies the last collaboration of Lloyd with longtime producing partner Hal Roach and the first of five films with leading lady Jobyna Ralston.
— 53 min., on 16mm film
Accompanied by Marvin Faulwell, organ
— Break
Introduction by Denise Morrison
Short: Mr. Jones at the Ball (1908) with John Cumpson & Florence Lawrence.
One of the "Mr. Jones" series by D. W. Griffith; the fun includes the great Mack Sennett. Let's just say Mr. Jones gets himself into trouble with the wife—and others—without much difficulty. It often didn't matter where the film was set—Mr. Jones always managed to find trouble.
— 8 min.
Accompanied by Bill Beningfield, organ
 Introduction by Denise Morrison
Feature: Leap Year (1921-1924) with Roscoe Arbuckle
Presented in a 2005 restoration by Paul Gierucki, Leap Year was one of Roscoe's feature films made before the events of Labor Day weekend 1921 changed Arbuckle's life forever. The film was never released theatrically in the U.S. but did get a release in Europe in 1924. Roscoe plays a man lucky in love—too lucky.
— 56 min., on DVD
Accompanied by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Saturday - Feb. 29, 2020
Morning - 9 a.m. - Noon
@ White Concert Hall,
Jewell @ 17th St., Washburn University, Topeka, KS
FREE EVENT
Overture by Bill Beningfield, organ
Welcome & Introduction of Documentary by Bill Shaffer, President of KSFF, Inc.
Special Documentary — Morning Documentary (Sound Edition)
Come early and enjoy an overview of the role Hollywood played in Silent film history.
Introduction by Tracey Goessel
Short: The Adventures of Dollie (1908) with Glaldys Egan & Arthur V. Johnson
D.W. Griffith's film debut with American Mutoscope and Biograph Co. While we've shown this short at a previous festival, a new restoration project makes it look like a whole new film. Dollie's father has a run-in with a gypsy who takes his revenge by kidnapping her.
— 12 min.
Accompanied by Bill Beningfield, organ
Introduction by Tracey Goessel
Short: A Child's Impulse, (1910) with Mary Pickford & Charles West
A D.W. Griffith drama; when love takes a turn, a little girl helps things along. The ups and downs of true love are played out with an ensemble cast including future superstar Pickford, who spent a few years with Griffith's company. Originally only interested in films as something to do between stage shows, she eventually quit the stage for film—and the rest is history.
— 13 min.
Accompanied by Bill Beningfield, organ
 Introduction by Denise Morrison
Feature: Soul of the Beast (1923) with Madge Bellamy & Noah Beery
There's no way to describe this film other than you have to see it to believe it. It's set in the wilds of Canada where a plucky young orphan girl escapes a cruel circus owner with her best friend—who happens to be an elephant. The film has wicked villains (Beery's in it, so you know that's a given), a love story, and everything in between.
— 65 min., on 16mm film
Accompanied by Jeff Rapsis, piano, and Bob Keckeisen, percussion
--Lunch Break, Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon - 1:30 - 5:15 p.m.
@ White Concert Hall,
Jewell @ 17th St., Washburn University, Topeka, KS
FREE EVENT
Overture by Jeff Rapsis, piano
Welcome & Introductions by Denise Morrison, Film Historian
 Introduction by Denise Morrison
Feature: The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg (1927) with Ramon Navarro
This rousing film of romance and adventure is directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Novarro's leading lady is a young starlet in one of her first major roles, Norma Shearer. Jean Hersholt leads a great supporting cast. The Lubitsch touch is very visible in this one—don't miss it
— 100 min., on 16mm film
Accompanied by Jeff Rapsis, piano
—Break, includes book signing by guest Tracey Goessel (20 min.)
 Introduction by Denise Morrison
Feature: Underworld (1927) with Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook & George Bancroft
The great Josef von Sternberg's tale of gangsters, their molls, and their rivals. There's so many reasons to love this film: the visuals, the story by the great Ben Hecht, and the performances by Brent, Brook and Bancroft. See the movie that kickstarted the gangster film genre.
— 80 min., on 16mm film
Accompanied by Marvin Faulwell, organ, and Bob Keckeisen, percussion
5:15 p.m.: Dinner Break — Program resuming at 7:30 p.m.
--Dinner Break: Event is by Reservation only.
Contact us & reserve. Special guest is Tracey Goessel. She will speak about Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
Special Dinner Event—
Our Twelvth Annual
CINEMA-DINNER, 5:15-7:00 p.m.
Price is $40/per ticket. Meal is buffet-style. Menu TBA
Those interested in attending can make reservations by mail:
KSFF Cinema-Dinner
P.O. Box 2032
Topeka, Kansas 66601-2032
Special Dinner Event, Our Twelvth Annual
CINEMA-DINNER,
Seating begins @
5:15 p.m.
Dinner: 5:15-7:00 p.m.
Tracey Goessel will speak on "The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks"
— This event is by reservation only. Dinner is $40. —
Tickets to this not-to-be-missed event are available for purchase by mail. The non-refundable price for the Cinema-Dinner is $40 per ticket, payable to Kansas Silent Film Festival. Mail your ticket request to:
KSFF Cinema-Dinner
P.O. Box 2032
Topeka, Kansas 66604-2032.
— Event is by reservation only — |
Evening - 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
@ White Concert Hall,
Jewell @ 17th St., Washburn University, Topeka, KS
FREE EVENT
Overture by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Welcome & Introductions by Denise Morrison, Film Historian
Introduction by Denise Morrison
Short: The Rivals (1923) with Slim Summerville, Bobby Dunn & Esther Ralston
Duo Summerville and Dunn both love the same girl; their rivalry makes for some very funny scenes. This rare showing is a special loan from the Library of Congress.
— 11 min., on Blu-ray
Accompanied by Jeff Rapsis, piano
 Introduction by Denise Morrison
Short: We Faw Down (1928) with Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy
The boys really want to play poker so they sneak out on their wives and…well, you can figure out the rest, can't you? Vivian Oakland and Bess Flowers play the disgruntled wives.
— 20 min., on 16mm film/special print
Accompanied by Marvin Faulwell, organ, and Bob Keckeisen, percussion
 Introduction by Tracey Goessel
Feature: Robin Hood (1922) with Douglas Fairbanks
If you want to know where swashbuckling started look no further. The original classic of literature gets the big silent film treatment from one of the greats. By the end you'll be saying "Errol who?" Co-starring Wallace Beery, Enid Bennett and Sam de Grasse plus an early role for Alan Hale (who ended up in the glossy Warner Bros version in the 1930s).
— 133 min., plus short intermission
Accompanied by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Our Cast:
About Tracey Goessel
 Tracey Goessel is President of the Los Angeles-based Film Preservation Society, a 501(C)3 dedicated to preservation and restoration of silent films. Completed projects include Douglas Fairbanks’ Mr. Fixit, The Half Breed, & The Good Bad Man. Current restoration projects include Double Trouble (Fairbanks), Too Many Kisses (Richard Dix) and The Biograph Project, in which all 465 D.W. Griffith Biograph films made between 1908 and 1913 are being preserved and restored.
Multiple spinal surgeries compelled Dr. Goessel to leave her post in the section of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and she currently is CEO of FairCode Associates, a physician-based DRG audit firm.
Her biography of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. – The First King of Hollywood was published in 2015. It is currently the subject of a documentary under production by Cavalier Films.
About The Mont
Alto Motion Picture Orchestra:
 The Mont
Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, lead by pianist Rodney Sauer, is based in Louisville, Colorado and has appeared at this festival many times since the third event, held in 1999. The orchestra consists of piano, violin, cello, clarinet, and trumpet. They are quite active in their hometown and nationally. Mont Alto has acquired one of the largest collections of historic "photoplay music" in current use, and has used it to score over 120 silent films. They have toured across America from California to New York, and have scored all of Buster Keaton's silent features for the Buster Keaton Celebration in Iola, Kansas since first appearing there in 1998. They have produced three CDs of salon music and silent film music, and have recorded scores to over thirty silent films for video release and screenings on Turner Classic Movies, including True Heart Susie (1919), Sherlock Jr. (1924), and The Thief of Bagdad (1924).
About Denise Morrison:
 Denise
Morrison is a film historian from Kansas City, Missouri, with a special focus on silent film. She is Director of Collections & Curatorial Services with the Kansas City Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, and has been involved with the Kansas Silent Film Festival since the beginning. She was quite active with the Granada Theatre in Kansas City, Kansas, when they were showing a full schedule of silent movies. Denise will give an overview of the silent film era and also provide introductions to each film.
About Marvin Faulwell:
 Marvin Faulwell is a very accomplished theatre organist. He has played for all previous Kansas Silent Film Festivals and our "sister project," Silents in the Cathedral, held at Grace Cathedral in Topeka. He has appeared in concert and accompanied silent film programs in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Minnesota. He also accompanied many silent films shown at the Granada Theatre in Kansas City, Kansas.
About Jeff Rapsis:
 Jeff Rapsis is a New Hampshire-based composer and musician who accompanies silent film programs. He appears regularly at venues including the Harvard Film Archive, the Library of Congress, and the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. Jeff is associate publisher and co-owner of HippoPress, New Hampshire's largest newspaper, and teaches communications at the University of New Hampshire. He has attended every Kansas Silent Film Festival since 2000! Visit www.jeffrapsis.com.
About Bob Keckeisen:
 Bob Keckeisen has been principal percussionist for the Topeka Symphony Orchestra since 1989. He delights audiences at the Kansas Silent Film Festival and Silents at the Cathedral by adding remarkable percussive music and sound effects to films. Bob grew up in Wichita and studied percussion under J.C. Combs at Wichita State University. He obtained both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from WSU and moved to Topeka in 1982. Bob recently retired as director of the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, but remains assistant director of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, and frequently volunteers for KTWU Channel 11.
About Dr. Bill Beningfield:
 Dr. Bill Beningfield is a retired engineering director who spent his working career designing and supporting radio and radar products for commercial aircraft. After engineering during the daytime, he moonlighted as a flight instructor, aviation ground instructor, and professor of economics. He started playing the piano over 70 years ago and has been playing the organ for nearly 50 years. In 2006, he won first place in the American Theater Organ Society's competition for non-professional organists.
Kansas Silent Film Festival, Inc. is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. This event is funded by generous donations, and welcomes your support. Your tax deductible gift will be gratefully acknowledged.
Kansas Silent Film Festival, Inc.
P.O. Box 2032
Topeka, Kansas 66601-2032
E-mail contact - bill.shaffer@washburn.edu
All donations are appreciated.
|
| |
