"Live" on Fri., Oct. 25, 2024
27th Annual
Silents in the Cathedral
This free event is sponsored by
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
with the cooperation of
Kansas Silent Film Festival, Inc.
Grace Cathedral, 701 SW 8th St., Topeka, KS
Doors open @ 6:30 PM | Start Time: 7 PM

Music by
Dr. Marvin Faulwell, playing the Cathedral organ
with Bob Keckeisen, Percussion
Together Marvin & Bob will be playing a dazzling "live" music score for these featured movies, featuring use of the cathedral's organ.

Introductions by
Denise Morrison, Film Historian

Short Subjects:

GEORGES MÉLIÈS SHORTS (1897-1904):
Three variations on a theme for the pioneering French magician turned filmmaker.
THE BEWITCHED INN (1897)
THE INN WHERE NO MAN RESTS (1903)
THE BEWITCHED TRUNK (1904)
These shorts show off the director’s fun using trick photography, a skill he discovered by accident. He puts the stunts to good use in these three films about crazy goings-on in different inns. – 10 min.

FELIX SWITCHES WITCHES (1927) –
Further adventures with the magical Felix the Cat in a brief, but a scary animated cartoon - 7 minutes

FAST FREIGHT (1929) –
Few movie fans realize that the first 88 short film entries in the Our Gang series were Silent Films! This is one of the last ones. Allen ‘Farina’ Hoskins hops off of a freight train to introduce himself to the gang, who promptly follow him in his railroad adventures. Stopping off somewhere in California as it gets dark, the pint-sized group find themselves in a spooky forest and eventually in a very haunted house! Supporting gang members include Mary Ann Jackson (Dorothy), Joe Cobb, Harry Spear, Bobby Hutchins (Wheezer) and Pete the dog. 20 min.

DO DETECTIVES THINK? (1927) –
Laurel and Hardy in one of the most popular shorts ever shown at the Cathedral, now in a newly-restored version.. Stan and Ollie are the detectives sent to the home of Judge Jimmy Finlayson to protect him from the man he put on death row (Noah Young). The gorgeous Viola Richard plays the frightened Judge’s wife. 24 min.

There will be a brief intermission between the shorts and the feature presentation.

Feature:

WAXWORKS (1924) –
Starring Emil Jannings / Conrad Veidt / Werner Krauss / Wilhem Dieterle
Directed by Paul Leni – 81 minutes, Color tinted and toned This is a bizarre tale of a writer hired to provide back-stories for three different wax figures in a creepy wax museum. Rarely seen, this 1924 feature is in many ways the perfect showcase for the German expressionist movement.
Director is Paul Leni (whose later films made in America - THE CAT AND THE CANARY, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS and THE LAST WARNING) - have all been shown previously at ‘Silents in the Cathedral’ events).

This story involves an idealistic young poet who is hired to write back stories for the Chamber of Horrors’ most notorious wax figures: Haroun El-Raschid (played by a jovial Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (played by a seriously creepy Conrad Veidt) and Jack the Ripper (played by the doctor from THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, Werner Krauss). But as these uncanny tales flow from the poet’s pen, he finds himself a pawn in the nightmare worlds of his own creations. The film is laid out like a trilogy with each story fully envisioned.

One of the innovative stylists of the German Silent cinema, Paul Leni applied a variety of visual techniques to this ambitious anthology film, drawing from his years as a set designer. From the fairy tale Arabia of the Al-Rashid story to the dark and oppressive kingdom of Ivan the Terrible to the whirling lights and sword-like shadows of the carnival through which Jack the Ripper stalks the poet and his lady friend, Leni managed to raise the techniques of German Expressionism to new heights.

Get ready for WAXWORKS, celebrating its
100th anniversary during 2024!