Joanne O'Connor 

Get in the Oscars spirit at silent film screenings across Britain

The Artist is expected to sweep the boards at the Oscars on Sunday, but you don't have to travel to LA to indulge in cinematic nostalgia, says Joanne O'Connor
  
  

Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton in The General. Photograph: ITV/Rex Features Photograph: ITV/Rex Features

Capturing the glamour and innocence of Hollywood in the 1920s, The Artist is expected to sweep the board at Sunday's Academy Awards. Michel Hazanavicius's ode to the "golden era" of silent movies has already been credited with sparking a revival in the art form, with arthouse cinemas and film festival organisers reflecting the renewed interest in their programmes.

Perhaps the most famous venue for reliving the "pre-Talkies" era is Hollywood's Silent Movie Theatre (cinefamily.org), where the glory days of silver screen legends such as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Buster Keaton are revived at special weekly performances. But you don't have to travel to LA to indulge in cinematic nostalgia. In London, the Barbican, the BFI and the Prince Charles Cinema have regular silent film screenings but a more authentic experience can be found in one of Britain's original picture houses, such as the Harwich Electric Palace Cinema (electricpalace.com/index.php?topic=specials), which still boasts its original 1911 screen and shows occasional silent classics with live music.

At the Black Country Living Museum (bclm.co.uk/cinema.htm) in Dudley, you can sit on a wooden bench and watch old movies in the 1920s Limelight Cinema. In Scotland, the Hippodrome near Falkirk (falkirk.gov.uk/hippodrome) will celebrate its centenary with a Festival of Silent Cinema (16–18 March). Highlights include a triple bill of Laurel and Hardy shorts and a combat choreography and stunt workshop where participants can learn the swashbuckling skills of Douglas Fairbanks in The Black Pirate.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*