Cinefest 2011, a four-day festival of rare American films, kicked off earlier today in Syracuse, NY. According to organizers, Cinefest features “great films … from the vaults of the world’s greatest libraries and obscure specialties we are noted for from private collectors!” [Cinefest 2011 schedule.]
Among the highlights at this year’s Cinefest are the East Coast premiere of the Museum of Modern Art’s restored print of the racy pre-Code Miriam Hopkins vehicle The Story of Temple Drake (1933), based on William Faulkner’s Sanctuary; the Dolores Costello vehicle Glorious Betsy (1928), which earned Anthony Coldeway an Academy Award nomination for Best Adaptation; and Norman Taurog’s The Phantom President (1932), a comedy musical starring Broadway legend George M. Cohan (James Cagney won an Oscar for playing him in Yankee Doodle Dandy), Claudette Colbert, and Jimmy Durante.
Also, Joe May’s Music in the Air (1934), which brought Gloria Swanson’s fifteen-year stardom to a halt; Jazzmania (1923), starring bee-stung-lipped Mae Murray and Rod La Rocque; The Great Barrier (1937), a B featuring a very young Lili Palmer; the early Bebe Daniels talkie Love Comes Along (1930); The Hushed Hour (1919), with popular silent film players Milton Sills and Blanche Sweet; and George Abbott’s Stolen Heaven (1931), starring Nancy Carroll and Phillips Holmes.
For more information, visit the Syracuse Cinephile Society.
Note: Titles subject to change without notice.
Thursday, March 17
9:00am – THE IDOL OF SEVILLE (1932) with Rene Denny
9:25am – FORGOTTEN COMMANDMENTS (1932) with Gene Raymond
10:50am – GLORIOUS BETSY (1928) with Dolores CostelloLUNCH BREAK
1:00pm – TRAILER MANIA 3 – "Through the Years With Columbia," Hosted by Ray Faiola
2:00pm – HAPPINESS (1917) with Enid Bennett
3:10pm – DENNY FROM IRELAND (1918) with Shorty Hamilton
3:55pm – WHAT PRICE GLORY? (1927) with Victor McLaglenDINNER BREAK
8:00pm – PANAMA, THE PECULIAR PRODIGY (1920’s) – Sunshine Cruises series.
8:10pm – AMERICA’S LITTLE LAMB – (1928) The World We Live In series
8:25pm – MUSIC IN THE AIR (1934) with Gloria Swanson
9:50pm – THE NEWLYWEDS’ PEST (1929) with Sunny Jim McKeen as "Snookums", Jack Egan, Derelys Perdue
Friday, March 18
9:00am – INFORMATION PLEASE (1941) with Boris Karloff
9:10am – HE WAS HER MAN (1931) with Gilda Gray
9:35am – THE BISCUIT EATER (1940) with Billy Lee, and Fred "Snowflake" Toones in a rare dramatic role
10:50am – STOLEN HEAVEN (1931) Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, Louis CalhernLUNCH BREAK
1:00pm – SILENT TRAILERS Read the program notes HERE
1:15pm – WESTWARD WHOA! (1922) Bert Roach. Read the program notes HERE
1:25pm – THE HUSHED HOUR (1919) with Milton Sills, Blanche Sweet
2:30pm – THE DEVIL’S LOTTERY (1932) with Victor McLaglen
3:40pm – THE WOLF SONG (1929) with Gary Cooper, Lupe Velez
5:00pm – ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1931) with Ruth GilbertDINNER BREAK
8:00pm – FOILED (1931) with William J. Burns. Read the program notes HERE
8:10pm – A SONG IN THE DARK (second edition) – "Songs and Stars of the Early Movie Musical," Hosted by Richard Barrios
9:45pm – SUNSHINE DAD (1916) with DeWolf Hopper, Fay Tincher, Max Davidson
11:00pm – LOVE COMES ALONG (1930) with Bebe Daniels
Saturday, March 19
The buses will begin to load from the front entrance of the Holiday Inn for the 35mm presentations at the Palace Theatre. Last bus leaves the Holiday Inn at 8 am. 7:45am – The buses will begin to load from the front entrance of the Holiday Inn for the 35mm presentations at the Palace Theater. Last bus leaves the Holiday Inn at 8 am.
35mm presentation at the Palace Theater includes
8:30am – INTRODUCTIONS
THE WOMAN AND THE PUPPET (1920) with Geraldine Farrar. Preservation by the Library of Congress, courtesy of UK/Ltd/The Rohauer Collection
THE MICHIGAN KID (1929) Excerpt. Read the program notes HERE.
BURGLAR BY PROXY (1919) with Jack Pickford, Gloria Hope
LONESOME (1928) with Barbara Kent, Glenn Tryon. Preservation by the George Eastman House, funded by the Packard humanities Institute and Universal Studios. Read the program notes HERE.LUNCH BREAK
THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE (1934) with Miriam Hopkins. Preservation by the Museum of Modern Art with support from Turner Classic Movies and the Celeste Barlos Film Preservation Fund. Read the program notes HERE.
TBA
JAZZMANIA (1923) with with Mae Murray, Rod LaRocque, Jean Hersholt. Preservation by the George Eastman House.(Films may not be presented in order shown above). The buses will leave after the presentations for the Holiday Inn, where the program resumes
DINNER BREAK
8:10pm Vitaphone Show presented by Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project. Titles include:
HARRY FOX AND HIS SIX AMERICAN BEAUTIES (1929) – with Harry Fox
CARLENA DIAMOND, HARPIST SUPREME (1929) – with Carlena Diamond
THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN (1928) – with Born & Lawrence
SHARPS AND FLATS (1928) – with Conlin & Glass8:55pm – POOR JAKE’S DEMISE (1913) with Lon Chaney
FLAMING YOUTH (excerpt) (1926) with Colleen Moore, Milton Sills
9:30pm – LESSONS IN LOVE (1921) with Constance Talmadge
10:45pm – Vitaphone Show II presented by Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project. Titles include:OKLAHOMA BOB ALBRIGHT AND HIS RODEO-DO FLAPPERS (1929) wit Oklahoma Bob Albright
MEL KLEE, THE PRINCE OF WAILS (1929) with Mel Klee
SHE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1930) with Tom Dugan, Dorothy Christie, George "Gabby" Hayes11:20pm I CAN’T ESCAPE (1934) with Onslow Stevens, Lila Lee
Sunday, March 20
9:00am – THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT (1932) with George M. Cohan
10:30am – THE AUCTION (2011) – hosted by Leonard Maltin and Lafe McKee JrLUNCH BREAK
12:00 noon – JUSTIN HERMAN SHORTS III – titles include:
NEIGHBORS IN THE NIGHT (1949) – Paramount Pacemaker
COUNTRY COP (1950) – Paramount Pacemaker
YOU’RE A TROOPER (1955) – Paramount Pacemaker12:35pm – KENTUCKY (1938) with Loretta Young
2:00pm – HARDY AS A HEAVY with Oliver Hardy. Titles include:THE FALL GUY (1922) with Larry Semon
NO MAN’S LAW (1925) 60 Minutes, with Oliver Hardy
3:30pm – THE GREAT BARRIER (1937) with Richard Arlen, Lily Palmer
Piano accompaniments by Ben Model, Sylvia Moscovitz, Andrew Simpson.