Silent London

What is Il Cinema Ritrovato? A few years back at a Bologna dinner, an important person with far more right to speak on these matters than I have, announced that for them, Il Cinéma Ritrovato was not a festival, but a museum. They spoke eloquently, and sincerely, but honestly I think that is a nonsense. Il Cinema Ritrovato, which has just closed its largest ever, “XL” edition, at the age of 40, is…

Royals like to take international tours, don’t they? Now Queen Kelly has played Venice, Lyon, Sao Paulo and many, many cities in the US, the royal entourage is finally en route to the UK. Where better for the British premiere of Milestone’s stunning new restoration of Erich von Stroheim famously unfinished, notoriously excessive, beautiful and sleazy melodrama to play than the UK’s best archive…

“Tonight I want to welcome you to a showing of a naughty little number I made with my own money – $800,000 of it.” – Gloria Swanson introducing Queen Kelly in 1967 Silent cinema icon Gloria Swanson was born on this day in 1899. Today, 127 years later, is the publication day for my new book The Curse of Queen Kelly. The title of the book is taken from a phrase Swanson herself used for the…

Name: Queen Kelly Age: Somewhere from 92 to 96 years old. Or brand new, maybe? Appearance: Decadent visions of dissipated European royalty in palatial grandeur, and seedy expat iniquity in East Africa. Erich von Stroheim directed this film, so every frame bursts with expensive vices, exposed flesh, outlandish costumes, drifts of spring blossom or swags of velvet and the occasional splash of…

A short note from friend of Silent London, Maria Wyke, professor of Latin at University College London. A one-off screening of the rarely seen silent epic film Jone o Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (Jone or The Last Days of Pompeii, 1913, dir. Giovanni Enrico Vidali) will be held in the 500-seat Bloomsbury Theatre from 6 to 8.30 pm on Saturday 9 May 2026. Immerse yourself in the romance and menace…

People, I have been busy. Book news, and a cat picture, below… But first… has anyone here seen Queen Kelly? This is the legendary collaboration between Erich von Stroheim, Gloria Swanson and Joseph P. Kennedy: an epic film set in two continents, an illicit romance, a story of innocence and experience. Notoriously, the film was never completed. The cameras began turning in 1928, Stroheim was…

Would love to say that any delay in posting these results was merely a tactic to increase anticipation… but that would be a fib. Thanks so much to everyone who voted and congratulations to the winners of this year’s vote 1. Best orchestral silent film screening of 2025 Your winner:  Our Hospitality (Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone, 1923), with a score composed and conducted by Andrej…

Great news from the north, as Hippfest today launches the lineup for its 16th festival, taking place next month: five days of silent film, live music, workshops, talks and a chance to do the Charleston. All in the vintage splendour of the beautiful Bo’ness Hippodrome. You can read and explore the full lineup here, but here are a few of my highlights. Hope to see you there! Continue reading…

A belated Happy New Year to all Silent Londoners! This is just a short post to remind you to indulge in a little nostalgia. As is now more or less traditional, I have written my annual piece for the BFI looking back to the cinema of a century ago, choosing 10 great films from 1926 – I hope you enjoy my selection of centenarians. And in case you didn’t know, Tristan Ettleman’s comprehensive…

Just a little note to wish all the readers of Silent London happy holidays and great things for 2026. That’s from me and from Bebe Daniels, pictured emerging out of a chimney while playing Santa’s little helper during Christmas 1923. I expect to have some really fun things to announce soon, but they can wait until the new year. In the mean time, I wish you peace, love and full stockings for the…

Call me Hedda Hopper*, because I have been keeping this one under my hat for quite some time. Coming on 13 January and available to pre-order now, Focus on Louise Brooks (Flicker Alley) is the perfect way to start your 2026 with a bang, or a pair of bangs, as the case may be. It’s a mutlifaceted tribute to the most iconic silent star of all time! This gorgeous multiregion Blu-ray contains “a…

I awoke with good intentions but encountered even better conversations. And thus, my film viewing on this, the final day of the 44th Giornate del Cinema Muto, began at midday, with Koko the Clown. Which is a wonderful way to begin. This cartoon, Ko-Ko at the Circus (Dave Fleischer, 1926), with our inky friend squaring off against a giant, had me in stitches – which is how I ended the day too.…

I have been a little slow to start up some mornings. But one thing you can guarantee that I will get out of bed for is Victor Sjöström. Victor Sjöström’s 1912 debut film no less, banned outright in Sweden, but available for us lucky degenerates on the capacious Verdi screen, with a truly wonderful accompaniment by Stephen Horne. Variously known as The Cruelty of the World, The Gardener or The…

Feature films? What a concept. They don’t always seem to be the dominant form here at Pordenone. But this afternoon was an exception to that rule, with a triple-bill of four-to-six-reelers back to back. Welcome to a world of truly immersive narrative entertainment, It’s the future. Continue reading Le Giornate del Cinema Muto 2025: Pordenone Post No 6

It may seem that the Giornate is in its own bubble, a hundred years or more removed from the real world, wrapped up in the fashions and the fads of the past. But we’re still looking out at the world every day, and no matter how the text on screen tries to guide us, we bring our 21st-century interpretation to everything that passes in front of our eyes. Sometimes the challenge is to wind back the…

Last night I dreamt I went to East Lynne again… Ellen Wood is directing my subconscious now. I love this mini melodrama strand and I really enjoyed today’s instalment, which was the lavish 1925 Fox adaptation, East Lynne (Emmett Flynn), scripted by Lenore Coffee and starring Edmund Lowe as Carlyle and Alma Rubens as Lady Isabel – a very handsome pair and just right for this ill-starred…