21 September 2023
Taste of Silents
HippFest has launched its latest Taste of Silents season at Scotland’s oldest cinema – the Hippodrome in Bo’ness - where HippFest (Hippodrome Silent Film Festival) takes place each year. This exciting short season of three feature films, will run every two weeks from Saturday September 23 – to Friday October 20th
If you’re silent-cinema-curious and want to dip a toe into this rich and immersive world of silent film, now’s your chance…
HippFest has launched its latest Taste of Silents season at Scotland’s oldest cinema – the Hippodrome in Bo’ness - where HippFest (Hippodrome Silent Film Festival) takes place each year. This exciting short season of three feature films, will run every two weeks from Saturday September 23 – to Friday October 20th.
Any opportunity to settle in at Hippodrome is always special, but perhaps even more so when transported back in time to the magic of movies made 100 years ago… A perfect tonic to chilly Autumn nights, and guaranteed to warm your weekends as the days get darker.
Read on for more details of each film and the talented musicians accompanying live. Tickets for the in-person screenings are £14.30 (£11.80 concessions). Special Multi-Ticket Deal: Book for all three in-person screenings for just £36 (£30 concession) including booking fees.
The season kicks off with The Manxman (1929), this Saturday 23rd September at 7.30pm Hitchcock’s last silent film, and one of his very best! In a small fishing community, two boyhood friends are inseparable as youths but take different paths in adulthood. When they both fall in love with Kate, the daughter of a puritanical Methodist, they are forced to deal with their own moral codes and with the strict society in which they live.
The evening’s screening will be accompanied live by acclaimed composer and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Horne (piano, flute, accordion).
Tickets: The Manxman (1929) with live accompaniment by Stephen Horne | Hippodrome (hippodromecinema.co.uk)
Next up will be The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) on Saturday 7th October at 7.30pm…
One of the most iconic masterpieces in cinema history!
At a local carnival in a small German town, hypnotist Dr. Caligari presents the somnambulist Cesare, who can purportedly predict the future of curious fairgoers. But at night, the doctor wakes Cesare from his sleep to do his evil bidding!
Hugely influential, Caligari’s nightmarish jagged sets, sinister atmosphere and psychological overtones sent ripples amongst countless horror and noir films for the next hundred years. The film’s chilling, radically expressionist vision retains its grip on our imaginations even today, hailed as a classic by everyone from Nicholas Cage to Akira Kurosawa.
This screening will be accompanied live by Mike Nolan (piano) a musician with over 30-years experience of performing for silent film, fresh from his recent performance at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cinema Under the Stars.
The season concludes with Salomé (1922) on Friday 20th October at 7.30pm…
A Hollywood picture unlike anything Hollywood had ever dared make before! Based on Oscar Wilde’s play with fabulous costumes, stylised sets by Aubrey Beardsley, and starring Alla Nazimova as Salomé, the flamboyant superstar of the silent era mesmerising as the barefoot dancer who beguiled a king and beheaded a prophet.
Live accompaniment will be provided by celebrated musical duo Jane Gardner (piano) and Hazel Morrison (percussion) who perform regularly at HippFest and venues across Scotland. The screening will be introduced by Invisible Women – an archive activist film collective which champions the work of women and filmmakers with marginalised identities from the history of cinema.
The presentation and introduction to Salomé will be streamed live from the Hippodrome via YouTube. Tickets for the live stream should be purchased in advance here: HippFest at Home LIVE-STREAM | SalomeÌ (1922) with live accompaniment | Hippodrome (hippodromecinema.co.uk) and viewers will need a digital device with internet access to view at home from anywhere in the world.
Alison Strauss, Arts Development Officer (Film and Media) and HippFest Director for Falkirk Council, said:
“This short season at the Hippodrome is when we make a noise about all that is great about silent cinema – chilling suspense, terrific stories, high drama, and - not forgetting - sweeping music that will carry you in to the heart of the action. In fact, all the things we love about a trip to the movies today but with the added pleasure of live music from the best accompanists and composers in the world. We hope that people who have never tried a silent film before will come along and give it a shot and that’s why I’ve picked the finest, most entertaining films from this rich period of cinema history to give a flavour of what silent films have to offer.”
