Weekly Silent Film Webcasts
The Silent Comedy Watch Party, hosted by Ben Model and Steve Massa, has become a highlight of my week. If you haven’t been tuning in for this weekly dose of levity every Sunday at 3pm EDT, I highly recommend it. This week will feature shorts from Harold Lloyd, Alice Howell, and Marcel Perez! You can find out all about it on the official web page, which also has links to the past shows, which are archived on YouTube.
In addition, Flicker Alley, Lobster Films, and Blackhawk Films have announced that they are teaming with Retroformat Silent Films for a weekly webcast of silent classics with live musical accompaniment by Retroformat Musical Director Cliff Retallick. The first show will be Retroformat LIVE Presents: A Charlie Chaplin Double Feature!: The Masquerader (1914) and One A.M. (1916) Monday at 10:30pm EDT / 7:30 PDT on Facebook. Here is the event link, and more information is below.
~ABOUT THE FILMS~
“The Masquerader” (1914) In this one-reel milestone of his early work, Chaplin “breaks the fourth wall,” playing a comic version of himself, an actor who plays a tramp character in the movies, giving us an insider’s glimpse into a film studio of that time, plus a memorable battle of wits with fellow actor Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, in a standout dressing room scene. “The Masquerader” also contains the second of Chaplin’s three female impersonations on film, which is so good that many people report having been fooled the first time they saw it. This film is among the 34 short films included in the amazing Flicker Alley “Chaplin at Keystone” DVD collection.
“One A.M.” (1916). Chaplin took a huge artistic risk by performing solo throughout almost an entire two-reel film, returning to a role he had perfected on stage, the “rich drunk” returning home after a night on the town. Showcasing surreal, carefully choreographed gags with pantomimic and acrobatic brilliance, ” One A.M.” impressively demonstrates Chaplin’s artistic growth and maturity during the months since he had made “ The Masquerader”. While the pantomime of “One A.M.” is more graceful, Chaplin’s inventiveness and risk-taking had radically evolved. In My Autobiography (1964), Chaplin wrote, “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” “One A.M.”, gorgeous in its simplicity, shows us that all he really needed was a camera and some film.
~ ABOUT RETROFROMAT ~
Retroformat is a silent film nonprofit based in Los Angeles. We recreate the original moviegoing experience of in-person screenings with live musical accompaniment, introducing new generations to the joy and power of early cinema.
There are two ways to support Retroformat. You can visit the donation page on our website: retroformat.org/donate
