In Progress Capitolfest 22 Schedule

Friday, August 8

Session #1 (9:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by David Peckham 9:20 a.m. 

9:30 a.m. The Deputy’s Double Cross (Universal, 1922) Directed by Robert F. Hill; with Lee Shumway and Laura La Plante, Ethel Ritchie, Frank Whitson. (20 minutes) SILENT. The head of a gang of gold bandits (Frank Whitson) uses his influence to have his nemesis, the town’s deputy sheriff (Lee Shumway), removed from office. (Digital preservation by Library of Congress.)

9:50 a.m. Man and Wife (Effanem, 1923) Directed by John L. McCutcheon; with Maurice Costello, Gladys Leslie, Norma Shearer (50 minutes) SILENT. Maurice Costello is a noted brain surgeon who, broken in health, begins boarding with a farmer and his family. He marries the farmer’s youngest daughter, but there is a dark secret waiting to be unveiled. “…a story unusual enough to have been taken from life….It’s a wild tale, wildly done on the screen, but it had a great element of melodramatic suspense.” –- Variety. (New digital restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.)

10:40am INTERMISSION

11:05 a.m. Fox Blowup Reel (1931-34) “Blooper” out-takes from various Fox films with Lupé Velez, Victor McLaglen, Edmund Lowe, Spencer Tracy, Clara Bow, Warner Oland, Will Rogers, El Brendel, Joan Bennett, Sally EIlers, Susan Fleming, Preston Foster, Gloria Stuart, Fay Wray, Buddy Rogers, Colleen Moore, many others. (20 min.) (Digital preservation by UCLA Film & Television Archive.)

11:25 a.m. Love, Honor and Oh, Baby! (Universal, 1933) Directed by Edward Buzzell; with ZaSu Pitts, Sim Summerville, George Barbier, Lucile Gleason, Verree Teasdale, Donald Meek (65 minutes). A down-on-his-luck lawyer (Slim Summerville) and his fiancée (ZaSu Pitts) concoct a fake breach-of-promise suit against a wealthy man (George Barbier) with an eye for the ladies. “For adult audiences this is great entertainment of the sophisticated comedy type but, for young children, hardly recommendable.” –- Motion Picture News. (35mm film print from Universal Pictures.)

Session #2 (1:50 – 5:25 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by Ben Model and Dr. Philip Carli

1:50 p.m. Rob Stone silent comedy show #1 (60 min.) Film historian Rob Stone presents rare comedy short subjects from the silent era. (part 1 of 3.) (Digital preservations by Rob Stone.)

2:55 p.m. INTERMISSION

3:10 p.m. Little Mickey Grogan (F.B.O., 1927) Directed by James Leo Meehan; with Frankie Darro, Lassie Lou Ahern, Jobyna Ralston, Carroll Nye (60 minutes) SILENT. The title character (Frankie Darro), a nine-year-old homeless waif, finds himself helping a little girl (Lassie Lou Ahern), an out-of-work architect (Caroll Nye) who needs an operation to save his sight, and an office worker (Jobyna Ralston) who is pursued by a violent stalker (Billy Scott). (World premiere of a new digital restoration, courtesy of Eric Grayson.)

4:15 p.m. INTERMISSION

4:30 p.m. The Luckiest Girl in the World (Universal, 1936) Directed by Edward Buzzell; with Jane Wyatt, Louis Heyward, Nat Pendleton, Eugene Pallett, Catherine Doucet, Phillip Reed (68 minutes) Jane Wyatt (in her first top-billed film) is the daughter of a millionaire (Eugene Pallett) who, despite her currently lavish lifestyle, is determined to marry a tennis player of limited means (Phillip Reed). Her father doubts she can adapt to such circumstances and challenges her to live on $150 a month. “An engagingly human little romantic comedy that clings steadfastly to real life and lightens it gayly with a twinkle of whimsey. The story is a mere trifle but its telling is to delightfully unrestrained and bubbling with good humor that it makes capital entertainment.” –- Hollywood Reporter. (New digital restoration by Universal Pictures.)

Session #3 (7:35 – 11:00 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by David Peckham

7:55 p.m. Laura La Plante documentary (5 min.) An original short documentary written by Laura Jerrolds, author of Laura La Plante: Silent Cinderella. (DCP.)

8:05 p.m. Butterfly (Universal, 1924) Directed by Clarence Brown; with Laura La Plante, Kenneth Harlan, Ruth Clifford, Norman Kerry, Cesare Gravina, Margaret Livingston. A woman (Ruth Clifford) dedicates her life to her ungrateful younger sister (Laura La Plante), a brilliant violinist. “…a real gem of a photoplay….[Laura La Plante] does about the best work of her career in this role. She acts without showing she is acting, and she makes human and lovable the most trying character she has yet been called upon to essay.”-– Moving Picture World. (35mm film print from UCLA Film & Television Archive)

9:15 p.m. INTERMISSION

9:30 p.m. King of Jazz (Universal, 1930) Directed by John Murray Anderson; with Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, Laura La Plante, John Boles TECHNICOLOR (98 min.) Our Friday night war horse for this year’s Capitolfest, it will be the premiere of the full-length King of Jazz at the Capitol Theatre. (The much-abridged re-issue was shown here as part of a 1933 double bill.) Restored by Universal, this mammoth revue features songs (such as “It Happened in Monterey,” “Happy Feet,” etc.), a performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, “black-out” sketches with Universal players (including tribute star Laura La Plante), and a great many surprises and oddities. (Digital restoration by Universal Pictures.)

Saturday, August 9

Session #4 (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by Dr. Philip C. Carli

9:30 a.m. ZaSu Pitts documentary (5 min.) A short documentary, created especially for Capitolfest, written by Laura Jerrolds and produced/directed by Rick E. Lewis. (DCP.)

9:40 a.m. Why They Left Home (Universal, 1917) fragment. Directed by William Beaudine; with Billy Franey, ZaSu Pitts, Lillian Peacock. (2 minutes) A brief excerpt (believed to be all that survives) of a Billy Franey short comedy, featuring ZaSu Pitts in her first year as a motion picture actress. (35mm film print from Library of Congress.)

9:45 a.m. The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (Principal, 1925) Directed by Sam Wood; with Kenneth Harlan, Helene Chadwick, Mary Carr, ZaSu Pitts, Rosemary Theby, T. Roy Barnes. (70 minutes.) A bank clerk (Kenneth Harlan) embezzles a large sum of money to support the lavish life-style of his wife (Rosemary Theby). After a botched suicide attempt he is nursed back to heath by a crippled servant girl (ZaSu Pitts) and her mistress (Mary Carr). ZaSu Pitts plays a serious role here (which she sometimes did in the silent era, but rarely did once the talkies came along). Based on the novel by one of America’s most popular authors of the era, Rome, New York native Harold Bell Wright. “…an unusually faithful adaptation of the author’s story of the same title, it should provide pleasing entertainment for the majority.” –- Exhibitors Herald. (35mm film print from the Library of Congress.)

11:00 a.m. INTERMISSION

11:20 a.m. Mother’s Helper(Fox, 1933) (no director credited) (2 minutes) Fox Film’s promotional short subject for the Federal Government’s National Recovery Act, in which working man El Brendel explains to his wife (ZaSu Pitts) what the NRA means to them.

11:25 a.m. The Affair of Susan(Universal, 1935) Directed by Kurt Neumann; with ZaSu Pitts, Hugh O’Connell, Walter Catlett, Tom Dugan, Inez Courtney, James Burke, Mae Busch (62 min.) Two strangers (ZaSu Pitts, Hugh O’Connell) meet at Coney Island and fall in love with the accidental help of an obnoxious drunk (Walter Catlett). A light comedy remake of 1928’s Lonesome, The Affair of Susan was a surprise hit at Capitolfest in 2013 and is brought back by popular demand. (35mm film print from Universal Pictures.)

12:30 p.m. Lunch break

Session #5 (1:40 – 5:25 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by Ben Model

1:40 p.m. Rob Stone silent comedy show #2 (30 min.)

2:30 p.m. talking short subject t.b.a.

2:45 p.m. The Squealer (Columbia, 1930) Directed by Harry Joe Brown; with Jack Holt, Dorothy Revier, Davy Lee, ZaSu Pitts, Matt Moore. (67 minutes.) A seemingly-respectable family man (Jack Holt) is actually the leader of a notorious bootlegging operation. When one of his henchman squeals on him, he seeks revenge. “Underworld melodrama that never lets you down. It’s good stuff of its kind. Jack Holt, always convincing, is well cast, with stunning Dorothy Revier and nice Matt Moore assisting. But the treat of the picture is little Davey Lee—remember him?—as lovable as ever.” –- Screenland. (35mm film print from Library of Congress.)

3:55 p.m. INTERMISSION

4:10 p.m. The Night Mayor (Columbia, 1932) D: Benjamin Stoloff; with Lee Tracy, Evalyn Knapp, Don Dillaway, Eugene Pallette, Warren Hymer, Vince Barnett (65 minutes) Lee Tracy stars as a thinly disguised version of New York City mayor James Walker, whose administration was in the midst of a national scandal even as this movie was in theaters. (Walker resigned at the request of President Roosevelt two weeks after The Night Mayor was released.) “A grand satire about a frivolous but honest young mayor with his problems feminine and political, brought to the screen in an amusing, snappy fashion.” — Photoplay. (35mm film print from Sony.)

Session #6 (7:30 – 10:40 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by Ben Model

7:30 p.m. Father’s Close Shave (Christie, 1920) Directed by Reggie Morris; with Johnny Ray, Margaret Cullington, Laura La Plante, Ward Caulfield, Gino Corrado. (20 minutes.) The second film in the short-lived Bringing Up Father series of two-reel comedies, based on the comic strip by George McManus. The series presented Laura La Plante with her first billed screen appearances, playing the daughter of perennially squabbling couple Maggie and Jiggs. (35mm film print from Library of Congress.)

7:50 p.m. The Gorilla (FN, 1927) Directed by Alfred Santell; with Charles Murray, Fred Kelsey, Walter Pidgeon, Alice Day, Brooks Benedict, Claude Gillingwater (80 min.) SILENT  “A series of killings, believed to be by a gorilla, precede a murder at an old mansion. Bungling detectives Garrity and Mulligan (Charles Murray and Fred Kelsey) arrive to investigate. “I believe that First National has hit upon another good one. The Gorilla is a creepy, suspensive melodrama, of The Bat and The Cat and the Canary type, only more breath-taking, if that is possible. It should please everywhere, particularly where strong pictures are liked.”— Harrison’s Reports (New digital restoration by Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Milano.)

9:20 p.m. INTERMISSION

9:35 p.m. Menace (Paramount, 1934) Directed by Ralph Murphy; with Gertrude Michael, Paul Cavanagh, Henrietta Crossman, John Lodge, Ray Milland, Burton Churchill, Halliwell Hobbes, Montagu Love. A psychopath threatens the life of three persons who he believes were responsible for the suicide of his brother. “It is eerie, and holds the audience in tense suspense.” –- Harrison’s Reports. (58 min.) (35mm film from Universal Pictures.)

Sunday, August 10

Session #7 (9:40 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by Ben Model

9:40 a.m. Love Birds (Universal, 1934) D: William A. Seiter; Slim Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, Mickey Rooney, Frederick Burton, Emmett Vogan, Dorothy Christy, Maude Eburne. (61 min.) Two strangers (Slim Summerville and ZaSu Pitts) plot to get even on a phony real-estate agent (Frederick Burton) who has sold each of them the same abandoned desert ranch. “Laughs hold forth all the way and gags are well selected.” –The Philadelphia Exhibitor. “As ZaSu’s sweet little nephew, Mickey Rooney creates many amusing incidents.” –- Photoplay. (35mm film print from Universal Pictures)

10:45 a.m. INTERMISSION

11:15 a.m. Rob Stone silent comedy show #3 (30 minutes)

11:45 a.m. Finders Keepers (Universal, 1928) Directed by Wesley Ruggles; with Laura La Plante, John Harron, Edmund Breeze, Eddie Phillips, Jack Oakie, Andy Devine, Skeets Gallagher. (Approx. 65 minutes) Laura La Plante disguises herself as a soldier while attempting to marry her sweetheart before his regiment departs for France. “Laura La Plante casts genuine radiance over the proceedings known as Finders Keepers. She is really a brilliant comedienne, though you may have known it all along.” –- Picture Play. “A delightful comedy-romance…” –Harrison’s Reports.

12:45 p.m. Lunch break

Session #8 (2:10 – 5:40 p.m.) Silent movie accompaniment by Dr. Philip C. Carli

2:10 p.m. The Philadelphia-Lancaster Counterfeiters (George Clifford Reid Productions, 1931) One of the comically under-produced William J. Burns Detective Agency “documentary” shorts (10 min.)

2:20 p.m. The Man I Marry (Universal, 1936) Directed by Ralph Murphy; With Doris Nolan, Michael Whalen, Chic Sale, Cliff Edwards, Nigel Bruce (79 minutes). Universal touted the discovery of a new star in Doris Nolan and chose to introduce her to the public in a story about a proof-reader for her theatrical producer uncle (Nigel Bruce), who runs away rather than marry a man she doesn’t love (Gerald Oliver Smith). Taking refuge in her uncle’s supposedly deserted summer home, she encounters an author (Michael Whalen) who broke into the house in search of a secluded spot to write his play. “Here is a pleasing little number. Beautiful Doris Nolan shows much talent and is sure to attract a lot of attention. Although the story is slender, Ralph Murphy’s direction piles up the laughs and has made several of the situations very amusing. Val Paul has provided a good production. Harry Clork’s dialogue is excellent.” –- Film Daily.

3:45 p.m. INTERMISSION

4:00 p.m. Help Yourself (Wilkerson, 1927) Directed by Joseph Pasternak; With El Brendel and Patricia Caron (21 minutes). An extremely rare 2-reel comedy in a new restoration spearheaded by El Brendologist Louie Despres. (First public screening of the restoration.)

4:25 p.m. Dead Game (Universal, 1923) Directed by Edward Sedgwick; with Hoot Gibson, Robert McKim, Laura La Plante, Harry Carter (50 min.) SILENT A ranch hand (Hoot Gibson) decides to kidnap the woman he loves (Laura La Plante) on her wedding day to save her from a disastrous marriage. “[Familiar] situations are put to spectacular use. The director is forceful and there is plenty of action. Laura La Plante…proves a winsome heroine.” –- Moving Picture World. (35mm film preservation by the George Eastman Museum)