Festival Films
FESTIVAL FILMS + PASSES/TICKETS
RETURNING APRIL 12-14, 2024 AT THE REVUE CINEMA, 400 RONCESVALLES AVE.
FESTIVAL LINEUP REVEAL: JANUARY 2024
FESTIVAL PASS / SENIOR/YOUTH PASS
SATURDAY OR SUNDAY PASS / SENIOR/YOUTH
SINGLE TICKET: $17 (HST included)
TSFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REPLACE FILMS IF, DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES, THEY CANNOT BE SCREENED
see the Ticket Info Page for details on attending, refunds etc.
A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES featuring
THE GOLD DIGGERS 1923 USA-100th Anniversary Screening
ACCOMPANIST: MARLYN LERNER
Director: Harry Beaumont
Cast: Hope Hampton, Wyndam Standing, Louise Fazenda, Gertrude Short, Alec B Francis, Johnny Harron
Festival Director Shirley Hughes “In June 2021 something rare and extraordinary happened. In England, a film thought lost for close to a century came into the possession of collector Joshua Cattermole. And not just any film, but an original nitrate print of the first Gold Diggers film made by Warner Bros in 1923. It also proved to be in such remarkable condition and while not a complete print*, it was ready to be seen again by audiences. *The story is complete and new short explanatory intertitles make up for any missing scenes.”
So, life begins again for the original Gold Digger film, and as the first Canadian audience to see this film since initial release, you get to step back in time to the high life of the raucous 1920s where it all began. The story may not be as familiar to classic movie fans of the Depression era film as it is adapted from the play (as is the still lost early talkie Gold Diggers of 1929). The pristine quality of the print highlights the time and money Warner Bros. lavished on this film. The direction is solid as is the acting.
Much thanks to Joshua Cattermole for the digital print of this nitrate film.
PRECEDED BY: a re-enactment of what audiences in the 1920s would experience when they went out to the movies including a cartoon, a serial chapter and a couple of rare actualities & newsreels. It all adds up to a fascinating “night at the movies" 1920s style. The feature is partially funded by our 50/50 draw & donations from the November 2022
1000 LAFFS: HAL ROACH & THE LOT OF FUN
ACCOMPANIST: JORDAN KLAPMAN
Introduced by Comedy Programmer Chris Seguin
The Hal Roach Studio in the 1920s was like a candy store for hungry comedy goers-everywhere you looked there was something to like...something to LOVE...an absolute overabundance of top notch comedians. From comedy teams to solo artists, this five film showcase of “The Hal Roach All Stars” is jammed packed with TSFF favourites:
Laurel & Hardy are prison escapees who decided climbing up an unfinished skyscraper would be a great way to loose the cops hot on their tails. It’s mayhem over matter with the boys in Liberty 1929
The kids of Our Gang decide to put on a show at their own makeshift country fair. Tons of movie star imitations in The Big Show 1923.
Charley Chase gets his teeth fixed and becomes irresistible to the ladies. His wife gets her nose fixed and becomes irresistble to men. What could possible go awry in Mighty Like a Moose 1926.
Harold Lloyd & Bebe Daniels and Snub Pollard After spying a pretty gal at the beach, Harold must out run her father when they go out on a date. Yikes! They end up in a dance hall where they get robbed and now can't pay the bill in Young Mr. Jazz 1919
Anita Garvin & Marion Byron get way in over their head with hot babies in a very rare comedy short you don't want to miss.
MASTER DIRECTOR MIKIO NARUSE
APART FROM YOU 1933 JAPAN
ACCOMPANIST: TANIA GILL
Director: Mikio Naruse
Cast: Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Akio Isono, Sumiko Mizukubo
Programmer Chris MaGee “In the West Mikio Naruse is the least well known of the big four directors of Japan's golden age of cinema. Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi have all become touch points for their meticulous style and/ or their heroic narratives. Naruse is probably best known, like Mizoguchi, for his "women's films", often cautionary tales of women in Japanese society, but in his early silent works Naruse was a much more diverse and dynamic filmmaker. I hope that the double bill of 'Flunky, Work Hard!' And 'Apart From You' will introduce audiences to the Naruse who wasn't afraid to laugh, to experiment, and to shift his eye beyond the plight of Japanese women in early 20th century to all members of society."
PRECEDED BY: FLUNKY, WORK HARD! 1931 JAPANMikio Naruse’s earliest extant film is the rare work by the director not to center around female characters. It is a charming, breezy short concerning an insurance salesman and his scrappy son, whose constant fights with the other boys put his father’s livelihood in jeopardy.
Many thanks to Criterion Pictures for the loan of these films
Generously supported by a grant from the Japan Foundation (Toronto)
Welcoming the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre as co-presenter
THE WOMAN ONE LONGS FOR 1929 GERMANY
ACCOMPANIST: BILL O'MEARA
Director: Curtis Bernhardt
Cast: Fritz Krotner, Marlene Dietrich, Uno Henning, Frida Richard
Despite Marlene Dietrich insistence for years that The Blue Angel (1930) was her screen debut, she made close to 20 silent films. The other constant myth was that Josef von Sternberg "created" the Dietrich Seductress persona starting with The Blue Angel. But Dietrich had been carefully honing her public persona for quite some time. Already a star on stage, her steady rise in films culminated in this, her second starring role and her first femme fatale role. Her stock rose appreciably due to this sophisticated, erotic love triangle thriller -one that could easily fit into a G W Pabst or even a Josef von Sternberg type of film. Translated for the screen from a 1927 novel, the fluid, modern direction melds beautifully with cinematographer’s lingering odes to expressionism, proto-noir and romantic tragedy.
Recommended reading: Marlene Dietrich: Life of a Legend 1992 by Steven Bach
This film is sponsored by Christina Stewart & Nathan Moles
PRECEEDED BY: CINDERELLA 1922 Animated by German Animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger 13min
BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK 1926 USA
Director: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Marion Davies, Antonio Moreno, Roy D'Arcy, Creighton Hale
This is a truly wonderful blend of gender-bending light comedy, with touches of satire and slapstick underscoring Marion Davies at her rom-com best. Although less well known than her later classics, Show People and The Patsy, (due to a lack of wide access until now) this film will prove once and for all what a formidable talent Davies was.
This film was recently restored by the Library of Congress in the USA.Much thanks to Ben Model and his Undercrank Productions for the use of this film. Check out his show schedule & dvd/BluRay offerings.
This film is supported by a donation from the Cosmopolitan Project
Introduction by author Lara Gabrielle (pre-recorded)
Book Recommendation: Lara Gabrielle’s new book Captain of her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies
PRECEDED BY: A WOMAN 1915 Charlie Chaplin
