ACTION! The (not so silent) Silent Movie show
Wilton’s Music Hall, London, 2.30pm
Live scores by CHRISTOPHER ELDRED, NICHOLAS BALL and EMILY O’HARA
It’s ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ as the musicians of The Lucky Dog Picturehouse take over Wilton’s for this special family show. A treat for any age, expect honky horns and hilarity with cartoons and comedies from over 100 years ago!
Experience a trip to the cinema 1920s-style, with live accompaniment and a behind-the-scenes look at some of the bizarre and bonkers musical instruments that bring film alive.
HAROLD LLOYD’S ‘GIRL SHY’ 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
Live Piano score by CHRISTOPHER ELDRED
The Lucky Dog Picturehouse returns with a brand new score composed to celebrate the centenary of Girl Shy – one of the finest and funniest creations from silent-screen legend Harold Lloyd.
Timid tailor’s apprentice Harold Meadows (Lloyd) can hardly look at a woman without blushing; he is hopeless in every encounter. Despite this, Harold is the author of The Secret of Making Love, a manuscript purportedly penned by a confident Casanova. When he heads to the big city in search of a publisher, Meadows finally meets a girl who he thinks might be The One – but which man does he want to be?
Girl Shy was an instant hit in 1924, with one of the most breathtaking chase scenes in cinematic history, described by Variety as ‘beyond the mere power of a typewriter to describe […] it caps anything else that has ever been done on screen’ – and even inspired the famous chariot race in Ben-Hur. Girl Shy remains a firm favourite one hundred years on.
PANDORA’S BOX STARRING LOUISE BROOKS
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
WORLD PREMIER Live Piano score by BEN COMEAU
“You should only play when you’re sure to win”
Now in their 11th year at Wilton’s Music Hall, The Lucky Dog Picturehouse present a new score for the film that launched icon of the flapper age Louise Brooks to international stardom. Brooks stars as the effortlessly seductive Lulu, a high class courtesan and dancer who brings destruction to the Berlin bourgeoisie with her turbulent love affairs, both male and female. Heavily censored in its day, G.W. Pabst’s 1929 Weimar masterpiece still feels incredibly modern and ranks among The Guardian’s top 100 films of all time.
Experience this rare special screening with a brand new piano score, performed live.
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923)
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
WORLD PREMIER Live Piano score by BEN COMEAU
“You should only play when you’re sure to win”
‘Here then is a picture that will live forever’ Motion Picture World
Based on Victor Hugo’s historical novel set in medieval Paris, Quasimodo is hidden away from society in the bell towers of Notre Dame cathedral. His evil and powerful master leads him to the beautiful and kind dancer Esmeralda with whom he quickly falls in love – but in such a cruel world, can love prevail?
At over one hundred years old, Lon Chaney’s incredible portrayal of the Hunchback still possesses the power to awaken feelings of sympathy and humanity, at a time when we need it most. The film required the building of a replica Notre Dame which, with its looming buttresses and hideous gargoyles, becomes a central character in itself. Universal Pictures described The Hunchback as their ‘Super Jewel’ of 1923, and it went on to become their most successful silent film, grossing $3.5 million.
Experience this rarely screened masterpiece with a brand new score, performed live.
Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes, including interval
ANTHONY ASQUITH’S ‘SHOOTING STARS’ (1928)
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
WORLD PREMIER Live Piano score by BEN COMEAU
At Zenith Studios, a starlet plots an escape to Hollywood with her lover and the murder of her superfluous husband.If you have ever imagined what the birth of Hollywood looked like then this is the film for you! Shooting Stars peaks behind the scenes, with a rare insight into the workings of a 1920s film studio. We encourage our audience to dress to impress with prizes up for grabs!
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes, including interval
23rd July 2024
ACTION! THE (NOT SO SILENT) SILENT MOVIE SHOW
It’s ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ as the musicians of The Lucky Dog Picturehouse take over King’s Lynn for this special family show. A treat for any age, expect honky horns and hilarity with cartoons and comedies from over 100 years ago!
Experience a trip to the cinema like no other; with live accompaniment and a behind-the-scenes look at some of the bizarre and bonkers musical instruments that bring film to life. Expect audience participation and lots of laughs in this 45 minute show for all the family.
Age guidance: 5+ (not strictly enforced)
Running time: 45 minutes, no interval
Tickets on sale to Festival Patrons on 29 April and Festival Friends on 7 May. Become a Festival Friend or Patron to access the priority booking period.
Public booking opens on 13 May.
THE EPIC OF EVEREST
The musicians of The Lucky Dog Picturehouse present this centenary screening of one of the first real adventures to be captured on camera.
The Epic of Everest is the official record of the fateful 1924 expedition of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine as they attempted to reach the summit. Filming in brutally harsh conditions with a specially adapted camera, Captain John Noel captured images of breathtaking beauty and considerable historic significance.
This is the very earliest footage of the Himalayas and beautifully captures its untouched landscape in colour (tinted) film, while displaying the comradery of this group of British and Nepalese mountaineers.
With live accompaniment.
Running time: 1h 47 (including interval) / Cert: U
Get £2 off when booked at the same time as Everest: East Side Story (Monday 22 July).
Tickets on sale to Festival Patrons on 29 April and Festival Friends on 7 May. Become a Festival Friend or Patron to access the priority booking period.
Public booking opens on 13 May.
anthony asquith’s ‘a cottage on dartmoor’ (1929)
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
WORLD PREMIER Live Piano score by BEN COMEAU
‘Out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock’Raymond Durgnat. When a prisoner escapes over the moors to find the woman he once loved, she does not know if he has come to kill her or ask her forgiveness. One of the very last silent films to be made in Britain before the talkies revolutionized cinema, A Cottage on Dartmoor is a virtuoso piece of filmmaking, a final passionate cry in defense of an art form soon to be obsolete.
Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes, including interval
buster keaton’S sherlock jr. 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
Live Piano score by THE PICTUREHOUSE QUARTET
‘A Triumph!’ International Buster Keaton Society
2024 marks a century since Buster Keaton’s best loved comedy first graced the big screen – and The Lucky Dog Picturehouse is celebrating in style with their critically-acclaimed original (but always period-authentic) score performed live by their cinema quartet!
A young, unlucky-in-love cinema projectionist finds his dreams dashed when a dastardly robbery leaves his reputation in tatters. To clear his name he must turn detective – but will he solve the crime?
Sherlock Jr. (1924) features Buster as both director and star, and replete with death-defying stunts, jaw-dropping special effects and even a bit of romance, it’s easy to understand why it consistently finds itself named among TIME magazine’s ‘Best 100 movies of all time’.
ANTHONY ASQUITH’S ‘UNDERGROUND’ (1928)
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
Live Piano score by TOM MARLOW
With a Live piano score by Tom Marlow who returns fresh from the 2023 sold-out performance, with his incredible piano score for this British masterpiece.
London’s Underground takes the starring role in this tale of love, jealousy and murder. With its busy corridors, shadowy passages and plunging escalators, Asquith brings a very modern 1920s London to the big screen. Witness this love-letter to our capital city from almost one-hundred years ago.
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes, including interval
‘piccadilly’ starring anna may wong (1929)
Wilton’s Music Hall, London
Live Piano score by CHRISTOPHER ELDRED
‘Wonder of wonders – a truly fine British picture!’Photoplay, October, 1929
After its sold out screening in 2019, The Lucky Dog Picturehouse is delighted to return this British masterpiece to Wilton’s big screen, with an incredible live score performed by pianist Christopher Eldred.
Hollywood and fashion icon Anna May Wong stars as a very modern woman working in the nightclubs of London. Shot on location, the story follows her dramatic ascent from dishwasher to dancing star, with love triangles, racial discrimination and murder along the way. Travel back in time through 1920s London, as Wong moves between the clubs and glamour of Piccadilly to the pubs and slums of Limehouse.
‘The Lucky Dog Picturehouse mix a lip-smacking cocktail of classic silent movies and zesty new live music, garnished by their own delight in entertaining and educating an audience. Whether you’re a silent-cinema newcomer or an aficionado, their events make you feel like a lucky dog yourself.’ Nicholas Barber, Film Critic, BBC Culture
Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes, including interval
buster keaton’S sherlock jr. 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Royal Over-Seas League, London
Live Piano score by THE PICTUREHOUSE QUARTET
‘A Triumph!’ International Buster Keaton Society
2024 marks a century since Buster Keaton’s best loved comedy first graced the big screen – and The Lucky Dog Picturehouse is celebrating in style with their critically-acclaimed original (but always period-authentic) score performed live by their cinema quartet!
A young, unlucky-in-love cinema projectionist finds his dreams dashed when a dastardly robbery leaves his reputation in tatters. To clear his name he must turn detective – but will he solve the crime?
Sherlock Jr. (1924) features Buster as both director and star, and replete with death-defying stunts, jaw-dropping special effects and even a bit of romance, it’s easy to understand why it consistently finds itself named among TIME magazine’s ‘Best 100 movies of all time’.
The Lucky Dog Picturehouse 