Notting Hill Silents presents
Sherlock Jr (1924)
Friday 5th May 2017
Doors open: 7.00pm. Film begins: 8.00pm.
With accompaniment on the restored church organ
Played by Donald MacKenzie, resident organist at the Odeon Leicester Square
Silent film Sherlock Jr has Buster Keaton's portrayal of the legendary detective long before Benedict Cumberbatch glared penetratingly into a camera lens.
This classic comedy, famous for its technical wizardry and daring stunts, will be shown as part of a double bill with Laurel and Hardy's short comedy caper Do Detective's Think? Both films will be accompanied on the restored organ by Donald MacKenzie, resident organist at the Odeon Leicester Square. The organ at St John's Notting Hill was restored in 2014 with support from National Lottery players via a £373,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Donald is returning to St John's Notting Hill after playing at six previous shows: The Lodger in October 2016 The Cameraman in May 2016 The Wind in October 2015 Steamboat Bill Jr in May 2015 Wings in November 2014 The Hunchback of Notre Dame in October 2013. Advanced booking is highly recommended as all previous silent film screenings have sold out. Don't miss this special event. Doors open at 7.00pm for an 8.00pm film start. Do Detectives Think?: 20 mins Interval Sherlock Jr: 45 minutes Evening ends: 9.30pm Age rating: PG There will be popcorn and a bar available. Seating is unreserved - good sight lines are available throughout the church. Despite being heated, the church may be cold in the evening so please wear warm clothing. Tickets Available at the bottom of the page. |
Sherlock JrSherlock, Jr. (1924) is a non-stop collection of gags and stunts, with enough innovation and energy for two features. It is one of Keaton's best-loved films, equally embraced by long-time aficionados as well as newcomers to silent comedy.*
Buster is the projectionist and janitor of a small-town movie theatre. The projectionist's real ambition is to become a master detective. He would also like to win the heart of a local girl (Kathryn McGuire), though he is short of funds and must also compete with a conniving rival suitor. The scoundrel (Ward Crane) steals a pocket watch from the girl's father (Joe Keaton) and pawns it to buy the girl a box of chocolates - a crime for which he frames our hero. Ejected from the house, the projectionist takes a nap while at work in the projection booth. Here a "dream Buster" emerges and enters into the melodrama being shown on screen. Being played out in the movie is a variation of the same love-triangle scenario, and in this one our hero endeavors, as the great detective Sherlock, Jr., to unravel the thievery and bring the scoundrel to justice. * The film is filled with Keaton’s signature acrobatic stunts and delightful visual wit, but things really get interesting when the projectionist falls asleep while screening the drawing-room mystery. Dreaming that the movie characters are his sweetheart and the rival, his dream-self rises, walks up the aisle, and climbs into the screen to confront them. To achieve this effect, Keaton built a carefully lit set within a set, in a scene which is justly famous as a clever examination of the film medium itself. The dream tries to expel the interloper—first, his nemesis tosses him back into the audience. (As he lands, we see the snoozing projectionist twitch.) When he clambers back into the screen, the film medium itself appears to shake him loose by abruptly cutting scenes out from under him: The drawing room becomes the front stairs of the house, shutting him out. As he descends, the steps become a garden bench, causing him to take a nosedive. Dusting himself off and sitting down, he lands on his keister in a busy street. And so on—diving off a wave-battered rock, he lands in a snowbank. By precisely matching posture and camera angle from scene to scene, Keaton made it look like reality was shifting around him. ** This sequence was devised by Keaton and his photographer Elgin Lessley using surveying instruments to keep both subject and shifting backgrounds in alignment. * Following the scene changes, Buster finally enters the film to become the eponymous hero, solving the crime on screen that he did not have the talent to solve in his waking hours. Could this be a comment on the way we all view and relate to the heroes and villains when at the movies? Keaton dips into his knowledge of vaudeville stunts for some of the wildest gags in Sherlock, Jr., which are played out in real time with no camera tricks. The driverless motorcycle chase which comprises the climax of the film is a rip-roaring wonder. Keaton performed his own stunts, as usual, and he also doubled for the driver who falls off the cycle at the start of the sequence. As John Bengtson points out in his book Silent Echoes, two shots involving close calls were aided by photographic tricks. In one scene the safe passage of the cycle over a missing section of bridge is only possible with the aid of two passing trucks. This shot was achieved with the help of a horizontally split screen. Later in the sequence Buster seems to narrowly miss an oncoming train at a crossing - only repeated viewing reveals that the shot was safely filmed backwards. * Intellectually, technically and in terms of his comic and stunt prowess, this film is considered to be one of Keaton's masterpieces. Accompanied by Donald MacKenzie on the restored organ in the atmospheric St John's Notting Hill, it will be shown on a special evening for film and music admirers alike. * by John M. Miller from: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/92535%7C0/Sherlock-Jr-.html ** by Chris Baker from: https://www.wired.com/2010/11/pl_prototype_sherlockjr/ With edits/additions by Jamie Singleton. Cast:
Buster Keaton: The Projectionist / Sherlock Jr Kathryn McGuire: The Girl Joe Keaton: The Girl's Father / Man on Film Screen Erwin Connelly: The Hired Man / The Butler Ward Crane: The Local Sheik / The Villain Credits:
Director: Buster Keaton Producers: Joseph M. Schenck and Buster Keaton Writers: Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell Editor: Buster Keaton Cinematography: Byron Houck, Elgin Lessley Distributors: Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Released: April 1924 (USA) Running Time: 45 mins Reviews Sherlock Jr is number 17 on The Silent Era's 'The Top 100 Silent Era Films': http://www.silentera.com/info/top100.html Sherlock Jr has an IMDB rating of 8.3 out of 10: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015324/ Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94% Fresh, with an audience rating of 95: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sherlock_jr |
Do Detectives Think?
A convicted murderer has escaped from prison, vowing bloody revenge on the judge who put him away. Now, if that doesn't strike you as the premise for a comedy, just keep reading: the panicked judge hires two detectives to protect him. And the detective agency sends their top men - Ferdinand Finkleberry ("the second worst detective in the world"), and his colleague Sherlock Pinkham ("the worst"). Finkleberry is a lanky fellow with a slack posture and dead eyes. Sherlock is a pompous and officious man with a full belly and a Chaplinesque toothbrush moustache. Both men are dressed in trim gray suits that just barely don't fit them properly, and matching bowler hats.
Merely the sight of these two inspires laughter in audiences today. The premise may not sound too comic, but no worries - this is a Laurel and Hardy film. We know what kind of slapstick havoc is due. But when Do Detectives Think? first appeared in 1927, such a thing as a Laurel and Hardy film had never really existed before - this is where that story begins. Much of the Laurel and Hardy formula is already in place here. Ollie bosses Stan around, Stan resorts to sudden-onset crying jags and is prone to eating at inopportune moments. Most notably, the two swap hats - repeatedly. This would become a signature joke for the boys, and a sign of what made them special. There is nothing inherently funny about wearing somebody else's hat - at least not as far as adult sensibilities are concerned. Maybe you could entertain a newborn baby by putting on the wrong hat, but just try going into a talent agency today and explaining that you have an act built around swapping virtually identical hats with the person standing next to you. Laurel and Hardy once made a whole film out of this.
They were the alchemists of the comedy world: Laurel and Hardy could turn anything into comedy gold.
by David Kalat: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/445865%7C0/Do-Detectives-Think.html
Cast:
Stan Laurel: Ferdinand Finkleberry
Oliver Hardy: Sherlock Pinkham
James Finlayson: Judge Foozle
Viola Richard: Mrs. Foozle
Noah Young: The Tipton Slasher
Frank Brownlee: Detective agency boss
Credits:
Director: Fred Guiol
Producer: Hal Roach
Screenplay: Hal Roach; H.M. Walker (titles)
Running time: 20 mins
Merely the sight of these two inspires laughter in audiences today. The premise may not sound too comic, but no worries - this is a Laurel and Hardy film. We know what kind of slapstick havoc is due. But when Do Detectives Think? first appeared in 1927, such a thing as a Laurel and Hardy film had never really existed before - this is where that story begins. Much of the Laurel and Hardy formula is already in place here. Ollie bosses Stan around, Stan resorts to sudden-onset crying jags and is prone to eating at inopportune moments. Most notably, the two swap hats - repeatedly. This would become a signature joke for the boys, and a sign of what made them special. There is nothing inherently funny about wearing somebody else's hat - at least not as far as adult sensibilities are concerned. Maybe you could entertain a newborn baby by putting on the wrong hat, but just try going into a talent agency today and explaining that you have an act built around swapping virtually identical hats with the person standing next to you. Laurel and Hardy once made a whole film out of this.
They were the alchemists of the comedy world: Laurel and Hardy could turn anything into comedy gold.
by David Kalat: http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/445865%7C0/Do-Detectives-Think.html
Cast:
Stan Laurel: Ferdinand Finkleberry
Oliver Hardy: Sherlock Pinkham
James Finlayson: Judge Foozle
Viola Richard: Mrs. Foozle
Noah Young: The Tipton Slasher
Frank Brownlee: Detective agency boss
Credits:
Director: Fred Guiol
Producer: Hal Roach
Screenplay: Hal Roach; H.M. Walker (titles)
Running time: 20 mins
Donald MacKenzieDonald MacKenzie was born in 1970 in Ayrshire, Scotland, and after learning to play the piano and classical organ with renowned Scottish organist Gordon Frier he received his first engagement in 1988 as the resident organist to the Glasgow Garden Festival. In 1991 Donald was the winner of the Senior Young Theatre Organist of the Year in the A.T.O.S. International Competition and this won him a trip to San Francisco to play at their Convention.
In July 1992 Donald began his long association with the Odeon Leicester Square Compton organ by playing it for a number of events including a preview of 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Chaplin'. In November 1993 he was engaged to play the organ for 5 weeks before each performance of the film 'Aladdin'. He was then appointed House Organist and has appeared regularly at film premières, special events and organ concerts. He has broadcast from the Odeon on BBC Radios 2, 3, 4 and the World Service. He has been featured on a number of television programmes and Donald has played for numerous Royal Film Performances, including four in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. Donald accompanied his first film when he was 14 for a special evening screening at Paisley Town Hall. He has now more than twenty feature films 'under his fingers' including the major classics of the silent screen - The Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, King of Kings, Carmen, The Black Pirate, Metropolis - as well as many different types of short silent films. His now renowned accompaniments have led to numerous bookings throughout the UK (including the Victoria Hall Hanley, Bournemouth Pavilion, in Wolverhampton at Wolverhampton City Hall and the Lighthouse Media Centre, in London at the Odeon Leicester Square, Alexandra Palace and St Martin in the Fields, Somerton Arts Festival, in Tywyn at the Neu Pendre Hall), Ireland (in Belfast at St Annes Cathedral and Clonard Monastery), Germany (Weikersheim), USA (Boston University, Rivieria Theatre in Tonawanda), Holland (Scheidam Theatre) and most recently Poland. One of his most treasured memories was playing for the film 'Nosferatu' at the Usher Hall Edinburgh in October 2005 to a very enthusiastic full house. |
The OrganThe Organ at St John’s Notting Hill, originally built in 1793, was fully restored and remodelled in 2013-14 by T. W. Fearn & Son Organ Builders at their workshop in Devon. The firm specialises in the restoration of old mechanical pipe organs. The organ builders have undertaken to retain every original pipe and piece of mechanism, seeking not modernise it but to retain its original character. The case surrounding the organ and the bird sculpture atop are both new, designed and created by architect Simon Ablett and artist Ali Henham respectively. The restoration and new works were made possible via the many donations from individuals and organisations, including a £373,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in March 2013. This grant also financed a series of enduring community activities and events, including school workshops (every local school and over 1,000 school children visited), a video recording made by young people at The Video College available on this website, a new history exhibition surrounding the organ researched and implemented by 20 volunteers, and many concerts and events. See the various pages of this website for more information. Profits from these events go towards organ tuning and maintenance.
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With thanks to the following websites for listing this event: www.organrecitals.com www.citylivinglocallife.wordpress.com www.allinlondon.co.uk www.busterkeaton.co.uk www.silentfilmcalendar.org www.theresident.co.uk And in Print The Kensington Magazine (p. 28) The Hill Resident Magazine (p. 15) Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea Today |
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