ALLOY ORCHESTRA Current Touring Repertoire |
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MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA 1929 (USSR) - Directed by Dziga Vertov, 67 min Alloy Orchestra is very excited to announce that we have acquired a gorgeous new print of this masterpiece from the Moscow film archive, Gosfilmofond. We will begin touring (again) with the film in St. Petersburg Russia on April 9, 2009. Often cited as Alloy's best score, MOVIE CAMERA was written by Alloy in 1995 and toured extensively. Because of print access problems the film was dropped from our touring repertoire more than a decade ago. The score was written by Alloy with the assistance of film Vertov's own composer notes and with the help of film scholars, Yuri Tsavian and Paolo Cherchi Usai. Dziga Vertov's ground breaking documentary about Soviet Life is also treatise on filmmaking. Amazingly filmed, and astonishingly edited, Movie Camera remains fresh and exciting today. Nevertheless it was banned in the Soviet Union. Man with a Movie Camera has since become one of the most celebrated and influential films of all time. Alloy will be accepting bookings beginning in May, 2009 Available in 35mm and DVD |
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LAST COMMAND 1928 (US) - Directed by Josef von Sternberg, 90 minutes. LAST COMMAND won lead actor, Emil Jannings, the first ever "Best Actor" award in the 1928 Academy Awards Ceremony (the same year that Von Sternberg's UNDERWORLD won Best Writing) ." Often cited as one of the greatest pictures of the silent era, it has been virtually impossible to see until Alloy and Paramount teamed up to create a spectacular new print. The film is a dramatic psychological portrait of a disgraced general in the Czar's army during the Russian Revolution. The general falls in love with the beautiful revolutionist (Evelyn Brent) and imprisons her partner (William Powell of THIN MAN fame). A decade later finds the General living in Los Angeles a broken man. He tries to get work as a film extra and is discovered by his old enemy, William Powell. Available in 35mm and DVD. |
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UNDERWORLD 1927 (US) - Directed by Josef von Sternberg, 80 minutes. UNDERWORLD was the film that launched Josef von Sternberg's very successful career. Ben Hecht, who wrote the screenplay for the film, won the first ever Academy Award for best writing (before they started calling it "screenplay"). A favorite of audiences and critics alike, Underworld is credited as the first gangster film, and the model for the popular genre. Paramount Pictures has created a beautiful new print for Alloy's premiere at the NY Film Festival and the subsequent tour. Available in 35mm and DVD |
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THE EAGLE 1927 (US) - Directed by CLARENCE BROWN, 72 min. The Eagle, a story of a dashing cavalry officer in 19th Century Russia, is Rudolph Valentino at his best. Vilma Banky co-stars with the great lover - a pairing that was to be repeated a year later in Valentino's most famous film, Son of the Sheik. This shimmering new print, restored by our own Box 5, was created with a "high silver content" process, which attempts to imitate the sharpness and warm tone of the silent era. Alloy contributes a lush and romantic score (punctuated with a few of Alloy's signature chase scenes). Available in 35mm, 16mm, DVD Photo courtesy of BOX 5 |
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LONESOME 1928 (US), Directed By Paul Fejos. Back by popular demand! Alloy first premiered this masterpiece at the Telluride Film Festival in 1993. This story of love and loss in the Big City (New York) is masterfully told by Fejos, a hungarian director working in Hollywood for Universal Pictures. Expect a surprise ending and a little singing by Alloy's own Terry Donahue top off this charming story. Unavailable for almost 10 years, a new tinted print has just been struck by the George Eastman House and made available to Alloy. Photo courtesy of MOMA |
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PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 1925/1929 (US) - Directed by Rupert Jillian, 78 minutes at 24 fps. One of the scariest and most influential horror films of all time, Lon Chaney continues to amaze as the mysterious Phantom. This gorgeous new print, recently restored by Alloy's sister company, Box 5, reproduces the extremely intricate color scheme of the original release with elaborate tinting, the experimental 2 strip Technicolor sequence at the masked ball, and luscious hand tinting. Combined with Alloy's new score, this astounding film is as creepy today as it was 75 years ago. Available in 35mm, 16mm and digital formats. (78 min, 1.33 aspect ration, 24 fps). Photo courtesy of Ben Model |
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BLACKMAIL 1929 - Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (UK). Blackmail is the director's last and (possibly) greatest silent film. The simultaneous sound version, is considered the first English sound film. This gripping tale traces the actions of a young British woman and her detective boyfriend. Quickly their actions spiral horribly out of control. Blackmail is Hitchcock at his best, and with the help of Alloy Orchestra, a powerful evening of entertainment. The exquisite print of the rarely seen silent version is made available from the British Film Institute. (35mm - 83 min, 1.33 aspect ratio, 24 fps) Photo courtesy of the British Film Institute |
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THE BLACK PIRATE
1926 (US ) - Directed by Albert Parker, 35mm , 84 min., 24 fps Written
by and starring Douglas Fairbanks. This fast paced pirate tale shows a
mature Fairbanks at his swashbuckling best.
One of the first films shot in color (two strip Technicolor) this film
combines a gripping plot with some of the most gorgeous footage of the
silent era. Faribanks is the Black Pirate who sets out to revenge the
death of his father. Two of Fairbanks' most memorable scenes are in this
film: sliding down the sail of a ship on the point of a knife, and the
totally surreal attack of the underwater army. And, of course, a beautiful
new print! (35mm - 84 min, 1.33 aspect ratio, 24fps). Also available on
DVD. |
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THE GENERAL 1926 (US)- Directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman. Alloy's newest score (and we think perhaps our best) highlights the drama of this Civil War tale. How can anyone deny that this is one of the greatest films of the silent era. Alloy has commissioned a stunning new 35mm print, derived from the original camera negative in the Rohauer Collection. (35mm is 79 min, 1.33 aspect ratio, 24 fps) . Also available on 16mm and DVD Photo courtesy of the Douris Corporation. |
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SPEEDY (1928, US) directed by Harold Lloyd. Alloy premiered their newest score for Harold Lloyd's Speedy at the Telluride Film Festival this September, 2001. Speedy is Lloyd's last silent film and certainly one of his best. See why Lloyd was more popular than even Chaplain and Keaton at the end of the silent era. This fast paced dramatic comedy, shot in the streets of New York, explores the theme of modernization, pitting the last horse drawn trolley in the city, against the evil forces of the transit monopoly. 35mm. (85 min, Silent Aspect Ratio, 24 fps). Photo courtesy of Harold Lloyd Estate |
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NOSFERATU - A Symphony of Horror. by F.W. Murneau (Germany), 1922 (85 minutes). The Greatest Vampire movie of all time! This exquisite new print reveals the creepy genius of this masterpiece for the first time in decades! Shot in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania and in Germany , master director F.W. Murneau, has bequeathed us the mother of all nightmares. (35mm is 85 min, silent aspect ratio, 18 fps is best but we can do it at 24 fps too). Also available on 16mm and DVD. Photo courtesy of MOMA |
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DRAGONFLIES, THE BABY CRIES 2000 (US), Dir. by Jane Gillooly, (10 min.) 35mm only.
Photo by Claire Folger |
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Masters of Slapstick EASY STREET by
Charlie Chaplin (US),1916 Perhaps the best known silent comedians, Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel and Hardy each started their careers with short films such as these. The short proved a perfect vehicle for the fast paced gags that catapulted their careers into the public eye. This selection of shorts, possibly the best known of the era, is a perfect way to compare the distinct styles of these three hilarious clowns. (35mm - 62 min, mixed formats - silent and 1.33, 24 fps). Also available in DVD. to order the soundtrack Photo courtesy of MOMA |
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PREVIOUS ALLOY FILMS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR PERFORMANCE |
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CHANG 1927 (US) - Directed by Marian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack 67 min. at 21 fps . Before they dreamed up the big ape, King Kong's creators Cooper and Schoedsack filmed this magical adventure of a Thai family struggling to survive against the forces of nature. The wildlife photography is astounding! Alloy performs an all acoustic score on flutes, one string banjo and all the sounds of the jungle. B&W, available in 35mm, DVD, and High Def Video. Photo courtesy of MILESTONE |
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STRIKE
1925, (USSR), directed by Sergei Eisenstein, Photo courtesy of MOMA |
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EARTH 1930 (USSR) - Directed by Alexander Dovzhenko, Earth is one of the undisputed masterpieces of Soviet Cinema. It is a poetic exploration of the cycles of life and death, the relationship of man to the land he manages, and the modernization and mechanization of daily life. Denounced by the Soviet government for it's focus on the negative, Earth now seems to gently avoid the excesses of Socialist propaganda. Alloy's score is largely improvisational. (The 35mm print is 62 min at 24 fps). Photo courtesy of Seagull Films |
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FATTY ARBUCKLE / BUSTER KEATON vol 1 & 2 Photo courtesy of Kino International |
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LOST WORLD 1925 (USA) (93 min.) Photos courtesy of MOMA |
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SOUTH (England) 1919 (88 min.) - Earnest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition By Frank Hurley. The amazing story of these English explorers attempting to cross the South polar ice cap. Incredible documentary footage of one of the most unbelievable stories of human courage. Living on the Antarctic ice, without shelter, for more than a year, these 27 men braved the harshest conditions on Earth, and survived. (35mm - 88 min at 21 fps, silent aspect ratio). Also available on DVD. Photo courtesy of Milestone Video |
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STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. 1927 (US), produced by Buster Keaton, (67 min.) One of the funniest and most amazing films of the silent era, Steamboat Bill has amused audiences for generations. Buster Keaton plays the scrawny son of a bruising steamboat captain. Try as he might, Bill Jr. can do nothing right. The climax is the completely surreal storm sequence where a house falls around Busters shoulders, leaving him unscathed. A perfect vehicle for Alloy's humor and energy. Beautifully restored new prints let you see this film as it was originally intended. 35mm, 16mm and DVD available. Photo courtesy of MOMA |
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