The 27th San Francisco Silent Film Festival begins today. The film festival will take place at the historic Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco’s Marina District for five consecutive days, starting from April 10 to 14. The audience will get to witness twenty-two live cinema programs that include beautiful silent-era films along with superb live musical accompaniment at one of San Francisco’s most beloved landmarks!
While the entertainment of people attending the festival has been a priority, their leisure is not avoided at all. Cow Hollow Catering will run a concession stand in the Palace’s lobby, selling beverages (including sodas, wine, and beer) and snacks (including sandwiches, fruit and cheese plates, and delectable sweets) throughout the festival. But how can one get his tickets to witness the festival? Well, keep on reading to get all the details.
What is the schedule of the 27th San Francisco Silent Film Festival?
On the first day of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival that begins today, April 10, 2024, The program will commence at 7:30 with The Black Pirate.
The Black Pirate is a 1926 American silent action adventure film shot entirely in two-color Technicolor about an adventurer and a “company” of pirates. It was directed by Albert Parker and stars Douglas Fairbanks, Donald Crisp, Sam De Grasse, and Billie Dove.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $25, $23 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The next day, on Thursday, April 11, 2024, the event will begin at 11:00 AM and will start with Amazing Tales from the Archives.
The program aims to highlight the importance of film preservation and to provide insight into the remarkable work done by film archives around the world. It is one of the most highly anticipated programs in the festival. And the most thrilling part is that it’s free.
The program will be followed by Dancing Mothers, a 1926 American black-and-white silent drama film produced by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Herbert Brenon and stars Alice Joyce and Conway Tearle. The film tells the story of a pretty mother who is almost cheated out of life by a heartless husband and a thoughtless daughter.
Preceded by The Pill Pounder (1923), directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Charlie Murray with Clara Bow.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
Both programs will be 80 minutes long in total.
The next film will be Oh! What a Nurse! That will start at 4:15 PM. It’s a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and written by Darryl F. Zanuck. The film stars Sydney Chaplin, Patsy Ruth Miller, Gayne Whitman, Matthew Betz, Edith Yorke, and David Torrence.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The next film, The Lady, will start at 6:00 PM. It is a 1925 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge and directed by Frank Borzage.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The last film of the evening, The Sea Hawk, will begin at 8:15 PM. It is a 1940 American adventure film from Warner Bros. that stars Errol Flynn as an English privateer who defends his nation’s interests on the eve of the launch of the Spanish Armada.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $25, $23 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
On Friday, April 12, the attendees will get to witness five silent films.
The Opportunist, the first film of the third day, starts at 11:00 AM. It is a 1999 British-American crime drama film written and directed by Myles C. R. Connell. The film stars Christopher Walken, Cyndi Lauper, Donal Logue, and Vera Farmiga and takes place in the urban setting of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, in New York City.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $18, $16 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The next film, East Side, West Side, commences at 1:00 PM. It is a 1949 American melodrama crime film starring Barbara Stanwyck, James Mason, Van Heflin, and Ava Gardner. It is based on the 1947 novel of the same title, written by Marcia Davenport. The screenplay is by Isobel Lennart. The film was produced by Voldemar Vetluguin, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
At 3:15 PM, the third film of the day will begin. Poil de Carotte, translated as The Red Head, is a 1932 French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Harry Baur, Robert Lynen, and Louis Gauthier.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The following film will be Poker Faces, which will begin at 6:00 PM. It is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Harry A. Pollard, starring Edward Everett Horton and Laura La Plante. Universal Pictures produced and released it.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The last but not the least, Häxani will start at 8:15 PM. The title translated as “The Witch,” the film is a 1922 silent horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. Consisting partly of documentary-style storytelling as well as dramatized narrative sequences, the film purports to chart the historical roots and superstitions surrounding witchcraft, beginning in the Middle Ages through the 20th century. Based partly on Christensen’s own study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century German guide for inquisitors, Häxan proposes that such witch-hunts may have stemmed from misunderstandings of mental or neurological disorders, triggering mass hysteria.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $25, $20 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The weekend would be even more fun, as some great movies will be witnessed in the last two days of the film festival.
On Saturday, April 13, attendees will get a little more variety as there are six films in the programs.
The show begins an hour earlier than usual at 10:00 AM with The Laurel and Hardy Show!
The Boys are back and just as bent on destruction as ever in these three recently restored side-splitters from 1928: You’re Darn Tootin’ (d. E.L. Kennedy), Two Tars (d. James Parrot), The Finishing Touch (d. Clyde Bruckman, Leo McCarey).
The splendid program features the hilarious duo author Kurt Vonnegut called “Two Angels of My Time.”
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $18, $16 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The next show, Hell’s Heroes, begins at 12:00 PM. It is a 1929 American pre-code Western sound film, one of many screen adaptations of Peter B. Kyne’s 1913 novel The Three Godfathers. Three outlaws, played by Charles Bickford, Raymond Hatton, and Fred Kohler, promise a dying woman they will save her newborn child.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The following film is I Was Born, But… which will start at 2:00 PM. It is a 1932 black-and-white Japanese silent comedy film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. The film’s story centers on two young brothers whose faith in their father, an office worker, is shaken by what they perceive as his kowtowing to the boss.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The evening of the day starts with The Street which will start at 5:00 PM. It is a 1923 German silent drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Anton Edthofer, Aud Egede-Nissen, and Leonhard Haskel.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The evening will be followed by Sherlock Jr., which will begin at 7:00 PM. It is a 1924 American silent comedy film directed by and starring Buster Keaton and written by Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, and Joseph A. Mitchell. It features Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, and Ward Crane.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $25, $23 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The last film of the day, The Joker, will begin at 8:45 PM. It is a 1928 Danish-German silent drama film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Henry Edwards, Elga Brink, Miles Mander, and Renée Héribel. The film is based on Noel Scott’s 1927 play The Joker.
For the general audience, the ticket cost will be $20, $18 for those who are already a member, and attendees who are age 12 and under get free access to the festival.
The film festival will mark its end on Sunday, April 14. But the last day won’t end before presenting the last five remaining movies of the film festival.
The day will begin at 10:00 AM with The Gorilla. The ticket for the general audience will be $18; meanwhile, $16 will be charged to members. It’s free for attendees aged 12 and under.
Followed by The Kid Brother, which will start at 12:15. It is a 1927 American silent comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. The ticket for the general audience will be $20. Meanwhile, $18 will be charged to those who are already a member. And it’s free for attendees aged 12 and under.
The next two films, The Phantom Carriage and The Devious Path will begin at 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM, respectively.
Ticket details for both films remain the same. The ticket for the general audience will be $20. Meanwhile, $18 will be charged to those who are already a member. And it’s free for attendees aged 12 and under.
The film festival will conclude with The Red Mark, whose ticket details slightly differ from the preceding films. The ticket for the general audience will be $25. Meanwhile, $23 will be charged to those who are already a member. And it’s free for attendees aged 12 and under.
How can one get to attend the film festival?
As mentioned above, for each film there is an amount specified for the general audience and the existing members. Meanwhile, for people under 12, the festival is free of cost. But the big question is how to get these tickets. Well, for that, you need to visit the official site of the San Francisco Film Festival. There the home page will direct you to the procedure to buy the tickets and become a member. On the upper right-hand side, website visitors can see a button that reads: “BECOME A MEMBER.” When you click on that button, you will be redirected to another page that will provide you with a list through which you can make a preference and make the payment.
Meanwhile, those who don’t prefer to become a member can simply buy a ticket. The option to buy a ticket can also be seen on the home page, right beneath the “BECOME A MEMBER” button. All you have to do is click on the pink button that reads, “BUY PASS.”
