Exciting Film Line-up

Cinecon is highly regarded among film fans for screening the rare and unusual films of the silent and early sound era—films that seldom get seen on a big screen. Cinecon combs the major film archives and Hollywood studio vaults to select often forgotten gems that deserve a fresh look and reappraisal. At Cinecon there is something for everyone—comedy, drama, musicals, Westerns. We show the latest restorations—and some one-of-a-kind rarities.

All films will be shown at Grauman's Egyptian Theater at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, most in 35mm. Silent films feature live musical accompaniment.

Here are some of the films that we have lined up for Cinecon 44.

As always films are listed here pending final clearance and are subject to change.


			THE MOLLYCODDLE (1920) Known as a light comedian on stage and in films, Douglas Fairbanks was looking for a new formula as his modern dress comedies began to slip at the box-office. The Molycoddle was released just before Doug's breakthrough swashbuckler, The Mark of Zorro, and it was a box-office disappointment, but it holds up as a fine example of Fairbanks's early work. Directed by Victor Fleming (seen here going over a scene with Doug). Fleming would go on to direct Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.
			SING, BABY, SING (20th Century-Fox, 1935) Past Cinecon honoree Alice Faye will be seen in this 1936 musical film said to be loosely based on the much-publicized real-life affair between John Barrymore and the much younger Elaine Barrie. Also in the cast are Adolphe Menjou, Patsy Kelly and The Ritz Brothers.
			TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (Keystone-Alco, 1914) UCLA's recent restoration of the first feature-length slapstick comedy, starring Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. Directed by Mack Sennett.
			THE FRESHMAN (1925) Yeah, the Lloyds are out on DVD, but there's nothing like seeing a Harold Lloyd comedy on the big screen with a theater full of people busting their guts with laughter. Largely a comic re-working of the 1917 Charles Ray drama The Pinch Hitter (with football substituted for baseball), The Freshman is one of the classic Lloyd films and in turn it has been imitated in any number of later college films, but seldom with the same hilarity quotient. Co-starring Jobyna Ralston, & directed by Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor.
			MAMMY (Warner Bros., 1930) Al Jolson stars in this two-color Technicolor musical drama about a touring minstrel show. Long believed to only survive in Black & White,the film has recently been restored in color.
			SKY HIGH (1922) Many Cinephiles have asked for another Tom Mix film, and here's the picture that established Mix's reputation for tongue-in-cheek action romps. Shot on location at the Grand Canyon, Sky High deals with smuggling Chinese laborers across the Mexican border and features hair raising aerial stunts.

Here's a few more.

TRIUMPH (1917)
A new restoration of a long-lost film starring Lon Chaney and Dorothy Phillips with William Stowell. Directed by Joseph De Grasse.

HOLLYWOOD SPEAKS (1932)
The IMDB lists this as a "lost" film, but what do they know? The truth is that the film survives incomplete, but what's left is well worth a look. See it at Cinecon 44 for the first time since its original release. Genevieve Tobin and Pat O'Brien are featured, and Lucien Prival plays a von-Stroheim-like director on screen, while Eddie Buzzell wielded the megaphone in real life.

MODERN LOVE (1929)
Screen comic Charley Chase's first feature, and newly restored with its original music score and talking sequences.

DAMON AND PYTHIAS (1914)
Directed by Otis Turner, known as the "Dean of film directors" at the time, this rare early feature—the first completed at Universal Citywas made, stars William Worthington, Herbert Rawlinson, and Anna Little.

SHOW THEM NO MERCY (1935)
Cesar Romero, Rochelle Hudson and Bruce Cabot in a fast-paced tale of kidnapping and ransom. Produced by 20th Century Pictures just before its merger with Fox Film Corporation.

THE POOR NUT (1927)
Starring Jack Mulhall, Charlie Murray and Glenn Tryon, with an early role for future star Jean Arthur, this lost gem offers another perspective on campus life.

ACQUITTED (1929)
Produced by poverty row studio Columbia Pictures, this recently restored early talkie courtroom drama features silent screen favorite Lloyd Hughes with Margaret Livingston, and character actor Sam Hardy. Directed by Frank Strayer.

IT ALWAYS RAINS ON SUNDAY (1947)
An early effort from Britain's famed Ealing Studio featuring Googie Withers in a taut melodrama that takes place in the bombed out districts of London just after World War II. Rarely screened in the U.S., this is a real noir gem.

THE BLOOD SHIP (1927)
For many years this early Columbia feature starring Hobart Bosworth and Jacqueline Logan was only known to survive in battered 16mm prints, but this new restoration returns the film to its 35mm glory.

MURDER IN TRINIDAD (1934)
Just on the edge of the strengthened Production Code, this steamy tropical drama features Heather Angel and Victor Jory.

And the spice of the program . . .

In addition to the feature film line up, Cinecon will present an array of selected one and two-reel short subjects. Among the shorts at this year's show we will be screening the long awaited final 3 episodes of the 15 chapter serial THE IRON CLAW (Columbia, 1941) (Check out our Member's Page for an interesting article on Claw director James W. Horne). Other short subject titles will be announced soon.

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