SILVER

SO'S YOUR OLD MAN (1926) in 35mm
Introduction by film historian Richard Koszarski; live piano accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis
In this hilarious comedy, W. C. Fields stars as Samuel Bisbee, a small-town inventor and local embarrassment who is convinced that his invention of an unbreakable car windshield will set him up for life. After an innocent encounter on a train is misconstrued as a romantic liaison, the community and his wife turn against him. When the woman on the train turns out to be a princess accompanied by her playboy husband, Bisbee has a chance at redemption. Filmed at Astoria Studios on Long Island, New York, and in nearby towns, the story was tailored for its star, highlighting Fields' love of automobiles and incorporating a lengthy recreation of his famous golf routine from the "Ziegfeld Follies." As biographer James Curtis noted, "The character of Bisbee was tailor-made for Fields, timid and self-important and yet achingly vulnerable." Fields considered Gregory La Cava his favorite director, and this, one of his best surviving silent features, confirms that Fields could be a star comedian even without his unique voice. SO'S YOUR OLD MAN was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2008. DIR Gregory La Cava; SCR J. Clarkson Miller, Howard Emmett Rogers, from a story by Julian Street; PROD Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky. U.S., 1926, b&w, 71 min. NOT RATED
35mm print from the Library of Congress, made from the original nitrate camera negative.

Preceded by:
THE BELLE OF SAMOA (1929)
Introduction by David Pierce, Library of Congress
Advertised as the first musical comedy of the screen, THE BELLE OF SAMOA stars comedic duo Clark and McCullough, exhibiting their usual knockabout verbal and visual comedy. The surprise is actress Lois Moran, more familiar from dramas, in a singing and dancing role. The dancing troupe is authentic, as Chief Filoi Tuitoga and her Samoan dancers were touring the west coast at the time. The result is an entrancing mix of authentic Samoan culture, Broadway musical revue and vaudeville. DIR Marcel Silver. U.S., 1929, b&w, 18 min. NOT RATED
Premiere of a new DCP restoration from the Library of Congress.

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