HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1924)
Special Features: 100th Anniversary | Silent with live musical accompaniment by Andrew Earle Simpson
Swedish master Victor Sjöström (THE WIND) wrings great pathos from Lon Chaney at his most operatically and existentially pained. Chaney portrays Paul Beaumont, a brilliant scientist who suffers the dual traumas of having his dreams shattered by a failed invention and his heart broken by a faithless wife. Now a broken man, Beaumont joins the circus as a very, very sad clown who specializes in being the butt of jokes in a cruel slapstick revue. Also starring Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, this film was an early example of MGM star packaging, pioneered by young production chief Irving Thalberg. DIR/SCR/PROD Victor Sjöström; SCR Carey Wilson from the play by Leonid Andreyev; PROD Louis B. Mayer. U.S., 1924, b&w, 80 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED
About Andrew Earle Simpson
Andrew Earle Simpson is an acclaimed composer of opera, silent film, orchestral, chamber, choral, dance and vocal music, based in Washington, DC. His musical works make multi-faceted, intimate connections with literature, visual art and film, reflecting his own interest in linking music with the wider world, an approach which he calls "humanistic music." One of America’s foremost silent film musicians, he has performed across the United States, Europe and South America. In addition to composing and performing, Simpson is a professor and head of the division of Theory and Composition at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Visit andrewesimpson.com for more information.
Run Time: 80 Minutes
Opening Date: Sunday, November 10, 2024
Genre: Silent thriller
