Lady Windermere's Fan

Live musical accompaniment by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Showings

Castro Theatre Sat, Dec 2, 2017 7:00 PM
$20 general / $18 member — no service charge!
Film Info
Director:Ernst Lubitsch
Cast:May McAvoy
Irene Rich
Ronald Colman
Year:1925
Country:USA
Total Run Time:90 min.

Description

Silent Oscar Wilde! If any filmmaker in history could convey the wit of the audaciously verbal Wilde in purely visual terms, it was the audaciously clever Ernst Lubitsch, aided here by a superb cast: May McAvoy as Lady Windermere, Ronald Colman as Lord Darlington, and Irene Rich as the notorious Mrs. Erlynne. Wilde’s biting comedy of social affectation and hypocrisy finds perfect expression under Lubitsch’s deft direction. The two masters shared an ethos, voiced here by Wilde’s Lord Darlington: “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.”

35mm print source: Library of Congress


Co-presented by the California Film Institute


ASL interpretation provided
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Additional Information

Accompanied by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

A chamber ensemble that revives the tradition of silent-film orchestras, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra culls historic libraries of music for its live musical accompaniment. Together Rodney Sauer, Britt Swenson, David Short, Brian Collins, and Dawn Kramer have recorded and toured widely, creating vibrant, emotional, and historically appropriate musical scores for more than 125 films. The orchestra was formed as "The Mont Alto Ragtime and Tango Orchestra" in 1989 in Colorado to play dance and salon music of the teens. The Motion Picture Orchestra, a subset of the larger group, started scoring silent films in 1994, after discovering the music collection of Al Layton, a theater music director in Colorado in the 1920s. Tight ensemble playing and expert music selection brings the films to life. Because of scheduling conflicts, Emily Lewis will substitute for Britt Swenson on violin, and Cami Kidwell-Dodge will substitute for Dawn Kramer on trumpet.