OUR HOSPITALITY

Showings

Castro Theatre Sun, May 5, 2019 8:00 PM
Film Info
Director:Buster Keaton
John G. Blystone
Cast:Buster Keaton
Natalie Talmadge
Joe Roberts
Francis X. Bushman Jr.
Craig Ward
Joe Keaton
Year:1923
Country:USA
Total Run Time:65 min.
Format:DCP

Description

Musical accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Down South to claim his inheritance, New Yorker Willie McKay (Buster Keaton) falls for the beautiful Virginia (played by real-life wife Natalie Talmadge). When she invites him home for dinner, he finds himself in the parlor of the Canfields, the McKays’ sworn enemy in a longstanding feud. Virginia’s brothers have itchy trigger fingers, but lucky for Willie the Canfield code of hospitality dictates no killing of guests, at least inside the house. Announcing the beginning of a new kind of comedy film, Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality combined meticulous period research with a suspenseful plot whose payoff is thrills and laughter. When it came out it was hard to miss the significance of what Keaton had accomplished, with Variety noting, “it marks a step forward in the production of picture comedies and may be the beginning of the end of the comedy picture without a plot or story that degenerates into a series of gags.” The New York Times put it more simply, “Mr. Keaton has evolved. The Rialto will echo and re-echo with roars of laughter while this film fills the screen.”

Restoration by Lobster Films, Paris

 

Introduction by Serge Bromberg

 

Underwritten by Kenneth and Marjorie Sauer

Copresented by the Exploratorium and SF Sketchfest

Additional Information



Musical accompaniment 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 accompaniments. Together, musicians Rodney Sauer, Britt Swenson, David Short, Brian Collins, and Dawn Kramer have recorded and toured widely, creating vibrant, emotional, and historically appropriate scores for more than 125 films. Officially formed in 1994 after discovering the music collection of a 1920s-era theater music director, the ensemble combines precision playing with expert selections to bring silent cinema to life.