Film Festival celebrates western star, Niles and film history
Submitted by Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Broncho Billy rides again! That’s right – the first cowboy movie star in the world made his mark right here in Niles. In our vintage nickelodeon-era 1913 movie theater, we will showcase his cinematic exploits and the women of Essanay, the Chicago-based silent film studio that had its western division headquarters in Niles from 1912 to 1916.
There will also be a focus on Greta Garbo and comedian Billy Bevan. We are screening one of the most iconic films with Ms. Garbo and John Gilbert in The Flesh and the Devil. There will be some informative documentaries including the brand new FILM IS DEAD – LONG LIVE FILM! Special guests will present about filmmaking in Hollywood.
There truly is something for everyone the weekend of July 26 to 28 as we round out the offerings including a focus on film collectors, lenticulars and silent oddities. The $35 Weekend Pass gets you all the film programs, Niles walking tour and reserved seating.
Friday, July 26
Evening Film Presentation
7:30pm
THE LOVE GODDESSES
(1965, Walter Reade-Sterling Presentation)
Director Saul J. Turrell’s exploration of sex in the movies. From the silent era and Clara Bow to Cinemascope and Marilyn Monroe, see how the movie industry’s depiction of sex has changed through the decades.
Preceded by:
The Western Costume Company
(circa 1951, unknown studio)
This business has been a landmark in Hollywood for decades. Not only has it supplied “Western” costumes to movie producers, but costumes, armor, weapons, medals, furniture and props of all kinds from all periods of history.
Saturday, July 27
11am
Walking Tour
Discuss important landmarks and hear stories about what happened here one hundred years ago. Meet at the museum. Walking tour booklet included. ($5 donation)
Screening (free program)
Broncho Billy: The First Reel Cowboy
(1998, Arkansas Educational Television Network)
Gilbert M. “Broncho Billy” Anderson, the very first cowboy movie star, acted in more than 200 silent Westerns and was instrumental in the formation of the genre.
The Movies Go West
(1974, Bell)
With filmmaker Geoffrey Bell and narrator Hal Angus, this mid-1970s film explores the Essanay Film Manufacturing company as it existed 100 years ago. Invaluable images of Niles in the 1970s are also contained in the film.
1pm
Screening: The Women of Essanay
We will screen a selection of Essanay Film Manufacturing Company films made in Chicago and Niles focusing on the feminine. At Essanay, they were stars, but most of them are not remembered today. They include, Ethel Clayton, Martha Russell, Dolores Cassinelli, Ruth Stonehouse, Eleanor Blevins, Marguerite Clayton, Evelyn Selbie, Bessie Sankey and Margaret Joslin. (Piano accompaniment by David Drazin)
3:30pm
GARBO
(2005, Turner Classic Movies)
Produced in 2005, the centenary of the birth of Greta Garbo, the film explores the iconic movie star’s early years in Sweden, film acting and life after movies. Directors: Kevin Brownlow, Christopher Bird; Producer: Patrick Stanbury Narrated by Julie Christie with music by Carl Davis.
Evening Film Presentation
7:30pm
FLESH AND THE DEVIL
(1927, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
In Greta Garbo’s breakthrough picture she delivers a luminous performance as a new type of vamp: less consistently cruel and more subtle than earlier styles. Her name was listed under the title, which would change after the film’s phenomenal success. Starring Greta Garbo, John Gilbert and Lars Hanson, Directed by Clarence Brown.
Preceded by a salute to Billy Bevan
The Golf Nut (1927, Mack Sennett Comedies)
Ice Cold CoCos (1926, Mack Sennett Comedies)
(Kurzweil Keyboard accompaniment by Jon Mirsalis)
Sunday, July 28
10:45am
Behind-the-Scenes REAL vs. REEL (FREE program)
Vintage Los Angeles film studios expert and special guest Marc Wanamaker will share behind-the-scenes images and amazing tales of REAL California history intertwined with motion picture history.
12:30 pm
Hidden Colors of the California Nursery in Niles and Beyond: Lenticular Kodacolor Home Movies (FREE program)
Local horticultural historian Janet Barton and our museum’s own Zack Sutherland walk you through this long-defunct technique of color film processing, and the resulting footage taken in Niles and elsewhere in California.
2:30 pm
THE ISLE OF HOPE
(1925, Richard Talmadge Productions) Film collector Michael Aus was scrolling through eBay one night when he found this formerly-lost film for sale. After acquiring the only print, Aus deposited the film here at our museum – giving us an opportunity at this year’s festival to demonstrate how film collectors have been essential over the decades to making rare or lost material visible to the public.
The Isle of Hope is a stunt-filled adventure feature film starring Richard Talmadge, a former circus tumbling performer turned movie actor and producer, later turned Hollywood stuntman. Also featured are Helen Ferguson (a former player at the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago), James A. Marcus, and George Reed. (High-definition digital presentation)
Silent Oddities on our big screen
We have searched our archives for hidden and forgotten gems, and we’ve put together a show of some of the best: An Animated Luncheon, filmed in 1900 at Edison’s Laboratory, and another “trick film,” Enchanted Glasses (Pathé 1905); a rare cartoon from the Essanay Studio, Dreamy Dud, He Resolves Not To Smoke (1915); several human interest stories from a Hearst newsreel and Dog Comedy: Train Wreck which has an all-animal cast.
(Piano accompaniment by Bruce Loeb and David Drazin.)
4:30 pm
FILM IS DEAD. LONG LIVE FILM!
(2024, Cold Eye Films)
Award-winning documentary exploring the vanishing world of private film collecting. Condemned as pirates and hounded by the FBI, film collectors have long lurked in the shadows. Yet their efforts have resulted in the survival of countless films that would otherwise have been lost to history. Produced and directed by Peter Flynn.
Preceded by short subjects from the museum’s archive:
Ringling Brothers Circus Parade (1902)
Suzie Loses Her First Tooth (early 1920s)
(Piano accompaniment for shorts by Bruce Loeb)
Weekend Passes: $35
Requested donation for individual screenings: $8 Museum Members; $10 Not Members Yet
2024 Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival
Friday, July 26 – Sunday, July 28
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
37417 Niles Blvd., Fremont
(510) 494-1411
www.nilesfilmmuseum.org
