Gothique Film Society, Kennington Bioscope, Aga Ujma & Orphee, Gothique Film Society, Chicago (1927)

 

Gothique Film Society January 28th Kennington Bioscope February 2nd Aga Ujma & Orphee February 12th  Gothique Film Society February 18th Chicago (1927) February 23rd Gothique Film Society presents; Black Sunday (1960) & VIY (1967), Friday January 28th @ 7pm The Gothique Film Society continues its 55th season with a double bill of films based on Nikolai Gogol’s short story Viy. Black Sunday (Italy/1960/85mins), directed by Mario Bava and starring Barbara Steele and John Richardson. In this liberal adaptation of Gogol’s story, a vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch’s beautiful descendant. Viy (USSR/1967/72mins), directed by Konstantin Ershov and Georgiy Kropachyov and starring Leonid Kuravlyov and Natalya Varley. In this more faithful adaptation, a young priest is ordered to preside over the wake of a witch in a church in a remote village. This means spending three nights alone with the corpse, with only his faith to protect him. Individual tickets for each show are £8 and can either be purchased via Ticketlab or on the door. Alternatively, Gothique Film Society membership subscriptions are available. The subscription for all six shows each season is £30.00. For further enquiries about membership, please contact Dave Simpson david.simpson399@btinternet.com or Simon Davies j_s_davies@hotmail.com or come along and join up on the door. Kennington Bioscope presents; A Soul In Torment (1921), Wednesday February 2nd @ 7:30pm A Soul in Torment (1921) aka Frau Dorothys Bekenntnis / Mrs. Dane’s Confession is an Austrian film directed by Michael Curtiz, with cinematography by Gustav Ucicky, and starring Lucy Doraine, Alfons Fryland, Otto Tressier, Kurt Lessen, Harry DeLoon, Anton Tiller and Max-Ralph Ostermann. In 1919, Mihály Kertész (his stage name at the time – he was born Mano Kaminer) had moved to Austria from Hungary, where he made nearly 20 films, often with his wife Lucy Doraine (until their divorce in 1923). In 1926, he answered the call from Warner Bros., changing his name again to Michael Curtiz. Dorothy (Lucy Doraine) awakens next to a body and is immediately arrested. Grilled by the police who accuse her of the murder, she protests that she’s innocent. Bit by bit Dorothy’s memories are pieced together, starting with the death of her parents and how she came under the tutelage of her uncle. But her seemingly safe life is derailed when she is saved from an attempted kidnapping by a dashing man. Unfortunately he is not really after her but her money. Find out more here. Tickets are £7, but seats are limited.  To avoid disappointment, please arrive early or request an invitation via email; kenbioscope@gmail.com. Wonder Reels: Aga Ujma + Orphee (1961), Saturday February 12th @ 7pm Wonder Reels return to the Cinema Museum with their unique events featuring live performances from outstanding London musicians followed by a 35mm screening of a full feature film chosen with the artist in mind. The event will start with multi-instrumentalist songstress Aga Ujma, who will be playing one of her mesmerising experimental harp sets. The concert will be followed by a 35mm projection of 1951 masterpiece Orphée, in which Jean Cocteau weaves a poetic and surrealist vision of the Greek myth, creating a thriller about the quest for true love and power of the shadows. Tickets are £10.  Click below to purchase from Ticketlab, or call 020 7840 2200 during office hours to purchase direct from the Museum. Buy Now Gothique Film Society presents; Spaceways (1953) & The Shadow of The Cat (1961), Friday February 18th @ 7pm The Gothique Film Society continues its 55th season with a couple of home grown thrillers. Spaceways (UK/1953/73mins), directed by Terence Fisher and starring Howard Duff and Eva Bartok. Matrimonial strife hits a close-knit group of scientists, and two of them blast off to an artificial satellite to prove one of them didn’t kill his wife and send her out into space. The Shadow of the Cat (UK/1961/76mins), directed by John Gilling and starring André Morell and Barbara Shelley. More matrimonial strife! After collaborating in the murder of his wife, a husband and his co-conspirators are haunted by guilt in the form of her pet cat. Individual tickets for each show are £8 and can either be purchased via Ticketlab or on the door. Alternatively, Gothique Film Society membership subscriptions are available. The subscription for all six shows each season is £30.00. For further enquiries about membership, please contact Dave Simpson david.simpson399@btinternet.com or Simon Davies j_s_davies@hotmail.com or come along and join up on the door. Kennington Bioscope presents; Chicago (1927), Wednesday February 23rd @ 7:30pm Chicago (1927) is directed by Frank Urson, with Phyllis Haver, Victor Varconi, Virginia Bradford, and Robert Edeson. A wild jazz-loving and boozing wife Roxie Hart, kills her boyfriend in cold blood after he leaves her. Seventy-five years before Bob Fosse’s Oscar-winning musical version of Maurine Watkins’s successful stage play, Cecil B. DeMille’s production company made this saucy silent film version. Phyllis Haver is hugely entertaining as the brazen Roxie Hart “Chicago’s most beautiful murderess“ a woman so pathologically shallow she sees notoriety for a murder rap as an opportunity to secure her fortune. Egged on by her crooked lawyer (“they’ll be naming babies after you”), Roxie neglects her long-suffering loyal husband and sets about milking her celebrity status for all she’s worth. The sequence in the prison is an absolute delight – particularly the rivalry between Roxie and fellow-murderess Velma (played by DeMille’s mistress), as are the climactic courtroom scenes. Find out more here.