With live music by John Sweeney
In Stroheim’s 1922 film a con artist masquerades as Russian nobility and attempts to seduce the wife of an American diplomat. Pianist John Sweeney will provide a live musical accompaniment for this special silent film screening.Our
spring historical mini season is dedicated to actor and director Erich
von Stroheim. Born in 1885 into a Jewish family of hat-makers in Vienna,
Stroheim emigrated to the USA in 1909 where became one of the greatest
Austrian film directors of the silent era. His reputation for
extravagance, insistence on complete artistic freedom regardless of
economic considerations, and his uncompromising and sophisticated
treatment of controversial subject matters ended his career as a
Hollywood director in the late 1920s. He returned to Europe where he took occasional film roles. In 1956 he received L' Ordre national
de la Légion d'honneur, the highest French order of civil merits. We
honour this extraordinary career with a selection of three rarely
screened films.
USA, 1922, 117min, silent with English intertitles, directed by Erich von Stroheim
Full film programme:
Blind Husbands
Tuesday 10 April, 7pm, ACF London
Queen Kelly
Wednesdaz 2 May, 7pm, ACF London
