The UCLA Film and Television Archive will screen a double feature of silent films directed by John S. Robertson. On Friday June 6, 7:30 p.m., two of the Canadian director’s 1923 films, “The Bright Shawl” and “The Fighting Blade,” will play at the UCLA Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theater as part of the "Archive Treasures" series.
“The Bright Shawl,” praised in its day for capturing the authentic look of 1850s Cuba and its fight for independence from Spain, was a showcase for silent era stars Richard Barthelmess and Dorothy Gish. Barthelmess plays an American adventurer caught up in romance and revolution, while Gish plays a seductive cabaret dancer after his heart. The film was also a springboard for future talkies stars Mary Astor, William Powell and Edward G. Robinson.
“The Fighting Blade” finds Barthelmess in fighting form as a soldier of fortune embroiled in the English Civil War. As Variety described the film at the time, “'In power of incident and in climacteric [sic] punch, “The Fighting Blade” has much that neck-and-necks with Dumas.”
Live music will be played during both films by silent movie accompanist Cliff Retallick.
“Archive Treasures” presents older films restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Funding for “The Bright Shawl” restoration was provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and “The Fighting Blade” was funded by the Stanford Theatre Foundation as part of “Saving the Silents.”
Tickets are $10 online, $9 at the door and free for UCLA students with ID. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit UCLA Film and Television Archive.
