Silents by the Sea at Morecambe Winter Gardens
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
Experience the magic of silent movies in Morecambe this June as a brand new film festival launches with a weekend of classic cinema. Leaning into the charm and delight of the silent era, Silents by the Sea features a weekend of talks and live-scored silent films set in the spectacular surrounds of the historic Winter Gardens theatre.
Presented by Northern Silents, the festival – spread over Saturday 8 – Sunday 9 June – launches with a celebration of perhaps the most recognisable silent cinema star of them all: Charlie Chaplin. The multi-hyphenate talent, who acted in, directed and even scored many of his own films is widely recognised as a genius and watching his films today, it’s immediately apparent just why he was one of cinema’s first global superstars.
The Saturday evening starts with two of Chaplin’s short comedies accompanied on the piano by celebrated musician, and television and radio broadcaster Neil Brand. Then, the sixteen-piece Northern Silents Sinfonia debut with Lancashire-born conductor Helen Harrison, performing Chaplin’s own score to his 1921 heartwarming comedy, The Kid. Riotously funny, the film features Chaplin’s famed Little Tramp character alongside a glorious Jackie Coogan as the child he adopts as his sidekick and partner in crime.
There’s also a chance to hear about the science of slapstick as Brand sits down with Professor Sophie Scott, an expert in the neuroscience of comedy
There’s also a chance to hear about the science of slapstick as Brand sits down with Professor Sophie Scott, an expert in the neuroscience of comedy to explore the brain and its response to the kind of physical comedy popularised on screen by the likes of Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd.
Sunday’s screenings start with a celebration of the colourful fantasies of Georges Méliès including his most famous film, A Trip to the Moon, along with works by his Spanish counterpart, Segundo de Chomon, and others. The films will be accompanied by musicians from across Lancaster, Morecambe and the North, and there’s a new vocal ensemble, The People’s Cinematic Voices being formed for the festival – the group is open to everyone, regardless of experience, with open singing sessions running in the lead up to the festival.
Also on Sunday, there’s an opportunity to listen to festival performers reveal the secrets to making improvised music on the spot. Then, for the big finale, the musicians Frame Ensemble bring to life Harry O. Hoyt’s stop motion dinosaur movie, The Lost World. Adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, this 1925 classic is full of giant monsters created by pioneering effects artist Willis O’Brien, who would go on to further success with his work on the original 1933 version of King Kong.
