Jerry the Troublesome Tyke, from http://www.fflics.co.uk
There’s more information now available on the Fflics Festival of Welsh and Welsh-related silent and sound film, to be held in Aberystwyth, 25-28 October. Here’s the programme:
Thursday 25 October
19.00 Opening Night Gala Celebration –
19.30 How Green Was My Valley (1941) 118 mins
Friday 26 October
10.00 The Proud Valley (1940) 77 mins
10.00 Arthur Cheetham Shorts
12.00 The Silent Village (1943) 36 mins
12.00 William Haggar Shorts
14.00 Jerry the Troublesome Tyke
14.00 The Corn is Green (US, 1946) 118 mins
15.30 The Citadel (1938) 110 mins
17.45 Blue Scar (1949) 90 mins
18.00 Valley of Song (1953) 74 mins
20.00 Dead of Night (1945) 102 mins
20.00 Fame is The Spur (1947) 116 mins
Saturday 27 October
10.00 A Run For Your Money (1949) 85 mins
10.00 Mitchell and Kenyon Shorts and Representations of Welshness – Discussion
11.30 Y Chwarelwr (The Quarryman) (1935) and Yr Etifeddiaeth (The Heritage) (1947-9)
13.45 Noson Lawen and Letter from Wales
14.30 The Shop at Sly Corner (1947)
15.00 The Rat (1925) 74 mins
16.45 The Stars Look Down (1939) 94 mins
17.15 Call of the Blood (France, 1920)
19.30 Next of Kin (1942) 102 mins
19.00 The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918)
Sunday 28 October
10.00 The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949) 95 mins
11.00 David (1951) 37 mins
13.30 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) 163 mins
Some corking stuff there. On the silent account, there’s Ivor Novello in Call of the Blood (a French production) and The Rat, the long-lost biopic The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918), the 1920s Sid Griffiths cartoon series Jerry the Troublesome Tyke, and early shorts by the Welsh film pioneers Arthur Cheetham and William Haggar. Plus the ubiquitous Mitchell and Kenyon and their films of Wales in the 1900s.
And, in the proper spirit of these things, here’s some of that information in Welsh:
Fel rhan o ddathliadau blwyddyn canmlwyddiant Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru, bydd gwyl ffilmiau Fflics yn dangos etifeddiaeth ryfeddol ffilm yng Nghymru.
Bydd yr wyl yn cynnig cymysgedd ddifyr o ffilmiau mud a sain. Ymysg yr uchafbwyntiau bydd Noson Gala Agoriadol gyda dangosiad o brint adferedig o’r ffilm eiconig How Green was my Valley (1941), yn ogystal a dwy ffilm o’r 1920au a fydd yn amlygu dawn Ivor Novello o Gaerdydd, un sêr mwyaf y cyfnod.
Mae uchafbwyntiau eraill yr wyl yn cynnwys Dathliad Gala o’r ffilm The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918), a fu ar goll am nifer mawr o flynyddoedd ond sydd erbyn hyn yn destun dathlu cenedlaethol. Darperir cyfeiliant piano byw gan Neil Brand, sy’n arbenigo ar gyfeilio i ffilmiau mud.
Bydd Fflics yn canolbwyntio’n benodol ar sinema sydd â chyswllt Cymreig o gyfnod ffilmiau nitrad (1890au hyd 1953). Mae’r cyfnod yma’n cynnwys gwaith arloesol William Haggar, clasuron o Stiwdio Ealing, a hefyd yn dathlu ffimiau glofaol y 1940au a’r 1950au, megis Proud Valley gyda Paul Robeson.
Bydd Fflics yn dirwyn i ben ddydd Sul, 28 Hydref, gyda’r ffilm ryfel feistrolgar The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, â pherfformiad bythgofiadwy gan Roger Livesey yn chwarae’r brif ran.
As ever, there’s more information on the conference website (in both languages).
The Bioscope 
I am glad you alerted your readers (among whom I now number) to Fflics, which was a treat for silent screen enthusiasts like yourself. For those who missed it, The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918) will be released on DVD, with a score by Neil Brand, who also accompanied The Rat during the festival. It is always a pleasure having him here again in Aberystwyth and getting to talk with him about silent movies (and radio drama, my personal passion). I did not hear the interview on the Today program and am curious to know what was “patronising” about it. Did the oral eye-rolling at the mention of the film’s title suggest to you a ridiculing of the subject matter or a dismissing of the screening here in Wales as self-celebratory?
By the way, I appreciated your radiodramatic wink (“It’s that man again”).
I really regret missing Fflics – I was due to take part ina panel session, but work commitments got in the way. It’s terrific news that The Life Story of David Lloyd George is to make it onto DVD at last. I’m steadfast in my opinion that it’s a masterpiece of silent cinema, as well as having a fascinating hisory of political vanity and intrigue.
My objection to the Today interview was the joking approach to very idea of silent films and their musical accompaniment. The interviewer speculated that Neil couldn’t have many rivals for his profession (i.e. because it was so eccentric and recherche, not because it required unusual skills) and snorted at the idea of a film called The Life Story of David Lloyd George (the subject matter, not the location of the screening). Admittedly the piece ended up being greatly admiring of Neil’s art, but I guess I was just irritated by the old prejudices coming up again and again.
Luke (ITMA)
Thanks for clarifying, Luke. No competition? Well, they don’t know what they are talking about. Let them eat Robert Israel! It irks me how silent cinema is not only being marginalized, but ridiculed as some antediluvian, makeshift art. Fortunately, your journal does its part to counter that. I shared my impressions of The Life on my blog last night (some of it appeared on Alternative Film Guide). It was a great cinematic experience, largely due to Neil Brand’s performance.
The festival was wonderful. Attendance was shockingly low for Proud Valley (one of your favorites, I read), but picked up thereafter. The rest is silence here in Aberystwyth (well, Paul Shallcross is accompanying Caligari at the Abertoir horror film festival). Pardon my ignorance: what panel would you have been on?
Cheers, Harry
I think the panel was on early Welsh cinema – Arthur Cheetham, William Haggar et al.
I have a sentimental attachment to The Proud Valley. It’s probably twenty years since I last saw it, but it came over as so noble and unaffectedly touching that the memory has stayed with me ever since. Made by Pen Tennyson, the great lost hope of British film.
Glad to have discovered your blog. Especially intrigued to see mention made of Tomáš Masaryk, a great man now largely forgotten. An odd enthusiasm of mine is the Czech writer Karel Čapek, Masaryk’s friend and interviewer, who wrote a delightful extended essay, ‘How a Film is Made’, which is well worth seeking out.