Preview trailer for Slapsticon 2011

Slapsticon, the annual festival of rarely seen comedies from the silent and early sound eras, returns to the Rossyln Spectrum Theatre, Arlington VA 15-18 July 2011. Last year the festival made headlines around the world with the amazing rediscovery of a lost Chaplin film, A Thief Catcher. It may not be every year that they are able to repeat such a coup, but once again the organisers have come up with a programme rich in treasures and rarities. Here’s the programme so far:

Thursday July 14, 2011

12:00 pm — Spectrum Doors Open

1:00 pm

* To Be Announced

3:00 pm — Weiss-O-Roni III and Other Stuff

* Seeing Things (1928) — Ben Turpin
* Sock and Run (1928) — Snub Pollard, Marvin Loback

5:00 pm&ndash7:00 pm — Dinner Break

7:00 pm — Marx Brothers Rarities

9:00 pm

* Father’s Close Shave (1920) — Johnny Ray, Laura LaPlante
* Bringing Up Father (1946) — Joe Yule Sr., René Riano

Friday July 15, 2011

8:00 am — Spectrum Doors Open

9:00 am — Early Comedies:

* A Charming Villain (1916) — Smiling Billy Mason, Madge Kirby
* Ham Among the Redskins (1916) — Ham and Bud
* Her Anniversaries (1917) — Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew
* Local Showers (1916) — Musty Suffer
* The Child Needs a Mother (1916) — Fatty Voss
* Honeymooning (1919) — Mr. and Mrs. Carter DeHaven
* Risks and Roughnecks (1917) — Larry Semon
* Faint Heart and Fair Lady (1917) — Victor Moore
* Cupid’s Hold Up (1919) — Bobby Vernon

11:00 am — Kids ‘N’ Animals

* The Home Wreckers (1925) — Hey Fellas
* No Children (1929) — Smitty Comedy
* Young Sherlocks (1922) — Our Gang
* Mickey’s Tent Show (1933) — Mickey McGuire

12:30 pm–2:00 pm — Lunch Break

2:00pm — Hal Roach Comedies

* Follow the Crowd (1918) — Harold Lloyd
* All in a Day (1920) — Snub Pollard
* Are Parents Pickles? (1925) — Paul Parrott
* Never Too Old (1926) — All-Star with Claude Gillingwater
* Girl Shock (1930) — Charley Chase

4:00 pm — Rob Stone Rarities

6:00 pm–8 pm — Dinner Break

8:00 pm

* Dynamite (1919) — Lloyd Hamilton
* Silent Feature to be announced

10:00 pm

* War, Italian Style (1967) — Buster Keaton

Saturday July 16, 2011

8:00am — Spectrum Doors Open

9:00 am — Dave Snyder’s Cartoon Show

10:30 am — The Sennett Spot

* On His Wedding Day (1912) — Ford Sterling, Dot Farley
* The Great Toe Mystery (1914) — Charley Chase, Alice Howell
* A Janitor’s Wife’s Temptation (1915)
* Won by a Fowl (1917) — Paddy McGuire, Fritz Schade
* His One Night Stand (1917) — Harry McCoy
* Keystone Girls Open Trout Season (1917)
* What Happened to Mrs. Jones? (1917) — F. Richard Jones
* Galloping Bungalows (1924) — Billy Bevan, Sid Smith
* Matchplay (1930) — Andy Clyde

12:30 pm–2:00 pm — Lunch Break

2:00 pm — David Wyatt Rarities

* Moonshine (1921) — Lloyd Hamilton

4:00 pm

* April Fool (1921) — Lloyd Hamilton
* Professor Beware (1938) — Harold Lloyd

6:00 pm–8 pm — Dinner Break

8:00 pm — Chaplin Rarities

* The Simp (1920) — Lloyd Hamilton
* Red Hot Tires (1925) — Monte Blue, Patsy Ruth Miller

10:00 pm — A Columbia Conglomeration

* Blitz on the Fritz (1943) — Harry Langdon
* Many Sappy Returns (1938) — Charley Chase
* Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1935) — Andy Clyde
* One Too Many (1934) — Leon Errol

Sunday July 17, 2011

9:00 am — Spectrum Doors Open

10:00 am — More Talkie Comedies

* Idle Roomers (1931) — Cameo comedy Directed by Roscoe Arbuckle
* Thanks Again (1931) — Edgar Kennedy
* Blonde Bomber (1936) — Harry Gribbon, Shemp Howard
* Free Rent (1936) — Monty Collins, Tom Kennedy

12:00pm–1:30 pm — Lunch Break

1:30 pm

* The Battling Orioles (1924) — Glenn Tryon
* Queen of Aces (1925) — Wanda Riley
* Misfit Sailor (1926) — Billy Dooley
* Swiss Movements (1926) — Jimmie Adams

3:30 pm — Ones for the Road

* Who’s Afraid? (1927) — Lupino Lane
* Short Kilts (1924) — Stan Laurel
* High Society (1924) — Our Gang

Plus a few surprises, then it’s back to the Holiday Inn Rooftop Restaurant for a good meal, a few drinks, a few more drinks, some fond farewells, a few more drinks, some more fond farewells, a few more drinks, some fonder farewells, a few more drinks, some less fond farewells, a few more drinks, perhaps a fistfight or two, a few more drinks, then a fond passing into unconsciousness …

Clesrly a festival conducted in just the right spirit. Details on registration, accommodation, musical accompaniment and more, are available from the festival site.