The Silent Clowns Film Series is New York City’s longest-running regularly-scheduled showcase for classic silent film comedy. Our screenings are presented at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the NYPL Library for the Performing Arts in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and at the Cobble Hill Cinemas in Brooklyn, NY.
The Silent Clowns Film Series is a production of Silent Cinema Productions, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to presenting silent movies with live musical accompaniment to audiences of all ages, in order to preserve the experience of silent cinema. We produce silent film shows at a variety of venues, and we restore silent films for use at our shows.
You’d Be Surprised (1926)
Saturday May 3, 2025
2:30pm
NYPL Library for the Performing Arts
FREE
Raymond Griffith is one of the most overlooked silent comics of the 1920s. You’d Be Surprised (’26) stars the top-hatted bon vivant as a police coroner who’s called in to solve the murder of an important district attorney. Dorothy Sebastian is on hand as leading lady to help Mr. Griffith sort through the numerous red herrings to find the killer. Setting the stage for our feature is Movie Night (’29) the last silent short from fan favorite Charley Chase.
You’d Be Surprised courtesy of Undercrank Productions/Library of Congress
The Cameraman (1928)
Wednesday June 4, 2025
7:30pm
Cobble Hill Cinema
The Cameraman (’28) was Buster Keaton’s first starring feature for M-G-M, and finds him as a timid New York City tintype photographer who becomes a newsreel man thanks to some help from the pretty Marceline Day and the equally attractive Josephine the monkey. Partially shot in NYC, there’s great footage of 5th Avenue and Yankee Stadium. Billy Franey opens the show for Buster in The Cameraman (’20) where Billy has his own troubles taking photos.
The Cameraman courtesy of Warner Bros.
Laurel & Hardy Year Two
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
7:30pm
Cobble Hill Cinema
1928 was an important year for Laurel & Hardy – having become a team the previous year this is when so much of the cinematic style that would stay with them for years was developed and set. To commemorate this Lobster Films and Flicker Alley embarked on a major restoration project of their silent films. Scouring the world’s film archives and collectors, they’ve created the most complete and best-looking versions available. On tap for this show are From Soup to Nuts, We Faw Down and Two Tars.
Films presented courtesy of Flicker Alley/Lobster Films
The Freshman (1925)
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
7:30pm
Cobble Hill Cinema
Remembered as the “Third Genius” of silent comedy, Harold Lloyd was always first at the box office. After years of working with producer Hal Roach, Lloyd became his own producer in 1924. The next year he released The Freshman (’25) one of his best and most famous films. Harold found the way to mix real heart with laughs, and cemented his place as one of the leaders and innovators in the field of screen comedy. Also on the program is the early Lloyd one-reeler Young Mr. Jazz (’19).
Films presented courtesy of Harold Lloyd Entertainment
