QUEEN KELLY
Live musical accompaniment by Eli Denson conducting the SF Conservatory of Music Orchestra
The late silent-era masterpiece that never was and the last major production entrusted to Erich von Stroheim has been reconstructed from surviving footage by Milestone Films. Bearing all the Stroheim hallmarks—lush visuals, meticulous attention to every detail, and rank corruption at every level of society—it’s also a showcase for Gloria Swanson who runs an emotional gamut from innocent convent girl to hardened brothel keeper.
“A spectacular, fanatically ornamental, yet harrowing masterwork of erotic ecstasies and horrors.” —The New Yorker
““In the long history of Hollywood excess, there is no tale as torrid as that of Queen Kelly… an outlandish saga of illicit love in sordid surroundings” —The Guardian
Live musical accompaniment by Eli Denson conducting the SF Conservatory of Music Orchestra
Eli Denson is an award-winning, LA-based composer, conductor, and orchestrator for film and television. He is currently working with renowned composer Kevin Kiner on projects such as Dark Winds, House of David, NCIS: Origins, and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld. In March 2025, his acclaimed score for the film #1 Bad Dad was premiered at the Director’s Guild of America as a part of his fellowship in Film Independent’s prestigious Project Involve program. Denson’s original composition for Queen Kelly was commissioned by Indiana University Cinema through the Jon Vickers Scoring Award. Denson will conduct the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra performing his score.
Details
Director
Erich von Stroheim
Country
United States
Year
1929
Cast
Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Serena Owen, Tully Marshall
Runtime
105 minutes
Source
Kino Lorber
Format
DCP