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San Francisco Silent Film Festival

San Francisco Silent Film Festival

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about silent film as an art form and as a culturally valuable historical record.

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  • San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2026

THE HUMMING BIRD

Music by Wayne Barker
Director
Sidney Olcott
Cast
Gloria Swanson, Edmund Burns, William Ricciardi, Cesare Gravina

(Mostly) shedding her clotheshorse image, Gloria Swanson is convincing as the head of a gang of Parisian toughs who sets out to stymie an American reporter’s investigation into a spate of neighborhood robberies. First love, then duty intervenes. Veteran director Sidney Olcott leads a team that kits out Paramount’s Astoria studio into a convincing Montmartre.

  • 60 minutes
  • United States
  • 1924
  • DCP
Introduction by
Dennis Doros and Amy Heller

Live musical accompaniment by Wayne Barker

WAYNE BARKER has garnered acclaim both for his original compositions and live performances in the theater, including a Tony nomination for best original score on Peter and the Starcatcher. His numerous credits include piano scores for Beth Henley’s Laugh, an homage to silent-era slapstick; and Joe DiPietro’s Hollywood, centered around the 1922 murder of director William Desmond Taylor. He composed for Dame Edna Everage as well as appeared onstage as Master of the Dame’s Music for six years.

Details

Director
Sidney Olcott
Country
United States
Year
1924
Cast
Gloria Swanson, Edmund Burns, William Ricciardi, Cesare Gravina
Source
Kino Lorber
Runtime
60 minutes
Format
DCP
Sat, May 9, 2026
12:00 PM
Castro Theatre
$20 general
$18 member
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