Humoresque
Keeping silent cinema alive, by offering audiences a chance to rediscover films from the era with the accompaniment of talented pianists, is an essential component of the Cinémathèque's programming. As digital technology continues to invent new ways of creating images, it is more relevant than ever to remember how eloquent the images from the so-called silent era of film history truly were. It's fascinating to see how much these works and filmmakers contributed to modern cinema – not to mention that it is always a pleasure to return, for a few hours, to the era of images that speak for themselves.
Accompanied on the piano by Gabriel Thibaudeau
The life and dreams of a Jewish family in New York's East End in 1891. Humoresque was Borzage’s first successful film.
Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage was an American film director and actor. He was the first person to win the Academy Award for Best Director for his film 7th Heaven (1927) at the 1st Academy Awards. Born to European immigrant parents in Salt Lake City, he began his career as a teenager, performing with traveling theater groups throughout the western United States before finding employment in Hollywood in 1912, where he began directing and acting in short films before transitioning to feature films. His first major success was Humoresque in 1920. Borzage's other notable works include Street Angel (1928), Lucky Stars (1929), The River (1929), Bad Girl (1931) - for which he won his second Academy Award, A Farewell to Arms (1932), History Is Made at Night (1937), The Mortal Storm (1940), and Moonrise (1948).
