The General and The Great Train Robbery – Film with Live Music
  • Saturday 13 April 2024, 7:30pm
  • Carole Nash Hall
  • £20. FTE/U18 £5.50
Image Black and white image of steam train from the film The General

Two of silent cinema’s greatest railway chase movies with live, improvised piano and percussion.

The Great Train Robbery is a twelve-minute escapade which wowed audiences in 1903 and still packs a punch 120 years later. 

The General, from 1926, is Buster Keaton’s greatest achievement – both a brilliantly staged Civil War epic and a perfect comedy-thriller. Keaton plays a railroad engineer Johnny Gray, who loves his locomotive, The General. When it’s stolen by Yankees, he sets out to get it back and epic, action-packed chase ensues. Based on a true story, The General is packed full of beautiful visual comedy, daring stunts, and nail-biting dramatic tension. 

Acclaimed silent film musicians Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) will bring to life this pair of silent cinema’s most famous railway chase movies. Jonny performs all over the UK as a soloist and with the improvising quartet, Frame Ensemble. Trevor is also a member of Frame Ensemble, and performs with a number of chamber ensembles.

Presented by Northern Silents

7.30pm The Great Train Robbery
7.45pm Interval (10 minutes)
7.50pm The General
9.15pm End Time (approx.)

Get 15% off when you book for both this and The Passion of Joan of Arc – Film with Live Music in the same transaction. Discount will be automatically applied during the booking process.

 

Jonny Best

Musician Jonny Best playing the piano

Image credit Chris Payne

Trevor Bartlett

musician Trevor Bartlett sits at a drum kit

Image credit Timm Cleasby

 

The General and The Great Train Robbery – Film with Live Music
  • Carole Nash Hall
  • £20. FTE/U18 £5.50

The Great Train Robbery. Directed by Edwin S. Porter
USA, 1903, 12 minutes, U.

The General, Directed by Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton
USA, 1926, 80 minutes, U

Two of silent cinema’s greatest railway chase movies with live, improvised piano and percussion.

The Great Train Robbery is a twelve-minute escapade which wowed audiences in 1903 and still packs a punch 120 years later. 

The General, from 1926, is Buster Keaton’s greatest achievement – both a brilliantly staged Civil War epic and a perfect comedy-thriller. Keaton plays a railroad engineer Johnny Gray, who loves his locomotive, The General. When it’s stolen by Yankees, he sets out to get it back and epic, action-packed chase ensues. Based on a true story, The General is packed full of beautiful visual comedy, daring stunts, and nail-biting dramatic tension. 

Acclaimed silent film musicians Jonny Best (piano) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) will bring to life this pair of silent cinema’s most famous railway chase movies. Jonny performs all over the UK as a soloist and with the improvising quartet, Frame Ensemble. Trevor is also a member of Frame Ensemble, and performs with a number of chamber ensembles.

Presented by Northern Silents

7.30pm The Great Train Robbery
7.45pm Interval (10 minutes)
7.50pm The General
9.15pm End Time (approx.)

Get 15% off when you book for both this and The Passion of Joan of Arc – Film with Live Music in the same transaction. Discount will be automatically applied during the booking process.

 

Jonny Best

Musician Jonny Best playing the piano

Image credit Chris Payne

Trevor Bartlett

musician Trevor Bartlett sits at a drum kit

Image credit Timm Cleasby

 

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