Silent Comedy Shorts and Cartoons

Every year at Zoom we offer the best films for kids from the silent movie era. This year we’re thrilled to present a special program featuring short films by two of the greatest screen comedians ever, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Chaplin’s The Immigrant (1917, presented in a stunning new restoration) sees the little tramp traveling by boat to immigrate to the United States, getting into mishaps, and falling in love along the way. The last short film he made before moving into features, The Love Nest (1923) also includes lots of laughs at sea when Keaton sets sail on a small boat to escape a broken heart and eventually finds himself working on a large whaling ship. Tonight’s program also features some delightful early magic trick films by Georges Méliès (who has a renewed popularity among younger audiences thanks to Martin Scorsese’s Hugo) and the cartoon antics of Koko the Clown by animation innovator Max Fleischer. (approx. 70 mins., DCP)