The Arrival from the Darkness (Príchozí z temnot) (1921)
The Cinema Museum2 Dugard Way, London
Wed 21 Oct · 19:30 · £8
About this event
Digital restoration. Director Jan S. Kolár 1921 – Czech. Featuring Theodor Pistek, Anny Ondra, Josef Svab. A 1921 supernatural fantasy from Czechoslovakia which follows a collector who revives his 16th-century ancestor using an ancient manuscript and the Elixir of Life, unleashing a gothic tale involving alchemy, plague-era mysticism, ruined castles, and occult rituals. Shot at Czech castles and historic locations, the film also showcases the work of cinematographers Otto Heller and Otto Hoffmann. Heller would later become a major figure in British cinema, photographing films including The Ladykillers and Peeping Tom. Director Jan S. Kolár, born in Prague in 1896, was among the defining figures of the Czech silent era, working as a director, screenwriter, actor, and producer during the industry’s formative years in that country. The cast includes Theodor Pistek, Josef Svab and Anny Ondra, remembered as the heroine of Hitchcock’s Blackmail, (she was seen previously in Kennington Bioscope’s 2019 presentation of the 1927 Czech comedy An Old Gangster’s Molls).
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