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EVENT, SCREENING, SCREENING + LIVE ACCOMPANIMENT

Pavement Butterfly

Sunday, Dec 26, 2021 at 1:00 pm

Location: Redstone Theater

With piano accompaniment by Makia Matsumura

Dir. Richard Eichberg. Germany/United Kingdom. 1929, 90 mins. Archival 35mm. With Anna May Wong, Alexander Granach, Nien Soen Ling. Frustrated by the typecasting she faced in Hollywood, the pioneering Chinese American actress Anna May Wong found true stardom in Europe, where she made several of her finest pictures, from E. A. Dupont’s Piccadilly (1929) to this little-seen continental melodrama. The proto-noir scenario stars Wong as Princess Butterfly, a Parisian carnival dancer who, framed for murder by a spurned clown (Alexander Granach, best remembered as Knock, the ghoulish real estate agent in Nosferatu), escapes to the French Riviera and hides out amongst high society, only to find her ignominious past catching up with her. Financed out of Great Britain, but photographed on soundstages in Berlin and scenic locations in France, this elegantly appointed film exemplifies the luxe international style of late-era European silents. Imported archival print courtesy of BFI National Film Archive.

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order online. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.