The Kennington Bioscope is a regular cinema event featuring live accompaniment to silent films that takes place at the Cinema Museum.

Kevin Brownlow will be introducing his personal film print of Second Fiddle, a rare 1923 comedy-drama directed by Frank Tuttle (whose Eddie Cantor-Clara Bow comedy Kid Boots (1926) was screened at our first comedy weekend).

Tuttle’s numerous later credits range from the Clara Bow films True to the Navy (1930) and No Limit (1931) to This Gun For Hire (1942) and Hell On Frisco Bay (1955) starring Alan Ladd, via several Bing Crosby vehicles and much else. For part of the McCarthy era Tuttle lived in France, where he made Gunman in the Streets (1950). Second Fiddle stars Glenn Hunter, a Broadway actor who originated the role of Merton of the Movies on stage and reprised it in the (now missing) 1924 film version. Also in the cast is a young Mary Astor, remembered today chiefly for silents such as Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925) and Don Juan (1926) and, especially, for her talkie roles, notably Red Dust (1932) and the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. Second Fiddle refers to the position held by Jim Bradley (Hunter) within his family. Jim becomes a garage mechanic while older brother Herbert (Townsend Martin) goes off to college. On Herbert’s return home, he has no difficulty in stealing Jim’s girlfriend, Polly Crawford (Astor) …

A programme of silent shorts precedes the main film.

Anyone interested in silent film should visit the website for more info.

Tickets & Pricing

£5. Seats are limited, so please request an invitation using the email kenbioscope@gmail.com.