Journey to Pordenone 2016 - Barrie Pattison summarizes some highlights

The Guns of Loos (Sinclair Hill, UK, 1928)

Getting back to Pordenone after only a year's absence disturbing changes are evident. Silent movies are a series of masterpieces floating in a ocean of entertaining time fillers but there are shallows and slabs of material that is just old. I thought I was being hard on the Polish frock coat drama till the man next to me started snoring. 

Short on masterpieces this event did come up with a few palpable hits. The Guns of Loos (UK, 1928) doubles my knowledge of Sinclair Hill.  (Hill's Brittania of Billingsgate, UK, 1933, has some interesting footage of films being made) . Guns of Loos is a wholly unexpected, totally British piece, its cast headed by by Henry Victor, and has a climax of galloping the artillery under fire. 

The Mysterious Lady  (Fred Niblo, USA, 1928) is always fun but my vote went to Ivan Mozjoukine in Adjutant to the Tsar (Vladimir Strizhevsky, Germany, 1928). I found myself with tears streaming down my cheeks.

Spanish poster for  Adjutant to the Tsar