The Dryden will screen Old Ironsides (James Cruze, U.S. 1926, 119 min., 35mm) with live piano by Philip C. Carli.

We start our fall Silent Tuesdays with one of the great sea epics of film history, about the United States' first conflict with a foreign power and the crucial role taken by the iconic sailing warship USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides" because cannonballs seemed to just bounce off her wooden hull. A tale of cunning pirates, brave navy sailors, and romance fitted into the whole framework, director James Cruze creates tremendous visual sweep—in its original screenings, an early widescreen process was used at key moments—and storytelling panache while dashing Charles Farrell, stunning Esther Ralston, and crusty seamen Wallace Beery and George Bancroft give their all as they are besieged by foes from "the shores of Tripoli."

[source: Dryden website, 2015-Aug-24]