Chicago (1927) + Live Jazz Score!

Directed by Frank Ursan
Starring Phyllis Haver, Victor Varconi, Virginia Bradford

Cecil B. DeMille’s sensational silent film with live jazz score!

The Film

Seventy-five years before Bob Fosse’s Broadway musical, the true story of jazz-loving murderess Roxie Hart was brought to the screen by Cecil B. DeMille.

After murdering her lover, Roxie Hart teams up with an unscrupulous lawyer, Billy Flynn, and fellow murderess Velma Kelly, to milk her trial for publicity and become famous. A cracking satire on fame and the media, Cecil B. DeMille’s film is as sensational as the real-life scandal on which it’s based.

The Music

Chicago (1927) will be accompanied by a three-piece band playing a specially created 1920s-style musical jazz score.

Jonny Best is one of the UK’s leading silent film pianists, performing at BFI Southbank and throughout the UK, in theatres, concert halls, and cinemas. With Jonny are percussionist Trevor Bartlett, and violinist, Susannah Simmons – who, when she isn’t playing silent film jazz, is a member of the Opera North orchestra. Together, they’ll weave songs from the 1920s and 30s into a unique, live film score.

This event is presented by Northern Silents. Fusing new music with film to create inspiring events across the North of England