Saffron Screen: Hugo Max to improvise live soundtrack to German classic chamber drama The Last Laugh on solo viola

Film fans will have the opportunity to watch a silent movie on the big screen in Saffron Walden as it would have originally been viewed – with an improvised soundtrack.

Saffron Screen will be returning to the heady days of silent cinema on Saturday July 5 when musician Hugo Max will be improvising a score to German director F W Murnau’s classic chamber drama, The Last Laugh, on solo viola.

The 90-minute film, made in 1924, stars Emil Jannings as a doorman for a famous hotel who is demoted by his uncaring manager to washroom attendant as he is considered too old and feeble to represent the image of the hotel. But his fortunes are dramatically turned around after a patron dies in his arms in the hotel washroom.

Music has always been an essential element of the cinema-going experience. Before the advent of the ‘talkies’, musicians employed by cinemas would improvise soundtracks to silent movies.

Max is a British-Austrian musician, filmmaker and painter who performs live improvised scores to silent films on solo viola. He regularly soundtracks screenings at London’s Prince Charles Cinema and Picturehouse Cinemas across the UK.

The soundtrack draws on the dramatic and heightened world of silent cinema, incorporating musical styles and techniques developed during the time of their conception. Watch as Max delves beneath the surface of one of the most innovative visions in the history of narrative film.

Saffron Screen’s business manager, Jason Bond, said: “Film fans will love the opportunity to watch a silent film as it would have originally been viewed. We’re looking forward to bringing this unique cinema experience to our big screen.”

The Last Laugh will be screen at 7.30pm on July 5. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.saffronscreen.com or from Saffron Walden Tourist Information Office.