Last night, the Alamo Drafthouse and the Austin Classical Guitar Society staged a really spectacular showing of Tod Browning's The Unknown. Presented on a huge outdoor screen in a forested clearing on the grounds of the Laguna Gloria art museum, the film's score was provided by a live performance of the European guitar duo Les Freres Meduses and virtuoso violinist William Fedkenheuer. Astonishingly the event drew a crowd of about 500 people, despite a hefty admission price (that included wine and a tapas dinner), and the audience was mostly reverentially quiet during the performance. Truly one of the most effective showings of a silent film I've ever seen. I hope the unlikely success of this showing leads to more of the same.
Here's a little promo piece on it:
