World Premiere, Live Music Event
Known for its storied production history and subsequent appearance in Sunset Boulevard, experience Erich von Stroheim's infamous, decadent melodrama starring Gloria Swanson and accompanied by the world premiere of a new and original score. 95th anniversary screening.
In 1928, after years of struggles within the studio system, director Erich von Stroheim found the opportunity to create his crowning achievement: a storybook romance of intoxicating beauty, counterbalanced with a frightfully grim tale of moral corruption. Gloria Swanson, who also co-produced, stars as an innocent convent girl who falls under the spell of a handsome prince (Walter Byron) on the eve of his marriage to a diabolical queen (Seena Owen). The result of three of the biggest personalities in 1920s Hollywood—international superstar Swanson; financier and Swanson’s lover Joseph P. Kennedy (father of President John F. Kennedy); and legendary filmmaker von Stroheim—Queen Kelly was a troubled production from the start due to the perfectionism of Swanson, the eccentricities of her uncompromising director, a ballooning budget, censorship issues, and a brief, unsuccessful detour into integrating synchronized sound into the silent film. Unhappy with the movie, Swanson had von Stroheim fired and walked off the project herself. Queen Kelly was dead until Swanson realized that she was liable for all financial losses. She took the footage she liked, added additional scenes (shot by Gregg Toland, who would later photograph Orson Welles' Citizen Kane), and released the film in Europe in 1932, but it was blocked from a U.S. release by von Stroheim. American audiences would not see any of the footage until it appeared in Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950), where Norma Desmond (played by Swanson) watches herself in her glory days, when she was directed by her ex-husband-now-butler Max (played by none other than Erich von Stroheim). Queen Kelly has since been restored and had a proper U.S. release in 1985. [101 min; romance, drama; silent with English intertitles]
This screening will be accompanied by the debut of a new live score composed by IU Jacobs student Eli Denson and performed by IU Jacobs student musicians.
Eli Denson is an award-winning, LA-based composer for film, television, and video games. He recently graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a master’s degree in Music Scoring for Visual Media. Eli is currently working as an assistant to the Emmy-nominated composer Kevin Kiner, known for his work on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Narcos: Mexico, and Ahsoka. Eli is also a 2024 composer fellow for Film Independent’s Project Involve. He has composed original music for several short films, including #1 Bad Dad, Laid Bare, and Brain Grabbers. In addition to his compositional credits, he has conducted for various projects, such as Adriane McCray's When Offered Wind and the TV pilot Transylburbia.
"All of Stroheim’s films, no matter how mutilated or infuriating they may be, are extraordinary works of a gigantean talent whose cinematic vision was many decades ahead of its time. Watch Queen Kelly and be amazed." — Senses of Cinema
"A compelling curiosity deserving recognition beyond trivia value." — Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
"Endlessly fascinating for its scope and wanton glamor." — Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
