Film Details

A decade or so ago, one of Austin’s quirkiest and most popular bands, The Invincible Czars, branched out and started to accompany silent films. Playing for their first movie at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the four-person group soon had a regular silent movie series at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. They also began touring the U.S. with their film scores, which incorporate guitar, bass, violin, keyboard, winds, percussion, and vocals. Tonight The Invincible Czars make their Cleveland debut with two different silent-film programs. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the first, is perhaps the earliest significant American horror movie. John Barrymore plays the upstanding M.D. who discovers how to unleash his id via an “evil” alter ego, Edward Hyde. (Barrymore employs only facial contortions, not makeup or special effects, during the early stages of Jekyll’s transformation.) The Invincible Czars will transform the movie in other ways. “As good as any [silent film accompanists] I’ve seen.” –Jason Silverman, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe. Blu-ray. 79 min.