As part of their tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, the Lone Star Film Society will present The Lodger​. Described by Hitchcock himself as “the first true Hitchcock movie,” this masterful silent thriller is set in a fog-bound London terrorized by a Jack the Ripper-style murderer known only as The Avenger. His victims, all young blonde women, are discovered each Tuesday night. This is one of the great British silent era crime films, starring matinée idol Ivor Novello as the mysterious new lodger who appears to be acting rather strangely.

This screening is silent featuring live musical accompaniment performed by Curtis Heath. Heath lives in Fort Worth and plays guitar, sings and writes songs for The Theater Fire, who will release their fourth album in 2014. As a composer for films, he has provided original music for four feature films in the last two years, three of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. These include Ain't Them Bodies Saints starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, Hellion starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis and Pit Stop, which was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in 2014.

The film is a restoration by the BFI National Archive in association with ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Network Releasing and Park Circus Films. Principal restoration funding provided by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Film Foundation, and Simon W Hessel. Additional funding provided by British Board of Film Classification, Deluxe 142, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, and Ian & Beth Mill.

The Lone Star Film Society’s ArthouseFW and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth finish out the summer with an exciting series showcasing six pivotal Alfred Hitchcock films. The selected films explore the power of Hitchcock’s distinctive style in two of his nine silent films and four of his later masterpieces.