Our Hospitality (1923): South West Silents

Pound Arts proudly presents 100 Years of Silents. In partnership with South West Silents, we’re showing three all-time-classic silent films that turn 100 years old in 2023. Each screening is accompanied by a live piano score, performed by BFI South Bank’s resident pianist Meg Morley, to help transport you back to 1923.

After her husband John McKay is killed in an ongoing feud with the Canfield family, a woman takes her baby boy Willie to her sister’s house in New York hoping he will never know of the feud with the Canfields. Twenty years later Willie (Buster Keaton) is a grown man and he receives a letter saying he has inherited his father’s estate and must travel to his family home to take possession. On the train there he meets a beautiful young woman and falls in love only to learn that she’s a Canfield. He accepts her invitation to dinner and quickly realizes that the Canfield men won’t kill him while he’s in their home. His plan to stay there as a permanent guest is short-lived and the Canfields are soon after him.