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★★★★★ An unbroken crane shot in Shooting Stars' opening scene, tracking movie starlet Mae Feather (Annette Benson) as she wanders from her own ground-level film set into the first-floor set of her lover's, easily matches both Goodfellas' restaurant scene and the opening sequence of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. It's an achievement made all the more impressive by both the technological limitations of the time and the fact that it was British director Anthony Asquith's debut film. Helping matters is Henry Harris and Stanley Rodwell's gorgeous cinematography, which uses expressionistic light and shadow that ironically plays with the boundaries between artificial sets and 'real' space, a theme that informs the film's central narrative. Indeed, Shooting Stars is at its most successful when it juxtaposes its stars' unhappy private lives with the artifice of public celebrity.

Read More: 'Steve Jobs' European Premiere to Close BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival has announced that its Archive Gala screening will be the world premiere of a new restoration of Anthony Asquith's "Shooting Stars" (1928). Asquith's first film as co-director and scriptwriter, "Stars" is set behind the scenes at a contemporary film studio. Newly restored by the BFI National Archive, the film will be presented with a new live score by BAFTA and Emmy award-winning composer John Altman. Annette Benson and Brian Aherne play two mismatched, married stars, with Donald Calthrop (Andy Wilkes) as a Chaplin-esque star at the same studio, with whom Mae becomes romantically involved. Chili Bouchier, Britain’s first sex symbol of the silent era, plays a key role as an actress/bathing beauty, an attractive foil to the comic antics of the comedian. The film manages to operate as both...

Anthony Asquith’s 1928 film to get a new score from John Altman.

The BFI London Film Festival (Oct 7-18) has announced that its Archive Gala will be a new restoration of Anthony Asquith’s Shooting Stars.

The restoration by the BFI National Archive will receive its world premiere on Oct 16 with a new live score by John Altman, the BAFTA and Emmy award-winning composer whose work includes Titanic and Goldeneye. The score has been written for a 12 piece ensemble playing multiple instruments.

Shooting Stars, first released in 1928, was Asquith’s first film as co-director and scriptwriter and is a drama set behind the scenes at a film studio.

Annette Benson (Mae Feather) and Brian Aherne (Julian Gordon) play two mis-matched, married stars and Donald Calthrop (Andy Wilkes) a Chaplin-esque star at the same studio, with whom Mae becomes romantically involved.

Chili Bouchier, Britain’s first sex symbol of the silent era, plays a key role...