Queen Kelly
In this glorious new restoration of the silent epic melodrama, Gloria Swanson stars as Patricia Kelly, a flirtatious girl who captures the eye of Prince Wolfram. Using Erich von Stroheim’s shooting script, this version ingeniously incorporates previously unseen material to recreate the film’s original dénouement. New 4K restoration.
Tickets
Select showtime for pricing, tickets, and reserved seating selection (see floor plan).
Sunday, May 10, 2026
- Limited Availability
- On Standby
- Matinee
If you've ever seen Sunset Boulevard, then you've managed to catch a snippet of Queen Kelly, as Norma Desmond watches herself in her private screening room, while Erich von Stroheim, the film's director, handles projection duty. For years, this would be the only footage American audiences would see of the film. Intended to be a five-hour epic, Queen Kelly became a notoriously disastrous picture for its star Gloria Swanson and the film's financier Joseph Kennedy (also Swanson's lover). Alarmed by the director's artistic extravagances and skyrocketing production costs, Swanson fired von Stroheim with only half the picture shot. She later commissioned an alternate ending that concluded the narrative; however, this version only saw release in Europe and South America.
Set in the imaginary European country of Cobourg-Nassau, the film follows the exploits of the dissolute Prince Wolfram, betrothed to the country's vain Queen Regina. When the prince encounters Patricia Kelly (Gloria Swanson), an innocent but flirtatious convent girl, he discovers true love. Desperate to see her before his upcoming wedding, he sneaks Kelly into the palace, setting in motion a tragic chain of events.
Nearly a century after its initial production, Queen Kelly returns in a glorious new restoration. Film archivist Dennis Doros based the reconstruction on von Stroheim's shooting scripts, ingeniously incorporating previously unseen material to recreate the film's original dénouement.
—Dan Doody
- Director: Erich von Stroheim
- Principal Cast: Gloria Swanson, Seena Owen, Walter Byron
- Country: USA
- Year: 1929
- Running Time: 105 min.
- Producer: Joseph P. Kennedy, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim
- Screenplay: Erich von Stroheim
- Cinematographers: Paul Ivano, Gordon Pollock
- Editors: Viola Lawrence
- Music: Eli Denson
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: Hello, Sister! (1933), The Honeymoon (1931), The Wedding March (1928), The Merry Widow (1925), Greed (1924), Foolish Wives (1922), The Devil’s Pass Key (1920), Blind Husbands (1919)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Milestone / Kino Lorber