I'm back from Bavaria and back at the keyboard!
Last night was a spectacular screening of 'The Lost World' (1925) as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine.
Tonight it's 'The Sea Hawk,' the swashbuckling big screen adaptation of the Rafael Sabatini novel, which I'll accompany at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H.
Lots more info about the screening and the picture are in the press release, which I've pasted in below.
These are the first screenings—and the first time I've been at a keyboard—after about a month layoff for traveling and clearing my head.
What was I doing in Bavaria? Well, I thought it was high time someone got to the bottom of this "Bavarian Creme" filling used in some U.S. bakery products.
Turns out there's no such equivalent in actual Bavaria. From what I saw in bakeries around Garmish-Partenkirchen, where we were staying, I think they'd laugh at it.
Actually, we saw some of Munich, and then did some bopping around the Bavarian countryside. I'm now much more familiar with the story of the Bavarian royal family, the Wittelsbachs, and in particular Ludwig II, the 'Mad King' of Bavaria.King Ludwig played a major role in financing and encouraging composer Richard Wagner, and so it probably should haven't been a surprise to find that a Broadway-style musical about his life is currently playing in Fussen, the town closest to his two big castles.
More about that in a later post. Here's the press release about 'The Sea Hawk.' Hope to see you on deck this evening at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey!
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An original lobby card for 'The Sea Hawk' (1924).MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
Silent film classic 'The Sea Hawk' to screen on Thursday, July 17 in Plymouth, N.H.
Sea-faring swashbuckler presented with live music at Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center
PLYMOUTH, N.H.—Travel back to the time of sailing ships and piracy on the high seas as shown in a classic movie released almost a century ago.
'The Sea Hawk' (1924), an epic silent adventure film, will be screened with live music on Thursday, July 17 at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H.
General admission is $16 per person. Tickets may be purchased online at www.flyingmonkeynh.com or at the door.
Live music for the sea-going tale will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.
'The Sea Hawk' is an American silent adventure film about an English nobleman sold into slavery who escapes and turns himself into a pirate king.
A scene from 'The Sea Hawk' (1924).Directed by Frank Lloyd, the screen adaptation was written by J. G. Hawks based upon a 1915 novel by Rafael Sabatini.
'The Sea Hawk' boasts an all-star silent era cast that includes Milton Sills, Enid Bennett, Wallace Beery, Lloyd Hughes, and George Bancroft.
The swashbuckler was a big-budget extravaganza produced by First National Studios, a predecessor of Warner Bros.
Director Lloyd recognized that moviegoers of 1924 wouldn't accept miniature models, and so instructed that full-sized ships be created for use in the film at the then-enormous cost of $200,000.
This was done by outfitting the wooden exteriors of existing craft to the design of Fred Gabourie, known for his work in constructing props used in Buster Keaton films.
More action from 'The Seahawk' (1924).The ocean scenes were filmed off the coast of California's Catalina Island, with 150 tents set up on the island for housing and support of the film's 1,000 extras, 21 technicians, 14 actors, and 64 sailors.
When the film was released, a New York Times critic called it "far and away the best sea story that's yet been done up to that point."
A movie with the same title (but an entirely different plot) was released in 1940 starring Errol Flynn. The studio used some key scenes from battles in the 1924 film. They spliced the scenes into the 1940 film, believing they could not have been done better.
See the sea-faring epic 'The Sea Hawk' (1924) with live music on Thursday, July 17 at 7 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H.
General admission is $16 per person. Tickets may be purchased online at www.flyingmonkeynh.com or at the door. For more info, visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com or call (603) 536-2551.