Don't miss a rare chance to see Tod Browning's rediscovered thriller 'The Show' (1927) on Sunday, Sept. 22 at Wilton, N.H.

An original lobby promoting MGM's lurid backstage thriller 'The Show' (1927)

This weekend! On Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. I'll accompany Harold Lloyd's beloved comedy 'Speedy' (1928) in Brandon, Vt. Hope you're able to make it!

If you're here due to coverage in this week's edition of 'Seven Day,' the big Vermont alternative paper, welcome! See you at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center. Admission is free; any donations support on-going upkeep and restoration of the circa 1860 Town Hall building.

 

Then, on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m., it's 'The Show' (1927), a twisted backstage drama from director Tod Browning, which I'll accompany at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. Hope you can join us!

 

Below, I'm pasting in a press release about the rare screening of 'The Show,' which I've never done music for. Hope you can join us! Here goes...

*  *  *

 

Silent thriller 'The Show' revived at Town Hall Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 22

 

Twisted backstage drama stars John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore; to be screened with live musical accompaniment.

 

WILTON, N.H.—A bizarre silent thriller featuring a cast of notables makes a rare return to the silver screen this month at the Town Hall Theatre.

 

'The Show,' (1927), a backstage drama featuring top MGM stars John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, and Lionel Barrymore, will be screened on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

 

Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses.

The screening, the latest in the venue's silent film series, will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

 

Directed by Tod Browning, 'The Show' explores the world of a Budapest carnival sideshow, where performers encounter love, greed, and murder.

 

John Gilbert and Renée Adorée in 'The Show' (1927).
 

Cock Robin (John Gilbert) is a sideshow barker in Budapest. He also participates in one of the acts; his former girlfriend Salome (Renée Adorée) dances before Herod in exchange for the head of "Jokanaan". As Jokanaan, Robin has his head seemingly chopped off and presented to the dancer on a platter, much to the audience's delight.

 

As 'The Show' unfolds, Salome yearns to get back together with Robin, but he has his sights set on Lena (Gertrude Short), the daughter of a well-off sheep merchant. He lets the smitten Lena buy him things.

 

The Greek (Lionel Barrymore), Salome's current boyfriend, becomes angered when he learns of her feelings. The Greek and his henchman, the Ferret, also try to steal Lena's father's money, but things get complicated when murder enters the picture.

 

'The Show' is the latest in a monthly series of silent films presented with live music at the Town Hall Theatre. The series provides local audiences the opportunity to experience silent film as it was intended to be shown: on the big screen, in good-looking prints, with live music, and with an audience.

 

"Put those elements together like we do at the Town Hall Theatre, and films from the silent era spring right back to life in a way that helps you understand why people first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

 

Tod Browning's twisted thriller 'The Show' will be shown on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

 

Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses. For more information, call the theater at (603) 654-3456.

A rare chance to see 'La Roue' with live music—all seven hours of it on Saturday, Sept. 28

A scene from Abel Gance's 'La Roue' (1923)

It's a different kind of Boston Marathon!

For New England movie fans, this month brings a rare chance to experience 'La Roue' (1923), a sprawling masterwork of early cinema from Abel Gance, who would go on to direct 'Napoleon' (1927).

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. will present 'La Roue' as intended—on the big screen, with live music, in one day, and restored to its original running time of just under SEVEN hours. 

And yes, I intend to improvise a live score in real time for the entire picture—all 412 minutes of it.

I'm really looking forward to this. The sheer length of 'La Roue' may seem daunting, but as an accompanist I see it as an opportunity to immerse myself in the experience. I'm eager to see how the music evolves as the hours roll by.

I think I'm up for it, at least physically. If nothing else, I have endurance. I'm like the Jake LaMotta of silent film accompaniment: the results may not always be pretty, but I can just keep on coming.

A promotional poster for a later release of 'The Roue' (1923).

About the movie: 'La Roue' is French for "the wheel."—think of "roulette" as a "little wheel." The film tells the story of a railroad engineer who adopts an orphaned girl following a train accident. 

The ensuing decades bring both joy and tragedy in a film that is by turns ambitious, ground-breaking, extravagant, self-indulgent, audacious, and revolutionary. The action moves between the harsh world of the railway yard (filmed on location in Nice, France) and the rarified air of the French Alps (filmed on the slops of Mont Blanc.)

Recently restored to Gance's original 1923 cut, the complete 'La Roue' clocks in at an astonishing 412 minutes. 

Starting at noon on Saturday, Sept. 28, the Brattle will screen the movie in four parts with three intermissions, including a meal break half-way through, ending at 8:30 p.m. Tickets for the whole experience are $25 per person.

What place does La Roue hold in filmmaking history?

Check out this review of the film by critic Andre Soares when it was first released on DVD (in a four-hour version) in 2008:

“There is cinema before and after La Roue as there is painting before and after Picasso.”

That’s none other than Jean Cocteau, referring to the mammoth 1923 drama (original running time: nearly 8 hours) directed and written by Abel Gance – he of Napoleon.

Gance worked for three years on La Roue / The Wheel, which revolves around a locomotive engineer (Séverin-Mars, who died in 1921, two years before the film’s official release), his obsession with his adopted daughter (Ivy Close, mother of director Ronald Neame), and her (romantic) love for the engineer’s son (Gabriel de Gravone), who also happens to have fallen in love with her.

The director and his cinematographers (Gaston Brun, Marc Bujard, Léonce-Henri Burel, and Maurice Duverger) worked on all sorts of innovative cinematic experiments; as a result, the film’s technical virtuosity became a blueprint for numerous other productions. G.W. Pabst, for one, was encouraged by La Roue to begin his own explorations of human psychology in classics such as Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, while Akira Kurosawa once stated that “the first film that really impressed me was La Roue.”

Wow! So please join us for what is sure to be an unforgettable cinematic experience. Give yourself up to Gance's vision. Take this rare opportunity to truly immerse yourself in the world of 'La Roue.'

See you at the movies—and maybe the nearby Mount Auburn Hospital afterwards! 

Tickets and more info on the Brattle's website.

A scene from 'La Roue' (1923) directed by Abel Gance.
 

Featuring Babe Ruth cameo! Harold Lloyd's silent comedy 'Speedy' (1928) on Thursday, 9/12 at Rex Theatre, Manchester, N.H.

Two 1920s icons: Harold Lloyd and Babe Ruth while shooting 'Speedy' (1928).

It's a comedy home run!

It's Harold Lloyd and Babe Ruth in 'Speedy' (1928), a silent comedy filmed on location in New York City at the height of the Roaring '20s. 

Lloyd, then the biggest star in movies, plays a baseball-crazed young man who encounters his idol, Babe Ruth, at the time the biggest name in baseball.

I'll be accompanying this terrific film/time capsule on Thursday, Sept. 12 at the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester, N.H. Showtime is 7 p.m. Lots more info in the press release below.

I say "time capsule" because one of the delights of screening 'Speedy' today is seeing what the Big Apple looked like a century ago. We get to ride the subway, head out to Coney Island, and visit Yankee Stadium, explore neighborhoods in the outer boroughs, and generally experience New York City as it existed many years ago.

As a side note, this screening is part of the activities for an unusual gathering. Manchester, N.H. is home to the 2024 convention of the "Association of Games and Puzzles International," which runs from Thursday, Sept. 12 through Sunday, Sept. 15.

Part of nearly every culture around the globe, games and puzzles have been part of the human experience for untold centuries. Association members are dedicated to collecting and celebrating all manner of games and puzzles that bring people together.

So I'm pleased to report that this screening of 'Speedy' is part of the association's official 2024 convention activity schedule. It'll be great to have AGPI join in with our regular audience.

Why 'Speedy?' Well, it has a strong baseball theme, and early in the film we get to see a classic mechanical baseball game that a large crowd is watching to follow the day's action at Yankee Stadium.

But I think the main interest for our AGPI friends will be in the extended Coney Island sequence, in which Harold and co-star Ann Christy make their way through the various midway-style games of skill and chance that are visible throughout. 

For more about the association, check out their web site. And for more about 'Speedy' and our screening on Thursday, Sept. 12, please check out the press release below.

*      *      *

A promotional poster for Harold Lloyd in 'Speedy' (1928).

MONDAY, SEPT. 2,  2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Classic Harold Lloyd comedy 'Speedy' on Thursday, Sept. 12 at Rex Theatre

Screening features live music; 1920s rom-com filmed on location in NYC with cameo featuring Babe Ruth

MANCHESTER, N.H.— He was the bespectacled boy next door whose road to success was often paved with perilous detours.

He was Harold Lloyd, whose fast-paced comedies made him the most popular movie star of Hollywood's silent film era.

See for yourself why Lloyd was the top box office attraction of the 1920s in a revival of 'Speedy' (1928), one of his most popular comedies.

The film, shot on location in New York City, will be shown on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person; tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.org.

Live music for the movie will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

'Speedy,' Lloyd's final silent feature before the transition to talkies, finds Harold as a baseball-crazed youth who must rescue the city's last horse-drawn streetcar from gangsters bent on running it out of business.

Filmed almost entirely on location in New York, 'Speedy' features remarkable glimpses of the city at the end of the 1920s, including footage of Coney Island and the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The latter scenes include an extended appearance by Babe Ruth, then at the height of his career during the team's storied 1927 season.

"In 'Speedy,' New York City is practically a part of the cast," Rapsis said. "In filming it on location, Lloyd knew scenes of New York would give the picture added interest to audiences across the nation and around the world.

"But what he didn't anticipate was that today, the location shots now provide a fascinating record of how life was lived in the Big Apple in the 1920s," Rapsis said.

Rapsis will improvise a musical score for 'Speedy' as the film is screened. In creating accompaniment for vintage classics, Rapsis tries to bridge the gap between silent film and modern audiences.

"Creating the music on the spot is a bit of a high-wire act, but it contributes a level of energy that's really crucial to the silent film experience," Rapsis said.

'Speedy' (1928) will be screened with live music on  Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person; tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.org. 

For more information, call (603) 668-5588. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

 

Finish Labor Day weekend with W.C. Fields in 'Running Wild' Monday, 9/2 in Greenfield, Mass.

A mustachioed W.C. Fields and co-star Mary Brian in a promotional lobby card for 'Running Wild' (1927).

Finish out this Labor Day weekend with a silent comedy starring W.C. Fields—a performer few think of as silent.

Fields plays the head of a family, sort of, in 'Running Wild' (1927), a silent comedy I'm accompanying on Monday, Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Garden Cinemas in downtown Greenfield, Mass.

If you can't imagine W.C. Fields without his trademark nasal twang, I encourage you to check out this film. 'Running Wild' is one a series of silent comedy features starring Fields that were very popular, and which hold up well today.

Although he later achieved true comic immortality in talking features, Fields in his younger years had toured the globe for decades as a performer who specialized in comic juggling and pantomime.

Such skills translated well to the visual medium of the movies, in which he appeared as early as 1915, although he remained primarily a stage performer in the 1920s, often based in New York and headlining lavish reviews.

His first major film role came in 'Sally of the Sawdust' (1925), a circus comedy/drama directed by D.W. Griffith.

Fields' screen presence was enough to prompt Paramount to star him in a series of family comedies released during the remainder of the silent era. Most were filmed on Long Island during the day, allowing Fields to honor his New York stage commitments.

'Running Wild' (1927) is one of the entries, with Fields playing the henpecked husband of a blended household in a kind of 1920s 'Modern Family.'

I hope you'll join us to see how Fields could get laughs without relying on verbal wisecracks. More details in the press release below. See you there!

*      *       *

A lobby card promoting 'Running Wild' (1927) starring W.C. Fields.

MONDAY, AUG. 19, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Garden Cinemas to screen rare silent film starring W.C. Fields

'Running Wild' (1927), uproarious comedy to be screened Monday, Sept. 2, shows legendary performer in his earlier prime

GREENFIELD, Mass.—He was a performer who could be recognized just by the sound of his voice.

But prior to reaching iconic fame in talking pictures, comedian W.C. Fields starred successfully in a popular series of silent feature films for Paramount Pictures and other studios in the 1920s.

See the non-talking W.C. Fields for yourself in 'Running Wild' (1927), one of Fields' most highly regarded silent pictures, in a screening on Monday, Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass..

The screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

Admission is $10.50 adults, $8:50 for children, seniors, and students. Tickets are available online or at the door.

W.C. Fields remains famous for his comic persona as a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs, children and women. Although Fields achieved lasting fame as a movie star in talking pictures of the 1930s, his long career encompassed decades on the vaudeville stage as well as a series of silent film roles.

"People find it hard to think of W.C. Fields in silent films, but he was actually quite successful in them," said Rapsis, who will accompany the film using a digital synthesizer.

As a vaudeville performer and juggler, Fields cultivated a form of visual comedy and pantomime that transferred well to the silent screen. Also, as a middle-aged man, he was able to play a family father figure—the kind of role that wasn't open to younger comic stars such as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

In all, Fields starred in 10 silent features in the mid-1920s. Several of these films are lost; in those that survive, Fields sports a thick mustache, part of his vaudeville costume as a "vagabond juggler" which he dropped in later years.

A lobby card promoting W.C. Fields in 'Running Wild' (1927).

In 'Running Wild,' Fields plays Elmer Finch, a cowardly and henpecked husband who is disrespected by his stepson, his co-workers, and even the family dog.

But every dog has his day, and Finch's comes when he undergoes hypnosis, which transforms him into a swaggering take-no-prisoners alpha male.

The result is a timeless domestic farce that continues to delight audiences when screened as intended: in a theater, with live music and an audience.

The Garden Cinema's silent film series aims to recreate the full silent film experience, with restored prints projected on the big screen, live music, and the presence of an audience. All these elements are essential to seeing silent films they way they were intended, Rapsis said.

"If you can put it all together again, these films still contain a tremendous amount of excitement," Rapsis said. "By staging these screenings of features from Hollywood's early days, you can see why people first fell in love with the movies."

The next installment in the Garden's silent film series will be 'Running Wild' (1927), to be screened with live music by Jeff Rapsis on Monday, Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass. Admission is $10.50 adults, $8:50 for children, seniors, and students.

Tickets at the door; advance tickets are available at www.gardencinemas.net. For more information, call the box office at (413) 774-4881.
 

See Chaplin's classic comedy 'The Gold Rush' (1925) with live music on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Rex Theatre in Manchester, N.H.

A German poster promoting 'The Gold Rush' (1925).

Coming up on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.: I'll be accompanying Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush' (1925) at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St. in downtown Manchester, N.H.

It's the latest in the Rex Theatre's ongoing silent film series, which gives local audiences a chance to see great early cinema as it was intended: in a theatre, with live music, and (most importantly) with an audience.

Be a part of this shared experience—and besides, there's nothing on television this Wednesday night.

More info in the press release below. See you there!

*     *     *

Charlie Chaplin tries to keep warm in 'The Gold Rush' (1925).

MONDAY, AUG. 19, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent masterpiece 'The Gold Rush' to screen at Rex Theatre on Wednesday, Aug. 28

Chaplin's epic comedy to feature live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis

MANCHESTER, N.H.—He was a comedic icon of the silent era, and 'The Gold Rush' was the movie that he wished to be remembered for.

He was Charlie Chaplin, whose Little Tramp character was beloved by early film audiences and remains a global icon to this day.

See for yourself when 'The Gold Rush' (1925), a feature-length film regarded as Chaplin's masterpiece, is screened on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person; tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.org.

Live music for the movie will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

'The Gold Rush,' a landmark comedy and one of the top-grossing films of the silent era, finds Chaplin's iconic 'Little Tramp' character journeying to the frozen wastelands of the Yukon. There as a prospector, the Tramp's search for gold turns into a pursuit of romance, but with plenty of laughs along the way.

The film contains several famous scenes, both comic and dramatic, including a starving Chaplin forced to eat his shoe for Thanksgiving dinner and a heart-breaking New Year's Eve celebration.

As a comedian, Chaplin emerged as the first superstar in the early days of cinema. From humble beginnings as a musical hall entertainer in England, he came to Hollywood and used his talents to quickly rise to the pinnacle of stardom in the then-new medium of motion pictures. His popularity never waned, and his image remains recognized around the world to this day.

'The Gold Rush,' regarded by many critics as Chaplin's best film, is a prime example of his unique talent for combining slapstick comedy and intense dramatic emotion.

" 'The Gold Rush' is still an effective tear-jerker," wrote critic Eric Kohn of indieWIRE. "In the YouTube era, audiences — myself included — often anoint the latest sneezing panda phenomenon as comedic gold. Unless I’m missing something, however, nothing online has come close to matching the mixture of affectionate fragility and seamless comedic inspiration perfected by the Tramp."

Chaplin celebrates Thanksgiving by eating his show in 'The Gold Rush' (1925).

Rapsis, who uses original themes to improvise silent film scores, said the best silent film comedies often used visual humor to create laughter out of simple situations. Because of this, audiences continue to respond to them in the 21st century, especially if they're presented as intended — with an audience and live music.

"These comedies were created to be shown on the big screen as a communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, they still come to life as their creators intended them to. So this screening is a great chance to experience films that first caused people to fall in love with the movies," he said.

Rapsis achieves a traditional movie score sound for silent film screenings by using a digital synthesizer that reproduces the texture of the full orchestra.

"Seeing a Charlie Chaplin film with live music and an audience is one of the great experiences of the cinema of any era," Rapsis said.

"Films such as 'The Gold Rush' were designed for a specific environment. If you can put those conditions together again, you can get a sense of why people first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

'The Gold Rush' will be screened with live music on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person; tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.org.

For more information, call (603) 668-5588.

This week: music for MGM late silent 'The Pagan' (1929), then Murnau's 'The Last Laugh' (1924)

An original lobby card promoting MGM's 'The Pagan' (1929).

This week finds me creating music for a silent film I've never before accompanied, then two well-known favorites: one a drama, the other a comedy.

First up is 'The Pagan' (1929) a late MGM silent starring Ramon Novarro and Renée Adorée, which I'm accompanying on Wednesday, Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

This is the one I've never done before. (By my count, it'll be #396 on my list of film titles I've accompanied in theatrical screenings.) It's an exotic tale of romance and adventure set in the South Pacific, which means plenty of opportunities for Novarro to go shirtless.

Like many late silents, 'The Pagan' was released with a recorded musical soundtrack (but without dialogue) that could be used by theater that had the ability to handle synchronized sound. 

Interestingly, the recorded soundtrack featured a tune called “Pagan Love Song” composed by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, the same team responsible for “Singing in the Rain” and so many other popular songs of the era.

However, for the many theaters not yet "wired for sound," music was provided the same way it had been throughout the silent era: by live musicians playing whatever music they felt would help support what was on the screen.

That's what I'll be doing on Wednesday night for 'The Pagan,' a film I've never seen before. Despite the title, pray it goes well. 

Then, on Saturday, Aug. 24, it's up to Ludlow, Vt. for my annual appearance at 'Silent Film Night' at Ludlow Town Hall. This year's films is F.W. Murnau's 'The Last Laugh' (1924) starring Emil Jannings in a towering performance as a doorman who loses his job at a fancy downtown hotel.

Showtime for 'The Last Laugh' is 7 p.m.; more info in the press release below.

And on Sunday, Aug. 25, we turn to comedy with Buster Keaton's 'Spite Marriage' (1929), which I'm accompanying at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. Showtime there is 2 p.m. Admission is free, with donations welcome to support this independent theater.

All the best and enjoy this last stretch of summer before Labor Day weekend arrives!

*    *    *

Promotional poster for 'The Last Laugh' (1924) starring Emil Jannings.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'The Last Laugh' to screen with live music at Ludlow Town Hall on Saturday, Aug. 24

Oscar-winning actor Emil Jannings stars in ground-breaking 1924 silent drama from German director F.W. Murnau

LUDLOW, Vt.—'The Last Laugh' (1924), a German silent film drama about a hotel doorman demoted to washroom attendant, will be screened with live music on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. in Heald Auditorium in Ludlow Town Hall, 37 Depot St., Ludlow.

Presented by the Friends of Ludlow Auditorium, the screening will feature accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating live music for silent film presentations.

Admission is free and all are welcome to this family-friendly event. Donations are accepted at the door to support the Friends of Ludlow Auditorium.

In 'The Last Laugh,' regarded as one of German director F.W. Murnau's best pictures, the story is told entirely in visual terms, without the use of title cards.

The film, a character study that chronicles the mental breakdown of an aging man who loses his position of authority, is also noted for its revolutionary use of camera movement.

Playing the lead role is Swiss/German actor Emil Jannings, widely recognized as one of the most versatile actors of early cinema.

Jannings would later move to Hollywood, where he earned the first-ever Best Actor Oscar at the inaugural Academy Awards for his towering performances in 'The Last Command' (1928) and 'The Patriot' (1928).

Critics and film writers regard 'The Last Laugh' as a landmark of early cinema.

" 'The Last Laugh' is a masterpiece of psychological study, perhaps the best ever portrayal of what goes through one man's mind under varying situations ... It is absolutely mind-boggling to see Emil Jannings age at least 10 or 15 years right in front of our eyes in the course of a couple of minutes," wrote author Robert K. Klepner in 'Silent Films' (2005).

Critic David Kehr of the Chicago Reader described 'The Last Laugh' as "the 1924 film in which F.W. Murnau freed his camera from its stationary tripod and took it on a flight of imagination and expression that changed the way movies were made."

The film's director of photography, Karl Freund, set new standards of cinematography in 'The Last Laugh,' setting up the camera to move through corridors and "see" action through a character's eye-view.

Freund's long career later included work in television in the 1950s in Hollywood, when he developed the "three camera" system for the "I Love Lucy" show, which became the standard format for shooting situation comedies.

'The Last Laugh' will be accompanied by live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist who performs at venues across the region and beyond.

"Films such as 'The Last Laugh' were created to be shown on the big screen and in a theater as a communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, they still come to life in the way their makers intended them to.

'The Last Laugh' (1924) will be screened with live music on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. in Heald Auditorium in Ludlow Town Hall, 37 Depot St., Ludlow.

Admission is free and all are welcome to this family-friendly event. Donations are accepted at the door to support the Friends of Ludlow Auditorium.

 

A scene from F.W. Murnau's 'The Last Laugh' (1924) starring Emil Jannings.

Up next: Harold Lloyd in 'Speedy' (1928) on Wednesday, Aug. 14 at Leavitt Theatre

A poster promoting the original release of 'Speedy' (1928).

If you're anywhere near Ogunquit, Maine this week, I invite you to join us for a screening of Harold Lloyd's great silent comedy 'Speedy' (1928) at the historic Leavitt Theatre.

I'm doing live music for this one-time-only screening, which is on Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. Lots more info about the film is in the press released pasted in below.

'Speedy' takes place in the Big Apple, and much of the film was shot on location in New York City in the summer of 1927. 

So in addition to being an entertaining movie, the film is filled with visions of what New York looked like nearly 100 years ago, at the height of the Roaring '20s.

It's not just Manhattan, either—scenes were films in The Bronx and in Brooklyn, including a sequence in Coney Island that shows Harold and co-star Barbara Kent riding amusement rides that would send chills up the spine of an insurance adjuster. 

See it for yourself! Join us on Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. for Harold Lloyd in 'Speedy' (1928) at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit!

*    *     *

A vintage lobby card promoting Harold Lloyd's comedy 'Speedy' (1928).

MONDAY, JULY 29, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Classic Harold Lloyd comedy 'Speedy' on Wednesday, Aug. 14 at Leavitt Theatre

Screening features live music; 1920s rom-com filmed on location in NYC with cameo featuring Babe Ruth

OGUNQUIT, Maine—He was the bespectacled boy next door whose road to success was often paved with perilous detours.

He was Harold Lloyd, whose fast-paced comedies made him the most popular movie star of Hollywood's silent film era.

See for yourself why Lloyd was the top box office attraction of the 1920s in a revival of 'Speedy' (1928), one of his most popular comedies.

The film, shot on location in New York City, will be shown on Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. at the historic Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine.

All are welcome to this family-friendly event; admission is $15 per person general admission.

The screening, the latest in the Leavitt Theatre's silent film series, will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating scores for silent films.

'Speedy,' Lloyd's final silent feature before the transition to talkies, finds Harold as a baseball-crazed youth who must rescue the city's last horse-drawn streetcar from gangsters bent on running it out of business.

Filmed almost entirely on location in New York, 'Speedy' features remarkable glimpses of the city at the end of the 1920s, including footage of Coney Island and the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Harold Lloyd with baseball legend Babe Ruth on location during 'Speedy' (1928).

The latter scenes include an extended appearance by Babe Ruth, then at the height of his career during the team's storied 1927 season.

"In 'Speedy,' New York City is practically a part of the cast," Rapsis said. "In filming it on location, Lloyd knew scenes of New York would give the picture added interest to audiences across the nation and around the world.

"But what he didn't anticipate was that today, the location shots now provide a fascinating record of how life was lived in the Big Apple in the 1920s," Rapsis said.

Rapsis will improvise a musical score for 'Speedy' as the film is screened. In creating accompaniment for vintage classics, Rapsis tries to bridge the gap between silent film and modern audiences.

"Creating the music on the spot is a bit of a high-wire act, but it contributes a level of energy that's really crucial to the silent film experience," Rapsis said.

'Speedy' (1928) will be screened with live music on Wednesday, Aug. 14 at the historic Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine. All are welcome to this family-friendly event.

Admission is $15 per person; the Leavitt's full dinner menu and bar service will be available during the program. For more info, call (207) 646-3123 or visit www.leavittheatre.com. 

Harold Lloyd rides the subway in 'Speedy' (1928).