Red River Theatres to screen 'The Flying Ace,' silent 'race' drama for Black History Month

A poster for 'The Flying Ace' (1926), screening with live music at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H. 

I've just finished a five-shows-in-five-days marathon, and boy are my fingers tired. 

Actually, not really—foe me, silent film accompaniment is more mentally taxing than physically demanding.

So, to borrow a phrase from Monty Python: "Oooh, my brain hurts!"

Yesterday's screening of 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922) at the Town Hall Theater in Wilton, N.H. drew raves from the 40 or so people who attended.

Starring Marion Davies, it's quite the movie and holds up well. You can see why it was the year's second-highest grossing picture, exceeded only by Douglas Fairbanks in 'Robin Hood,' another adventure set in Merrie Old England.

'Knighthood' would not have been available at all if not for Ben Model's rescue project a few years ago, which got the film out of the Library of Congress vaults, transferred to digital media, and then restored for enjoyment and exhibition. 

I was delighted to contribute to the Kickstarter effort that made the film's reissue possible. Thanks to Ben and everyone else who worked on this edition. 

So what's next for me?

On Wednesday, I do music for 'The Flying Ace' (1926), a "race" drama being screened at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H. 

Then it's off to the three-day Kansas Silent Film Festival, where I'll accompany Oscar Micheaux's 'Within Our Gates' (1921) and a passel of short comedies. 

No rest for the wicked. So I must be very wicked indeed.

For now, here's the press release about the Red River screening of 'The Flying Ace,' with a lot more info about the film, which was recently added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

It's worth seeing, as it's an artifact from a time not that long ago when it was common for movie theaters in some parts of the U.S. to be segregated by race. 

Water fountains, too. 

What were they thinking? 

See you in Concord on Wednesday night, or in Topeka next weekend!

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Kathryn Boyd and Laurence Criner in 'The Flying Ace' (1926).

MONDAY, FEB. 14, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Honoring Black History Month

Red River Theatres to screen rare vintage crime melodrama with all-Black cast

'The Flying Ace' (1926), recently added to U.S. National Film Registry, to be shown with live music on Wednesday, Feb. 23

CONCORD, N.H. — Can discrimination exist in an America where everyone is Black?

That's among the questions posted by 'The Flying Ace' (1926), a rare surviving example of movies produced early in the 20th century for Black audiences in segregated cinemas.

'The Flying Ace,' recently named to the U.S. National Film Registry, will be screened in honor of Black History Month on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at Red River Theatres, 11 South Main St., Concord.

General admission is $12 per person, $10 for Red River members.

The screening will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.

'The Flying Ace' was produced by Norman Studios in Jacksonville, Fla., using professionals such as Laurence Criner, a veteran of Harlem’s prestigious all-black theater troupe the Lafayette Players, but also many non-professionals for minor roles.

In 'The Flying Ace,' Criner plays Capt. Billy Stokes, a World War I fighter pilot known as "The Flying Ace" because of his downing of seven enemy aircraft in France.

Returning home to resume his former job as a railroad detective, he's assigned to locate a stationmaster who's gone missing along with the $25,000 company payroll.

While investigating, Stokes begins romancing the stationmaster's daughter Ruth (Kathryn Boyd), causing a rivalry with another suitor which leads to a break in the case.

With Ruth's safety now at risk, Stokes' dogged pursuit of the suspects leads to climax highlighted by a dramatic airborne chase which calls upon his piloting prowess.

Films such as 'The Flying Ace' were shown specifically to African-American audiences in areas of the U.S. where theaters were segregated.

A segregated movie theater in Waco, Texas in 1939.

Norman Studios was among the nation's top film production companies making feature length and short films for this market from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Featuring all-Black casts in stories meant to inspire and uplift, such films were popular with African-American audiences at the time. In Norman Studios films, the stories often took place in a world without the racial barriers that existed at the time.

In 'The Flying Ace,' Capt. Stokes is a pilot returning home from serving honorably in World War I—but Blacks were not allowed to fly aircraft in the U.S. military until 1940.

In an essay for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, critic Megan Pugh wrote that Capt. Billy Stokes "...is a model for the ideals of racial uplift, fulfilling aspirations that Black Americans were not yet allowed to achieve."

"At a time when Hollywood employed white actors in blackface to play shuffling servants and mammies, the Norman Film Manufacturing Company...hired all-black casts to play dignified roles."

"Instead of tackling discrimination head-on in his films, Norman created a kind of segregated dream world where whites—and consequently, racism—didn’t even exist," Pugh wrote.

"While it’s impossible to measure the influence The Flying Ace had on its viewers, it is reasonable to assume that audiences found its lead character inspirational. Billy Stokes was a black male hero who would have never made it onscreen in a Hollywood movie of the time," Pugh wrote.

Filmed in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, Fla., 'The Flying Ace' is a unique aviation melodrama in that no airplanes actually leave the ground. The mid-air scenes were filmed in a studio in front of neutral backdrops.

Although 'The Flying Ace' may appear crudely made to modern audiences, in 2021 the movie was named to the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Of films produced for Black-only audiences in segregated theaters, very few survive. 'The Flying Ace' is unusual in that it survives complete, and in pristine condition. The film was included in 'Pioneers of African American Cinema," a DVD collection released in 2016 by Kino-Lorber.

A live musical score for 'The Flying Ace' will be created by accompanist Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based performer who specializes in music for silent film presentations.

Rapsis said the Red River screening is a rare chance to see the film as it was meant to be experienced—on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'The Flying Ace' (1926), a silent crime melodrama with an all-Black cast, will be shown in honor of Black History Month on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at Red River Theatres, 11 South Main St. in Concord.

Tickets are general admission $12; Red River Theatres members $10. For more info and to purchase advance tickets, visit www.redrivertheatres.org or call (603) 224-4600. 

 

'When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922) on Sunday, 2/20 at Town Hall Theatre, Wilton, N.H.

Promotional artwork for 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922).

This afternoon's screening of 'When Knighthood in Flower' is the finale of a five-days-in-a-row series of screenings that saw me doing music for five films in venues across three states.

But what an ending! The Marion Davies costume epic, set during the reign of England's King Henry VIII, was produced on a grand scale. Released in 1922, it was the year's second-highest grossing film.

It's part of our ongoing series at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. celebrating the 100th anniversaries of motion pictures that came out that year. Lots more info in the press release I've pasted in below.

For now, let me report that last night's screening of 'The Last Command' (1928) in Brattleboro, Vt. resulted in some unexpected drama before the film could begin.

In late afternoon, a wall of heavy squalls moved across northern New England, laying down an unexpected coating of snow across the region. 

Brattleboro would normally be a 90-minute drive, so I left around 5 p.m. to arrive in time to set up for the screening, which was scheduled to start at 8 p.m. The snow had cleared out, so I figured that the timing had worked out well.

Well, it hadn't. The main highway (Route 101) across southern N.H. isn't far from my house, and almost immediately traffic on this busy road came to a complete stop. In a weird meteorological phenomenon, somehow the snow had adhered to the pavement, creating a coating of sheer ice that was impossible to drive on.

Seriously! Cars were off the road in both directions, and the rest of us were lined up and moving at a glacial pace, if at all. It took a half hour to just go a couple of miles. 

Stuck in this situation, with no real alternative routes that would be any better, I kept watching my arrival time slip further into the future.

I began pinging Jamie Mohr, who runs the Epsilon Spires venue where I would accompany 'The Last Command,' with updates, wondering if I would ever make it out there. (Jamie said she would get some Chinese food, which gave me confidence.)

My GPS indicated that conditions seemed normal for most of the route ahead, so I held out hope as I crawled along, trying not to slide off into the woods. After awhile, conditions did improve and traffic began to move at a more normal pace. 

Apparently the squalls had seen fit to sock just the area where I lived, as the rest of the ride to Brattleboro was uneventful. But the first five miles had taken 45 minutes, meaning I arrived with just enough time to set up things. 

And the next thing you know, I'm at the organ console, doing music for 'The Last Command,' aided by the digital synthesizer to produce drums and percussion where needed, plus a piano in a couple of key scenes. Oh—and also a brass school bell for when a bell is prominently rung in one scene.

The film, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Emil Jannings in an Academy Award-winning performance, drew the usual strong reaction—it's one of the truly great silent dramas, I think, produced when the form was at the peak of its eloquence. 

But this screening brought a new wrinkle: afterwards, people said it was a little unsettling to take in all the Russian military scenes as the present situation unfolds with Russia and Ukraine. I didn't see the parallel, but I could understand how it would be on people's minds.

Well, this afternoon's screening of 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' should provoke no such unease, as King Henry VIII has been off the throne for about 500 years.

I want to point out that the only reason we can show 'Knighthood' is because of the restoration recently released by Ben Model and Undercrank Productions. Ben and his colleagues did a terrific job.

Ben was recently in touch and shared a few notes about the effort that went into reissuing the film, which I had mistakenly called a transfer. I think it's worth including here, and I'll also mention it at this afternoon's screening:

"...the Undercrank edition is a restoration, and not a transfer. Stabilization and clean-up and grading was done on the nitrate scan. 

Also, the tints weren't added to look the way silents did – we reinstated the tinting and hand-coloring to exactly what was seen in theaters in 1922. There are tinting slugs at the heads and tails of several of the reels indicating "light pink", "amber", "light amber" and "blue tone/biscuit" (a combination of tinting and toning). 

We also found a review from Robert E. Sherwood that talks about the hand-coloring of the torches, and ads in the trades for the guy who did the hand-coloring; and so I got Jack Theakston to replicate this digitally, frame-by-frame.

So, you can tell your audience that they're seeing what people saw in the film's original release of the full-length road-show edition (the general release version was about 25 mins shorter). 

And, had Marion Davies not had a print struck of this in the mid-1930s, and then donated all her 35mm nitrate prints to the LoC in the 1950s, we would not be able to see this at all. :)

Who knew...Marion was also a film conservationist!

Thanks so much! Have a great show!

If you'd like more info about the restoration of 'Knighthood,' check out this post from Ben. 

Okay, hope your Sunday plans include a trip back to the splendors of medieval England via 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' starring Marion Davies. The show begins at 2 p.m. More info about the film in the press release below.

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Marion Davies (left) in 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922).

TUESDAY, FEB. 8, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Marion Davies costume epic 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' to screen at Wilton Town Hall Theatre

Set during the reign of Henry VIII, silent film blockbuster to be shown with live music on Sunday, Feb. 20 to celebrate 100th anniversary of release

WILTON, N.H.—It was a movie that transported audiences back to the reign of England's King Henry VIII, scoring an enormous box office success.

It was 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922), a costume epic starring Marion Davies that became the year's second-highest-grossing film. 

See what all the royal fuss was about when the picture is shown with live music on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person to help support the theater's silent film series.

The classic Tudor-era drama will be shown with live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

In 'When Knighthood Was in Flower,' Marion Davies plays Mary Tudor, younger sister of England's King Henry VIII, who falls in love with a guardsman below her class.

Unfortunately, Mary is already betrothed to the aged King Louis XII of France. Her illicit romance thus touches off a furor with international complications.

Planned from the start as a big budget spectacle, 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' cost $1.8 million to produce, making it among the most expensive movies of the silent era.

The film was directed by Robert G. Vignola and based on a popular 1898 novel by Charles Major. 

A lobby card for 'When Knighthood Was in Flower.'

'When Knighthood Was in Flower' was produced by William Randolph Hearst (through his Cosmopolitan Productions) for Marion Davies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. 

Davies, longtime mistress of publishing magnate Hearst, would go on to become one of the most popular leading ladies of the silent era. 

For 'When Knighthood Was in Flower,' she spent four months learning to fence in order to convincingly perform her own on-screen swordfighting.

Although some exteriors were shot on location at England's Windsor Castle, most of the film was actually made in Connecticut and New York City, where Cosmopolitan was based at the time. 

Ziegfeld Follies designer Joseph Urban planned so many lavish sets, Hearst had to rent space at two other New York studios to complete the film and hire 3,000 extras for the crowd scenes. 

 

For Davies' 15 gowns, Urban's daughter, Gretl Urban Thurlow, duplicated outfits originally worn by Mary Tudor.

The edition of 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' that will be presented is a new digital restoration from Undercrank Productions/Library of Congress.

The screening is part of the Town Hall Theatre's ongoing series honoring the 100th anniversary of significant motion pictures that debuted in 1922.

Programs will include all of 1922's five highest-grossing titles, each shown on the big screen with live music, as well as century-old oddities, short films, cartoons, and more.

"Putting these films back on the big screen is a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversaries of some terrific motion pictures," said Rapsis, the silent film accompanist who will create live music for all screenings.

"These are films that set the standard for Hollywood, and still retain their power to entertain, especially when shown in a theater with live music and an audience," Rapsis said.

Upcoming programs in the Town Hall's 100th anniversary series include:

• Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Norma Talmadge in 'Smilin' Through' In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a 1922 romantic drama set in the Emerald Isle.

• Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Douglas Fairbanks in 'Robin Hood' Celebrate the 100th anniversary of this blockbuster adaptation. Massive sets, great action, and Doug Fairbanks in the lead made this the top grossing film of 1922!

• Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Chaney/Houdini Double Feature. In 'Flesh and Blood' (1922), escaped convict Lon Chaney hides out in Chinatown and plots revenge. In 'The Man From Beyond' (1922) illusionist Harry Houdini plays an Arctic adventurer frozen for 100 years!

• Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Emil Jannings in 'Othello' The Bard's immortal tragedy brought to the screen in this early German version. Silent Shakespeare in honor of the author's 458th birthday.

‘When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922) will be shown live music on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person to help defray expenses. For more info, call (603) 654-3456 or visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com.

Tonight: Emil Jannings in 'The Last Command' at Epsilon Spires in Brattleboro, Vt., w/pipe organ

Original promotional art for Josef von Sternberg's 'The Last Command' (1928).

Quick post in advance of heading out to Brattleboro, Vt., where tonight I'll accompany the great Josef Sternberg drama 'The Last Command' (1928).

Come join us! The show starts at 8 p.m. at Epsilon Spires performance space, with music on the venue's Estey pipe organ augmented by digital synthesizer. 

It's worth attending, as the performance of Emil Jannings is one for the ages. Playing a deposed Czarist general forced to act out his personal drama on a Hollywood set, it's really something to see him go completely berzerk.

See for yourself. More info in the press release below.

For now, let me thank Leland Stein and the staff at the Regent Theater in Arlington, Mass. for their willingness to screen 'The Flying Ace' (1926) in observance of Black History Month.

Last night's show attracted a small audience, which surprised me. 'The Flying Ace' was recently added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. As a rare surviving "race drama" intended for segregated movie theaters, you'd think it would be of more interest. After all these years, I think it has a lot to say to us

Well—I'll accompany it again on Wednesday, Feb. 23 up at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H. But right now I have to hit the road to make it through snow squalls over the river (the Connecticut River) and through the woods to Brattleboro and 'The Last Command.' 

See you there tonight!

*   *   *

Evelyn Brent and Emil Jannings in 'The Last Command' (1928).
 

MONDAY, FEB. 7, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent epic 'The Last Command' with live pipe organ score at Epsilon Spires on Saturday, Feb. 19

Josef von Sternberg's groundbreaking psychological drama won 'Best Actor' for Emil Jannings at first-ever Academy Awards

BRATTLEBORO, Vt.—'The Last Command' (1928), a silent film drama that won Emil Jannings 'Best Actor' honors at the first-ever Academy Awards, will be screened with live music on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St., Brattleboro, Vt.

Admission is $15 per person. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.epsilonspires.org or at the door.

The screening will feature live accompaniment on the venue's Estey pipe organ by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film musician.

'The Last Command,' directed by Josef von Sternberg, tells the sweeping story of a powerful general in Czarist Russia (Jannings) forced to flee his homeland during the Bolshevik Revolution. He emigrates to America, where he is reduced to living in poverty.

Finding work as an extra at a Hollywood studio, the former general lands the part of a commanding officer in a movie about the Revolution, causing flashbacks to his traumatic experiences. The conflict leads to a spectacular climax and a towering performance that earned Jannings 'Best Actor' honors.

The film takes audiences on a journey through big emotions as well as issues of history, time, power, and especially a man's duty to his country and to his fellow citizens—and what happens when the two obligations diverge.

'The Last Command' is also one of early Hollywood's most creative and challenging looks at the global conflicts that contributed to World War I.

The film also stars a young William Powell as a Hollywood movie director who crosses paths with the general during the Revolution, and 1920s starlet Evelyn Brent as a seductive Russian revolutionary.

Rapsis, the accompanist, will create the film's score live as the movie is shown by improvising on the venue's historic Estey pipe organ, built in Brattleboro and installed in 1906.

"Making up the music on the spot is kind of a high wire act," Rapsis said. "But there's nothing like the energy and excitement that comes with improvised live performance, especially when accompanying a silent film."

Critic Leonard Maltin hailed 'The Last Command' as "a stunning silent drama...a fascinating story laced with keen observations of life and work in Hollywood." Time Out of London called it "the first Sternberg masterpiece, expertly poised between satire and 'absurd' melodrama. The cast are fully equal to it; Jannings, in particular, turns the characteristic role of the general into an indelible portrait of arrogance, fervor and dementia."

Director Sternberg, a master of lighting and black-and-white photography, created 'The Last Command' as a visual tour de force. The film is often cited as a prime example of the emotional range and visual accomplishment of silent films at their height, just prior to the coming of pictures with recorded soundtracks.

Rapsis said great silent film dramas such as 'The Last Command' told stories that concentrate on the "big" emotions such as Love, Despair, Anger, and Joy. Because of this, audiences continue to respond to them in the 21st century, especially if they're presented as intended—in a theater on the big screen, with a live audience and live music.

"Dramas such as 'The Last Command' were created to be consumed as a communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, they come to life as their creators intended them to. This screening at Epsilon Spires is a great chance to experience films that first caused people to fall in love with the movies."

The non-profit Epsilon Spires, housed in Brattleboro's former Baptist church, builds connections between art and science by offering provocative performances and events, interactive art installations, and opportunities to engage in civil discourse by addressing current topics through the integration of diverse forms of expression. 

'The Last Command' (1928) will be screened with live music on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St., Brattleboro, Vt. Admission is $15 per person. Tickets may be purchased in advance at www.epsilonspires.org or at the door.

Rare all-Black drama, 'The Flying Ace' (1926), tonight at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Mass.

A not-very-subtle promotional poster for the all-Black drama 'The Flying Ace' (1926).

In honor of Black History Month, tonight (Friday, Feb. 18) the Regent Theater of Arlington, Mass. is screening 'The Flying Ace' (1926), with live music by me. 

It's a rare surviving example of what some scholars call "Race Cinema," meaning movies made for segregated theaters that were part of the American movie landscape in the first half of the 20th century.

'The Flying Ace,' a rare surviving example of this type of film, was recently added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being either "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

I think 'The Flying Ace,' produced by Norman Studios of Jacksonville, Fla., applies to the first two distinctions: cultural and historic. It's a vivid reminder of racism that permeated everyday life in its era—so much so that people set up separate theaters for people of different skin color!

In terms of being "aesthetically significant"—well, you can make up your own mind on that. But I believe that any film from a century ago, no matter what its level of aesthetic achievement, has a lot to say to us today, if only for just the passing of time. 

And let's be clear about one thing. By screening 'The Flying Ace,' neither I nor the Regent Theatre are celebrating the fact that for many decades, movie theaters in the United States were segregated by race. 

No. 'The Flying Ace' is a concrete artifact of a shameful legacy of racism that pervaded society at the time, and with which we still grapple today.  

But by acknowledging that it once existed, and preserving this artifact from the era (and I believe screening vintage film before the public is part of preservation), we can be better equipped to confront racism in our own time.

So hope to see you at the Regent tonight at 7:30 p.m. Much more info in the press release below.

*      *      *

Kathryn Boyd and Laurence Criner star in 'The Flying Ace' (1926).

MONDAY, FEB. 14, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Honoring Black History Month

Regent Theatre to screen rare vintage crime melodrama with all-Black cast

'The Flying Ace' (1926), recently added to U.S. National Film Registry, to be shown with live music on Friday, Feb. 18

ARLINGTON, Mass. — Can discrimination exist in an America where everyone is Black?

That's among the questions posted by 'The Flying Ace' (1926), a rare surviving example of so-called "race" movies produced early in the 20th century for Black audiences in segregated cinemas.

'The Flying Ace,' recently named to the U.S. National Film Registry, will be screened in honor of Black History Month on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington, Mass.

General admission is $15 per person. Tickets available at the door or online at www.regenttheatre.com.

The screening will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.

'The Flying Ace' was produced by Norman Studios in Jacksonville, Fla., using professionals such as Laurence Criner, a veteran of Harlem’s prestigious all-black theater troupe the Lafayette Players, but also many non-professionals for minor roles.

In 'The Flying Ace,' Criner plays Capt. Billy Stokes, a World War I fighter pilot known as "The Flying Ace" because of his downing of seven enemy aircraft in France.

Returning home to resume his former job as a railroad detective, he's assigned to locate a stationmaster who's gone missing along with the $25,000 company payroll.

While investigating, Stokes begins romancing the stationmaster's daughter Ruth (Kathryn Boyd), causing a rivalry with another suitor which leads to a break in the case.

With Ruth's safety now at risk, Stokes' dogged pursuit of the suspects leads to climax highlighted by a dramatic airborne chase which calls upon his piloting prowess.

Films such as 'The Flying Ace' were shown specifically to African-American audiences in areas of the U.S. where theaters were segregated.

Norman Studios was among the nation's top film production companies making so-called "race" films for this market from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Featuring all-Black casts in stories meant to inspire and uplift, such films were popular with African-American audiences at the time. In Norman Studios films, the stories often took place in a world without the racial barriers that existed at the time.

In 'The Flying Ace,' Capt. Stokes is a pilot returning home from serving honorably in World War I—but Blacks were not allowed to fly aircraft in the U.S. military until 1940.

In an essay for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, critic Megan Pugh wrote that Capt. Billy Stokes "...is a model for the ideals of racial uplift, fulfilling aspirations that Black Americans were not yet allowed to achieve."

"At a time when Hollywood employed white actors in blackface to play shuffling servants and mammies, the Norman Film Manufacturing Company...hired all-black casts to play dignified roles."

"Instead of tackling discrimination head-on in his films, Norman created a kind of segregated dream world where whites—and consequently, racism—didn’t even exist," Pugh wrote.

"While it’s impossible to measure the influence The Flying Ace had on its viewers, it is reasonable to assume that audiences found its lead character inspirational. Billy Stokes was a black male hero who would have never made it onscreen in a Hollywood movie of the time," Pugh wrote.

Filmed in the Arlington area of Jacksonville, Fla., 'The Flying Ace' is a unique aviation melodrama in that no airplanes actually leave the ground. The mid-air scenes were filmed in a studio in front of neutral backdrops.

A monochrome lobby card for 'The Flying Ace' (1926).

Although 'The Flying Ace' may appear crudely made to modern audiences, in 2021 the movie was named to the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Of films produced for Black-only audiences in segregated theaters, very few survive. 'The Flying Ace' is unusual in that it survives complete, and in pristine condition. The film was included in 'Pioneers of African American Cinema," a DVD collection released in 2016 by Kino-Lorber.

A live musical score for 'The Flying Ace' will be created by accompanist Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based performer who specializes in music for silent film presentations.

Rapsis said the Regent Theatre screening is a rare chance to see the film as it was meant to be experienced—on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'The Flying Ace' (1926), a silent crime melodrama with an all-Black cast, will be shown in honor of Black History Month on Friday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington, Mass.

General admission is $15 per person. Tickets available at the door or online at www.regenttheatre.com. For more information, call the theater at (781) 646-4849.

Tonight! 'Girl Shy' in Manchester, N.H. But first, Mayer to Shakespeare: 'Lose all that death at the end'

If the shoe hits...Harold Lloyd and anonymous flapper in 'Girl Shy' (1924).

I'm looking forward to doing music tonight for Harold Lloyd's 'Girl Shy' (1924), which is screening tonight (Thursday, Feb. 17) at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theater in downtown Manchester, N.H.

Complete info is below in the press release. Hope to see you there for one of the great audience-pleasing comedies of the 1920s. 

And now, a report on last night's screening of 'The Temptress' (1926) starring Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno, which I accompanied at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H.

Here's something you don't get to announce every day: DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT!

It's one of those films with two endings—an original tragic denouement, and also an upbeat and completely different boy-gets-girl happy ending ordered by studio boss Louis B. Mayer, who found the original finish unacceptable. 

(You can hear Mayer advising new screenwriter Billy Shakespeare: "Forbidden romance—great story, kid! But lose all the death at the end. Have them settle in a bungalow in the suburbs, and show at least one infant in the closing scenes. Then you got yourself a picture!")

Well, Mr. Mayer. I'm here to report that posterity, at least in the form of last night's audience, vastly prefers the original ending, in which Garbo abandons lead Antonio Moreno, descends into a boozy haze, and supports herself apparently by prostitution.

As much of a downer as that seems, it's far more fitting to this dark and edgy drama than what Mayer cooked up: an ending in which Garbo and Moreno join forces to build a giant dam in South America, and then publicly celebrate their love at the opening ceremonies in front of what seems to be the entire Argentine army. 

I have to say, this is a challenging film to accompany, as it veers from sophisticated Paris to back country Argentina. The fact that it had two directors makes it seem a little schizophrenic, too, similar to how the first Christopher Reeve 'Superman' (1978) had two directors, and shifts completely in tone and mood once Clark Kent starts working at the Daily Planet.

And never mind Greta Garbo—how about that Antonio Moreno? I'd only ever seen him before alongside Clara Bow in 'It' (1927), his one well-known role. But in 'The Temptress,' he gives a whale of a performance, both emotionally and physically. 

Antonio Moreno with Greta Garbo in 'The Temptress.'

Consider: He dances, he throws knives, he shoots things, he gets whipped and does some whipping himself, gets washed away in a flood, and nearly goes berzerk. MGM certainly got their money's worth from Moreno in this picture. 

I looked, and Moreno appeared in dozens upon dozens of lesser-known pictures, both in the silent and sound era. Of the few titles I recognized, he has a small role in Laurel & Hardy's 'The Bohemian Girl' (1936), but that's about it. (Apologies to Clara.) 

Besides the story itself, another tragedy associated with last night's screening of 'The Temptress' (not to be confused with 'The Tempest' (1928) starring John Barrymore) was yours truly requesting an ill-advised adjustment to the aspect ratio prior to the show.

With older films on oldish discs being run on much newer players and digital projectors or even off laptops, aspect ratio is always a "hold your breath" issue. You just never know what's going to appear on screen until you hit 'Play.'

Sometimes it's dead on, and hallelujah when that happens. But most often, modern projection systems want to play everything at 16:9 or some other wide-screen ratio. And as you may know, films a century ago were shot almost exclusively using a 4:3 ratio.

So when that happens, everyone gets wider. Buster Keaton looks fat. Fatty Arbuckle looks morbidly obese!

Last night at the Flying Monkey, the aspect ratio was clearly being stretched horizontally, so changes were in order. We narrowed the horizontal by 10 percent, and it seemed better. (I usually can tell right away if there's an FBI anti-piracy slide, as the FBI logo should be perfectly round. Same with tires on cars, etc.)

But after playing it a bit longer, I felt the typeface for the titles looked off. With many discs, we need to narrow the horizontal by 20 percent to make it look right, but in this case, the most we could go was 16 percent before the disc/player/projector/whatever halted. That's as far as it would go!

So that's what we kept, which was unfortunate, because once the picture started for real, it was apparent that we had gone too far. Really! Greta Garbo, who should look pretty svelte, looked positively anorexic! 

Well, it wasn't so bad as to prompt me to stop and get it adjusted yet again. And there's always another screening—in this case, Harold Lloyd's 'Girl Shy' tonight at the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester. We'll see if we can get the ratio right this evening. 

And at the Rex, they have a new all-digital LED projection system that adds yet another layer of complexity to the whole equation. Cross your fingers!

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The original "meet cute": Jobyna Ralston, Harold Lloyd and exasperated railroad conductor in 'Girl Shy' (1924).

MONDAY, FEB. 7, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

First-ever rom-com! Harold Lloyd comedy 'Girl Shy' at Rex Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 17

Live music to accompany uproarious silent film classic; to be shown on big screen using restored edition

MANCHESTER, N.H.—It's a candidate for Hollywood's first-ever "rom-com": a silent film comedy that pioneered an enduring cinematic genre.

It's 'Girl Shy,' a frenetic, kinetic, get-me-to-the-church-on-time Harold Lloyd silent comedy classic, to be screened on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

Admission is $10 per person. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.com in advance.

A live musical score for the movie will be performed by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.

'Girl Shy' (1924) stars Harold Lloyd as a timid young man from a small town who pens a book about imaginary female conquests.

Trouble begins when bashful Harold falls in love for real, and then must rescue his beloved from marrying the wrong man in the big city.

" 'Girl Shy' is a great film to show around Valentine's Day, because it's all about the ageless human experience of love," Rapsis said.

Harold's dilemma prompts a climactic race to the altar that stands as one of the great chases in all of cinema. The sequence was so successful that MGM used it as a model for the famous chariot race in the original silent film version of 'Ben Hur' (1925).

The film is bursting with visual comedy typical of the silent era, but the romantic storyline was strong enough to act as a counterweight, creating a new hybrid genre now known as the romantic comedy, or "rom-com."

Co-starring in 'Girl Shy' is actress Jobyna Ralston, who often played Lloyd's leading lady, including in later Lloyd masterpieces 'The Freshman' (1925) and 'The Kid Brother' (1927).

'Girl Shy,' directed by Lloyd's colleagues Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, was among the 10 top-grossing films of 1924.

Harold Lloyd, along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, stands today as one of the three masters of silent comedy. Throughout the 1920s, Lloyd's films enjoyed immense popularity, ranking regularly among the highest-grossing of the era.

Though Lloyd's reputation later faded due to unavailability of his movies, the recent re-release of most of his major films on DVD and other media has spurred a reawakening of interest in his work and has led to more screenings of his work in moviehouses, where it was designed to be shown.

"Seeing a Harold Lloyd film in a theater with live music and an audience is one of the great experiences of the cinema of any era," said Jeff Rapsis, the Rex Theatre's resident silent film accompanist.

The Rex Theatre's silent film series is intended to give local audiences a chance to experience the best of early Hollywood the way it was meant to be seen—on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"These films weren't intended to be shown on a laptop," Rapsis said. "It's worth putting the whole experience together, because you can still see why audiences first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

Upcoming screenings include:

• Thursday, April 21, 2022, 7:30 p.m.: 'Ben Hur' (1925) starring Ramon Novarro and a cast of thousands. In the Holy Land, a Jewish prince is enslaved by the occupying Romans; inspired by encounters with Jesus, he lives to seek justice. One of the great religious epics of Hollywood's silent film era, including a legendary chariot race that's lost none of its power to thrill.

‘Girl Shy’ will be shown on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H. Admission is $10 per person. For more info and to buy tickets, visit www.palacetheatre.org or call (603) 668-5588.

Two endings better than one? Find out with 'The Temptress' (1926) at Flying Monkey 2/16

An original lobby card promoting 'The Temptress'

With MGM's 'The Temptress' (1926), the ending is just the beginning. 

What I mean by that is the film has two endings, and that's the one thing that seems to capture people's imaginations.

Also, the endings are completely different. One concludes the tale as a tragedy, while the other finishes in triumph. Huh? How did this happen?

The story goes that MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer found the ending of the original version so depressing, he ordered a different (and happier) ending on the spot.

What Louis wants, Louis gets. And so director Fred Niblo reshot the past five minutes in order to create a completely different (and much more upbeat) finished to 'The Temptress.'

Which is better? Judge for yourself when we show both endings as part of a screening of 'The Temptress' on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H.

Showtime is 6:30 p.m. and more details are in the press release below. 

I understand the "tragic" ending was used for European prints, while the "happy" ending was shown mostly in the United States, where tragic endings have always been box office poison.

We'll show the original sad ending first. Then we'll run the second more upbeat ending, and then the second more upbeat conclusion to finish things out. 

And we'll try to answer the question: if two heads are better than one, is the same true for two endings?

And here's the press release:

*   *   *

Greta Garbo and Antonio Moreno in 'The Temptress' (1926).

TUESDAY, FEB. 1, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis at (603) 236-9237 • e-mail jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Greta Garbo stars in 'The Temptress' (1926), a film with two endings, on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at Flying Monkey

Both conclusions to be shown when steamy silent romantic drama is screened with live musical accompaniment

PLYMOUTH, N.H. — It's a film with two completely different endings: one sad and tragic, and the other uplifting and positive.

It's 'The Temptress' (1926), an MGM romantic drama starring Greta Garbo, then just starting a legendary Hollywood career.

Studio boss Louis B. Mayer found the original ending to 'The Temptress' so depressing, he ordered a second—and much happier—conclusion.

Theaters were then allowed to choose which ending to show to audiences.

See both conclusions when 'The Temptress' is screened with live music on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

Showtime is 6:30 p.m. General admission is $10. The screening will feature live accompaniment by silent film musician Jeff Rapsis.

In 'The Temptress,' Garbo plays Elena, the wife of Monsieur Canterac (Lionel Barrymore) and the mistress of rich Parisian banker Monsieur Fontenoy (Marc MacDermott).

When the banker's friend Robledo (Antonio Moreno), a dynamic young engineer building a massive dam in Argentina, pays a visit to Paris, the fickle Elena immediately falls in love with him.

Elena follows Robledo to Argentina, where her presence leads to a whip duel between Robledo and his rival, Manos Duros (Roy D'Arcy).

She then indirectly causes the collapse of Robledo's dam, which is where the two versions of the film diverge.

In the original version, Elena returns to Paris and the movie concludes tragically.

The revised version sees the film end in Argentina on a much happier note.

Both endings will be screened at the Flying Monkey: first the original "tragic" conclusion, then the more optimistic ending.

Garbo in 'The Temptress.'

Garbo, who first won notice in her native Sweden, came to Hollywood at age 19. 'The Temptress,' her second film for MGM, helped establish her as a major star.

Initially, the director of 'The Temptress' was Garbo's mentor-lover, the brilliant Mauritz Stiller. But he was replaced halfway through by Fred Niblo, giving 'The Temptress' two different styles.

Silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will improvise a musical score to 'The Temptress' in real time as the movie is screened.

In creating music for 'The Temptress' and other vintage classics, Rapsis tries to bridge the gap between silent film and modern audiences.

"Live music adds an element of energy to a silent film screening that's really crucial to the experience," Rapsis said.

The screening is the latest in the Flying Monkey's series celebrating films that recently entered the public domain.

Copyright protection for all U.S. films released in 1926 expired on Jan. 1, 2022.

To mark the occasion, the Flying Monkey is showcasing vintage comedies, dramas, and adventure films, all with live music, and all now in the public domain.

Upcoming screenings in the Flying Monkey's "Public Domain Extravaganza" include:

• Wednesday, March 9, 2022, 6:30 p.m.: "The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1926) starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, and Gary Cooper. Epic Western drama about the settling and irrigation of California's Imperial Valley, once a wasteland but now an agricultural paradise. Shot on location by director Henry King in Nevada's Black Rock desert, one of the first films to take audiences to the wide open spaces of the great American West. With a young Gary Cooper playing a key role.

• Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 6:30 p.m.: "Battling Butler" (1926) starring Buster Keaton. In an uproarious boxing comedy, Keaton plays Alfred Butler, a pampered rich idler with the same name as a feared boxing champion. When a girl he's pursuing thinks he's the fighter, Keaton has no choice but to start training.

• Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 6:30 p.m.: "Bardelys the Magnificent" (1926) starring John Gilbert. Gilbert tries his hand at swashbuckling in this big-budget MGM historical extravaganza about exploits of an unjustly disgraced French nobleman. A major film long thought lost until a single print was recently discovered in France.

• Wednesday, June 8, 2022, 6:30 p.m.: "The Black Pirate" (1926) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. The original pirate film, with Fairbanks sword-fighting his way through a period adventure tale set during the age of sailing ships.

"By 1926, the movies had matured enough to offer a wide range of great entertainment that still holds up today," Rapsis said. "Come see for yourself as we screen some of the year's best flicks, all of which recently entered the public domain and now belong to us all."

The romantic drama ‘The Temptress’ starring Greta Garbo will be shown with live music on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

Admission to the screening is $10, general admission seating. For more info, call (603) 536-2551 or visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com.

Five screenings in five days, but first: a case of 'Music' turning into 'Magic' in Campton, N.H.

The parking lot will soon be full of cars. Next month, it'll be full of mud!

This week brings an unusual happening—a rare mid-winter stretch of five straight days of silent film screenings in venues across three states.

It's like I'll be in training for the Kansas Silent Film Festival, which is coming up at the end of this month.

But before we look forward, let's look back with a report on last night's showing of 'Straight is the Way' (1921) at the Campton N.H. Historical Society. 

This "Silent Movie Night" screening, which has become an annual event, is highlighted by the community pot luck supper that always precedes it, and this year was no exception.

However, this time we enjoyed a truly special added attraction: an hour's worth of music from young people who are part of the Fiddlehead Field Orchestra. A pot luck supper accompanied by music!

Young people in the Fiddlehead Field Orchestra program wait to go on stage.

This local Fiddlehead program, directed by flat-out amazing folk musician/fiddler and educator Jessye Bartlett, gives young people the chance to learn an instrument and play together in groups. 

That's what they did during Saturday night's pot luck supper, and did marvelously. One ensemble after another took the stage to play through a wide range of music, all of it infused with joy, compassion, and humanity.

I don't know about you, but something about the sight and sound of young kids making music together gives me hope in a way that nothing else does.

Yes, we have problems. But hearing these kids—some of whom are only just starting to learn their instruments—play through pieces, I feel increasingly confident that all will be okay.

And here's something weird: it seems that the more local or homegrown the music, the most intensely I feel this reaction. 

Fiddlehead leader Jessye Bartlett coaxes a performance out of two youngsters in the program.

Really! Compare: two weeks ago I joined about 1,500 people at Symphony Hall to hear the Boston Symphony. The concert was superb. But the great playing, and the presence of so many people gathered together to share music, didn't affect me the way the Fiddlehead players did. 

I was thrilled to learn that the Fiddlehead group is planning a trip to Ireland in 2024. Imagine that! Young musicians traveling to the Emerald Isle to meet other young musicians and play together. Why can't we as a nation do more of that, instead of starting wars in the Mideast?

That's a question for another blog. For now, if you'd like to contribute to the Fiddlehead group, visit them online and get in touch. They're worth your attention and support. 

I got so carried away, I couldn't help but get up and make an announcement, which went something like this:

"If you want hope for the future, don't watch the news. Instead, listen to this. What we're hearing here tonight reminds me that if you take the word 'Music' and change just two of the letter, it becomes 'Magic.' They're that close!"

I don't think I ever heard that "music is close to magic" thought ever before. So I may have invented it right there on the spot. Hey, it happens. 

Saturday night's Fiddlehead performances included some impromptu dancing.

Also invented on the spot: an entire score to 'Straight is the Way,' the Cosmopolitan Pictures comedy/drama set in New Hampshire and rescued from obscurity last year by film historian Ed Lorusso. 

Last night's screening marked on the second known public screening of the film since its original release more than a century ago. (The first was our 'World Repremiere' in Concord, N.H this past December.)

Audience reaction was strong—in fact, a lot stronger than what we got back in December when I accompanied the film in Concord. 

I think one reason was the kids in the audience. The young people (mostly kids in the Fiddlehead program, but also others) found the story and characters surprisingly hilarious. The scenes in which attempts are made to contact Uncle Henry via a Ouija boardprodued gales of laughter.

And that really carried along the rest of the audience, as sometimes happens at a silent film screening. With the young people in effect giving everyone permission to laugh, the intensity of reactions grew as the film progressed.

Further stirring the pot (appropriate for an event featuring a pot luck supper) were my pre-movie comments, which included instructions for people to react openly to what they were seeing. If a character does something bad, feel free to boo—which they did, at times quite lustily.

The Campton audience found the Ouija board scenes unexpectedly hilarious.

The music fell together nicely, I thought, with good contrasting music for the thieves, the innocent locals, and the romance that eventually develops

The one cue I missed was right at the end, when a character tries to summon help by ringing a handbell. Alas, the handbell I always travel with (which belonged to my grandmother) was out of reach in the darkness below me and couldn't be retrieved in time. 

But it didn't seem to hurt the film, which earned a tumultuous ovation. Thanks again to Ed Lorusso for getting 'Straight is the Way' out of the vault and available for people to enjoy, which they certainly did last night in Campton, N.H. 

Funny how some screenings really click. Maybe what it takes is a pot luck supper and several dozen young musicians for the magic to happen. 

Up next: Greta Garbo in 'The Temptress' (1926), which we're showing on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H. 

The film has two different endings, and we're showing them both. I'll do a separate post on this flick, but wanted to mention it here to whet your appetite. See you at the movies! (And bring your violin if you want to play before the show.)

Tonight: 'Straight is the Way' in Campton, N.H., plus report on 'The General' in Newport, R.I.

Exhibitor trade journal ad promoting 'Straight is the Way' (1921).

Tonight the "Homecoming Tour" of the silent comedy/drama 'Straight is the Way' (1921) continues with a screening in Campton, N.H. for the Campton Historical Society, complete with pot luck supper starting at 5 p.m.

The film, reissued last year via a Kickstarter campaign organized by Ed Lorusso, has the distinction of being the only silent feature film I know of with a story set specifically in New Hampshire.

Hence the "Homecoming Tour" of Granite State screenings, which is up to two so far: the "world re-premiere" of 'Straight is the Way' in the big city (and state capital) of Concord, and now tonight's screening in genuinely small-town New Hampsha'.

And never mind that the movie, set in "Hampton Center, N.H.," was actually filmed in either Long Island or New Jersey. It's still an interesting look at how the nation regarded small-town New Hampshire long before Yankee Magazine started publishing (in 1935) or Thornton Wilder's play 'Our Town.' (in 1938).

Even back then, on the cusp of the Roaring '20s, we were country bumpkins. Citizens consulted their Ouija boards to communicate with long-dead ancestors, and the local constable rode around town in a horse and buggy. Har! 

Well, here we are again, on the cusp of another '20s, although it's hard to say if they'll be "roaring" or anything else. And New Hampshire is still regarded as a slightly backwards place, complete with pot luck suppers and all that.

The press release for the screening, with a lot more info, is pasted in below.

This past Thursday, a journeyed to a new venue for me—the Jane Pickens Theater and Event Center in downtown Newport, R.I, site of a book-signing and film show celebrating the publication of 'Camera Man,' a new Buster Keaton book by Slate critic Dana Stevens. 

I had a ball accompanying 'The General' in this wonderful vintage one-screen theater, which has somehow remained intact and functioning for a century. It's really the perfect venue for silent film with live accompaniment, and I'm pleased to say that response was strong enough to merit possible future screenings. We'll see.

The interior of the Jane Pickens Theatre, a 1920s moviehouse in Newport, R.I. that looks remarkably like the movie theater in Buster Keaton's 'Sherlock Jr.' (1924), columns and all:

It was a pleasure to meet a lot of people: author Dana Stevens, of course, but also Steve Iwanski of Charter Books, which organized the event, and Alex Whitney, the theater's operations manager. Everyone could not have been more helpful, and audience reaction was strong throughout.

Looking ahead: this week I'm in for a rare mid-winter run of five screenings five days in a row. (This usually only happens in the summer, when I'm doing seasonal series in several venues.) It starts on Wednesday, Feb. 16 with Greta Garbo in 'The Temptress' (1926) at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H. 

Subsequent evenings see screenings in Manchester, N.H.; Arlington, Mass., Brattleboro, Vt.; and Wilton, N.H. It's like I'm in training for the Kansas Silent Film Festival, which happens at the end of this month. 

But for now, bring a dish with you and attend tonight's pot luck supper / screening of 'Straight is the Way' (1921) at the Campton Historical Society in Campton, N.H. Details below!

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A vintage sedan sports a N.H. license plate in 'Straight is the Way' (1921).

TUESDAY, FEB. 1, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Vintage feature film with story set in N.H. to be screened on Saturday, Feb. 12

Rare surviving comedy/drama 'Straight is the Way' (1921) to be shown with live music at Campton Historical Society

CAMPTON, N.H. — It's a film that's not been seen in theaters since its original release more than a century ago. And it's set in fictional 'Hampton Center, N.H.,' a small town where a pair of big-city crooks hide out from the law.

It's 'Straight is the Way,' a Paramount release that proved a modest box office success in the spring of 1921.

The film then completely disappeared—until now.

This month, the Campton Historical Society will host a screening of 'Straight is the Way,' which boasts a screenplay by two-time Academy Award-winning writer Frances Marion.

The event, which is free and open to all, takes place at Campton Town Hall, 529 Route 175, Campton, N.H.

It starts with a pot luck dinner at 5 p.m., with the film program to begin at 6 p.m.

Those attending the pot luck dinner are asked to bring one of the following: soup, bread, salad, main dish, dessert or beverage.

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

The story of 'Straight is the Way' follows two burglars who flee to rural "Hampton Center, N.H." to hide out in the unused wing of a mansion, where an impoverished family faces eviction.

Exposed to small town values, the pair resolve to change their ways.

'Straight is the Way' was promoted with the tagline: "They came to lift the silver, but they stayed to lift the mortgage."

"It should be a fun screening because the filmmakers depict 'Hampton Center' as a small rural Granite State community—rather like Campton today," Rapsis said.

The film, a comedy/drama, features scenes in which a Ouija board is used to contact the spirits of long-dead relatives.

Ouija boards had become popular in the years following World War I, when 'Straight is the Way' was released.

How does a film disappear for 100 years, and then resurface?

Produced by Cosmopolitan Pictures, 'Straight is the Way' was one of dozens of titles on Paramount's 1921 release schedule. After its initial run, the film was never reissued or rereleased.

This was the fate of nearly all motion pictures of the era, most of which were lost to neglect, decay, or accident. Today, about 75 percent of all silent films no longer exist in any form.

But 'Straight is the Way' is among the survivors. A single 35mm print of the film is in the collection of the U.S. Library of Congress. The print was part of a hoard of film material donated long ago by 1920s star Marion Davies, whose pictures were produced by Cosmopolitan.

However, the print is on fragile and flammable nitrate cellulose film stock, meaning it can't be safely projected or loaned out. To keep the film from deteriorating, the print is kept in long-term storage at the Library of Congress media center in Culpeper, Va.

In 2021, Maine-based film archivist Ed Lorusso organized an online Kickstarter program to raise funds to transfer the surviving print of 'Straight is the Way' to digital media. The fundraiser was successful, and the transfer was completed earlier this year.

Lorusso made the film available on DVD to fellow vintage film enthusiasts, including accompanist Rapsis, who felt the film's Granite State setting merited a revival, complete with live music.

The film's "world re-premiere" took place in December 2021 at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H., which hosted the first theatrical showing of the film since its original run.

"Very few films are set in New Hampshire, then or now," Rapsis said. "What's interesting about 'Straight is the Way' is that it shows how the state was viewed at the time—a place of small towns and old-fashioned ways, including a constable patrolling the town in a horse and buggy."

Although 'Straight is the Way' contains authentic details such as New Hampshire license plates on the few autos that appear, Lorusso has found no evidence that any part of the film was shot in the state.

Instead, 'Straight is the Way' was produced in New York City, where Cosmopolitan Pictures was based, and which continued to host film production even after most movie-making moved to California in the 1910s.

'Straight is the Way' features several location shots of Manhattan scenes such as Washington Square in Greenwich Village as it appeared in 1921.

Another car in 'Straight is the Way'—sporting the same identical license plate as the other vehicle above!) 

Lorusso believes the New Hampshire scenes were most likely filmed in the rural countryside of Long Island or New Jersey, just outside the city, as was common practice at the time.

Lorusso has identified one location: the mansion shown in the film is the summer home of author Ethel Watts Mumford in Sands Point, Long Island. Mumford wrote 'The Manifestations of Henry Ort,' on which 'Straight is the Way' was based.

The screenplay was by Frances Marion, the one recognizable name associated with the production.

Marion, a prolific writer, authored more than 300 screenplays in a career that spanned three decades. Her credits include silent classics such as 'The Wind' (1928); she would later win Academy Awards for writing the prison drama 'The Big House' (1930) and the iconic boxing story 'The Champ' (1931).

'Straight is the Way' features a cast of solid performers, all unknown today: Matt Moore, Mabel Bert, Gladys Leslie, George Parsons, Henry Sedley, Van Dyke Brooke, and Emily Fitzroy.

The film was directed by Robert Vignola; the following year, he would direct Marion Davies in 'When Knighthood Was in Flower' (1922) a big budget costume drama.

Rapsis said the Campton Historical Society screening of 'Straight is the Way' is a rare chance to see the film as it was meant to be experienced—on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'Straight is the Way' (1921), a silent comedy/drama set in New Hampshire, will be screened with live music at Campton Town Hall, 529 Route 175, Campton, on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. 

The screening is free and open to the public, with donations accepted to support the Campton Historical Society.

The program will be preceded by a pot luck supper starting at 5 p.m. Those attending the pot luck dinner are asked to bring one of the following: soup, bread, salad, main dish, dessert or beverage.

For more information, visit www.camptonhistorical.org.

Small state, big occasion: Accompanying 'The General' in Rhode Island at Keaton book-signing

Buster leans into his art in 'The General' (1926), to be screened on Thursday, Feb. 10 in Newport, R.I.

I sometimes think that Buster Keaton's feature films have become the Beethoven symphonies of silent cinema. 

Individually, each has its own characteristics and place in Keaton's body of work. Taken as a whole, they form a rich world—one that had a major influence on what followed.

In Beethoven's case, his influence was on concert music, and the overall "romantic" movement in the general sense. (The General! Ha!) With Keaton, it was movies, up to and including Jackie Chan films.

And if all that's true, then 'The General' is probably the equivalent of Beethoven's 5th: the one everyone seems to know about, and which gets played most frequently. 

And so it is that I've been asked to head down to Newport, R.I. to accompany 'The General' as part of a book tour event promoting Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century, a recently published Buster Keaton book by critic Dana Stevens.

The event, organized by Charter Books of Newport and held at the Jane Pickens Theatre, includes an on-stage interview with the author. It's Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. I encourage you to attend if you're in the area. 

First up will be 'The General,' followed by an on-stage conversation between Stevens and Prof. Matt Ramsey, head of the film department at Salve Regina University. Admission is $12; for $40, you also get a signed copy of the book. The theater is at 49 Touro St. in Newport.  

From what I understand, Stevens' book is a look at Keaton in the context of the rapidly changing world of the early 20th century. It's gotten good reviews, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

The Stevens book is one of two recently published about Keaton. The other, a more traditional biography, is 'Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life' by James Curtis that's due out mid-February. I'm looking forward to this one as well.

For more info, here's a recent New York Times review of both volumes.

Two Buster Keaton books at once! I guess I know what I'll be doing when not watching or accompanying films at the upcoming Kansas Silent Film Festival in Topeka later this month. 

And so if Buster's 'The General' is the equivalent of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, which of Buster's films is the Keaton equivalent of Beethoven's 9th?

Your comments, please.

Study for Valentine's Day with the master, Rudolph Valentino, in 'Blood and Sand' (1922)

A poster for 'Blood and Sand,' in which Rudolph Valentino's name is spelled with an 'O.'

Nothing says 'Valentine's Day' like Rudolph Valentino risking his life doing battle with an angry charging bull.

And that's no ugly metaphor—it's the premise of 'Blood and Sand' (1922), a sizzling silent romantic drama I'm accompanying on Sunday, Feb. 6 at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.

Showtime is at 2 p.m. Lots more detail in the press release below.

For now, a quick report on last night's screening of a Harry Houdini film at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass.

The film was 'The Man from Beyond' (1922), in which our hero plays a sailor frozen on a ship trapped in Arctic ice floes for a full century.

Discovered and unthawed, he enters the modern world (of the 1920s) to search for his lost love from 1820, whom he believes is reincarnated.

The screening was programmed as part of Greenfield's annual Winter Carnival, which, like 'The Man From Beyond,' is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. (Hence the Houdini-on-ice film.)

We've tried running silents with live music at the Garden a few times, with mixed results. For some reason, however, this screening caught the public's imagination—about 60 people attended, enough to really fill the relatively small screening room we were using.

Because virtually everyone there was new to silent film, I went over some basics prior to the screening. That included giving people permission to react openly to what they were about to see: to cheer when something good happened, to boo the villain, and so on.

Well, the audience took that ball and ran with it. Right from the start, people engaged with the film as if it were a sing-a-long musical. Nothing like an energized audience to bring to life a film from the silent era!

(I have to observe: here we were, bringing back to life a film made a century ago, which was about bringing back to life a man frozen a century before that.) 

And yes, there were occasional moments when a few self-appointed smart-alecks felt compelled to yell wisecracks at the screen, a la Mystery Science Theatre 3000. 

But no harm done, and eventually the film's melodrama swept up everyone, just as actress Jane Connolly (playing Houdini's beloved Felice, both in the present and the past) wound up being swept toward Niagara Falls in her canoe. 

And I must say, it was hard to resist my own urge to shout a MST3K-style riff when Connelly decides to escape a pursuer by boarding a canoe and launching herself into a raging cataract just above Niagara Falls, f'rchrissakes!

Casting note: the major role of Gregory Sinclair is played by Erwin Connelly, a round-faced actor who pops up frequently in small roles in Buster Keaton's silent features—most notably as the butler in 'Sherlock Jr.' (1924).

Frequent Keaton screenings have made Connelly's face a familiar one to me. He plays the husband quarreling memorably with his wife in 'Our Hospitality,' and also an offended priest in 'Seven Chances.' 

So it was a treat to see him carrying a lead role outside Buster's world.

There's not much about this performer online, but it turns out we share the same birthday: Jan. 14. His sparse screen credits include 'The Fire Brigade' (1926), which has been newly restored and that I hope to accompany later this year.

And yes, the Jane Connelly in 'The Man From Beyond' turns out to be Erwin's wife. They had appeared in vaudeville together, and were both hired for major roles in the Houdini picture. With Erwin's vaudeville background, it's not surprising he turned up in Keaton's pictures.

Jane, who has no other known screen credits, died just a few years after 'The Man From Beyond'—in 1925, at age 42. Erwin followed her in 1931 at age 53. 

If all this sounds intriguing, I'll be accompanying 'The Man From Beyond' again in April, when it screens at the Town Hall Theater in Wilton, N.H.

But before that, we have Rudy Valentino to get you all hot and bothered for Valentine's Day. Hope to see you there for 'Blood and Sand' on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. Details in the press release below.

*     *     *

Smoldering sensuality, smoldering cigar: Valentino in 'Blood and Sand' (1922).

MONDAY, JAN. 24, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com 

Valentino's bullfighting epic 'Blood and Sand' to screen at Wilton Town Hall Theatre 

Top-grossing silent film to be shown with live music on Sunday, Feb. 6 to celebrate 100th anniversary of release 

WILTON, N.H.—Just in time for Valentine's Day! It's an intense romantic drama that helped catapult actor Rudolph Valentino to worldwide fame. 

It's 'Blood and Sand' (1922), a bullfighting epic with sadomasochistic overtones to be screened on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. 

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person to help support the theater's silent film series. 

The classic drama will be shown with live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. 

The No. 3 box office hit of 1922, 'Blood and Sand' combined exotic Spanish locales with Valentino's iconic performance as a bullfighter. 

The film tells the story of Juan Gallardo (Valentino), a village boy born into poverty who grows up to become one of Spain's greatest matadors. Gallardo marries a friend from his childhood, the beautiful and virtuous Carmen. 

But after achieving fame and fortune, he finds himself drawn to Doña Sol (Naldi), a wealthy, seductive widow. They embark on a torrid affair. 

But then Gallardo, feeling guilty over his betrayal of Carmen, tries to free himself of Doña Sol.

Gallardo's troubles spill over to the bullfighting arena, where he becomes reckless. Can he cope with the gravest challenges of his young life—both in romance, and in the arena? 

The movie's immense popularity helped establish Valentino as one of the megastars of the silent film era. 

Directed for Paramount Pictures by Fred Niblo, the cast includes leading ladies Lila Lee as Carmen and Nita Naldi as Doña Sol. 

The large ensemble of supporting players includes actor Walter Long, a Milford, N.H. native who frequently played "tough guy" character roles in early Hollywood. 

'Blood and Sand' was based on the 1909 Spanish novel "Sangre y arena" (Blood and Sand) by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and the play version of the book by Thomas Cushing. 

Unusual for Hollywood at the time, women played key roles in the production of 'Blood and Sand.' 

The story was adapted by June Mathis, the screenwriter credited with first recognizing Valentino's appeal, and edited by future director Dorothy Arzner. 

The film inspired the 'Blood and Sand' cocktail, a Prohibition-era mixed drink. 

The screening is part of the Town Hall Theatre's ongoing series honoring the 100th anniversary of significant motion pictures that debuted in 1922. 

Programs will include all of 1922's five highest-grossing titles, each shown on the big screen with live music, as well as century-old oddities, short films, cartoons, and more. 

"Putting these films back on the big screen is a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversaries of some terrific motion pictures," said Rapsis, the silent film accompanist who will create live music for all screenings. 

"These are films that set the standard for Hollywood, and still retain their power to entertain, especially when shown in a theater with live music and an audience," Rapsis said.

Upcoming programs in the Town Hall's 100th anniversary series include: 

• Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022 at 2 p.m.: 'When Knighthood was in Flower' Marion Davies goes medieval in this epic big budget costume picture from 1922 that put her on the map as a top Hollywood star. 

• Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Norma Talmadge in 'Smilin' Through' In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a 1922 romantic drama set in the Emerald Isle. 

• Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Douglas Fairbanks in 'Robin Hood' Celebrate the 100th anniversary of this blockbuster adaptation. Massive sets, great action, and Doug Fairbanks in the lead made this the top grossing film of 1922! 

• Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Chaney/Houdini Double Feature. In 'Flesh and Blood' (1922), escaped convict Lon Chaney hides out in Chinatown and plots revenge. In 'The Man From Beyond' (1922) illusionist Harry Houdini plays an Arctic adventurer frozen for 100 years! 

• Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Emil Jannings in 'Othello' The Bard's immortal tragedy brought to the screen in this early German version. Silent Shakespeare in honor of the author's 458th birthday. 

‘Blood and Sand' (1922) will be shown live music on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. 

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person to help defray expenses. For more info, call (603) 654-3456 or visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com.