Up next: Native dancing in San Francisco, then accompanying 'The General' on Monday, Nov. 4

In front of the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester, N.H. prior to last night's screening.

Last night's Lon Chaney Double Feature marked the last event of this year's Halloween silent film decathalon. After a dozen shows over the past two weeks, I can relate to Lon Chaney's character in 'The Unknown' (1927), a circus performer with no arms.

Well, even so, I'd better find them as I'm off to San Francisco (and boy are my arms tired!), where on Saturday, Nov. 2, I'll accompany a screening of 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920) at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

The showing is part of weekend of programming celebrating National Native American Heritage Month. Also on hand will be Rodney Sauer of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, who will accompany the Delores Del Rio drama 'Ramona' (1928) on piano.

A scene from 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920).

I've never done music for 'Daughter of the Dawn' before, and it's a real honor to be asked to score the film at the Niles Essenay museum, one of the premier venues in the nation for what I do. Thanks in advance to Rena Azevedo Kiehn and everyone there for giving me this opportunity!

'Daughter of the Dawn' stands as one of the very few motion pictures made by and for Native Americans during the silent era. It's a trove of authentic practices of the time, and includes rare scenes of traditional tribal dancing. 

I'll do my best to do justice to these scenes, which will be interesting, considering my own personal heritage of native dance is Polish polkas and Irish step dancing.

Then it's back East, where on Monday night I'll accompany a film about the Old South: Buster Keaton's 'The General' (1926) at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass.

Below is a press release with details about the film and the screening. Hope to see you there!

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Buster and his costar in 'The General' (1926).

MONDAY, OCT. 28, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Buster Keaton's 'The General' with live music at Garden Cinemas on Monday, Nov. 4

Civil War railroading comedy/adventure film lauded as stone-faced comic moviemaker's masterpiece

GREENFIELD, Mass.— He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of "the Great Stone Face." But Buster Keaton's comedies rocked Hollywood's silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s.

See for yourself with a screening of 'The General' (1926), one of Keaton's landmark feature films, on Monday, Nov. 4 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.

The show is intended to give area movie-goers the opportunity to experience early cinema as it was intended: on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'The General,' set during the U.S. Civil War, tells the story of a southern locomotive engineer (Keaton) whose engine (named 'The General') is hijacked by Northern spies with his girlfriend on board.

Keaton, commandeering another train, races north in pursuit behind enemy lines. Can he rescue his girl? And can he recapture his locomotive and make it back to warn of a coming Northern attack?

Buster Keaton astride a cowcatcher sporting a period-authentic haircut in 'The General' (1926).

 Critics call 'The General' Keaton's masterpiece, praising its authentic period detail, ambitious action and battle sequences, and its overall integration of story, drama, and comedy.

It's also regarded as one of Hollywood's great railroad films, with much of the action occurring on or around moving steam locomotives.

Accompanist Jeff Rapsis will improvise an original musical score for 'The General' live as the movie is shown, as was typically done during the silent film era.

"When the score gets made up on the spot, it creates a special energy that's an important part of the silent film experience," said Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra for the accompaniment.

With the Garden Cinema's screening of 'The General,' audiences will get a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen—in a high quality print, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today."

Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, stands today as one of the silent screen's three great clowns. Some critics regard Keaton as the best of all; Roger Ebert wrote in 2002 that "in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, (Keaton) worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies."

A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise. And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton's acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts.

Critics review 'The General':

"The most insistently moving picture ever made, its climax is the most stunning visual event ever arranged for a film comedy."
—Walter Kerr, author of 'The Silent Clowns'

"An almost perfect entertainment!"
—Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

"What makes the film so special is the way the timing, audacity and elegant choreography of its sight gags, acrobatics, pratfalls and dramatic incidents is matched by Buster's directorial artistry, his acute observational skills working alongside the physical élan and sweet subtlety of his own performance."
—Time Out (London)

The Keaton films are a great introduction to silent films for modern audiences, accompanist Rapsis said.

"Keaton's comedy is as fresh today as it was a hundred years ago — maybe more so, because his kind of visual humor is a lost art," Rapsis said.

‘The General’ (1926) starring Buster Keaton will be shown with live music on Monday, Nov. 4 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 available at the door; advance tickets are available at www.gardencinemas.net. For more information, call the box office at (413) 774-4881.

One without arms, the other with no legs: scoring a pair of Lon Chaney's most challenging roles

 In front of the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport, R.I., where I accompanied 'Dracula' (1931) on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

This year's Halloween Season Silent Film Steeplechase concludes tonight with a Lon Chaney double feature: 'The Unknown' (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928).

Both films will be shown on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester, N.H. More details in the press release pasted in below.

It's a compelling pair of movies that feature Chaney in two of his physically most demanding roles. 

In 'The Unknown,' he's Alonzo the Armless, a circus knife-thrower forced to use his legs instead of hands, which he lacks. In 'West of Zanzibar,' he plays Phroso the Magician, who loses the use of his legs in an accident, but who still travels to Africa to get revenue on the man (Lionel Barrymore) who stole his wife.

It's often observed that Chaney put his whole body into his portrayals, with his work in title roles of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame '(1922) and 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925) often cited as examples.

But 'The Unknown' and 'West of Zanzibar' take this one step further. In each film, Chaney plays characters who are denied the full use of their bodies. Instead, he must work around serious physical limitations.

The result, with macabre director Tod Browning helming both films, are portrayals that rank among the most extreme of all mainstream cinema of any era. They must be seen to be believed, and even then you may not believe what you're seeing.

Which all makes for a great Halloween experience! So I hope you'll join me this evening at the Rex Theatre for a show you won't forget—even if you try!

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An original release poster for Lon Chaney in 'The Unknown' (1927).

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Lon Chaney Halloween 'Creepfest' double feature at Rex Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 30

Among Chaney's most challenging roles: In 'The Unknown,' he's without arms; in 'West of Zanzibar,' he's paralyzed from the waist down

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Get into the Halloween spirit with classic silent thrillers starring legendary actor Lon Chaney.

A pair of movies starring Chaney, 'The Unknown' (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928), combine for a creepy double feature on Wednesday, Oct. 30 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.

'The Unknown' (1927) features Chaney as "Alonzo the Armless," a circus knife-thrower with a dark past who uses his feet to perform his act. The film co-stars a very young Joan Crawford.

In 'West of Zanzibar' (1928), Chaney plays a vaudeville magician who seeks revenge after becoming paralyzed from the waist down. The film co-stars Lionel Barrymore.

Both films were produced by MGM and directed by Tod Browning, who specialized in exploring the dark and creepy side of circus life. Browning's career later culminated with his bizarre early talkie film 'Freaks' (1932), starring a cast of deformed carnival performers.

Lon Chaney is today regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup.

Chaney remains famous for his starring roles in such silent horror films as 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces."

But Chaney starred in dozens of other films throughout the silent era, many of them aimed at the growing appetite among movie audiences for the strange, macabre, or downright weird.

In 'The Unknown,' Chaney's character "Alonzo the Armless" is indeed without both arms. This forces him to use his feet to perform tasks that range from throwing knives in his circus act to smoking a cigarette. In one scene, Chaney uses his feet to strum a guitar.

'West of Zanzibar' requires Chaney to play his role without using his legs. When not using a wheelchair, he uses his hands and arms to crawl across floors.

To modern viewers, the passage of time has made these unusual films seem even more strange and otherworldly.

It's an atmosphere that silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will try to enhance by improvising live music on the spot for the screenings.

A very young Joan Crawford comforts an armless Lon Chaney in 'The Unknown' (1927). Notice the lit cigarette between Chaney's toes. 

"Many of the Lon Chaney features seem to get creepier as more time goes by," said Rapsis, who is based in New Hampshire and ranks as one of the nation's leading silent film accompanists. "Today, they're a great way to celebrate Halloween and the power of silent film to transport audiences to strange and unusual places."

Both films are suitable for all family members, but the overall program may be too much for very young children to enjoy.

Modern critics say 'The Unknown' still packs a powerful cinematic punch.

The film "...revels in the seedy circus life, and creates some incredible set pieces, from Chaney's knife-throwing act to a sinister, cavernous doctor's lab,” wrote Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid.

'The Unknown’ (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928) will be shown on Wednesday, Oct. 30 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.

Tonight! Live scoring for 'Dracula' (1931) at the Jane Pickens Theatre, Newport, R.I.

Bela Lugosi plays the title role in 'Dracula' (1931).

 

Live scoring—it's not just for silents anymore!

And that's what I'll be doing tonight in Newport, R.I., where the early talkie version of 'Dracula' (1931) starring Bela Lugosi will fly onto the screen at 7:30 p.m.

More info about the show and venue are in the press release below.

In the past few years, I've done a few live scores for early talkies: 'Dracula' and also 'Frankenstein' (1931) starring Boris Karloff. 

It's possible to do this because in the first few years of synchronized soundtracks, some studios didn't bother with recorded music.

Partly it  was function of economics: no music = no cost. 

 

I think it was also due to uncertainty on the part of some filmmakers and studios of how sound should be used: for dialogue, yes, of course. But background music?

Unless you could SEE the musicians on screen, where was it supposed to be coming from?

 

It was one of those things that took awhile to sort out—similar to the foreign language issue.

 

Now that films talked, what about different languages? 

 

For a time, studios made several versions of films, with the players repeating all dialogue in different tongues, with a pronunciation coach on set when needed and sometimes significant differences in supporting players, story, and so on.

 

Thus we have a German language version of Buster Keaton's early MGM talkie 'Free and Easy' (1930), with the formerly silent comic spouting dialogue in Deutsch.

Which brings us to the Spanish language version of 'Dracula,' filmed concurrently on the same sets with the English version but with a different director as well as a different actor, Carlos Villarius, in the title role!

Well, tonight in Newport, the language will be heavily accented English, with music from me. Details below!

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An original release poster for Bela Lugosi as 'Dracula' (1931).

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

Halloween special: Lugosi's 'Dracula' on big screen with new live score

Horror classic to be shown at the Jane Pickens Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 29 for one screening only

NEWPORT, R.I. — Do you dare prepare for Halloween by braving 'Dracula' on the big screen?

That's the question at the Jane Pickens Theatre, 49 Touro St. in Newport, where the classic 1931 version of 'Dracula' will run for one showing only on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Admission is $17 per person. Tickets available online at https://janepickens.com or at the door.

The screening will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, the Jane Pickens Theatre's silent film accompanist.

Although 'Dracula' is a talking picture, it was released with virtually no musical score, a common practice during the transition period from silent to sound pictures.

Rapsis will perform original music live during the screening using a digital keyboard to recreate the texture of a full orchestra.

Directed by Tod Browning, 'Dracula' was a sensational box office success and has mesmerized movie audiences ever since with its eerie visuals and Lugosi's iconic performance.

The story opens in far-off Transylvania, where mysterious Count Dracula hypnotizes a British soldier, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into becoming his mindless slave.

Welcome to Transylvania!

Dracula then travels to England and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon the Count begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires.

When he sets his sights on Mina (Helen Chandler), the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is enlisted to put a stop to Dracula's never-ending bloodlust.

The Halloween screening of 'Dracula' will include live music by Jeff Rapsis, a composer and performer who specializes in creating accompaniment for silent films.  

'Dracula' was released when Hollywood and movie theatres were still undergoing the transition from the silent era to pictures with synchronized sound and dialogue.

During the silent era, studios did not produce official scores for most films. Instead, accompaniment was left up to local musicians, and could vary greatly from one moviehouse to another.

When studios converted to talking pictures, the tradition of recording a musical score was not well established. In the case of 'Dracula,' Universal omitted music in part to save production costs.

As a result, after the opening credits, the 1931 'Dracula' contains no music except for a brief scene in an opera house.

In recent decades, composers have experimented with creating original music for the movie—most notably Philip Glass, who composed a score in 1998 for the Kronos string quartet.

Another spooky spectacular from director Tod Browning.

Rapsis sees 'Dracula' as closely linked to the silent-era tradition of films shown with live music.

"Tod Browning was a prolific director of silent films, including many thrillers that anticipate 'Dracula,' " Rapsis said. "So even though 'Dracula' is a talking picture, Browning's filmmaking style is strongly rooted in the silent era, when it was assumed that local musicians would be important collaborators in a picture's effect on an audience."

Unlike the Glass score, which plays almost continuously during the movie, Rapsis will use music only in certain places where he feels it will either enhance the mood, heighten tension, or signify a change in the emotional line of the story.

"Although 'Dracula' is not a silent film, there are definitely places where the silence speaks volumes and remains very effective," Rapsis said. "I hope to leave those intact, but enrich other parts of the film in the way that only music can."

Rapsis works largely by improvising as a film plays in the theater, in the tradition of theatre organists of the 1920s.

"There's something very special about the in-the-moment energy of a live improvised performance," Rapsis said. "It's never the same, and at its best it really can help a film connect with an audience and make the whole experience come together."

The original 'Dracula' (1931) starring Bela Lugosi will be shown with live music for one screening only on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jane Pickens Theatre Film and Event Center, 49 Touro St., Newport, R.I. Admission is $17 per person. Tickets available online at https://janepickens.com or at the door. For more information, call the box office at (401) 846-5474.

Monday, Oct. 28: See 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925) in a 100-year-old Maine theater

A poster for the original release of 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925) starring Lon Chaney.

Halloween is upon us! And if you're still not in the spirit (har!), then the Phantom is for you.

'The Phantom of the Opera,' that is—the classic 1925 thriller starring Lon Chaney and (as the poster says) a cast of 5,000 others.

And your final chance to see it this season (with me accompanying it, anyway) is Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine.

An original 100-year-old silent moviehouse, it's a great venue for this picture. Also, it's the last event before the Leavitt shuts down for the off-season, so there's a kind of ghoulish finality about the whole affair.

So come on out to the coast on Monday night and join us for 'Phantom.' Afterwards, if you're not ready for Halloween—well, perhaps you're already a member of the undead.

Bwah hah hah hah! More info in the press release below.

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Lon Chaney terrorizes Mary Philbin in 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'Phantom of the Opera' with live music at Leavitt Theatre on Monday, Oct. 28

Just in time for Halloween: Classic silent horror flick starring Lon Chaney shown on the big screen with live music

OGUNQUIT, Maine—Get into the Halloween spirit with a timeless silent horror film!

'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925), the silent big screen adaptation of the classic thriller, will be shown with live music on Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1 in Ogunquit, Maine.

All are welcome to this family-friendly event; tickets are $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.

The show will allow movie-goers to experience the silent 'Phantom' the way it was intended to be seen: on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.  

'The Phantom of the Opera,' starring legendary actor Lon Chaney in the title role, remains a landmark work of the cinematic horror genre. To modern viewers, the passage of time has made this unusual film seem even more strange and otherworldly.

It's an atmosphere that silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will enhance by improvising live music on the spot for the screening.

"The original 'Phantom' is a film that seems to get creepier as more time passes," said Rapsis, who accompanies films at screenings throughout the nation. "It's a great way to celebrate Halloween, and also the power of silent film to transport audiences to strange and unusual places."

'The Phantom of the Opera,' adapted from a 1910 novel by French author Gaston Leroux, featured Chaney as the deformed Phantom who haunts the opera house. The Phantom, seen only in the shadows, causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the opera's management to make the woman he loves into a star.

Ready for his close-up: Lon Chaney as the Phantom.

The film is most famous for Lon Chaney's intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere.

Chaney transformed his face by painting his eye sockets black, creating a cadaverous skull-like visage. He also pulled the tip of his nose up and pinned it in place with wire, enlarged his nostrils with black paint, and put a set of jagged false teeth into his mouth to complete the ghastly deformed look of the Phantom.

Chaney's disfigured face is kept covered in the film until the now-famous unmasking scene, which prompted gasps of terror from the film's original audiences.

"No one had ever seen anything like this before," Rapsis said. "Chaney, with his portrayal of 'The Phantom,' really pushed the boundaries of what movies could do."

Chaney, known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces" due to his versatility with make-up, also played Quasimodo in the silent 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and circus performer 'Alonzo the Armless' in Tod Browning's 'The Unknown' (1927).

The large cast of 'Phantom of the Opera' includes Mary Philbin as Christine Daaé, as the Phantom's love interest; character actor Snitz Edwards; and many other stars of the silent period.

'The Phantom of the Opera' proved so popular in its original release and again in a 1930 reissue that it led Universal Studios to launch a series of horror films, many of which are also regarded as true classics of the genre, including 'Dracula' (1931), 'Frankenstein' (1931), and 'The Mummy' (1932).

The silent film version of 'Phantom' also paved the way for numerous other adaptations of the story, up to and including the wildly successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical from 1986 that continues to run on Broadway and in productions around the world.

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1925) will be shown on Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1 in Ogunquit, Maine.

All are welcome to this family-friendly event; tickets are $15 per person general admission. Tickets available at the door or online at https://www.leavittheatre.com/

A fresh take on silent spookiness: 'The Bat' (1926) on Sunday, Oct. 27 at Somerville Theatre

A lobby card promoting 'The Bat' (1926) in its original release.

Something new—well, sort of—is flying into the Somerville Theatre  this Halloween season.

On Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m., I'll accompany the silent thriller 'The Bat' (1926) at the Somerville as part of the venue's 'Silents, Please!' series.

Based on a popular stage play, 'The Bat' was very successful in its original release at the height of the silent era.

But since then, it's rarely been screened or seen anywhere. That's surprising, in part because it's a good film that holds up well, but also because it had a lot of influence on the creation of an iconic superhero character: Batman!

Why has 'The Bat' been so elusive?

Well, it's not one of the silent era's many "lost" films. A circulating 35mm print of it has been available from the UCLA Film & Television Library for a long time, but has almost never been booked.

It might be that the film has no "star" performers with names still recognizable today. There's no Clara Bow or Rudolph Valentino in it. It does have Louise Fazenda and Jack Pickford in it, but they're not exactly household names anymore.

Also, the film was produced independently and released through United Artists. So it was not part of the output of a major studio such as MGM or Paramount, so after its original release it kind of got lost in the shuffle.

Another reason is that 'The Bat' has never been released on home video—that is, until now.

This Halloween season, 'The Bat' is getting a new attention thanks to a home video release of the film (on Blu-ray dis)c thanks to Ben Model, my friend and fellow silent film accompanist.

Cover art for the home video release of 'The Bat' (1926) by Undercrank Productions.

Ben accompanied the film at a screening some time ago, and was so impressed he organized a Kickstarter campaign to release the film through his label, Undercrank Productions.

The home video version of 'The Bat' came out just recently, and looks great! (I was a Kickstarter backer, so received a copy when the project was completed.) You can buy it online: for more information, visit the Undercrank website.

Or you can see it as it was intended: on the big screen at the Somerville Theater, with live music, on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. We'll be showing the new digital restoration from Underground/UCLA in DCP format. (Earlier references to using the 35mm print were my mistake!)

For more about 'The Bat' and Sunday's screening, check out the press release below. And happy Halloween!

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A trade ad promoting the original release of 'The Bat' (1926) to movie theater bookers.

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Halloween treat! Rarely screened thriller 'The Bat' (1926) to fly at Somerville Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 27

Calling all Batman fans! Early silent comedy/mystery to be shown with live music; inspired Bob Kane to create Batman superhero

SOMERVILLE, MASS.—It's a rarely screened movie credited with inspiring comic book artist Bob Kane to create the iconic 'Batman' character.

It's 'The Bat' (1926), a silent comedy/mystery directed by Roland West.

See 'The Bat' via a new digital restoration on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

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

Admission $17 adults; $13 members; $12 seniors/children. Tickets are available at somervilletheatre.com or at the door.

The show will allow audiences to experience 'The Bat' the way its makers originally intended: on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

 

The film recently underwent a digital restoration and release by Undercrank Productions. The new restoration will be show in DCP format. 

The story: throughout the city a mysterious thief known only as The Bat is looting the wealthy. The Bat, who wears a full-head bat mask and cape, enjoys toying with his prey by sending notes telling where he is going to strike next. 

As the seearch intensifies, at the country estate of the recently deceased bank owner, Courtleigh Fleming, a disparate group assembles, each with their own agenda.

When Courtleigh Fleming’s nephew is shot to death on the mansion’s grand staircase, the race is on to unmask the killer, stop The Bat, and find a fortune in stolen money hidden within the house.

'The Bat' was originally a popular stage play by Mary Roberts Rinehart before being transformed into a movie during Hollywood's silent film era.

The cast, which includes period favorites Louise Fazenda, Arthur Housman, Jack Pickford, and Jewel Carmen, supports the ominous mood while providing plenty of amusement.

Director Roland West was a master visual stylist with a penchant for the macabre. In 'The Bat,' he expertly manipulated light and shadow.

West also assembled a top notch production crew that included art direction by William Cameron Menzies and photography by Gregg Toland, who would later shoot 'Citizen Kane' (1941) with Orson Welles. 

'The Bat' was a hit when first released, and was also influential, as the masked figure of 'The Bat' had a profound effect on young artist Bob Kane, who cited the film as one of his main inspirations for the creation of Batman.

Rapsis, a composer who specializes in film music, will create a score for 'The Bat' on the spot, improvising the music as the movie unfolds to enhance the on-screen action as well as respond to audience reactions. 

Rapsis performs the music on a digital synthesizer, which is capable of producing a wide range of theatre organ and orchestral textures.

"Live music was an integral part of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "At the time, most films weren't released with sheet music or scores. Studios relied on local musicians to come up with an effective score that was different in every theater. At its best, this approach created an energy and a connection that added a great deal to a film's impact. That's what I try to recreate," Rapsis said.

‘The Bat’ (1926) will be shown with live music on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

Admission $17 adults; $13 members; $12 seniors/children. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.somervilletheatre.com or call the box office at (617) 625-5700.

'Lost World' screening at Flying Monkey in Plymouth, N.H moved to Wednesday, Nov. 6

A scene from 'The Lost World' (1925).

This week's upcoming screening of 'The Lost World' (1925) at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H. has been moved to Wednesday, Nov. 6 due to UCITA.

That's the acronym for "Unforeseen Circumstances Involving The Accompanist."

Apologies to all who planned on attending this week's screening. I've been unexpectedly called out of town, which is what prompted the last-minute date change.

Many thanks to the folks at the Flying Monkey for their ability to quickly change course and arrange for an alternate date that's just two weeks later.

Everything else will be the same, as you'll see in the revised press release below. 

Again, sorry for the short-notice switcheroo, and I hope everyone who was planning to see 'The Lost World' will be able to make it on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

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A trade publication ad promoting 'The Lost World' (1925).
 

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

Silent film classic 'The Lost World' at Flying Monkey on Wednesday, Nov. 6

Ground-breaking first-ever dinosaur thriller to be shown with live music; rescheduled from original October screening date

PLYMOUTH, N.H.—Before there was 'Jurassic Park' or 'Godzilla' or even 'King Kong,' there was 'The Lost World.'

The movie, a blockbuster hit when released in 1925, paved the way for Hollywood's enduring fascination with stories pitting mankind against larger-than-life creatures.

See for yourself when a restored version of 'The Lost World' is screened on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person.

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

The screening was originally scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 23, but was moved to the new date of Wednesday, Nov. 6

'The Lost World' is a silent fantasy adventure film based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel of the same name. The movie was produced by First National Pictures, a precursor to Warner Brothers, and stars Wallace Beery in the lead role as Professor Challenger.

An original release poster for 'The Lost World' (1925).

'The Lost World' tells the tale of a British exploration team that journeys to South America to confirm reports of long-extinct creatures still roaming a remote high plateau deep in the jungle.

The landscape they discover, filled with a wide range of dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures, was enough to astonish movie-goers when 'The Lost World' first hit movie screens in February 1925. Scenes of a brontosaurus on the loose in central London broke new ground in terms of cinema's visual story-telling possibilities.

Early viewers of the film were especially impressed by special effects breakthroughs that allowed live actors to appear simultaneously on-screen with stop motion models of prehistoric creatures. This led to rumors that the filmmakers had actually discovered living prehistoric creatures.

The film featured pioneering stop motion special effects by Willis O'Brien, who would go on to create the effects used to bring 'King Kong' to the screen in 1933.

Arthur Conan Doyle's novel and the movie version of 'The Lost World' proved so influential in the dinosaur genre that the title was borrowed by author Michael Crichton for his 1995 novel, and then used by director Steven Spielberg for 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' (1997), the sequel to the original 'Jurassic Park' movie of 1993.

In 1998, the original 'The Lost World' (1925) was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Touring London: a scene from 'The Lost World' (1925).

Despite the film's popularity, only incomplete copies of 'The Lost World' survived from its initial run in the silent era. In recent years, historians have been piecing together 'The Lost World' from fragments found scattered among the world's film archives.

The version to be shown at the Flying Monkey includes footage from eight different prints. At 93 minutes in length, it's the most complete version of 'The Lost World' available. The edition includes rare footage of Arthur Conan Doyle that has been missing from most prints since the film's original release.

To accompany the film, Rapsis will use a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra. For each film, the score is created live in real time as the movie is screened.

Rather than focus on authentic music of the period, Rapsis creates new music for silent films that draws from movie scoring techniques that today's audiences expect from the cinema.

The restored 'The Lost World' will be shown on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person. For more info, visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com or call (603) 536-2551.

Let the spooky steeplechase begin! Accompanying 11 films in the 12 days before Halloween

Me looking spooked prior to a screening of 'Sherlock Holmes' (1916) earlier this month in Greenfield, Mass.

Let's see. It's three 'Phantoms,' two 'Nosferatus,' and a 'Golem,' a 'Bat,' a 'Lost World,' a Dracula,' and a Lon Chaney double bill.

That's the line-up for this year's pre-Halloween schedule, which tends to be the busiest time of the year for this silent film accompanist.

Altogether, I'll accompany 11 silent films in the 12 days prior to Halloween.

That may seem to be a lot, but it's actually a lighter schedule than in years past. This time around, for example, no "two shows in one day" bookings. 

A couple of years ago on the Saturday before Halloween, I actually accompanied three shows in three different states: afternoon in Jaffrey, N.H.; evening in Ogunquit, Maine, and then a midnight screening at the Coolidge in Boston. 

Still, 11 films in 12 days is a lot. But this is the time of year when general audiences seems most willing to sample a silent film with live music. So it's Business 101: Go where there's a market. 

 Perhaps it's the "otherworldliness" of the silent film experience. I do get a lot of knowing laughs when I say I collaborate with dead people. (That's me looking alarmed prior to a screening of Metropolis last week in Keene, N.H.)

Whatever the reason, the Halloween season is a great chance to get a few newbies curious about the art form and perhaps let it in, which can lead to attendance at future screenings.

That's a phrase I've been using a lot lately, especially since accompanying a marathon seven-hour screening of Able Gance's 'La Roue' (1923) last month: "Let it in."

Really. It seems to capture what a person needs to do today, at the most basic level, for the magic and wonder of early cinema to be experienced. So let it in. 

I could go on about this, and perhaps I will someday. (That's me still looking spooked prior to a screening of 'Cat and the Canary' (1927) last Sunday in Natick, Mass. Notice a theme here?)

But right now it's time to check the list of upcoming screenings and make sure I'll be in the right place at the right time. Hmm, if it's Tuesday, it must be 'Nosferatu.'

Below is the Cliff's Notes version of my schedule. For full film descriptions and more details, check the 'Upcoming Film Screenings' page. 

And after that, it's off to San Francisco to accompany a program at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

But for now, I hope you'll join me for some spooky cinema. And remember: in silent film, no one can hear you scream!

• Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) starring Lon Chaney; First Congregational Church of Reading United Church of Christ, 25 Woburn St., Reading, Mass. Suggested donation $10 per person.

• Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) starring Lon Chaney; Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Main Street/Route 7, Brandon, Vt.; http://www.brandontownhall.com. Admission free, donations accepted, with proceeds to help continuing preservation work.

• Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, 2 p.m.: "Der Golem" (1920); Wilton Town Hall Theatre, Main Street, Wilton, N.H.; (603) 654-3456. Admission free, donations of $10 per person encouraged. 

• Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, 6:30 p.m.: "The Lost World" (1925) starring Wallace Beery; The Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.; (603) 536-2551. Admission $10 per person.

• Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Nosferatu" (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau; West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington St., West Newton, Mass.; (617) 964-8074. Admission price $15 per person.

• Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Nosferatu" (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau; Derry Opera House, 29 W. Broadway, Derry; sponsored by Derry Public Library.  Free admission! For more information, contact the Derry Public Library at (603) 432-6140. 

• Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, 2 p.m.: "The Bat" (1927), directed by Roland West; Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass. For more info, call the theater box office at (617) 625-5700.  Tickets $17.

• Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) starring Lon Chaney; Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine; (207) 646-3123. Tickets $15 general admission.  

• Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, 7:30 p.m.: "Dracula" (1931) starring Bela Lugosi; The Jane Pickens Theatre, 49 Touro St., Newport, R.I.; (401) 846-5474; https://janepickens.com/. Tickets $17 per person.

• Wednesday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.: Lon Chaney Halloween Creepfest! "The Unknown" (1927) and "West of Zanzibar" (1928), both starring Lon Chaney and directed by Todd Browning; The Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.; (603) 574-4826. Tickets $10 per person.

Hope everyone likes trains: Improvising music to support 'La Roue,' a silent film seven hours long

Where I spent most of the day last Saturday: the Brattle prior to showtime.

Last weekend, I did something I've never done before. 

No, I didn't clean the fridge. Rather, I played music for a silent movie that's just under seven hours long.

The film: Abel Gance's 'La Roue' (1923), which the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. screened as part of its programming to celebrate Silent Movie Day, which this year fell on Sunday, Sept. 29.

'La Roue' really is just under seven hours long—412 minutes, to be exact. And I played for all of it, shown in four parts, starting at noon and ending at about 8:30 p.m.

The screening included two brief intermissions, during which I remained at the keyboard and played music, and one longer pause of about 40 minutes about half-way through, which the Brattle generously termed a "dinner break."

Although rarely screened, 'La Roue' is known for influencing many directors by how it demonstrated the possibilities of cinema, at the time a new art form. French poet and playwright Jean Cocteau said: “There is cinema before and after La roue the way there is painting before and after Picasso.”

Only recently restored to its full length, 'La Roue' can now be seen as intended. And I think the most important thing to report from this experience is that Gance's rarely shown film really does hold the screen, at least as I experienced it last Saturday at the Brattle.

The melodramatic story centers on a locomotive engineer, Sisif, and his adopted daughter. Gance filmed 'La Roue' on location among the grimy railyards of Nice and along a narrow-gauge cog railway high in the French Alps. A lot of the film's symbolic power derives from images of wheels and track and signals and switches and other railway hardware.

About 60 people paid $25 each to experience 'La Roue' last Saturday—a bigger audience than I expected. Before the screening, after being introduced by the Brattle's Ned Hinkle, the first thing I said was: "I hope everyone here likes trains." Har!

Intrepid audience members settle in prior to 'La Roue' (1923). 

I then expressed what I feel is the one essential idea that a modern audience need to keep in mind when viewing a film such as 'La Roue.' You need to let it in. 'La Roue,' like a lot of silent films, is about big emotions that have been part of the human experience for centuries. As melodrama, it tells its story in a way that may seem unfamiliar and alien to us. Even so, let it in.

Okay, about the music. Just as Gance was pushing the boundaries of film, so does 'La Roue' push the limits of film accompaniment. I've never tried to do music for a film of such length all in one go. And as I work largely by improvisation, I was curious to see how it would go.

Over time, would the music get better and better? Or lousier and lousier?

Although the score was improvised, I did prepare. I was able to view the entire film online to get an idea  of the content and what kind of soundscape might help support it.

I also developed a suite of material to use in weaving together a score in real time. 

Because a lot of the film is about pain and suffering, the music was based largely on this set of notes:

So: a minor triad with an added fourth. To my ears, this sounds like pain, or at least lingering discomfort, in the sense that it's not easily resolved.

Often the notes showed up in arpeggiated form, to provide a sense of forward motion when needed, such as like this:

Because 'La Roue' is not the fastest-moving film, there's room to develop the material as the sequences unfold.

So over time, I was able to work with the four notes to create accompaniment that supported a wide range of emotions, but which I felt also held together musically.

Over seven hours, a lot of other melodic and harmonic material was employed, much of it made up on the spot. Little scraps of tunes got employed to underscore a scene, and would be brought back in different form when the time seemed right.

Throughout the screening, I kept the synthesizer on the basic orchestral texture I use for most films, except for a few key sections where a solo violin gets played, for which I switched to strings alone in an attempt to create an effective contrast.

What about the length? How did it affect my playing?

When I accompany a film, it takes about 10 or 15 minutes to enter what I call "the silent film zone." It's a state of mind where, if all goes well, my capacity for self-criticism subsides and the music comes freely for the duration of the film.

Once in this state, I often have no conception of the passing of time. 'The End' will come up on the screen, and I'll have no sense that I've been accompanying a film for 2½ hours. It seems like we just started!

So given this, what would happen over a much longer time? 'La Roue' was an opportunity to find out.

That's why I sat at the keyboard and continued to play during the two shorter internissions. I didn't want to break the spell, because sometimes when that happens, you don't get back to the same place you were before.

And I have to say, it wasn't tiring at all, either physically or mentally. It was a little daunting to sit down at noon to begin playing, knowing I'd be doing so well into the evening. But once the film kicked in, the clock stopped as it often does, and I was able to keep going and do justice to the film. 

Me speaking after the screening as the lengthy credits continued to roll. 

Was it easy? No. But it was easier than expected. Facing the longest film I'd ever attempted to score live all in one gulp, I discovered I could do it. In fact, I wouldn't mind doing it again. So I've started reaching out to venues to gauge interest in running 'La Roue' as a once-in-a-lifetime only-in-a-theater experience.

I'll travel anywhere to do it—even by train!

And if I'm in the mood for a real ground-breaking adventure, I'll clean the fridge.

And now...a train-related film of more normal length. Next up: Keaton's 'The General' (1926) on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at the public library in Moultonborough, N.H. 

If you're in the state's Lakes Region getting in some leaf-peeping, stop by and peep at one of Buster's best. More info in the press release below.

*    *    *

Yes, another train-related film: a scene from Buster Keaton's 'The General' (1926).

MONDAY, SEPT. 16, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Buster Keaton's 'The General' with live music at Moultonborough Library on Thursday, Oct. 3

Civil War railroading comedy/adventure film lauded as stone-faced comic moviemaker's masterpiece

MOULTONBOROUGH, N.H.— He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of "the Great Stone Face." But Buster Keaton's comedies rocked Hollywood's silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s.

See for yourself with a screening of 'The General' (1926), one of Keaton's landmark feature films, on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Moultonborough Public Library, 4 Holland St, Moultonborough, N.H.

The screening will feature live music for the movie by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. The screening is free and open to the public; attendees are asked to register online at moultonboroughlibrary.org under the 'Events' area.

The show is intended to give Lakes Region movie-goers the opportunity to experience early cinema as it was intended: on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'The General,' set during the U.S. Civil War, tells the story of a southern locomotive engineer (Keaton) whose engine (named 'The General') is hijacked by Northern spies with his girlfriend on board.

Keaton, commandeering another train, races north in pursuit behind enemy lines. Can he rescue his girl? And can he recapture his locomotive and make it back to warn of a coming Northern attack?

Critics call 'The General' Keaton's masterpiece, praising its authentic period detail, ambitious action and battle sequences, and its overall integration of story, drama, and comedy.

It's also regarded as one of Hollywood's great railroad films, with much of the action occurring on or around moving steam locomotives.

Buster Keaton and co-star in 'The General' (1927).

Accompanist Jeff Rapsis will improvise an original musical score for 'The General' live as the movie is shown, as was typically done during the silent film era.

"When the score gets made up on the spot, it creates a special energy that's an important part of the silent film experience," said Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra for the accompaniment.

With the Moultonborough Library's screening of 'The General,' audiences will get a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen—in a high quality print, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today."

Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, stands today as one of the silent screen's three great clowns. Some critics regard Keaton as the best of all; Roger Ebert wrote in 2002 that "in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, (Keaton) worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies."

A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise. And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton's acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts.

Critics review 'The General':

"The most insistently moving picture ever made, its climax is the most stunning visual event ever arranged for a film comedy."
—Walter Kerr, author of 'The Silent Clowns'

"An almost perfect entertainment!"
—Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

"What makes the film so special is the way the timing, audacity and elegant choreography of its sight gags, acrobatics, pratfalls and dramatic incidents is matched by Buster's directorial artistry, his acute observational skills working alongside the physical élan and sweet subtlety of his own performance."
—Time Out (London)

The Keaton films are a great introduction to silent films for modern audiences, accompanist Rapsis said.

"Keaton's comedy is as fresh today as it was a hundred years ago — maybe more so, because his kind of visual humor is a lost art," Rapsis said.

‘The General’ (1926) starring Buster Keaton will be shown with live music on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Moultonborough Public Library, 4 Holland St, Moultonborough, N.H.

 

The screening is free and open to the public; attendees are asked to register online at moultonboroughlibrary.org under the 'Events' area. For more info, visit the website or call (603) 476-8895.