A lobby card for Paramount's 'Barbed Wire' (1927) starring Pola Negri.
This Saturday, it's up to Brandon, Vt. (about 2.5 hours) for the final screening of the 2024 season: 'Barbed Wire' (1927), a World War I drama that kind of bridges the season between Veterans Day and the holiday season.
It's also the final screening of silent films organized by the Friends of the Town Hall, a volunteer group that's worked for a quarter-century to rescue and restore Brandon's vintage 19th century town hall after a long period of abandonment and neglect.
The group is disbanding after this season, with the town recreational department taking over management of the venue. I'm pleased to say arrangements are in place for another season of monthly silent film programs starting in May 2025.
But I will certainly miss working with the Friends of the Town Hall volunteers and their long-tenured leader, Dennis Marden. He's the one who got me to start coming to Brandon back in 2010, and he's kept things fun and lively ever since.
He and his group have also transformed the formerly forbidding facility into a warm, inviting and versatile community center. Through physical improvements (like adding heat!) to bringing in a wide range of programming (yes, silent films, too!), their labors have given the Brandon community a great big gift—a vibrant gathering place that most communities can only dream of.
And my feeling is that in this day and age, we need places to gather and have shared experiences more than ever.
So if you happen to be within sledding distance of Brandon, Vt. this Saturday, why not join us for the shared experience of Pola Negri in 'Barbed Wire' (1927)?
Lots more info in the press release below...
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MONDAY, NOV. 11, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
Silent film classic 'Barbed Wire' at Brandon Town Hall on Saturday, Nov. 16
Drama starring Pola Negri set in World War I prison camp to be screened with live music; highlighted by unusual Christmas scene
BRANDON, VT. — A rarely shown World War I prison camp drama with an unusual Christmas sequence will fill the big screen when 'Barbed Wire' (1927) is revived on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt.
'Barbed Wire,' a silent drama starring Pola Negri and Clive Brook, will be screened with live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.
All are welcome to this family-friendly event. Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations.
Set in rural France, 'Barbed Wire' dramatizes the human conflicts that occurred throughout Europe during what was known as 'The Great War.'
In a small village, Mona Moreau (Pola Negri) and her aging father work their farm to feed the brave young men fighting for France. But when their farm is commandeered to build a camp for German POWs, they must feed the prisoners as well.
In the beginning, Mona resents the German prisoners she is forced to feed, but soon she begins to empathize with them. Mona's sympathies begin to raise the suspicion of her neighbors and worst of all, she fears she may be falling in love with handsome prisoner Oskar Muller (Clive Brook).
The relationship is opposed by the townspeople, who ostracize the girl's family, setting in motion dramatic events shaped by war, prejudice, forbidden love, and shared humanity.
"The ending of 'Barbed Wire' astounds viewers today because of the bitter lessons it tries to extract from the wartime experience, and how applicable they are to our world right now, so many years later," Rapsis said.
"At the time, society had just been through a global conflict fueled by hatred, bigotry, and intolerance, and people knew what that led to. They knew. And we can learn from them still," Rapsis said.
Directed by Rowland V. Lee for Paramount Pictures, a highlight of 'Barbed Wire' is a sequence in which the German prisoners celebrate a traditional Teutonic Christmas, by turns solemn and rowdy, despite being incarcerated.
Accompanist Jeff Rapsis specializes in creating music that bridges the gap between an older silent film and the expectations of today's audiences.
Using a digital synthesizer that recreates the texture of a full orchestra, he improvises scores in real time as a movie unfolds, so that the music for no two screenings is the same.
"It's kind of a high wire act, but it helps create an emotional energy that's part of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "It's easier to support the emotional line of the movie and the audience's reaction when I'm able to follow what's on screen, rather than be buried in sheet music," he said.
Because silent films were designed to be shown to large audiences in theaters with live music, the best way to experience them is to recreate the conditions in which they were first shown, Rapsis said.
The screening is sponsored by Jean and Harold Somerset, Nancy and Gary Meffe, Bethany and Andrew Menkart, and the American Legion Post 55, Brandon.
'Barbed Wire' will be shown with live music on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt. All are welcome to this family-friendly event. Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations.
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