Time for a 2024 year-end wrap up after scoring 'Oliver Twist' (1922), my 400th silent film

2024 highlight: Hanging with John Ewing and Genevieve Schwartz of the Cleveland Cinematheque. John retired this year after nearly 40 years running the highly regarded repertory theater.

Dear Diary,

First, I'm not sure why I keep writing to you, because you never write back.

But now that I've accompanied my last silent film program for 2024, it's time to look back at the year's highlights, and even a few lowlights, if only for contrast.

First, the numbers...the past year saw me create live music for a total of 86 silent film programs in nine states—most in my home base of New England, but a few in glamorous faraway locations as Cleveland, Ohio; Topeka, Kansas; Ocala, Florida; and Niles, Calif.

That's down slightly from the recent pace of 100+ screenings per year, but consciously so. My day job as museum director has me coordinating three programs in which high school students are building airplanes, and that's been taking up a lot of my attention.

In terms of highlights, the screening I found most rewarding was tackling Abel Gance's seven-hour epic 'La Roue' (1923) all in one go for Silent Movie Day in September. Very much appreciate the willingness of the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. to program and let me accompany this remarkable film. Thanks also to the 40 souls, plus or minus, who stayed for the whole thing. Wow!

Now that I've done it once, and lived, I'd like to take 'La Roue' on the road and do it in other places in 2025. Let me know any venues that might be up for a seven-hour silent film immersion.

Another highlight was heading up to Maine in July to do music for Ed Lorusso's Silent Film Festival up in Gardiner, Mane. I'd never played in that area before and response was gratifying. 

It was a real privilege to help bring Ed's program to life. Same thing with the Lois Weber Film Festival in central Mass.—it was a real kick to bring effective silent film music to this enthusiastic audience.

Alas, probably the low point for me was having to cancel a screening in November (something I rarely do) at the last minute due to a kidney stone. I'm better now (famous last words, I know) and the screening is being rescheduled to later in 2025.

In terms of fellow accompanists, I had the privilege of working with (and hearing) Ben Model, Rodney Sauer, and (for the first time) Donald Sosin. They're all top-notch and it's inspiring to hear what they do. 

 I also got to hang with silent film musician and organist Peter Krasinski, but the only accompaniment that happened when we got together was the drinks that went with dinner prior to attending a BSO concert. 

Lots of wonderful new venues this year that I hope to return to. Among them: the First Congregational Church in Reading, Mass.; the West Newton Cinema in West Newton, Mass.; Pothole Pictures in Shelburne Falls, Mass.; the Moultonborough (N.H.) Public Library; and the long-running Walker Lecture Series (now with silent film!) in Concord, N.H.

Many thanks to the many venues that continue to regularly program silent films with live music, for which I am ever grateful. It's hard to single any out but I very much appreciate the ownership, staff, and patrons of the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. (which functions as my home base); the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass.; the Flying Monkey Moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H.; the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport, R.I.; the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass.; the Rex Theatre in Manchester, N.H.; the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine; the Center for the Arts in Natick, Mass.; the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass.; Epsilon Spires in Brattleboro, Vt. and the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Mass.

Special thanks to Dennis Marden and all the volunteers at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center in Brandon, Vt., where I've been performing regularly since 2011. This season marked the final year of the volunteer group that's managed the venue, which will now be run by the town's Recreation Department. In some good news, the town has agreed to continue the series, which supports the ongoing renovations and preservation of the venerable old building. So I'll be back in Brandon in 2025! 

And a special tip of the hat to everyone at the Kansas Silent Film Festival, which I've attended each year since 2000 (yikes—do the math) and which I look forward to every February. As I say: most people go to Aruba in February. I go to Topeka!

Although I regularly accompany repeat screenings of big titles such as 'The General' (1926) and 'Nosferatu (1922), I still try to work in films I haven't encountered before. This year I tackled a good number of new films (well, new to me) which brought my overall grand total to exactly 400 as the year ended. 

If you'd like to see the complete list, it's posted online here.

Among the first-timers this year were 'Oliver Twist' (1922); 'The Bat' (1926); 'La Roue' (1923); 'Captain January' (1924); 'The Awakening of Ruth' (1917); 'The Seventh Day' (1922); 'The Pagan' (1929); 'The Show' (1927); and 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920), a Native American drama that's the only silent film I've accompanied that was shot entirely in Oklahoma. 

Finally, it was a genuine pleasure this year to make the acquaintance of a person who occasionally attends silent films I accompany when they're based on great works of literature. This person actually reads the books first and then comes to see how the movie compares. 

You know who you are. Thank you for your interest and encouragement!

So, Diary—what do you make of all this? Diary? Hello?

Well, the calendar now goes somewhat quiet until late January, with only a screening of Harry Langdon's comedy 'The Strong Man' (1926) on Monday, Jan. 6 at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass. to break things up. (Among the things I hope it breaks up is the audience. Har!)

Thanks again to everyone who supported and facilitated this ongoing silent film experiment during 2024. Wishing all a memorable holiday season however you celebrate it. See you in a darkened theatre when the days begin getting longer!

—Jeff Rapsis

Up next: back to the future with 'Metropolis' on Sunday, Dec. 8 at Natick Center for the Arts

Who has time for holiday shopping when you can take in a screening of 'Metropolis'?

This weekend brings a chance to see the great futuristic fantasy 'Metropolis' (1927) on the big screen and with live music.

The screening takes place on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Natick Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., in Natick, Mass. 

More information about the film and the screening is in the press release pasted in below. 

Year after year, 'Metropolis' remains one of the most-requested silent film titles, at least in my experience. 

I guess even if an audience isn't into silent film, 'Metropolis' has such a novelty appeal (a silent film about the future!) that people want to experience it, which is great.

If given a chance, I try to explain that the film really needs to be seen in the context of the era that produced it.

Director Fritz Lang and screenwriter Thea von Harbou weren't just spinning a futuristic tale. They were attempting to address big questions faced by Germans in the Wiemar Republic.

What kind of a society did Germans want to create? With Bolshevism and collectivism to the east, and Gilded Age capitalism to the west, what direction should the German people take?

What role should religion and spirituality take? Both are important elements of the German culture. Lang and Harbou knew this—hence the film's final climax takes place on the roof of a cathedral, of all places.

Essentially, their message was specific to the times, but also happens to be timeless: that choices we make today will have important consequences for tomorrow.

We all know now that Germany chose abysmally in the ensuring years. 

In the century since 'Metropolis' was filmed, political systems have come and gone. But the film's power endures and has a lot to say to us today.

See for yourself at our screening on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Natick Center for the Arts in Natick, Mass. More details below!

*     *     *

Mad scientist gesture 101: a scene from 'Metropolis' (1927).

MONDAY, DEC. 2, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Restored classic sci-fi epic 'Metropolis' to screen in Natick on Sunday, Dec. 8

Landmark early futuristic fantasy, with half-hour of rediscovered footage, to be shown with live music at Center for the Arts

NATICK, Mass.—A silent film hailed as the grandfather of all science fiction fantasy movies will be screened with live music at the Center for the Arts in Natick, Mass.

'Metropolis' (1927), an epic adventure set in a futuristic world, will be shown on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at the TCAN Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, Mass.

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

Admission is $12 per person for members; $14 for non-members. Tickets are available online at www.natickarts.org or at the door. Tickets are available online at www.natickarts.org or at the door.

'Metropolis' (1927), regarded as German director Fritz Lang's masterpiece, is set in a society where a privileged elite pursue lives of leisure while the masses toil on vast machines and live in poverty.

The film, with its visions of futuristic factories and underground cities, set new standards for visual design and inspired generations of dystopian fantasies from Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner' to Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil.'

In reviving 'Metropolis' and other great films of cinema's early years, the Center for the Arts aims to show silent movies as they were meant to be seen—in high quality prints, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," said Rapsis, who will improvise an original live score for 'Metropolis' on the spot. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early cinema leap back to life."

Oh my god! Did I forget to set my clock back last month?

In 'Metropolis,' the story centers on an upper class young man who falls in love with a woman who works with the poor. The tale encompasses mad scientists, human-like robots, underground spiritual movements, and industrial espionage, all set in a society divided between haves and have-nots.

The version of 'Metropolis' to be screened at the Center for the Arts is a newly restored edition that includes nearly a half-hour of missing footage cut following the film's premiere in 1927. The lost footage, discovered in 2008 in an archive in Argentina, has since been added to the existing 'Metropolis,' allowing plot threads and characters to be developed more fully.

When first screened in Berlin, Germany on Jan. 10, 1927, the sci-fi epic ran an estimated 153 minutes. After its premiere, the film's distributors (including Paramount in the U.S.) drastically shortened 'Metropolis' to maximize the film's commercial potential. By the time it debuted in the U.S. later that year, the film was only about 90 minutes long.

Even in its shortened form, 'Metropolis' became a cornerstone of science fiction cinema. Due to its enduring popularity, the film has undergone numerous restorations in the intervening decades in attempts to recover Lang's original vision.

Restoration work continues to this day. In 2008, the curator of the Buenos Aires Museo del Cine discovered a 16mm dupe negative of 'Metropolis' that was considerably longer than any existing print.

It included not merely a few additional snippets, but 25 minutes of "lost" footage, about a fifth of the film, that had not been seen since its Berlin debut.

The discovery of such a significant amount of material called for yet another restoration, a 2½-hour version that debuted in 2010 to widespread acclaim. It's this fully restored edition that will be screened at the Center for the Arts.

" 'Metropolis' stands as an stunning example of the power of silent film to tell a compelling story without words, and reach across the generations to touch movie-goers from the real future, which means us," said accompanist Jeff Rapsis, who provides live music for silent film screenings throughout New England and beyond.

To accompany a silent film, Rapsis uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of the full orchestra. The score is created live in real time as the movie is screened. Rather than focus exclusively 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 'Metropolis' will be shown on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at the TCAN Center for the Arts, 14 Summer St., Natick, Mass. Admission is $12 per person for members; $14 for non-members. Tickets are available online at www.natickarts.org or at the door.

CRITIC'S COMMENTS on ‘METROPOLIS’

“'Metropolis' does what many great films do, creating a time, place and characters so striking that they become part of our arsenal of images for imagining the world.”
—Roger Ebert, 2010, The Chicago Sun-Times

“If it comes anywhere near your town, go see it and thank the movie Gods that it even exists. There’s no star rating high enough.”
—Brian Tallerico, Movieretriever.com