Up next! Scoring original dinosaur flick 'The Lost World' on Wednesday, 7/16 at Leavitt Theatre

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

Even pre-history had to start somewhere!

And with the movies, 'The Lost World' (1925) generally gets the credit as the first-ever dinosaur movie. 

Based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story, the film pioneered stop-motion animation techniques that allowed long-extinct creatures to be brought to life on the big screen.

It'll be my privilege to create live music for a screening of this classic adventure thriller on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Theatre in downtown Ogunquit, Maine.

Lots more info in the press release below. Hope to see you at the Leavitt for this amazing picture, which really must be seen on the big screen, as dinosaurs are not small creatures.

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'The Lost World' combined stop motion animation with live action footage.

MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

Dinosaurs! Silent film classic 'The Lost World' at Leavitt Theatre on Wednesday, July 16

Ground-breaking thriller, first to bring prehistoric creatures to the big screen, to be shown with live music; based on Arthur Conan Doyle story

OGUNQUIT, Maine—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 dinosaurs and other larger-than-life creatures.

See for yourself when a restored version of 'The Lost World' is screened on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1 in Ogunquit, Maine.

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

Tickets are $15 general admission and available at the door.

The Leavitt is celebrating its 100th anniversary, having served the community continuously since 1925. To honor this long record, the venue has planned a season of vintage silent movie classics from 1925 with live music.

The series gives area film fans a chance to see movies from the pioneering days of cinema as they were intended to be shown—on the big screen, with an audience, and accompanied by live music.

 

A two-page trade journal ad for 'The Lost World' (1925). Click on the image to enlarge.

 

'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.

'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.

Terrorizing downtown London—and predating Godzilla in Tokyo by three decades.

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.

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 Leavitt 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.

Following 'The Lost World' (1925) on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m., other programs in this year's Leavitt silent film series include:

• Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, 7 p.m.: "The Freshman" (1925) starring Harold Lloyd. Welcome football season with Harold Lloyd's blockbuster silent-era hit about a college boy who dreams of success on the gridiron. One of Lloyd's all-time best!

• Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, 7 p.m.: "Risky Business" (1925) starring Vera Ralston, Zazu Pitts. No, not the 1986 film starring Tom Cruise. In this silent-era 'Risky Business,' Zasu Pitts stars with Vera Reynolds in a tale of a society girl's love for a country doctor in a film that is by turns harrowing, hilarious, and heart-warming.

• Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 7 p.m.: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925). Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber created the hit stage musical, this silent film adaptation starring Lon Chaney helped place 'Phantom' firmly in the pantheon of both horror and romance. See it if you dare!

The restored 'The Lost World' will be shown with live music on Wednesday, July 16 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine; (207) 646-3123; admission is $15 per person, general seating.

For more information, visit www.leavittheatre.com.

Up next: 'Don Q' at Coolidge on June 17, 'Unholy Three' at Leavitt on June 18

Outside the Somerville Theatre prior to a screening of 'Forgotten Faces' (1928).

Hi everyone! It's been a busy time in my other life as executive director of the Aviation Museum of N.H., so there hasn't been a lot of posting about silent film screenings.

I'm still out there. Recent screenings I've accompanied include Harold Lloyd's 'Speedy' (1928) at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H.; 'Forgotten Faces' (1928) at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass.; 'Underworld' (1927) at Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall; 'The Shakedown' (1929) at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.; and Buster Keaton's 'Go West' (1925) at both the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine and the  

I just haven't had time to write about all this. 

Apologies and hope to get back to a more regular cadence later in the summer when I hope the schedule clears up. 

For now, it's all I can do to just mention my next two upcoming screenings: 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925) on Tuesday, June 17 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass., and 'The Unholy Three' (1925) on Wednesday, June 18 at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine. 

A press release for 'The Unholy Three' is pasted in below.  See you at the movies!

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Lon Chaney stars in 'The Unholy Three' (1925).

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Lon Chaney stars as criminal ventriloquist in bizarre silent film thriller at Leavitt Theatre

Historic Ogunquit venue continues 100th anniversary season with screening of 'The Unholy Three', crime melodrama with live music

OGUNQUIT, Maine—Who else but Lon Chaney would star as a ventriloquist-turned-scam-artist in a silent crime thriller?

That's the premise of 'The Unholy Three' (1925), a bizarre MGM film to be shown with live music on Wednesday, June 18 at 7 p.m. at the historic Leavitt Theatre.

Tickets are $15 general admission and available at the door.

The Leavitt, located at 259 Main St. Route 1 in Ogunquit, is celebrating its 100th anniversary, having served the community continuously since 1925.

To honor this long record, the Leavitt Theatre has planned a season of vintage silent movie classics from 1925 with live music.

The series gives area film fans a chance to see movies from the pioneering days of cinema as they were intended to be shown—on the big screen, with an audience, and accompanied by live music.

 

The three conspirators in 'The Unholy Three' (1925).
 

'The Unholy Three' is a 1925 American silent crime melodrama involving a trio of circus conmen, directed by Tod Browning and starring iconic actor Lon Chaney.

The three criminals develop an elaborate criminal enterprise based on their circus skills, which include Chaney's skill at throwing his voice.

Chaney, then at the height of his career, was known as 'The Man of a Thousand Faces' for his ability to transform himself to tackle challenging roles in films such as 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

 

'The Unholy Three' marked the establishment of the notable artistic alliance between director Browning and actor Chaney that would deliver eight films to MGM studios during the late silent film era. 

The film enjoyed tremendous success in its original release, adding luster to Chaney's reputation and revealing Browning as a remarkable film stylist. 'The Unholy Three' was named as one of The New York Times 10 Best Films of 1925.

The Leavitt, a summer-only moviehouse, opened in 1925 at the height of the silent film era, and has been showing movies to summertime visitors ever since.

More recently, the Leavitt has added restaurant and bar service, and has expanded its entertainment schedule to include live music and special events.

The silent film series honors the theater's long service as a moviehouse that has entertained generations of Seacoast residents and visitors, in good times and in bad.

"These movies were intended to be shown in this kind of environment, and with live music and with an audience," said Max Clayton, the Leavitt's manager. "Put it all together, it's great entertainment that still has a lot of power to move people."

Live music for each program will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based performer and composer who specializes in scoring silent films.

In accompanying silent films live, Rapsis uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of the full orchestra. He improvises the music in real time, as the movie is shown.

In scoring a movie, Rapsis creates music to help modern movie-goers accept silent film as a vital art form rather than something antiquated or obsolete.

"Silent film is a timeless art form that still has a unique emotional power," Rapsis said.

After 'The Unholy Three' (1925) on Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m., other programs in this year's Leavitt silent film series include:

• Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 7 p.m.: "The Lost World" (1925) starring Wallace Beery. First-ever movie adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary tale of British explorers who discover pre-historic creatures still thriving atop a remote South American plateau. Great entertainment; ground-breaking special effects by the same team that later created 'King Kong' mesmerized early movie audiences and remain impressive today.

• Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, 7 p.m.: "The Freshman" (1925) starring Harold Lloyd. Welcome football season with Harold Lloyd's blockbuster silent-era hit about a college boy who dreams of success on the gridiron. One of Lloyd's all-time best!

• Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, 7 p.m.: "Risky Business" (1925) starring Vera Ralston, Zazu Pitts. No, not the 1986 film starring Tom Cruise. In this silent-era 'Risky Business,' Zasu Pitts stars with Vera Ralston in a tale of a society girl's love for a country doctor in a film that is by turns harrowing, hilarious, and heart-warming.

• Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 7 p.m.: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925). Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber created the hit stage musical, this silent film adaptation starring Lon Chaney helped place 'Phantom' firmly in the pantheon of both horror and romance. See it if you dare!

The silent film series continues with 'The Unholy Three' (1925) on Wednesday, June 18 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine; (207) 646-3123; admission is $15 per person, general seating.

For more information, visit www.leavittheatre.com.