Mid-autumn mini-tour: silent film music in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts

From today: Good color coming in this year across the road from our house.

Spooky silent film shows in three states this weekend. I'll be haunting old movie theaters and even older town halls with creepy cinema and live (but deadly) music.

And it's peak foliage right now in northern New England: a little late due to lack of rain this summer, but coming in nicely nonetheless.

I had to drive through rural Brookline and Hollis, N.H. on Thursday, and even on a cloudy day the colors are amazing.

So it's a great weekend to go bombing around the New England countryside on a mini-tour that takes me to an evening show in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday; a Sunday afternoon show in Charlestown, N.H., and then an evening performance down in Boston at the Somerville Theatre.

Because of the distance involved, I get to stay overnight in Rutland, Vt. I tell ya, this showbiz thing is just endless glam.

In Brandon, it's 'Chiller Theatre,' so dubbed because when we started showing films as late as October, the Town Hall did not have central heating.

It now does, but they've kept the name. The film is 'The Man Who Laughs' (1928), the amazing Paul Leni film starring Conrad Veidt in the title role.

Original promotional art for 'The Man Who Laughs.'

It's our final screening of the season in Brandon, where turnout has been strong all year. We've had some good publicity in local press, so here's hoping for a really big crowd for our last hurrah.

More details of the screening are in the press release posted below.

Sunday afternoon takes me to Charlestown, N.H., where the local historical society is screening a Lon Chaney double feature: 'The Unknown' (1927) followed by 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

Showtime is 2 p.m. at the "Old Town Hall," a building whose many functions over the years have included a stint as the town movie theatre.

I always enjoy visiting Charlestown, as I covered the town for a time as a reporter for the Eagle-Times daily newspaper, based up the Connecticut River in Claremont, N.H.

To me, it was a sort of Granite State version of Lake Wobegon. The local grocery store was (and still is) actually named Ralph's, just as in Garrison Keillor's fictional town.

And the place was (and yes, still is) filled with memorable characters.

North Charlestown in home to the St. Pierre clan, an enormous family that runs a huge sand and gravel business. I got to know some of the brothers well enough to be invited to the annual family picnic, where one of the traditions was for everyone to gather on a flatbed and then have it hauled onto the truck scale to get the collective family weight!

When I'm done in Charlestown, then I bomb down to the big city, Boston, where I'm accompanying Chaney again in 'The Unknown,' but this time it's a 35mm print.

The 8 p.m. screening is the finale of the theater's annual multi-day "Terrorthon" festival. It's always a highlight to accompany films at this grand old theater, which has been showing movies since 1914 and where they still take the trouble to show vintage film on actual film.

More details about the Sunday screenings can be found by clicking the "Upcoming Silent Film Screenings" link at the top right of this page.

A lull follows Sunday, but things pick up again next weekend and then I have screenings virtually every day through Halloween. Be prepared to get scared!

And of course, if the usual run-up to Halloween isn't scary enough, just turn on the news! Boo!

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Conrad Veidt and Olga Baclanova in 'The Man Who Laughs' (1928).

TUESDAY, OCT. 4, 2016 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'The Man Who Laughs' (1928) to screen with live music on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Brandon Town Hall

Creepy silent film melodrama starring Conrad Veidt inspired appearance of Batman's nemesis 'The Joker'

BRANDON, Vt.—'The Man Who Laughs' (1928), a silent drama featuring a disfigured man forced to wear an insane grin all his life, will be screened with live music on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall.

The film will be accompanied live by silent film musician Jeff Rapsis.

The screening is free and open to the public. Donations are accepted to help support the town hall's ongoing renovation and restoration. The screening is sponsored by Omya, Inc.

'The Man Who Laughs,' directed by Paul Leni and starring Conrad Veidt, was a popular silent film adaptation of a sprawling Victor Hugo novel set in 17th century England.

Veidt stars as Gwynplaine, a child born of English nobility. After his father is executed, a cruel King James II orders a royal surgeon to hideously disfigure young Gwynplaine's face into a permanent smile, so that he may always laugh at his father's foolishness.

Abandoned and shunned, young Gwynplaine is left to make his way on his own. He learns to conceal his face from strangers, befriending Dea, a blind girl who is not aware of his disfigurement.

The pair are then adopted and put to work by a travelling impresario, who makes use of Gwynplaine's startling face in his theatrical productions.

Gwynplaine and Dea grow to adulthood and eventually fall in love, but complications arise when Gwynplaine's noble lineage is revealed, entitling him to his father's estate—provided he marry another woman of noble birth.

Veidt, who starred earlier in the German expressionist horror classic 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (1919), played the role of Gwynplaine by using a prosthetic device inside his mouth to force his face into a hideous grin and display outsized teeth.

This striking look was later adapted by Batman creator Bob Kane as a model for the physical appearance of iconic villain 'The Joker.'

Critics have praised 'The Man Who Laughs' for its dark visual style and daring story content.

"'The Man Who Laughs' is a melodrama, at times even a swashbuckler, but so steeped in Expressionist gloom that it plays like a horror film," wrote Roger Ebert in 2004. "The film is more disturbing than it might have been because of Leni's mastery of visual style."

Director Leni, originally trained as an artist, made ample use of shadows and darkness in 'The Man Who Laughs,' which set the stage for many legendary Universal horror classics soon to follow, including 'Dracula' (1931) and 'Frankenstein' (1931).

'The Man Who Laughs' will be be screened with live music on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt.

Admission is free; free will donations are encouraged, with proceeds to support ongoing renovation of the town hall. For more information, visit www.brandontownhall.org. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

'Cat and Canary' thriller on 10/22 in Plymouth; then 'Nosferatu,' 'Dr. Jekyll' and 'Unknown'

A gripping tale: Haunted house thriller 'The Cat and the Canary' comes to the Flying Monkey on Thursday, Oct. 22.

Last weekend brought Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Lodger' in Vermont, two Buster Keaton features in New Hampshire, and a flat tire.

This week brings haunted house thriller 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927) on Thursday night, then 'Nosferatu' (1922) on Saturday.

Then that's followed by two shows on Sunday: a matinee of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' (1920) in New Hampshire, then an evening screening of Lon Chaney in 'The Unknown' (1927) down in Massachusetts.

All I can say is: glad I got the flat tire out of the way last weekend.

Last Saturday's 'Lodger' brought an end to the 2015 silent film season at Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall and Community Center, which uses the programs to raise money for ongoing renovations.

The Halloween-themed program was dubbed "chiller theater" in part because the vintage building lacks any kind of central heating.

Marie Ault and Ivor Novello take the chill out of "Chiller Theater."

Turnout was a little light, but only when compared to the capacity crowds we got for several shows this summer.

Music for 'The Lodger' came together effectively, I thought, despite me being slightly rattled by having to swap out a tire on the way there.

I used a strings-only texture until the last 10 minutes, when the film's action begins to take place on a wider scale, which I feel calls for a more robust orchestral palette.

Response in Brandon is never less than enthusiastic, and this time included a jar of homemade apple/rhubarb preserves left for me at the keyboard after the show was over.

The next day's program in Charlestown, N.H. was a hoot because nearly 30 years ago, I covered the town as a reporter for the Claremont Eagle-Times, a local daily paper.

The show was jointly sponsored by the Charlestown Historical Society and the Silsby Free Library, and was held in the library's basement function room.

It turns out that in the first half of the previous century, movies were a regular attraction at what's called the old "Town Hall" in Charlestown. (Town offices long ago moved out to a modern building.)

The "Town Hall" of Charlestown, N.H.

The woman from the historical society, which now looks after the building, told me the original projector is still in place in a booth far up the rear wall.

There wasn't time to check it out on Sunday, but I've added it to my list of places to explore when I get a chance. Who knows what might be up there?

Looking ahead: first up is this year's only screening of 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927), one of my own Halloween favorites. It's on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

More details are in the press release below. I'll post info about the other screenings later this week.

Thanks, and remember: "In Silent Film, No One Can Hear You Scream."

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Martha Maddox and Laura LaPlante in 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927)

FRIDAY, OCT. 16, 2015 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'Cat and Canary' (1927) to play Flying Monkey with live music on Thursday, Oct. 22

Just in time for Halloween: Creepy haunted house silent film thriller to be shown after sundown

PLYMOUTH, N.H.—'The Cat and the Canary' (1927), a haunted house thriller from Hollywood’s silent film era, will be screened with live music on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth.

Live music for the movie will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is $10 per person.

'The Cat and the Canary' stands as the original movie thriller—the first picture to feature the reading of a will in a haunted mansion complete with clutching hands, a masked killer, disappearing bodies, and secret passageways.

Silent film starlet Laura LaPlante leads the cast as a young heiress who must spend the night in the creepy old mansion, which is filled with relatives who all have motives to frighten her out of her wits. Meanwhile, a dangerous escaped lunatic is loose on the grounds. Can she and the others make it through the night?

Created for Universal Pictures by German filmmaker Paul Leni and based on a hit stage play, 'The Cat and the Canary' proved popular enough to inspire several remakes, including one starring Bob Hope. It was also the forbearer of all the great Universal horror classics of the 1930s and '40s.

The Flying Monkey screening will use a fully restored print that shows the film as audiences would have originally experienced it. 'The Cat and the Canary' will be accompanied by live music by New Hampshire composer Jeff Rapsis, who specializes in silent film scoring.

Rapsis will improvise the score on the spot during the screening.

"Silent film is all about the audience experience, and this one is a perfect Halloween crowd-pleaser," Rapsis said. "It has something for everyone—spooky scenes, some good comedy, and it's all fine for the whole family."

Critics praise the original 'Cat and the Canary' for its wild visual design and cutting edge cinematography.

Film reviewer Michael Phillips singled out the film for using "a fluidly moving camera and elaborate, expressionist sets and lighting to achieve some of the most memorable shots in silent film, from the amazing tracking shots down the curtain-lined main hallway to the dramatic zooms and pans that accompany the film's shocks."

Leonard Maltin called the original 'Cat and the Canary' a "delightful silent classic, the forerunner of all "old dark house" mysteries."

The Flying Monkey originally opened as a silent film moviehouse in the 1920s, and showed first-run Hollywood films to generations of area residents until closing several years ago.

The theater has since been renovated by Alex Ray, owner of the Common Man restaurants, who created a performance space that hosts a wide range of music acts.

Movies of all types, however, are still a big part of the Flying Monkey's offerings, and the silent film series is a way for the theater to remain connected to its roots.

'Cat and the Canary' will be shown on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H. Admission $10 per person. For more info, call (603) 536-2551 or visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

This weekend: "Chiller Theater" in Vermont, followed by Buster Keaton in New Hampshire

Ivor Novello is dressed appropriately for cold weather in Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Lodger.'

The coldest weather of the season arrives this weekend, just in time for the annual "Chiller Theater" silent film program in Brandon, Vt.

It's called "Chiller Theater" in part because the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center lacks a functioning central heating system.

But the show must go on, so bring blankets and mittens and whatever else you need to keep warm for our screening of Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Lodger' (1927) on Saturday night.

More details about the screening can be found in the press release below.

But 'The Lodger' is a great film for music, which I rediscovered while accompanying the film this past Wednesday at the Rogers Center for the Performing Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.

It was one of those occasions where I had some good material to work with, and didn't try to overthink things or ramp things up too quickly.

With Hitchcock, sometimes a single held note can accomplish more than anything else you could play. I think I'm getting better at recognizing these moments and taking advantage of them.

Hitchcock's first-ever cameo role (that's him leaning over the desk) comes near the start of 'The Lodger.'

Hitchcock know how to incorporate surprise into his films, so perhaps it's fitting that something unusual happened during the Rogers Center screening.

Prior to the show, I went over the program with the projectionist, a nice guy with whom I'd never worked before.

When I'm working with someone new, I'm careful to lay out how I'd prefer the ending of the program to be managed.

With a film on DVD, when "The End" flashes, I like to have the movie paused on screen and then for the lights to come up while I finish out the score.

Okay, fine. Simple enough, no problem.

But 'The Lodger' has a false ending. After the film's climax winds down, a transitional title comes up that says this: "Every Story Has an Ending."

So the projectionist his pause. But the problem is, the film had five more minutes to go!

I sat there playing transition music, somehow hoping that he'd realize it wasn't over and would unpause the film.

But no! The lights started coming up, and people began applauding as if 'The Lodger' was all done.

Now the decision became whether to just go with it and take a bow, or to turn around and call out to the projectionist (and the audience—about 80 people) that the film wasn't over!

I finally turned around and did just that. So people quieted down, the houselights dimmed again, and then the film resumed.

But alas, the spell had been broken. Robbed of its momentum, 'The Lodger' limped to a finish that lacked the impact that Hitchcock intended. Rats!

Here's what I felt like doing when 'The Lodger' was paused prematurely.

This was all my fault for not anticipating how confusing the titles would be to a projectionist not familiar with the film. Live and learn!

But I had to think that Hitchcock, master of the intentional distraction, would have been amused by what happened.

Well, I'm doing music for 'The Lodger' again in Brandon on Saturday night, so we'll see how that goes. (And I do the film three more times before Halloween.)

I'm then overnighting in Rutland because I have another show the next day in Charlestown, N.H.: a Buster Keaton double feature at the Silsby Free Library in downtown Charlestown.

The screening, which includes 'Sherlock Jr.' (1924) and 'Seven Chances' (1925) is Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m.

I always enjoy returning to Charlestown, a community I covered as a reporter in the late 1980s for the Eagle-Times daily newspaper.

I may have changed a bit in the nearly 30 years since, but Charlestown hasn't. That's the charm of the place. It's kinda like a New Hampshire version of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon.

Even the local grocery store is named "Ralph's."

Okay, below are more details about 'The Lodger' up in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.

It's the final show of our 2015 season of silent film, which has seen record crowds attend the monthly events.

Hope to see you there. And bring some firewood just in case!

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An original French poster for 'The Lodger' retitled the film 'Golden Hair,' correctly highlighting one of Hitchcock's obsessions.

TUESDAY, OCT. 6, 2015 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Hitchcock's first, 'The Lodger,' to screen Saturday, Oct. 17 in Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall

Creepy silent thriller about London murders marked legendary director's debut; to be shown on the big screen with live music

Note to Editors: Some previously released info on this program included incorrect event date. Correct date of event is Saturday, Oct. 17.

BRANDON, Vt.—A half-century of murder has to start somewhere.

And for movie director Alfred Hitchcock, it began with 'The Lodger' (1927), a silent thriller that stunned audiences when it was first released, and contained many of his trademark touches.

'The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog,' is the featured attraction of this year's "Chiller Theater" event at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7 in downtown Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.

The program, the final installment of the Brandon Town Hall's 2015 silent film series, will be accompanied by live music performed by silent film composer Jeff Rapsis.

"What better way to get into the Halloween spirit a little early than a silent film from Alfred Hitchcock?" Rapsis asked.

Admission is free; donations are welcome, with all proceeds to support the town hall's ongoing renovation. The screening is sponsored by local residents Gary and Nancy Meffe.

The program is billed as "Chiller Theater" not only due to the spooky subject matter, but also because the Town Hall lacks a central heating system. Depending on the temperature, attendees are advised to wear coats and bring blankets.

'The Lodger' used distinctive title cards that seem inspired by expressionist filmmakers in Germany, where Hitchcock worked for a time in the 1920s.

'The Lodger,' shot in England and based on a story and stage play by Marie Belloc Lowndes, concerns the hunt for a serial killer in London. British matinee idol Ivor Novello plays Jonathan Drew, a quiet, secretive young man who rents a room in a London boarding house. Drew's arrival coincides with the reign of terror orchestrated by a mysterious "Jack The Ripper"-like killer, who murders a blonde woman every Tuesday evening.

As the film progresses, circumstantial evidence begins to mount, pointing to Drew as the murderer. Suspense and drama escalate in true Hitchcock fashion as the viewer wonders if the lodger really could be the killer—and if so, what danger awaits the landlord's daughter, who is falling in love with the mysterious stranger. The all-British cast includes Malcom Keen, Arthur Chesney, and Marie Ault.

'The Lodger' introduced themes that would run through much of Hitchcock’s later work: an innocent man on the run, hunted down by a self-righteous society, a strong link between sexuality and murder, and a fixation on blonde women. About 'The Lodger,' Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto wrote that for "the first time Hitchcock has revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death."

Let's hope the on-screen action between Marie Ault and Ivor Novello is enough to warm up the heatless Brandon Town Hall.

'The Lodger' also launched the Hitchcock tradition of making a cameo appearance in each of his films. In 'The Lodger,' Hitchcock appears briefly about three minutes into the film, sitting at a desk in a newsroom with his back to the camera and using a telephone. The cameo appearance tradition, which continued for the rest of his long career, came about in 'The Lodger' when the actor supposed to play the part of the telephone operator failed to turn up, and Hitchcock filled the role.

Some critics say 'The Lodger' broke new ground in the previously moribund British cinema, showing a truly cinematic eye at work. In creating the movie, Hitchcock had clearly been watching contemporary films by German directors F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang, whose influence can be seen in the ominous camera angles and claustrophobic lighting.

While Hitchcock had made two previous films, in later years the director would refer to 'The Lodger,' his first thriller, as the first true "Hitchcock thriller." The movie has since been remade several times, most recently in 2009, in an updated version starring Alfred Molina and Hope Davis.

The Brandon Town Hall's silent film series aims to recreate the full silent film experience, with restored prints projected on the big screen, live music, and the presence of an audience. All these elements are essential to seeing silent films they way they were intended, Rapsis said.

"If you can put it all together again, these films still contain a lot of great entertainment," Rapsis said. "By attending these screenings, you can see why people first fell in love with the movies."

Rapsis performs on a digital synthesizer that reproduces the texture of the full orchestra and creates a traditional "movie score" sound.

‘The Lodger' will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, Brandon, Vt.

Admission is free; free will donations are encouraged, with proceeds to support ongoing renovation of the town hall. For more information, visit www.brandontownhall.org.