Chaney and Houdini in double feature at Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. on Sunday, 4/3

Harry Houdini and company on location at Niagara Falls shooting 'The Man From Beyond' (1922).

If two heads are better than one, then two famous people from the 1920s whose names are still recognized a full century later must really something. 

The two people: actor Lon Chaney and illusionist Harry Houdini. They're both performers who, alas, died at relatively young ages, but whose names live on today in the 21st century.

On Sunday, April 3 at 2 p.m., I'll accompany films starring Chaney and Houdini at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. 

For Chaney, it's 'Flesh and Blood' (1922), a rarely screened crime drama made just before he tackled the title role in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' the next year. 

For for Houdini, it's 'The Man From Beyond' (1922), a very strange film about a man frozen in the Arctic ice for 100 years who's revived and brought back to civilization. 

More info about both films is in the press release below. You may notice they're both from 1922, as they're part of an ongoing series at the Town Hall Theatre celebrating the 100th anniversary pictures from that year.

Starting last January, we've already screened the year's top five box office hits, culminating in last week's showing of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in 'Robin Hood' (1922) the year's top attraction.

Speaking of 'Robin Hood': the Fairbanks swashbucklers are often singled out for their lavish sets and production values, with Doug himself noted for his on-screen athleticism and forceful personality. 

All of that's true. But I think Fairbanks doesn't get nearly enough credit for the true strength underpinning his most successful pictures, including 'Robin Hood': story construction.

Really! The sets and stunts are great. But no one would care if there wasn't a powerful story at work to pull an audience forward, then and now. 

Fairbanks (who co-wrote 'Robin Hood' under the pseudonym 'Elton Thomas') had a knack for spinning a great yarn—one that hooks you right away, and which you just can't stop following until the inevitably satisfying conclusion. 

Original poster art promoting 'Robin Hood' (1922) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

With 'Robin Hood,' I can attest to the strength of the story because 100 years later, it still mesmerized our audience at the Town Hall Theater. 

Here it was 2022, and people were cheering Fairbanks as he robbed from the rich to steal from the poor, and spontaneously hissing Prince John, the movie's principle villain. 

That's engagement at a powerful level—enough to cause people to fall in love with the movies, then and now. 

Just look at how the opening scenes in 'Robin Hood' establish the characters: we must root for Fairbanks as Lord Huntingdon for his prowess in jousting, his loyalty to King Richard, but most of all his disarmingly charming fear of...women!

For the bad guys, there's Sir Guy, clearly a sourpuss, already attempting to cheat at jousting and forcing himself on Lady Marian. And Prince John with his evil falcon—one look and you just know there's going to be trouble.

King Richard (in one of the better roles of the ubiquitous Wallace Beery) is firmly established as a life-loving and beloved ruler of his people, plus we meet Huntingdon's loyal squire and get to see Lady Marian in the most positive possible light.

There! In an opening scene of less than 10 minutes, Fairbanks establishes the relationships that will carry us through the next two hours. It worked in 1922, and it still works in 2022, and I imagine it will continue to work in 2122 and beyond.

Will audience response for Chaney and Houdini match that of Fairbanks? Only one way to find out—come join us on Sunday, April 3 and see for yourself. 

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An original release poster for 'Flesh and Blood' (1922) starring Lon Chaney.

 MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Films starring Lon Chaney and Harry Houdini at Town Hall Theatre on Sunday, April 3

Legendary performers return to the silver screen in double bill celebrating 100th anniversary of 1922 releases, with live music.

WILTON, N.H.—A century after their heyday, 'Houdini' and 'Chaney' are still known as the names of legendary entertainers.

See them both on the big screen again on Sunday, April 3 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to help defray expenses.

The screenings will be accompanied with live music by Jeff Rapsis.

The double bill features Lon Chaney in the crime drama 'Flesh and Blood,' while Houdini stars in the adventure film 'The Man From Beyond.'

Released in 1922, both films celebrate their 100th anniversaries this year.

In 'Flesh and Blood,' a rarely screened crime drama, Chaney plays an escaped convict who hides out in Chinatown and plots revenge.

Chaney, known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces" due to his versatility with make-up, was a major star during Hollywood's silent era.

Iconic performances included the title roles in the blockbuster silent versions of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

A lobby card promoting Harry Houdini's 'The Man From Beyond' (1922).

In 'The Man From Beyond,' illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini plays an Arctic adventurer frozen for 100 years. Discovered and thawed out, he searches for his reincarnated lost love.

Houdini was a Hungarian-born, American-Jewish illusionist and stunt performer noted for his sensational escape acts.  

His repertoire included escaping from ropes slung from skyscrapers, from straitjackets under water, and from inside a sealed milk can with water in it.

Chaney began as a stage actor, but moved exclusively to films in the mid-1910s and remained before the cameras for the balance of his career.

Houdini, at the height of his fame, starred in a series of adventure films in the early 1920s, but continued to focus on live performance.

Both men died relatively young: Chaney from throat cancer in 1930 at age 47; Houdini from a ruptured appendix in 1926 at age 52.

A scene from 'Flesh and Blood' (1922) starring Lon Chaney.

Live music for both films will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to create a traditional full orchestra "movie score" sound.

Rapsis emphasized the unique value of seeing early cinema as it was originally presented.

"These films were designed for the big screen, live music, and large audiences. Put it all together, and you can get a sense of why people first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

The double feature is part of the Town Hall Theatre's ongoing series honoring the 100th anniversary of significant motion pictures that debuted in 1922.

Programs have included all of 1922's five highest-grossing titles, each shown on the big screen with live music, as well as century-old oddities, short films, cartoons, and more.

The Town Hall's 100th anniversary series will conclude with 'Othello' (1922) on Sunday, April 17 at 2 p.m.

The Bard's immortal tragedy is brought to the screen in this early German version starring legendary actor Emil Jannings. Silent Shakespeare in honor of the author's 458th birthday.

'Flesh and Blood' starring Lon Chaney and 'The Man From Beyond' starring Harry Houdini will be shown with live music on Sunday, April 3 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses.

For more info, visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456

Study for Valentine's Day with the master, Rudolph Valentino, in 'Blood and Sand' (1922)

A poster for 'Blood and Sand,' in which Rudolph Valentino's name is spelled with an 'O.'

Nothing says 'Valentine's Day' like Rudolph Valentino risking his life doing battle with an angry charging bull.

And that's no ugly metaphor—it's the premise of 'Blood and Sand' (1922), a sizzling silent romantic drama I'm accompanying on Sunday, Feb. 6 at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.

Showtime is at 2 p.m. Lots more detail in the press release below.

For now, a quick report on last night's screening of a Harry Houdini film at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass.

The film was 'The Man from Beyond' (1922), in which our hero plays a sailor frozen on a ship trapped in Arctic ice floes for a full century.

Discovered and unthawed, he enters the modern world (of the 1920s) to search for his lost love from 1820, whom he believes is reincarnated.

The screening was programmed as part of Greenfield's annual Winter Carnival, which, like 'The Man From Beyond,' is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. (Hence the Houdini-on-ice film.)

We've tried running silents with live music at the Garden a few times, with mixed results. For some reason, however, this screening caught the public's imagination—about 60 people attended, enough to really fill the relatively small screening room we were using.

Because virtually everyone there was new to silent film, I went over some basics prior to the screening. That included giving people permission to react openly to what they were about to see: to cheer when something good happened, to boo the villain, and so on.

Well, the audience took that ball and ran with it. Right from the start, people engaged with the film as if it were a sing-a-long musical. Nothing like an energized audience to bring to life a film from the silent era!

(I have to observe: here we were, bringing back to life a film made a century ago, which was about bringing back to life a man frozen a century before that.) 

And yes, there were occasional moments when a few self-appointed smart-alecks felt compelled to yell wisecracks at the screen, a la Mystery Science Theatre 3000. 

But no harm done, and eventually the film's melodrama swept up everyone, just as actress Jane Connolly (playing Houdini's beloved Felice, both in the present and the past) wound up being swept toward Niagara Falls in her canoe. 

And I must say, it was hard to resist my own urge to shout a MST3K-style riff when Connelly decides to escape a pursuer by boarding a canoe and launching herself into a raging cataract just above Niagara Falls, f'rchrissakes!

Casting note: the major role of Gregory Sinclair is played by Erwin Connelly, a round-faced actor who pops up frequently in small roles in Buster Keaton's silent features—most notably as the butler in 'Sherlock Jr.' (1924).

Frequent Keaton screenings have made Connelly's face a familiar one to me. He plays the husband quarreling memorably with his wife in 'Our Hospitality,' and also an offended priest in 'Seven Chances.' 

So it was a treat to see him carrying a lead role outside Buster's world.

There's not much about this performer online, but it turns out we share the same birthday: Jan. 14. His sparse screen credits include 'The Fire Brigade' (1926), which has been newly restored and that I hope to accompany later this year.

And yes, the Jane Connelly in 'The Man From Beyond' turns out to be Erwin's wife. They had appeared in vaudeville together, and were both hired for major roles in the Houdini picture. With Erwin's vaudeville background, it's not surprising he turned up in Keaton's pictures.

Jane, who has no other known screen credits, died just a few years after 'The Man From Beyond'—in 1925, at age 42. Erwin followed her in 1931 at age 53. 

If all this sounds intriguing, I'll be accompanying 'The Man From Beyond' again in April, when it screens at the Town Hall Theater in Wilton, N.H.

But before that, we have Rudy Valentino to get you all hot and bothered for Valentine's Day. Hope to see you there for 'Blood and Sand' on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. Details in the press release below.

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Smoldering sensuality, smoldering cigar: Valentino in 'Blood and Sand' (1922).

MONDAY, JAN. 24, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

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

Valentino's bullfighting epic 'Blood and Sand' to screen at Wilton Town Hall Theatre 

Top-grossing silent film to be shown with live music on Sunday, Feb. 6 to celebrate 100th anniversary of release 

WILTON, N.H.—Just in time for Valentine's Day! It's an intense romantic drama that helped catapult actor Rudolph Valentino to worldwide fame. 

It's 'Blood and Sand' (1922), a bullfighting epic with sadomasochistic overtones to be screened on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. 

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person to help support the theater's silent film series. 

The classic drama will be shown with live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. 

The No. 3 box office hit of 1922, 'Blood and Sand' combined exotic Spanish locales with Valentino's iconic performance as a bullfighter. 

The film tells the story of Juan Gallardo (Valentino), a village boy born into poverty who grows up to become one of Spain's greatest matadors. Gallardo marries a friend from his childhood, the beautiful and virtuous Carmen. 

But after achieving fame and fortune, he finds himself drawn to Doña Sol (Naldi), a wealthy, seductive widow. They embark on a torrid affair. 

But then Gallardo, feeling guilty over his betrayal of Carmen, tries to free himself of Doña Sol.

Gallardo's troubles spill over to the bullfighting arena, where he becomes reckless. Can he cope with the gravest challenges of his young life—both in romance, and in the arena? 

The movie's immense popularity helped establish Valentino as one of the megastars of the silent film era. 

Directed for Paramount Pictures by Fred Niblo, the cast includes leading ladies Lila Lee as Carmen and Nita Naldi as Doña Sol. 

The large ensemble of supporting players includes actor Walter Long, a Milford, N.H. native who frequently played "tough guy" character roles in early Hollywood. 

'Blood and Sand' was based on the 1909 Spanish novel "Sangre y arena" (Blood and Sand) by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and the play version of the book by Thomas Cushing. 

Unusual for Hollywood at the time, women played key roles in the production of 'Blood and Sand.' 

The story was adapted by June Mathis, the screenwriter credited with first recognizing Valentino's appeal, and edited by future director Dorothy Arzner. 

The film inspired the 'Blood and Sand' cocktail, a Prohibition-era mixed drink. 

The screening is part of the Town Hall Theatre's ongoing series honoring the 100th anniversary of significant motion pictures that debuted in 1922. 

Programs will include all of 1922's five highest-grossing titles, each shown on the big screen with live music, as well as century-old oddities, short films, cartoons, and more. 

"Putting these films back on the big screen is a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversaries of some terrific motion pictures," said Rapsis, the silent film accompanist who will create live music for all screenings. 

"These are films that set the standard for Hollywood, and still retain their power to entertain, especially when shown in a theater with live music and an audience," Rapsis said.

Upcoming programs in the Town Hall's 100th anniversary series include: 

• Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022 at 2 p.m.: 'When Knighthood was in Flower' Marion Davies goes medieval in this epic big budget costume picture from 1922 that put her on the map as a top Hollywood star. 

• Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Norma Talmadge in 'Smilin' Through' In honor of St. Patrick's Day, a 1922 romantic drama set in the Emerald Isle. 

• Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Douglas Fairbanks in 'Robin Hood' Celebrate the 100th anniversary of this blockbuster adaptation. Massive sets, great action, and Doug Fairbanks in the lead made this the top grossing film of 1922! 

• Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Chaney/Houdini Double Feature. In 'Flesh and Blood' (1922), escaped convict Lon Chaney hides out in Chinatown and plots revenge. In 'The Man From Beyond' (1922) illusionist Harry Houdini plays an Arctic adventurer frozen for 100 years! 

• Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Emil Jannings in 'Othello' The Bard's immortal tragedy brought to the screen in this early German version. Silent Shakespeare in honor of the author's 458th birthday. 

‘Blood and Sand' (1922) will be shown live music on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. 

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $10 per person to help defray expenses. For more info, call (603) 654-3456 or visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com.

Escape to Houdini's 'The Man From Beyond' in Greenfield, Mass. on Saturday, Feb. 5

Houdini and crew shooting 'The Man From Beyond' (1922) at Niagara Falls.

Today's riddle: What happens when you program a 100-year-old silent film starring legendary illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini in a theater that once employed a young man who idolized Houdini and would go on to become one of today's most acclaimed magicians?

The answer, of course, is that you get a video promo from Penn Jillette, the talking half of "Penn & Teller" and native of Greenfield, Mass., where he once worked at the Garden Cinema, which is showing 'The Man From Beyond' (1922) starring Harry Houdini, with live music by me. 

The screening is tonight: Saturday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass. More info and details are in the press release below.

And yes, Penn Gillette, a Greenfield native, did once work at the Garden Cinemas as a teenager, and did have a thing for Harry Houdini even way back then, which led to a long and illustrious career.

The Garden is running 'The Man From Beyond' in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Greenfield Winter Carnival. So yes, it seemed appropriate to run a film featuring a man (Houdini) frozen in ice for 100 years. 

And it just happens to be the film's 100th anniversary. So lots to celebrate!

If you're in the area, I invite you to attend this rare screening of Harry Houdini's 'The Man From Beyond' at the venerable Garden Cinemas in downtown Greenfield, Mass. 

And if you'd like to see it, here's the Penn Jillette promo. Enjoy! 

Although for a silent film, wouldn't it have been more appropriate for it to be pitched by the usually mute partner Teller?

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MONDAY, JAN. 17, 2022 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

For 100th Winter Carnival: Rare 100-year-old Harry Houdini film with live music at Garden Cinemas on Saturday, Feb. 5

Legendary 'Handcuff King' escape artist plays frozen Arctic explorer in stunt-filled silent adventure movie released 100 years ago

GREENFIELD, Mass.—He reigned for decades as the legendary "Handcuff King," famous for daring escape stunts staged around the world.    

But Harry Houdini also had a brief movie career, starring in a series of silent adventure films that showed off his talent for illusion and escape.

See Houdini back on the big screen in 'The Man From Beyond' (1922) on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. at Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass.  

The century-old film, in which Houdini plays an Arctic explorer frozen for 100 years and then thawed out, is being shown in honor of Greenfield's annual Winter Carnival, which runs Feb. 4-6.  

“This was the perfect film to feature for Greenfield’s 100th Winter Carnival” said Garden Cinemas owner Isaac Mass. “It was the 'Frozen' of 1922.”

The rarely screened film will be shown with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based performer regarded as one of the nation's leading silent film musicians.  

It's the third time Rapsis has been to the Garden Cinemas.  

“His performances are quickly becoming a fan favorite.” Mass said. “It turns out silent film is pretty noisy and the crowd just loves to engage.”

Houdini made only a handful of movies in the 1910s and 1920s, and much of his film work is lost.  

But enough escaped oblivion to provide a glimpse of the world-renowned escape artist at the peak of his worldwide fame.  

The ‘Man From Beyond’ took six months to produce, unheard-of in 1922, and was the first film made by Houdini’s own production company.

In 'The Man From Beyond' (1922), Houdini plays a man frozen 100 years in the Arctic who returns to civilization to reclaim his reincarnated love.  

Once he's thawed out, Houdini tries to straighten out the lives of the descendants of his old friends and lost loves. The film includes a daring climax filmed at Niagara Falls.  

Although Houdini's films were well-received, he eventually abandoned his movie career, preferring live performance.

Houdini, born Erik Weisz, was a Hungarian-born, American-Jewish illusionist and stunt performer noted for his sensational escape acts.  

He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the U.S. and then as "Harry Handcuff Houdini" on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up.  

Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, and having to escape from and hold his breath inside a sealed milk can with water in it.

Houdini also built a career debunking spiritualists, psychics and mediums.  

As a member of the Scientific American Committee, he offered a large cash prize to any medium that could demonstrate supernatural abilities. The prize was never collected.

“He truly was one of the original Ghostbusters," Mass explained.  

Inspired by Houdini, Greenfield native magician Penn Gillette also exposed unscrupulous mediums.

Houdini died prematurely in 1926, at age 52, of peritonitis following a burst appendix that may have been caused by blows received to the abdomen by a visitor backstage at a performance in Montreal.  

Following his death, Houdini's reputation as a legendary performer continued to make his name a household world in the decades that followed.

Houdini (right) after being chopped from a century's worth of ice.

Although not well known as a film actor, Houdini's work in motion pictures was not forgotten. In a posthumous ceremony on Oct. 31, 1975, Houdini was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7001 Hollywood Blvd.  

Houdini’s star is near that of Greenfield native magician and movie star Penn Jillette, which was dedicated in 2013.

"These films are audience favorites, and people continue to be surprised at how engrossing and exhilarating they can be when shown as they were intended: in a theater, and with live music," said Rapsis, who accompanies more than 100 screenings each year at venues around the nation.

Rapsis improvises live scores for silent films using a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of the full orchestra.  

"It's kind of a high wire act," Rapsis said. "But for me, the energy of live performance is an essential part of the silent film experience."

'The Man From Beyond' (1922) will be shown with live music on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. at Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass. Admission is $10 adults; $8.50 seniors, students and veterans. Tickets available online at  www.gardencinemas.net. For more information, call (413) 773-9260 or visit www.gardencinemas.net