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!

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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

Post Turkey Day screening: W.C. Fields in 'So's Your Old Man' on Sunday, Dec. 1 in Wilton, N.H.

Outside the Coolidge Corner's marquee prior to 'Thief of Bagdad.'

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, among the many things I have to be thankful for is making it through 'The Thief of Bagdad' last Tuesday night. I accompanied the film just hours after having a stent removed following last week's kidney stone surgery.

'Bagdad' had been scheduled for the Coolidge Corner's 'Sounds of Silents' series long before the kidney stone decided to make an appearance. It just worked out that the stent removal (a follow-up to the surgery itself) wound up getting scheduled for the same day as the film.

But the show must go on! So driving into Boston, I was already thinking ahead to places in the film where I could set up an atmospheric loop on the synthesizer, which would enable me to quickly escape to the men's room if needed.

Well, turns out I had no problems. Actually, I think getting absorbed in doing music for this sprawling, ambitious picture helped minimize any distracting pain or lingering discomfort, which is a phenomenon I've noticed before.

If I'm suffering, say, a bad cold, whatever symptoms I have seem to recede or disappear entirely when I'm accompanying a film. They'll return afterwards, but during the time I'm at the keyboard it's like a reprieve.

Some say laughter is the best medicine. I say it's creating live music for a silent film screening!

And I'll get to do it again on Sunday, Dec. 1 when I accompany 'So's Your Old Man' (1926) at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. More info is in the press release pasted in below.

It's a silent comedy starring W.C. Fields, so lucky me: I'll get the therapeutic benefits of both laughter and silent film accompaniment.

Happy Thanksgiving and see you at the movies!

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An original lobby card for 'So's Your Old Man' (1926) starring W.C. Fields.

MONDAY, NOV. 18, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Town Hall Theatre to screen rare silent film starring comic icon W.C. Fields

'So's Your Old Man' shows legendary performer as younger man; program on Sunday, Dec. 1 accompanied by live music

WILTON, N.H.—He was a performer who could be recognized by just the nasal twang of his voice.

But prior to reaching iconic fame in talking pictures, W.C. Fields successfully starred in a popular series of silent feature films for Paramount Pictures and other studios in the 1920s.

Rediscover the non-talking W.C. Fields in 'So's Your Old Man' (1926) one of his best silent pictures, in a Thanksgiving Day weekend screening on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Live musical scoring will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses. 

In 'So's Your Old Man' (1926), Fields plays Sam Bisbee, inventor of a new shatter-proof windshield glass and regarded as a crackpot by the townsfolk.

After a demonstration of his glass to auto executives goes awry, he faces ridicule and shame. On the way home, Bisbee encounters a woman he thinks is trying to commit suicide, and so prevents her.

 

W.C. Fields (right) in a scene from 'So's Your Old Man' (1926).

The woman is really Princess Lescaboura, member of a family of European royalty, who later arrives in Bisbee's home town to thank him, upending Bisbee's life and setting the small town aflame with gossip. The film includes a version of Fields' famous "golf" routine.

The film was remade as a talkie in 1934, with W.C. Fields again starring, under the title 'You're Telling Me!' In 2008, 'So's Your Old Man' was added to the U.S. National Film Registry.

W.C. Fields remains famous today for his comic persona as a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist with a snarling contempt for dogs, children and women.

Although Fields achieved lasting fame as a movie star in talking pictures of the 1930s, his long career encompassed decades on the vaudeville stage as well as a series of silent film roles in the 1920s.

"People find it hard to think of W.C. Fields in silent films, but he was actually quite successful," Rapsis said. "As a vaudeville performer and juggler, Fields cultivated a form of visual comedy and pantomime that transferred well to the silent screen.

"Also, as a middle-aged man during the silent film era, he was able to play a family father figure—the kind of role that wasn't open to younger comic stars such as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton," Rapsis said.

In all, Fields starred in 10 silent features in the mid-1920s. Several are lost; in those that survive, Fields sports a thick mustache, part of his vaudeville costume as a "vagabond juggler" which he dropped in later years.

W.C. Fields (at right) includes his legendary golf routine in 'So's Your Old Man' (1926).

The film was made not in Hollywood, but at the Paramount studios in Astoria, Queens, a popular production facility for New York-based stage performers who also appeared in film.

For the music, Rapsis improvises in real time, while the film is running, using a digital synthesizer that allow him to recreate the "movie score" texture of a full orchestra.

"Improvising a score live is a bit of a high-wire act, but it allows me to follow and support the film a lot more effectively than if I was buried in sheet music," Rapsis said.

"Instead, I'm free to follow the film right in the moment. Each time it's different, which lends a certain energy and immediacy and excitement to the experience."

'So's Your Old Man,' a silent comedy starring W.C. Fields, will be screened with live music on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses. For more information, call the theater at (603) 654-3456.

Pre-Thanksgiving cinematic feast: Creating music for 'The Thief of Bagdad' 100th anniversary screening on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Mass.

A poster promoting 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924).

Is Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks for abundance?

If so, I can't think of a better silent film to prepare one for the upcoming holiday than 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), an epic adventure/fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

I'll accompany a 100th anniversary screening of 'Thief' on Tuesday, Nov. 26 (two days prior to Turkey Day) at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, Mass.

More about the film and screening in the press release below.

But wait—how does a film set in a mythical Bagdad (resplendent in Art Deco design accents, no less) and based on exotic tales from long ago have anything to do with Thanksgiving?

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. plays the title role in 'Thief of Bagdad' (1924).

I think the key is abundance. 'The Thief of Bagdad' contains more of everything that almost any picture made up until then.

More scenery! More thrills! More intrigue! More eye-popping visuals! 

More Douglas Fairbanks, who dances through the film in a performance that's more—well, Fairbanksian than ever before!

But chiefly it's an abundance of ambition that drives 'Thief' to heights never quite achieved until then. 

Fairbanks, at the top of his game, was ready to put everything he knew, and everything the movies could then do, into something truly grand—a motion picture to transport audiences to another realm in the same way the film's flying carpet transports characters in the story.

It all paid off with one of the greatest fantasies produced in the silent era: a picture that captivated audiences when first released, and which still has that effect today.

And that, I think, is something to be thankful for!

So don't be a turkey! Come join us on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the Coolidge for a 100th anniversary screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad.'  Details in the press release below.

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Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Julanne Johnston in 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924).

MONDAY, NOV. 11, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Flying carpets, fire-breathing dragons, underwater palaces, and more!

Classic epic 'Thief of Bagdad' to screen Tuesday, Nov. 26 at Coolidge Corner Theatre

Adventure/fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks presented with live music in celebration of film's 100th anniversary

BROOKLINE, Mass.—It ranks among the first Hollywood epics to show the full potential for movies to depict entire worlds of fantasy. It was also one of the top grossing films of 1924.

It was 'The Thief of Bagdad,' a celebrated triumph for actor/director Douglas Fairbanks that stands as one of greatest achievements of cinema's silent era.

It's a film filled with images of flying carpets, exotic cities, underwater palaces, winged horses, fire-breathing dragons, and more!

See if for yourself with live music on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre,  290 Harvard St., Brookline, Mass.

Vintage handbill promoting the original release of 'Thief of Bagdad.'

This 100th anniversary screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad' , the latest in the Coolidge's 'Sounds of Silents' series, will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

Tickets $23 per person general admission; students $21.

Douglas Fairbanks, star of 'The Thief of Bagdad,' was the Harrison Ford of his time—a pioneering action hero who was among the first to entertain movie audiences with thrilling adventures.

'The Thief of Bagdad' stands among his best work. A timeless fable on a grand scale, it boasts a great story, spectacular sets, and magical special effects.

A bare-chested Fairbanks plays a crafty street-smart rogue who can easily steal anything his heart desires—except the love of a beautiful princess, daughter of the powerful Caliph of Bagdad.

To win her hand, he must not only change his ways, but also show his worthiness over many other highly placed suitors.

In making the film, Fairbanks spared no expense for what some critics still regard as the most lavish fantasy movie ever made, a show-stopping adaptation of the traditional "A Thousand and One Nights" Arabian legend.

The result is an epic in which a flying carpet is just one of many eye-popping sights designed to astound movie audiences.

 

Fairbanks, swaggering through massive marketplace sets and cavernous throne rooms as an incorrigible pickpocket, scales towering walls (with the help of a magic rope) and leads merry chases through crowded bazaars in his pursuit of loot.

The jaunty opening is a preamble to the film's spectacular second half, in which the repentant thief embarks on an odyssey through caverns of fire, underwater palaces, and even outer space.

Special effects range from a giant smoke-belching dragon to a magical flying horse, and still glow with a timeless sense of wonder from the early days of movies.

William Cameron Menzies's sets were among the largest ever created for a motion picture. Especially noteworthy is his design for a mythical Bagdad, a unique combination of Art Deco and Islamic elements—a dream city inspired by illustrations from story books.

Fairbanks, among the most popular stars of the 1920s, was the inspiration for the character of George Valentin in the Oscar-winning Best Picture 'The Artist' (2011).

Fairbanks was known for films that used the then-new medium of motion pictures to transport audiences to historical time periods for grand adventures and athletic stunts.

He's often referred to as "Douglas Fairbanks Sr." to avoid confusion with his son, the actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

A century after its premiere, 'The Thief of Bagdad' remains highly regarded. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

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

"Seeing a Fairbanks picture in a theater with live music and an audience is a classic movie experience," Rapsis said.

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. If you put it all together again, you get a sense of why people first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

See Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in the 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) with live music on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Coolidge Corner Theatre,  290 Harvard St., Brookline, Mass.

Tickets $23 per person general admission; students $21. For more information, call the box office at (617) 734-2501 or visit www.coolidge.org. 

2024 Silent Film Season in Brandon, Vt. concludes Saturday, Nov. 16 with 'Barbed Wire' (1927)

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.

The imposing exterior of Brandon Town Hall, which dates from the 1860s.
 

The interior of Brandon Town Hall set up for an event. 

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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A vintage one-sheet promoting the World War I drama 'Barbed Wire' (1927).

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.

An original lobby card for 'Barbed Wire' (1927).

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. 

Thoughts on 'Daughter of the Dawn' in San Francisco, and remembering Joe Yranski

Me and silent film accompanist Rodney Sauer at the Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, Calif.

Saturday, Nov. 2 brought a double-helping of my favorite dish: silent film delight.

I got to accompany 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920), an unusual Native American drama, at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Niles, Calif.

And I also got to see and visit with all the folks who maintain the Niles museum, the only venue I know of that runs a silent film program with live music every week all year round.

Really! Sometimes the programs can be quite creative. Later this month, Jon Mirsalis (a Bay area resident and Niles regular) will accompany the classic drama 'The Wind' (1928) in what's being described as 'Blow-A-Rama.'

All I know is that it involves the use of fans in the Niles venue, which is an original 1913 Edison theater. Wish I could be on hand. Still, it's a good enough idea that I'm considering stealing it.

Niles is a natural gathering place for the silent film community, which is why I've been journeying out there off and on (thank you, frequent flier miles!) for the past 10 years or so.

This time, I was joined by another guest accompanist: Rodney Sauer of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, who was on hand to help out with a program honoring Native American Heritage Month, which happens to be November.

It was Rodney and his Mont Alto group (a five-member combo that specializes in scoring silent films) that first got me pointed toward exploring the craft on my own—almost 25 years ago now!

It was March 2000. On a whim, I attended the Kansas Silent Film Festival (this time, thank you Delta flight passes!) in Topeka, Kansas, where I'd never been before. There, I heard the Mont Alto group accompany the silent 'Peter Pan' (1924) and Buster Keaton's 'The Cameraman' (1928).

And I met people, including Rodney, who were so encouraging and welcoming that it eventually led to my trying my hand (or rather, both hands) at it. And here we are.

I've since had occasion to appear on the same program as Rodney, mostly at subsequent Kansas festivals, and it's always great to see him and the other Mont Alto members, catch up, and trade stories. 

Rodney helped me find sheet music for when I recorded a score for Gloria Swanson's 'Zaza' (1923), and he's always been friendly and encouraging and bemused and generous.

Rodney was visiting Niles to speak about and accompany 'Ramona' (1929), starring Delores Del Rio and directed by Edwin Carewe, one of the few motion picture directors of Native American heritage, then or now.

He also introduced 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920), the film I accompanied, providing the Saturday afternoon audience a good summary of how the film came to be, and how it was rediscovered only recently as part of a business legal settlement in Oklahoma. 

Although the film has been reissued with a recorded score using appropriate and authentic Native American music, Niles is committed to showing silent films with live accompaniment. Since I qualify as live, I got the assignment. 

But the thing is, I don't qualify as Native American. With me, you can take your pick: I'm one quarter Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, and/or French-Canadian. Call my ethnicity "assorted."

So my musical heritage, such as it is, is a melange of Polish polkas played on accordian (which Rodney could do, if needed), Irish step-dancing, and what I'll call Quebec-style country & western. Plus all the marching band music I absorbed in high school.

But it was Rodney who gave me a clue about how to approach 'Daughter of the Dawn'—not at Niles, but years ago at a Kansas Silent Film Festival, when he accompanied the wilderness docu-drama 'Chang' (1928) on solo piano.

I don't think Rodney's heritage includes any of the indigenous tribal peoples of southeast Asia, where the film was shot. 

But I remember Rodney saying that to create an effective atmosphere, he tried to avoid "Western-style" chord progressions and modal scales—scales that to our ears might sound somewhat medieval, as in a Gregorian chant.

It seemed to work for Rodney back then. So that's what I did for 'Daughter of the Dawn.'

I took a handful of melodic scraps heavy with intervals of fourths, some flourishes built on modal scales, and wove it together as best I could to support what unfolded on the screen.

I think I struck paydirt right away with a simple device during the opening titles: a single note repeated twice, alternating off the beat in octaves, pulsing steadily along, over and over.

This not only provided a way to enter the world of the movie, but became a kind of textural signal that could be brought back whenever needed. And just by dumb luck, it worked really well when the movie went in a "two hearts that beat as one" direction. 

Under this pulsing note figure, I began weaving different harmonies, mostly using minor chords or often just open fifths. Then I could shift from the pulsing notes, bring in my melodies and work up music as the movie unfolded. 

The one really prominent dance in 'Daughter of the Dawn' is not some kind of theatrical call to war, but was a quiet and modest 'Dance of Thanksgiving' after a successful hunt. Shown onscreen, it consisted of a modest shuffling in a circle, with little footwork and no arm movement. 

For music, this was a lucky break. I was able to do it justice, I think, but a quiet percussive shifting of chords deep in the piano's bass notes. 

In the end, the music for 'Dawn of the Dead' fell together pretty well, I thought. I neither overplayed or underplayed—a balance it's taken me some time to achieve. And thus I created music for my 399th silent feature film. (Yes, I keep track right on this blog.)

And now it's back to New England for a run of shows leading into the holiday season, highlighted by a 100th anniversary screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Mass., and later (in December) what will be my 400th film: the silent 'Oliver Twist' (1922), starring Jackie Coogan and Lon Chaney, which I'll accompany on Friday, Dec. 13 as part of a Dickens festival at the Park Theatre in Jaffrey, N.H.

Joe Yranski, 1951-2024.

Before moving on, I would be remiss to not mention the recent passing of Joe Yranski, well-known and well-loved film buff who died unexpectedly on Oct. 31.

Joe was one of the major figures in the vintage film community. To account for the scope of Joe's work over the years in any complete way would be nearly impossible. 

Organizations he worked with include the Library of Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Mary Pickford Foundation, and Warner Bros. Joe helped preserve and reclaim an untold number of classic films.

On a personal note: like Rodney Sauer, Joe was a person whose generosity and friendliness and overall example encouraged me to take up the practice of silent film accompaniment.

I first encountered Joe in 2008 through fellow accompanist Ben Model, who at the time was working with Joe in programming silent film screenings at the old Donnell Library Center branch of the New York City Public Library on West 53rd St.

Through Ben, I was invited to participate in a "Meet the Music Makers" series that Joe was running, even though at the time I had just started accompanying silent film programs and hadn't made much music at all.

Still, Joe invited me to come down to Manhattan and accompany 'Lessons in Love' (1921), a Constance Talmadge film that hadn't been available since it probably first ran, but which Joe had resurrected and was screening as part of the series, which took place in the facility's basement auditorium.

(I had never heard of 'Lessons in Love' before this, but Joe provided a screener on VHS in advance of the show. I remember my big idea was to play off the 'Lessons in Love' idea by basing large parts of the accompaniment on my Hanon piano technical exercises.)

It turned out Joe and I were both graduates of Fordham University in New York. Based on that, and a mutual interest in vintage film, Joe and I struck up a friendship and correspondence that never flagged over the years. Although a die-hard New Yorker, he occasionally took vacation trips to New England, so we shared that in common as well, though our paths never crossed during these travels.

As I got to know Joe, he revealed himself as a man fully in thrall with life. This took various forms: most obviously his zest for cinema, and in particular his strong connection to silent-era star Colleen Moore, whom he befriended, and whose family he remained in contact with.

But there was more. I could see he had a passion for New York City—its history, its presence, all that it offered. He was part of it and it was part of him. Throughout his life, he held the same wonder that I recall having as a high school kid from New Hampshire arriving at Fordham, except Joe never outgrew that.

I'm sure Joe's life wasn't always easy, but he never failed to be anything less than courteous and solicitous and gracious and charming. These are all qualities in short supply, in our times especially, but not when Joe Yranski was present.

Soon after my Donnell Library debut, Joe invited me to accompany films at Cinefest, the annual vintage film confab that used to take place every March in Syracuse, N.Y. 

I still consider this my "big break," in that I was able to finally meet and work alongside many other accompanists, film scholars, authors, and all the characters that make up the vintage film community.

Under Joe's guidance, I remained in the rotation at Syracuse until the final blow-out year in 2015, when no less than eight accompanists were brought in to share the duties as a kind of last hurrah. 

I'll never forget sitting in the room before the film screenings started, as legendary accompanists including Phil Carli and Gabriel Thibaudeau and Makia Matsumura and Judy Rosenberg and Andrew Simpson and the aforementioned Jon Mirsalis and Ben Model were dividing up the films, and thinking to myself, "What am I doing here?"

But Joe felt I should be included, and that was all I needed to jump in and do my best with a film no one wanted: the silent film version of Harold Lloyd's early talkie, 'Welcome Danger' (1929). It came together marvelously, I thought, and remains a highlight of my silent film accompaniment career—all thanks to Joe.

After a long run, Cinevent ended in 2015. But the years rolled on, and Joe kept in touch. Holidays brought friendly notes. Sending out my schedule of upcoming performances often brought encouraging remarks. I didn't get to see Joe very often, but he was always there.

Until now. All I can say is that I'm very sorry that he's no longer among us. I don't think it's really quite sunk in yet. 

But I do know this: the example of good cheer and friendly openness that Joe Yranski always set is something that I will continue to try to emulate.

And with a nod to our Fordham connection, I will say one more time: Go Rams!

Up next: Native dancing in San Francisco, then accompanying 'The General' on Monday, Nov. 4

In front of the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester, N.H. prior to last night's screening.

Last night's Lon Chaney Double Feature marked the last event of this year's Halloween silent film decathalon. After a dozen shows over the past two weeks, I can relate to Lon Chaney's character in 'The Unknown' (1927), a circus performer with no arms.

Well, even so, I'd better find them as I'm off to San Francisco (and boy are my arms tired!), where on Saturday, Nov. 2, I'll accompany a screening of 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920) at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

The showing is part of weekend of programming celebrating National Native American Heritage Month. Also on hand will be Rodney Sauer of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, who will accompany the Delores Del Rio drama 'Ramona' (1928) on piano.

A scene from 'Daughter of the Dawn' (1920).

I've never done music for 'Daughter of the Dawn' before, and it's a real honor to be asked to score the film at the Niles Essenay museum, one of the premier venues in the nation for what I do. Thanks in advance to Rena Azevedo Kiehn and everyone there for giving me this opportunity!

'Daughter of the Dawn' stands as one of the very few motion pictures made by and for Native Americans during the silent era. It's a trove of authentic practices of the time, and includes rare scenes of traditional tribal dancing. 

I'll do my best to do justice to these scenes, which will be interesting, considering my own personal heritage of native dance is Polish polkas and Irish step dancing.

Then it's back East, where on Monday night I'll accompany a film about the Old South: Buster Keaton's 'The General' (1926) at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass.

Below is a press release with details about the film and the screening. Hope to see you there!

*    *    *

Buster and his costar in 'The General' (1926).

MONDAY, OCT. 28, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Buster Keaton's 'The General' with live music at Garden Cinemas on Monday, Nov. 4

Civil War railroading comedy/adventure film lauded as stone-faced comic moviemaker's masterpiece

GREENFIELD, Mass.— He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of "the Great Stone Face." But Buster Keaton's comedies rocked Hollywood's silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s.

See for yourself with a screening of 'The General' (1926), one of Keaton's landmark feature films, on Monday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass..

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

Admission is $10.50 adults, $8:50 for children, seniors, and students. Tickets are available online or at the door.

The show is intended to give area movie-goers the opportunity to experience early cinema as it was intended: on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'The General,' set during the U.S. Civil War, tells the story of a southern locomotive engineer (Keaton) whose engine (named 'The General') is hijacked by Northern spies with his girlfriend on board.

Keaton, commandeering another train, races north in pursuit behind enemy lines. Can he rescue his girl? And can he recapture his locomotive and make it back to warn of a coming Northern attack?

Buster Keaton astride a cowcatcher sporting a period-authentic haircut in 'The General' (1926).

 Critics call 'The General' Keaton's masterpiece, praising its authentic period detail, ambitious action and battle sequences, and its overall integration of story, drama, and comedy.

It's also regarded as one of Hollywood's great railroad films, with much of the action occurring on or around moving steam locomotives.

Accompanist Jeff Rapsis will improvise an original musical score for 'The General' live as the movie is shown, as was typically done during the silent film era.

"When the score gets made up on the spot, it creates a special energy that's an important part of the silent film experience," said Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra for the accompaniment.

With the Garden Cinema's screening of 'The General,' audiences will get a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen—in a high quality print, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today."

Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, stands today as one of the silent screen's three great clowns. Some critics regard Keaton as the best of all; Roger Ebert wrote in 2002 that "in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, (Keaton) worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies."

A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise. And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton's acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts.

Critics review 'The General':

"The most insistently moving picture ever made, its climax is the most stunning visual event ever arranged for a film comedy."
—Walter Kerr, author of 'The Silent Clowns'

"An almost perfect entertainment!"
—Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

"What makes the film so special is the way the timing, audacity and elegant choreography of its sight gags, acrobatics, pratfalls and dramatic incidents is matched by Buster's directorial artistry, his acute observational skills working alongside the physical élan and sweet subtlety of his own performance."
—Time Out (London)

The Keaton films are a great introduction to silent films for modern audiences, accompanist Rapsis said.

"Keaton's comedy is as fresh today as it was a hundred years ago — maybe more so, because his kind of visual humor is a lost art," Rapsis said.

‘The General’ (1926) starring Buster Keaton will be shown with live music on Monday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Greenfield Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass..

Admission is $10.50 adults, $8:50 for children, seniors, and students.

Tickets available at the door; advance tickets are available at www.gardencinemas.net. For more information, call the box office at (413) 774-4881.

One without arms, the other with no legs: scoring a pair of Lon Chaney's most challenging roles

 In front of the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport, R.I., where I accompanied 'Dracula' (1931) on Tuesday, Oct. 29.

This year's Halloween Season Silent Film Steeplechase concludes tonight with a Lon Chaney double feature: 'The Unknown' (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928).

Both films will be shown on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester, N.H. More details in the press release pasted in below.

It's a compelling pair of movies that feature Chaney in two of his physically most demanding roles. 

In 'The Unknown,' he's Alonzo the Armless, a circus knife-thrower forced to use his legs instead of hands, which he lacks. In 'West of Zanzibar,' he plays Phroso the Magician, who loses the use of his legs in an accident, but who still travels to Africa to get revenue on the man (Lionel Barrymore) who stole his wife.

It's often observed that Chaney put his whole body into his portrayals, with his work in title roles of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame '(1922) and 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925) often cited as examples.

But 'The Unknown' and 'West of Zanzibar' take this one step further. In each film, Chaney plays characters who are denied the full use of their bodies. Instead, he must work around serious physical limitations.

The result, with macabre director Tod Browning helming both films, are portrayals that rank among the most extreme of all mainstream cinema of any era. They must be seen to be believed, and even then you may not believe what you're seeing.

Which all makes for a great Halloween experience! So I hope you'll join me this evening at the Rex Theatre for a show you won't forget—even if you try!

*     *     *

An original release poster for Lon Chaney in 'The Unknown' (1927).

MONDAY, OCT. 21, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Lon Chaney Halloween 'Creepfest' double feature at Rex Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 30

Among Chaney's most challenging roles: In 'The Unknown,' he's without arms; in 'West of Zanzibar,' he's paralyzed from the waist down

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Get into the Halloween spirit with classic silent thrillers starring legendary actor Lon Chaney.

A pair of movies starring Chaney, 'The Unknown' (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928), combine for a creepy double feature on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person; tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.org.

Live music for the movie will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

'The Unknown' (1927) features Chaney as "Alonzo the Armless," a circus knife-thrower with a dark past who uses his feet to perform his act. The film co-stars a very young Joan Crawford.

In 'West of Zanzibar' (1928), Chaney plays a vaudeville magician who seeks revenge after becoming paralyzed from the waist down. The film co-stars Lionel Barrymore.

Both films were produced by MGM and directed by Tod Browning, who specialized in exploring the dark and creepy side of circus life. Browning's career later culminated with his bizarre early talkie film 'Freaks' (1932), starring a cast of deformed carnival performers.

Lon Chaney is today regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup.

Chaney remains famous for his starring roles in such silent horror films as 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques he developed earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces."

But Chaney starred in dozens of other films throughout the silent era, many of them aimed at the growing appetite among movie audiences for the strange, macabre, or downright weird.

In 'The Unknown,' Chaney's character "Alonzo the Armless" is indeed without both arms. This forces him to use his feet to perform tasks that range from throwing knives in his circus act to smoking a cigarette. In one scene, Chaney uses his feet to strum a guitar.

'West of Zanzibar' requires Chaney to play his role without using his legs. When not using a wheelchair, he uses his hands and arms to crawl across floors.

To modern viewers, the passage of time has made these unusual films seem even more strange and otherworldly.

It's an atmosphere that silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will try to enhance by improvising live music on the spot for the screenings.

A very young Joan Crawford comforts an armless Lon Chaney in 'The Unknown' (1927). Notice the lit cigarette between Chaney's toes. 

"Many of the Lon Chaney features seem to get creepier as more time goes by," said Rapsis, who is based in New Hampshire and ranks as one of the nation's leading silent film accompanists. "Today, they're a great way to celebrate Halloween and the power of silent film to transport audiences to strange and unusual places."

Both films are suitable for all family members, but the overall program may be too much for very young children to enjoy.

Modern critics say 'The Unknown' still packs a powerful cinematic punch.

The film "...revels in the seedy circus life, and creates some incredible set pieces, from Chaney's knife-throwing act to a sinister, cavernous doctor's lab,” wrote Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid.

'The Unknown’ (1927) and 'West of Zanzibar' (1928) will be shown on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H.

General admission is $10 per person; tickets are available at the door or online at www.palacetheatre.org.