A promotional lobby card for 'Annie Laurie' (1926) starring Lillian Gish.This year's silent film series at the Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall and Community Center opens with a screening of the MGM historical blockbuster 'Annie Laurie' (1926) on Saturday May 2 at 7 p.m.
I'll be at the keyboard for the 16th year of silent films and live music in Brandon. It's turned into quite a run, which is good because I very much enjoy presenting silent films with live music in this venue.
Why? Well, the hall has great acoustics for music. But the main reason is that the audience is always really into the experience. The audience is a crucial part of any successful silent film screening—and in Brandon, it's always there.
I'm looking forward to the reaction to 'Annie Laurie,' a film made at the peak of the silent film era, with its lavish settings, great cast, and vivid visual story-telling.
See for yourself by joining the crowd up in Brandon for what promises to be a great shared movie-going experience! More details about the screening and the rest of this year's silent film series is in the press release below.
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Lillian Gish and Norman Kerry in 'Annie Laurie' (1927).MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2026 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
New restoration of MGM blockbuster 'Annie Laurie' to screen at Brandon Town Hall on Saturday, May 2
Lillian Gish stars in title role as Scottish clans do
battle in epic historical drama; accompanied by live music; film opens 2026 silent film series
BRANDON, Vt.— Return to the days of warring Scottish clans when 'Annie Laurie,'
a rarely screened MGM epic featuring silent-era megastar Lillian Gish, opens the 2026 silent film series in Brandon, Vt.
A newly restored and remastered
version of 'Annie Laurie' will be screened on Saturday, May 2 at 7 p.m.
at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Conant Square, Route 7, Brandon, Vt.
The program is free
and open to the public; donations are accepted to support Brandon Town Hall's silent film programming.
Live music will
be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film
accompanist who performs regularly at screenings around the nation.
Lillian Gish in 'Annie Laurie' (1927). In
'Annie Laurie,' Lillian Gish plays a diplomat's daughter caught in the
violent 17th-century feud between the Scottish Campbell and MacDonald
clans.
Gish, a Campbell, falls in love with
rival clan chief Ian MacDonald (Norman Kerry) complicating peace efforts
between the two warring sides.
As the clans
prepare for battle, the romance forces Gish to choose between loyalty to
her family or to warn the rival MacDonalds in advance of the infamous
Massacre of Glencoe.
The film's spectacular
climax features Gish in a dramatic "race to the rescue" sequence filmed
in an early version of Technicolor.
'Annie
Laurie,' a major 1927 release for top studio MGM, has not been available
for public viewing since its original release. In 2024, the U.S.
Library of Congress transferred a pristine 35mm print in their
collection to digital media, doing restoration work when needed,
The
story of 'Annie Laurie' takes place in the late 1690s amid a backdrop
of clans battling fiercely for supremacy in the years before Scotland
joined England to form the United Kingdom.
To
tell the tale on an epic scale on screen, MGM director John S. Robertson
pulled out all the stops, staging enormous battle scenes set among the
craggy Scottish landscape.
From 'Annie Laurie' (1927): It wouldn't be a film set in Scotland without this! Sumptuous period
costumes (yes, including men in kilts!) are a highlight of the 'Annie
Laurie,' which was released at the peak of silent film artistry, just
prior to the introduction of talking pictures.
At
the time, Gish was among MGM's biggest stars, having arrived at the
studio after playing iconic leading roles in early D.W. Griffith
features including 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915), 'Way Down East'
(1920), and 'Orphans of the Storm' (1921).
Leading
man Norman Kerry was a popular silent-era performer who often played
the heroic dashing swashbuckler or the seductive lothario. He was
extremely popular with female fans and was at the peak of his career in
'Annie Laurie.'
Among those in the large cast of supporting players was a very young John Wayne in one of his earliest roles as an extra.
'Annie Laurie' marks the first 2026
screening of the Brandon Town Hall's annual silent film series.
"It's
a great way for audiences to experience the magic of silent film in the
way it was intended: on the big screen, in restored editions, with live
music, and with an audience," said Jeff Rapsis, who provides live
musical accompaniment for each program.
"Early
movie-making was a shared experience that took place in a theater,"
Rapsis said. "Filmmakers at the time created motion pictures with that
in mind—and when you can present them the way they were intended, their
impact remains uniquely powerful."
Upcoming programs in the Brandon Town Hall's silent film series include:
• Saturday, June 13, 2026, 7 p.m.: "
The Kid"
(1921) starring Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan. Chaplin's breakthrough
comedy/drama finds the Tramp raising an infant against all odds.
Highlighted by amazing work of five-year-old Coogan, who delivers one of
the most remarkable child performances in all of cinema. As the film
tells us: "A story with a smile, and perhaps a tear."
• Saturday, July 18, 2026, 7 p.m.: "
The Black Pirate"
(1926) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. The granddaddy of all pirate
films, with Fairbanks as an athletic young aristocrat who seeks revenge
by joining the pirate band responsible for his father's death. Filmed in
color!
• Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, 7 p.m.: "
Son of the Sheik"
(1926) starring Rudolph Valentino. We mark the 100th anniversary of
Valentino's untimely death with his final picture: a rip-roaring sequel
to 'The Sheik,' full of romance, adventure, and thrills!
• Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, 7 p.m.:
"Hot Water"
(1924) starring Harold Lloyd. Unusual for Lloyd, a domestic comedy in
which he's already married the girl of his dreams, but now must deal
with a house full of dreadful in-laws. Great silent film comedy!
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, 7 p.m.: "The Bat"
(1926) directed by Roland West. A masked criminal who dresses like a
giant bat terrorizes the guests at an old house rented by a mystery
writer. Early horror film thought lost until recent rediscovery!
• Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, 7 p.m.: "
The Navigator"
(1924) starring Buster Keaton. Set sail with Buster Keaton in his
classic comedy about a spoiled rich couple marooned all alone on a
drifting ocean liner. Visual comedy at its finest!
'Annie
Laurie' (1927) starring Lillian Gish and Norman Kerry will be shown
with live music on Saturday, May 2 at 7 p.m.
at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon,
Vt. Admission is free; donations are welcome to support the Town Hall's silent film series.
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