Up next: Harold Lloyd's 'For Heaven's Sake' (1926) in 35mm at Somerville Theatre on Sunday, 9/20

A poster promoting 'The Vampire' (a.k.a. Theda Bara) in 'A Fool There Was' (1915).

Good stretch of interesting silent film shows in the past few days. 

I did music for 'Beau Geste' (1926) on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine; then Harold Lloyd's 'Hot Water' (1924) up in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Sept. 12; then Theda Bara in 'A Fool There Was' (1915)—a film I'd never accompanied before—on Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.

Healthy attendance at all three, and especially strong for the Theda Bara film. 

Prior to screening 'A Fool There Was,' I asked: How many members of the Theda Bara Fan Club are present? A few hands raised.

Theda Bara in 'A Fool There Was' (1915).

Then I asked: "How many people here believe you are the reincarnation of Theda Bara?" (A few folks said yes to this, too.)

Theda's films may be mostly lost, but her reputation cinema's first 'vamp' lives on into the 21t century. 

In 20 years of accompanying silent film, I'd never done a Theda film because I think the few that exist are pretty creaky and look pretty ragged.

But I DO get requests, so figured this fall was finally the time to see if Theda could still hold the screen in one of her few surviving pictures: 'A Fool There Was' from 1915, a very early year for a U.S. feature film.

The verdict: Well, sorta. Some of her on-camera mystique was able to get through the murk of what seemed to be a third-generation print. 

But the real attraction, I think, was the scandalous nature of the story: an executive with a loving wife and child is seduced by femme fatale Theda while on a business trip in Europe representing the U.S. Government. 

Once under her spell, he deserts his family, gets fired from his government post, loses his business—and things go downhill from there. 

Fun!

But this kind of tale sold tickets. And Theda, who quickly became the go-to-gal for such roles, got enormous visibility in early Hollywood by playing such characters. 

Would I do it again? Yes. It's a good film for music—I used an all-strings setting on my synthesizer to create the same kind of focused sound that Bernard Hermann used in the score for Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1961) , and the story held the attention of our audience for all 90 minutes.  

Looking ahead: next up, it's accompanying a 100th anniversary screening of Harold Lloyd's 'For Heaven's Sake' (1926) on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre as part of the venue's 'Silents, Please!' series.

I'm pleased to say that the Somerville will be screening the film via a 35mm print provided by Harold's granddaughter Sue Lloyd (thank you, Sue!) and it'll be in the Somerville's big 'House 1,' which all summer long featured 'The Odyssey' in 70mm.

Come join us! There's nothing like a Harold Lloyd film shown on the big screen with live music and (most importantly!) an audience. More info about the film (one of the top 10 of 1926) and the screening is in the press release below.

*     *     *

Harold Lloyd and friends on an out-of-control bus in 'For Heaven's Sake' (1926).

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9, 2026 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Classic comedy 'For Heaven's Sake' in 35mm with live music on Sunday, Sept. 20 at Somerville Theatre

Harold Lloyd film, one of 1926's top box office attractions, to celebrate 100th anniversary in 'Silents, Please' screening

SOMERVILLE, Mass.— He was the most popular film star of the 1920s, routinely outpacing comic rivals Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton at the box office.

He was Harold Lloyd, the boy next door who embodied the "get up and go" of the Roaring '20s. Audiences loved Lloyd's mix of visual comedy and thrilling adventures, making him one of the most recognized icons of early Hollywood.

See for yourself with a 100th anniversary screening of Lloyd's romantic comedy 'For Heaven's Sake' (1926), to be screened in 35mm and with live music on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

All are welcome to this family-friendly event; tickets are $17 for adults, $13 seniors/kids; members $13 adults, $9 seniors. Purchase tickets at www.somervilletheatre.com or call the box office at (617) 625-5700.

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

The screening is part of the Somerville Theatre's 'Silents, Please' series, which presents the best of early cinema as it was intended to be shown: in the best restored editions shown on the big screen in a theater, with live music, and with an audience.

In 'For Heaven's Sake,' Lloyd plays a wealthy young man smitten with the daughter of an impoverished clergyman who ministers to the urban poor.

On the day Lloyd and the girl plan to marry, Lloyd's wealthy country club friends kidnap him to prevent what they see as an embarrassing mistake.

Can the urban mission's petty criminals and chronic alcoholics rescue Harold and get him to the church on time?

A scene from 'For Heaven's Sake' (1926).

'For Heaven's Sake,' promoted with the tagline 'A Man With A Mansion, A Miss with a Mission,' became the 4th-highest grossing film of 1926, earning $2.6 million.

Critic Leonard Maltin described 'For Heaven's Sake' as "...a screamingly funny silent comedy."

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

"If you've never seen one of these movies in a theater, check it out," Rapsis said. "These films were the pop culture of their day, and retain their ability to hold an audience and deliver a great time at the movies."

A 100th anniversary screening of Harold Lloyd's 'For Heaven's Sake' (1926) in 35mm will take place on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $13 seniors/kids; members $13 adults, $9 seniors. For tickets, visit www.somervilletheatre.com or call the box office at (617) 625-5700.