Thursday, June 27: 'The Last Command'; film won Emil Jannings first-ever 'Best Actor'

Emil Jannings dominates a poster for 'The Last Command' (1928).

June may no longer be busting, but it sure is just about all over.

And what a month! Too much going on these days to find time to keep up with posting basic info about silent film screenings.

But then again, I've started a more methodical approach in sending out press materials, and it seems to be paying off.

Example: getting press materials out well ahead, and resending them at the beginning of each week, resulted in full-page play in some of the local newspapers promoting a screening of 'Metropolis' last Sunday afternoon.

And that paid off with perhaps the biggest turn-out ever for the monthly silent film series at the Town Hall Theater in Wilton, N.H. We had well over 100 people!

But it's time to get the blog back in action, starting with info about this weekend's screenings, which take me from a seaside Maine vacation resort out to the San Francisco Bay area and then back to gritty urban Somerville, Mass.

I feel like a boomerang!

First up: Emil Jannings in 'The Last Command' (1928) on Thursday, June 27 at 7 p.m. at the historic Leavitt Theater in Ogunquit, Maine. (More details below in the press release.)

Then it's out to San Francisco to accompany Chaplin's 'Shoulder Arms' (1918) on Friday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m. It's all part of this year's "Charlie Chaplin Days" celebration at the Niles Essenay Silent Film Museum in Niles, Calif.

How strange to play a full program in Maine on Thursday night, and then another out in northern California. What an age we live in!

And then, it's BACK TO BOSTON, just like Buster Keaton as Willie Canfield, Jr., in 'Steamboat Bill Jr.,' although for me it's to accompany not Buster but Harold Lloyd. Thus: on Sunday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m., it's 'Safety Last' (1923) at the Aeronaut Brewing Co. in Somerville, Mass.

More on that later this week.

For now, here's the press release all about 'The Last Command' (1928), which helped Emil Jannings win the first-ever Best Actor award. Hope to see you Thursday night in Maine!

* * *

The lovely Evelyn Brent is romanced by the lovely-on-the-inside Emil Jannings.

TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2019 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent epic 'The Last Command' with live music at Leavitt Theatre on Thursday, June 27

Russian Revolution picture from 1928 won 'Best Actor' for Emil Jannings at first-ever Academy Awards

OGUNQUIT, Maine—'The Last Command' (1928), a silent film drama that won Emil Jannings 'Best Actor' honors at the first-ever Academy Awards, will be screened with live music on Thursday, June 27 at 7 p.m. at the historic Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1 in Ogunquit, Maine.

Admission is $10 per person. The Leavitt's in-theatre lounge will be open for drinks and dining at 6 p.m., and will remain open after the movie.

The screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film musician.

'The Last Command,' directed by Josef von Sternberg, tells the sweeping story of a powerful general in Czarist Russia (Jannings) forced to flee his homeland during the Bolshevik Revolution. He emigrates to America, where he is reduced to living in poverty.

Finding work as an extra at a Hollywood studio, the former general lands the part of a commanding officer in a movie about the Revolution, causing flashbacks to his traumatic experiences. The conflict leads to a spectacular climax and a towering performance that earned Jannings 'Best Actor' honors.

The film takes audiences on a journey through big emotions as well as issues of history, time, power, and especially a man's duty to his country and to his fellow citizens—and what happens when the two obligations diverge.

'The Last Command' is also one of early Hollywood's most creative and challenging looks at the global conflicts that contributed to World War I.

The film also stars a young William Powell as a Hollywood movie director who crosses paths with the general during the Revolution, and 1920s starlet Evelyn Brent as a seductive Russian revolutionary.

Rapsis, the accompanist, will create the film's score live as the movie is shown by improvising music based on original melodies created beforehand.

"Making up the music on the spot is kind of a high wire act," Rapsis said. "But there's nothing like the energy and excitement that comes with improvised live performance, especially when accompanying a silent film."

Rapsis accompanies films using a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra.

Critic Leonard Maltin hailed 'The Last Command' as "a stunning silent drama...a fascinating story laced with keen observations of life and work in Hollywood." Time Out of London called it "the first Sternberg masterpiece, expertly poised between satire and 'absurd' melodrama. The cast are fully equal to it; Jannings, in particular, turns the characteristic role of the general into an indelible portrait of arrogance, fervour and dementia."

Director Sternberg, a master of lighting and black-and-white photography, created 'The Last Command' as a visual tour de force. The film is often cited as a prime example of the emotional range and visual accomplishment of silent films at their height, just prior to the coming of pictures with recorded soundtracks.

Rapsis said great silent film dramas such as 'The Last Command' told stories that concentrate on the "big" emotions such as Love, Despair, Anger, and Joy. Because of this, audiences continue to respond to them in the 21st century, especially if they're presented as intended—in a theater on the big screen, with a live audience and live music.

"Dramas such as 'The Last Command' were created to be consumed as a communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, they come to life as their creators intended them to. This screening at the Leavitt is a great chance to experience films that first caused people to fall in love with the movies."

After 'The Last Command' on Thursday, June 27 at 7 p.m., other programs in this year's Leavitt silent film series include:

• Wednesday, July 17, 7 p.m.: 'Woman in the Moon' (1929). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, Fritz Lang's epic sci-fi adventure film about mankind's first-ever journey to the moon. See the German space program that never was! (Note Wednesday night screening date.)

• Thursday, Aug. 15, 7 p.m.: 'Paths to Paradise' (1925). Two competing would-be jewel thieves reluctantly team up to pull off a major heist. Starring Raymond Griffith, a leading comedian for Paramount Pictures whose popularity rivaled Chaplin and Keaton in the 1920s,

• Thursday, Aug. 29, 7 p.m.: 'The Beloved Rogue' (1926) starring John Barrymore. Epic costume adventure based on the life of the 15th century French poet, François Villon. Wrongly banished from the Royal Court and sentenced to death, can the patriotic poet save France from an evil plot?

• Saturday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m.: 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) starring Lon Chaney. Just in time for Halloween, our annual "Chiller Theatre" presentation! Lon Chaney stars in the original screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel about a deformed bellringer in medieval Paris.

'The Last Command' (1928) will be screened with live music on Thursday, June 27 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Fine Arts Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine; (207) 646-3123; admission is $10 per person, general seating. For more information, visit www.leavittheatre.com. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

Live music for three films in a single day: 'Docks' and 'Hell's Hinges' and 'Go West,' oh my!

Betty Compson and George Bancroft in 'The Docks of New York' (1928), directed by Josef von Sternberg.

It's one of the very best films from the silent era. And I get to do live music for it tomorrow.

It's 'The Docks of New York' (1928), a drama running in 35mm at the Somerville (Mass.) Theatre on Sunday, July 8 at 2 p.m.

More details about the movie and the screening in the press release pasted in below.

It's the latest installment of the Somerville's 'Silents, Please!' series, and I've been looking forward to this one for awhile.

Why? Because it's a late silent (one of the last from Paramount) that shows the medium at the height of its power and eloquence.

Directed by Josef von Sternberg, the movie uses light and shadow, camera placement and atmosphere, and features a cast of great faces: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Clive Cook, Olga Baclanova, and Gustav von Seffertitz, among others.

Extras seem to have been chosen in a kind of reverse beauty pageant, and the whole run-down waterfront saloon atmosphere and its ballet of light and shadow is captured in masterful black & white by cinematographer Harold Rosson, who would go on to win an Academy Award a decade later for his work on MGM's 'The Wizard of Oz' (1939).

To add to the anticipation, legendary Somerville Theatre projectionist David Kornfeld reports that the print (from the UCLA Archive) looks fantastic.

To quote David:

"We have a gorgeous print, with ravishing density, courtesy of our friends at UCLA. I ran it last night & it will blow you away!

Well, you can't get better marks than that.

So if you think movies from the silent era were all primitive "flickahs" accompanied by rinky-tink piano music, please attend.

(Weirdly, there are two long sequences in 'Docks' that really do call for rinky-tink piano music. But it's in the context of a run-down waterfront saloon.)

Later the same day, I'm at the Aeronaut Brewing Co. (also in Somerville), where we're screening a Western double feature that's half drama and half comedy.

For drama, it's the deadly serious 'Hell's Hinges' (1916), an early William S. Hart effort.

And for comedy, it's 'Go West' (1925), Buster Keaton's send-up of the genre.

I've wanted to try something like this for a long time—to see if running a serious film first, and then a parody after it, makes any difference in the comedy.

A lot of silent film comedy consists of sending up popular films of the period. So, after John Barrymore's 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' came out, Stan Laurel starred in 'Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride.'

To audiences at the time, the comedy was playing off a popular film that most people had recently seen.

But to us today, it's hard to recreate that context unless you show both films. And that's a problematic thing to do.

Why? Because the comedy/parody is usually 20 minutes or less, while the film it mocks is often a full-length feature.

So if you show the comedy first (the usual position in a program), the audience hasn't yet seen the feature.

But if you show the comedy after the feature...well, a short film doesn't seem like the way to end a program, does it?

My solution was to take two relatively short features (both are about one hour) and run them back-to-back.

So on Sunday, night, Hart's 'Hell's Hinges' will function as the set-up, while Keaton's 'Go West' will be the pay off.

Will it work? Join us and find out. In addition to the press release for 'Docks of New York,' I'm also pasting in the press release for the Aeronaut screening as well.

See you at one, the other, or both!

* * *

TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Cinematic masterpiece 'Docks of New York' to screen Sunday, July 8 at Somerville Theatre

Josef von Sternberg's silent working class drama to be shown in 35mm on the big screen with live music

SOMERVILLE, Mass.—It's a rare chance to see a masterpiece of early cinema presented as intended: via 35mm film, on the big screen, with live music and in an actual theater.

It's 'The Docks of New York' (1928), a working class drama directed by Josef Von Sternberg, to be shown at the Somerville Theatre on Sunday, July 8 at 2 p.m.

Live music will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is $15 per person, $12 students/seniors.

It's the latest installment of the Somerville's 'Silents, Please!' series, which gives movie-goers a chance to experience great pictures of the silent era as originally presented.

"Seeing these great pictures on actual 35mm film and in a theater with live music is an opportunity that's increasingly rare," said Ian Judge, manager of the Somerville Theatre.

"But it's the only way to really understand why people first fell in love with movies, and why these pictures were so popular in their day."

Betty Compson and George Bancroft in 'The Docks of New York' (1928).

'The Docks of New York,' one of the last silent films released by Paramount Pictures, explores the lives and loves of lower-class waterfront denizens.

Roughneck stoker Bill Roberts (George Bancroft) falls for Mae (Betty Compson), a wise and weary dance-hall girl. But the relationship changes Roberts' hard-luck life in unexpected ways.

Fog-shrouded cinematography by Harold Rosson ('The Wizard of Oz'), expressionist set design by Hans Dreier ('Sunset Boulevard'), and sensual performances by Bancroft and Compson make this one of the legendary director Joseph von Sternberg’s finest works.

The film was daring for a Hollywood picture at the time for its realism: the unflinching and unromantic portrayal of working class people, and its refusal to rely on traditional story formulas and outcomes.

Unlike many early movie directors, von Sternberg emphasized the visual quality of his pictures, using lighting and scene composition in new and innovative ways.

Working as a studio director for Paramount, the native Austrian was aided by the increasing ability of black-and-white film stock by the mid-1920s to capture light and shadows.

The result was a series of ground-breaking dramas at the very end of the silent era, including 'Underworld' (1927) and 'The Last Command' (1928), the latter which helped Emil Jannings win "Best Actor" at the first-ever Academy Awards ceremony.

After the transition to talking pictures, von Sternberg discovered German actress Marlene Dietrich, inviting her to Hollywood to make a series of highly successful pictures under his direction.

With their moody lighting and extensive use of shadows, von Sternberg's films are widely acknowledged as paving the way for the "film noir" look that took hold in Hollywood in subsequent decades.

Although von Sternberg's directing career faded in the 1950s, his legacy continues today in surprising places—including the field of early rock music.

Between 1959 and 1963, Sternberg taught a course on film aesthetics at the University of California at Los Angeles, based on his own works. His students included Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek, who went on to form the rock group The Doors.

The group recorded songs referring to Sternberg. Manzarek has described Sternberg as "perhaps the greatest single influence on The Doors."

'Docks of New York' was released at the very end of the silent era, causing it to be overlooked by critics at the time.

Previewed by the New York City press during the same week that saw the fanfare opening of Al Jolson’s 'The Singing Fool,' Sternberg’s film was ignored in the excitement over competing talking pictures.

Film critic Andrew Sarris lamented that Sternberg’s film “quickly vanished in undeserved oblivion...confirm[ing] Chaplin’s observation that the silent movies learned their craft just about the time they went out of business.”

Museum of Modern Art film curator Charles Silver ranked The Docks of New York as “probably the last genuinely great silent film made in Hollywood [rivaling] Chaplin’s masterpieces of the 1930s.”

Upcoming programs in the Somerville's silent film series include:

• Sunday, Aug. 12: a selection of Laurel & Hardy's rarely screened silent comedies, all in 35mm prints from the Library of Congress, including 'Big Business' (1929), 'The Finishing Touch' (1928), 'You're Darn Tootin'' (1928), and 'Call of the Cuckoos' (1927).

‘The Docks of New York' (1928) will be shown on Sunday, July 8 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass. Tickets are $15 adults, $12 students/seniors. For more information, visit www.somervilletheatre.com or call (617) 625-4088.

* * *
And here's a release for the Aeronaut double feature...

Buster and his co-star Brown Eyes in 'Go West' (1925).

THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'Go West' with Buster Keaton at Aeronaut Brewing Co. on Sunday, July 8

Classic silent film comedy masterpiece to be screened with live musical accompaniment

SOMERVILLE, 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 'Go West' (1925), one of Keaton's landmark feature films, on Sunday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Aeronaut Brewing Co., 14 Tyler St., Somerville, Mass. Admission $10 per person, limited seating. Tickets available through eventbrite.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/377955156024833/
Eventbrite: www.aeronaut-film.eventbrite.com

The 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.

The program will include an early western, 'Hell's Hinges' (1916), starring William S. Hart.

The screening is part of the Aeronaut's commitment to give local artists and audiences a chance to connect in the brewery's performance space.

In 'Go West,' Buster heads out to ranch country, where the stone-faced comedian encounters romance with—a cow! Can he save his love from a trip to the livestock yards? Rustle up some belly laughs as Buster must once again prove himself worthy to all those who doubt him.

Buster Keaton heeds the title in 'Go West.'

'Go West' was an unusual film for Keaton. With its portrayal of a down-and-out wanderer who becomes a reluctant hero, 'Go West' could have been a vehicle for Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp.

The film was praised by critics and did well at the box office, but today is lesser known than Keaton classics such as 'The Navigator' (1924) and 'The General' (1926).

Co-starring in 'Go West' is a mourn-faced cow named Brown Eyes, with whom Keaton worked extensively prior to the filming. Brown Eyes received a credit in the movie, and even got a salary of $13 a week for her acting.

Keaton's female co-star is actress Kathleen Myers. Joe Keaton, the comedian's father and a popular vaudeville performer, appears briefly in a barbershop scene.

Much of 'Go West' was shot on location in Kingman, Ariz., during the summer of 1925, in temperatures approaching 120 degrees.

"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."

‘Go West' (1925) starring Buster Keaton will be shown with live music on Sunday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Aeronaut Brewing Co., 14 Tyler St., Somerville, Mass. Admission $10 per person, limited seating; tickets available through eventbrite.com.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/377955156024833/
Eventbrite: www.aeronaut-film.eventbrite.com

For more information, visit www.aeronautbrewing.com.

If it's October, it must be... time for a 'Nosferatu' screening!

Among other things, needing a good manicure.

With Halloween looming like a harvest moon, the latter half of October is the busiest time of the year for a silent film accompanist.

Why? Because it's prime time for people to seek out the out-of-the-ordinary. And for many, silent film is strange enough to be the medium for the season of spook.

And so I have something like 12 shows in the two weeks leading up the Halloween. Which is great!

The most popular titles are 'Nosferatu' (1922) and 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925)—and yes, I'm doing music for each of them at a handful of screenings.

Every October, however, I try to focus on a relatively neglected film that I think would work well, especially this time of year.

This cycle, it's the John Barrymore version of 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' (1920), which I'm doing in several venues.

There's also a couple of 'Man Who Laughs' (1928) thrown in, and a 'Häxan' (1922) for good measure as well.

But it all kicks off this weekend, on Sunday, Oct. 15 with a screening of 'Nosferatu' at the Aeronaut Brewery in Somerville, Mass.

The fun—and fear—begins at 8 p.m. More info in the press release below. Hope to see you there!

* * *

Nosferatu: poster child for Halloween—literally!

TUESDAY, SEPT. 12, 2017 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Creepy classic thriller 'Nosferatu' coming to Aeronaut Brewing Co. on Sunday, Oct. 15

Just in time for Halloween: Pioneer silent horror movie to be shown on the big screen with live music—see it if you dare

SOMERVILLE, Mass.—Get into the Halloween spirit with a classic silent horror film!

'Nosferatu' (1922), the first screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel 'Dracula,' will be screened with live music on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Aeronaut Brewing Co., 14 Tyler St. (near Union Square), Somerville, Mass.

This special screening with live music is open to the public and is part of the Aeronaut's commitment to be a showcase for local music, art, and performance.

Admission is $10 per person; tickets may be purchased in advance on EventBrite.com:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/film-nosferatu-with-live-music-tickets-37554476450

The Aeronaut has also set up a Facebook event page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/860525604104186

The film will include live music performed by New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

'Nosferatu' (1922), directed by German filmmaker F.W. Murnau, remains a landmark work of the cinematic horror genre. It was among the first movies to use visual design to convey unease and terror.

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

It's an atmosphere that silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will enhance in improvising live music on the spot for the screening at the Aeronaut.

"The original 'Nosferatu' is a film that seems to get creepier as more time goes by," said Rapsis, a resident of Bedford, N.H. "It's a great way to celebrate Halloween and the power of silent film to transport audiences to strange and unusual places."

In 'Nosferatu,' actor Max Schreck portrays the title character, a mysterious count from Transylvania who travels to the German city of Bremen to take up residence.

In the town, a rise in deaths from the plague is attributed to the count's arrival. Only when a young woman reads "The Book of Vampires" does it become clear how to rid the town of this frightening menace.

Director Murnau told the story with strange camera angles, weird lighting, and special effects that include sequences deliberately speeded up.

Although 'Nosferatu' is suitable for all family members, the overall program may be too intense for very young children to enjoy.

Modern critics say the original 'Nosferatu' still packs a powerful cinematic punch.

“Early film version of Dracula is brilliantly eerie, full of imaginative touches that none of the later films quite recaptured,” Leonard Maltin wrote recently.

Critic Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader called 'Nosferatu' "...a masterpiece of the German silent cinema and easily the most effective version of Dracula on record.”

Despite the status of 'Nosferatu' as a landmark of early cinema, another scary aspect of the film is that it was almost lost forever.

The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker's novel, with names and other details changed because the studio could not obtain rights to the novel.

Thus "vampire" became "Nosferatu" and "Count Dracula" became "Count Orlok." After the film was released, Stoker's widow filed a copyright infringement lawsuit and won; all known prints and negatives were destroyed under the terms of settlement.

However, intact copies of the the film would surface later, allowing 'Nosferatu' to be restored and screened today as audiences originally saw it. The image of actor Max Schreck as the vampire has become so well known that it appeared in a recent 'Sponge Bob Squarepants' espisode.

‘Nosferatu’ will be shown on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Aeronaut Brewing Co., 14 Tyler St. (near Union Square), Somerville, Mass. Admission is $10 per person, and seating is limited. Advance tickets are available online at

Admission is $10 per person; tickets may be purchased in advance on EventBrite.com:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/film-nosferatu-with-live-music-tickets-37554476450

For more info, visit www.aeronautbrewing.com. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

—30—

This weekend: Buster Keaton's 'Cameraman' in the country, then 'Peter Pan' in the city

This weekend's venues for silent film cover a wide range: a Catholic college in rural New Hampshire, and then a hipster brewery in urban Boston.

On Saturday night, it's Keaton's 'The Cameraman' (1928) at Northeast Catholic College way up in Warner, N.H.

And then on Sunday, it's the original silent film adaptation of 'Peter Pan' (1924) at the Aeronaut Brewing Co. in Somerville, Mass.

Our part of New England is getting a good amount of snow now through Saturday. But that shouldn't impede this pair of silent film shows.

One nice thing about this weekend's screenings has been the publicity.

I always send out press materials, but you never know what will be used, and when, and how.

For this weekend, I've lucked out with some good coverage.

For the Keaton screening, the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, a highly respected daily paper, devoted quite a bit of space to this story. Thanks!

And for the Aeronaut 'Peter Pan' screening, writer Sean Burns did a great job pulling together a fairly lengthy piece, especially by Metro standards.

Also, here's a screen capture of the story in the print edition:

So whether it's country-style silent film you crave, or if you prefer a more urban setting, there's something for every taste this weekend.

Press releases for both films (with a lot more info) are pasted in below. See, I really do send out press materials!

* * *

An original poster for Keaton's 'The Cameraman' (1928), running on April Fool's Day (Saturday, April 1) at Northeast Catholic College.

TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Buster Keaton's 'The Cameraman' at Northeast Catholic on Saturday, April 1

Classic silent film comedy masterpiece to be screened with live music; program open to the public

WARNER, N.H. — Silent film with live music returns to the big screen at Northeast Catholic College in April with a showing of an acclaimed comedy starring Buster Keaton.

The screening, on Saturday, April 1 at 7 p.m., will feature Keaton's classic comedy 'The Cameraman' (1928). Admission is free for Northeast Catholic students and any others with college ID; general public admission is $5 per person

Live music will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. The program will include a short comedy, 'Cops,' also starring Buster Keaton.

'The Cameraman' tells the story of a young man (Keaton) who tries to impress the girl of his dreams (Marceline Day) by working as a freelance newsreel cameraman. His efforts result in spectacular failure, but then a lucky break gives him an unexpected chance to make his mark. Can he parlay the scoop of the year into a secure job and successful romance?

Buster Keaton's self-referential world of 'The Cameraman.'

In 'The Cameraman,' Keaton uses the movie business to create comedy that plays with the nature of film and reality. The movie contains classic sequences often cited as among Keaton's best.

Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, stands as one of the three great clowns of the silent screen. Many 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."

As a performer, Keaton was uniquely suited to the demands of silent comedy. Born in 1895, he made his stage debut as a toddler, joining his family's knockabout vaudeville act and learning to take falls and do acrobatic stunts at an early age. He spent his entire childhood and adolescence on stage, attending school for exactly one day.

A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions ranging from sadness to surprise. In an era when movies had few special effects, Keaton's acrobatic talents meant he performed all his own stunts.

All those talents are on display in 'The Cameraman,' which was selected in 2005 for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

'The Cameraman' will be accompanied by live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New England-based silent film accompanist who performs at venues across the region and beyond.

"These films were created to be shown on the big screen as a sort of communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, they still come to life in the way their makers intended them to.

"So the screening at Northeast Catholic College is a great chance to experience films that first caused people to first fall in love with the movies," he said.

Established as a residential, Catholic liberal arts college in 1973 and located in Warner, N.H., the Northeast Catholic College (formerly the College of Saint Mary Magdalen) seeks to call students to the life-long pursuit of intellectual and moral virtue through the rigorous study and discussion of primary texts and through its vibrantly Catholic student life.

Buster Keaton's 'The Cameraman' (1928) will be screened with live music on Saturday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at Northeast Catholic College (formerly Magdalen College), 511 Kearsarge Mountain Road, Warner, N.H. Admission is free to students with a college ID; general public is $5 per person.

For more information about Northeast Catholic College, visit www.northeastcatholic.edu/ For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

* * *

An original poster for the original screen adaptation of 'Peter Pan' (1924).

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2017 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent film version of 'Peter Pan' at Aeronaut on Sunday, April 2

Original adaptation of magical fantasy classic to be shown with live musical score

SOMERVILLE, Mass.—It was the film that introduced movie-goers to visions of flying children, magical fairies, human-like animals and menacing pirates.

It was the original silent film adaptation of 'Peter Pan,' a picture personally supervised by author J.M. Barrie. The film was a major hit when released in 1924, with audiences eager to get their first big-screen look at the wonders of Neverland.

Movie fans can see for themselves when the first 'Peter Pan' (1924) is screened on Sunday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Aeronaut Brewing Co., 14 Tyler St., Somerville.

The program will feature live music for the movie by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, and will include a classic silent comedy short film. Admission is $10 per person. Tickets are available online at www.eventbrite.com; search on "Aeronaut Brewery."

Thought lost for many years, and overshadowed by more recent adaptations, the original silent 'Peter Pan' maintains its freshness and charm 90 years after its original release.

In the story, first presented as a stage play in 1904, three children in London are visited one night by Peter Pan, a youth in search of his shadow. Pan shows his new friends how to fly, and then convinces them to join him in a journey to Neverland.

There they encounter Indians, mermaids, and a band of pirates whose leader, Captain Hook, is Pan's sworn enemy. The children are captured by Hook and taken prisoner aboard his pirate ship, setting the stage for an epic battle, the outcome of which will determine if the children may ever return home.

Betty Bronson in the title role.

Though the Peter Pan story is well-known today due to subsequent adaptations (and also merchandising that includes a ubiquitous brand of peanut butter), the tale was virtually new when Hollywood first brought it to film in the early 1920s.

In England, author Barrie gave his blessing to the first-ever screen adaptation, though he retained control over casting and insisted that any written titles in the film be taken directly from his own text.

After a major talent search, Barrie settled on unknown 18-year-old actress Betty Bronson for the title role, and filming began in 1924. The role of Captain Hook was played by noted character actor Ernest Torrence, who invented the now-iconic villainous pirate persona that would become a Hollywood legend.

The film's highlights include special effects that maintain their ability to dazzle even today. The film's memorable images include a group of mermaids entering the sea, a miniature Tinkerbell interacting with full-sized children and adults, and a pirate ship lifting out of the water and taking flight.

'Peter Pan' also includes a cast of animal characters played by humans in costume, including the family dog Nana and an alligator who serves as Hook's nemesis, lending the film a magical quality.

After the film's release, no copies of the original 'Peter Pan' were known to exist, and for many years the film was regarded as lost. However, in the 1950s a single surviving print turned up in the George Eastman Archives in Rochester, N.Y., from which all copies today have descended.

Accompanist Jeff Rapsis specializes in creating live musical scores for films made prior to the introduction of recorded sound. Based in New Hampshire, Rapsis specializes in improvising music for silent film screenings at venues ranging from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. to the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in San Francisco, Calif.

Rapsis creates film scores in real time, as a movie is running, using a digital synthesizer to reproduce the texture of a full orchestra. He averages about 100 performances per year, and has created music for more than 250 different silent feature films.

"Improvising a movie score is a bit of a high wire act, but it can result in music that fits a film's mood and action better than anything that can be written down in advance," Rapsis said. "It also lends a sense of excitement and adventure to the screening, as no two performances are exactly alike."

The screening is part of the Aeronaut's commitment to give local artists and audiences a chance to connect in the brewery's performance space.

Just as beer aficionados appreciate a good hand-crafted brew, movie-goers are rediscovering the joys of silent cinema presented as it was intended: on a big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"If you can put all the original elements together, the films of early Hollywood still come to life," said Rapsis, who performs regularly at the Aeronaut. "These are the films that caused people to first fall in love with the movies."

‘Peter Pan’ (1924) will be shown on Sunday, April 2 at 7 p.m. at the Aeronaut Brewing Co., 14 Tyler St., Somerville, Mass. Admission is $10 per person. Tickets are available online at www.eventbrite.com; search on "Aeronaut Brewery." For more info about Aeronaut Brewing, visit www.aeronautbrewing.com. For more information about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

Silent film music mid-winter update: Snowstorms, a farm, and a brand-new brewery

We're digging out from three feet of snow in this part of the world. But the show must go on!

And how fitting that the show last Tuesday night was 'Nanook of the North' (1922) at the Manchester (N.H.) City Library.

A few dozen hardy souls braved the enormous snowbanks and we had a great screening. My big joke was my answer to the commonly asked question, "How are the roads out there?"

"The roads are fine. It's the other drivers that cause all the problems!"

I returned from Africa a few weeks ago, and I've already had some unusual silent film adventures. Here's a quick round-up:

• Two separate screenings of Fritz Lang's neglected late silent 'Woman in the Moon' (1929) really connected with audiences.

I had planned these deliberately to get the silent film part of my brain restarted after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

And it worked: I love doing this film, and both times the score came together fairly easily, even if it's a big and ambitious film.

Anyway, it was enough to get the rust out and get back into the "silent film accompaniment" zone.

One of the tricks of this film, incidentally, is to limit the accompaniment to strings only for the first 90 minutes or so—up to the big launch sequence.

The only exception is using a loud bell and whistle as sound effects during an early flashback to a university lecture, and then a breathy voice/organ sound for when we see footage of the moon shot from a probe. Otherwise, all strings.

This creates a great impact when you switch to full orchestra starting with the launch sequence, which is quite powerful filmmaking, including the first-ever appearance of a "countdown" prior to something blasting off, which was apparently the invention of Lang and his collaborator, Thea von Harbou.

However, I think the exciting sequence leading up to the crash landing on the moon's surface is also first-rate. With the right kind of music, it build to a tremendous climax—so much so that at both screenings, spontaneous applause broke out when it concluded.

A great film that I love doing.

• This past Saturday, I took my now-annual trip out to Liberty Ridge Farm in Schagticoke, N.Y., a rural community about a half-hour north of Albany.

There, we had the sixth annual "Dead of Winter" community get-together pot luck and silent film night in the farm's very handsome function hall.

This has been going on so long, and with most of the same people attending each time, that I now getting updates on the health of family matters and other personal concerns. Which I love.

I also love that the audience is made up of all ages: from kids in elementary school to people old enough to actually remember when silent movies were new. I'm not kidding: one lady was 94 and able to recall details from her childhood experiences at the local bijou.

We ran Keaton's 'The General' (1927) and audience reaction was strong.

But the highlight for me, truth be told, was someone's casserole dish, which was topped with french-fried onion rings.

While in the buffet line, when no one was looking I selfishly scooped a large portion of fried onions off the top of the dish.

Pure heaven! I could make a whole meal out of those if my cardiologist would allow me.

• One of the great things about doing silent film screenings is that you get to go to places you otherwise never would have got to.

For instance: after doing music for 'Nanook of the North' at the Harvard Film Archive, I ventured out in search of the Aeronaut Brewery, a place I'd never heard of but located not too far away.

The folks there were interested in a Valentine's Day silent film event, so I wanted to check the place out.

Driving slowly through the snow-clogged streets of Cambridge, I seemed to be entering an old industrial area. Did I have the address right?

I turned onto Tyler Street, which was all loading docks and chain link fences. By some miracle, I found a parking space carved out of a 10-foot-high snowbank. Snow was blowing off roofs like it was the Klondike.

A brewpub? Here?

But I walked up the street, which continued between what seemed to be two abandoned warehouses. I could hear noise coming from inside the buildings, but with the wind howling I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination.

I finally got almost right in front of a pair of steamed-up glass doors when I could make out the name: "Aeronaut Brewing."

So I walked inside, and entered an alternate world that completely surprised me.

Get this: The place was an enormous high-ceilinged warehouse packed with people, most of whom seemed half my age or younger. Hanging overhead from the ceiling were collections of lawn chairs and balloons—apparently that kid who took a ride using similar equipment is the inspiration for the name.

Off to one side, people were lined up several layers deep at an enormous beer bar. And in back, where the brewing tanks were located, I found a guy with a laptop who turned out to be co-owner Ben Holmes. Ben happens to be married to Christine Platzek, who plans events at Aeronaut and contacted me about the silent film.

Christine gave me a tour of the place, which sprawls through several connected industrial spaces. In addition to customers, at least two bands were jamming in odd corners, including one with a sousaphone. Food is not yet available, but an enterprising guy was reselling Union Square donuts.

For the silent film, Christine wanted me to set up in an area on the far side of the facility (to cut down on the cross-traffic) with a big white wall.

The place had a wonderful vibe and I immediately wanted to try doing a show there. So yes, we're doing a Valentine's Day program on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 9 p.m.

Christine and Ben then treated me to one of their best available: the Union Square IPA. It was fantastic. I would have tried more if I didn't have to drive back to New Hampshire afterwards.

What really made it worthwhile, though, was at one point I ended up standing behind the bar talking to Christine, and customers started asking me questions.

When it was apparent that I was clueless, Ben stepped in to explain that I was going to do live music for a silent film program there on Valentine's Day.

"Wow," gushed a young woman in line, looking right at me. "That's really awesome."

Hey, you know how a dog is supposed a great way to get women to talk to you?

Well, so is being a silent film accompanist, apparently. :)