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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taking a different approach to Halloween: this year, no plan or pattern whatsoever!

Let's see. Tomorrow it's Frankenstein. Friday it's Houdini. On Saturday, it's Satan. And Sunday, a Hunchback.

With an appointment calendar like that, Halloween can't be far off. And sure enough, the big day itself arrives Wednesday next week, when I have a date with the Phantom of the Opera.

It's the busiest time of the year for silent film accompaniment. The calendar is packed with screenings for boys and ghouls in search of an other-worldly experience.

Hence I'm keeping appointments with everyone from the Vampire Nosferatu to Mephistopheles, a.k.a. Satan.

This variety is a change for me. For previous Halloweens, I've generally picked one film to concentrate on accompanying, and then taken it around to all the various venues looking for a silent film spook fix.

Also, I tried to focus on films that aren't shown as often as the two biggies: Murnau's 'Nosferatu' (1922) and Lon Chaney's 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

So one year it was Alfred Hitchcock's early silent thriller 'The Lodger' (1927). Another year it was 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927), Paul Leni's Gothic haunted house picture. And another year it was Barrymore's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' (1920).

By concentrating on one film for Halloween and taking it on tour, so to speak, I could really get to know the picture, and so burnish the improv-based accompaniment to a high gloss.

Well, not this year. This time around, it's a different title for nearly every screening. The only repeats: two Phantoms and two Hunchbacks. Otherwise, it's one-offs throughout the season.

Which I don't mind. It's a different kind of challenge to create music for a variety of films, one after another. And I've always felt that for me, the key to doing it well was doing it a lot.

That's what happened last week, which included a four-day stretch of shows in three different states. On Thursday in Massachusetts, it was 'Hunchback of Notre Dame,' followed by 'Wings' (a non-Halloween title!) on Friday up in Maine. Then on Saturday, it was the German thriller 'Der Golem' (1921) over in Vermont then on Sunday 'The Phantom of the Opera' down in Massachusetts again.

And I have to say, but by the time I sat down at the keyboard on Sunday night at the Aeronaut Brewing Co. in Somerville, Mass., I felt I was playing with a fluency and ease that simply wasn't present when I started the four-day run.

So doing it a lot, and mixing up the titles to challenge myself, really seems to work for me.

Does it work for you? Find out by attending one of the upcoming Halloween screenings on my calendar:

• Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, 7 p.m.: "Frankenstein program" at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington, Mass.; (781) 646-4849. A triple feature of Frankenstein films, including the early (and short) silent Thomas Edison version. Tickets $8 per person. For more info: www.regenttheatre.com.

• Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, 8 p.m. "Harry Houdini Celebration"; Regent Theatre, 7 Medford St., Arlington, Mass.; (781) 646-4849. Celebrate the birthday of Harry Houdini, legendary illusionist and escape artist, with an evening that combines live performance with a silent film starring Houdini himself as a James Bond-like action/adventure hero. Silent film with live music in a treasured neighborhood theater and performance space. Tickets $15 in advance, $20 at door. For more info: www.regenttheatre.com.

• Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018, 7 p.m.: "Faust" (1926) directed by F.W. Murnau, starring Emil Jannings; Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine; (207) 646-3123; http://www.leavittheatre.com. Join us for another season of vintage cinema at the historic Leavitt Theatre. Emil Jannings stars in F.W. Murnau's terrifying version of the classic tale. A visual tour de force, full of creepy characters and frightening images. See great silent films with live music in a summer-only theater opened in 1923 and barely changed since. Admission $10 per person.

• Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, 4:30 p.m.: "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1923) starring Lon Chaney; Wilton Town Hall Theatre, Main Street, Wilton, N.H.; (603) 654-3456; www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com. Just in time for Halloween! Lon Chaney stars in the original screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel about a deformed bellringer in medieval Paris. A moving and timeless drama filled with classic scenes and capped with a thrilling climax! Monthly series of silent films with live music at a theater where movies have been shown since 1912! Admission free, donations of $5 per person encouraged.

• Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018, 7 p.m.: "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) starring Lon Chaney; Colonial Theatre, 95 Main Street, Keene, N.H.; (603) 352-2033; www.thecolonial.org. Celebrate Halloween with one of the all-time classics. Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber created the hit stage musical, this silent film adaptation starring Lon Chaney helped place 'Phantom' firmly in the pantheon of both horror and romance. Silent film with live music in a theater that originally opened as a silent movie house in 1924. Tickets: $6.50 per person, general admission.