'Faust' and foremost: spooky F.W. Murnau masterpiece tonight at Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall

Emil Jannings as 'Mephisto' in Murnau's 'Faust' (1926), screening tonight (Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.) at Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall.

It used to be kinda charming: each year in Brandon Town Hall we'd run a Halloween "Chiller Theater" program, so named because the building had no heating system.

Well, after 10 years of fund-raising and building improvements, the place now has central heat and is usable year-round.

That's progress!

But this Halloween, creature comforts won't stop us from exploring uncomfortable cinema. And so this evening I'll be creating music for F.W. Murnau's spectacular 1926 silent screen adaptation of the Faust legend.

You know the tale: a man consigns his soul to Satan in exchange for earthly delights, youth, or, in the case of the Broadway musical "Damn Yankees," a World Series victory.

Murnau's 'Faust' is highlighted by Emil Jannings as Satan, called "Mephisto" in this version. He kind of reminds me of the character of Frances Buxton in 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure.' What do you think?

If you really want to see the similarity, check out a clip of the dream sequence from 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure' with Francis dressed as the devil.

For a lot more info on the film and our screening, I've pasted in the press release below.

And now I'm thinking...given all the Faustian ties to the underworld, maybe it's fitting that Brandon Town Hall does have heat. And maybe we should turn it up real high. :)

Hope to see you tonight in hell — er, I mean Brandon, Vt.

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A poster promoting Murnau's 'Faust' (1926).

MONDAY, OCT. 7, 2019 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Rarely shown 'Faust' adaptation on Friday, Oct. 25 at Brandon Town Hall

Silent film thriller starring Emil Jannings to be shown on the big screen with live music for Halloween-themed program

BRANDON, Vt..— It's been a novel, a stage play, and an opera. So when movies first appeared a century ago, it was only a matter of time before they tackled 'Faust,' the tale of a man who consigns his soul to the devil to obtain power in the present.

At the height of the silent era, German director F.W. Murnau created a cinematic version of 'Faust' filled with stunning images that maintain their power to astonish.

See for yourself with 'Faust' (1926), the original silent film adaptation of the classic legend, to be shown on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall, 1 Conant Square, Route 7, Brandon, Vt.

Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with all proceeds support ongoing restoration of the Town Hall.

A live musical score for the movie will be performed by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.

Please note that this screening takes place on a Friday evening, not the traditional Saturday night for most silent film programs at Brandon Town Hall.

The screening, the last in this season's silent film series at Brandon Town Hall, is sponsored by Jan Coolidge and Nancy and Gary Meffe.

'Faust' is a 1926 silent film produced by German studio UFA, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Gösta Ekman as Faust, Emil Jannings as Mephisto, and Camilla Horn as Gretchen.

Would you sell your soul to this man?

As the film opens, the demon Mephisto has a bet with an Archangel that he can corrupt a righteous man's soul and destroy in him what is divine. If he succeeds, the Devil will win dominion over earth.

The Devil delivers a plague to the village where Faust, an elderly alchemist, lives. Though he prays to stop the death and starvation, nothing happens. Disheartened, Faust throws his alchemy books in the fire, and then the Bible too. One book opens, showing how to have power and glory by making a pact with the Devil.

Faust goes to a crossroads as described in the book and conjures up the forces of evil. When Mephisto appears, he induces Faust to make a trial, 24-hour bargain. Faust will have Mephisto's service till the sand runs out in an hourglass, at which time the Devil will rescind the pact.

At first, Faust uses his new power to help the people of the village, but they shun him when they find out that he cannot face a cross. They stone him and he takes shelter in his home. Mephisto then uses the lure of restored youth and love to convince Faust to sign over his soul once and for all.

The remainder of the film follows the grim consequences for everyone, all depicted with vivid visual imagination in the last film Murnau made in Germany before making the move to Hollywood.

'Faust' continues to impress modern critics, including Roger Ebert.

"Murnau had a bold visual imagination, distinctive even during the era of German Expressionism with its skewed perspectives and twisted rooms and stairs," Ebert wrote in 2005. " 'Faust,' with its supernatural vistas of heaven and hell, is particularly distinctive in the way it uses the whole canvas."

In screening F.W. Murnau's version of 'Faust,' Brandon Town Hall aims to recreate all essential elements of silent film experience: high quality prints shown on a large screen, with live music and an audience.

"These films caused people to fall in love with the movies for a very good reason," said Jeff Rapsis, who will improvise a musical score during the screening. "They were unique experiences, and if you can recreate the conditions under which they were shown, they have a great deal of life in them.

"Though they're the ancestors of today's movies, silent film is a very different art form than what you see at the multiplex today, so it's worth checking out as something totally different," Rapsis said.

Rapsis performs on a digital synthesizer that reproduces the texture of the full orchestra and creates a traditional "movie score" sound.

F.W. Murnau's ‘Faust' will be shown on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall, 1 Conant Square, Route 7, Brandon, Vt.

Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with all proceeds support ongoing restoration of the Town Hall.

'Jekyll & Hyde' at Leavitt on Saturday, 10/28: highlighted by Barrymore's transformation

An original poster promoting 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.'

The moveable Halloween silent film marathon continues with shows through this weekend in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

A big one, I think, will be the annual "Chiller Theatre" show on Saturday at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine.

It's called "Chiller Theatre" because Ogunquit being a seaside resort, the summer-only moviehouse lacks central heating.

But that doesn't stop us from programming a silent film show for the Saturday before Halloween, and this year is no exception.

This time around, it's John Barrymore in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' (1920) on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.

Complete details in the press release below.

(I'm also doing the film at Merrimack College on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. More details via the "Upcoming Silent Film Screenings" link at upper right.)

I love going out to Ogunquit for our annual "Chiller Theatre" show because although it's the off-season, Ogunquit's small downtown is usually rocking with Halloween parties.

And as Ogunquit is a gay-friendly community and home to a regional theater, more effort than usual is put into costumes that can often be utterly amazing.

So I go out early to get dinner and just enjoy the show, which even on the sidewalks can be spectacular as people parade about in their Halloween finest.

I recall one year watching a very tall man in a spectacular drag outfit, tottering along in what had to be six-inch heels and getting his wig caught in storefront awnings.

But back to 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,' which is highlighted by a different kind of transformation.

Let me say here that 'Jekyll' is my choice for this year's "under-appreciated creepy silent film that should get more play at Halloween."

The reason for this is even with dozens of great silents that would work well for Halloween, the same two films get shown over and over again: 'Nosferatu' (1922) and 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

Nothing wrong with those, but it's like anything. Too much of a good thing can be...well, not exactly wonderful, despite what Mae West once said.

So each season, I try to bring something different to the Halloween circuit: a film worthy of the occasion but not really shown very often.

Previous selections have included Alfred Hitchcock's thriller 'The Lodger' (1927) and Paul Leni's haunted house comedy/drama 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927).

This year, I felt it was time to dust off the 'Jekyll' film, which is highlighted by Barrymore's on-screen full-body transformation from the austere Dr. Jekyll into the depraved Mr. Hyde.

In presenting it, I remind people that Barrymore's performance pre-dated any kind of sophisticated special effects, so his on-screen transformation is all the more remarkable for how much of it is accomplished just using his body and facial expressions.

Also, audiences at the time would have been conditioned by decades of touring stage productions, in which whomever played the title role would have no choice but to make the transformation right there in front of everyone.

Unlike today, no one in a movie audience assumed special effects would do the heavy lifting. Although a few primitive cross-fades/dissolves are used in the movie, at the time there was an expectation that an actor would do most of the work.

And on that score, Barrymore comes through big time. As a stage actor, he knew how to deliver the goods. Here's a nice analysis of the transformation scene that gets into detail and provides a lot of context.

Enjoy! And hope you and all your personalities can join us this Saturday night at the Leavitt for 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.' One admission price for all your identities!

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John Barrymore as Dr. Jekyll.

TUESDAY, OCT. 10, 2017 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Original 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' movie on Saturday, Oct. 28 at Leavitt Theatre

Silent film thriller starring John Barrymore to be shown on the big screen with live music for Halloween-themed program

OGUNQUIT, Me.—It was first a best-selling novel, then an immensely popular stage play. So it was just a matter of time before the movies tackled 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,' Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of a man tortured by two personalities—one thoroughly good and the other completely evil.

'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' (1920), the original silent film adaptation of Stevenson's classic story, will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine.

Admission is $10 per person, general seating.

Starring iconic actor John Barrymore, the film was a huge early hit for Paramount Pictures. It helped establish the "thriller" genre and showed the potential of the movies to vividly tell disturbing and creepy stories.

Dr. Jekyll, a London physician and philanthropist, becomes fascinated with the dual nature of man after the profligate Sir George Carew exposes him to temptation. When Jekyll invents a potion that separates the good from the evil in a person, he decides to live both roles and names the evil persona Mr. Hyde.

Jekyll is in love with Millicent, the daughter of Sir George; meanwhile, Hyde prowls the poorer districts of London, debases and discards Theresa, a dance hall performer. Jekyll's control over Hyde weakens gradually to the point where his alter ego resorts to murder, forcing Hyde into a showdown to save his loved ones and reign in the evil he himself has spawned.

The film put Barrymore, a noted stage actor, on the cinematic map. Following 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,' Barrymore would go on to be one of the biggest stars of early cinema. His handsome visage, dubbed "the great profile," was instantly recognizable to movie-goers of the time, who flocked to see Barrymore in later films such as 'Sherlock Holmes' (1922), 'Don Juan' (1926), and 'The Beloved Rogue' (1927).

Barrymore's performance in 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' is noteworthy in part because, in an era of limited special effects, his portrayal of the early stages of Jekyll's transformation was done using only facial expressions and gestures. Make-up was only used later in the film following the full transformation of the Hyde character.

Stevenson's story has been refilmed many times, including versions in 1931 and 1941, and was most recently remade in 2008 as a TV movie starring Dougray Scott.

In screening the original 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,' the Brandon Town Hall aims to recreate all essential elements of silent film experience: high quality prints shown on a large screen, with live music and an audience.

"These films caused people to fall in love with the movies for a very good reason," said Jeff Rapsis, who will improvise a musical score during the screening. "They were unique experiences, and if you can recreate the conditions under which they were shown, they have a great deal of life in them.

"Though they're the ancestors of today's movies, silent film is a very different art form than what you see at the multiplex today, so it's worth checking out as something totally different," Rapsis said.

Rapsis performs on a digital synthesizer that reproduces the texture of the full orchestra and creates a traditional "movie score" sound.

‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde' will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St. Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine. Admission is $10 per person, general seating.
For more information, visit www.leavittheatre.com or call (207) 646-3123.

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

Saturday, Oct. 25 in Oqunquit, Maine: 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925)

A poster for this weekend's screening of 'Phantom' at the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine.

This weekend, I'm doing music for 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925) in a place where movies have been shown continuously since before the 'Phantom' itself first hit the big screen.

It's the Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine, where the original Lon Chaney silent version of 'Phantom' will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.

The screening, part of a community celebration dubbed 'Ogunquitfest,' is also being billed as 'Chiller Theatre,' given the building's lack of a central heating system.

More info on the film and the screening is in the press release below.

But I'd like to add that in the spirit of Halloween, the Leavitt Theatre itself can be counted among the "undead," given its recent brush with closure.

Yes, after 90 continuous years of operation, last October it looked like the Leavitt would be among the casualties of Hollywood's conversion to digital format for first-run films.

As a summer-only theater in a seasonal coastal resort, the economics for the Leavitt were marginal at best.

The interior of the Leavitt, virtually unchanged since movies began being shown there in 1923.

So there simply wasn't $60K in the till to install a digital projection system needed to continue showing the latest releases.

As the 2013 season ended, long-time owner Peter Clayton (who's run the place since 1976) was reluctantly ready to throw in the towel.

But his sons, Ian and Max, suggested a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter to raise the money. The month-long campaign came through with more than enough to go digital, plus add a few extras like air conditioning.

And so it came to pass. The Leavitt, still under Clayton family management, was back in business for 2014, with a full summer of first-run movies and a variety of other programming. (Yes, including a silent film series!)

In an age where more than ever we need spaces for people to gather for communal experiences that include great cinema, I think the continuing "undead" status of the Leavitt is something to be celebrated.

So I hope you'll join us for "Chiller Theater," after which the theater will go into winter hibernation. And I hope you'll make it a point to return often during the 2015 season!

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Lon Chaney as 'The Phantom' menaces Mary Philbin.

SATURDAY, OCT. 4, 2014 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent film 'Chiller Theatre' at Ogunquit's Leavitt Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 25

Just in time for Halloween: 'Phantom of the Opera' (1925), pioneer classic horror flick, to be shown on the big screen with live music

OGUNQUIT, Maine—Get into the Halloween spirit with a classic silent horror film!

'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925), the first screen adaptation of the classic thriller, will be shown with live music on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. at the historic Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine.

The event will feature live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

Admission is $10 per person. The horror film event is being dubbed "Chiller Theatre" due to the summer-only building's lack of a heating system. Organizers ask attendees to check the weather and bring along sweaters and blankets if a cold evening is anticipated.

'The Phantom of the Opera,' starring legendary actor Lon Chaney in the title role, remains a landmark work of the cinematic horror genre. 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 try to enhance in improvising live music on the spot for the screenings.

"The original 'Phantom' is a film that seems 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. "It's a great way to celebrate Halloween and the power of silent film to transport audiences to strange and unusual places."

'The Phantom of the Opera,' adapted from a 19th century novel by French author Gaston Leroux, featured Chaney as the deformed Phantom who haunts the opera house. The Phantom, seen only in the shadows, causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the opera's management to make the woman he loves into a star.

The film is most famous for Lon Chaney's intentionally horrific, self-applied make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere.

Chaney transformed his face by painting his eye sockets black, giving a skull-like impression to them. He also pulled the tip of his nose up and pinned it in place with wire, enlarged his nostrils with black paint, and put a set of jagged false teeth into his mouth to complete the ghastly deformed look of the Phantom.

Chaney's disfigured face is kept covered in the film until the now-famous unmasking scene, which prompted gasps of terror from the film's original audiences.

"No one had ever seen anything like this before," Rapsis said. "Chaney, with his portrayal of 'The Phantom,' really pushed the boundaries of what movies could do."

A closer look at Chaney's 'Phantom' get-up.

Chaney, known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces" due to his versatility with make-up, also played Quasimodo in the silent 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and circus performer 'Alonzo the Armless' in Tod Browning's 'The Unknown' (1927).

The large cast of 'Phantom of the Opera' includes Mary Philbin as Christine Daaé, as the Phantom's love interest; character actor Snitz Edwards; and many other stars of the silent period.

'The Phantom of the Opera' proved so popular in its original release and again in a 1930 reissue that it led Universal Studios to launch a series of horror films, many of which are also regarded as true classics of the genre, including Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), and The Mummy (1932).

The silent film version of 'Phantom' also paved the way for numerous other adaptations of the story, up to and including the wildly successful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical from 1986 that continues to run on Broadway and in productions around the world.

The Leavitt's screening of 'The Phantom of the Opera' is part of the 11th annual Ogunquitfest, an area-wide celebration of autumn and the Halloween season.

The screening is the final installment of the Leavitt's 2014 Silent Film Series. Although 'Phantom of the Opera' is suitable for all family members, the overall program may be too much for very young children to enjoy.

All movies in the Leavitt Theatre's silent film series were popular when first seen by audiences in the 1920s, but are rarely screened today in a way that allows them to be seen at their best. They were not made to be shown on television; to revive them, organizers aim to show the films as they were intended—in top quality restored prints, on a large screen, with live music, and before a live audience.

"If you can put it all together again, these films still contain a tremendous amount of excitement," Rapsis said. "By staging these screenings of features from Hollywood's early days, you can see why people first fell in love with the movies."

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1925) will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. at the historic Leavitt Theatre, 259 Main St., Route 1, Ogunquit, Maine. Admission $10 per person; for more info, call (207) 646-3123 or visit www.leavittheatre.com. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

On Saturday, Oct. 18 in Brandon, Vt.: Lon Chaney 'Chiller Theater' double feature

Lon Chaney relaxes with a cigarette and Joan Crawford in 'The Unknown' (1927).

A Lon Chaney double feature? Halloween can't be far behind.

And yes, the Chaney double feature this Saturday up in Brandon, Vt. is a great way to get in the mood for getting scared.

After all, if Halloween is about costumes, then Chaney, dubbed "the Man of 1,000 Faces" for his pioneering make-up wizardry, ought to rank as a patron saint of sorts.

Weirdly, the two films on the program are not ones in which Chaney obscures his face with some ghoulish get-up, such as he did so famously in 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1923) and 'The Phantom of the Opera' (1925).

Instead, in the 'Unknown' (1927), Chaney is forced to cope with the disfigurement not of his face, but of another vital part of his body.

And in 'The Unholy Three,' Chaney does dress up as someone else, but it's a kindly grandmother!

I don't want to give away too much more about either film. If you're curious, the press release below has a bit more info.

Small, medium, large: humans come in all sizes in Chaney pictures such as 'The Unholy Three.'

But it's worth pointing out that as the years pass, the Chaney films seem to get more twisted and surprising. In other words, they're aging well.

In presenting them to modern audiences, I continually find people surprised at how intense these films can be as they explore the dark side of obsession, passion, and the grotesque.

At its best, silent film is about big emotions. And in many ways, no one worked on a larger emotional scale than Chaney.

See for yourself at our double feature this weekend up in Vermont.

As an added incentive, each Chaney film includes a big-name co-star. 'The Unknown' features Joan Crawford in an early role, while 'The Unholy Three' has Australian actress Mae Busch, who later achieved immortality as a colorful female nemesis of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Not enough? I'm doing an additional Chaney program on Sunday, Oct. 26 in Wilton, N.H. that includes 'West of Zanzibar' (1927), in which Chaney plays another variation "disfigured man obsessed with revenge" theme.

More on that next week. For now, here's the press release about the Chaney program on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Community Center in Brandon, Vt.

See you there—unless you come in costume as the Invisible Man.

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A vintage poster for 'The Unknown' (1927) starring Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford.

SATURDAY, OCT. 4, 2014 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent film 'Chiller Theatre' at Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall on Saturday, Oct. 18

Double feature of creepy Lon Chaney movies to be shown on the big screen with live music

BRANDON, Vt.—Get into the Halloween spirit with classic silent horror films starring legendary actor Lon Chaney!

Two movies starring Chaney, 'The Unknown' (1927) and 'The Unholy Three' (1925), make up a creepy double feature at Brandon Town Hall in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Oct. 18.

The program starts at 7 p.m. and will feature live accompaniment by silent film musician Jeff Rapsis.

Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with proceeds to support ongoing renovation of Brandon Town Hall.

The event is being dubbed "Chiller Theatre" due to the building's lack of a heating system. Organizers ask attendees to check the weather and bring along sweaters and blankets if a cold evening is anticipated.

'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 'The Unholy Three' (1925), Chaney plays a sideshow ventriloquist who joins forces with a midget and a circus strongman to unleash a crime spree on an unsuspecting town, with unexpected consequences.

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.

'The Unholy Three' requires Chaney to play a ventriloquist—an unusual role for a film without dialogue. But the plot then requires Chaney to transform himself into a kindly old grandmother for portions of the movie.

A vintage poster for 'The Unholy Three' (1925).

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 in improvising live music on the spot for the screenings.

"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."

The screening—the final installment of the Brandon Town Hall's 2014 Silent Film Series—is sponsored by Lake Sunapee Bank.

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.

And 'The Unholy Three' continues to be recognized as among Chaney's best work.

"One of Lon Chaney's best movies and biggest hits, about a trio of sideshow 'freaks' who become criminals to get revenge on 'normal' society," wrote TV Guide.

All movies in the Brandon Town Hall's silent film series were popular when first seen by audiences in the 1920s, but are rarely screened today in a way that allows them to be seen at their best. They were not made to be shown in the home. To revive them, organizers aim to show the films as they were intended—in top quality restored prints, on a large screen, with live music, and before a live audience.

"If you can put it all together again, these films still contain tremendous excitement," Rapsis said. "By staging these screenings of features from Hollywood's early days, you can see why people first fell in love with the movies."

'The Unknown’ (1927) and 'The Unholy Three' (1925) will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7 in Brandon, Vt. Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with proceeds to support ongoing renovation of the town hall. For more information, visit www.brandontownhall.org.

Saturday, Oct. 15 in Brandon, Vt.: 'Cat and Canary'

We finish up our 2011 season of silent film in Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall on Saturday, Oct. 15 with a 'Chiller Theatre' presentation of 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927), Paul Leni's wonderfully evocative haunted house thriller. It's being dubbed 'chiller theater' because the town hall is currently unheated, and it being October in New England, things can get downright frigid once the sun goes down. So we're taking the precaution of urging attendees to dress warmly, and hoping that once things get going, the magic of silent film will heat things up as well.

I have truly enjoyed presenting silent films in Brandon with live music during the past two years. People there have been enthusiastic, the screenings have raised money for the ongoing renovation of the town hall (which will someday have heat!), and I look forward to another season next year. Send in your requests and we'll see what we can do!

The screening of 'Cat and the Canary' is at 7 p.m. and is free to the public, though donations are accepted to help the renovation. And if it's not too cold, I have a short surprise to follow as a bonus. See you there. Here's the press release with more information...

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SUNDAY, OCT. 2, 2011 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'Cat and Canary' (1927) to play Brandon (Vt.) Town Hall with live music on Saturday, Oct. 15

Creepy haunted house silent film thriller to be shown after sundown in 'Chiller Theater'

BRANDON, Vt.—'The Cat and the Canary' (1927), a haunted house thriller from Hollywood’s silent film era, will be screened with live music as part of 'Chiller Theatre' on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall in Brandon, Vt. Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with proceeds to benefit the Town Hall's ongoing restoration.

The Halloween-themed screening is the final show for this season's silent film series at the Brandon Town Hall. Organizers have dubbed it "Chiller Theater" in part because the town hall remains unheated. Attendees are encouraged to dress warmly and bring a blanket to keep warm.

'The Cat and the Canary' stands as the original movie thriller -- the first picture to feature the reading of a will in a haunted mansion complete with clutching hands, a masked killer, disappearing bodies, and secret passageways.

Silent film starlet Laura LaPlante leads the cast as a young heiress who must spend the night in the creepy old mansion, which is filled with relatives who all have motives to frighten her out of her wits. Meanwhile, a dangerous escaped lunatic is loose on the grounds. Can she and the others make it through the night?

Created for Universal Pictures by German filmmaker Paul Leni and based on a hit stage play, 'The Cat and the Canary' proved popular enough to inspire several remakes, including one starring Bob Hope. It was also the forbearer of all the great Universal horror classics of the 1930s and '40s.

The Brandon screening will use a fully restored print that shows the film as audiences would have originally experienced it. 'The Cat and the Canary' will be accompanied by live music by New Hampshire composer Jeff Rapsis, who specializes in silent film scoring. Rapsis will improvise the score on the spot during the screening.

"Silent film is all about the audience experience, and this one is a perfect Halloween crowd-pleaser," Rapsis said. "It has something for everyone—spooky scenes, some good comedy, and it's all fine for the whole family."

Critics praise the original 'Cat and the Canary' for its wild visual design and cutting edge cinematography. Film reviewer Michael Phillips singled out the film for using "a fluidly moving camera and elaborate, expressionist sets and lighting to achieve some of the most memorable shots in silent film, from the amazing tracking shots down the curtain-lined main hallway to the dramatic zooms and pans that accompany the film's shocks."

Leonard Maltin called the original 'Cat and the Canary' a "delightful silent classic, the forerunner of all "old dark house" mysteries."

The program also includes vintage short subjects.

'Cat and the Canary' will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt. Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with proceeds to support ongoing renovation of the town hall. For more information, visit www.brandontownhall.org. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.