To France, or China, or Manchester, N.H.: Silent film, live music restarts this weekend

Scoring 'The Yankee Clipper' (1927) on Saturday, Jan. 19 at the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport, Mass.

I'm back.

After a quiet period over the holidays, the silent film performance calendar cranks up again this weekend with three shows in three days:

• On Friday, Jan. 18, it's a George Méliès program at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Mass. with my fellow silent film accompanist (and world-reknowned guitar-tist) Paul Bielatowicz.

The screening, which we put together just in the past two weeks, starts at 7:30 p.m. It's part of the Belmont International Film Festival.

I'm really looking forward to working with Paul B. again. I first encountered him exactly a year ago at the same theater, and we've been keeping track of each other ever since.

Paul doing his thing.

Paul specializes in Méliès films, and his guitar-based approach to accompaniment is very different from mine. But it's great stuff that he does and well worth hearing live.

Also, Paul is usually touring the world. For example: all February, he'll be criss-crossing Europe with Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy band.

So a chance to hear him close to home is not to be missed!

• On Saturday, Jan. 19, the sailing ship drama 'The Yankee Clipper' (1927) embarks from the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport, Mass., with music by me.

This should be fun because it's a grand picture in a real cool museum in a building—one designed by the same guy who built the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., which is on the back of all U.S. $10 bills.

It's a great audience flick and always gets a strong reaction. More details and info in the press release below.

• An on Sunday, Jan. 20, the local chapter of the Sons of the Desert (the Laurel & Hardy appreciation society) in Manchester, N.H. celebrates Mr. Hardy's birthday (which is Jan. 18) with a varied film program, including silent titles with live music by you-know-who.

The program is free and all are welcome to attend. The program begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Southside Tavern, 1279 South Willow St., Manchester, N.H.

So, back to the keyboard. Here's another nice weekend (really!) I've gotten myself into: one filled with music and sailing ships and Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy.

Last weekend had some Laurel and Hardy in it as well, as I was able to catch 'Stan & Ollie,' the new biopic about the duo's later years.

I saw it in London, where it opened last Friday amid a ton of local promotion: on billboard, on London buses, in the Underground, you name it!

Yes, even in the Underground.

Well, it worked with me. I was going to wait until getting back to the States. But after absorbing all the news coverage the film was getting, I had take the plunge. (At 16 pounds a ticket, it was more like a swan dive.)

But I'm glad I did, as this is a film that film lovers can really love.

I accepted 'Stan & Ollie' fully and completely from the opening moment, when we first hear a funny scraping sound and it turns out to be Stan sawing off the heel of his shoe, as he did in real life.

Dominating the Odeon in Leicester Square.

After that, I was totally, completely absorbed for the duration of the picture. And I was quite moved to see the lives of two performers I've loved since childhood be the basis for such a warm, wonderful story.

It was a movie I didn't know I'd waited 45 years to see.

I encourage you to see it too, and in a movie theater, if you can find one running it. The U.S. release has been tiny compared to what I saw in the U.K., where I understand it was No. 2 at the box office last weekend.

As for this weekend: well, if you'd like to come to one of my screenings, you can choose between France (Méliès), China ('The Yankee Clipper') and Laurel and Hardy in Manchester, N.H.

If sailing ships are your thing, you won't find a better film than 'Yankee Clipper,' which I'm accompanying on Saturday night at the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport, Mass. Details in the press release below. Hope to see you there!

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On board the 'Yankee Clipper' (1927), starring (and captained by) William Boyd, at right.

FRIDAY, DEC. 21, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'Yankee Clipper' silent drama with live music Saturday, Jan. 19 at Custom House Maritime Museum

Set sail with action-packed high seas adventure during era of 19th century clipper ships

NEWBURYPORT, Mass.—The era when wind-powered ships ruled the seas comes to life on the silver screen in 'The Yankee Clipper' (1927), a nautical adventure film to be shown on Saturday, Jan. 19 at at the Custom House Maritime Museum, 25 Water St., Newburyport, Mass.

The silent drama, starring a young William Boyd and filmed at sea aboard authentic 19th century vessels, will be screened with live music performed by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.

Showtime is 6 p.m. Admission is $20 per person for museum members, $25 for non-members, with all proceeds to benefit the Custom House Maritime Museum.

Produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by Rupert Julian ('Phantom of the Opera'), 'The Yankee Clipper' set new standards for historical adventure when it was released in 1927.

The film takes place in the 1840s, during a period of intense rivalry between British and American sailing captains to win lucrative trade routes between China and the U.S.

As 'The Yankee Clipper' opens, Captain Winslow (William Boyd) takes a revolutionary new clipper ship, built by his father, on its first voyage from America to the Orient.

While in China, Winslow attends a dinner hosted by a wealthy Chinese merchant and rescues English maiden Lady Jocelyn Huntington (Elinor Fair) from rioting beggars.

Winslow agrees to a race from China to Boston against an English clipper ship, with the fastest vessel to be awarded an important tea contract.

To win, the ships must brave dangerous seas, mutiny, and potential sabotage on board. Romance enters the picture when Lady Jocelyn inadvertently winds up on board the American ship.

The cast features a very young William Boyd in the leading role. Boyd, a popular actor in silent films, would go on to gain fame in later years by playing the character sidekick role of "Hopalong Cassidy" in many Hollywood Westerns. Also, at the time the film was made, female lead Elinor Fair was married to producer Cecil B. DeMille.

The film also features actor Walter Long as Portuguese Joe, a ship's crew member.

Long, a native of Milford, N.H., was a popular character actor with an extensive career in early cinema that ranged from an appearance in D.W. Griffith's epic 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915) all the way to playing the heavy in Laurel & Hardy comedies much later.

Critics today hail 'The Yankee Clipper' as a masterful drama from the height of the silent film era, one imbued with a great sense of authenticity and historical accuracy. The production filmed on location at sea for six weeks aboard the 1856 wooden square-rigger 'Indiana.'

Leonard Maltin called 'The Yankee Clipper' a "splendid 19th-century seagoing adventure, as clipper ships race full-sail from China to Boston to earn a coveted tea trade contract. En route: typhoon! No fresh water! Mutiny! And a woman on board! Realistic yet heightened drama has it all."

Music for 'The Yankee Clipper' will be created live by Jeff Rapsis, who specializes in improvising scores to classic silent films in live performance. For each film, Rapsis will improvise a score from original musical material that he creates beforehand, using a digital synthesizer to recreate the sound and texture of a full orchestra.

"What I try to do," Rapsis said, "is create music that bridges the gap between a film that might be 80 or 90 years old, and the musical expectations of today's audiences."

The Custom House Maritime Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization operated by the Newburyport Maritime Society, whose mission is to protect, preserve and interpret the maritime heritage of the lower Merrimack Valley region and how it relates to American history.

'The Yankee Clipper' will be shown on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at the Custom House Maritime Museum, 25 Water St., Newburyport, Mass. Admission is $20 for members, $25 for non-members, with all proceeds to benefit the Custom House Maritime Museum. For more information and to buy tickets online, visit www.customhousemaritimemuseum.org, or call (978) 462-8681.

Coming up: 6 screenings, 5 days, 4 states... Back to reality with a silent film mini-marathon

A colorful vintage poster for a sound re-releaes of 'The Cure,' one of the Chaplin shorts we're running at the Leavitt Theatre on Wednedsay, Aug. 15.

Just recently back after nearly a month tramping around Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, with a little bit of China on the way out and back thanks to day-long layovers in Beijing.

It was a terrific trip, but it's great to be back and great to pick up again on an even longer journey: creating live music for silent film screenings.

I didn't waste time, jumping back on the accompanist bench one day after returning, jet lag notwithstanding. The occasion: one of my favorite gigs on the annual calendar, a vintage dance group that occasionally stages "movie nights" during their summertime get-togethers.

The films are chosen as much for their fashions as anything else; this year we ran 'Show People' (1928) with Marion Davies and William Haines, which I thought was a good match for the group.

Reaction was huge! The picture drew big laughs right from the start, and response never flagged. And for the first time in my experience, an audience actually cheered at the film's seltzer-spraying pie-throwing "come to your senses" climax. What a rush!

After the movie (and the popcorn) was over, there was dancing!

So my thanks to all the vintage dance folks for continuing to include silent film with live music in their activities. Looking forward to next time!

Things continued this past weekend with two programs of Laurel & Hardy short comedies: one from DVD in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Aug. 11, and another on Sunday, Aug. 12 at the Somerville (Mass.) Theatre using 35mm prints from the Library of Congress.

No surprise that Stan & Ollie killed in both shows, with each title producing big laughs at the boys' antics. It'll be interesting to see if the upcoming bio-pic about the team will generate any renewed interest—not that the films themselves need any help. They still work great!

Laurel & Hardy on the big marquee of the "SOMERVILL ATRE."

The highlight of both screenings was 'Big Business' (1929), and not just because it's a hilarious comedy. I think there's also something satisfying about seeing this film, with its tale of Christmas tree sales gone awry, in the middle of a hot and humid New England summer.

The Laurel & Hardy comedies, by the way, are great for instilling discipline in an accompanist. More than most comedies, I think the L & H shorts really demand a very simple "nursery rhyme" type approach, at least at the start, in order for them to work with an audience.

In any comedy, I feel if you start off with big energetic circus-type "this is FUNNY" music," you risk hampering the film for a simple reason: audience members can't hear each other laughing.

And if people can't hear each other reacting, then you don't get that spontaneous combustion in which laughter grows and spreads to everyone in the room. Eventually, everyone is laughing, even if it's just because of all the laughter. It becomes impossible to resist!

Once an audience gets going, it's one of the great glories of the silent film experience. And when you reach that point, the accompanist can go big, as long as it's in support of the comedy. But not before, I think.

The Laurel & Hardy silents are prime examples of films that benefit from this approach. They often start small, but then inexorably build to chaos and mayhem in a process that producer Hal Roach dubbed "reciprocal destruction."

Big Business: the "before" shot...

So in 'Big Business,' after a suitable "Dance of the Cuckoos" intro (the L & H theme song), I shifted to a simple two-note version of "O Christmas Tree" as the pair make their way hawking Christmas trees through sunny California. Sometimes fast, sometime slow, sometimes in a minor key, sometimes just silence—but never anything big.

It's only when they encounter arch-nemesis James Finlayson, and audience reaction begins to grow, that I felt it was appropriate to ramp up the music a notch—but even then, just a little.

And as the on-screen war escalates, the music can rise to match it, but always with a sense of something in reserve until it's the right moment to let loose.

In 'Big Business,' I like to keep things tightly controlled until the moment when Finlayson causes the car to explode. Once that happens, there's no turning back, and the music can morph into full-scale battle mode, with repeated notes up top and 'O Christmas Tree' snarling through modulations in the bass.

...and the "after" shot...

And then there's a moment when Ollie starts swinging a shovel at expensive vases hurled out a window by Stan. Usually I avoid quoting recognizable tunes, but in this case everything's so over the top that shifting in to 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' really works to sharpen the comic absurdity.

So just a few thoughts from this weekend's time on the bench.

Surprisingly, one short that got a very strong response was 'Do Detectives Think?' (1927), a title early in the series made when Laurel & Hardy still weren't officially a team.

In Brandon, I chose a church organ setting on my keyboard, and played up the "spooky" aspect of the film, which is full of graveyards and shadows and masks.

The laughter was nearly continuous, and I think I found myself a new Halloween short comedy! (I've been hoping for something other than Keaton's 'The Haunted House.')

All this was preparation for a mini-marathon this week: one that finds me accompanying six screenings over five days in four states!

I'll be spending more time on silent film than I will sleeping. I guess that's what they call "living the dream." :)

First up: the summer silent film series returns to the historic Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine with a program of Charlie Chaplin comedies on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m.

After that comes screenings in Arlington, Mass; then Townsend, Mass,; then Charlestown, N.H.; then Ludlow, Vt.; and then Somerville, Mass.

Details for the Chaplin program in Ogunquit are below in a press release I've pasted in. Hope to see you at a screening soon!

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Chaplin and his stock company of players getting tangled up in 'The Rink.'

TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Charlie Chaplin short comedies with live music on Wednesday, Aug. 15 at Leavitt Theatre

Program of classic silent films show why the 'Little Tramp' first rocketed to worldwide popularity

OGUNQUIT, Maine—More than a century after he first stepped in front of a movie camera, Charlie Chaplin remains one of the world's most recognizable cinematic icons. But what made him famous in the first place?

See for yourself when a selection of Chaplin's best short comedies are screened on Wednesday, Aug. 15 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. The program will be accompanied by live music performed by New Hampshire composer Jeff Rapsis.

The program of Chaplin's short comedy films is the latest in this season's silent film series at the Leavitt.. The series aims to show the best silent films in the manner that caused people to first fall in love with the movies—on the big screen, in a theater, with live music, and with an audience.

A native of London, Chaplin was touring the U.S. in 1913 as a music hall performer when he agreed to join Mack Sennett's famous Keystone Studio, which specialized in producing fast-paced slapstick comedies. Chaplin first appeared on movie screens in early 1914, and quickly established himself as a distinctive performer.

Based on his growing popularity, in 1916 Chaplin signed a contract with the Mutual Film Corp. to produce 12 short 20-minute screen comedies for the then-astronomical salary of $10,000 per week. In the next 18 months, the dozen films Chaplin produced for Mutual are regarded as his first true masterpieces, and at the time helped cement his position as the king of movie comedy.

As a whole, the films show Chaplin's growing confidence both as a screen performer and film director. At the same time, each one forms a unique comic adventure involving highly different settings, no two alike: a department store, a skating rink, and even a movie studio.

"The Mutual comedies are where Chaplin really comes into his own," said Jeff Rapsis, who will provide live music for the screenings. "These are the films that people think of when they think of Chaplin and slapstick comedy, and they're still as laugh-out-loud funny today as they were when first released so long ago."

The Leavitt program includes four Mutual comedies, which show Chaplin at work during 1916 and 1917, a period that he recalled in his autobiography as "the happiest time of my life." Critics point to the Mutual comedies as a new high point for Chaplin, and audiences responded to the films with worldwide acclaim.

The films show Chaplin creating comedy in settings that vary widely. In 'Behind the Screen,' Chaplin plays a stagehand at a dysfunctional movie studio; 'The Rink' gives Chaplin a chance to display his talent on roller skates; 'Easy Street' finds Charlie taking a job as a policeman in the roughest part of town. In 'The Cure,' Chaplin wreaks havoc at a pretentious health spa.

All the Mutual comedies feature Chaplin's stock company of players, highlighted by female lead Edna Purviance and gargantuan actor Eric Campbell, who portrayed menacing bosses and bullies and was usually Charlie's rival for Edna's affection. Each film is about 20 minutes long, the standard length for a comedy at the time; they'll be shown in groups of three, with an intermission at the mid-point.

The Mutual comedies were so popular that they continued to be rereleased and replayed throughout the silent film era, even after Chaplin began making full-length feature films during the 1920s. They continued to be shown on television and today are popular staples with film collectors and movie buffs.

"The thrill in watching nearly all of the Mutuals comes in the Promethean moment when Chaplin’s inventiveness intersects with his genius and produces cinematic comedy sequences unlike any before," wrote Jeffrey Vance, author of "Chaplin, Genius of the Cinema." (2003) "The Mutuals are Chaplin’s laboratory, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the inner workings of the mind of a great cinema pioneer."

The popularity of the Mutuals was so pervasive, some critics believe they helped shape the course of cinema.

"The Mutual films were so successful that many other comedians tried to copied them, thus expanding the motion picture medium," Vance wrote. "The popularity of the Chaplin films and the universal appeal of the Tramp character did much to legitimize the new medium in twentieth-century culture."

Other programs in this year's Leavitt silent film series include:

• Wednesday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. 'Her Sister From Paris' (1925) starring Ronald Colman, Constance Talmadge. The scene: Europe. The cast: Rich people. Get swept off your feet by not one but two privileged ladies, both played by amazing actress Constance Talmadge, in this effervescent battle-of-the-sexes comedy.

• Saturday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.: 'Faust' (1926) directed by F.W. Murnau. Just in time for Halloween, our annual "Chiller Theatre" presentation! Oscar-winning actor 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.

A program of Charlie Chaplin's best short comedies will be shown on Wednesday, Aug. 15 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.

Elephants and Harold Lloyd: thoughts on visiting Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and China

Promoting the Kansas Silent Film Festival at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Just back from roaming the back roads of Southeast Asia since mid-July.

The trip wasn't about silent film music. But I did get chances to promote the Kansas Silent Film Festival (every February in Topeka, Kansas!) via t-shirt, as seen above at the Bayon Temple of Angkor Tom.

These spectacular ruins are part of the sprawling Khmer-era complex in Cambodia known collectively as "Angkor Wat."

Another place I plugged the Kansas festival was in Tianenanman Square, with Chairman Mao himself looking over my shoulder.

Not sure what effect this will have. But I'll tell the folks in Topeka to keep an eye out for inquiries from China or Cambodia. You never know!

I did find one historical antecedent to a famous silent film image. Doesn't this 12th century temple carving of an elephant under attack remind you of the "guns pointing at Harold Lloyd" still from the Lloyd short 'An Eastern Westerner'?

Okay, I start right back up with shows this Thursday (a private screening for a vintage dance group in Nahant, Mass.) and then back-to-back Laurel & Hardy screenings this weekend.

On Saturday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m., it's Stan and Ollie in silent short subjects (and a few surprises!) at Brandon Town Hall in Brandon, Vt.

And then on Sunday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m., it's an all-35mm silent Laurel & Hardy program at the Somerville Theatre, Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

For more information, I've pasted in both press releases below. Hope to see you at a show real soon!

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Laurel & Hardy demonstrate salesmanship in 'Big Business' (1929).

TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Laurel & Hardy silent comedies with live music in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Aug. 11

Program featuring 'Stan & Ollie' promises another fine mess, plus fun and laughter for the whole family

BRANDON, Vt.—Laughter for the whole family is on tap at Brandon Town Hall, where classic silent comedies starring Laurel & Hardy will be screened with live music on Saturday, Aug. 11. The show starts at 7 p.m.; admission is free, donations are encouraged.

The program, the latest in the Brandon Town Hall's summer silent film series, will feature short comedies made by the iconic comedy team prior to the advent talkies, where their popularity continued.

Music will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in improvising live accompaniment for silent films.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were already successful comic actors when they were teamed in 1927 during the twilight years of the silent film era.

The pair, sporting derby hats and a unique gift for slapstick incompetence, began starring in a series of short comedies that quickly rocketed them to worldwide fame.

Four of the duo's best early films are on the Aug. 11 program in Brandon, which will be highlighted by 'Big Business' (1929), recognized as one of the best short comedies ever produced.

In 'Big Business', while selling Christmas trees door to door in sunny California, Stan and Ollie do battle with an irate customer, producing mayhem that's quite the opposite of 'Peace on Earth.'

"The Laurel and Hardy silent comedies are fun to revive because they're so simple and basic," said Rapsis, who will accompany the films. "Audiences still love them, and it's refreshing, because their style of comedy is so timeless, and also so different from what's on television and in today's movies."

The Aug. 11 comedy program is the latest in the Brandon Town Hall's Summer Silent Film Series, which features monthly screenings of classic silent films with live music. All proceeds of the series will be used to support the historic town hall's ongoing renovations.

"All of these films were designed to be seen in theaters by large audiences, not on a small television screen by people sitting at home," Rapsis said. "In showing silent films at Brandon Town Hall, we aim to recreate the lost magic of early cinema comedy by bringing together crucial elements for its success—the best available prints, projection on the big screen, a live audience, and, in the case of silent films, live music."

Laurel & Hardy short comedies will be shown on Saturday, Aug. 11 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.

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Would you buy a Christmas tree from these guys?

TUESDAY, JULY 10, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Laurel & Hardy silent comedies with live music at Somerville Theatre on Sunday, Aug. 12

Program featuring misadventures of 'Stan & Ollie' in 35mm promises multiple fine messes, but also fun and laughter

SOMERVILLE, Mass.—Laughter for the whole family is on tap at the Somerville Theatre, where classic silent comedies starring Laurel & Hardy will be screened with live music on Sunday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m.

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

The program includes four of the iconic duo's classic silent comedies, made before the transition to talkies: 'Call of the Cuckoos' (1927), 'You're Darn Tootin' (1928), 'The Finishing Touch' (1928), and 'Big Business' (1929).

All titles will be shown using 35mm prints on loan from the U.S. Library of Congress.

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.

Music will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in improvising live accompaniment for silent films.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were already successful comic actors when they were teamed in 1927 during the twilight years of the silent film era.

The pair, sporting derby hats and a unique gift for slapstick incompetence, began starring in a series of short comedies that quickly rocketed them to worldwide fame.

The Somerville program will be highlighted by 'Big Business' (1929), recognized as one of the best short comedies ever produced.

Selling Christmas trees door to door in sunny California, Stan and Ollie battle an irate customer, resulting in mayhem that's anything but 'Peace on Earth.'

"The Laurel and Hardy silent comedies are fun to revive because they're so simple and basic," said Rapsis, who will accompany the films. "Audiences still love them, and it's refreshing, because their style of comedy is so timeless, and also so different from what's on television and in today's movies."

Laurel & Hardy short comedies will be shown on Sunday, Aug. 12 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.

Lighting the fuse for 'The Navigator' with Laurel & Hardy in 'Two Tars'

Keaton boils an egg in 'The Navigator.' (1924)

I'm pleased to report that last Sunday's screening (Aug. 25) of 'The Navigator' was just about the best show we've done in six years of presenting silent films with live music in Wilton, N.H.

Attendance was spectacular, with maybe 150 people showing up on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in late August! And Dennis Markaverich, who's run the Wilton Town Hall Theatre for 40 years, said he's never heard such laughter. So it was really one of those great silent film screenings where everything clicked and everyone really let loose.

I wasn't expecting this at all, as I've found 'The Navigator' (1924) less likely to generate that kind of reaction than other Keaton features. I just figured a comedy would make for a nice way to cap the summer series of silent film sea-going swashbucklers we've been running there.

But in terms of the music, I think I found the right formula for helping 'The Navigator' engage an audience.

It's a two-part formula, really. Part 1: show a riotous two-reel comedy short to warm everyone up. In this case, I chose Laurel & Hardy's 'Two Tars' (1928), as it has the required nautical element.

This was a risk, too, because I've found that some of the Laurel & Hardy comedies that feature "reciprocal destruction" (which this one does in spades) sometimes shock audiences with the violence depicted on screen. All it takes is one small child bawling in fear, followed by a parent rushing the kid to the exit, to kill the comedy.

What kind of music do you use to accompany this?

But this time, I found the right approach, playing music of the utmost simplicity—chopsticks, mostly—to give the action the feel of a game for little kids. Which it kind of is, right? The thing is, it really worked! Laughs built upon laughs, and the final shot (of the two sailors in their crumpled car coming out of the tunnel) was greeted with a hearty roar. Nice!

And Part 2? That's to back off and play as little as possible for most of 'The Navigator.' Why? Because in order for spontaneous laughter to take root, the audience has to hear itself. And that can't happen if the music is too much.

It takes some discipline for me to lay off and let Buster's story unfold, because my tendency is to naturally respond to the on-screen action and want to "play it up." But no—Buster (and many other filmmakers) don't need that. Quite often, less really is more.

So there was plenty of room for the laughter, and once it took hold, there was no stopping it. And it built steadily, too, with Buster's gags getting more reaction as the story progressed, culminating in a huge response to the underwater sequences and then the battles with the "cannibals." (How cannibals can be identified from 1,000 yards away eludes me.)

A little monster music greatly enhanced Buster emerging from the sea in a diving suit, I thought, and the laughter was just tremendous when Kathryn McGuire straddles a floating Buster and paddles back to the ship. Everything after that was pure pay-off, especially the scene where Buster is followed by a miniature cannon all over the deck, which produced shrieks from our audience.

I think another factor was way back at the beginning, in the opening remarks, which I again kept brief. For 'The Navigator,' I didn't try to "explain" Buster or get into anything big. All I did was tell the story about how Fred Gabourie, Buster's techical director, was scouting for old square-riggers to be used in 'The Seahawk' when he came across the Buford, an old passenger steamer on the market. Buster told him to buy it, and then they built the story of 'The Navigator' around what turned out to be the largest comedy prop in cinema history.

That's all. And for Laurel & Hardy, I said only this: "And before we set sail with 'The Navigator,' let's first see what happens to two sailors on shore leave named Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy."

Just the mention of their names produced a buzz of anticipation from those who knew what we were in for. And that probabaly piqued the curiosity of those who didn't. Anyway, the fuse was lit...

Wow, after six years, I think I'm finally learning how to do this!

Burn off those calories with laughter with silent comedies on Sunday, Nov. 25

A bevy of great silent short comedies with live music will form the cinematic after-dinner mint, so to speak, of your upcokming food-centric Thanksgiving Day weekend, if you choose to attend our show on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilton (N.H.) Town Hall Theatre.

The program will emphasize great comedies from silent era that we've somehow neglected to bring to the big screen in the five years we've been showing early cinema in Wilton. (Movies have been shown in Wilton since 1912, so I can't say for sure these films have never been shown there.)

Sunday's menu hasn't quite been decided yet. But the comedy feast will definitely include the following morsels, all of them so far unscreened in Wilton, at least in the modern age. So come on along for the taste of laughter:

• The Immigrant (1916): One of Chaplin's better "Mutual" comedies, the two-reelers made during 1916-17 in which his artistry truly blossomed. Highlighted by Charlie's antics on a rocking ship as well as an extended scene in an on-shore restaurant with Eric Campbell as the scariest waiter you're ever likely to encounter.

• The Love Nest (1923): A bizarre Buster Keaton short comedy finds our hero, rejected by his girl, taking to the high seas, where he drifts (literally) from one improbable misadventure to another. I hadn't looked at this film in years, and I can't wait to see how it plays with an audience.

• Call of the Cuckoos (1927): Obscure comedian Max Davidson stars in this Hal Roach comedy short highlighted by cameos from two comic actors who only recently had been formed into a team: Mr. Stan Laurel and Mr. Oliver Hardy. Noted silent film comedians Charley Chase and James Finlayson make appearances as well!

All this, and probably a half-dozen other comedy shorts, all free! So cap off your Thanksgiving Day weekend with an extra helping of laughter.

'The Circus' (1928) on New Year's Day in Wilton, N.H.

Chaplin's great silent comedy 'The Circus' presents an interesting musical conundrum.

When released in 1928, the film (like most other silents) did not have a soundtrack. And so during its initial run, audiences around the world would have heard accompaniment provided on the spot by local theater musicians. That's how cinema-goers experienced the film, which was a solid success for Chaplin and went on to be the seventh-highest grossing film of the silent era.

And then, four decades after the film's original run, Chaplin (then approaching 80 years of age) worked with late-in-life collaborator Eric James to put together music for a re-release. The resulting soundtrack, including a song that gets sung over the opening titles by Chaplin himself, accompanied the 1968 release. And since that time, it's the only score authorized by the Chaplin estate to accompany 'The Circus.'

Yes, Chaplin's score is quite effective, and there's a unique value in knowing what kind of music he preferred to go with certain types of scenes. (It's quite spartan in some places, but that makes sense for a comedy, I think.) However, keep in mind that the music is from a completely different time in his life—four decades distant! And while there's nothing wrong with Chaplin's score, I think an argument can be made for 'The Circus' to be open to other scoring approaches, too.

After all, audiences saw its original release without Chaplin's music. And I've come to think that one of the things that helps make silent film timeless is that the films themselves are open to fresh scoring approaches, both today and in the future. A good score can help bridge the gap between this now-unfamiliar visual form and today's audiences, I think.

Well, the folks who control the Chaplin films feel differently, and they really have no choice. Acting on the wishes of Chaplin (who died in 1977), they insist to this day that whenever 'The Circus' is screened, the recorded score from 1968 be used for accompaniment. No others can be used.

I'm conveying all this to let folks know why we're not doing live music for this film, to be screened on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre. (Free admission!)

I do feel that live music is an important part of the silent film experience. But if we're going to show 'The Circus,' we need to follow Chaplin's wishes, at least as his estate interprets them. The good news is, yes, it's a fine score, and does provide a unique point of reference not available for most other silent film artists. What kind of music would Chaplin have preferred for this film? With the score he created, we don't have to guess.

However, how different would the music be if he'd done it in 1928, at the time of the film's initial release? That's something we'll never know. However, just a few years later, he did create a score for 'City Lights' (1931) for its initial release, and it's clearly the work of the same person behind the 'Circus' music much much later.

Well, back to our New Year's Day screening. We're leading off with two silent comedy shorts for which we will have live music: 'Big Business' (1929), starring Laurel & Hardy, is the perfect film for people tired of Christmas cheer, while Buster Keaton's 'One Week' (1920) is another timeless (but time-oriented) comedy to start 2012 off with some laughs.

Hope to see you there! Press release follows below...



MONDAY, DEC. 19, 2011 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more info, contact: Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Chaplin's classic comedy 'The Circus' to be screened on New Year's Day in Wilton, N.H.

Holiday weekend family-friendly screening includes silent Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton films with live music

WILTON, N.H.—Laugh your way into 2012 with Charlie Chaplin's classic comedy 'The Circus' (1928), to be screened on New Year's Day at the Wilton (N.H.) Town Hall Theatre. The program, part of the theater's monthly silent film series, will also include short silent comedies starring Laurel & Hardy and Buster Keaton, with live music by Jeff Rapsis.

'The Circus' will be shown on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m. Admission to the family-friendly screening is free, with donations accepted to help defray costs.

Chaplin made 'The Circus' at the height of worldwide fame for his "Little Tramp" character. Set in an impoverished travelling circus, the film is noted for its mix of uproarious comedy and a dramatic story line. 'The Circus' features several classic sequences, including a high wire scene for which Chaplin actually learned to walk on a tight-rope.

In 'The Circus,' Chaplin's tramp plays an incompetent prop man who unwittingly becomes the show's comedy sensation. Offstage, he befriends a young lady horsetrainer (Merna Kennedy) who suffers mistreatment from her abusive father, the owner of the circus. Can the Little Tramp help her escape without losing his own job or ruining the show? And will she return the feelings that he's developing for her?

'The Circus' is a light-hearted romp, but the film was a behind-the-scenes nightmare for Chaplin. During production, he endured the death of his mother, a contentious divorce from his second wife, IRS allegations of unpaid taxes, and a disastrous studio fire that set shooting back months. Despite these obstacles, 'The Circus' went on to become one of Chaplin's most popular successes. It also earned Chaplin a special Academy Award for acting and directing at the very first Oscars in 1929.

Four decades after the original release of 'The Circus,' Chaplin at age 80 composed his own musical score for the picture and rereleased it in 1968 with a recorded soundtrack. The version with Chaplin's score is the only one licensed by the Chaplin Estate for exhibition, so the Wilton Town Hall Theatre's screening of 'The Circus' will feature recorded music rather than the usual live music.

A restored version of 'The Circus' was released again to arthouses in 2010 as part of a worldwide Chaplin retrospective, with contemporary critics praising the film's timeless qualities.

"It's a brilliant combination of light and darkness, tenderness and violence and, yes, laughter and tears," wrote Andrew O'Hehir for salon.com, while Keith Ulrich of Time Out New York wrote "There's an edge to 'The Circus' that suggests a man gazing deep into the void, laughing at the darkness and urging us to do the same."

In the Internet age, 'The Circus' gained notoriety when footage taken at the film's 1928 premiere seemed to show a woman talking on a cell phone. The footage, filmed outside Graumann's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles and included as an extra in a DVD release of 'The Circus,' quickly went viral and become a YouTube sensation. Explanations for the scene included the theory that the woman had traveled through time from the present day, although most observers believe she was using some kind of hearing aid.

At the Wilton screening, accompanist Jeff Rapsis will provide live music for two comedy short films on the program: 'Big Business' (1929) starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and Buster Keaton's 'One Week' (1920).


'Big Business' finds Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as unsuccessful door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen. An encounter with one particularly unsympathetic customer (Jimmy Finlayson) escalates into a destructive battle sure to please anyone who's had enough of this year's holiday season. Made just before the comedy duo transitioned into sound films later in 1929, 'Big Business' stands as one of Laurel & Hardy's most popular comedies.

In 'One Week,' Buster Keaton and his new bride (Sybil Seeley) attempt to construct a do-it-yourself home, unaware than Buster's former rival for the girl has switched the numbers on the crates. The resulting home is just the beginning of Buster's misfortunes, which all lead to one of the all-time best comedy endings of any silent film.

'The Circus' and other short comedies will be screened on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. For more information, visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456. The Wilton Town Hall Theatre runs silent film programs with live music the last Sunday of every month. For more information about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

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For more info, contact:
Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com
Images attached. More high-resolution digital images available upon request.

My "Mr. Holland's Opus" moment

Okay: A busy first week of August saw screenings in an old resort ballroom in New Hampshire, an even older town hall in Vermont, and a wonderful movie theater in Somerville, Mass. that's dedicated to preserving the 35mm film experience. Let's take them in reverse order, starting with an experience last night that moved me unexpectedly and quite deeply, too.

• On Sunday, Aug. 7, I experienced what was one of the highlights of my musical life so far. Usually these writings are reports about the movies and the screenings and how the music worked (or didn't), but for a moment let me tell you about my own personal reaction to something that I'm just beginning to get my head around.

Last night, after doing improvised scores for a screening of Buster Keaton films at the Somerville Theatre, just outside Boston, Mass., a large audience treated me to a huge and prolonged ovation that just completely blew me away. And I stood there, after more than two hours of film music, and it washed over me: this middle-aged guy, who in high school couldn't get into Boston University's Tanglewood Institute for young composers (I know, boo-hoo), was thrilled and gratified and humbled to come to Boston (the "big city" in my lifelong home of New England), make his music in public, and receive such a response. Nearly three decades later, I felt I had finally, finally arrived as a musical artist with something to say.

I really mean it. And I never expected to be in such a position, and yet there I was, with about 250 people hooting and hollering, and not stopping, for music that I just did. (If I had expected it, I would have dressed better.) I took a few bows, but then didn't know what else to do, and then it kind of hit me all at once, and I just couldn't believe it. It was probably the closest this musician will ever get to his own personal "Mr. Holland's Opus" moment.

And I realized that it marked something of a milestone in this creative journey, and I'm profoundly grateful to everyone who played a role in getting me there: to the folks at the Somerville; to early supporters such as N.H. filmmaker Bill Millios, film archivist Dave Stevenson, and Wilton Town Hall Theatre owner Dennis Markevarich; to friends and colleagues and family (especially my wife Susan) who've been dealing with my silent film music thing for quite some time now; to Rick and Jemi Broussard, who hooked me up with the Somerville Theatre; to lifelong inspirational figures, chief among them the composer Charles Ives; to new friends such as the film blogger Raquelle, seen here with me after the screening; and to the filmmakers themselves, my now-absent collaborators who left such a rich accidental legacy for us to explore and ponder today.

And finally, thank you to everyone who came to the Keaton program last night. Silent film needs an audience to exist, and without you, my co-collaborators in the dark, the films (the ones that survive) would just be long strips of plastic wound on reels sitting in cans on darkened shelves somewhere. And it has become clear to me that the music I do is much the same way: it needs an audience to come forth, and without you, it would still be just ideas in my head and perhaps go no further. Thank you, thank you for bringing it out of me. To someone who has always had music in his head, but for a long time never had a place for it to go. It's something of a dream come true.

Wow! It's been an entire day since last night's screening in Somerville and, as you can see, I'm barely getting my head around the experience and its aftermath. It was especially heartening to have so many people come up afterwards and talk about the Keaton films ('Steamboat Bill Jr.' with 'Cops' and 'The High Sign,' all in 35mm) and how much they enjoyed seeing them in a theater with live music. Great questions, wonderfully supportive comments, and enough interest for me to go back to the keyboard and do an impromptu session on silent film scoring techniques for a small audience.

As for scoring the Keaton films, things went pretty well, despite one very alarming technical glitch right at the beginning when the house lights went down, taking my synthesizer and sound system with it. It's got the making of one of those dreams you don't want to have: you introduce a program to 250 people in a theater, and turn around, and your instrument is as dead as a wooden canoe. I had no choice but to turn around and shout "Wait!" and ask for the power back. Somehow it returned quickly (thank you whoever did that!) but I still had to wait for the darned thing to reboot, even as the first film, Cops, was starting on screen. At least I got a few laughs by remarking loudly, "They didn't have THESE kinds of problems in the 1920s!"

Kept to an organ setting for the two shorts, which went by quickly. Cops is very satisfying to score because it builds so well, from small comedy to massive city-wide chase. The key moment, and one I always have trouble with, I think, is when the bomb goes off during the police parade, which launches the big chase. Keaton lingers on the static aftermath of the explosion quite a bit before cutting to the actual chase, and I've never found a satisfying way to build the music and make the transition. Have to work on that one. Weird, too, that this 35mm print was missing significant footage, sometimes cutting out of one gag before the payoff and going immediately to other scenes. I've known the film my whole life, though (it was one of the first 8mm prints I bought from Blackhawk as a teenager!) and had a solid sense of when to push, and when to pull back to keep the energy going.

I had never done 'The High Sign' before and wasn't sure because it was truly "early" Keaton, his first film made after leaving his mentor Arbuckle, and made before he'd truly formed his unique comic personality and outlook. I've always found the Arbuckle films to be a bit slapdash and loose for my taste, but once again the audience proved me wrong, with 'The High Sign' getting big and sustained laughs, especially with the ridiculous gesture that forms the film's title. For scoring, some tricky patches in a shooting gallery with gunshots and bells ringing to make the comedy fully work; I did the best I could but next time will get someone with an actual bell to do that sound effect, which I think is so essential to the humor.

'Steamboat Bill Jr.' is a wonderful film for music. Its rural riverboat setting lends itself to a certain kind of simply melody, and the main one I came up with proved to be versatile enough to work throughout the film without (I hope) becoming tiresome. And the tail end of it, a rising little "answer" phrase, formed the basis for another tune, much lighter in character, to go with the film's boyfriend/girlfriend scenes. And then, completely unexpected, was a little 6/8 tune that kept coming up to quietly underscore the small-scale comedy.

And that brings us to the hat scene. One of the most interesting scenes in this picture is when Buster's gruff father, Ernest Torrence, takes him into a store to try on hats, most of them ridiculous. After things get going, it doesn't take long for the scene to shift to a view of father and son as if they're looking into a full-length mirror (a brilliant trick in and of itself!) and then we're treated to a wonderfully diverse procession of ill-advised headgear. Never was Keaton's comic abilities seen to greater advantage, I think, and he's more than matched by Ernest Torrence. It's a wonderful scene.

But what about music? I recall, years ago, I saw this film done with a live score by a talented and energetic group. It was a memorable performance, but I was struck by how they chose to handle the hat scene. Right at the start, they launched into a heavy, up-tempo gallop, like raucous circus music, loud and fast and unrelenting. And you know what? It killed the comedy! And I think a big reason was that you couldn't hear the audience around you laughing, and so that magical silent film audience reaction thing didn't kick in. And despite the brilliance of the scene, I found it left me cold.

So now, all this time later, here we are at the hat scene again. So I tried to keep the underscoring to a minimum until the audience reaction kicked in, and only then did I bring things up a bit in terms of intensity, but not too much, and then only by a few discords or pushing up a key rather than in volume or tempo. In doing music for silent film comedy, I'm becoming convinced that less really is more.

I was very happy with the extended night scenes, where Buster sneaks over to the rival riverboat to see his girlfriend, also a textbook example of more is less. It's night. It's quiet. As my copywriting colleague Paul Donovan at PC Connection used to say, "Do I have to draw you a map?" Making up the prominent "Prisoner's Lament" in the jailhouse scene went well, and the whole extended storm climax fit together nicely, though the Korg synthesizer is really showing its age, which is now eight. After all this pounding, the bounce of its weighted action keys is pretty much gone, and there are other symptoms. During 'Steamboat,' a tone stuck after pressing a key, and not once or twice, but three times, each time forcing me to switch quickly to another setting and then back to get it to stop. Sheesh! It blows your concentration and doesn't sound right, either, but anyone I asked later said they notice it.

• On Saturday, Aug. 6, made the drive up to Brandon, Vt. for the latest summer silent film screening at their historic Town Hall, which is in the process of restoration. Another solid crowd, about 75 people, came for a program of Laurel & Hardy shorts and 'Paths to Paradise' (1925), a rare film starring Raymond Griffith. The L & H films slayed them, leading off with 'Double Whoopee' (1929) and then 'Early to Bed' (1928) and 'Angora Love' (1929).

All three produced big laughs, and they're all fun to score, because the Laurel & Hardy comedy technique is so musical to begin with: definite rhythms, peaks and valleys, often leading to the one "purple moment," the place in a piece of music that Rachmaninoff said everything else in a score was leading to. (And how appropriate that one of their films, from 1928, is called 'Their Purple Moment.')

What were Saturday night's purple moments? SPOILER ALERT! In 'Double Whoopee' it's the multiple-person chaos in the lobby followed by prince's final fall into the shaft; in 'Early to Bed,' it's Ollie and Stan doing battle in Ollie's fountain followed by Ollie cracking up; in 'Angora Love' it's the cop getting the water in the face, followed by the litter of goats (or whatever a group of baby goats is called) emerging from under the bed.

And the reaction to 'Paths to Paradise' was really, really gratifying. How great to have people who've never heard of Raymond Griffith get caught up in one of his pictures after all these years of obscurity. 'Paths' does take awhile to get going -- the usual flash point is the comic dance in the flashlight scene about halfway through the film. But once it takes flight, it sweeps everyone along with it. Some of the bigger moments in the climactic chase had people spontaneously applauding -- this for a character to whom they had just been introduced. Nice work, Mr. Griffith!

Weird trivia: Afterwards, people could not believe that one of the two clumsy detectives in 'Paths' was the same guy who played the irate landlord in Laurel & Hardy's 'Angora Love': Edgar Kennedy. It's a small silent world!

• Tuesday, Aug. 2: Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't record some impressions from an unusual screening that I think will endure as another highlight of the summer. Last month I was contacted by Matt Van Wagner, a fellow ex-ensemble member of the late and much-lamented Granite State Opera. (He's a tenor, and also plays trumpet.) Matt had a proposition: How about a silent film show at Twin Lakes Villa, a resort in New Hampshire's Lake Sunapee region that he and his family visit every year. My reply: Sure! (It doesn't take much.)

And lo, I found myself tooling up Interstate 89 late on a beautiful summer afternoon, arriving at the resort about 6:30 p.m. Everyone was still on a picnic at the summit of nearby Mount Kearsage, so I got to poke around the well-manicured grounds and well-kept buildings.

What I found was an incredibly well-preserved hotel and resort property that must not have looked much different a century ago. Really! It was from the same era as the old grand hotels up north in New Hampshire's White Mountains, but on a smaller scale. Owned by the same family for five generations, it had somehow survived intact into the 21st century, open for only 10 weeks each summer, serving communal meals that were announced by the ringing of a big old bell mounted over the wide porch that wrapped around the first floor of the three-story main building.

The films were to be screened in the "ballroom," which was the entire first floor of a separate three-story building connected to the main building by a covered wooden walkway. The screen was, yes, a bedsheet that had been strung across the small proscenium stage at one end of the hall, the floor of which was filled with chairs for more than a hundred people.

And as the light faded and the picnickers returned, the seats filled and off we went. Great response to Keaton's 'One Week' (1920), which is an excellent intro not just to Buster but to all of silent film comedy. Our feature was Harold Lloyd's great 1928 film 'Speedy,' and right from the beginning, the reaction to this was just incredible.

The reason? Well, what started it was baseball. In the film, Harold's character is obsessed with baseball, and his team is the New York Yankees. New Hampshire is Red Sox country, and there's a long-standing rivalry between the two teams that's on par with India and Pakistan. Normally it's not an issue, but in the summer, Yankees fans come up from New York to visit, and they keep their allegiance no secret.

So, in the case of 'Speedy' last Tuesday night, the minute the Yankees make their appearance, good-natured partisan reaction started behind me. I'd never seen that happen before, to this extent, with cheering and booing and everything in between. But the net effect was to really loosen up everyone at a very early stage, and I think that paved the way for a truly intense experience that carried through the whole picture. Lloyd: master of getting a reaction in ways that still work today. (I'm sure the Yanks were just as loved/hated in the days of Babe Ruth, too.)

One nice touch was that since Matt played the trumpet, I invited him to sound the bugle calls that lead into the films first climax, the battle in the streets. Matt did an excellent job doing two versions of one of those tunes we all know but I never know the name of ("Charge?"), and then a final blast as the action really starts. Thanks, Matt!

Big reaction at the end and lots of good questions and comments. Talk of me going up there again next summer, and I'd love to do it, especially if they can arrange for the same kind of weather. Speaking of which, in the weird coincidence department, when the storm developed in 'One Week,' it unexpectedly started raining outside for real!

Countdown to Steamboat Bill, Jr. on Aug. 7

Tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. 3) I head down to Boston for an interview at WBUR-FM, one of Beantown's National Public Radio outlets, for an interview about the upcoming screening of Buster Keaton's film 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.' (1928) on Sunday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

I'm looking forward to this, not only because it's fun to be on the radio and chat about silent film, but also because an interview will help get out the word for this particular screening. It's worth attending because it's in 35mm, but also because a big turnout (say, 100 people or more) will encourage the Somerville's management to continue programming silent films in 35mm with live music.

I must say I've been thrilled with the shows I've done at the Somerville so far this year and I do hope we can continue. The music has worked out well, I think, but what's been truly amazing to me is the chance to see the Keaton films in 35mm on the big screen and with a bright light. To me, it's like seeing these films for the first time.

For this weekend's program, we not only have 'Steamboat Bill, Jr.' but also 'The High Sign' (1921) and 'Cops' (1922), both of which I'm looking forward to. So I do hope you can join us (and bring a friend or two or three or a dozen) to help fill some seats.

For music, I'm planning on pipe organ for the two shorts, then full orchestra for Steamboat. One thing to keep in mind with the feature is that I need to avoid ramping up too early and taking things too fast in the climax. We'll see if I can restrain myself or if I get carried away, much like Buster nearly does. And if you haven't seen the film, you'll just have to attend this Sunday's screening to find out what I mean by this.

Admission is $12 per person. See you at the movies!

Oh, and here's another nice bit of publicity. On Thursday of this week, an interview with me will be posted on a wonderfully enthusiastic classic film blog maintained by a woman known to me only as "Raquelle M." We've been in touch since the July screening and I very much appreciate her support of our screenings. The blog is called Out of the Past, and it's filled with a lot of perceptive writing about vintage cinema. Thanks, Raquelle, and hope to see you at the Somerville! :)

And P.S.: On Saturday, Aug. 6, I'm accompanying a program of Laurel & Hardy silent comedy shorts ('Double Whoopee' (1929), 'Early to Bed' (1928), and 'Angora Love' (1929) and Raymond Griffith's wonderful feature 'Paths to Paradise' (1925) at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center up in Brandon, Vt. Show starts at 7 p.m. if you happen to be in the neighborhood!