'The Big Parade' (1925) on Thursday, 11/29 at Merrimack College, North Andover, Mass.

Vintage promotional art for 'The Big Parade' (1925).

With so many screenings to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice this month, it's starting to feel like I'm fighting World War I all over again.

Whether it's the aerial drama of 'Wings' (1927) or Chaplin yukking it up in 'Shoulder Arms' (1918), November has been a long march through movies about the "Great War."

Speaking of marching, next up is 'The Big Parade' (1925), the sweeping WWI epic directed by King Vidor that became the top-grossing film of its day.

See why by experiencing it on the big screen with live music on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.

Details in the press release below. Hope to see you there.

Right now, I'm fresh off scoring a screening of 'Barbed Wire' (1927), a great Pola Negri drama set in France during (you guessed it) the WAR.

A scene from 'Barbed Wire' (1927).

Unusually, 'Barbed Wire' is not about the action at the front. Instead, the film focuses on the war's effect on a small rural village in France.

It's a tightly constructed drama with strong performances by Negri and Clive Brook in the lead roles, and Clyde Cook supplying comic relief. Even hard-working character actor Gustav von Seyffertitz shows up.

'Barbed Wire' also has a surprisingly moving Christmas scene, with captured German soldiers celebrating the season in a prison camp. So it's worth putting on the screen at this time of year.

Our audience at the Manchester (N.H.) Historic Association really seemed to enjoy the picture. The music came together quite nicely for the dramatic scenes, I thought, and Clyde Cook's antics got actual laughs!

Brook, by the way, has emerged as one of my favorite actors of the era. Everything I've seen him in, he's great. And he's flat-out terrific as the down-on-his-luck attorney in 'Underworld,' released just after 'Barbed Wire.'

On my list to see someday: Brook playing the title role in the early talkie 'Sherlock Holmes' (1932).

So many films, so little time!

Well...Hope you have time for 'The Big Parade' tomorrow night. See you there!

* * *

John Gilbert and Renée Adorée commit massive public display of affection in 'The Big Parade' (1925).

TUESDAY, NOV. 20, 2018 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis at (603) 236-9237 • e-mail jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Epic WWI drama 'The Big Parade' to be screened on Thursday, Nov. 29 at Rogers Center

To be shown with live music to commemorate 1918 Armistice; blockbuster silent film changed the way Hollywood depicted battle on the screen

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — It was the 'Saving Private Ryan' of its time — a movie that showed audiences war as experienced by a front line soldier whose life is changed forever by its horrors.

It was 'The Big Parade' (1925), a sprawling World War I epic and a box office sensation that made MGM into a powerhouse studio.

'The Big Parade' will be screened one time only at the Rogers Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. The screening, part of the Rogers Center's Tambakos Film Series, is open to the public and admission is free.

The Rogers Center is located on Walsh Way on the campus of Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass.

The screening coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, which ended the fighting of World War I.

The show will feature live accompaniment by silent film musician Jeff Rapsis.

'The Big Parade,' released just a few years after World War I ended, was hailed by critics as the first Hollywood film to depict the harsh reality of combat and its impact on troops. Its hellish battle scenes were staged on a massive scale and still retain their ability to shock audiences.

The picture, based on the best-selling novel "What Price Glory?", follows the story of a young man (John Gilbert) who rebels against his privileged background by enlisting in the army just before the U.S. enters World War I.

Comedy, romance, and a cow in 'The Big Parade' (1925).

He is shipped out to France, where he falls in love with a local French woman before being transferred to the front. There, he and his squadmates face the German war machine, where they must endure the ultimate tests of duty and honor in a battle they come to see as meaningless.

In addition to vivid war scenes, the film contains a famous dramatic sequence in which the French woman (Renée Adorée) realizes her love for the soldier, and tries to find him to say goodbye as the massive convoy of troops pulls out for the front. Another celebrated sequence depicts the light-hearted first meeting of the soldier and the girl, in which he teaches her how to chew gum.

'The Big Parade' went on to become the top-grossing movie of the entire silent film era, earning $6.4 million domestically and making director King Vidor into the Steven Spielberg of his day. It stood as MGM's biggest single box office hit until the release of 'Gone With the Wind' in 1939.

Rapsis will improvise a musical score to the film in real time. In creating accompaniment for the 'The Big Parade' and other vintage classics, Rapsis tries to bridge the gap between silent film and modern audiences.

"Live music adds an element of energy to a silent film screening that's really crucial to the experience," Rapsis said. " 'The Big Parade' is filled with great scenes that lend themselves well to music. It's a real privilege to create a score to help this great picture come back to life," Rapsis said.

MGM's silent blockbuster ‘The Big Parade’ will be shown with live music on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Center, located on Walsh Way on the campus of Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass. Admission is free. For more information, call the Rogers box office at (978) 837-5355.

'Way Down East' on Sunday, Jan. 29 at Wilton (N.H.) Town Hall Theatre

An original poster for 'Way Down East' (1920).

Up next: 'Way Down East' (1920), the classic D.W. Griffith melodrama that finds Lillian Gish as an unwed mother cast out of her rural community, only to wind up on an ice floe rushing toward a giant waterfall and certain doom!

Phew! Just writing that one sentence leaves me breathless!

Showtime is Sunday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilton (N.H.) Town Hall Theatre. More about this great flick in the press release below.

Now, a few notes from the present.

Wednesday night saw an enthusiastic crowd on hand for 'The Winning of Barbara Worth' (1926) at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.

We don't get many students at the Rogers screenings, but attendance has been steadily building among film buffs in the area. I think we had maybe 75 people.

And Wednesday night's audience seemed especially willing to boo the 'Jefferson Worth' character, a contractor who imperils a pioneer settlement by failing to reinforce a dam.

And for some reason, the score fell together quite effectively. More than once, I felt I came up with just the right music for important moments. Nice!

I'm not sure what things sometimes just work out, but it may be the law of averages.

Do something often enough (and I accompany about 100 live screenings a year), some will inevitably come up short, but others will surpass all expectations.

Or, to quote Groucho Marx: "They can't all be gems, folks."

In general, though, I think doing a lot of films has helped me develop my own musical language and voice that I'm now starting to use in written-down compositions.

The best example of this was my 'Kilimanjaro Suite,' a 30-minute long score for orchestra that was premiered last Sunday by the N.H. Philharmonic under music director Mark Latham.

Mark Latham, at left, and me on stage after the performance of my 'Kilimajaro Suite' for orchestra.

Although this had nothing to do with silent film, I don't think I could have done it without all the accompaniment I've been doing in recent years.

(I still need to post a write-up of the whole 'Kilimanjaro Suite' experience. Coming soon to a blog near you!)

Before this Sunday's screening of 'Way Down East,' I haul myself out to Schagticoke, N.Y. (north of Albany, in the 518 area code) for one of my favorite annual gigs.

It's a once-a-year mid-winter community pot luck supper and silent film night at Liberty Ridge Farm hosted by owners Bob and Cynthia Gifford.

Taking place in the farm's function room, the event brings together about 100 people who now seem like old friends.

This all started when Cynthia's parents were the winning bidders of my services ("Silent Film Screening with Live Music) at a charity auction about eight years ago.

They asked if I wouldn't mind driving out to New York. I said "No problem," and the rest is history."

We usually show comedies, but this year we're taking a different approach with a "Halloween in January" approach.

We'll open the program with Buster Keaton's 'Haunted House' (1921), and then the main attraction is 'The Cat and the Canary' (1927). Boo!

Tully Marshall gets a grip in 'Cat and the Canary' (1927).

And in-between is one of the best pot luck suppers served north of the Mason-Dixon line, or any other line you can name.

Interested? Anyone's welcome to attend, as long as you bring a dish for the pot luck or make a donation to the big glass jar to help defray expenses.

(More details in the 'Upcoming Screenings' page at upper right.)

Okay, about 'Way Down East.' I did music for this some years ago at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre, and it was one of the most memorable screenings ever.

Why? Because I had prepared for the film, and didn't think it would go over too well—other than the undeniably exciting ending with Gish on those ice floes, it was too old and creaky. How could anyone take this seriously?

But Griffith, a former stage director, knew in his bones how to get a crowd excited. And so it was quite surprising to me to find the audience reacting strongly to 'Way Down East' right from the beginning.

This engagement continued throughout the picture. And when it came time for Gish to wind up on the ice floes, the place just went crazty!

So in seeing this film as it was intended—with live music and a live audience—you can still get a sense of why 'Way Down East' was one of the top-grossing films of the silent era.

You can also see what a different it makes when the original conditions of early cinema are in place: a lot of people, a big screen, live music. You get a real sense of why people fell for the movies, and fell hard. There's nothing like it!

See for yourself when we run 'Way Down East' (1920) on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. at the Wilton (N.H.) Town Hall Theatre. Details in the press release below:

* * *

The classic shot of Lillian Gish on the ice floes.

FRIDAY, JAN. 20, 2017 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent film classic 'Way Down East' at Town Hall Theatre on Sunday, Jan. 29

D.W. Griffith blockbuster starring Lillian Gish, filmed partly in New England, to be screened with live music

WILTON, N.H. — The iconic image of actress Lillian Gish trapped on an ice floe and headed straight for a waterfall will once again fill the big screen when 'Way Down East' (1920) is revived on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; a donation of $5 per person is suggested to help defray expenses.

The movie, a blockbuster melodrama directed by cinematic pioneer D.W. Griffith, is set in old-time rural New England, and was partly filmed on location in New Hampshire and Vermont. It stars Gish in an acclaimed performance as a wronged woman trying to make her way in an unforgiving world. Can she find love and redemption, or will she ride to her doom on the raging river's ice floes?

'Way Down East' will be screened with live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist.

In 'Way Down East,' Gish stars as a poor New England country girl who travels to Boston to visit her rich relatives in the hopes of getting financial help. While there, she's dazzled by upper class society and romanced by a rich womanizer (Lowell Sherman) who takes advantage of her innocence by tricking her into bed with a fake marriage ceremony.

Convinced she's found the husband of her dreams, Gish returns home to the country, only to be abandoned. She informs her faux husband she's pregnant; he orders her to get an abortion. Instead, Gish goes into exile to have the baby, finds herself persecuted for giving birth out of wedlock, and flees even further into the country to seek refuge. The film was noteworthy in its time for addressing such topics as abortion and women's rights.

Modern critics hail 'Way Down East' for Gish's performance, which continues to mesmerize audiences nearly a century after the film's release. "Gish provides an abject lesson in screen acting and brings home the importance and effectiveness of seeing a film in a theater with a crowd," wrote Paul Brenner on www.filmcritic.com in 2007. "If you are not moved at the scene of Gish baptizing her dead baby, then you should check the obituaries of your local paper to see if you are listed."

The film also stars silent era heartthrob Richard Barthelmess. In the film's climax, Barthelmess must dash to rescue Gish from being carried away on the ice floes.

Lillian Gish on location.

Much of the acclaimed ice floe sequence was filmed in March 1920 on location on the Connecticut River in New Hampshire and the White River in Vermont, as the winter pack ice was breaking up. No process shots or post-production special effects were available to filmmakers at the time, so Griffith and his crew had no choice but to stage and shoot it all on a real river, with the players out on the ice. To get the floes to break up and float down the river, Griffith's crew dynamited pack ice upstream.

Gish later said that she suffered frostbite by following director Griffith's command to always keep one hand in the water during the shooting.

Despite such hardships, 'Way Down East' cemented Gish's reputation as one of the silent era's major stars. Gish would continue to work in films and, later, television, until the 1980s. She died in 1993 at age 99.

Accompanist Jeff Rapsis specializes in creating music that bridges the gap between an older film and the expectations of today's audiences. Using a digital synthesizer that recreates the texture of a full orchestra, he improvises scores in real time as a movie unfolds, so that the music for no two screenings is the same.

"It's kind of a high wire act, but it helps create an emotional energy that's part of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "It's easier to be in tune with the emotional line of the movie and the audience's reaction when I'm able to follow what's on screen, rather than be buried in sheet music," he said.

Because silent films were designed to be shown to large audiences in theaters with live music, the best way to experience them is to recreate the conditions in which they were first shown, Rapsis said.

D.W. Griffith directs a scene from 'Way Down East' (1920).

"Films such as 'Way Down East' were created to be shown on the big screen to large audiences as a communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, silent films come to life in the way their makers intended. Not only are they entertaining, but they give today's audiences a chance to understand what caused people to first fall in love with the movies."

'Way Down East' was based on a popular stage drama, for which director Griffith paid the then-astounding sum of $175,000 to turn into a movie. The picture proved to a be a huge moneymaker, taking in $4.5 million, making it the fourth-highest grossing movie of the silent film era. 'Way Down East' would be the last of Griffith's great blockbusters; tastes changed as the 1920s rolled on and Griffith's Victorian style fell out of favor. Receipts from 'Way Down East' kept Griffith's studio afloat during a subsequent series of box office flops.

"This picture was a monster hit when it was released," Rapsis said, "and it still holds up well today. As a melodrama, it's a great film for an audience to cheer on the good folks and boo and hiss the bad guys. But there's an additional level of interest now because the film captured a way of life that's long since disappeared."

'Way Down East' will be shown on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. Admission is free; a donation of $5 per person is suggested to help defray expenses. For more info, visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

Next: 'The Winning of Barbara Worth' (1926) on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Rogers Center

Next up on the accompaniment calendar: a movie that I can't believe I didn't know about for such a long time.

It's 'The Winning of Barbara Worth' (1926) and despite the clunky title, it's a real winner, with something for everyone.

And you can see for yourself when the film is screened on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass.

Admission is free and the program is open to the public. A lot more info about the film and the screening is in the press release I've pasted in below.

Why am I so up on 'The Winning of Barbara Worth'?

Consider:

• It has stars whose names are still recognized today, including Gary Cooper and Ronald Colman. (And, to a lesser extent, Vilma Banky.)

• It was filmed in Nevada's remote Black Rock Desert, which gave director Henry King incredible vistas and unsurpassed location shooting.

• Although it's a high-stakes drama, it's filled with warm comic touches that are so typical of director King's style, and which greatly enrich the film.

• It's a Western, but not about injuns and bandits. Instead, it's a story about agriculture and water and the settling of the American West.

I know that last point doesn't sound too compelling, but it makes all difference.

The story of 'Winning' takes place amid the first attempts to irrigate California's arid Imperial Valley—the vast area west of Los Angeles and San Diego.

Pioneering settlers recognized the valley could be an agricultural paradise if only water could be brought to it.

So in the late 19th century, grand plans were made to reroute the nearby Colorado River so it would flow into and through the valley.

However, in 1905, the Colorado famously overflowed the dikes and canals under construction and an out-of-control deluge caused extensive flooding and the inadvertent creation of the land-locked Salton Sea, which we still have with us today.

The river was eventually controlled, and today the Imperial Valley is indeed is one of the most productive growing regions in the world.

In 'The Winning of Barbara Worth,' this series of events provides the setting for human drama that takes place among the heroic efforts to transform the valley.

Unlike so many films from long ago, this one rings true even today, I think. The cast, the setting, the story—all combine to show the narrative power of silent film at the peak of the form.

And for some reason, it's not as well known as it should be, even among film fans. I only discovered it a few years ago, when working with Kevin Brownlow on a presentation about the American West in silent cinema.

It could be the title, which is a mouthful and doesn't do much to convey the scale and scope of this production.

Well, whatever the reason, here's your chance to catch up with one of the silent era's under-appreciated gems.

See you at the screening! For more info, check out the press release below.

* * *

Vilma Banky and Gary Cooper in 'The Winning of Barbara Worth' (1926).

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

Rip-roaring epic silent Western with live music at Rogers Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Jan. 25

'The Winning of Barbara Worth' (1926), ground-breaking outdoor drama starring Gary Cooper and Ronald Colman, to be screened at Merrimack College

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—A film that helped create Hollywood's love affair with the American West will continue this season's silent film programming, part of the Tambakos Film Series at the Rogers Center for the Arts in North Andover, Mass.

'The Winning of Barbara Worth' (1926), a silent drama starring Gary Cooper, Ronald Colman, and Vilma Banky, will be shown on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

Admission is free and the screening is open to the public. Live music will be provided by accompanist Jeff Rapsis, a New England-based performer who specializes in creating music for silent film presentations.

Directed by Henry King, 'The Winning of Barbara Worth' chronicles the epic story of pioneer settlers who dreamed of irrigating California's parched Imperial Valley in the early 20th century. Filmed on location in Nevada's Black Rock desert, the movie is noted for its extensive use of vast open spaces and wild scenery.

The story centers on a rivalry for the affections of Barbara Worth (Vilma Banky), adopted daughter of a powerful rancher. A local cowboy (Gary Cooper) finds himself competing with a newly arrived engineer (Ronald Colman), who has come to the rural valley to work on plans to harness the Colorado River for irrigation.

Will the local ranch hand prevail over the city slicker engineer? Can citizens of the parched region prevail over nature and transform their lands into an agricultural paradise? Will rumors of shortcuts taken in constructing a massive dam lead to disaster?

All these questions combine to create a film that showed Hollywood and movie-goers the power of a drama set in the rural American west.

The film is also noted for its camerawork by Greg Toland, who would later go on to do principal photography for 'Citizen Kane' in 1941.

For 'The Winning of Barbara Worth,' Rapsis will improvise a score from original musical material that he composes 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 Winning of Barbara Worth' continues another season of silent films presented with live music at the Rogers. The series provides local audiences the opportunity to experience silent film as it was intended to be shown: on the big screen, in good-looking prints, with live music, and with an audience.

“These films are still exciting experiences if you can show them as they were designed to be screened,” said Rapsis, accompanist for the screenings.

“There’s a reason people first fell in love with the movies, and we hope to recreate that spirit. At their best, silent films were communal experiences in which the presence of a large audience intensifies everyone’s reactions.”

For each film, Rapsis improvises a music score using original themes he creates beforehand. None of the the music is written down; instead, the score evolves in real time based on audience reaction and the overall mood as the movie is screened.

"If you haven't seen a silent film the way it was intended to be shown, then you're missing a unique experience," Rapsis said. "At their best, silent films can be surprisingly sophisticated. They still retain a tremendous ability to cast a spell, engage an audience, tap into elemental emotions, and provoke strong reactions."

The 2016-17 Tambakos Film Series, which runs most Wednesday nights during the semester, focuses on Silent Films with live musical accompaniment, Hollywood classics and foreign masterworks. It continues on February 1st with crime thriller ‘The Grandmaster’ followed by A Clockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, and Jules et Jim. The next masterpiece in the Silent film Series is "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928). Danish director Carl Dreyer's intense recreation of the trial of Joan of Arc. 'The Passion of Joan of Arc' will screen on Wednesday, March 22, 2017.

All films are screened at the Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, 315 North Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass.

For more information, call the Rogers box office at (978) 837-5355 or visit www.merrimack.edu/rogers.

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

An upcoming schedule like a popular guesthouse—absolutely packed with 'Lodgers'

A French poster for Hitchcock's 'The Lodger' (1927), which translates as 'Golden Hair.'

The weeks leading up to Halloween are among the busiest for a silent film accompanist. Screenings abound!

To make it manageable, and to not overdo familiar warhorses such as 'Nosferatu' and 'The Phantom of the Opera,' each year I try to pick a lesser-known silent that would work well for Halloween and put it into the rotation for the season.

This time around it's Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Lodger' (1927), which I'm accompanying at no less than five different screenings before the end of October.

First up is a show this Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Performing Arts in North Andover, Mass. More info is in a press release tacked onto the end of this.

It's then followed by 'Lodger' screenings on Saturday, Oct. 17 in Brandon, Vt.; on Thursday, Oct. 29 in Keene, N.H.; on Friday, Oct. 30 in Concord, N.H.; and then on Sunday, Oct. 31 in Ogunquit, Maine.

This is one "Lodger" that won't stay put!

In addition, there's a half-dozens screenings of other titles on the docket, including 'The Cat and the Canary' on Thursday, Oct. 22 in Plymouth, N.H.; 'Nosferatu' on Saturday, Oct. 24 in Somerville, Mass.; and the original silent 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' on Sunday, Oct. 25 in Wilton, N.H.

Also on Sunday, Oct. 25: Lon Chaney's 'The Unknown' at the Aeronaut Brewery in Somerville, Mass.; 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass.; and another Chaney film, 'West of Zanzibar' as part of a day-long Halloween Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 31 in Somerville, Mass.

But before we plunge headlong into Halloween silent film mayhem, a few notes about an unusual booking yesterday (Saturday, Oct. 10) at the venerable Brattle Theatre off Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass.

Yesterday I did live music for not one but two screenings of 'Underworld' (1927), the highly regarded Josef von Sternberg drama widely credited with starting a craze for gangster movies that continued for the duration of the Prohibition era.

The two shows, part of a "proto-film-noir" series at the Brattle, were at 4 p.m. and then 7:30 p.m., with Edgar G. Robinson in 'Little Caesar' (1931) sandwiched in between. Both titles were in 35mm.

It's not often I get a chance to play for the same film twice in one day. Hey, just like in the silent film era! But I did, and found a curious thing happened in trying to create live music on the spot for one show after another of the same movie.

The first screening went superbly, I thought—I had the right material, and it all fell into place just as it should to help the film leap off the screen. Lots of strong moments where the music was just what I would have wanted.

The only thing that didn't work right was that I forgot about the on-screen alarm whistle that's shown sounding when Bancroft, as 'Bull Weed,' attempt to break out of prison. Oh well!

Between screenings, I went for a walk around Harvard Square, where everyone is so young! I was surprised to find the area overrun with tour groups from Japan and China, apparently in our part of the world to catch some foliage. Mt. Auburn Street was lined with tour buses as far as the eye could see.

I stopped in at Boathouse for dinner, but only realized after I sat down surrounded by beer taps that I really shouldn't consume adult beverages in advance of accompanying a film. So it was ginger ale.

I returned to the Brattle for the tail end of 'Little Caesar,' in time to see it conclude in a hail of gunfire. And then had plenty of time to warm up at the keyboard for the second screening of 'Underworld.'

And you know what? No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to recapture the magic "rightness" of the first screening.

Moment after moment passed with the music not quite hitting the mark, I thought. I was using the same melodic material, but it didn't seem to fit as well, and didn't morph fluidly from one emotional moment to the next.

As an example: Brancroft's 'Bull Weed' character inspired a rhythmic pattern of repeated notes that cycled among the musical interval of a minor third. Not so much a theme, but a musical signature for the character. Played without accompaniment, the melody's implied harmony made it sound tough and aggressive.

But if you played the same melody with a dominant seventh chord underneath it (so that the notes fit into the middle part of the chord), it could sound upbeat and jazzy, even jolly.

In the first screening, I made great use of this, I thought, in getting the right kind of music to fit Bull Weed's personality, which is mostly jovial but with occasional outbursts of shocking violence.

But in the second screening, I just couldn't find the chord when I needed it. Too often, it was too stern for what was happening on screen. And this threw my mind out of the moment, and took away from the score, I thought.

Well, the film keeps going, so you have to keep playing. The second screening did have its moments, but far fewer than the first. Too often, I think I was hoping to recreate what had happened at the first show, which takes you out of the moment, which is never a good thing with my method of accompaniment.

And weirdly, although this time I remembered the whistle, by the time it was time to use it, I had "dry mouth" and it didn't come off the way it should have.

If I ever face this two-at-a-time situation again (and I hope I do, as the Brattle is an excellent venue and often runs multiple screenings of titles), I'll have to see what I can do to avoid this trap.

Maybe I should have had a few beers at the Boathouse. Next time, I'll try that—all in the name of science, of course.

Okay, here's more details about 'The Lodger' on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Hope to see you there!

* * *

>Ivor Novello as 'The Lodger' (1927), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

FRIDAY, OCT. 2, 2015 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Hitchcock's first, 'The Lodger,' to screen Wednesday, Oct. 14 at Rogers Center

Creepy silent thriller about killings in London marked legendary director's debut; to be shown on the big screen with live music

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—A half-century of murder has to start somewhere.

And for movie director Alfred Hitchcock, it began with 'The Lodger' (1927), a silent thriller that stunned audiences when it was first released, and contained many of his trademark touches.

'The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog,' will be shown at the Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, 315 North Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass. on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

The program, the latest in the Rogers Center's silent film series, will be accompanied by live music performed by silent film composer Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free and the show is open to the public.

"What better way to get into the Halloween spirit a little early than a silent film from Alfred Hitchcock?" Rapsis asked.

The film, shot in England and based on a story and stage play by Marie Belloc Lowndes, concerns the hunt for a serial killer in London. British matinee idol Ivor Novello plays Jonathan Drew, a quiet, secretive young man who rents a room in a London boarding house. Drew's arrival coincides with the reign of terror orchestrated by a mysterious "Jack The Ripper"-like killer, who murders a blonde woman every Tuesday evening.

As the film progresses, circumstantial evidence begins to mount, pointing to Drew as the murderer. Suspense and drama escalate in true Hitchcock fashion as the viewer wonders if the lodger really could be the killer—and if so, what danger awaits the landlord's daughter, who is falling in love with the mysterious stranger. The all-British cast includes Malcom Keen, Arthur Chesney, and Marie Ault.

'The Lodger' introduced themes that would run through much of Hitchcock’s later work: an innocent man on the run, hunted down by a self-righteous society, a strong link between sexuality and murder, and a fixation on blonde women. About 'The Lodger,' Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto wrote that for "the first time Hitchcock has revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death."

'The Lodger' also launched the Hitchcock tradition of making a cameo appearance in each of his films. In 'The Lodger,' Hitchcock appears briefly about three minutes into the film, sitting at a desk in a newsroom with his back to the camera and using a telephone. The cameo appearance tradition, which continued for the rest of his long career, came about in 'The Lodger' when the actor supposed to play the part of the telephone operator failed to turn up, and Hitchcock filled the breach.

The back of Hitchcock's head—look for this first-ever cameo early in 'The Lodger.'

Some critics say 'The Lodger' broke new ground in the previously moribund British cinema, showing a truly cinematic eye at work. In creating the movie, Hitchcock had clearly been watching contemporary films by German directors F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang, whose influence can be seen in the ominous camera angles and claustrophobic lighting.

While Hitchcock had made two previous films, in later years the director would refer to 'The Lodger,' his first thriller, as the first true "Hitchcock thriller." The movie has since been remade several times, most recently in 2009, in an updated version starring Alfred Molina and Hope Davis.

In reviving the original 'The Lodger,' the Rogers Center aims to show silent movies as they were meant to be seen—in high quality prints, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," said Jeff Rapsis, who will improvise a musical score during the screening. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early cinema leap back to life. They all featured great stories with compelling characters and universal appeal, so it's no surprise that they hold up and we still respond to them."

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

Upcoming feature films in the Rogers Center's silent film series include:

• Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, 7 p.m.: 'Intolerance' (1916), directed by D.W. Griffith and starring (literally) a cast of thousands. D.W. Griffith's early blockbuster about man's inhumanity to man weaves together four stories spanning four eras of civilization. Filmed an a vast scale, setting a new standard for Hollywood extravagance. A movie made for the big screen, and here's your chance to see it!

• Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 7 p.m.: 'Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ' (1925) starring Ramon Novarro, Francis X. Bushman. Just in time for Easter! In the Holy Land, a Jewish prince is enslaved by the occupying Romans; inspired by encounters with Jesus, he lives to seek justice. One of the great religious epics of Hollywood's silent film era, including a legendary chariot race that's lost none of its power to thrill.

‘The Lodger' will be shown on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, 315 North Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Rogers box office at (978) 837-5355. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.