Marching towards Veterans Day with John Gilbert in King Vidor's 'The Big Parade' (1925) on Sunday, Nov. 9 at Somerville Theatre

At the Crandell Theatre in Chatham, N.Y. Hey, that doesn't look like me on the marquee!

Pleased to report I've emerged intact from the annual Halloween silent film steeplechase. 

Yes, the last half of October is the busiest time of the year for this silent film accompanist, with screenings pretty much every night for two weeks straight.

But I'm not complaining! I played for audiences in six states, in venues ranging from a library basement to a genuinely spooky intact 1925 moviehouse. 

Made a lot of friends on the way, too, through which I hope to continue spreading the gospel of silent film with live music. 

And now comes Veterans Day. Next up is 'The Big Parade' (1925), the World War I epic from King Vidor starring John Gilbert and Renée Adorée. 

I'm accompanying it on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

It's a great film for music. Why? Not to give anything away, but I've found the film is divided into two very different parts, and if the music reflects that, it can amplify the overall impact. 

The first half almost plays like a romantic comedy as it follows the adventures of John Gilbert's character in rural France. I try to reflect that in the music: a "light opera" texture seems to fit just right.

But as soon as Gilbert's unit is called to the front, everything changes. And the music can bring that out, making use of the full orchestra to underscore the dramatic intensity.

If you're in the Greater Boston area this weekend, I encourage you to check out 'The Big Parade.' It's not only a great movie, but also a terrific way to get in the zone for Veterans Day on Tuesday, Nov. 11. 

And if you're not in the Greater Boston area—well, there's still time. It only takes six hours to fly in from the West Coast or Europe. You have plenty of time! 

To whet your appetite, check out the press release below.

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An original release poster for 'The Big Parade' (1925).

MONDAY, OCT. 20, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Veterans Day special: 'The Big Parade' with live music on Sunday, Nov. 9 at Somerville Theatre

MGM's highest grossing film until 'Gone With The Wind'; blockbuster drama changed how Hollywood depicted war 

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

It was 'The Big Parade' (1925), a sprawling World War I epic and a box office sensation that made MGM into a powerhouse studio in Hollywood's golden years. It's the latest installment of 'Silents, Please!,' a silent film series with live music at the Somerville Theatre.

'The Big Parade' will be screened one time only at the Somerville Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. General admission is $17; members $13; seniors/students $12.

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 of troops in the trenches and foxholes. Its hellish battle scenes were staged on a massive scale and still retain their ability to shock audiences.

Hey, get a room!

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

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 Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

General admission is $17; members $13; seniors/students $12. For more info, call (617) 625-5700 or visit www.somervilletheatreonline.com.

 

Coming up: Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush' on Thanksgiving weekend, then a reduced performing schedule starting in 2024

A poster for 'The Gold Rush' (1925) starring Charlie Chaplin.

Just finished a busy weekend of accompanying four shows in three days, including two separate screenings of 'The Big Parade' (1925) and also 'Wings' (1927)—both big gulps.

With Halloween and now Veterans Day in the rear-view mirror, the performance schedule quiets down, with just a few screenings between now and New Year's Day.

And it's likely to stay quiet in 2024, as I cut back on my live performance commitments in order to focus on my day job and other creative pursuits. More on that as things take shape.

In the meantime, next up is Charlie Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush' (1925), which I'm accompanying on Thanksgiving weekend (on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m.) at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.

More on that screening in the press release below.

And now, a few notes on this past weekend's shows.

'Wings' was screened Friday night at the Epsilon Spires venue in Brattleboro, Vt., where I got to play their Etsey pipe organ. (It's a former Baptist church and the organ came with it.) Small turnout but attentive movie-goers, judging from the reactions throughout.

Afterwards, a couple told me they attended only because the husband likes vintage planes, and didn't expect to stay more than a half-hour because, you know, those "silent movies."

But the experience was nothing like what they expected, and they ended up staying for the whole thing. So, small audience, but at least one small victory for the form.

Saturday found me navigating unexpectedly closed roads over mountain passes to get to the Residences at Otter Creek, a retirement and assisted living community in Middlebury, Vt.

I made it just in time to present a 2 p.m. Veterans Day program of silent film comedies: 'A Sailor-Made Man' (1921) starring Harold Lloyd and Chaplin's 'Shoulder Arms' (1918). 

Alas, another small turnout. Interestingly, although the average age of those in the room was well above 80, nobody had heard of Harold Lloyd. Nobody! 

I guess not everyone has attended Pordenone or the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. (Neither have I, for that matter.)

The screenings were enjoyed by all, it seems, including the gentleman who decided to get up and walk right in front of the keyboard during the Lloyd film, getting his shoes caught up in my cables and nearly falling down before I stopped playing to help untangle him. 

I'm guessing this doesn't happen too often at Pordenone or the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. But it's the world I work in—all part of bringing silent film to life for people outside the big venues.

Speaking of which: I then drove down Route 7 to Brandon (birthplace of Stephen Douglas, the "Little Giant," who debated Abraham Lincoln), where we ended the 2023 Brandon Town Hall Silent Film Series with a Veterans Day screening of 'The Big Parade' (1925).

The screening almost didn't happen because yours truly didn't realize 'The Big Parade' was on a Blu-ray disc, and I hadn't put the Blu-ray player in the traveling crate. Ooops!

But a call to Dennis Marsden of the town hall produced a work-around (using their own disc player and projector) kept me from having to haul ass down to Rutland in hopes of finding a Blu-ray player with RCA connectors to use for the show. 

Knowing that I would accompany a 35mm print of the 'The Big Parade' in Boston the next day, I thought of the Brandon screening as my opportunity to reacquaint myself with the film, which I hadn't accompanied in some time.

A whimsical moment from 'The Big Parade' (1925).

Funny thing, though—despite a complete lack of preparation, music for the Brandon screening fell together just perfectly, I thought. I had good stuff for almost every scene and sequence, and material I used early was enough to hold the score together for the remainder of the movie. 

And the audience (about 60 people) was into it! Laughs at all the right places; open-mouthed silence at other moments. 

By the time we finished our 2½-hour journey together, everyone was spent, including me. The film received a huge ovation. Afterwards, more than one person told me they couldn't believe the movie was 2½ hours long.

Neither could I. When accompanying, once you get into "the zone," time seems to be suspended, or something happens to you perception of it passing.

So that got me ready for 'The Big Parade' on Sunday, Nov. 12 at the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass. Right?

Well, wrong. As sometimes happens, for whatever reason, this time the score didn't fall together naturally. It went okay, yes, but not like the night before, when I felt I was hitting every moment just right.

Maybe it was fatigue. You don't play 10 hours of film in three days and not start to get—well, a little fuzzy sometimes, especially in hours 9 and 10.

And, unlike in Brandon, the audience was very quiet. Of the nearly 100 people who attended, utterly no laughs in places where there should be, and little reaction of any kind evident.

Example: there's that incredible sustained take (about five minutes, I think) in which John Gilbert shows Renée Adorée how to chew gum. In Brandon, it produced an increasing amount of laughter as it progressed. In Somerville, nothing.

Why? Beats me. 

It wasn't because I was overplaying or stepping on the film. In both cases, I kept the underscoring as light as a feather, frequently using actual silence to punctuate moments when either character registered confusion or incomprehension. 

(That's what I hear accompanists do at places like Pordenone or San Francisco. For us folks working the provinces, it's in our tool kit, too.)

Well, that's that. 

And now, details on 'The Gold Rush' (1925), coming on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. to a theater near you, if you happen to live near the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H....

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Thanksgiving Dinner, anyone? Charlie Chaplin in 'The Gold Rush' (1925).

SATURDAY, NOV. 4, 2023 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Charlie Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush' in Wilton, N.H. on Sunday, Nov. 26

Family fun on Thanksgiving weekend: Little Tramp's silent film comedy classic set in the frozen Arctic to be screened with live music

WILTON, N.H. — Classic silent film comedy returns to the big screen this month in Wilton with 'The Gold Rush' (1925), a classic comedy starring Charlie Chaplin.

The screening will take place on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses.

The screening, the latest in the venue's silent film series, will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

'The Gold Rush,' a landmark comedy and one of the top-grossing films of the silent era, finds Chaplin's iconic 'Little Tramp' character journeying to the frozen wastelands of the Yukon. There as a prospector, the Tramp's search for gold turns into a pursuit of romance, but with plenty of laughs along the way.

The film contains several famous scenes, both comic and dramatic, including a starving Chaplin forced to eat his shoe for Thanksgiving dinner and a heart-breaking New Year's Eve celebration.

As a comedian, Chaplin emerged as the first superstar in the early days of cinema. From humble beginnings as a musical hall entertainer in England, he came to Hollywood and used his talents to quickly rise to the pinnacle of stardom in the then-new medium of motion pictures. His popularity never waned, and his image remains recognized around the world to this day.

Chaplin warms up his feet in 'The Gold Rush' (1925).

'The Gold Rush,' regarded by many critics as Chaplin's best film, is a prime example of his unique talent for combining slapstick comedy and intense dramatic emotion.

" 'The Gold Rush' is still an effective tear-jerker," wrote critic Eric Kohn of indieWIRE. "In the YouTube era, audiences — myself included — often anoint the latest sneezing panda phenomenon as comedic gold. Unless I’m missing something, however, nothing online has come close to matching the mixture of affectionate fragility and seamless comedic inspiration perfected by the Tramp."

Rapsis, who uses original themes to improvise silent film scores, said the best silent film comedies often used visual humor to create laughter out of simple situations. Because of this, audiences continue to respond to them in the 21st century, especially if they're presented as intended — with an audience and live music.

"These comedies were created to be shown on the big screen as a communal experience," Rapsis said. "With an audience and live music, they still come to life as their creators intended them to. So this screening is a great chance to experience films that first caused people to fall in love with the movies," he said.

Rapsis achieves a traditional movie score sound for silent film screenings by using a digital synthesizer that reproduces the texture of the full orchestra.

'The Gold Rush' will be screened on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses. For more information, call the theater at (603) 654-3456.

Tonight: Keaton's 'College' in Brandon, Vt., plus thoughts on 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'

The Colonial Theatre's new 'Showroom" venue in Keene, N.H.

Tonight it's back to comedy, with Buster Keaton's 'College' (1927) at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center in Brandon, Vt. And just in time, as we could all use a laugh. 

More details in the press release below. For now, a few notes about two gargantuan back-to-back screenings I did music for in honor of Veterans Day.

On Wednesday, Nov. 10 at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H., I accompanied 'The Big Parade' (1925), King Vidor's sweeping drama following John Gilbert's journey through World War I. 

And then on Thursday, Nov. 11 in the new "Showroom" venue of the Colonial Theatre in Keene, N.H., I accompanied Rudolph Valentino tangoing his way through 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' (1921), another sweeping drama.

That's a lot of sweeping in two days!

But that's the point: both films clock in at about 2½ hours, which gives an accompanist a lot of room to develop material and work with it as the film unfolds. To me, it's the best of all possible worlds: I get to lose myself in these long movies, so much so that the music ends up coming from I-know-not-where.

I've done both films before, and know their basic story arcs, but don't have any special material set aside for either of them. So in both cases, it was "sit down and see what happens."

What happened Wednesday with 'The Big Parade' was effective enough, I thought. 

The comic scenes in the first half of the film failed to produce much real laughter, which was disappointing. But for the big transition scene, where the troops are finally called to the front, I was able to use a "love theme" to whip up quite a bit of drama. 

Specifically, the tune featured a falling fifth, which I found relatively easy to transform to fit other needs: in this case, fear, anxiety, encroaching terror, and ultimately all the overwhelming emotions that cause Melisande to desperately keep holding onto the transport truck taking Johnny to the front. 

But the real high point for me came with 'Four Horsemen.' You have to get quite far into the film before meeting the minor but key character of 'Tchernoff' (played by Nigel De Brulier), a kind of mystic who introduces the idea of the 'Horsemen.'

That's Nigel De Brulier hovering up left in 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.' 

I hadn't thought about how to handle him, but when he first appears, it just came to me: four chords that I felt perfectly captured his role in the movie. It's really a quite simple cycle: e minor / C Major / F# Major / B Major. (And then back to e minor, if you want.) 

Depending on how you lay out the chords on the keyboard, the progression creates a sense of great power: either hidden and held back if played as a chorale, or great power unleashed if used to support energetic rhythms or busy melodic figurations swirling about.

But I found it most effective with more notes in the bass than is usually done: including small intervals in the right hand lent a kind of weight to each chord that really helped what was happening on screen, I thought. 

So that was a keeper! So simple, but I'm liable to completely forget about it after a few more films, so I wrote it down in a notebook as a reminder. (I certainly don't expect to use it tonight with Buster Keaton, or tomorrow for a screening of Harold Lloyd's domestic comedy 'Hot Water,' although perhaps it might work for Harold's mother-in-law.)

The Colonial's new 'Showroom' venue (so named because it housed an auto dealership in the 1920s) was a delight to work in. They've already scheduled some screenings in 2022 and I look forward to returning!

But before any of that happens, it's Buster Keaton tonight in Brandon, Vt. With the foliage mostly gone and the sun now setting well before 5 p.m., what better place to be than a movie screening with a lot of other people in need of a laugh. See you there!

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Buster Keaton on campus in 'College' (1927). 

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 2021 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Buster Keaton comedy 'College' with live music on Saturday, 11/13 at Brandon Town Hall

2021 silent film series concludes with screening of timeless classic send-up of campus life

BRANDON, Vt.—He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of "the Great Stone Face." But Buster Keaton's comedies rocked Hollywood's silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s.

Acclaimed for their originality, clever visual gags, and amazing stunts, Keaton's films remain popular crowd-pleasers today.

See for yourself with a screening of 'College' (1927), one of Keaton's landmark feature films, on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Conant Square/Route 7 in Brandon, Vt.

The program will feature live music for the movie by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with all proceeds supporting ongoing restoration of the Town Hall.

'College' follows the story of a hapless university bookworm (Keaton) forced to become a star athlete to win the attention of his dream girl. Can Buster complete the transformation in time to woo her from his rival? And along the way, can he also rescue the campus from sports-related shame?

The film was released in 1927, at the crest of a national fascination with college life. In addition to being a great Keaton comedy, 'College' offers vintage glimpses into what higher education was like nearly a century ago.

Buster Keaton and Anne Cornwall in 'College' (1927).

Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, stands today as one of the silent screen's three great clowns. Some critics regard Keaton as the best of all; Roger Ebert wrote in 2002 that "in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, (Keaton) worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies."

As a performer, Keaton was uniquely suited to the demands of silent comedy. Born in 1895, he made his stage debut as a toddler, joining his family's knockabout vaudeville act and learning to take falls and do acrobatic stunts at an early age.

A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise. And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton's acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts, including some spectacular examples in 'College.'

The screening is sponsored by local residents Lucy and Dick Rouse, Edward Loedding and Dorothy Leysath, Sam and Sharon Glaser, Peter and Louise Kelley, and Bar Harbor Bank and Trust.

In reviving Keaton's 'College,' the Brandon Town Hall to show silent film as it was meant to be seen—in restored prints, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," said Rapsis, who will accompany the film. "Recreate those conditions, and classics of early Hollywood such as 'College' leap back to life in ways that audiences still find entertaining."

Rapsis performs on a digital synthesizer that reproduces the texture of the full orchestra, creating a traditional "movie score" sound. He improvises the complete score in real time during the screening.

"Creating a movie score on the fly is kind of a high-wire act, but it can often make for more excitement than if everything is planned out in advance," Rapsis said.

Rapsis encouraged people unfamiliar with silent film to give 'College' a try.

"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 still do connect with cinema-goers. They retain a tremendous power to cast a spell, engage an audience, tap into elemental emotions, and provoke strong reactions."

Buster Keaton's 'College' (1927) will be screened on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Conant Square/Route 7 in Brandon, Vt. The program will feature live music for the movie by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with all proceeds supporting ongoing restoration of the Town Hall.

For more information, visit www.brandontownhall.com.

'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!

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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.

Armistice Day +100: Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m.:scoring 'The Big Parade' at Somerville Theatre

Tom O'Brien, John Gilbert, and Karl Dane sharing a foxhole in the World War I drama 'The Big Parade' (1925).

In introducing films lately, I've found myself choking up a bit when I get to the upcoming 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, when the guns in Europe went silent.

Well, the long march to the big day is nearing an end. On Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, it will be a full century since World War I ended.

On that day, I'm honored to do live music for one of the great films about that conflict, 'The Big Parade' (1925) at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

We're using a 35mm print for the screening, which starts at 2 p.m. More info is available in the press release I've pasted in below, and I hope you'll attend.

The emotional thing happened again last night prior to a screening of 'Wings' (1927) for a packed house at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H. Introducing the film, I kinda choked up for a moment.

Just before the show: a full house settles in for 'Wings.'

I thought about it, and I recognized a pattern: it always happens when I say that no one is among us who was there: who wore the uniform, who shipped off to Europe, who fought alongside others, who awoke 100 years ago this Sunday to the blessed sound of silence.

And that gets to me, I think, because it so vividly illustrates the impermanence of what we as human beings experience.

On Nov. 11, 1918, the entire human race, more or less, shared the experience knowing that a huge and unthinkably awful war had finally ended. It was a conflict that would cast a shadow over the next century and beyond, influencing events around us even day.

But now, just a few generations later, the human experience of World War I produces a silence that's different from that heard on the European battlefields that morning. It's the eternal silence that subsumes everything as the present becomes the past—the past which every passing day and month and year bury deeper and deeper, as it inevitably must.

It's a process that humans grapple with in many different ways. It's the root of everything from hoarding to ancestor worship. We don't want to lose the past. But the passage of time divorces us from it just the same.

I think that's a big reason why I'm drawn to films of the silent era. When we run them, for just a little while, the past is not lost. We breathe life into it and can get a sense of what it was like when the past was the present.

In a way, by showing these films, we're able to hear from people who can no longer speak for themselves. And I find that's what stirs my emotions.

To me, it's a certain kind of special magic that I think is worth experiencing—especially if it involves a good story, a good cast, and a director with an eye for the visual.

'Wings' has all that, and generated a huge reaction from our sold-out house last night at Red River Theatres.

I want to thank my colleagues at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire for supporting the event, and Red River for continuing to find room for silent film with live music in their schedule.

So as the actual 100th anniversary of Armistice Day approaches, I hope you'll join me at the Somerville Theatre for a 35mm print of one of the great World War I flicks: 'The Big Parade.'

Details below!

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An original poster for 'The Big Parade.'

OCT. 21, 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 in 35mm on Sunday, Nov. 11 at Somerville Theatre

To be shown with live music on 100th anniversary of 1918 Armistice; blockbuster silent film changed the way Hollywood depicted battle on the screen

SOMERVILLE, 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. It's the latest installment of 'Silents, Please!,' a silent film series with live music at the Somerville Theatre.

'The Big Parade' will be screened in 35mm one time only at the Somerville Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. General admission is $15; seniors/students $12.

The Veterans Day 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.

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.

Renée Adorée and John Gilbert in 'The Big Parade.'

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.

"We felt screening 'The Big Parade' on Sunday, Nov. 11 was a suitable way to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice," said Somerville manager Ian Judge. "World War I is now part of history, but this picture is from a time when it was foremost in people's minds. What was then called 'The Great War' was the 9/11 of its day, and this film captures that intensity and allows us to experience it today."

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.

All entries in the Somerville's silent film series are shown using 35mm prints, the native film format that few theaters are now equipped to run following Hollywood's transition to digital formats.

MGM's silent blockbuster ‘The Big Parade’ will be shown in 35mm and with live music on Sunday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

Admission to the screening is $15 or $12 seniors/students; general admission seating. For more info, call (617) 625-5700 or visit www.somervilletheatre.com. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

Dogs, the French revolution, spies, and trains: Accompanying four feature films in four days

Rin Tin Tin proves way smarter than his human co-stars in 'The Night Cry' (1926), coming up on Thursday, July 9 at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H.

I'm revving up for what amounts to a home stretch of silent film accompaniment prior to taking some time away from the keyboard for the rest of the month.

That means four films in four days, and in four different theaters, too. It's the silent film equivalent of hitting for the cycle, I guess.

But before getting into the details, let me address yesterday's screening of 'The Big Parade' (1925) in 35mm at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square.

An original poster for 'The Big Parade' (1925).

We had a pretty strong turnout for the last day of a three-day holiday weekend—and for a matinee on a beautiful summer day at that. It wasn't too long ago when Davis Square was all but shut down, the streets clogged with four feet of snow.

But they came to see 'The Big Parade,' in the form of a great 35mm print on an enormous screen in a big old movie theater. (And unlike all the 4th of July parades this year in my home state of New Hampshire, there was nary a presidential candidate to be seen.)

It's a familiar film to me that I love accompanying. And because it's one of the big ones, it's worth reviewing prior to a screening just to make sure all the cues and cuts are fresh in your head.

This is especially important with my referee's whistle, which I match to the half-dozen times a whistle gets blown on screen as a key part of the action: the police who break up the fight in Champillon, the mail call scene, and several other points.

I think it adds a nice burst of sonic realism, but of course it has to be right on the money if it's going to work and not draw attention to itself. So it's worth getting to know those points of the film extremely well.

Same with the bugle calls, of which 'The Big Parade' has several. And on that score, not all bugle calls are alike. The purist in me, for instance, knows you really shouldn't play "Reveille" when the troops are being called to chow, as happens in 'The Big Parade.'

Instead, you should play "Mess Call," which goes like this:

Likewise, when a bugle is played calling the troops to assemble and move out, you ought to play "To Arms," which sounds like this:

Most people at a screening wouldn't know the difference. But for those who might, it's one more thing done "right" that doesn't break the mood and thus keeps the spell of silent film intact.

As you may know, all bugle calls are based on a simple triad, or the notes in a major chord. Because of that, it makes them easy to fit around other material—including the big love theme I was using in yesterday's score.

So this all works out really well in the big "moving out" sequence in 'The Big Parade,' where repeated shots of a bugler alternate with scenes of the troops assembling, and then footage of John Gilbert and Renee Adorée frantically searching for each other amid the chaos.

I was able to mix "To Arms" with the love theme pretty fluently, modulating all over the place and sometimes even playing the love theme using the rhythms of the bugle call just to add to the chaos.

Renee Adorée and John Gilbert providing reason for a "love theme" in 'The Big Parade' score.

But the most important thing about 'The Big Parade' is to HOLD BACK. As powerful as many of its scenes are, it's crucial to save something for the climactic battle scene, which Vidor cut together with the rhythm of a good 4th of July fireworks show.

At the battle's true climax, the screen is filled with a blinding series of rapid explosions that lasts only just a few seconds, but it's enough—any more would have probably been excessive. And it's only THEN that you hold nothing back, musically, I think.

So: KABOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Tom O'Brien, John Gilbert, and Karl Dane prepare for the climactic battle.

At the end, it was gratifying to hear such strong applause for this 90-year-old picture that still plays so well. It's a great honor to do music for it, especially on a 4th of July weekend, and I hope to play for it again very soon.

Okay, here's a brief round-up of the four upcoming screenings. I'll post detailed press releases later as we get closer. If nothing else, this is just to help me keep them all straight.

I had no idea that dog star Peter the Great started out as a stunt double for fellow canines Strongheart and Thunder the Wonder Dog.

• Thursday, July 9, 2015, 6:30 p.m.: "A Dog Double Feature" spotlighting silent-era canine stars Peter the Great and Rin Tin Tin; The Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.; (603) 536-2551; . In 'The Sign of the Claw,' a police dog helps solve a crime wave. The only surviving film of Peter the Great, a popular German shepherd performer. 'The Night Cry' (1926) finds iconic dog superstar Rin Tin Tin accused of killing sheep. Can he find the real bandit and clear his name? Part of a monthly silent film series at a newly restored moviehouse in Plymouth, N.H. Admission, $10 per person.

With hair like that, no wonder there was a revolution.

• Friday, July 10, 2015, 7 p.m.: "Orphans of the Storm" (1921); Red River Theatres, 11 South Main St., Concord, N.H.; (603) 224-4600; http://www.redrivertheatres.org/. Just in time for Bastille Day, D.W. Griffith's sweeping story of two sisters (Lillian and Dorothy Gish) caught up in the throes of the French revolution. Griffith's last major box office success fills the screen with a succession of iconic images. Silent film with live music at this popular venue for independent and arthouse cinema in New Hampshire's state capital. Admission $10 per person.

In my favorite scene from 'Hands Up!' (1926), Raymond Griffith teaches his Native American captors the latest dance moves.

• Saturday, July 11, 2015, 7 p.m.: "Hands Up!" (1926) starring Raymond Griffith; Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Main Street/Route 7, Brandon, Vt.; http://www.brandontownhall.org. We mark the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War with this uproarious Raymond Griffith comedy. A southern spy must work every angle to prevent a shipment of western gold from reaching Union forces. Plus Laurel & Hardy comedy shorts! Join us for series silent films and live music in a wonderfully restored town hall in Brandon Vt. that features great acoustics. Admission free, donations accepted, with proceeds to help continuing preservation work.

Looking for big-screen thrills and spills? With 'The Great K & A Train Robbery' (1926), even this poster is action-packed.

• Sunday, July 12, 2015, 4:30 p.m.: "The Great K & A Train Robbery" (1926) starring Tom Mix; Wilton Town Hall Theatre, Main Street, Wilton, N.H.; (603) 654-3456; www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com. Treachery on the rails as our hero goes undercover to learn who is tipping the bandits. One of the best Tom Mix films, with plenty of action and some fantastic stunt work. Part of a series of silent films with live music at a theater where movies have been shown since 1912! Admission free, donations of $5 per person encouraged.

Hope to see you at one or more of these screenings. And if anyone makes it to all four, I'll buy you lunch at the nearest White Castle. (Transportation not included. By the way, it's in the Bronx.)

Coming Sunday, 7/5: 'The Big Parade' (1925) in 35mm at the Somerville Theatre

An original poster for MGM's blockbuster 'The Big Parade' (1925).

Looking for something different to mark Independence Day?

Then march on over to the Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Mass., where I'm doing live music for a screening of 'The Big Parade' (1925) in 35mm on Sunday, July 5 at 2 p.m.

Despite now being 90 years old, this amazing movie—all about American soldiers who ship off to Europe to join in World War I—has lost none of its emotional impact.

Directed by a very young King Vidor, the film set new standards for realism in the then-still-new medium of cinema. It was the 'Saving Private Ryan' of its time, as mentioned in the press release below.

The result was an enormous blockbuster for MGM, which had just been created by a recent merger. 'The Big Parade' caused a sensation, becoming the studio's highest-grossing picture up until 'Gone With the Wind' hit the screen in 1939.

What I like most about 'The Big Parade,' and what I think still works just as intended, is its very simple but powerful structure.

Vidor directed the first half of the film in the style of a light romantic lark. We follow the GIs into the French countryside, where they bunk together in barns and get to know one another—and we get to know them. Plenty of hijinks ensue, including flirting with the local women, with no shortage of humor. It's kind of like a Sad Sack comic book story come to life.

That's John Gilbert under the barrel, getting to know a French village gal played by Renée Adorée.

But then the men get called up to the front, and everything changes. Vidor takes the men we've gotten to know and marches them into the trenches, and we can't help but be pulled along with them. We're suddenly in a world of darkness and mud and giant explosions and shrapnel and death everywhere.

In the trenches: John Gilbert surrounded by comrades Tom O'Brien (left) and Karl Dane.

Who will make it? Who will not?

I've accompanied this film many times now, and the structure never fails. You get to know these characters, and then you're tossed into the trenches with them. Everything is suddenly more intense, more vivid, more urgent, and more real. It's as if you wake from a dream but then get caught up in a nightmare.

Vidor not only brought you visually into places most audiences had never been taken, but his structure helped mimic the emotional landscape of battle. His structure helps us feel at least a little bit of what it's like to be part of a group now facing danger in a strange land for a cause that may or may not be worth fighting for, despite your duty.

With this in mind, it's a great film for music. To help underline the contrast, I've found it works well to score the whole first half as if it's one of those Sigmund Romberg operettas—a fanciful European fairytale.

Then, in the second half, I shift to an entirely different and much more aggressive style of accompaniment to communicate how things have changed. To me, the point where there's no turning back is the scene when the soldiers emerge from a forest and move out onto a blasted battlefield that's under continuous shellfire. No more Romberg from then on, folks.

'The Big Parade' is sometimes called the first "anti-war" film, but I think that's overemphasizing one aspect of it and putting it into a box in which it doesn't fit.

Rather, I think it celebrates the whole complex experience of being an American and serving one's country. And I can't think of a more satisfying way to finish a weekend of fireworks celebrating our nation's birth.

So come see 'The Big Parade.' More info about the screening is in the press release below. Hope to see you there!

P.S. Interesting trivia about 'The Big Parade'...renowned painter Andrew Wyeth first saw the film with his father in 1925, sparking a life-long interest. In a 1975 letter to director King Vidor, Wyeth claimed to have seen the film more than 200 times! For more info, check out info on this lecture at the Farnsworth Museum in Maine, where I've been trying to program 'The Big Parade' for some time now. How about it, guys?

* * *

The classic shot: John Gilbert and Renée Adorée in 'The Big Parade' (1925).

JUNE 24, 2015 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis at (603) 236-9237 • e-mail jrapsis@gmail.com

Epic war movie 'The Big Parade' to be screened in 35mm on Sunday, 7/5 at Somerville Theatre

To be shown with live music; blockbuster silent film drama
changed the way Hollywood depicted battle on the screen

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

It was 'The Big Parade' (1925), a sprawling World War I epic and a box office sensation that made MGM into a powerhouse studio in Hollywood's golden years. It's the latest installment of 'Silents, Please!,' a monthly silent film series with live music at the Somerville Theatre.

'The Big Parade' will be screened in 35mm one time only at the Somerville Theatre on Sunday, July 5 at 2 p.m. General admission is $15; seniors/students $12.

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 of troops in the trenches and foxholes. 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 a privileged background by enlisting in the army just before the U.S. enters World War I.

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.

Other upcoming features in the Somerville's silent film schedule include:

• Sunday, Aug. 2, 2 p.m.: 'Speedy' (1928) starring Harold Lloyd. Can Harold New York City's last horsedrawn streetcar line from the clutches of a greedy transport tycoon? The Big Apple co-stars in one of Harold's great silent comic masterpieces. Plus an extended cameo appearance from none other than Babe Ruth!

• Sunday, Sept. 13, 2 p.m.: 'The Matrimaniac' (1916) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. An unusual program that contrasts this early Fairbanks marital farce with another picture released by the same studio after Fairbanks had moved on, but which uses material from the Fairbanks film to support an entirely different story.

• Sunday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m.: 'Tramp Tramp Tramp' (1926) starring Harry Langdon, Joan Crawford. The great silent film comedian Harry Langdon returns to the Somerville's big screen, this time with a very young Joan Crawford playing his love interest! His debut feature finds Harry entering a cross-country walking race to save the family business and impress the girl of his dreams.

All entries in the Somerville's silent film series are shown using 35mm prints, the native film format that few theaters are now equipped to run following Hollywood's transition to digital formats.

MGM's silent blockbuster ‘The Big Parade’ will be shown in 35mm and with live music on Sunday, July 5 at 2 p.m. at Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, Mass.

Admission to the screening is $15 or $12 seniors/students; general admission seating. For more info, call (617) 625-5700 or visit www.somervilletheatreonline.com. For more info on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

In which I get into Harvard University; plus reviews, radio interviews, and more

Phyllis Hart stars in 'Chicago' (1927), a silent film that got a recent thumbs-up from a college newspaper.

Some great Halloween screenings coming up, but first a few updates from the present:

• An unexpected review: I've just found a wonderful review of our screening of the silent film version of 'Chicago' (1927) earlier this month at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center up in Plymouth, N.H.

It's by Sarah Liebowitz of 'The Clock' (the student paper of Plymouth State University) and I think she did a great job capturing the spirit of the film and its ability to reach audiences today, even those unfamiliar with silent cinema.

Me, I'm the choir. I certainly believe in the timeless power of silent film. But it's really heartening and encouraging to seed others discover this on their own.

Thank you for making my day, Sarah. If you come to 'Phantom of the Opera' at the Monkey later this month, please stop by to say hi!

The back end of the Carpenter Center at Harvard, including the doors through which I lug my digital synthesizer and sound gear.

• Playing at Harvard: I continue the head-spinning experience of going down to Harvard University to do live music for a variety of silent film screenings. I've done three in the past few weeks, and three more are coming up, including one later this afternoon.

Why head-spinning? Because as music-crazed teenager in Nashua, N.H., I was immersing myself in material such as Igor Stravinsky's Charles Elliot Norton Lectures at Harvard, and so always thought of the place as a citadel of American musical culture.

I never got to attend, of course, and later shelved my musical ambitions for the word game. So I never expected, all this time later, to be coming down to campus and playing my own stuff where the like of idols such as Leonard Bernstein and Elliot Carter and Aaron Copland and John Adams (the composer, and the founding father) once hung out.

It's a great honor, a real satisfaction, and a genuine thrill. 'Nuf said. (But I want to thank David Pendleton of the Harvard Film Archive, Heidi Bliss of Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, and everyone else who has played a part in this adventure so far.)

The screenings take place at the Le Corbius-designed Carpenter Center in an environment that's pretty luxurious compared to the town halls where I often ply my trade. In a real plus for silent film, the booth is equipped with 35mm projectors that can run variable speed! Also, in an unheard-of luxury, able projectionist Clayton Mattos will often check with me (before and during a screening) about a film's running speed.

A classier front-end view of the Carpenter Center, the only structure in North America designed by Le Corbius, the 20th century oracle of architectural modernism (and big fan of concrete.)

Last Wednesday night, I accompanied 'The Big Parade' (1925) for a class taught by Harvard Prof. Tom Conley. The print was the Harvard Film Archive's very own gorgeous 35mm print, and the screening was open to the public, so we had a nice turnout.

Because it was 'The Big Parade,' I pulled out all the stops, bringing down the digital synthesizer and staging what I thought was a suitable soundtrack to scenes of World War I trench fighting. (In other words, KABOOM!)

And, despite my need for a bathroom break just when the soldiers were being called up to the front, it was one of those magical screenings where a film seems to completely absorb an audience.

Even better, it was not the usual silent film crowd, but a mix of people who may not have been expecting the experience that King Vidor and company had planned for them nearly a century ago.

I often say silent film is about the big emotions, as demonstrated here by John Gilbert and Renee Adoree in 'The Big Parade.'

I have to admit I was pleased how most of the score came out. I think I hit all the big moments, and was especially happy at how the well-known "departure" sequence came together, with Renee Adoree hanging onto the truck taking John Gilbert to the front. And I found myself quite overcome (SPOILER ALERT!) during the final sequence, when the pair are finally reunited.

So after "The End," despite three hours at the keyboard, I couldn't help but stand up and thank everyone for helping to collaborate in bringing 'The Big Parade' to life, and encourage them to understand that to really experience the full power of silent film, this was the way to do it: in a theater, on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

It was only then that I remembered that this was Prof. Conley's class, not my personal forum. But the professor was nodding his head in agreement, and later thanked me for the performance, so I trust I didn't tred on any Ivy League toes.

And it was a real rush to talk with attendees afterwards, some of whom have actual music backgrounds! One woman, Peggy Wang, a Boston-area violinist, seemed completely enthralled with the whole experience. It's interactions such as this that make all the efforts at creating effective accompaniment worthwhile.

We'll see what I can do later today with screenings of the Epstein/Bunuel version of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' (1928) and 'The Smiling Madame Buedet' (1928). The titles are being run today at 4 p.m. at the Carpenter Center as part of a class in silent cinema led by Adam Hart.

Later, on Sunday, Nov. 2, I'm doing music for a double bill of obscure silent Fritz Lang titles being screened by the Harvard Film Archive, which runs an ambitious schedule of repertory programs in the same theater.

The program is at 7 p.m. and includes 'The Wandering Image' (1921) and 'Fighting Hearts' (1922), both of which are new to me. The Lang films lend themselves to my musical strengths, I think (the big gesture), so I'm looking forward to helping bring them to life.

A scene from Fritz Lang's early film 'The Wandering Image' (1921), considered lost for decades until a print was discovered in Brazil.

And then on Tuesday, Nov. 4, a new challenge beckons at the Carpenter Center: my first-ever Japanese silent, "I Was Born, But..." (1932), directed by Yasujiro Ozu. I'm very much looking forward to scoring this one, as it's an unusual film with a whole different sensibility than most silent cinema. I'm not sure what I'll do just yet, but I hope to create music that brings this quality out.

The only downside to this whole adventure has been fighting the traffic in and out of Boston. The Harvard folks have been great in terms of arranging parking passes and the like. But they can't do much about road construction on Memorial Drive, which I think has been going on since the silent film era.

The upside to this, however, is that I'm developing a much better understanding of the small one-way streets of Cambridge, Mass. Need directions?

Virginia Prescott of New Hampshire Public Radio's 'Word of Mouth.'

• On the radio: Tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 22), I've been invited to drop by the studios of New Hampshire Public Radio for a pre-Halloween segment with Virginia Prescott, host of the station's popular "Word of Mouth" program.

It's a real treat to do this. Not only will it provide a nice publicity boost for several upcoming Halloween screenings, but Virginia is one of those people who seem to bring out the best in anyone she speaks with.

I once thought my high point in terms of public radio celebrity interaction was bumping into Tom and Ray Magliozzi (the "Car Talk" brothers) some years ago in an elevator at the studios of WBUR in Boston.

But that encounter has since been surpassed by my interactions with Virginia. For one thing, she has much better hair than either of the Car Talk guys.

I'm not sure when the 'Word of Mouth' segment will air, but I'll post the info here as soon as I know. The station's Web address is: http://www.nhpr.org.

Virginia Prescott making a gesture that I expect to see a lot of tomorrow, given my inability to stop talking.

Next at Harvard: 'The Big Parade' (1925) on Wednesday, Oct. 15; public welcome

A colorful vintage poster for 'The Big Parade' (1925), one of the highest-grossing films of the silent era.

Just a quick note here ahead of a screening coming up of an unusually good silent drama.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.) I'll be at the keyboard for 'The Big Parade' (1925), MGM's blockbuster drama about U.S. doughboys who brashly head off to fight in World War I, only to return changed forever—if they return at all.

We're running 35mm print of the flick in Harvard University's Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, which is between Quincy Street and Prescott Street in Cambridge, Mass., just outside Harvard Yard proper. (It's a short walk from the Harvard Square T Station.)

Although the screening is for a class, it's open to the public. And it's free! So if you're within traveling distance, it's a great chance to take in one of the top silents in an actual theater with live music and an audience. (And in 35mm, too!)

It's especially good value, because with 'The Big Parade,' I think you actually get two motion pictures, not one.

King Vidor filmed the first 90 minutes or so of 'The Big Parade' as if it was a standard "join the army" drama, with John Gilbert and his buddies going off to rural France and making light-hearted ooh-la-la with the ladies. You almost expect Constance Talmadge to show up, fleeing the likes of Ronald Colman.

How's this for a meet-cute? Renee Adoree has John Gilbert over a barrel, so to speak, in 'The Big Parade' (1925).

But the mood shifts dramatically for the film's final hour. (Yes, the whole thing runs about 2½ hours long.)

I don't want to get into enough detail to spoil things. But I think a big part of the film's emotional impact is that Vidor first takes enough time to allow us to get to know the characters, and for them to get to know each other, before everything changes.

And so our emotions are fully vested when the characters are suddenly put into the unknown territory that makes up the balance of the film.

We can't not watch. We can't not care. And it makes for some powerfully effective cinema, I think.

A scene from later in 'The Big Parade' (1925).

It also makes for an interesting accompaniment challenge. No matter what happens in the first part, you need to hold back so you have some place to go when things escalate.

To ensure this happens, I'm thinking of deliberately keeping things set at a "chamber orchestra" level during the first part, holding the full orchestra in reserve until it's really justified.

As an incentive, I try to keep in mind that audiences at the time this film was released had really never seen anything like what Vidor depicted on the screen, and many were quite shocked.

Nowadays, of course, we've seen it all, which tends to blunt the impact of what might have been mesmerizing movies were new. But music, if done a certain way, can help the film retain the dramatic punch that I believe Vidor was going for.

Will I be able to pull it off? Find out by joining 'The Big Parade' down at "Hah-vad" tomorrow night!

And after this, it's non-stop Halloween screenings until the first weekend of November, starting with a Lon Chaney "Chiller Theatre" double feature up at Brandon Town Hall in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, Oct. 18.

It's "Chiller Theatre," by the way, because the building has no heat. But more on that later this week...