Next: Valentino in 'The Sheik' (1921) on Monday, March 3 in Greenfield, Mass.; notes from the 50th annual Boston Sci-Fi Marathon

Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres in a scene from 'The Sheik' (1921).

Next local screening is Monday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m., when I'll accompany Rudolph Valentino in 'The Sheik' (1921) at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass.

More about Rudy and the film in the press release pasted in below. 

First, a few notes from this past weekend.

On Saturday, I had the privilege of creating music for a screening of F.W. Murnau's 'Sunrise' (1927) at the Jane Pickens Theatre in Newport, R.I.

About 75 people showed up for this day-after-Valentine's Day screening, which was a surprisingly strong turnout given that a messy winter storm was in the process of arriving at show time.

For this, I got to tell my story of how a friend of mine came to a screening of this film, but thought he was seeing the futuristic fantasy 'Metropolis.' (1927).

Because 'Sunrise' starts out in a stylized urban setting that actually does look weirdly futuristic, and because all of silent film looks a bit alien to untrained eyes, I can see how this could happen.

Afterwards, his question to me was: "What kind of a futuristic amusement park has pigs sliding down a chute and getting drunk on wine?" 

Snow was falling by the time I headed back to New Hampshire. The drive usually takes two hours but thanks to the weather it was 3½ hours. Well, at least I got to hear a whole Boston Symphony concert live from Symphony Hall: Herbert Blomstet at age 97 conducting two symphonies: Schubert's No. 6 and the Brahms No. 1.

I wonder what either composer would have thought of someone listening to their music via an FM radio receiver while driving a motor vehicle at night through a snowstorm. It might have seemed like some kind of science fiction to them.

And that brings us to Sunday's performance: a live score for 'Algol: Tragedy of Power' (1920), a German sci-fi drama that was shown as part of this year's annual 24-hour Boston Science Fiction Marathon.

The Marathon, or 'Thon as some call it, will occasionally program a silent title, and for some time now it's been my privilege to be invited to accompany it.

It's quite a lively audience, with attendees shouting things at the screen and generally whooping it up. I had a great time mashing up some tunes to create a score to help bring the film to life. 

A few scenes from this year's Sci-Fi Marathon, which was the 50th annual edition.

 

Sci Fi Festival Director Garen Daly chats with someone via Facetime...

 

Lobby of the Somerville Theatre between screenings.

 

The view from the keyboard, or from one side of the keyboard, anyway.

 

Me in front of "Some" theatre...

I will say it's a special thrill to finish a film like 'Algol' and to have a theater just erupt, even if the people in it are there to make noise. 

I ran up on stage to take a bow or two, and then took the opportunity to shout back:

"I saw that yesterday there was a symposium to discuss whether or not the Boston Sci-Fi Marathon would ever get to its 100th anniversary," I said.

"I certainly hope so! Because this is a celebration that brings people together, and now more than ever we need things to bring us together. May this marathon live long and prosper!" Or something like that.

Okay, next week I'll be heading out to Topeka, Kansas for this year's Kansas Silent Film Festival (more on that when I get there), and after that it's Rudolph Valentino in 'The Sheik' at the Garden Cinemas in Greenfield, Mass. 

More about that in the press release below. See you there!

*    *    *

Hey where's Rudy? An original poster for 'The Sheik' (1921).

MONDAY, FEB, 17, 2025 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Valentino in 'The Sheik' on Monday, March 3 at Garden Cinemas

Exotic romance starring iconic silent film actor to be show with live musical accompaniment

GREENFIELD, Mass.—He was the cinema’s first sex symbol, causing hordes of female moviegoers to flock to his pictures throughout the 1920s. He starred in films designed to show off his Latin looks, his smoldering eyes, and his dancer’s body.

He was Rudolph Valentino, who remains an icon for on-screen passion long after his untimely death in 1926 at age 31.

See the Hollywood legend for yourself when 'The Sheik' (1921) starring Rudolph Valentino is screened on Monday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass.

Admission is $10.50 adults, $8:50 for children, seniors, and students. Tickets are available online or at the door.

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

Rudolph Valentino in the title role of 'The Sheik' (1921).

In 'The Sheik,' Valentino plays Paris-educated Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan, who arranges brides for wealthy Arabs. 

The high-spirited Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres), learning that the sheik will be in the city of Biskra, Algeria, playfully decides to disguise herself as a dancing girl to become one of the prospective brides. 

Hearing that Diana will be touring the Sahara Desert, Ahmed abducts her, intending to make her fall in love with him, with unexpected consequences.

An Italian immigrant who arrived penniless at Ellis Island in 1913, Valentino rose to superstar status in the silent era. But he was more than a pretty face—during his career, critics praised Valentino as a versatile actor capable of playing a variety of roles; his achievements included popularizing the Argentinian tango in the 1921 drama ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.’

But Valentino's brief stardom was defined by the ‘Sheik’ roles, which brought a new level of exotic sexuality to the movies, causing a sensation at the time. In theaters, women openly swooned over Valentino’s on-screen image, especially in roles such as the ‘Sheik,’ which featured elaborate costumes. 

At its peak, his popularity was so immense that it inspired a backlash among many male movie-goers, who decried Valentino’s elegant image and mannerisms as effeminate.

Valentino’s sudden death in 1926 fueled his status as a legendary romantic icon of the cinema. For years, a mysterious woman dressed in black would visit his grave at the Hollywood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, leaving only a single red rose.

Valentino was aware of his effect on audiences, saying that “Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas upon which the women paint their dreams.”

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

Silent films with live music are screened at the Garden Cinemas the first Monday of each month. Upcoming titles include:

• Monday, April 7, 2025, 6:30 p.m.: "The Lost World" (1925) starring Wallace Beery. First-ever movie adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary tale of British explorers who discover pre-historic creatures still thriving atop a remote South American plateau. Great entertainment; ground-breaking special effects by the same team that later created 'King Kong' mesmerized early movie audiences and remain impressive today.

‘The Sheik’ (1921) will be shown on Monday, March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Garden Cinemas, 361 Main St., Greenfield, Mass. Admission is $10.50 adults, $8:50 for children, seniors, and students. Tickets available at the door; advance tickets are available at www.gardencinemas.net. For more information, call the box office at (413) 774-4881.

Last night Garbo, tomorrow Valentino!

A screening of 'The Kiss' (1929) last night (Tuesday, Feb. 7) at the Manchester (N.H.) Public Library drew about 50 folks to check out Garbo's last silent. And tomorrow night, it's a Rudolph Valentino double feature at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H.

Geez, can you tell Valentine's Day is coming up soon?

And so our mini-festival of silent film romance continues here in the Granite State: up to Plymouth on Thursday, Feb. 9 for 'The Sheik' (1921) and 'Son of the Sheik' (1926) starting at 6 p.m., and then to the Wilton Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. on Sunday, Feb. 12 for a 4:30 p.m. screening of F.W. Murnau's legendary romance 'Sunrise' (1927).

I have especially high hopes for interest in 'Sunrise,' and not only because it's a good flick for Valentine's Day. What with 'The Artist' (2011) up for a slew of Oscars, and the status of 'Sunrise' as a winner in the very-first Academy Awards, it might just prompt a few curious folks out to the theater to see one of the originals. I saw 'The Artist' recently and enjoyed it, but was bothered by the low quality of the 35mm print that a local theater was running: it was on color stock and done very inconsistently, with some parts having a greenish tinge to them and others looking gold. I've heard a few people advising movie-goers to see it in digital if at all possible, where the black & white looks reasonably good. But of course most silent films weren't truly black & white in their original releases, so...well, let's not get into it here. :)

I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout for 'The Kiss,' which was well above what we've been getting at the monthly Manchester library screenings. We'll typically get about a dozen, maybe 20 people, tops. But with the Garbo film, probably 50 people piled in. As I was warming up, they kept on coming and coming, all adding up to a good crowd.

And they were with the film the whole way, reacting strongly to all parts of it, including the comedy interspersed among the serious sequences. I did the score entirely in strings, without any change in settings on the sythesizer, and I think it worked quite well, given the film's content and mood. As an added bonus, everyone stayed for a Q&A session that lasted a good half-hour, and then more conversation afterwards. All in all, a good night for silent film in 2012.

We'll see how we do with Valentino at the Flying Monkey, where attendance has also lagged this winter. I mean, last month's screening of 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915) drew a total of five people, a new low. A snow squall (one of very few this season) blowing through our area that day didn't help, but still. I don't mind, really, because these screenings are valuable as opportunities to practice the craft.

But at some point, if the audience isn't turning up, you have to decide if all the effort is worthwhile. I still have hope for the monthly silent film series at the Flying Monkey, as we have some blockbusters coming up this spring and titles are scheduled through June. So we'll see.

Things heating up for Valentine's Day

We had a good crowd at a screening of 'Metropolis' (1927) last night (Saturday, Jan. 21) at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H., but I'm already pondering the busy schedule for late January/early February: seven features in three weeks, and three of them I've never played before. (One of them is 'Sunrise' (1927), with George O'Brien and Margaret Livingston, pictured above.) I also have two screenings for a film class at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H. taught by my good friend, director Bill Millios.

And on top of that, I'm doing piano music for a DVD release of 'The Bells' (1926), a feature starring Lionel Barrymore that's being issued by Mark Roth of www.reelclassicdvd.com. It's a very exciting project and I look forward to getting some tracks put down to help bring this interesting film to life.

In terms of live performance, however, the big news is Valentine's Day. The week before this holiday (on Tuesday, Feb. 14) brings a bouquet of silent tear-jerkers and romantic dramas, all in honor of a holiday that's all about big emotions. So take your sweetie to a silent film, if nothing else to remind him or her that actions do speak louder than words.

The full schedule of screenings is on the Upcoming Silent Film Screenings page of this Web site. But for those looking for a different way to celebrate Valentine's Day, here's the top three screenings for romantics:


• Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.: 'The Kiss' (1929) starring Greta Garbo. That face! The Great Garbo's last silent film for MGM, a romantic drama that generates plenty of passion even without Garbo's husky Swedish voice. Free admission; at the Manchester (N.H.) Public Library, 405 Pine St., Manchester, N.H.


• Thursday, Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m.: 'The Sheik' (1921) and 'Son of the Sheik' (1926). A double feature starring Rudolph Valentino, the original Latin Lover and the screen's first superstar. Admission $10; at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.


• Sunday, Feb. 12 at 4:30 p.m.: 'Sunrise' (1927). Take someone special to see the romantic drama often ranked as the best silent film ever made. A love story that achieves profundity through simplicity. Kleenexes provided. Free admission; at the Wllton Town Hall Theatre, 60 Main St., Wilton, N.H.