Our most recent silent film was Buster Keaton's epic THE GENERAL.
at the Trylon Microcinema and the HeightsTheater.
This civil war comedy is considered Keaton's masterpiece. Roger Ebert
put it on his top 10 list of the best films ever made.
There are some amazing battle scenes, gorgeous locations, and plenty
of incredible acrobatic moves by Buster too.
Films of Buster Keaton we've accompanied:
Shorts
including "native" canoes, a large sea ship, & a submarine.
Also featured is the old hit "Asleep In The Deep", a 78 rpm hit from
days gone by. Sailors toil, bells ring, ships set sail.
Sherlock, Jr 1924 The chase scene is epic and mindblowing . He
broke his neck while making this movie - and just kept on going.
Shorts
The Goat
The Electric
House
The Balloonatic
Features:
The Navigator
This
movie features a very bold heroine and a number of sea vesselsFeatures:
The Navigator
including "native" canoes, a large sea ship, & a submarine.
Also featured is the old hit "Asleep In The Deep", a 78 rpm hit from
days gone by. Sailors toil, bells ring, ships set sail.
Sherlock, Jr 1924
This film features a very trippy scene where Buster steps into the screen of a movie house.
The chase scene is epic and mindblowing . He
broke his neck while making this movie - and just kept on going.
Seven Chances
Waterfalls, bears, balloon rides, and the tunnel of love all conspire to wreck Buster's
love life. Luckily, he catches fish with a basket and paddles his canoe like a madman
throughout.
It should be mentioned here that people seem to think Buster is a handsome & sexy
fellow, even though he gets in so much trouble. How does he do it?
The Cameraman
Waterfalls, bears, balloon rides, and the tunnel of love all conspire to wreck Buster's
love life. Luckily, he catches fish with a basket and paddles his canoe like a madman
throughout.
It should be mentioned here that people seem to think Buster is a handsome & sexy
fellow, even though he gets in so much trouble. How does he do it?
The Cameraman
Features
tripods, L.A. Chinatown Tong wars, and a very cute little monkey.
Buster must have knocked himself silly whipping that tripod
around, it's wild.
Lon
Chaney:
We accompany these 2 films with piano, accordion, bass accordion, musical saw, and synthesizer. We use many original themes for He Who Gets Slapped, a film where Chaney portrays a frustrated scientist who becomes a pitiful clown. We play originals, Eastern European folk music, and Chopin for The Unknown, which features Chaney and the young, scantily clad Crawford as a knife throwing act in a traveling gyspy circus.
HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1924)
directed
by Victor Sjostrom
starring Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer,
and
John Gilbert
THE UNKNOWN (1927)
directed
by Tod Browning
starring Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford
TOKYO CHORUS (TOKYO NO GASSHO) (Yasujiro Ozu, 1931)
TOKYO CHORUS (TOKYO NO GASSHO) (Yasujiro Ozu, 1931)
This wonderful film by famous director Ozu is about the quiet struggles of a family in Tokyo during the Great Depression.
Its pace is meditative and we use many
slowly unfolding original melodies as well as some snippets of Japanese
folk songs.
BROKEN BLOSSOMS (DW Griffith, 1919)
BROKEN
BLOSSOMS (DW Griffith, 1919)
accompanied with Larmes De Coleres
PRINCE ACHMED (Lotte Reiniger, 1929)
With a length
of about an hour, Prince Achmed is considered the oldest animated
feature film. Its intricate shadow puppetry is impressive and beautiful
to view. We accompany it with synthesizer, piano, accordion, musical
saw, viola, and bells and other sound effects. The music ranges from
tangos to Greek folk songs to original waltzes and atonal pieces.Pioneers of Animation
This series of films was
restored at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY and originally
showed in 2004. We accompany these films with accordion, musical saw,
and claviola. Original tunes include "Trapped" to Max Fleisher's eeirie
short of the same name that features a real hand drawing a creepy
spiderchasing a clown. We used many playful waltzes to accompany Felix
the
Cat's antics. SCALING
THE ALPS (Paul Terry and Mannie Davis, US 1923)
DOMESTIC
DIFFICULTIES (Bud Fisher, US 1916)
WEARY
WILLIES (I. Freleng
and Walter Lantz, US 1929)
TRAPPED
(Max Fleischer, US 1921)
BREATH
OF A NATION (Gregory La Cava, US 1919)
FELIX THE CAT FLIRTS
WITH FATE (Otto Messmer, US 1926)
FELIX
THE CAT TRIPS THROUGH
TOYLAND (Otto Messmer, US 1925)
PRISCILLA
AND THE PESKY FLY
(W. DArtigue Hopkins, US 1916)
THE
OLD FAMILY TOOTHBRUSH
(Sering D. Wilson, US 1925)
BOBBY
BUMPS AND HIS GOATMOBILE
(Earl Hurd, US 1916)
plus early
Disney and a few surprises!
TREASURES FROM THE EASTMAN HOUSE
Also restored at the
George Eastman house, this collection of unusual short films
was curated by Pat Doyen. They first showed in 2008 and include 28mm
documentaries, trick camera movies, and early animation. We accompany
them on piano, accordion, pump organ, and musical saw.
In addition to original music, we also use early 20th century modern piano music and a few tunes by fellow Rochestarian Alec Wilder.
HAUNTED HOTEL (Blackton)
MAKING A RECORD (C. 1919) 3 MIN.
MUSHROOM GROWING (C. 1915) 4.5 MIN
HOW THE COWBOY MAKES HIS LARIAT (1917) 3.5 MIN
BOTTOM OF THE SEA (C. 1914) 2 MIN
X-RAY FILMS (JAMES SIBLEY WATSON) 3 MIN
IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS (C. 1915) 7.5 MIN
HOUDINI STUNTS, LIVE FOOTAGE (C. 1909-1923) 5 MIN
FELIX THE CAT FLIRTS WITH FATE (OTTO MESSMER, 1926) 9 MIN.
FELIX TRIFLES WITH TIME (OTTO MESSMER, 1925) 7 MIN.
DREAMY DUD (1916) 2 MIN.
KALEIDOSCOPE (C. 1925) 9 MIN.
LOVE, SNOW AND ICE LIVE ICE CARNIVAL FOOTAGE (1915) 3 MIN.
LAUREATE (EMLEN ETTING, 1940) 15 MIN.
In addition to original music, we also use early 20th century modern piano music and a few tunes by fellow Rochestarian Alec Wilder.
HAUNTED HOTEL (Blackton)
MAKING A RECORD (C. 1919) 3 MIN.
MUSHROOM GROWING (C. 1915) 4.5 MIN
HOW THE COWBOY MAKES HIS LARIAT (1917) 3.5 MIN
BOTTOM OF THE SEA (C. 1914) 2 MIN
X-RAY FILMS (JAMES SIBLEY WATSON) 3 MIN
IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS (C. 1915) 7.5 MIN
HOUDINI STUNTS, LIVE FOOTAGE (C. 1909-1923) 5 MIN
FELIX THE CAT FLIRTS WITH FATE (OTTO MESSMER, 1926) 9 MIN.
FELIX TRIFLES WITH TIME (OTTO MESSMER, 1925) 7 MIN.
DREAMY DUD (1916) 2 MIN.
KALEIDOSCOPE (C. 1925) 9 MIN.
LOVE, SNOW AND ICE LIVE ICE CARNIVAL FOOTAGE (1915) 3 MIN.
LAUREATE (EMLEN ETTING, 1940) 15 MIN.