This summer: Rex Theatre to launch series of silent film screenings with live music

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B our hospitality scaled
Buster Keaton stars in ‘Our Hospitality’ (1923), part of a double bill of silent film comedy with live music on Thursday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre.

MANCHESTER, NH — You might just fall in love with the movies all over again.

That’s the idea behind a new series of silent film screenings with live music starting this summer at the Rex Theatre in downtown Manchester.

The series includes the classic comedy of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, the early (and still creepy) horror film ‘Nosferatu,’ and the original silent film version of ‘Ben Hur.’

All films will be shown with live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer and performer who specializes in silent film accompaniment.

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New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis will provide live music for all silent film screenings at the Rex Theatre.

The Rex Theatre is launching the series to give local audiences a chance to experience the best of early Hollywood the way it was meant to be seen—on the big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

“These films weren’t intended to be shown on a laptop,” Rapsis said. “It’s worth putting the whole experience together, because you can still see why audiences first fell in love with the movies,” Rapsis said.

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1924: American comedian Buster Keaton (1895-1966) plays a bungling projectionist in the film ‘Sherlock Junior’, which he also directed.

First up on Thursday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.: a program dubbed “Midsummer Silent Film Comedy” featuring a double helping of iconic silent film comedian Buster Keaton.

In ‘Sherlock Jr.’ (1924), Keaton plays a would-be detective who dreams himself into a movie being shown at the local theater. In ‘Our Hospitality’ (1923), an old-time backwoods family feud is the focus of what’s regarded as Keaton’s breakthrough film.

Tickets are $10 general admission.

Keaton never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of “the Great Stone Face.” But his comedies rocked Hollywood’s silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s, and remain popular crowd-pleasers today.

The Keaton films are a great introduction to silent films for modern audiences, accompanist Rapsis said.

“Keaton’s comedy is as fresh today as it was a hundred years ago — maybe more so, because his kind of visual humor is a lost art,” Rapsis said.

Later screenings include:

  • Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, 7:30 p.m.: ‘Nosferatu‘ (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau. Just in time for Halloween: ‘Nosferatu,’ the original vampire film. This loose German adaptation of the ‘Dracula’ story just gets weirder and creepier as the years go by.
  • Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, 7:30 p.m.: ‘Girl Shy‘ (1924) starring Harold Lloyd. Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the original rom-com, a Harold Lloyd gem starring one of the masters of silent comedy and featuring an unforgettable race-to-the-church finish.
  • Thursday, April 21, 2022, 7:30 p.m.: ‘Ben Hur‘ (1925) starring Ramon Novarro and a cast of thousands. 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 silent era lasted for only about three decades, from about 1900 to 1929. Movies were presented without dialogue, forcing filmmakers to tell their stories visually.

During that time, cinema blossomed from crude beginnings to a full-fledged international art form.

Although films lacked spoken dialogue, live music was an essential part of the experience. Every movie theater featured music of some kind: usually a small orchestra or a massive theatre organ built specifically for film accompaniment.

The music was generally up to local players to create for each film, and varied widely from venue to venue. Organists would often improvise scores to films they’d had no chance to preview.

In creating music for silent film screenings, Jeff Rapsis keeps alive the art of live accompaniment.

“It’s surprising to people today, but during the silent era there was generally no ‘official’ score to a film,” Rapsis said. “What I do is in the tradition of the era’s theater organists, creating music live on the fly as the film is shown.”

“It’s a bit of a high-wire act, but the immediacy of live improvised accompaniment is a big part of the unique experience of silent film,” Rapsis said.

A ‘Midsummer Silent Film Comedy’ program featuring two classic Buster Keaton films will be shown on Thursday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, N.H. General admission is $10 per person.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.palacetheatre.org or call (603) 668-5588. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

 

About this Author

Nathan Graziano

Nathan Graziano lives in Manchester with his wife and kids. He's the author of nine collections of fiction and poetry. His most recent book, Born on Good Friday was published by Roadside Press in 2023. He's a high school teacher and freelance writer, and in his free time, he writes bios about himself in the third person. For more information, visit his website: http://www.nathangraziano.com