Author: Ben Model

  • Newsday article on Joan of Arc show

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    Ben Model

    This is an article/interview from 3/19/09’s issue of Newsday promoting the Cinema Arts Centre show of The Passion of Joan of Arc which we did on 3/24/09. Click on the image to see it larger.

  • Wild Bill Hickok and The Passion of Joan of Arc

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    Ben Model

    Tuesday morning, after a day off to rest and recover from Cinefest, I was at MoMA for a press screening of Wild Bill Hickok (1923) starring William S. Hart. At right is a still I found online of Hart as Hickok, with Abraham Lincoln and General Custer (well, actors playing Lincoln and Custer). The running…

  • Cinefest 2009 in Syracuse

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    Ben Model

    March 20-22: Syracuse, NY – I’m killing some time before my JetBlue flight outta Syr, and thought I’d post here. Just finished 3 days at the 29th annual Cinefest here in Syracuse. The festival runs 4 days, but I couldn’t get here for the first day, because I had a show of Broken Blossoms in…

  • Mar 6: The Freshman at MoMA

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    Ben Model

    Mar 6: played for Lloyd’s The Freshman at MoMA. Had a pretty full house and the film went over really well. This is the 3rd time I’ve gotten to play for it in the last several months. While it’s one if the iconic Lloyd films, I still like Kid Brother and a couple others a…

  • Mar 5: Underworld at MoMA

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    Ben Model

    Mar 5 – arrived at MoMA early to throw the Miditzer together for a show of Josef von Sternberg’s Underworld with George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent and Clive Brook. Oh, yeah, and Larry Semon in a character part. Brook comes off better than Bancroft as an actor, and Brook’s screen presence is great for silents; perhaps…

  • Mar 4: Beau Brummel & The Iron Horse

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    Ben Model

    Mar 4 – I can’t put my finger on why, but Valentino’s Monsieur Beaucaire and Barrymore’s Beau Brummel are two of my least favorite mid-20’s silent dramas. Perhaps there’s something about putting either of these two dynamic personas in a European powdered-wig melodrama. Beau Brummel also ends a few times. Don’t get me wrong –…

  • Mar 3: The Whirl of Life – Vernon and Irene Castle

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    Ben Model

    Tues, March 3 – played for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910) and The Whirl of Life (1915) at the Bruno Walter Auditorium, where the Donnell programming is now presented. This was part of a series of films curated by Joe Yransky related to the “Curtain Call” exhibit at the Lincoln Center Library. Both films…

  • Mar 2: NYU Cinema Studies – Antonia Lant’s class

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    Ben Model

    Monday, March 2 – I played for a selection of animated shorts and films made by women at Antonia Lant’s film history class at NYU. Antonia came to a Silent Clowns show several years ago and introduced herself, and I’ve played once a year at her class ever since. Antonia’s book (co-editor) Red Velvet Seat:…

  • White Fawn’s Devotion – DVD score

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    Ben Model

    Last Friday I recorded a piano score for the 1910 1-reeler White Fawn’s Devotion which will be an extra on Milestone’s upcoming DVD of The Exiles. White Fawn was recently added to the National Film Registry, and this scoring opportunity gave me the chance to see the film. I missed Young Deer’s Attack of the…

  • Safety Last in Hewlett-Woodmere (Long Island)

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    Ben Model

    Okay, this is a photo of the beautiful 200-seat auditorium at the Hewlett-Woodmere library before everybody showed up for today’s show of Safety Last. If I’d remembered to charge my camera battery there’d be a photo or two of me and Philip Harwood to post here as well. Piano was a beautiful Steinway B which,…