Ben Model’s blog
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This punny title was applied to a number of LPs of theatre organ music in the 1970s, and was often used as the headline for a news item about a silent film screening that featured the mighty Wurlitzer. It’s still in use from time to time, highlighting the mere fact…
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Ernie Kovacs’ Enduring Theme Song
Although there have been several comedians from TV and radio who were associated with a particular song or theme song, Ernie Kovacs’ association with his theme runs through his entire television career as well as for every series he had. More than playing “Thanks for the Memories” when Bob Hope…
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Lawrence Gray: Plate Manipulator
In April 2022, I accompanied a screening of The Patsy (1928) starring Marion Davies. I hadn’t seen or played for the film in about a decade, and didn’t preview the film ahead of time. I had an unusual experience during the show, recognizing one of the actors in the film.…
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ep. 48: interview with Rick Benjamin, of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
In this bonus episode, podcast co-host Kerr Lockhart talks with Rick Benjamin, musical director of The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, about mood cues and photoplay music from the silent era.
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ep. 47: accompanying The Patsy, The Cameraman, and Gilbert Gottfried
In this episode: Ben trusts his instincts and has a little magic happen during a show of “The Patsy”; makes a decision and tries something new when it comes to using a “characteristic” musical mode in scoring Keaton’s “The Cameraman” and “The General”; pays tribute to Gilbert Gottfried and talks…
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Episode 47 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 47 Show Notes: accompanying The Patsy, The Cameraman and Gilbert Gottfried Live performances are slowly returning The Patsy with Marion Davies “The Patsy”, which was originally a stage play, recently returned to New York as a one-man show. How Ben’s improvisation spontaneously fit with the physical action to come.…
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“The Language of Silent Film”, Beyond the Blog
Last week, I played my first in-person show at the Cinema Arts Centre since February 2020. Before the show, CAC regulars whom cinema co-director Dylan Skolnick and I hadn’t seen in 2+ years stopped to say hello and to chat. This was always part of our pre-movie ritual before 2020,…
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Etched Into My Memory Forever
Ernie Kovacs’ ”Albert Gridley” sketch is one of the better-known ones. Its simple premise, a talk-show guest who can’t remember details of the very story he’s being interviewed for, is coupled with Kovacs’ unique, dryly sarcastic prompting. It’s deeply funny, and quotable, since it’s just two people talking for 3-4…
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Whither the Virtual Silent Movie Theater
Virtual Cinema, for most art-houses and film viewers, was a stop-gap measure during the pandemic. It was a way to keep going while everyone waited for it to be safe to re-open and to return to movie theaters. It also built a new audience, one best served by virtual cinema,…
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Estey Pipe Organ at Epsilon Spires
This is one of a series of posts I’m doing on organs that I’ve had the honor to be able to accompany silent films on. In August 2021, as things were starting to re-open, one of the shows I was booked to play was at Epsilon Spires, a new performing…