Skip to content

BEN MODEL has recorded his original scores for dozens of DVD and Blu-ray releases on both piano and theatre organ, and several of these have aired on TCM. Ben has scored silent films for major distributors like Kino Lorber and Milestone Films, as well as independent labels like ReelclassicDVD and Thanhouser. In 2013 he started his own label, Undercrank Productions, and has released 17 DVDs of rare silent films unseen by the general public since their original release.

scored for Kino Lorber

Notable among the many releases scored for Kino Lorber on both DVD and Blu-ray are Sherlock Holmes starring John Barrymore, Edison: The Invention of the Movies, Buster Keaton in The Saphead and The Ultimate Shorts Collection, Harry Houdini in Haldane of the Secret Service, Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, W.C. Fields in It’s the Old Army Game (for rel. March 2018) and Fritz Lang’s The Spiders.

scored for Milestone Films

  • Cut to the Chase – The Charley Chase Comedy Collection
  • The Champion – scores for 6 short films ca. 1909-1911 filmed at the pioneering NJ studio

scored for Undercrank Productions

Undercrank Productions is Ben Model’s DVD label, showcasing rare silent films in new releases starring stars such as Marion Davies, Baby Peggy, Marcel Perez, Musty Suffer, and more. Undercrank Productions has a co-branding arrangement with the Library of Congress and with the Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive. A majority of Undercrank releases are from 35mm archival prints from the Library of Congress.

  • Accidentally Preserved: volumes 1-4 – various comedians in rare/lost short films
  • The Family Secret – with Baby Peggy – plus Miles of Smiles and Circus Clowns; also aired on TCM
  • The Marcel Perez Collection – award winner at Cinema Ritrovato 2015
  • The Mishaps of Musty Suffer – with Harry Watson, Jr. (2 volumes)
  • The Crackerjack – with Johnny Hines
  • Flying Luck – with Monty Banks
  • “Found at Mostly Lost” – rare shorts preserved by Library of Congress, identified at the annual Mostly Lost workshop
  • When Knighthood Was In Flower, Beauty’s Worth, and The Bride’s Play (all 1922) – starring Marion Davies

scored for Reelclassic DVD

Indie label ReelclassicDVD’s silent releases list included many discs scored by Ben Model, including Our Gang silent films, Norma Talmadge in The Forbidden City, and a deluxe edition of Phantom of the Opera. Quality transfers in standard-def from excellent 16mm prints, many of which are from the Bob Lee (Essex Film Club) archive.

  • Hearts of the World – dir. by D.W. Griffith
  • His People – with Joseph Schildkraut
  • The Forbidden City – with Norma Talmadge
  • The Our Gang Collection: volume 1 – Derby Day, Big Business, Monkey Business, War Feathers, Love My Dog
  • The Our Gang Collection: volume 2 – The Sundown Limited, Shootin’ Injuns, Good Cheer, Shivering Spooks, The Fourth Alarm
  • The Our Gang Collection: volume 3 – Back Stage, The Buccaneers, It’s a Bear, High Society, The Mysterious Mystery
  • The Our Gang Collection: volume 4 – Fire Fighters, The Champeen, Lodge Night, Sunday Calm, Uncle Tom’s Uncle
  • The Our Gang Collection: volume 5 – Telling Whoppers, Seeing the World, Ten Years Old, Baby Brother, The Smile Wins
  • The Phantom of the Opera – Lon Chaney – Supreme Collector’s edition (4 discs)
  • The Birth of a Nation – Dir. D.W. Griffith
  • The Americano – with Douglas Fairbanks
  • How Molly Malone Made Good (1915) – with Marguerite Clark
  • The Silent Man – with William S. Hart
  • Ella Cinders – with Colleen Moore
  • The Nickel Hopper and Raggedy Rose – with Mabel Normand
  • My Boy – with Jackie Coogan
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame – with Lon Chaney
  • The Headless Horseman – with Will Rogers
  • Grandma’s Boy – with Harold Lloyd
  • A Festival of Silent Comedy: volume 1 – Charley Chase in April Fool, Charlie Chaplin in Caught in the Rain, Al Christie comedy Reckless Rosie, Stan Laurel in Smithy, Snub Pollard in Sold at Auction, Our Gang in War Feathers
  • A Festival of Silent Comedy: volume 2 – Harold Lloyd in Luke’s Movie Muddle, A Ton of Fun in Heavy Love, Stan Laurel in The Soilers, Roscoe Arbuckle in He Did and He Didn’t, Eddie Boland in The Non-Skid Kid, Our Gang in Shootin’ Injuns
  • A Festival of Silent Comedy: volume 3 – Ford Sterling and Mabel Normand in Muddled in Mud, Buster Keaton in Cops, kids gang comedy Wild Puppies, Stan Laurel in Oranges and Lemons, Charley Chase in Bromo and Juliet, Our Gang in The Buccaneers
  • A Festival of Silent Comedy: volume 4 – Billy Bevan in Lizzies of the Field, Charley Chase in Forgotten Sweeties, Harold Lloyd in Pay Your Dues, Max Davidson in Why Girls Say No, Jack Duffy in Uppercuts, Our Gang in Monkey Business
  • A Festival of Silent Comedy: volume 5 – Charlie Chaplin in Laughing Gas, W.C. Fields in Pool Sharks, Larry Semon in Golf, OurGang in The Big Town, Billy Bevan in Hoboken to Hollywood, Bray comedy Beauty and the Bump
  • A Festival of Silent Comedy: volume 6 – John Bunny in A Cure for Pokeritis, Monty Banks in A Bedroom Scandal, Larry Semon in The Bakery, Will Rogers in The Ropin’ Fool, Our Gang in Dogs of War, Mickey McGuire (a/k/a Mickey Rooney) in Mickey in School

Undercrank Productions