Ben played for Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927), a non-narrative “day in the life” essay-film. Ben discusses Iris Barry’s pioneering work at the Museum of Modern Art to make films like this available.
Ben found the original 1927 score by Hans Erdmann to be darker than the film itself. Considering the beauty of the city and the amount of landmarks that are now gone, Ben thought it better to celebrate the images.
Also, Ben was asked to perform the score on theater organ, and he found that the sound and the film brought a different sound out of his hands than what he had planned before the screening began.
He also played for Saxophone Susi (1928). Ben discusses incorporating a title song into a silent film, especially when musicians are shown onscreen. He also incorporated the Eddie Cantor hit “If You Knew Susie” during the title cards describing the restoration process. It also sets a tone for the screening to guide audience expectations.
In a similar vein, Ben accompanied Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (1926) starring Evelyn Brent and Louise Brooks, like Susi, a story of two young women on the town in the Jazz Age, with Ben often using stride piano.
Music excerpts for both films follow.
Kerr talks about different metrical forms of 20s popular music.
Ben discusses recording a score by playing straight through, noting errors to be corrected later, rather than stopping to correct each error immediately. He found it to be more spontaneous.
Also recording for the Rediscovering Roscoe set curated by Steve Massa and in production for release by Undercrank Productions. Ben shares a sample from his score for Twixt Love and Fire (1914) and discusses differentiating each sequence musically, rather than playing a monolithic comedy music “bed.”
Music excerpt
Ben and Kerr discuss bridging the style of the music of the era and the expectations of modern film audiences with regard to scoring.
Kerr and Ben discuss how awareness of silent film is on the rise, especially among young people, particularly students. This also allows programmers to stray beyond the “Greatest Hits” of the Silent Era and expose audiences to a wider range of films. Young people even enjoy seeing scratches and dust on an older print.
Ben noted that the Capitolfest audiences in Rome, NY, are getting younger and that audiences get to see films in a 1927 movie palace with an original theater organ. Ben played for Finders Keepers (1928) starring Laura La Plante, from the Library of Congress Universal Films collection. Ben discusses using a sheet music theme as a main theme. He talks about leaning into the slapstick comedy, and how the romance scenes come alive on a big screen with a live audience.
Music excerpt
Kerr talks about how the digital era has opened up a new era of discovery of lesser-known silent films which are worthy of critical and audience attention.
Goodbyes
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