ep. 37: Mostly Lost, Keaton’s The Cameraman and The General, an electric organ and Laurel & Hardy

On this episode Ben talks about: the annual Mostly Lost film identification workshop at the Library of Congress, currently postponed until 2021; underscoring a key scene in Keaton’s “The Cameraman” and noticing a parallel with “Singin’ In The Rain”, playing for “Spite Marriage”, the challenge of introducing and presenting “The General” at a college show; playing for Laurel & Hardy on a 1980s electric theatre organ, and using that console’s MIDI function to bring the sound of the Wurlitzer to a cinema; how Ben chooses and utilizes piano or organ for score recordings, and much more.

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episode 37: “Comedy Today! – Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy”

• Missing the Mostly Lost workshop, cancelled this year due to the pandemic
• Making an alternate accompaniment for The Cameraman
• The Cameraman’s kiss in the rain and Singin’ In The Rain: Copy, homage or coincidence?
• Spite Marriage comes to life with an audience
• Mark Fuller, member of Southwest Silents in Bristol, England talks about The Silent Comedy Watch Party
• Putting The General in context and avoiding too much chase music
• Sponsorship: Found at Mostly Lost, Volumes 1 & 2 from Undercrank Productions
• How Ben became a home video distributor 
• Finding different ways to accompany the scare gags in  Liberty with Laurel & Hardy
• Playing Wurlitzer sampled sound through MIDI at the AFI Silver Theatre on an Allen 3600 electric organ
• FAQ – How do you record your prepared accompaniments?
• Kerr recommends the podcast You Must Remember This: Episodes 121-131, Fact-checking Hollywood Babylon – the Silent Era

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Links from the episode:

• The Mostly Lost workshop
• Buster receives a kiss in the rain in The Cameraman (We recommend you turn the sound off.)
• The Cameraman and Singin’ In The Rain side by side on YouTube
• Spite Marriage – Buster puts his drunken bride to bed (Ignore the Oscar Peterson music track)
• Found At Mostly Lost Volume 1 – DVD from Undercrank Productions
• Found at Mostly Lost Volume 2 – DVD from Undercrank Productions
• Liberty with a non-synchronous Victor music track
• You Must Remember This: Fact-Checking Hollywood Babylon – Episode 1: Griffith and the Gish Sisters