Category: Podcast

Ben and Kerr discuss Ben’s scores for “My Lady’s Lips” (1925) starring William Powell and “Paris Green” (1920) starring Charles Ray, commissioned by the National Film Preservation Foundation to celebrate National Silent Movie Day and Ben talks about following Chaplin’s model for scoring comedy scenes with intermittent action in the “muffin sequence” in “A Dog’s…

Episode 74 Show Notes: National Silent Movie Day and Halloween 2026 Ben and Kerr discuss Ben’s new scores for “My Lady’s Lips” (1925) starring William Powell and “Paris Green” (1920) starring Charles Ray, commissioned by the National Film Preservation Foundation to celebrate National Silent Movie Day and Ben talks about following Chaplin’s model for scoring…

Ben and Kerr discuss Ben’s performance schedule being back to or surpassing 2019 levels, the scoring and restoration of “The Cardboard Lover” (1928) with Marion Davies, accompanying Davies’ “The Patsy” (1928) at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, live-scoring Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush” (1925) for shows at a few different theaters, scoring “St. Wenceslas”…

Episode 73 Show Notes: Go Into Your Trance …in which Ben observes both characters in silent films and accompanists entering mental states in which judgment is suspended… It’s been a long time since Episode 72! The number of Ben’s personal appearances have recovered to pre-lockdown levels, and there have been many home video projects. The…

Ben and Kerr discuss Ben’s accompaniment techniques for films he played for toward the end of 2025: Keaton’s “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” at the Barrymore Film Center, Mary Pickford in “Sparrows” at the Library of Congress, and Max Davidson in “Pass the Gravy” at the Silent Clowns Film Series in NYC. Ben gives an update on…

Episode 72 Show Notes: 2025 Year-End Roundup Opening Banter: Kerr talks about the difference of seeing The Bishop’s Wife with sizeable theater audience – the comedy and other values played at a higher level than on television.Ben shares a similar experience with Laurel & Hardy talkies, and with an Our Gang comedyThe difference in theatrical…

Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s busy Halloween season, underscoring the unmasking scene in “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) at Angel Nyack, and his encounters with theater ghosts; also covered are Ben’s accompanying “Her Sister From Paris” (1925) with Constance Talmadge at the Silent Clowns Film Series, the differences between playing a church pipe…

Episode 71 Show Notes: Phantoms and Pipe Organs Sign up for Ben’s regular email here to keep up with all his activities.

Episode 70 Show Notes: Flappers, Roscoe, and Laura LaPlante Sign up for Ben’s regular email here to keep up with all his activities.

Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s shows at MoMA’s “Silent Movie Week” of “Saxophon Susi” and “Berlin: Symphony of a Great City”, and at the Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for an early Louise Brooks Paramount feature. Ben discusses adjusting his approach to laying down a recorded score when scoring “Poisoned Paradise” (1924) with Clara…