Tag: Marion Davies
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“Little Old New York” Released on DVD
Marion Davies’ 1923 Historical Rom-Com-Drama is Now Avaiable in a New DVD When Marion Davies’ own collection of nitrate 35mm prints of her films came to the Library of Congress in the 1950s, she couldn’t possibly have predicted that her silent films would ever be available again to the general public. The motion picture elements…
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ep. 33: two takes on The Rink, organ as orchestra for a horse, melodies underscore Marion Davies
On this episode of the podcast — I use a song-title-pun during Mostly Lost, play for the same Chaplin shorts three days in a row to work on an orchestral score, play a Möller in Rome like it’s an orchestra, bring silent comedies to the Adirondacks, score two Marion Davies films in a recording session…
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The Other Mirror Routine
Over the last few years, I’ve gotten myself educated in Marion Davies’ silent films. The two usual suspects, Show People and The Patsy are great and well-loved, mainly because they’re on DVD. I’ve released three of Davies’ 1922 silents, and have become an even bigger fan. So, what else lies between When Knighthood Was in…
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Song and Dance in Silent Movies
One of the challenges in scoring a silent film is dealing with the fact that occasionally, there are musical numbers performed or sung. Often, the song is sung or performed in its entirety. In most cases it’s impossible to synch up anything you’re playing. The exception, of course, is “The Prisoner’s Song” in Keaton’s Steamboat…
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Musty Boxes Wolheim to Save Harrison Ford’s Bacon
I should know if Harry Watson, Jr. and Marion Davies appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies together (alas, for the moment, I don’t). If they didn’t, Watson was certainly on Davies’ radar as he has supporting character roles in two of her features, films made half a dozen years after his “Musty Suffer” series of shorts.…
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Hooray for Hollywood and the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival
Three Songs You Won’t Hear During My Accompaniment to “Show People” — and Why One of the bugaboos in film accompaniment that my mentor Lee Erwin (1908-2000) had, and one I share, is the use of “song title puns”. In fact, anything that make an audience member’s brain say “Hey! She’s/he’s playing ______!” instead of…
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Marion Davies Marches On…!
Happy Birthday to Victor Herbert, Composer of “Babes In Toyland”, “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life” and the elusive “Marion Davies March” Victor Herbert’s March of the Toys wafted over my WFMT app this morning, in honor of the composer’s birthday, and I immediately thought of Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy – and then Marion Davies. Stan…