BRANDON—Classics from the silent film era return to the big screen this May at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, which will host another season of vintage cinema with live music.
First up is Charlie Chaplin in ‘The Pilgrim’ (1923), a farce in which the Little Tramp plays an escaped prisoner forced to masquerade as a minister. The film screens on Saturday, May 20 at 7 p.m.
Admission is free; donations are welcome to help support ongoing Town Hall renovation efforts.
Live music for each silent film program will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based performer and composer who specializes in scoring and presenting silent films.
The clergy, Westerns, child discipline and baking are among sources of laughter in The Little Tramp’s last-ever non-feature-length movie, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
‘The Pilgrim,’ which runs about 40 minutes, will be preceded by ‘The Cook’ (1918), a short comedy featuring Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.
The screening of ‘The Pilgrim’ and ‘The Cook’ provides local audiences the opportunity to experience silent film as it was intended to be shown: on the big screen, in restored prints, with live music, and with an audience.
In accompanying films live, Rapsis uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of the full orchestra. He improvises the music in real time, as the movie is shown.
“It’s a real treat to return to Brandon for another season of great silent film,” Rapsis said. “If you’ve never seen one of these movies in a theater, check it out. These films were the pop culture of their day, and retain their ability to hold an audience and deliver a great time at the movies.”
It’s the 12th year of the popular silent film series, which gives residents and visitors a chance to see great movies from the pioneering days of cinema as they were meant to be shown—on the big screen, with an audience, and accompanied by live music.
Screenings are held once a month, generally on Saturday nights starting in May and running through November. Admission is free; donations are encouraged, with proceeds to benefit the Town Hall’s ongoing restoration.
Over the years, silent film donations have helped support projects including handicapped access to the 19th century building, renovating the bathrooms, and restoring the structure’s original slate roof.
The screening of ‘The Pilgrim’ is sponsored by Bill and Kathy Mathis in memory of Maxine Thurston.
Other films in this year’s Brandon Town Hall silent film series include:
• Saturday, June 3, 7 p.m.: ‘The Temptress’ (1926) starring Greta Garbo, Antonio Moreno. MGM drama with Garbo destroying the lives of men on two continents. Unusual in that the film was made with two very different endings per order of studio boss Louis B. Mayer; we’ll screen both of them. Sponsored by Gary and Nancy Meffe.
• Saturday, July 15, 7 p.m.: ‘The General’ (1926) starring Buster Keaton. Buster’s Civil War-era masterpiece tells the story of a Confederate railroad engineer whose train is hijacked by Northern spies. One of the great movies of any era! Sponsored by Gary and Nancy Meffe; Ben and Claudette Lawton; Bertram D. Coolidge; Frank and Ettie Spezzano; Ronald, Carolyn, and Ricky Hayes; and Hayes Pallets.
• Friday, Aug. 18, 7 p.m.: ‘The Ten Commandments’ (1923) directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Long before Charlton Heston played Moses in Technicolor, director Cecil B. DeMille filmed this silent blockbuster on a grand scale. Many say it surpasses the remake—see for yourself as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the film’s original release. Sponsored by Bruce Ness and Nancy Spaulding-Ness.
• Saturday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m.: ‘The Freshman’ (1925) starring Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston. We welcome football season with Harold Lloyd’s blockbuster hit about a college boy who dreams of gridiron greatness. One of Lloyd’s all-time best! Sponsored by Frank Mazza and Linda Zaragoza; Kathy and Wayne Rausenberger; Edward Loedding and Dorothy Leysath.
• Saturday, Oct. 7, 7 p.m.: ‘My Best Girl’ (1926) starring Mary Pickford, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers. In a big city department store, romance blossoms between a humble stockroom clerk and the store owner’s son—who is already engaged! A sparkling “rich man, poor girl” romantic comedy from 1927 starring screen icon Mary Pickford and Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, her future real-life husband. Sponsored by Harold and Jean Somerset; Fyles Brothers, Inc.; and Jeanette Devino.
• Friday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.: ‘The Cat and the Canary’ (1927). Can a group of distant relatives survive the night in a haunted house to learn the secret of a madman’s will? Find out in the original Gothic thriller from silent-film director Paul Leni. Just in time for Halloween, a movie filled with deep shadows, dark secrets, and a surprisingly timeless mix of humor and horror that will keep you guessing. Sponsored by Pam and Steve Douglass.
• Saturday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.: ‘The Big Parade’ (1925) starring John Gilbert. We salute Veterans Day with this sweeping saga about U.S. doughboys signing up and shipping off to France in 1917, where they face experiences that will change their lives forever—if they return. MGM blockbuster directed by King Vidor; one of the biggest box office triumphs of the silent era. Sponsored by Donald and Dolores Furnari; Jeanette Devino; and Lorrie Byrom.
See Charlie Chaplin in the uproarious farce ‘The Pilgrim’ (1923) on Saturday, May 20 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon. All are welcome to this family-friendly event. Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations.
For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.
