BRANDON— He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of “the Great Stone Face.” But Buster Keaton’s comedies rocked Hollywood’s silent era with laughter throughout the 1920s.
See for yourself with a screening of ‘The General’ (1926), one of Keaton’s landmark feature films, on Saturday, July 15 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt.
All are welcome to this family-friendly event. Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations.
The screening, the latest in the venue’s silent film series, will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.
‘The General,’ set during the U.S. Civil War, tells the story of a southern locomotive engineer (Keaton) whose engine (named ‘The General’) is hijacked by Northern spies with his girlfriend on board.
Keaton, commandeering another train, races north in pursuit behind enemy lines. Can he rescue his girl? And can he recapture his locomotive and make it back to warn of a coming Northern attack?
Critics call ‘The General’ Keaton’s masterpiece, praising its authentic period detail, ambitious action and battle sequences, and its overall integration of story, drama, and comedy.
It’s also regarded as one of Hollywood’s great railroad films, with much of the action occurring on or around moving steam locomotives.
Accompanist Jeff Rapsis will improvise an original musical score for ‘The General’ live as the movie is shown, as was typically done during the silent film era.
“When the score gets made up on the spot, it creates a special energy that’s an important part of the silent film experience,” said Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of a full orchestra for the accompaniment.
With the Brandon Town Hall’s screening of ‘The General,’ audiences will get a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen—in a high quality print, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.
“All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience,” Rapsis said. “Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today.”
Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, stands today as one of the silent screen’s three great clowns. Some critics regard Keaton as the best of all; Roger Ebert wrote in 2002 that “in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, (Keaton) worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies.”
A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise. And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton’s acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts.
The screening of ‘The General’ is sponsored by Gary and Nancy Meffe; Ben and Claudette Lawton; Bertram D. Coolidge; Frank and Ettie Spezzano; Ronald, Carolyn and Rickly Hayes; and Hayes Pallets.
Other films in this year’s Brandon Town Hall silent film series include:
• 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’ (1927) 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.
Critics review ‘The General’:
“The most insistently moving picture ever made, its climax is the most stunning visual event ever arranged for a film comedy.”
—Walter Kerr, author of ‘The Silent Clowns’
“An almost perfect entertainment!”
—Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
“What makes the film so special is the way the timing, audacity and elegant choreography of its sight gags, acrobatics, pratfalls and dramatic incidents is matched by Buster’s directorial artistry, his acute observational skills working alongside the physical élan and sweet subtlety of his own performance.”
—Time Out (London)
The Keaton films are a great introduction to silent films for modern audiences, accompanist Rapsis said.
“Keaton’s comedy is as fresh today as it was a hundred years ago — maybe more so, because his kind of visual humor is a lost art,” Rapsis said.
‘The General’ (1926) starring Buster Keaton will be shown with live music on Saturday, July 15 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt.
Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations. For more info, visit www.brandontownhall.com.
For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.
