Arts & Entertainment

Silent Film Series at Rogers Center

Step back in cinematic time.

By Jeff Rapsis.

Silent film on the big screen and with live music will return to the Rogers Center for the Arts in North Andover, Mass. with a series of shows scheduled for the 2013-14 season. Admission to the screenings is free and the public is welcome.

The schedule includes comedies from two of the silent era's top funnymen; a creepy thriller to be shown for Halloween; and an epic drama about racism in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day in January.

Musical accompaniment for will be performed live by silent film composer Jeff Rapsis, regarded as one of the nation's leading silent film accompanists.

The series aims to recapture the magic of early Hollywood by presenting silent films as they were intended to be shown: in restored prints, in a theater on a big screen, with live music, and with an audience.

"If you can put together those elements, it's surprising how much power these films still have," said Rapsis, who specializes in improvising live music for silent film screenings throughout New England and beyond. "You realize why these films caused people to first fall in love with the movies."

The series features four of the most-requested titles from the silent film era:

• Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013, 7 p.m.: 'The Cameraman' (1928), starring Buster Keaton. Portrait photographer Buster exchanges his still camera for a movie camera in an effort to break into the newsreel business and win the attention of a special gal, prompting a chain of events that upends the film community. Spectacular movie-themed Keaton comedy filled with great stunts filmed on a grand scale.

• Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, 7 p.m.: 'Nosferatu' (1922), directed by F.W. Murnau. Just in time for Halloween, see the original silent film adaptation of Bram Stoker's famous 'Dracula' story. Still scary after all these years—in fact, some critics believe this version is not only the best ever done, but has actually become creepier with the passage of time. See for yourself, if you dare!

• Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, 7 p.m.: 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915), starring Lillian Gish. What if a movie was acclaimed as a masterpiece, but portrayed the Ku Klux Klan as heroes? What does it say if a movie was clearly racist, depicting blacks as an inferior sub-species to whites, but was still a box office smash? Those are among the questions posed by ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ the ground-breaking epic film from director D.W. Griffith, which continues to inspire controversy nearly 100 years after its initial release. Screened in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as an example of how far we've come, and to help us consider how much remains to be done.

• Wednesday, March 26, 2014, 7 p.m.: 'The Strong Man' (1926), starring Harry Langdon. With World War I over, baby-faced soldier Harry Langdon searches for the girl who sent such moving letters to him in the trenches. Can he find her, and can he save a small town overrun by Prohibition-era bootleggers? Directed by a very young Frank Capra, 'The Strong Man' is today hailed as Langdon's best film, and also one of the greatest comedies of the silent era.

All films will be screened at the Rogers Center for the Arts, Merrimack College, 315 North Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass.

"If you haven't seen a silent film the way it was intended to be shown, then you're missing a unique experience," Rapsis said. "At their best, silent films can be surprisingly sophisticated. They still retain a tremendous ability to cast a spell, engage an audience, tap into elemental emotions, and provoke strong reactions."

The opening selection in this season's silent film series at the Rogers Center will be Buster Keaton's 'The Cameraman' (1928), to be screened on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Arts, located on Walsh Way on the campus of Merrimack College, 315 Turnpike St., North Andover, Mass. Admission is free. For more information, call the Rogers box office at (978) 837-5355.


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