In Salt Lake City, we have a reception center called Edison Street Events. It's an older reception center, but it has a Wirlutzer Pipe Organ that has five ketboards, pedle boards, and it consists over 2,000 pipes, or keys that will hit a drum or cymbal, as well as remote controlling a piano, and other fun bells and whistles, PUN INTENDED! I'm owning that joke.
Anywho, every spring and fall, they have silent movies they show on Thursday and Friday nights. They are mostly visited in October when they screen the 1925 silent film version of The Phantom of the Opera, and it is so amazing. What's even better, Gale Blain, an older gentleman, comes out, and plays the pipe organ for the film being shown, and it is incredible. It's so cool to see what it was like when going to a movie during the silent era. Steven Spielberg once said that if he had the special effects that we have today when he made Jaws, he would have ruined it by showing the shark a bunch of times, and that it's what you can't see that makes it scary. It's the exact same with some of the best silent films.
Even Charlie Chaplin made his film, and my personal favorite Chaplin film, City Lights, he made it AFTER talkie movies were invented. He believed that the silent films were more artistic and better. In fact, he wrote, starred in, produced, directed, and wrote all of the music for City Lights, and there is a brilliant scene at the vert start of the film where a mayor is holding a ceremony to dedicate a new statue in the middle of the city, and the musical score has someone playing the kazoo in place of the mayor's speech. It's so freaking funny, but it was Chaplin's jab at the fact that talkies can be boring, and just because you have technology, it's not always best to use it. Another little known fact, the kazoo speech sound is what Tim Burton did in his 1997 comedy, Mars Attacks!. When the Martians speak, it sounds exactly like the kazoo speech from City Lights.
Anywho, I went to the Organ Loft this past Friday evening to see Harold Lloyd's The Freshman. It was the very first movie about sports. If follows a nerdy kind of guy to college, which he is excited for, and he wants to be the most popular person on campus, and one way to do that is become the captain of the football team, which he tries, but the coach and players want to be sort of nice, and they let him think that he made the team as a substitute, and actually just make him the water boy. The film follows his foibles on campus, but he falls in love with a really sweet girl who loves him for who he is, and not what he does. This film has sports action and at the same time, being one of the sweetest romantic comedies in film history.
The film came out in 1925, and ran for a long time. It isn't all about football, there are other college elements to it as well, but the climax takes place during a football game that is hysterical. I may have talked about this film before a little over a year ago when I made a football movie list for the beginning of College Football season, which is my favorite spectating sport. The interesting thing about The Freshman, is the comedy really does feel fresh, I'm owning that one too! There is only one joke I don't understand because it references a person who has probably been dead for over 100 years, but the rest of the one hour and sixteen minutes of the film is all relatable and timeless. Silent film directors and actors understood that action and movements needed to be more pronounced so that you understand what they are feeling when their feelings change, but it doesn't feel like they are overacting.
The Organ Loft has an employee, I can't think of his name off the top of my head, anyway, he had us take a pencil and piece of paper. He had us think of ten things we thought were really funny, and then after we were all done, he read a review from a Los Angeles newspaper from 1925 reviewing the film, and 95% of everything we all found funny was mentioned in the review that interviewed people after their screening. 95% of that film is relevant and hysterical today, despite the technology, and all of the comedy films in the silent film era are still incredibly funny because they are universal, and they don't have a target audience. The whole film is on YouTube, and I will put a link for in this post.
There is a company called Criterion that takes films from all of film history that are special in some way, and they have a big collection, but what they do is take a film, they include a DVD and Blu-Ray copy of the film, then they have tons and tons of special features and books on the making of the film and production pictures. They are a little expensive. They are at Barnes and Noble Bookstores, but they are pricy there. It's better to buy them on Amazon, or on eBay. eBay has lots of brand new Criterion Collection films that are brand new and still in shrink wrap. I actually bought The Freshman Criterion Collection set, but it's still worth paying a $7.00 ticket to see it with other people in the way it was originally intended to be seen. Here is the link if you want to watch it on YouTube. There are a few videos of it on YouTube, but I found the one that is high quality. Here is the link....
Anyway, I just wanted to suggest that you, my awesome readers, should watch this incredible film. In fact, since it's on YouTube, most TVs nowadays have YouTube on them, so you don't have to just watch it on your phone or computer. It's 100% family friendly, and super funny. Plus, it's short. Each scene has a few laugh out loud moments. It is in black and white, and there are dialogue cards, but parents can read them to their kids if you decide to watch it with the family. I think it's the perfect film to introduce to friends and family to silent films. It's important that these films be seen and appreciated. I've seen some older films that are great, that kids won't watch because they are in black and white, and they are used to having cartoons and films for kids screaming in their face all of the time, but watching older films is like going to a museum to see other different kinds of art. Look how old famous paintings are, and they predate film, and photography, but they are still beautiful to look at and take in. I think kids should have to take a film classes in middle school and high school so they are exposed to them early on.
Anyway, that's my little post on the film, and silent films in general. I really hope you will click the link and watch the film, or look it up later and watch it. It's worth the one hour and sixteen minutes, and they actually go by pretty fast because you get into the action, comedy, and romance and forget that it's a silent film and black and white all together. It's a great thing to do with your family. If you are interested in the the Organ Loft, here is their website.....
Edison Street Events | Salt Lake Banquet Hall
If you find this interesting, they are going to start showing The Phantom of the Opera from 1925, and it's a neat and spooky experience. I go every year to one of the screenings. It might be a fun activity for a date or something different to do with friends for the evening. That one is a little over an hour and a half long, but there are some great scenes.
I hope you are all well and staying safe. Please get vaxed as soon as possible if you haven't already. I don't want to preach about it, but there have been some people over the past week that led protests against getting the vaccine, and they died from Covid. Just go and do it. If you already have, pay attention now that boosters are now available. Find when you will be allowed to get your booster, and get it as soon as you can. I don't want any friends and family of mine dying of Covid. I love you all, and appreciate your support as I continue my blog. Have a great day, and I will be back soon with a new post.
I think I may start watching silent films. I’m impressed with the acting and the story. I loved this movie. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete