Speech is Silver and Silence is Golden
With Ben Model, MOMA Silent Movie Curator/Pianist
May 29, 2024, 7PM at The Strand Theater in Plattsburgh, NY
May 30, 2024, 7PM at Willsboro Central School, Willsboro, NY
Piano by Nature welcomes the return of Silent Movie Pianist Ben Model. On Wednesday, May 29th he will be playing on Plattsburgh’s Strand Theatre organ live for a showing of Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill Jr, and he will ALSO be playing piano accompaniment for Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. live at the Willsboro Central School Auditorium on Thursday, May 30th. Both shows start at 7PM and are $20 per adult.
STEAMBOAT BILL JR – Wednesday, May 29th at the Plattsburgh Strand Theatre, 7PM
In STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. (1928), Buster Keaton plays the son of a riverboat captain (Ernest Torrence) who comes home from college to help run the family business. As luck would have it, his girlfriend from school (Marion Byron) also has a father with a steamboat, who is trying to put Steamboat Bill, Sr. out of business. In the film ‘s climax, Buster faces a windstorm to save his father and his boat and win the heart of his girl. The film is known for what might be considered Keaton’s most famous film stunt: the facade of an entire house falls on top of him while he stands in the perfect spot to pass through the open attic window instead of being flattened. In 2016, the film was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress,.
The film will be accompanied by renowned silent film accompanist Ben Model on the Strand’s historic Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.
SHERLOCK JR. – Thursday, May 30th at the Willsboro Auditorium, 7PM
Buster Keaton stars as a movie projectionist who dreams himself into the film he’s showing in one of the funniest, most imaginative, and surreal comedies of the silent era.
Buster Keaton’s sublime comedy about reality and illusion, in which projectionist Buster literally dreams himself into the detective movie he’s screening is considered one of his finest works. Buster stars as a movie projectionist/janitor who dreams of being a detective and impressing the girl he loves. When Buster dreams himself into the film he’s showing, he is propelled into a visual wonderland where real life and fantasy come crashing together. Sherlock Jr. was Keaton’s 3rd feature-length film as an independent after switching to the longer format following a series of brilliant 2-reelers in the early 1920s. The film was innovative in its technical mastery, its surreal explosion of cinematic space, and its wonderfully pure zaniness. (USA, 1924, 49 min., NR, Silent with English intertitles | Dir. Buster Keaton)
This film will be accompanied by Ben Model on the grand piano.
About Ben Model
Ben Model is one of the nation’s leading silent film accompanists, performing on both piano and theatre organ. Over the past 40+ years, he has created and performed thousands of live scores for silent films at universities, museums, and historic theaters, and is one of the few exponents of this craft who is working at it full-time. Ben is a resident film accompanist at the Museum of Modern Art (NY) and at the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theatre, and he accompanies silents at classic film festivals around the USA and internationally.
Ben’s Blu-ray/DVD label Undercrank Productions works with archives and collectors to bring undiscovered gems of silent cinema to fans. Ben is a Visiting Professor of Film at Wesleyan University. silentfilmmusic.com @silentfilmmusic
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