I’ve got a new video up of a classic silent film with my accompaniment: Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life (1913). It’s a Mack Sennett sendup of already old melodrama clichés, complete with a damsel being tied to a railroad track. Real-life auto racing star Barney Oldfield outdistances a train to rescue her. Improvising music to go with it was a lot of fun.
Halloween movie review: The Bat Recently updated !
Ben Model is probably the best-known silent film accompanist in the Northeast. He has undertaken many projects to get obscure films out to the public. His recent release of Roland West’s The Bat is a striking example.
The visual quality is excellent for a nearly-lost 1926 movie. The UCLA Film & Television Archive scanned a 35 mm nitrate print, and Model’s Undercrank Productions converted it to a 2K digital version. He added his accompaniment to the film, capturing the moods and adding to the suspense.
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