It’s time for another silent film with my live accompaniment at the Plaistow, NH library! This time it’s the 1924 Peter Pan, with Betty Bronson in the title role and Ernest Torrence as Captain Hook. Anna May Wong, one of my favorite silent actresses, has a small part as Princess Tiger Lily. The show is on Friday, April 11, at 1 PM. Admission and popcorn are free.

The 1924 film is the best screen version of Peter Pan ever. It sticks close to James Barrie’s play and makes you care about the characters. There’s even an audience participation bit where Peter enlists the moviegoers’ aid. Peter is by turns charming, annoying, vulnerable, and heroic. Wendy (Mary Brian) has pre-adolescent romantic feelings for Peter. Captain Hook and his pirates are comically menacing. The digitized version we’ll be showing, thanks to the Internet Archive, is in fine shape.

I musically approach each silent film in a different way. While I don’t plan the music in detail, I watch the film many times and devise a set of motifs. For this one, I’m sprinkling fairy dust on the Roland keyboard. Except for a few scenes, this movie calls for a light touch with a strong sense of fantasy. Even the big fight with the pirates is all really play.

The film was released in British and US editions. The differences are small but obvious. This will be the US version.

It’s a wonderful film. If you’re in southern New Hampshire or northeastern Massachusetts, I hope you can make it. If you can’t, my plan is to get the film with my accompaniment at the library onto YouTube.