Steamboat Bill Jr (1928)
Silent Film with Organ Accompaniment, played by Donald MacKenzie
Friday 15th May, 8.00pm
At St John's Notting Hill, London
This event has already taken place. Another silent film with organ accompaniment has been organised, with a screening of The Wind on Saturday October 24th. Click here for more info.
Buster Keaton's comedy caper, regarded as a masterpiece of the silent film era, will be accompanied by the evocative music of the restored organ, which is in turns resounding and delicate, lyrical and percussive, agitated and serene, with many different sounds to choose from; organs are excellently suited to accompany silent films. The organ is played by Donald MacKenzie, resident organist at the Odeon Leicester Square, London, who is returning to St John's Notting Hill after performing for last year's silent film Wings (click here to see photos and videos from that evening).
This screening is part of this year's Notting Hill Mayfest, a multi-disciplinary arts festival happening in several Notting Hill venues throughout May. Don't miss this very special event. Advanced booking is highly recommended as Wings sold out a week in advance last year.
Stramboat Bill Jr's IMDB rating: 8 out of 10: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019421/
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100% Fresh: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/steamboat_bill_jr/
There will be popcorn and a bar available on the night, and the church will be be candlelit. Doors open at 7.00pm for an 8.00pm film start. Seating is unreserved. The film runs for 75 minutes and is suitable for families.
THIS SHOW IS NOW SOLD OUT
To stay up to date with future screenings, please sign up via the list below.
A limited supply of return tickets may be available at the door.
This screening is part of this year's Notting Hill Mayfest, a multi-disciplinary arts festival happening in several Notting Hill venues throughout May. Don't miss this very special event. Advanced booking is highly recommended as Wings sold out a week in advance last year.
Stramboat Bill Jr's IMDB rating: 8 out of 10: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019421/
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100% Fresh: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/steamboat_bill_jr/
There will be popcorn and a bar available on the night, and the church will be be candlelit. Doors open at 7.00pm for an 8.00pm film start. Seating is unreserved. The film runs for 75 minutes and is suitable for families.
THIS SHOW IS NOW SOLD OUT
To stay up to date with future screenings, please sign up via the list below.
A limited supply of return tickets may be available at the door.
"It's an iconic image, a cyclone ravages a small town and blows the front of a building down. As it falls, a man (Buster Keaton) walking away from the building miraculously survives as he stands on a spot where an open window just happens to be, whilst the building falls around him. It's a stunt where just the slightest miscalculation would have killed him. The stunt was performed with an actual full-weight wall. Half the crew walked off the set rather than participate in a stunt that would have killed Keaton if he had been slightly off position."
http://www.beststuntaward.com/2013_01_01_archive.html
http://www.beststuntaward.com/2013_01_01_archive.html
Click on the image below
The Film
Steamboat Bill, Jr. puts into service two Mississippi paddlewheel steamboats: the aging "Stonewall Jackson" and the "floating palace" called "the King." With his fancy new boat, John James King (Tom McGuire) aims to put William Canfield (Ernest Torrance) and his "Stonewall Jackson" out of business. At this stressful juncture, college grad William Canfield, Jr. (Keaton) returns home to River Junction, Mississippi to reunite with his father, who hasn't seen his son since he was a baby. Confusion ensues, but when the two stand face to face, it's unmistakeable that the two are comically mismatched: the short, compact Keaton is dwarfed by the broad and tall Canfield, and the father's old-fashioned sense of manhood doesn't jibe with the son's artsy college-dandy sensibility (he arrives sporting a beret, pencil-thin moustache and ukelele tucked under his arm). Thus, "Willie" Canfield is an archetypal Keaton hero, with something to prove. The early scenes make the most of the son's difficult assimilation, as his father brusquely leads him around town by the hand and attempts to give him a make-over (in his high-strung expressiveness, Torrance made one of the finest foils for the deceptively minimalist Keaton). The situation takes a turn for the worse when Willie and King's daughter Mary (Marion Byron) fall hard for each other, embarking on a forbidden romance both fathers attempt to squelch. Willie's problems compound when his father winds up in jail and a hurricane suddenly sweeps into town. The natural disaster ironically affords Willie the opportunity to solve all of his problems—as long as he can save his father, his young love and himself. As always, Keaton's physicality is so deft that he often makes his stunts seem much easier than they are. Consider, for instance, the sequence when he's being shoved from one steamboat to the other and back again (in a single, increasingly funny take). On the other hand, the film's escalation of stunts is designed to make one's jaw drop ever lower. The amazing head-over-heels pratfalls of the first act are but prelude to a scene of a disoriented Willie stepping out of a moving car, walking against the wind (no mime here: Keaton struggles against massive wind machines), and surviving one of the most famous and audacious stunts in film history: Keaton's Willie standing nonchalantly unaware as a two-ton wall drops over him, a small attic window narrowly affording his body safe passage. The house gag is the most indelible image of Keaton's fearlessness as a performer (it's been suggested that the stunt was evidence of a half-hearted death wish, as it was filmed just after Keaton learned that his production unit was to be shut down). The extended rescue climax provides the heights of Steamboat Bill, Jr.'s ingenious choreography, but Keaton's brilliance as a performer shines just as brightly (if not more) in the simpler moments: the man could do more with a "take," a cocked head, or a flicked eyebrow than most performers could manage with their whole bodies. With a script officially credited to Carl Harbaugh but worked out in close collaboration with Keaton, Steamboat Bill, Jr. sports one of the star's most winning stories in its father-son triumph and redemptive triple rescue of the father, the bride-to-be, and the family business. It's appropriate that Keaton had a love of trains: his locomotive comedy stylings and screen persona suggest that "the Great Stone Face" could just as soon have taken the nickname "the Little Engine That Could. Above taken from Groucho Reviews: http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3800 Cast:
Buster Keaton: Willie Canfield Ernest Torrence: "Steamboat Bill" Canfield Tom Lewis: Tom Carter Tom McGuire: John James King Marion Byron: Mary King Joe Keaton: Barber Buster Keaton's sister Louise doubled for Marion Byron during the cyclone scene. http://www.beststuntaward.com/2013_01_01_archive.html Credits:
Directed by Charles Reisner Buster Keaton (uncredited) Produced by Joseph M. Schenck Written by Carl Harbaugh Buster Keaton (uncredited) Cinematography Bert Haines Devereaux Jennings Edited by Sherman Kell Distributed by United Artists Release dates May 12, 1928 (US) |
Donald MacKenzie
In July 1992 Donald began his long association with the Odeon Leicester Square Compton organ, by playing it for a number of events including a preview of 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Chaplin'. In November 1993 he was engaged to play the organ for 5 weeks before each performance of the film, 'Aladdin'. He was then appointed House Organist and has appeared regularly at film premières, special events and organ concerts. He has broadcast from the Odeon on BBC Radios 2, 3, 4 and the World Service. He has been featured on a number of television programmes and Donald has played for numerous Royal Film Performances, including four in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen.
Donald accompanied his first film when he was 14 for a special evening screening at Paisley Town Hall. He has now more than twenty feature films 'under his fingers' including the major classics of the silent screen - The Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, King of Kings, Carmen, The Black Pirate, Metropolis - as well as many different types of short silent films. His now renowned accompaniments have led to numerous bookings throughout the UK (including the Victoria Hall Hanley, Bournemouth Pavilion, in at Wolverhampton City Hall and the Lighthouse Media Centre, in London at the Odeon Leicester Square, Alexandra Palace and St Martin in the Fields, Somerton Arts Festival, in Tywyn at the Neu Pendre Hall), Ireland (in Belfast at St Annes Cathedral and Clonard Monastery), Germany (Weikersheim), USA (Boston University, Rivieria Theatre in Tonawanda), Holland (Scheidam Theatre) and most recently Poland. One of his most treasured memories was playing for the film 'Nosferatu' at the Usher Hall Edinburgh in October 2005 to a very enthusiastic full house. In December 2005 Donald appeared at the Odeon on an ITV programme, demonstrating the art of silent film accompaniment. |
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Tickets
All tickets are £8. All profits go to putting on more organ events and film nights at St John's Notting Hill, London. The £8 ticket price is needed to cover costs - unlike previous events, this film night is not supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (all HLF funding has now finished for music events and concerts, with the project officially ending on May 2nd 2015).
THIS SHOW IS NOW SOLD OUT. To stay up to date with future screenings, please sign up via the list above.
A limited supply of return tickets may be available at the door.
THIS SHOW IS NOW SOLD OUT. To stay up to date with future screenings, please sign up via the list above.
A limited supply of return tickets may be available at the door.
With thanks to the following websites for listing this event:
www.organrecitals.com
www.silentlondon.co.uk
www.organrecitals.com
www.silentlondon.co.uk