I didnt know Rick Wakeman did a soundtrack for it, George Moroder did one, which I have. A quick look at IMDB.com mentions the Moroder version, an original score [IIRC mostly Wagner] version, a version that mentions only electronically generated sound effects, no Rick Wakeman. I think I have an extra copy of the Moroder one if you like, Ill need to dig around. I may not have the case for it any longer [I had apparently lost the case, and thought the entire thing was gone and bought a second, then found the original disc…]
You should try Dr Mabuse, der Spieler, ein Bild der Zeit I just picked it up a month or 2 ago, as I really liked M which led me to Das Testement des Dr Mabuse All 3 are Fritz Lang, and sort of in the same ‘universe’ - some of the cast are the same in all 3 movies [Frohman the homicide inspector is one of my favorite movie characters]
I seem to remember seeing Haxan recommended previously [probably by you =)] but did you know there is a shot for shot duplication of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari as a soundie [I think this is the one, netflix was refusing to play nice with me on a fast search for the specific one] that is good. I found it randomly watching instant gratification netflix =) and I can recommend it for being very watchable, though being a soundie sort of baffled me =)
sigh youse guys are making me poor, i just ordered Haxan and Seventh Seal from Criterion …
What, no love for The Phantom of the Opera? Then it is to be war between us!
There’s a group called the Alloy Orchestra that does live accompaniment to silent films. (At least they did, I’m not sure if they’re still active.) I’ve seen Metropolis with them playing, and I think some of their work is on DVD.
In case you hadn’t heard, at its premiere in 1927, the film was 153 minutes. For various reasons, it was hacked to ribbons over the years, and whole sections were thought to be lost. A 75th anniversary restoration used all the known footage, plus some stills and descriptions to try to bridge the gaps in the story. That version was still 124 minutes, and it looked like it was all we were ever going to have. But a print was found last year in Buenos Aires. One site I read said it was the complete version, but that some small parts are too degraded to be usable. It’s being restored and preserved, and should be out sometime next year.
I’ll be there.
As for the music, when the sound was introduced in the twenties it wasn’t applied to all films immediately. Sometimes there would be a prerecorded score, when the movie wasn’t recorded with sound (or if only part of it had been recorded with sound).
Can’t really think of an example though.
(On a technical note, one of the early sound systems was vitaphone, which used sound on seperate discs. This is where the record speed of 33 1/3 originated. The system was good in terms of audio fidelity, but had the disadvantage that a number of films now survive without the recorded soundtrack, because there are no records left; or the soundtrack discs survive without picture, because the film itself was lost.)
My high-school German teacher brought in all the Dr. Mabuse films, plus M and some other German Impressionist stuff. By the time I was a senior, there were only five of us in the class, so it was pretty cozy.
Oh, and I’ve mentioned it before: The silent Japanese films with Sessue Hayakawa. Hubba-hubba.
Yeah, I’ve seen the Mabuse films and they’re quite good, but I have to admit that–Metropolis aside–I generally prefer the American Lang noirs to the German films. M, of course, is a classic, but so much of his stuff from the US period (Scarlet Street, While the City Sleeps, Fury, You Only Live Once, The Big Heat) is brilliant, complex, and criminally underrated.
I should’ve included a Chaney in my list, so I’d have to pick this one as my absolute favorite.
My favorite was the Club Foot Orchestra, who also did a marvelous score for the Lang.
As pointed out above, Giorgio Moroder (and a lot of people he asked) did a score for Metropolis. Rick Wakeman didn’t (I’m a big fan of his) I think you’re confusing Metropolis with Phantom of the Opera, which he DID do a score for. And bitterly disappointing it was, too. When I heard he was going to do it, I eagerly went to the theater. Having heatrd Wakeman’s Judas Iscariot cut from criminal Record, I knew he could produce the sounds of a psychotic organist.
But the score for Phantom was AWFUL!!! I hated it, and never watched it again.
on the other hand, although it’s generally reviled, I love Morodor and company’s score for Metropolis. I have it on VHS, and have recently dubbed it to DVD. There is a recording of the score available, but it’s significantly different from the one used for the movie.
incidentally, Moroder’s print of the film was far superior to all the others available, except for the relatively rare Kino version. Now that Metropolis has been “restored”, that version is the best one you can get. It avoids Moroder’s tinting (which purists disdain). In addition, although Moroder added lots of lost footage, he a ctually cut other footage out to keep the running time at 89 minutes. I still love his version, though.
What really got me into silent films were the recent restorations, some of them only available on DVD.Besides Metropolis, there’s:
Phantom of the Opera – the two-disc set features not only the restored Technicolor “Bal Masque” sequence, but also the Phantom’s red cape on the rooftop. It also has the original, pre-color 1925 version, which I had never seen before. It also features lost and excised scenes and the remaining sound recordings from the 1929 release.
** The Lost World** – about ten years ago it was restored to 95% of its original length, using seven different versions. Infinitely better than any version I’d seen previously. A surprising number of effects shots had been excised, and the many cuts that were made interrupted the story. The disc has comments by the guy who wrote the annotations to the Annotated Lost World, which is a great companion.
Nosferatu – a complete restoration still hasn’t been released, despite what the box says, but the latest version is still a lot better than what we had previously.
Ben Hur – with Technicolor sequences!
The Works of Winsor McCay – superb and complete collection of the work of this animation pioneer. His first work has had the hand-applied coloring restored, and it looks gorgeous.
It’s a funny story. That copy had actually been shown to audiences in South America a few times. I think that was how it eventually transpired that it was even longer than the longest restoration so far.
What’s more, after this became known, a *second *complete copy turned up as well! That one was a 9.5 mm film, what we would call a lower resolution, but still.
I just watched Henry King’s Tol’able David, recently issued on DVD for the first time. It was surprisingly good. Something of a melodrama, but the acting was far more naturalistic, for the most part–until the melodrama really kicks in–than you’d expect from a 1921 silent. Richard Barthelmess, in the title role, was incredibly appealing, which went a long way toward tempering the melodrama. And the violence was very real, pretty disturbing; the bad guys weren’t simply mustache twirlers, they were bad, underscore,* guys*.
What’s incredible with The General and many other films is realizing that there’s very little trick photography used or body doubles: all that is Buster Keaton, and many of those stunts were dangerous. Incredible artist.
Similarly amazing is the sets for some of the epics, particularly Griffith’s INTOLERANCE. No trick photography: those buildings were there! That awesome shot of Babylon that ends with the zooming in on the birds was built on a 1:1 scale, and ditto Paris and the other scenes. There were also extras in Birth of a Nation who really were present at Lincoln’s assassination and advisors who fought in the Civil War.
Also: Paragon Ragtime Orchestra’s fantastic silent film programs; we have seen them accompany The Mark of Zorro, and you can buy the DVD with them doing the soundtrack. Go see them! Plus the Beau Hunks, a Dutch group that do Little Rascals and Laurel and Hardy music. Not all silent, but all delightful.
The funny thing is that in The General they throw trains off bridges into rivers, cling like monkeys to cow-catchers, jump around between moving locomotives, etc., and evidently the most dangerous stunt that worried the train people the most is that hilarious shot of Keaton sitting on the arm-thing of the locomotive wheels as it slowly moves him up and down and drives away - it’s evidently really, really hard to drive a steam locomotive precisely enough to do that safely.
That’s called a side rod and yeah, you’d have a hard time talking me into duplicating the feat. I wouldn’t be too keen on the pilot (cowcatcher) stunts, either.
For the railroad scenes, the movie company bought a logging road in Oregon that was going defunct, and basically trashed it. I particularly love the scene where he’s fussing with the fire, totally oblivious to whole armies marching behind him. Only Keaton would use the CSA and the GAR as a foil.
That train engine going in the river was the most expensive film shot up to that time. The film was apparently also impressive for being one of the most accurate in civil war soldiers’ uniforms and overall outfitting, but I wouldn’t know - I’ll defer to one of our historians.
I’ll stick up for Chaplin - The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus, and City Lights are all great. I love them and I’m not ashamed.
Nobody’s mentioned (or I missed it) The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame - two more greats.
Be at the restored Plaza Theater in downtown El Paso October 29th. 7:00 p.m.
$5 admission. Music from the mighty Wurlitzer Organ.
And if you’re into more information than you really wanted to know about silents, get “The Parade’s Gone By” by Kevin Brownlow
I really miss Eve … especially in threads like this…