How sad that so few viewers will be able to experience seeing a silent film accompanied by a masterful artist playing a theatre pipe organ (e.g., Wurlitzer, Kimball, Moller, Barton, Compton, etc.). I recently saw Chris Elliott accompany this delightful movie on the fabulous Dickinson Kimball theatre pipe organ as one of the regular concerts held by the Dickinson Theatre Organ Society (Wilmington, DE). You forget that you are listening to a live accompaniment - the music becomes part of the film as if included in a soundtrack. But it's so much more than a soundtrack played back by a sound system. The organ tells the story just as much as do the facial expressions in these silent movies of the 1920s. The audience's laughter at the looks, antics, and words on the screen create an enjoyment unique to these silent flicks. At the conclusion of the movie, when Clara Bow gets her man, the mighty Kimball roared to a thrilling, full-organ climax at probably near 100 decibels.
Review of It
