First of all, the Wilton Town Hall Theater is amazing. It was built in 1886 for travelling shows and vaudeville performances. In 1912 it was converted into a silent movie house. There are two theaters, a smaller theater and a larger theater. The Kid was playing in the larger of the two theaters, which features: old wooden floors, large comfy seats, a stage and curtains that open to reveal the movie screen - red curtains - sweet! It's absolutely perfect. In this setting, they played 2 shorts from the 1920s followed by The Kid (1921). The music was perfect, Jeff Rapsis did an amazing job. It blended with the movie so perfectly that I forgot there was someone playing live! I was completely engrossed in the story.
I went to this movie thinking it would be fun in an historical, novel kind of way - but instead it was surprising and amazing and funny. The Kid is the first film to combine drama and comedy. Apparently comedians were not expected to make full length films, so at first, comedy was limited to shorts. Charlie Chaplin changed that; by creating and directing the Kid, he became the first comedian to release a full length feature film. The complexity of the story he told, with no sound and no color, is simply amazing. It speaks to his intelligence and ability. The interactions between Chaplin and The Kid (who later goes on to play Uncle Fester in the Addams Family) are both funny and touching. This movie is so good, that I would go see it again.
I actually tried looking it up on You Tube, but the image is small and blurry and sometimes there is no music, and when there is music it's just awful and sometimes they add sound effects. Horrible. I do not recommend it. But, keep your eyes open for any old movie houses offering similar screenings - because THEN it is too good to pass up!
Just a word of thanks from Jeff Rapsis and all of us who stage the silent film screenings at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre. To hear you enjoyed 'The Kid' so much, and that it was more than just an historical curiosity, is really heartening, and it's great to see you thought enough of the experience to write about it online. Thank you for coming and I hope you can join us for future screenings at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre and other venues in the area!
ReplyDeleteJeff Rapsis
Thank you Jeff! What a surprise! I have no idea how you found my tiny blog, but I'm glad you did. I brought a small group with me and we all enjoyed the show thoroughly. I won't be able to make this coming Sunday, but we plan on going to the Peter Pan showing (with maybe a few additional guests). Thank you for the time, practice and organization that you put in to make this kind of unique event possible!
ReplyDelete