Silent Film, Rick Land, Concert Organist
Next Concert: April 30, 2023
(806) 376-6316
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Ticket Prices: $30 Adult - $10 Student

 

FASO is excited to present on Valentines Day, February 14, 2019 at 7:30 PM our first screening of the iconic romantic comedy silent film “Why Be Good?”.  “Why Be Good?” is a 1929 American silent romantic comedy film starring Colleen Moore presented in full cinematic glory, with FASO’s Artistic Director, organist & one of the country’s finest improvisators, Rick Land creating and per- forming live an organ sound track on the Aeolian- Skinner organ. The event offers a unique and romantic alternative to celebrating Valentines day with your significant other.

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In "Why Be Good?" Moore plays Pert Kelly, a chic yet down-home Bronx resident who lives with her folks but loves to carouse, to win Charleston dance contests and to charm the menfolk. The plot has Pert falling (and vice versa) for the new head of personnel at her place of employment. The sexual politics of "Why Be Good?" are fascinatingly scrambled and very much of their time. On the one hand, the movie advo- cates for the health, well-being and freedom of these jazz babies. On the other, it says the freedom's acceptable as long as it's essentially a lie — the woman's purity must be assured if she's to deserve her rich, handsome prince.

Silent movies, whose era lasted from film’s beginning to the late 1920s, when the talkies arrived, were shown in theaters to live musical accompaniment, usually by theater organists but sometimes by orchestras. Some had printed scores, but more often film distributors sent cue sheets to let the organist know what to expect in the way of action.Few of those scores/cue sheets have survived.

One reason for the growing interest in silent films has been the success of the 2011 film The Artist, a contemporary silent film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. But a bigger one has been the growth of digital projection and Blu-Ray DVDs. They have created a market for the restoration of old silent films and a way to show them in places that aren’t traditional movie theaters.

 

 

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