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Last weekend the audience was transported back in time to the early 20th century where live orchestras provided the music and sound effects for silent films. While not as large as a full orchestra, the smaller orchestra would sit in the cockpit beneath the large screens in the movie palaces and play a score perfectly synchronized with the action of the film. To see such a feat performed before our eyes was truly awe-inspiring, for we are so used to the plastic perfection generated by computers and advanced technology. The movie scores were played with flawless energy full of magic, humor and pathos.
The Overture was a long-forgotten Ragtime tune, "Sailing Down The Chesapeake Bay" with an old music sheet cover projected on the movie screen depicting a steam boat. Those of us who frequent Claiborne beach know that once the ferries stopped there, bringing visitors to the Eastern Shore, in the days before the Bay Bridge was built. A train waited at the pier, ready to transport travelers on to Easton or Salisbury or Ocean City. An older lady once told me that there was a band and dancing on the some of the ferries as there was also a dancing pavilion near the pier at Claiborne. Until the 1950's, young people would come over from Baltimore and the Western Shore, dancing all the way.
The main part of the show was the screening of three silent classic films, accompanied by the music of the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. The films were The Blacksmith (1922) with Buster Keaton, The Rink (1916) with Charlie Chaplin and Get Out and Get Under (1920) with Harold Lloyd. With minimal captioned dialogue, the silent film actors relied on physical comedy, almost like clowns in a circus, with non-stop slapstick humor, reminiscent of the later Warner Brothers cartoons, which they probably inspired. It spoke to me of a more innocent era, when what we would now think of being solely for the entertainment of small children was considered entertainment for all. Most of all, the "heroes" of the silent films portrayed "down and out" characters who lived on the edge, so to say, just barely getting by, while conquering the odds in the end. While we think of the 1930's as the Great Depression we forget that the World War I era and the early 20's saw hard times for many Americans. Obviously a great many people could relate to the characters in the films, who were poor but resourceful and able to outwit any adversity. Plus the music was perky and energizing.
Scott Joplin's "The Ragtime Dance" (1902) was played before the Intermission and at the end a triumphal march, "The Enterpriser" by J. Bodewalt Lampe, was played as exit music. Throughout the show the conductor Andrew Greene would give historical background about the films and the music, and the great talents of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. The young person with me found it enjoyable and interesting. I wish there were still places where young people (and old) could dance to such fun music
