http://knoxnews.com/news/2008/jan/27/silent-movie-accompanied-by-musi...
Silent movie accompanied by musical pros
By Doug Mason (Contact)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
a.. What: 1923 silent movie with six piece orchestra accompaniment
b.. When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Feb. 1-2
c.. Where: Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston
Pike
d.. Tickets: $10, free for children 12 and under. Advance tickets may be
purchased atwww.knoxtix.comor 865-523-7521
Movies were never really silent. And "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" isn't a
horror film.
So if you think you wouldn't enjoy an 85-year-old silent movie, maybe you
should think again. Chances are you've already been wrong twice.
The 1923 classic "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" will be shown at 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1-2, at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian
Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike.
But what makes the screening really special is the musical accompaniment: a
six-piece orchestra composed of professional musicians, including members of
the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.
Arranging the score for a silent movie has been a dream project for Will
Dunklin, who will conduct the orchestra.
He has put together a score for "Hunchback" using snippets of classical
music, vintage popular music and incidental music originally found in
original silent movie cue-sheets. Though original scores were created for a
few silent movie epics, most local-cinema organists winged their way through
the movie with the aid of musical cue sheets provided by the studios.
However, Dunklin has come up with an original arrangement. He has chosen
themes for the main characters, as well as music that fits the moods and
situations of individual scenes. He says 30 seconds is about the average"
length for each piece of music played. "The longest piece is four minutes."
Dunklin, 46, is the former music director at Tennessee Valley. He is a movie
buff whose first interest in the silent era was in its theaters rather than
its films. His passion led him to become house manager at Memphis' Orpheum
Theatre, which opened in 1928. Like Knoxville's Tennessee Theatre, it just
missed the silent era.
Dunklin was house manager at the Orpheum 1986-89. In 1993, he moved to
Knoxville to attend the University of Tennessee, where he earned a degree in
architecture. He is now an intern architect at the Knoxville firm Blue Ridge
Architecture.
Dunklin says Tennessee Valley's Performing Arts & Lecture Series offered him
the opportunity to finally provide the music for a silent film. He has
worked on the project with Vicki Masters, current music director at the
church.
Masters will also play piano for the "Hunchback" screening. The other
musicians are Steve Benne, principal bass for the KSO; Shelley Binder,
professor of flute at UT; alto saxophonist Nathan Keedy, who has been an
adjunct instructor at UT; Bill Pierce, who plays viola with the KSO; and Ken
Moffett, who plays euphonium with the Knoxville Wind Orchestra.
Dunklin studied sacred music at Western Kentucky University, but his chief
interest is the music of the 'teens and '20s.
"Ragtime, early jazz, Broadway and Tin Pan Alley," he says. He's found use
for such period music in "Hunchback." The historical drama, based on Victor
Hugo's novel, takes place in 15th century Paris. But Dunklin says the
occasional rag fits the period in which the movie was made.
"One of the pieces I've used is from a little rag called 'That Hindu Rag,'"
he says. "I've used it in the opening scene of the film, which is the Feast
of Fools, a huge celebration."
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was chosen because of its familiarity. Local
film historian Jeff Gordon, who will speak before the screenings, suggested
the 1923 blockbuster, which was Paramount's highest-grossing silent film.
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" made a major star of Lon Chaney, Hollywood's
Man of a Thousand Faces, who transformed himself into the deformed hunchback
Quasimodo, the bell ringer at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral.
A DVD of the film will be digitally projected on to a screen, a process that
doesn't produce the best picture quality. Plus, there aren't any perfect
prints of "Hunchback" out there. Gordon brought Dunklin the best quality DVD
he could find. Dunklin says it doesn't look bad and, besides, the rare
opportunity to see a silent classic accompanied by an orchestra makes up for
any imperfections.
There's been a bit of silent cinema renaissance in Knoxville. In November, a
screening of the rarely seen 1927 silent "Stark Love," starring Knoxville
actress Helen Monday, drew a standing-room only crowd at the East Tennessee
History Center.
Doug Mason may be reached at 865-342-6441.
--
Bruce Calvert
--
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Archivehttp://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com
