Live organ accompaniment by Dean Lemire!
Presented in partnership with Columbia River Theatre Organ Society
Join us as we kick off our Fall Silent Film Series featuring the great Buster Keaton. Keaton directed many of his own films, and is famous for his comedy style. He was best known for his films of the silent era, in which his trademark was physical comedy often with a stoic, deadpan expression; people called him “The Great Stone Face.”
Our first offering is the 1926 classic The General. In it, Buster Keaton portrays the passionate railroad engineer Johnnie Gray. When the Civil War begins, he is turned down for service because he’s more valuable as an engineer. His love, Annabelle, thinks it’s because he is a coward. When Union spies capture his train (The General) with Annabelle on board, Johnnie must rescue both of his loves. The General was filmed in Oregon near Cottage Grove.
In 2007, The General was ranked #18 by the American Film Institute on their 10th Anniversary list of the 100 best American movies of all time. Orson Welles stated that Keaton’s The General is “the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made.” A 2002 worldwide poll by British monthly film magazine Sight & Sound ranked The General as the 15th best film of all time.
Accompanying The General is Keaton’s classic short film: The Play House (1921) – After waking up from his wacky dream, a theater stage hand inadvertently causes havoc everywhere he works.
Join us on October 26 and November 29 as our Series continues. Our October Buster Keaton feature is Sherlock, Jr. with shorts The Haunted House, Neighbors and, The High Sign. In November, join us for The Navigator with Cops and The Goat.
All films will be shown with live musical accompaniment on the Beverly Ruth Nelson memorial organ by Dean Lemire.