Anything But Silent
Anything But Silent
Live Organ Accompaniment by Ben Model
Douglas MacLean in Bell Boy 13 (1923)
Tuesday, January 14th at 7:30
$11 Members | $16 Public
Douglas MacLean, known as “The man with the million dollar smile”, starred in 23 silent features from 1919 to 1927 but is almost completely forgotten today, with many of his films lost or incomplete. Thankfully, silent film accompanist, Ben Model, has produced digital restorations of two rare surviving Douglas MacLean comedies that were preserved by the Library of Congress - one of which will be shown as part of January’s Anything But Silent series. In Bell Boy 13, Douglas MacLean has to sneak away from his job at his uncle’s law firm in order to get married in another city. With his Uncle in pursuit, MacLean weaves a wacky series of adventures evading another woman intent on marrying him, the L.A fire department, and a mysterious crook! Paired with the film will be a 1920 short that tours the Thomas Ince Studios and includes glimpses of MacLean making one of his films. (USA, 1923, Silent with English Intertitles | Dir. William A. Seiter)
Ben Model is one of
America’s leading silent film accompanists, and has been playing piano
and organ for silent films at the New York MoMA since 1984, and the CAC
since 2006.