THE LIVING NICKELODEON PART I
Overture: “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” (1910), Lyrics by Rida Johnson Young, Music by Victor Herbert.
PARTE I: Source music only
DRESS PARADE OF SCOUTS, ST. LOUIS EXPO (tr. l.: Parata in uniforme di Scout, Expo di St. Louis. Biograph, 1904, D.: 1’08”).
Shot like hundreds of others at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, this film records the maneuvers of U.S. scouts and their Filipino counterparts.
Accompaniment: “You’re a Grand Old Flag” (1906). Words & music by George M. Cohan.
THE COWBOY AND THE LADY (tr. l.: Il cowboy e la signora. Biograph, 1903, D.: 1’19”). R.: Billy Bitzer
Shot by Billy Bitzer in Biograph’s New York City studio, this film borrows motifs from the contemporary cowboy craze.
Accompaniment: “Champagne Rag” (1910). Music by Joseph F. Lamb.
Illustrated Song Slides: “In the City of Sighs and Tears” (1902). Words by Andrew B. Sterling, music by Kerry Mills. Slides by Wheeler or Harston disguised as Lubin.
A DISCORDANT NOTE (tr. l.: Una nota dissonante. Biograph, 1903, D.: 38”). R.: Billy Bitzer
Also shot by Bitzer, this is one of many period films portraying the making of music—if you can call it that!
Accompaniment: “Wait Till the Sun Shines Nellie” (1905). Words by Andrew B. Sterling, music by Harry Von Tilzer.
THE MELOMANIAC (tr. l.: Il melomane. Méliès, 1903, D.: 1’58”).
“Just listen to those telephone wires sing!” goes the saying, but this film brings new meaning to the expression, as the bandmaster (played by Méliès himself) introduces a heady new form of musical transcription. Accompaniment: “America” (“God Save the Queen”). Words by Samuel F. Smith, music source unknown.
Illustrated Song Slides: “She Waits By the Deep Blue Sea” (1905). Words by Edward Madden, Music by Theodore Morse. Slides by Scott & Van Altena
THE IRRESISTIBLE PIANO (tr. l.: Il piano irresistibile. Gaumont, 1907). 16mm. D.: 4’32”. Da Museum of Modern Art
Another French import requiring the resident pianist to follow the antics of an on-screen pianist.
This 16mm print is from the MOMA collection. Accompaniment: “Sensation” (1908). Music by Joseph F. Lamb.
Film Notes
The Living Nickelodeon is a new kind of show. Reconstructing pre-World War I cinema exhibition practices, The Living Nickelodeon brings together several types of entertainment in a multimedia program. The films, carefully chosen from New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Paper Print Collection at the Library of Congress, include little-known masterpieces by well-known directors like Edwin S. Porter, D. W. Griffith, and Lois Weber, as well as several films chosen for the variety of accompaniment challenges that they present.
Today we too often think of nickelodeons as film theaters, whereas in fact they regularly featured other media as well. The Living Nickelodeon is proud to feature illustrated song slides from the Marnan Collection. These 8 x 10 cm hand-colored glass slides served as the nickelodeon’s main basis for live entertainment and audience participation. Like period programs, The Living Nickelodeon also makes heavy use of lantern slide advertisements and announcements.
The Living Nickelodeon is made up of several different short programs, each exemplifying one type of accompaniment practice common during the prewar period. Our research has demonstrated that during this early period music was often used between the films rather than during them. Many films were accompanied only while a sound source remained on-screen. Others were accompanied by the songs that inspired them. Around 1910 a common practice was to choose popular songs as accompaniment, not by their sound but according to connections with the image suggested by the song’s title or lyrics.
In an attempt to help audiences relive a period when film spectatorship was much more active than it has since become, The Living Nickelodeon uses singalongs, constant chatter among the performers, and interpellation of spectators to induce an experience of active audience participation.
Rick Altman