THE LIVING NICKELODEON PART III
PARTE III: Accompaniment by music matching the film’s emotional content
SLIM JIM AND JACK FAT AT LUNA PARK (tr. l.: Jim il magro e Jack il grasso al Luna Park. Vitagraph, 1910). 16mm. D.: 5’30”. Da Museum of Modern Art
During the early years of the century, Coney Island was both a destination of choice for New Yorkers and a topic of choice for the growing film industry, usually with a twist or two. This MOMA 16mm print has German main and intertitles.
Accompaniment: selections from Sam Fox Moving Picture Music. Music by J. S. Zamecnik (1912). War Scene, Oriental Veil Dance, Grotesque or Clown Music, Funeral March, Sailor Music, Oriental Music Trio, War Scene.
Illustrated Song Slides. “When Broadway Was a Pasture” (1911). Words by Joe McCarthy, music by Al. Piantadosi. Slides by Scott & Van Altena.
SUSPENSE (Rex, 1913). 35mm. D.: 8s. Da Museum of Modern Art
Lois Weber was one of the earliest and most important female silent film directors. This film amply reveals her talents, as it features one special effect after another. Notice in particular the keyhole shot, the extraordinary split-screen treatments, the overhead subjective shot, and the carefully placed mirror shots.
This 35mm MOMA print is from a master restored by the British Film Institute.
Accompaniment: selections from Sam Fox Moving Picture Music. Music by J. S. Zamecnik (1912): Death Scene, Mysterious – Burglar Music I, Mysterious – Burglar Music II, Hurry Music (for Duels), Hurry Music (for Struggles)
Illustrated Song Slides: “My Lovin’ Picture Man” (1913). Words & music by Ben and Dave Levy & Leo Friedman. Slides by DeWitt C. Wheeler
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