BRATTLEBORO-A screening of The General (1926), one of Keaton's landmark feature films, will take place Friday, Jan. 30, at 6:30 p.m. at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St.
"He never smiled on camera, earning him the nickname of 'the Great Stone Face,'" organizers wrote in a news release. But Buster Keaton's comedies "rocked Hollywood's silent era with laughter" throughout the 1920s.
The screening will feature live accompaniment on the venue's Estey pipe organ by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire–based silent film musician.
The General, set during the Civil War, tells the story of a Southern locomotive engineer (played by Keaton) whose engine (named 'The General') is hijacked with his girlfriend on board by Northern spies.
Keaton, commandeering another train, races north in pursuit behind enemy lines. Can he rescue his girl? And can he recapture his locomotive and make it back to warn of a coming Northern attack?
Critics have long praised this film as Keaton's masterpiece, citing its authentic period detail, ambitious action and battle sequences, and its overall integration of story, drama, and comedy. It's also regarded as one of Hollywood's great railroad films, with much of the action occurring on or around moving steam locomotives.
Rapsis will improvise an original musical score as the movie is shown, as was typically done during the silent film era.
"When the score gets made up on the spot, it creates a special energy that's an important part of the silent film experience," Rapsis said.
With the Epsilon Spires screening, audiences will get a chance to experience silent film as it was meant to be seen - in a high-quality print, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.
"All those elements are important parts of the silent film experience," Rapsis said. "Recreate those conditions, and the classics of early Hollywood leap back to life in ways that can still move audiences today."
Keaton, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, still stand today as the silent screen's three great clowns. Some critics regard Keaton as the best of all; Roger Ebert wrote in 2002 that "in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, (Keaton) worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies."
"A remarkable pantomime artist," organizers wrote, "Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise." And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton's acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts.
The Keaton films are a great introduction to silent films for modern audiences, said Rapsis. "Keaton's comedy is as fresh today as it was a hundred years ago - maybe more so, because his kind of visual humor is a lost art."
Admission is $25 per person. Tickets may be purchased in advance at epsilonspires.org or at the door.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.