In this episode, Ben and Kerr talk about: Ben’s accompanying a rare Reginald Denny feature, sight-unseen, at Capitolfest 21; the rediscovery of “The Gorilla” (1927) and accompanying it on both piano and on theatre organ; Ben tries a new approach to underscoring the house-fall in Buster Keaton’s “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” (1928); the challenges and concerns… Read More »ep. 66: Catching up on live shows from the 2nd half of 2024 ..read more

Episode 66 Show Notes: Catching up on live shows from the second half of 2024 On this episode, Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s process for scoring Roland West’s “The Bat” (1926) for a home video release. The new restoration was produced and released by Ben’s Undercrank Productions home video label. Announcement: Ben’s book The… Read More »Episode 66 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast ..read more

In this episode: On this episode, Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s process for scoring Roland West’s “The Bat” (1926) for a home video release. The new restoration was produced and released by Ben’s Undercrank Productions home video label. Show notes for episode 65 can be found here ..read more

Episode 65 Show Notes: Scoring Roland West’s “The Bat” (1926) On this episode, Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s process for scoring Roland West’s “The Bat” (1926) for a home video release. The new restoration was produced and released by Ben’s Undercrank Productions home video label. Sign up for Ben’s regular email here to keep… Read More »Episode 65 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast ..read more

Not all of my home video projects are initiated by me. I’ve co-produced and released Blu-rays and DVDs for projects who were the brainchild of fellow film accompanists Jon C. Mirsalis and Andrew Earle Simpson, historian-educator-author Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, and my friends at the Library of Congress. I’m pleased to let you know that there’s another… Read More »You Can Help Bring 2 Tom Tyler Silent Westerns Back to Fans ..read more

Episode 63 Show Notes: Scoring Decisions and Transitions Ben continues exploring the various techniques and shadings of the matter of scoring the action going on inside a character’s head in silent film. Ben discusses his busy schedule this spring, which kept him away from some of the long-term schedules (Accidentally Preserved Volume 5, Episode 100… Read More »Episode 63 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast ..read more

In this episode: Ben accompanies Tom Mix in “Sky High” at the Library of Congress, adapting for organ some themes he originally composed for piano; Ben and Kerr discuss the importance of seeing silents with live music, and how a film may play one way when watched alone and completely differently at a show; Ben… Read More »ep. 62: accompanying a Mary Pickford film on campus, Marcel Perez at the Silent Clowns, Monta Bell at MoMA, and more ..read more

Today I made one last trip to my local post office, bringing the last batch of backer copies to the USPS. In late March 2022, I launched a Kickstarter for a new Blu-ray/DVD project, Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian. The project funded in a few hours, finishing up with a total of 536 classic… Read More »Raymond Griffith: Ready To Launch ..read more

One of the questions people ask me is “Do you ever accompany a film that you haven’t seen before?” The answer is “yes”. Although it happens less often than it did a decade or so ago, because now most films either have been restored digitally and an archive can provide a private screener link, or… Read More »“Sight-Reading” a Reginald Denny Comedy ..read more

Credits a film by Ben Model“THE PUERTO RICAN MAMBO (not a musical)”74 mins – color – monostarring Luis Caballerowith Howard Arnesson, Jeff Eyres, John Fulweiler, Susan Gaspar, David Healy, John Leguizamo (as “Johnny Leggs”), Carolyn McDermott, Sandy McFadden, Lucia Mendoza, Ben Model, Mary Perez, Mike Robleswritten by Luis Caballeroadapted for the screen, edited, produced and… Read More »“The Puerto Rican Mambo (Not a Musical)” – 1992 – indie comedy feature ..read more