By Liam Otten
March 23, 2001
Pianist Martin Marks, author of 1997's "Music and the Silent Film: Contexts and Case Studies, 1895-1924," will introduce and accompany a special screening of the silent film "His People" (1925). It is one of the earliest depictions of Jewish life to be produced by a major Hollywood studio. The screening begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Steinberg Auditorium.
Marks has arranged piano accompaniments for more than 100 silent films, including such cinema landmarks as "Broken Blossoms," "The General," "The Gold Rush," "Metropolis" and "The Thief of Bagdad." He compiled, composed and recorded accompaniments for all the silent films in the acclaimed DVD boxed set "Treasures From American Film Archives: 50 Preserved Films" and has performed his work for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Library of Congress and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, among others.
He currently teaches music and film studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Directed by Edward Sloman, "His People" presents an evocative image of Jewish life on New York's lower east side. The film stars Rudolph Schildkraut as a Russian-Jewish immigrant whose two sons adapt to American life in very different ways: Morris becomes a lawyer, while Sammy turns to prizefighting. As the boys stray from traditions cherished by their parents, each generation must learn to accept change in order to preserve the family as a source of love and respect.
Produced by Universal Pictures, "His People" recently was restored by the National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University. Silent-film scholar Tom Gunning, professor of film studies at the University of Chicago, wrote that "few silent films give so thorough a picture of Jewish home life in the American ghetto." Critic Lester B. Friedman, author of "Hollywood's Image of the Jew," noted that "Sloman's compelling vision of the painful depths and joyous heights of immigrant life endow the film with an exuberant vitality that captivates modern filmgoers and enlightens film historians."
Marks said his new score contains tunes from 10 or so songs of the American Yiddish theater, extending from the 1900s-1940s.
Admission is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the University's Film and Media Studies Program; Jewish and Near Eastern Studies Program; and Department of Music in Arts & Sciences. For further information, call 935-4056.
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