Egyptian time travel on a Sunday afternoon
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Our out of the ordinary trek began at 2pm today as we entered the Egyptian Theatre in Boise, ID for an afternoon of Musical Movies – a Boise Philharmonic Orchestra production in tandem with silent film accompanist Ben Model – a regular featured artist at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Library of Congress. In all, we were treated to five different features- it was a great time for this film lover with the added bonus of the incredibly nostalgic feel of the Egyptian.
I’ve always loved the unique feel of the Egyptian Theatre. It was a very appropriate place to see “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” in 1989 and this was the perfect venue for viewing these historical films. I’ve always thought it very cool that Jimmy Stewart frequently played the theatre organ at this location while he was stationed in Boise during WWII.
The first three shorts were accompanied by the Boise Philharmonic orchestra members. They were:
-Felix (the Cat) in “Pedigreedy” (1927)
– Charlie Chaplin’s “The Adventurer” (1917)
– Buster Keaton’s “One Week” (1920)
Out of the these three films, both “Pedigreedy” and “One Week” were scored by Ben Model and this was the world premiere of the Felix the Cat score. I thoroughly enjoyed all three of these short features and the orchestra, conducted by Yorgos Kouritas did an outstanding job. It was actually really neat to sit and imagine oneself sitting in the seats 85 years ago and enjoying some of these same films.
Egyptian revival architecture in America
After a brief intermission and a change of setup as the orchestra left and the portion of the stage where the organ resides was uncovered and prepared for Mr. Model, I grabbed a few pictures with my almost adequate phone camera. The quality isn’t the best in some of these and I apologize- left the Hasselblad in the glove compartment.
As the organ was prepared, it was noted that the pipes for the organ reside in the vertical patterned wall pieces behind each of the seated golden figures found on either side of the stage- this provided the 1927 stereophonic effect.
The last two features were accompanied by Ben Model on the Egyptian’s pipe organ. They were:
–Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle – “Fatty’s Plucky Pup” (1915)
-Harry Langdon’s “Fiddlesticks” (1927)
If I had to pick a least favorite out of the group, it would have been Arbuckle’s film. That would only be because I didn’t care for his character from the get go. Needless to say I enjoyed them all and enjoyed hearing Model play and speak briefly about his work. I can see where the style is a lot like jazz as it feels very improvisational. He was very good and his talent was unquestionable.
If you visit Ben Model’s website: www.silentfilmmusic.com you can also see his video blog on his visit to Boise in the fall of 2010. He features some nice interior shots of the Egyptian as well.
A shot from the balcony of the Egyptian Theatre
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