Silent Stars Return to the Spotlight

The Museum of Modern Art will open a new program that brings back old silent movies from famous filmmakers. Visitors can watch three films made by Charles Chaplin on August 2, including the charming “A Dog’s Life, ” a war comedy called “Shoulder Arms, ” and a short propaganda piece that encouraged people to buy U. S. Liberty Bonds. Chaplin’s team, which featured his brother Sydney and regular actors Albert Austin and Edna Purviance, worked together on the last film. Buster Keaton’s biggest hit during his life was “The Navigator” (1924). The film, which follows a shipwreck adventure, is shown on July 30. A pianist named Ben Model and an organist called Makia Matsumura will play music to match the movie. Keaton’s style was cool and logical, different from Chaplin’s warm humor. Two other old movies that were hard to find are restored for the first time. “What Price Glory” (1926), directed by Raoul Walsh, mixes comedy with vivid war scenes. It has no spoken words but uses sound effects, a technique Chaplin also used in his later silent films. The restoration shown on July 31 looks great and shows the film’s original energy.

John Ford’s “3 Bad Men” (1927) also received a new release. The movie, which shows the Old West in wide shots, will have a fresh orchestral score by Timothy Brock on August 3. This film was almost lost after a fire in 1937 destroyed many silent movies from the Fox studio. The disaster killed a boy and erased almost all of Ford’s early Westerns, as well as many films by other stars like Tom Mix and Theda Bara. The preservation of these movies is thanks to people who saved original prints before they were destroyed. One such person was Iris Barry, the first curator of MoMA’s film department, who travelled worldwide to collect films. Her efforts helped keep titles like “Sunrise” alive for new audiences. “Sunrise, ” a silent drama by Murnau, shows how powerful movies can be without spoken dialogue. The film’s story is simple and universal, so it still makes sense even if subtitles are removed. Critics say that the lack of dialogue lets viewers focus on the characters’ emotions and the film’s visual beauty.

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