Silent Films Series: Kings of Comedy

Originally published on social media on April 30th, 2024

I cannot imagine a more charming way to end this April than by going to this silent film organ performance. For reasons that are hard to explain, I’ve always considered April to be a hope filled and enchanting month, and attending this performance was the cherry on top and left me feeling whimsical.

This is the second silent film series performance that I’ve attended at @wcpa_olympia , and I loved it more than I expected (and my expectations were high after last time). Dennis James plays the 1924 Wurlitzer Organ so well and with such attention to detail that he doesn’t merely play the organ, he performs a sort of magic trick for his audience. What is the trick? He creates a sort of Time Machine and takes you back to the 1920s.

If I wasn’t wearing my denim dress during this particular performance, I could have sworn he actually did (took me back in time). Watching silent films on the big screen, in theater seats, while Dennis plays the organ, makes you feel like your in an older movie theater and gives you an experience rare to us in these modern ages.

What I appreciate about Dennis is that he is such a wealth of historical knowledge surrounding the silent film era. Hearing him talk about Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin was captivating, and made you appreciate the films. Through the stories Dennis tells and the performances he gives, Dennis is preserving history and it is incredibly special and deserves support.

Enjoying performances like these is less about the films themselves, and more about the experience. If I were to describe the movies alone, I would say that Charlie Chaplin’s “The Pilgrim” was unintelligent and simplistic in its humor. However, because I now know (thanks to Dennis) that Charlie Chaplin was a composer and wrote the score for this film, I can appreciate the artistic qualities of the film. Admittedly, it didn’t take much convincing to get me to enjoy Harold Lloyd’s “Why Worry”: it was funny and I thought he was kind of hot. Not something I’ve ever said (or thought) about a silent film actor, but hey there is a first for everything.

Overall, I had lots of fun and I can’t wait for the next silent film organ performance at the WCPA.