Love, Locomotives and Laughs... with live music!

April is off to a good start! I went on the 4th to see "The General" with live music accompaniment by the National Symphony Orchestra and acclaimed organist Dennis James. The concert hall that the event was held in was rather large and I am happy to report that most seats were taken. And that there were a great deal of youngsters there.

Sadly, I could only afford the cheap seats, in a tiered level all the way in the back. (I opted for seating further back but straight on over closer but on the sides). My sister went with me. I was disappointed with how small the screen was; it was like watching the film on a small television screen across a very large room. Also, the lights were merely dimmed so that the orchestra players could read their music, which I understand, but sadly made the contrast too low to see most of the "night" scenes.

Having said that, it was a great experience. It was my first time seeing a silent film with live music accompaniment, and I've been wanting to watch Buster Keaton with live music for ages.

The live music accompaniment was great, but the live audience was even better. I have watched Buster's movies so many times, but often alone or with my sister (or, very rarely, with the occasional soul I've tricked, bribed, shamed or guilted into giving Keaton's movies a chance).

I got the impression that many people in the audience hadn't seen the film before, or had seen it so long ago that it was new to them again. It was magical to hear other people enjoy Keaton's work, especially since it's so hard to find outside of that setting. It's like a drug, really. I'm jonesing for another dose of Keaton with a live crowd (and even better, live music, as well).

We were encouraged to cheer the hero and hiss at the bad guy.

A few people attempted hissing, but it never really caught on.

Applauding Keaton, however, was enthusiastically embraced. Some scenes with memorable rounds of applause included the cannon firing "straight", Keaton clearing off the last piece of wood from the tracks with the one that got him caught up on the cow chaser, the reclaiming of The General, the switched rail line that leads the enemy's engines onto the raised drop-off after appearing like it was about to run into The General, the infamous train crash, and Johnnie Gray getting his Lieutenant uniform.

A few, me included, clapped for the bad guys once, sort of. It's the scene after Johnnie Gray has bent the rail with a chain and the Northern Army has spent several scenes struggling to fix the rail, with the engineer watching from behind. The scene I love is when, after quite a bit of bumbling by a dozen soldiers, the engineer walks up and fixes their problem in 30 seconds flat.

Big laughs came from the recruitment scene, the cannon scene, all the abuse poor Annabelle Lee endures, and--oh, well countless scenes. All of the sight gags went over well, and I was glad to hear so many of the subtle humor in the film being caught and appreciated.

As we were leaving, I heard dozens of comments of praise for the film. And I heard one woman talking about how handsome Buster Keaton was. And I smiled. For all the sheer brilliance of the film, Buster Keaton himself will never go unnoticed.

Certainly not while I'm around.