Silent Film Era Makes a Brief Return

If you attended the showing of silent films at the Skokie Theatre last weekend, you probably noticed something that wasn't silence: the piano accompaniment of David Drazin.

“I think people are fascinated by the old films,” said Drazin, whose playing was part of the Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie's silent film series at the theater during the Backlot Bash.

The gangster action of Walking Back was more menacing and the antics of Syd Chaplin in Charlie's Aunt were even more hilarious--all because of the piano music's emphasis.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the Bash, the Skokie Theatre was a place to sit down and enjoy part of the town's history. In the early 20th century, Skokie was a popular backlot location for making silent films. The Backlot Bash is named in honor of this history.

The showing of silent movies is becoming a fair tradition as well. This is the third year Drazin's piano playing accompanied films shown during the Bash.

Originally, the venue only showed short films—the idea being that people would move in and out of the theater as they sampled all of annual festival's activities.

When it was discovered that people stuck around to watch the movies, organizers started thinking of longer features. While there were plenty of shorts shown last weekend, the 1925 comedy Charlie's Aunt, featuring Syd Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's half-brother, was the longest, coming in at 70 minutes.

“I really like the movies—I love them,” said Drazin, explaining his motivation for being a silent film accompanist, in an era where the demand for them is probably not the highest.

Drazin is a jazz and blues pianist and most of his accompaniment to the films is improvised. Last weekend, he sat off to the side at the piano, creating a score as the film played on the screen.

He said that he occasionally used sheet music, but preferred improvisation. His goal is to create music that could still be listened to as a performance, even if the movie disappeared. That is no easy feat, considering Charlie's Aunt ran for more than an hour nonstop. To put it into musical perspective, even the longest symphonies are much shorter. 

Other movies that made it to the big screen were AWOL (1918), His New Mamma (1924), Along Came Auntie (1926), Guardian of the Wild (1927), Oh, Doctor (1917), The Garage (1919), The Boat (1921), The Sea Lion (1921) and Walking Back (1928).

Some moviegoers settled in for the entire time, while others popped in to take a look and were then on their way. Some stayed after the showing to ask Drazin questions, which he answered with what appeared to be comprehensive knowledge of silent film.

Audience members speculated on if Syd Chaplin would have been as famous as his half-brother had he continued into the “talkie” era. They also discussed film stars with Chicago-area connections.

Drazin said he began accompanying silent movies in 1985, when he attended a silent film at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. He noticed an unoccupied piano, asked if he could accompany the film, and has been the staff accompanist since then.

The Evanston resident said he has picked up gigs throughout the Chicago area, as well as nationally and internationally.