Silent Film Version of 'Peter Pan' at Bedford Library on Nov. 2

It was the film that introduced movie-goers to visions of flying children, magical fairies, human-like animals and menacing pirates.

It was the original silent film adaptation of ”Peter Pan,” a picture personally supervised by author J.M. Barrie. The film was a major hit when released in 1924, with audiences eager to get their first big-screen look at the wonders of Neverland.

Local movie fans can see for themselves when the first “Peter Pan“ (1924) is screened on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2:30 p.m. at the Bedford Public Library, 3 Meetinghouse Road in Bedford.

The program will feature live music for the movie by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free. The film is appropriate for all ages, making for a unique afternoon family afternoon.

The screening of ”Peter Pan” is presented by the Friends of the Bedford Library as part of a monthly Sunday Concert series. The program will take place in the McAllaster Room in the library’s lower level. Seating is limited to the first 100 people.

Jeff Rapsis, a resident of Bedford, is one of the nation’s leading silent film accompanists. Rapsis specializes in improvising music for silent film screenings at venues ranging from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. to the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in San Francisco, CA. He creates film scores in real time, as a movie is running, using a digital synthesizer to reproduce the texture of a full orchestra. He averages about 100 performances per year, and has created music for more than 200 different silent feature films.

“Improvising a movie score is a bit of a high wire act, but it can result in music that fits a film’s mood and action better than anything that can be written down in advance,” Rapsis said. “It also lends a sense of excitement and adventure to the screening, as no two performances are exactly alike.”

Rapsis encourages those who’ve never seen a silent film in live performance to check out the library’s screening of ”Peter Pan,” a proven audience favorite.

Thought lost for many years, and overshadowed by more recent adaptations, the original silent ”Peter Pan” maintains its freshness and charm 90 years after its original release.

In the story, first presented as a stage play in 1904, three children in London are visited one night by Peter Pan, a youth in search of his shadow. Pan shows his new friends how to fly, and then convinces them to join him in a journey to Neverland.

There they encounter Indians, mermaids, and a band of pirates whose leader, Captain Hook, is Pan’s sworn enemy. The children are captured by Hook and taken prisoner aboard his pirate ship, setting the stage for an epic battle, the outcome of which will determine if the children may ever return home.

Though the Peter Pan story is well-known today due to subsequent adaptations (and also merchandising that includes a ubiquitous brand of peanut butter), the tale was virtually new when Hollywood first brought it to film in the early 1920s. In England, author Barrie gave his blessing to the first-ever screen adaptation, though he retained control over casting and insisted that any written titles in the film be taken directly from his own text.

After a major talent search, Barrie settled on unknown 18-year-old actress Betty Bronson for the title role, and filming began in 1924. The role of Captain Hook was played by noted character actor Ernest Torrence, who invented the now-iconic villainous pirate persona that would become a Hollywood legend.

The film’s highlights include special effects that maintain their ability to dazzle even today. The film’s memorable images include a group of mermaids entering the sea, a miniature Tinkerbell interacting with full-sized children and adults, and a pirate ship lifting out of the water and taking flight.

‘Peter Pan’ also includes a cast of animal characters played by humans in costume, including the family dog Nana and an alligator who serves as Hook’s nemesis, lending the film a magical quality.

After the film’s release, no copies of the original ”Peter Pan” were known to exist, and for many years the film was regarded as lost. However, in the 1950s a single surviving print turned up in the George Eastman Archives in Rochester, N.Y., from which all copies today have descended.

”Peter Pan” will be shown with live music on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2:30 p.m. at the Bedford Public Library, 3 Meetinghouse Road, Bedford. Admission is free. For more information, call the library at 603-472-2300.

For more information about the music, visit jeffrapsis.com.

Photo caption: Accompanist Jeff Rapsis will supply live music to a screening of the original silent film version of ‘Peter Pan’ (1924). The restored film will be screened on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2:30 p.m. at the Bedford Public Library, 3 Meetinghouse Road, Bedford, N.H. Admission is free. For more information, call the library at 603-472-2300.

Submitted text. Courtesy photo.