As the looming specter of graduation inexorably approaches the senior class, the idea of escaping to a land where you never grow up becomes more and more appealing.
And this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Royce Hall, UCLA Live has arranged an opportunity to conjure the inner child and escape to Never Never Land through a rare screening of Herbert Brenon’s 1924 silent film version of “Peter Pan,” accompanied by UCLA organist Christoph Bull.
“Many of the other versions fiddle with the story to try to fix something that is near perfect,” said film historian David Pierce, who played a critical role in making modern commercial screening of the film possible.
Though many modern renditions of the classic story Peter Pan have been made on both stage and screen, Brenon’s is often considered to be one of the versions truest to author James M. Barrie’s original plot, thanks to Barrie’s direct assistance in the film’s production.
“I think it’s always interesting to see the author’s own vision as opposed to someone else’s interpretation of it,” said fourth-year English student Kate Brody-Adams.
Premiering on Christmas in 1924, “Peter Pan” was a successful hit for rising studio Paramount Pictures. However, the film’s success was short-lived, as most silent movies were ripped from theaters to make way for the new “talkies” a mere three years later.
For years, Brenon’s silent version of the fantasy was assumed to have been lost or, more likely, deteriorated over time. However, in 1971, an original copy of the film was found in the Eastman Theater in Rochester, N.Y. In surprisingly good condition, the film was able to be restored and was soon being shown to select audiences in the theater’s surrounding area.
“I was one of the few who got to see it, and I thought it was a great movie that needed to be seen by others,” Pierce said.
So, over the span of eight years, Pierce patiently fought legal battles over the film’s rights to finally make the movie available to the masses.
On Saturday, audiences will be given the rare opportunity to view this piece of movie history in UCLA’s very own Royce Hall, with accompaniment by organist Christoph Bull. Bull, who started playing the organ at age 12, has been performing ever since for various churches, movies, TV shows and musicals, and is currently teaching organ at UCLA. He previously provided music for UCLA Live’s Organ & Film screening, featuring shorts from such classic silent comedians as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. But this year is different.
“Writing music for a fantasy like “˜Peter Pan’ allowed me to be more free to use my musical language,” Bull said.
Unlike his previous organ accompaniments, in which he tried to stay true to the movies’ 1920s style, “Peter Pan” allowed Bull to incorporate a wide variety of music styles. Although he studied the film repeatedly, Bull said he relies heavily on improvisation.
“On Saturday, I will play the music in a unique way,” Bull said. “I will let the excitement of the performance and the reactions of the audience inspire me to do different things.”
Pierce also recognizes the importance of music in a performance such as this.
“With a silent movie, the music makes an enormous difference. It creates a bond between the audience and the movie, so a good score can make all the difference,” he said.
Today, many silent films are available for public viewing. They can easily be found on VHS and gradually more are being converted to DVD.
However, few will find this rare version of a classic childhood tale while sleuthing Netflix or Amazon.com.
“It’s rare that you get to see a silent movie with organ accompaniment, and I think “˜Peter Pan’ would be an excellent film to see in such a manner,” Brody-Adams said.