On Friday afternoon the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in conjunction with The Academy of Motion Pictures presented Harold Lloyd: New Dimensions in Sight And Sound. The program was a part of the 2018 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival and was only open to pass-holders who were delighted by the new sights and sounds of the great silent movie comedian. The new sights were a collection of Lloyd’s Home movies and 3D photographs and the new sounds came from an old source…a 1917 American Fotoplayer.
Throughout the program the music was supplied by Joe Rinaudo performing on the Fotoplayer which is a piano-organ hybrid used in theaters in the silent movie era. The Fotoplayer was donated and restored by Mr. Rinaudo several years ago and is used by the Academy for movie programming and demonstrations. The Academy’s Fotoplayer is one of very few that are available for public view.
The highlight of the program was Rinaudo performing on the Fotoplayer while the movies Jazzed Honeymoon and Never Weaken were hand-cranked on a 1909 Power’s Cameragraph Projector by Mr. Rinaudo’s assistant Gary Gibson.
The program was hosted by Mr. Randy Habercamp of the Academy and Suzanne Lloyd, grand-daughter of the silent comedian.
TCM Classic Film Festival 2015: Dream Machine behind the scenes
HAROLD LLOYD: NEW DIMENSIONS IN SIGHT AND SOUND
2018 Turner Classic Film Festival Friday, April 27, 2018 2:30 pm
Admission: All Pass levels are eligible for this event. No Individual tickets are available for this passholder exclusive event.
Once again Professor Rinaudo will be in grand performance at the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood, but this time he won’t be cranking a projector.
Back in the Spring of 2015 the Professor, in conjunction with The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences cranked through a series of the earliest films showcasing the birth of the art of cinema and the progress made in its early years as can be seen in this very short video.
If you are one of the many who will be attending this year’s festival we implore you to make your way to the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater on Friday April 27th at 2:30pm to see the Professor accompany several Harold Lloyd silent short subjects on the Academy’s American Fotoplayer.
The Professor happens to be the “King of the Fotoplayers” as you will see when he plays music and sound effects by pulling levers and cords, and pushing buttons and switches with both hands and feet.See it in action here.
The Fotoplayer is a marvel of an invention that was used to provide music for silent films in the theaters that were too small for live orchestras. The Academy’s American Fotoplayer featured at this event was restored by Joe Rinaudo, Dave Hartman, and team.
The Professor’s assistant will be doing the cranking of the 1909 Power’s projector at this year’s event while the professor provides the musical accompaniment.
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Linwood Dunn Theater, with special guest Suzanne Lloyd, Harold Lloyd’s granddaughter. Join Randy Haberkamp, Managing Director of Preservation and Foundation Programs at the Academy, as Suzanne Lloyd shares the great silent comedian’s stunning 3D photography (including shots of Disneyland in 1955 and Marilyn Monroe poolside), personal home movies, a new 3D conversion of a sequence from Safety Last (1923) and additional Lloyd short subjects: A Jazzed Honeymoon (1919), produced and directed by Hal Roach and co-starring Harold’s frequent leading lady Bebe Daniels and comedian Snub Pollard, and thrill comedy Never Weaken (1921), produced by Roach and co-starring Harold’s real-life leading lady, his future wife (and Suzanne’s grandmother) Mildred Davis. Live accompaniment provided by Joe Rinaudo on the Academy’s newly restored 1917 Fotoplayer, a rare and amazing instrument designed during the era of silent film to provide musical accompaniment and sound effects at movie theaters that could not afford an orchestra. This Fotoplayer is one of only 12 in existence today. (Digital)
For more details on the Linwood Dunn Theater, click here.
Note: All Pass levels are eligible for this event. No Individual tickets are available for this passholder exclusive event.
Gary Oldman and Laura Dern crank projector inside Professor Rinaudo’s Itinerant Show tent at the 90th Academy Awards. (Click on photo for hi-rez version.)
PROFESSOR RINAUDO and his Amazing Hand-Cranked MOVING PICTURE MACHINE
present an Itinerant Tent Show at the 90TH OSCARS March 4, 2018
Sunday was Hollywood’s biggest night at the 90th annual Academy Awards, and just after the last Oscar was handed out the crowd of Hollywood’s elite made their way to the Academy’s official party, the Governor’s Ball. Being the 90th anniversary of the Oscars, the theme of this year’s ball was the history of filmmaking and on display were many relics such as props from old movies, Oscar statuettes from years past, and even cameras and equipment used by such geniuses of the cinema as Cecil. B. DeMille and Orson Welles.
By special request of the Academy President, one more relic was added to the Governor’s Ball…a living, breathing relic of cinema in the form of the Great Professor Rinaudo and his Amazing Hand-Cranked Moving Picture Machine. A special Silent Movie Tent was constructed as a throw-back to the earliest days of movie making before there were movie theaters when the itinerant projectionist would bring his tent-show to your town and entertain you with the magic of the movies.
Professor Joe Rinaudo was assisted by his able assistant Gary Gibson working the magic lantern along with accompanist Robert Israel playing the piano. Much of Hollywood’s finest made their way through the Professor’s tent including the likes of Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Bradley Whitford (who appeared in two of this year’s films nominated for best picture, Get Out and The Post), Oscar winner for best Cinematography Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049), Supporting Actor nominee Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), and director Guillermo Del Toro clutching an Oscar in each hand for The Shape of Water (one for Best Director and the other for Best Picture).
The Silent Movie Tent became an interactive demonstration as those attending the ball were invited to crank the projector themselves. The first to take the helm from Professor Rinaudo was actress Laura Dern who seemed apprehensive at first, but after some friendly badgering from her friends was having the time of her life cranking and laughing as she made the movies come alive on the silver screen. Ms. Dern was followed by a succession of producers, directors, and cinematographers all excited to play their part in a recreation of the dawn of cinema.
The highlight of the evening came when Gary Oldman, fresh from his Best Actor win for his brilliant portrayal of Winston Churchill in the movie Darkest Hour, came into the tent, took a look at the projector and shouted JOE!!! Mr. Oldman is acquainted with the Professor’s exploits as he is in pre-production of a movie he plans to direct about the earliest days of the moving image. Clutching his Oscar in one hand, and the projector crank in the other, Mr. Oldman cranked the projector and laughed in amazement as he took his turn in that magic moment when the image hits the screen and comes to life.
The final guests into the tent were Academy President John Bailey and his lovely wife Carol, and their guests. Mr. Bailey’s visit was the grand finale to a wonderful evening of fun and education in the way movies were presented in the earliest days of filmmaking. As his wife was cranking the projector, Bailey turned to the Professor and said with a smile “I think the Academy should have more hand-cranked presentations, and as president I can make that happen.”
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