Pipe organist to accompany silent film at Stambaugh
FILM SCHEDULE
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Stambaugh Auditorium will continue its tradition of presenting classic silent films with live organ accompaniment when it screens “The Gold Rush,” starring Charlie Chaplin and featuring organist Todd Wilson, at 4 p.m. Oct. 25.
Admission is free, but tickets are required and can be obtained at the Stambaugh box office, by phone at 330-259-0555 and stambaughauditorium.com.
Released in 1925, “The Gold Rush” is a comedy that follows Chaplin as the Lone Prospector, who makes his way across the country during the Klondike Gold Rush seeking fame and fortune. He travels through blizzards, battles other gold diggers and braves a cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff.
The film also stars Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman and Malcolm Waite.
“The Gold Rush” was written, produced and directed by Chaplin. It was re-released in 1942, and, even though it’s a silent film, it received Academy Award nominations for Best Music and Best Sound Recording.
In 2007, it was ranked 58th on the list of the Top 100 American Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). In 2000, it was ranked 25th on a list of the Top 100 Funniest Movies in American Cinema by AFI.
Todd Wilson is returning to Stambaugh Auditorium after playing accompaniment to last year’s presentation of “Speedy.” Wilson is head of the organ department at the Cleveland Institute of Music and director of Music and Worship at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland.
He is the curator of the E.M. Skinner pipe organ at Severance Hall in Cleveland, and house organist for the Aeolian Organ at the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron. An active interest in improvisation has led to his popular improvised accompaniments to classic, silent films.