Instrumentation
0.0.2(I=fl+tsax.II=asax+bsax).1 - 0110 - perc(2):timp/xyl/BD/cyms/glsp/vib/mark tree/tgl/guiro/t.bells/tpl.bl/ratchet/cabassa/tam-t/2 SD/susp.cym/flexatone/c.bell bucket/tom-t/mcas/wdbl/swanee whistle/bell tree/motor horn/siren/sand block/popgun - pno - DX7 -strings (1.1.1.0.1)
Availability
Full score and parts for hire
Programme Notes
Starring: Harry Langdon
Director: Frank Capra
Production Company: First National USA. 1926
Film Print: 35mm B&W print struck from the original camera negative available from Cohen Film Collection (N. America) and Park Circus (Rest of World). (Film Speed: 24 frames per second)
Harry Langdon stars at his comic best playing Paul, a Belgian war veteran. In the company of a German professional weightlifter, Zandow the Great, he goes to America in search of his pen-friend. He finds her in a small American town, which is terrorised by a gang of bootleggers. They declare their undying love. Paul has to replace Zandow in the ring at short notice and in a hilarious sequence he succeeds in driving the gang out of town.
Using a small ensemble, Davis captures the quality of Langdon's acting and direction with long sustained passages of static harmony and repeated rhythmic patterns.