La Pantalla Silenciosa #1
The Black Pirate (1926) Alternative Soundtrack by Lee Erwin
The Black Pirate (1926)
Production: Elton Corp. / United Artists. Direction: Albert Parker. Script: Jack Cunningham (plot D. Fairbanks) Photography: Henry Sharp. Music: Mortimer Wilson, . Performers: Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove, Anders Randolph, Donald Crist, Temple Pigott, Sam de Grasse. 88 min.
The plot and defining details of the production came from Doug's own fantasy: the pseudonym of Elton Thomas, who was none other than Douglas Fairbanks. Behind "Elton Corp." there was also Fairbanks as a true executive producer.
"The Black Pirate" offers a complete sample of the elements that characterize the subgenre "of pirates" in adventure films. "The Black Pirate" was the first feature film to be shot entirely by the primitive Technicolor. His work is a perfect example of what Chaplin defined: "extraordinary magnetism, charm and genuine youthful enthusiasm."
Alternative music version: Lee Erwin
LEE ERWIN (July 15, 1908 - September 21, 2000)
After Von Stroheim's movie, he wrote sheet music for such silent films as The Eagle, My Best Girl, Irene, and a couple of Buster Keaton movies. What made Erwin's music particularly successful is that he did not try to emulate the typical accompaniment that movies would have in the 1920s, which relied heavily on adaptations of established classical pieces. Instead, he wrote his own original music, recognizing that the sophistication of audiences in the 1960s and 1970s made the earlier adaptation approach impossible to recreate. Erwin's success and popularity with these compositions, which he performed at film screenings across the United States, made him an established recording artist by the time he was 60. In the early 1970s, Angel Records recorded a series of albums with Erwin in which he presented suites based on these scores, which established a new category of soundtrack and classical music. Decades later, Lee Erwin was the only silent film composer or accompanist to enjoy a national reputation, or any recognition beyond the core of those period film fans. It was only with the reopenings of big movie budgets like Abel Gance's Napoleon (which used a score from the father of the relaunch sponsor, Carmine Coppola, in the United States and Carl Davis in Europe) that Erwin found serious competition, and those composers worked with a full orchestra, not the organ, which was his forte. However, his reputation lasted until the 1980s and extended to work on films such as Woody Allen's Radio Days (in which he played a roller-skating organist) and the recording of films such as The New York Hotel in 1984 and the occasional silent rediscovery, such as The Man Without a World. The b also later recorded his music for use in silent film and theatrical performances.
Lee Erwin - Sound Of Silents - Music For Silent Film Classics
Stamp: Angel Records. USA. 1974 LP. Capitol Records, Inc. Art Director: Marvin Schwartz. Design: Jim Endicott. Engineer: Mike Doyle. Mixing: Carson C. Taylor. Music consulted: Dick Kline. Photography: Jack Novak. Produced by Patti Laursen.

