The Los Angeles Theatre Organ Society
in partnership with
The Broadway Initiative of the Los Angeles Conservancy

presents the long lost silent classic

 

Rudolph Valentino
and Gloria Swanson

Set the Screen Ablaze
in a tale of Romance and Intrigue

 

In her autobiography, Swanson on Swanson, Gloria wrote "One of the first stipulations of the office was that kisses should run no longer than ten feet of film. So we shot each kiss twice, once for the version to be released in America and once for the European version. Poor Rudy could hardly get his nostrils flaring before the American version was over. Only Europeans and South Americans could see Swanson and Valentino engage in any honest-to-goodness torrid kisses. American fevers were now controlled by a stopwatch." The print rediscovered and restored by the Nederlands Filmmuseum is the export version of the film featuring the full-length love scenes - complete with flaring nostrils.

Bob Salisbury

BEYOND THE ROCKS

The Orpheum Theatre

Friday, January 12, 8:00 pm

 

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call Toll-Free 1.888.LATOS.22 (1.888.528.6722)

Thank you for visiting the Silent Movies LA web site.

 

Beyond The Rocks
by Martin Scorsese

It's always cause for celebration whenever a lost film has been found. Every film found restores another piece of our collective memory, our sense of our past, and our history. For 75 years, nothing survived of Beyond the Rocks except a one-minute fragment. Now, thanks to the efforts of the Nederlands Film Museum, we have the entire film. It's a precious gift.

It was rare for two silent stars of the magnitude of Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson to appear in a film together - the idea of pairing stars became more of a common practice with the coming of sound. That alone makes the discovery of Beyond the Rocks a noteworthy event. But the film you are about to see, directed by Sam Wood and based on a novel by the once enormously popular Elinor Glyn, is also a testament to the extraordinary artistry of silent cinema. The greatest actors of the silent era had a rare intensity - emotional, physical, almost spiritual. They had to seize us right from the start, with their own inner power and luminosity. As you will see, that's exactly what Valentino and Swanson, both at the peak of their powers, do in Beyond the Rocks. The film is carefully built around that power and luminosity.

Once again, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Nederlands Film Museum for all the work they did in the conservation and restoration of this film. And, in North America, to Milestone Films, who have tirelessly dedicated themselves to the distribution of silent cinema.

BOB SALISBURY

Bob Salisbury former organist at the Catalina Island Casino theatre will be the artist at The Orpheum Theatre on January 12, 2007 at 8:00 PM. Bob will accompany the silent movie, Beyond the Rocks, featuring Rudolph Valentino and Gloria Swanson. Bob was last seen at the Orpheum Theatre in 2005 when he did a splendid job accompanying The Thief of Bagdad.

Bob started piano lessons at a very early age and by the time he was 13, Bob had taken theatre organ lessons from Gaylord Carter. He moved with his family to Catalina Island when he was 15. When he showed up at the door of the casino to ask to play the Avalon Theatre's organ, the casino manager was kind enough to give Bob his first chance at playing the 4/16 Page. That began a life-long love of the instrument.

A year later, he was hired to play the organ in the Jade Pagoda Restaurant. The Alcoholic Beverage Control became upset that a 16 year old was playing in a bar, so the restaurant owner solved the problem by knocking a hole in the wall and moving the organ bench into the dining room. Bob was in the dining room on the bench and the organ was in the bar! With additional study, Bob began playing-for three churches on the island. They scheduled their services so that a cab could pick Bob up as he finished at one church and take him to the next.

In 1964, Bob left the island for the mainland where he played the organ at the 488 Keys nightclub in Redondo Beach. In 1971, after a nine-year gig at the nightclub, he traveled to Europe where he was able to play many of the major cathedral organs for fun and the experience. In 1973, Bob went to work for Princess Cruise Lines playing piano, traveling throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. In 1979, he returned to Catalina where he worked for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department and resumed playing the Page and continued to play for the weekend movies and special events.

Bob and his wife Mary retired in 2001 and moved to Running Springs, California. Retirement doesn't mean slowing down. He spends as mach time as allows in his dream music room in his home rehearsing on his Rodgers organ and Roland Atelier. Bob is associated with Robert Tall and Associates as Product Manager, teaching new users of Rodgers and Roland instruments. Bob's wife is also associated with Robert Tall and associates as a Special Events Coordinator.