Silent Film "The Cheat" with Organ accompaniment by Paul Morris at Crediton Congregational Church - Video
PUBLISHED:  Nov 04, 2014
DESCRIPTION:
"I was asked some time ago to play "one or two" of my compositions as part of a concert in Crediton, a small town north of Exeter, in Devon. These events are organised by Paul Vincent, and are called The Music Makers' Concerts. Paul is the grandson of the composer Thomas Dunhill.

About two months before it was agreed that the entire concert was to be given over for my use, and it was suggested that I play my pieces in the first half, and accompany a silent film in the second.

This was actually just what I needed in order to "dust off" some of my earlier compositions, and get some of my more recent ones heard in public, and I set to immediately to get soloists for the piccolo and oboe pieces, and a vocalist for a setting of "On the Road to Mandalay" that I had completed about four years ago.

The film I chose for the second half was a 1918 version of a 1915 film called "The Cheat" Directed by Cecile B. DeMille, it's main star and Japanese villain, was Sessue Hayakawa, a very early Holywood heartthrob. When the film was released, America was not at war, but subsequent developments required a more favourable assessment of the Japanese nation, and Mr Hayakawa then "became" Burmese, for the duration of the film. I was initially doubtful whether or not I could maintain interest for a film of this length, having only played previously to shorter ones, but I soon found that it was an excellent and thrilling story, which my audience were entirely captivated with. This was most rewarding.

Here is a recording we made after the concert of the performance of the silent film specifically for YouTube."

Paul Morris.
Exeter, Devon, November 2014.

Organ Accompaniment Performance © Copyright Paul Morris 2014

For more information visit: http://www.paulmorrismusic.co.uk
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