Customer Reviews

The Beloved Rogue and Other Scores From The Silent Years

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William Perry's wonderful music from THE SILENT YEARS (films from the Paul Killiam collection) charmed me instantly when the series' first incarnation ran on PBS back in 1971. At the time I was fiendishly practicing my classical guitar morning, noon and night and almost nothing could entice me to set the thing down, but the first few notes of the series theme, "Georgia" from the Chaplin film THE GOLD RUSH, did it every time. I looked forward to the films just to hear the wonderful musical scores. Knowing the main themes of LIMELIGHT and MODERN TIMES to be Chaplin's own, I thought for years that Chaplin himself had composed the GOLD RUSH (and series) theme and even at one time ventured to the Library of Congress Music Reading Room to implore the folks there to help me find it. Unsuccessful there (one of the few times I ever was), I did my own arrangement by ear and toyed with it for a few years for fun.

This music is romantic, bold and dramatic, warm, engaging and tuneful. It doesn't sound at all dated and has not a hint of the cliche Keystone Cop sound. My favorites are the suites from the THE GOLD RUSH, Barrymore's THE BELOVED ROGUE (a great historical romantic adventure film, incidentally, about French poet Francois Villon) and Valentino's BLOOD AND SAND. Two of the ROGUE themes - the one introduced when Villon's (Barrymore's) father is burned at the stake (and which represents the father's spirit) and the love theme - each bring a tear to my eye. Perry is an agile and sensitive pianist and a remarkable composer, a brilliant melodist whose feel for dramatic construction is so strong that one is simply swept along breathless. I'm reminded of Schubert's "Wanderer Fantasy" and the characteristic pieces of Albeniz, "Suite Espanola" in particular.

Update of January 30, 2012:

The suites on this 1971 album represent, I believe, all the films which Mr. Perry scored for that year's installment of THE SILENT YEARS. The series returned in 1975 with a dozen more films. This time, slightly more than half featured Perry's piano. Unfortunately there is no album of suites from those films. However, many of the Killiam films - with the Perry piano scores intact - are still available on the old VHS, laserdisc or on newly produced DVDs. Those which I've been able to find are:

1971 Series introduced by Orson Welles
THE GOLD RUSH (Chaplin) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc
THE MARK OF ZORRO (Fairbanks) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc
THE GENERAL (Keaton) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc
THE BELOVED ROGUE - on both Image and KINO DVD
ORPHANS OF THE STORM (Gish sisters) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc
BLOOD AND SAND (Valentino) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc

1975 Series introduced by Lillian Gish
THE IRON HORSE (John Ford) - Critics Choice VHS
COLLEGE (Keaton) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc
PECK'S BAD BOY - Republic Pictures laserdisc
TEMPEST (Barrymore) - KINO DVD
DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS (Clara Bow) - KINO VHS and DVD
RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (Tom Mix) - Critics Choice VHS
THE IRON MASK (Fairbanks) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc

And in addition to the SILENT YEARS films, I have found seven more releases with Mr. Perry's piano:

THE BLACK PIRATE (Fairbanks) - Republic Pictures laserdisc
STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. (Keaton) - KINO DVD
IT (Clara Bow) - KINO VHS and DVD
TUMBLEWEEDS (William S. Hart) - Image DVD
TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (Chaplin) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc
THE GREAT K & A TRAIN ROBBERY (Mix) - Critics Choice VHS and DVD
HEARTS OF THE WORLD (D.W. Griffith) - Republic Pictures VHS and laserdisc

THE LOVE OF SUNYA (Gloria Swanson) on Critics Choice VHS has, in its (1977 print) end credits, "Music by William P. Perry", but the composer/performer is actually Philip Carli in a later recording.