Silent Movies Made Musical with the Mighty Wurlitzer

The popular concert series, presented by the Friends of Music Hall, features the renowned organist and arranger Clark Wilson. He will accompany a pair of romantic silent comedies, MABEL AT THE WHEEL and GIRL SHY for performances at 10:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on April 8, 2020 at the Music Hall Ballroom.

• MABEL AT THE WHEEL (1914) is a comedy short directed by and starring Mabel Normand (1892-1930). Her character replaces her racecar-driving boyfriend in a competition after the villain, played by newcomer Charlie Chaplin, locks him up in a shed. Hijinks ensue as Normand triumphs over Chaplin’s continual sabotage.
   
• GIRL SHY (1924) features legendary film comedian Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) as a bashful, inept bachelor who works in a tailor shop while writing a guide, The Secret of Making Love, for other shy young men. Chapters from his book become fantasy sequences in the film. Eventually he falls in love with Mary (Jobyna Ralston), a rich girl about to wed an already married man. In Lloyd’s comic, hair-raising physical style, he undertakes on a daredevil ride to prevent the wedding.