Jane Gardner

Silent Film Accompaniment

Silent Film Accompaniment

Jane accidentally fell into accompanying silent films at The Waiting Room about 25 years ago. Expecting to perform some of her existing piano compositions along to short contemporary art videos, she arrived at the venue to discover that the film to be accompanied the following evening was 1924 feature ‘He’ Who Gets Slapped. It went well, and more opportunities arose as a result.

Below is a selection of the many films to which Jane has since provided an original, composed/improvised accompaniment at many types of venues from cinemas to private living rooms, restaurants , schools, churches, a train station, and a park bandstand . These have been performed live either on solo piano or in collaboration with team players such as Hazel Morrison and Tom Gordon (percussion), Caroline Salmon (voice, violin, bass viol), Roddy Long and Jenny Gardner (violin), Clea Friend and Su-a Lee (cello), Nico Bruce (bass), John Burgess (saxophones and clarinets) and Beth Morrison (accordion). Jane sometimes plays flugelhorn too.

  • The Last Laugh

    (FW Murnau 1924) 1h 28m

    An expressionist tragedy

  • Pandora's Box

    (Wilhelm Pabst 1929) 1h 49m

    Tragic drama starring the iconic Louise Brooks

  • 'He' Who Gets Slapped

    (Victor Sjöström 1924) 1h 35m starring Lon Chaney

    Dark psychological drama

  • Show People

    (King Vidor 1928) 1h 23m

    Satire set in Hollywood which features cameos from several silent film stars

  • Film poster for Steamboat Bill

    Steamboat Bill Jr.

    (Buster Keaton 1928) 1h 10m

    A hilarious nautical tale

  • Dragnet Girl

    (Yazujiro Ozu 1933) 1h 40m

    Japanese gangster movie

  • The Black Pirate

    (Albert Parker 1926) starring Douglas Fairbanks 1h 10m

    Impressive swashbuckler

  • Safety Last

     (Fred Newmeyer & Sam Taylor 1923) starring Harold Lloyd 1h 13m

    Classic romantic comedy

Ensemble:

DRAGNET GIRL (Yasujirō Ozu 1932)

THE LAST LAUGH (FW Murnau 1924) 

THE UNKNOWN (Tod Browning 1927) starring Lon Chaney

THE BLACK PIRATE (Albert Parker 1926)

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (Wallace Worsely 1923) starring Lon Chaney 

WHAT A NIGHT! (1939) from the Scottish Screen Archive

SHERLOCK JR. (Buster Keaton 1924)

STEAMBOAT BILL JR. (Buster Keaton 1924)

THE GENERAL (Buster Keaton 1926)

THE GOOSEWOMAN (Clarence Brown 1925)

SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS (F.W. Murnau 1927)

BATTLE OF THE SEXES (D.W. Griffith 1928)

7 FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN (Christensen, 1929)

FORBIDDEN PARADISE (Ernst Lubitsch 1924)

L’INHUMAINE (Marcel L’Herbier 1924)

PANDORA’S BOX (George Wilhelm Pabst, 1929)

THE GRUB STAKE (Nell Shipman/ Tuyle 1923)

BEFORE THE FACE OF THE SEA (T. Puro 1926)

FANTÔMAS 1 : À L’OMBRE DE LA GUILLOTINE (Louis Feuillade 1913)

HÄXAN (Christensen 1922)

FILIBUS (Mario Roncoroni 1915)

SALOME (Bryant/Nazimova 1922)

THE LAST WARNING (Paul Leni 1928)

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN (C. Knight 1929)

NEVER WEAKEN (Harold Lloyd 1921)

THE IMMIGRANT (Charlie Chaplin 1917)

Solo Piano/Piano & Percussion:

HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (Victor Sjostrom 1924 starring Lon Chaney) 

FLYING ELEPHANTS, THE FINISHING TOUCH, WRONG AGAIN, LIBERTY, BIG BUSINESS, YOU’RE DARN TOOTIN, PUTTING PANTS ON PHILIP, WITH LOVE AND HISSES (1927-29)starring Laurel and Hardy

ONE WEEK (Buster Keaton 1920)

SAFETLY LAST (Fred Newmeyer & Sam Taylor 1923) starring Harold Lloyd 

THE NAVIGATOR, OUR HOSPITALITY, THE GENERAL, SEVEN CHANCES (Buster Keaton 1923-8)

A PAIR OF TIGHTS (Hal Yates 1929)

MY BEST GIRL (Sam Taylor 1927)

RED HEELS (Michael Curtis 1925)

HER SISTER FROM PARIS (Sydney Franklin 1925)

THE VAMPIRE (Robert Vignola 1913)

THE LOVE EXPERT (David Kirkland 1920)

BLUE BOTTLES (Ivor Montague 1928)

SHOW PEOPLE (King Vidor 1928)

THE LODGER, THE PLEASURE GARDEN, THE FARMER’S WIFE, CHAMPAGNE, THE MANXMAN, THE RING, EASY VIRTUE, BLACKMAIL (Hitchcock 1925-29)

ROWDY ANN (H. Manning Haines, 1924)

THE BOATSWAIN’S MATE (Al Christie, 1919)

THE GOOSEWOMAN (Clarence Brown 1925)

WINGS (William A. Wellman 1927)

A DASH THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1912) 

BABY AND THE STORK (DW Griffith 1912)

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL (Pabst 1929)

"For me, the privilege of playing for silent films goes hand in hand with the thrill of discovering their richness, variety, and sheer abundance"

— Jane Gardner