The growing popularity of screening silent films with live musical accompaniment will get a decidedly downtown twist on Wednesday, May 5. The Independent Film Series at NCSU will present Henry Hoyt’s The Lost World. It’s natural that a film with this title would be confused with the Jurassic Park sequel, for Hoyt’s Lost World, made in 1925, is also a tale of man versus dinosaur. Based on an Arthur Conan Doyle novel, The Lost World tells the story of an intrepid professor who travels to South America to rescue a damsel in distress and investigate reports of live dinosaurs in the jungle. (Hmm… this movie may well be the Rosetta Stone for understanding the source of Steven Spielberg’s creativity.)
Live music at silent films is often eclectic–the most famous combo is the all-percussion Alloy Orchestra–but this screening will feature an appearance by a local percussive noisemaker who bills himself The Clang Quartet. His name is Scotty Irving, and he’s a true local original who whales away on homemade, infernally loud contraptions. Wednesday night’s program will begin with the short film that immortalized him, The Armor of God, from the Monster Road-duo of Jim Haverkamp and Brett Ingram. The Lost World with the Clang Quartet will take place at the Witherspoon Theater on the NCSU campus, Wednesday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $2 for non-students, $1 for students.
