Promotional photo from the filmmakers created by F. W. Murnau (died 11 March 1931), Henrik Galeen (died 30 July 1949) and Fritz Arno Wagner (died 18 August 1958).
The historic Pasadena Presbyterian Church (PPC) hosts a screening of the 1922 F.W. Murnau silent film, “Nosferatu,” on Sunday, October 31, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Dr. Timothy Howard, the PPC’s Director of Music, will provide a live organ score for the movie on the PPC’s iconic Æolian-Skinner pipe organ.
Free and open to the public, this event will make current COVID-19 protocols obligatory, with masks and social distancing required. Costumes are welcome.
“Nosferatu” was directed by F. W. Murnau and starred Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire with an interest in both a new residence and the wife of his estate agent.
Produced by Prana Film, “Nosferatu” was regarded as an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula.” Names and other details were changed from the novel, including Count Dracula being renamed Count Orlok, in an attempt to avoid accusations of copyright infringement. The original German intertitles, however, were explicit in stating that the film was based on the Bram Stoker novel.
In his commentary track on the film, historian David Karat said “no source has ever documented” the copyright claim, and that since the film was “a low-budget film made by Germans for German audiences… setting it in Germany with German named characters makes the story more tangible and immediate for German speaking viewers.”
Stoker’s heirs eventually sued, and a court ruling ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed. A few prints of “Nosferatu” survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema.
Dr. Howard recorded his accompaniment for a restored 1991 re-issue of the film on video cassette and video disk. Since a significant portion of the score is improvised, no two performances are identical.
The score also features organ repertoire dating from the 19th century by Franz Liszt, Gabriel Pierné, Julius Reubke, and others.
The PPC is using their recently upgraded video projectors, which means you’ll see the film’s larger-than-life characters in vivid monochrome on tinted backgrounds, just like the original release.
The film showing will be in the PPC Sanctuary.
For more information, visit the PPC Friends of Music website, www.ppcmusic.org.
The PPC is located at 585 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.
