Movie Night was a highlight for anyone in the early 1900s. Things might start with a cartoon or two, perhaps a live comedy act, and then it was into the black and white world of the moving pictures!

They were crude. Poorly shot. And short on plot. But one thing they didn’t lack was adventure and suspense! Now, the suspense largely came from the pianist. So we have the Silent Movie Hits from the Pit Piano LP:

Every Silent Film of this era had pretty much the same plot. First you introduce the cast with the heroine (playful music), then the villain (slow music), next came the danger (lively music), to conclude with the hero saving the day (rousing music) and the happy ending (uplifting music).

This was the pattern for (insert film name here) and many other films.

Side A contains The Seduction of Little Nell eight parts. Side B has three other types of music that might be used for various adventure films. The Shipwreck would be nautical. The Sheik more exotic, as you can hear below:

The third track on Side B is Cowboys and Indians, and you can likely imagine the kind of music that would be used for such adventures.

The back of the album cover has a synopsis of the Little Nell film. It’s worth a read!

This was an Alshire Production distributed in Canada by Arc Sound Limited. It’s a fun look back at how things were before theaters could blast you out the back doors with a wall of realistic sound while some CGI monster seamlessly rips up the screen.