Ben Model
@silentfilmmusic.bsky.social
silent film accompanist-historian-presenter; Undercrank Prods. home video; archivist of Ernie Kovacs television collection
Tonight's the night! Check out this fantastic window display at the The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York. You can attend in-person or virtually – details are at generalsociety.org/future-lectu...
December 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Tonight's the night! Check out this fantastic window display at the The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York. You can attend in-person or virtually – details are at generalsociety.org/future-lectu...
My book "The Silent Film Universe" has been available at the AFI Silver Theatre for the duration of their annual Silent Cinema Showcase. Thank you Todd Hitchcock, Abigail Algar, Josh Gardner and the rest of the Silver staff for great shows this weekend!
November 16, 2025 at 12:50 AM
My book "The Silent Film Universe" has been available at the AFI Silver Theatre for the duration of their annual Silent Cinema Showcase. Thank you Todd Hitchcock, Abigail Algar, Josh Gardner and the rest of the Silver staff for great shows this weekend!
New book event! I’ll be giving a talk ‘n play presentation on “The Silent Film Universe” at the The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen on Thurs Dec 4th. The lecture will be both in-person and virtual. generalsociety.org/future-lectu...
November 13, 2025 at 7:09 PM
New book event! I’ll be giving a talk ‘n play presentation on “The Silent Film Universe” at the The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen on Thurs Dec 4th. The lecture will be both in-person and virtual. generalsociety.org/future-lectu...
My book "The Silent Film Universe" is now available in a Kindle edition!
bit.ly/SFUniverse-kindle
bit.ly/SFUniverse-kindle
November 4, 2025 at 9:26 PM
My book "The Silent Film Universe" is now available in a Kindle edition!
bit.ly/SFUniverse-kindle
bit.ly/SFUniverse-kindle
Lost for decades until I found it in 2010, a silent film made by and about the Elgin National Watch Company is on display at the Elgin Area Historical Museum. "The House of Wonders" is on my YouTube channel and vol. 1 of "Accidentally Preserved"; the film element is now at the Library of Congress.
October 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Lost for decades until I found it in 2010, a silent film made by and about the Elgin National Watch Company is on display at the Elgin Area Historical Museum. "The House of Wonders" is on my YouTube channel and vol. 1 of "Accidentally Preserved"; the film element is now at the Library of Congress.
Maybe you're thinking of Chaney's "London After Midnight"? That's also got a iconic creepy face associated with it.
October 19, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Maybe you're thinking of Chaney's "London After Midnight"? That's also got a iconic creepy face associated with it.
I'll be live-scoring the new restoration of "The Man Who Laughs" this week at the Cinema Arts Centre, Long Island's premiere showplace for classic and silent film.
prod3.agileticketing.net/WebSales/pag...
prod3.agileticketing.net/WebSales/pag...
October 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I'll be live-scoring the new restoration of "The Man Who Laughs" this week at the Cinema Arts Centre, Long Island's premiere showplace for classic and silent film.
prod3.agileticketing.net/WebSales/pag...
prod3.agileticketing.net/WebSales/pag...
The first of my 3 POTO shows of the season is next week, in Elgin IL. Here's the promo piece that appears in today's "The Daily Herald".
www.dailyherald.com/20251016/sub...
www.dailyherald.com/20251016/sub...
October 16, 2025 at 8:53 PM
The first of my 3 POTO shows of the season is next week, in Elgin IL. Here's the promo piece that appears in today's "The Daily Herald".
www.dailyherald.com/20251016/sub...
www.dailyherald.com/20251016/sub...
Honored that there was cake served after last night's showing of "Sunrise" (1927) at Bowdoin College! Kudos to Prof. Tricia Welsch (also an SCWP superfan) for arranging for this and for everything else yesterday. It was great getting to share silent film with both of her Film Studies classes!
October 3, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Honored that there was cake served after last night's showing of "Sunrise" (1927) at Bowdoin College! Kudos to Prof. Tricia Welsch (also an SCWP superfan) for arranging for this and for everything else yesterday. It was great getting to share silent film with both of her Film Studies classes!
Big news: this year's Ernie Kovacs award will be presented to Fred Armisen! I will be at the Dallas Video Festival event on November 22, and playing for Keaton's "The Cameraman" the night before. Details are at www.dallasobserver.com/arts-culture...
October 2, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Big news: this year's Ernie Kovacs award will be presented to Fred Armisen! I will be at the Dallas Video Festival event on November 22, and playing for Keaton's "The Cameraman" the night before. Details are at www.dallasobserver.com/arts-culture...
Murnau at Bowdoin! Looking forward to playing for students by day and for "Sunrise" by night. We're running the feature at the speed Murnau wanted, 100 ft/min (around 27 fps).
October 1, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Murnau at Bowdoin! Looking forward to playing for students by day and for "Sunrise" by night. We're running the feature at the speed Murnau wanted, 100 ft/min (around 27 fps).
Happy Silent Movie Day! The National Film Preservation Foundation hired me to score 2 rare silents for their online screening room to celebrate. Here's the other one, "Way Out West" (1920) starring Hank Mann.
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
September 29, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Happy Silent Movie Day! The National Film Preservation Foundation hired me to score 2 rare silents for their online screening room to celebrate. Here's the other one, "Way Out West" (1920) starring Hank Mann.
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
Happy Silent Movie Day! The National Film Preservation Foundation hired me to score 2 rare silents for their online screening room to celebrate. Here's the first, "Poisoned Paradise" (1924) starring Clara Bow, Kenneth Harlan and Raymond Griffith.
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
September 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Happy Silent Movie Day! The National Film Preservation Foundation hired me to score 2 rare silents for their online screening room to celebrate. Here's the first, "Poisoned Paradise" (1924) starring Clara Bow, Kenneth Harlan and Raymond Griffith.
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-fi...
Hey there, Maine classic film fans! I'll be accompanying a screening of "Sunrise" at Bowdoin College next week. My second time playing there, all thanks to Prof. Tricia Welsch, who will also have me as guest speaker-accompanist at her classes. Show details are at calendar.bowdoin.edu/event/ben-mo...
September 23, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Hey there, Maine classic film fans! I'll be accompanying a screening of "Sunrise" at Bowdoin College next week. My second time playing there, all thanks to Prof. Tricia Welsch, who will also have me as guest speaker-accompanist at her classes. Show details are at calendar.bowdoin.edu/event/ben-mo...
The AFI Silver Theatre has announced some of the films in their upcoming Silent Film Showcase! 2 of these are silents that I'll be accompanying. The screening of Harold Lloyd's "The Freshman" will also be a book-signing event for "The Silent Film Universe".
silver.afi.com/events/detai...
silver.afi.com/events/detai...
September 22, 2025 at 5:41 PM
The AFI Silver Theatre has announced some of the films in their upcoming Silent Film Showcase! 2 of these are silents that I'll be accompanying. The screening of Harold Lloyd's "The Freshman" will also be a book-signing event for "The Silent Film Universe".
silver.afi.com/events/detai...
silver.afi.com/events/detai...
Tonight's film is "Underworld" (1928) at the Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater! I spent the day viewing and researching the LoC's holdings on some comedy shorts for an upcoming project, as well.
September 19, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Tonight's film is "Underworld" (1928) at the Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater! I spent the day viewing and researching the LoC's holdings on some comedy shorts for an upcoming project, as well.
Last year's "Nosferatu" show was a huge hit, and this year we're doing "Phantom of the Opera"! Presented by The Center at West Park at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, where I'll be bringing my virtual Wurlitzer in to their majestic sanctuary.
www.eventbrite.com/e/cwp-specia...
www.eventbrite.com/e/cwp-specia...
September 18, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Last year's "Nosferatu" show was a huge hit, and this year we're doing "Phantom of the Opera"! Presented by The Center at West Park at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, where I'll be bringing my virtual Wurlitzer in to their majestic sanctuary.
www.eventbrite.com/e/cwp-specia...
www.eventbrite.com/e/cwp-specia...
I'm the guest on the new episode of the Golden Silents Podcast with Stewart Lee, talking in-depth about my book "The Silent Film Universe". Listen in whereever you get your podcasts.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
September 14, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I'm the guest on the new episode of the Golden Silents Podcast with Stewart Lee, talking in-depth about my book "The Silent Film Universe". Listen in whereever you get your podcasts.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
All set at the Capitolfest dealer's room with copies of "The Silent Film Universe", "The Bat" and more. I'm sharing a big table with Rob Stone and Thomas Reeder and their books. #silentfilm
August 8, 2025 at 3:07 PM
All set at the Capitolfest dealer's room with copies of "The Silent Film Universe", "The Bat" and more. I'm sharing a big table with Rob Stone and Thomas Reeder and their books. #silentfilm
Just in from Milestone Film! I scored several shorts on this new release of theirs. "Made in New Jersey" is now available on Bluray via Kino Lorber.
kinolorber.com/product/made...
kinolorber.com/product/made...
July 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Just in from Milestone Film! I scored several shorts on this new release of theirs. "Made in New Jersey" is now available on Bluray via Kino Lorber.
kinolorber.com/product/made...
kinolorber.com/product/made...
70 mins of belly-laughs courtesy of Stan & Ollie tomorrow in Brooklyn Weds July 8, with live music by Ben Model and film intro by Steve Massa. For tix go to silentclowns.org
July 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
70 mins of belly-laughs courtesy of Stan & Ollie tomorrow in Brooklyn Weds July 8, with live music by Ben Model and film intro by Steve Massa. For tix go to silentclowns.org
Looking forward to tonight's show in Tuppper Lake NY!
July 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Looking forward to tonight's show in Tuppper Lake NY!
Fans in Canada: I've just made it a little easier (and cheaper) to buy a copy of THE SILENT FILM UNIVERSE! Originally, the book was being printed in the US and then shipped to Canada, but I've now set it up so that copies are made in Canada – reducing the shipping and delivery time quite a bit.
June 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Fans in Canada: I've just made it a little easier (and cheaper) to buy a copy of THE SILENT FILM UNIVERSE! Originally, the book was being printed in the US and then shipped to Canada, but I've now set it up so that copies are made in Canada – reducing the shipping and delivery time quite a bit.
Huge thanks to Stephanie Simon of NY1 for inviting me to be her in-studio guest to talk about "The Silent Film Universe"! We recorded the interview this afternoon and it will air this evening, when she is anchoring. I'll have a link to share this tomorrow.
June 7, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Huge thanks to Stephanie Simon of NY1 for inviting me to be her in-studio guest to talk about "The Silent Film Universe"! We recorded the interview this afternoon and it will air this evening, when she is anchoring. I'll have a link to share this tomorrow.
Yet another great review for the Tom Tyler silent westerns Blu from Undercrank Productions, this time courtesy of Phil Hall on "Cinema Crazed".
#silentfilm
www.cinema-crazed.com/blog/2025/05...
#silentfilm
www.cinema-crazed.com/blog/2025/05...
May 30, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Yet another great review for the Tom Tyler silent westerns Blu from Undercrank Productions, this time courtesy of Phil Hall on "Cinema Crazed".
#silentfilm
www.cinema-crazed.com/blog/2025/05...
#silentfilm
www.cinema-crazed.com/blog/2025/05...