There is a saying which notes something to the effect that “silent films were never silent.” It’s true. Wherever they played, whether in a big city or a small town, films were almost always accompanied by music. That music might be an organist or a small orchestra, a pianist, a pair of musicians or a small musical ensemble. But what did they play? Sometimes, a studio might commission an original score for one of their major productions. And sometimes, lacking a pre-existing score, a theater accompanist might “improvise” a score and play familiar musical passages which complement the action on the screen. Most of the time, however, the film studio could provide a “thematic cue sheet”. Cue sheets were not sheet music — but rather a series of musical suggestions. Cue sheets usually ran a few pages, sometimes four, six or eight pages depending on the length of the film. As an aid to the accompanist, these musical suggestions were briefly described and slotted — sequentially — to different scenes in a film. These musical suggestions would suggest a musical mood — be it sad, funny, frantic, danger, love, anger, etc….
Each of Louise Brooks’ silent films were issued with a thematic music cue sheet, including the two films she made on loan to other studios, First National and Fox. The one Paramount film of which I am uncertain there exists a cue sheet is The Canary Murder Case (1929). It was released as both a sound and a silent film. I own or have seen cue sheets for each of Brooks’ Paramount silents, except for A Social Celebrity and The Canary Murder Case.
Here are a few sample pages from the cue sheets issued to accompany Brooks’ silent productions. Besides the musical mood the studio hoped to set during specific scenes of a film, these cue sheets reveal other interesting details, like the names of the film’s primary stars, the name of the person who compiled the cue sheet, and importantly the length of the film. With Just Another Blonde, for example, Louise Brooks received third billing after Dorothy Mackaill and Jack Mulhall. With The City Gone Wild, the cue sheet was compiled by James C. Bradford, and its length or “footage” was given as 5408 feet. Though listed elsewhere, the length of a film and a brief description of a film’s key scenes is important when reconstructing a “lost film,” as in Now We’re in the Air. The film’s length, and the duration of key scenes, is also significant to an accompanist — who would need to know how long to play any given musical passage.
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| Just Another Blonde First National (1926) |
The City Gone Wild Paramount (1927) |
Now We’re in the Air Paramount (1927) |
Looking for more Louise Brooks related cue sheets? Both the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York have cue sheets displayed online. Click on any film title to open a pdf or jpg scan in a new window.
The Street of Forgotten Men (1925)
The American Venus (1926)
It’s the Old Army Game (1926)
The Show Off (1926)
Love Em and Leave Em (1926)
Evening Clothes (1927)
Rolled Stockings (1927)
The City Gone Wild (1927)
Now We’re in the Air (1927) alternative, text only version
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Beggars of Life (1928)
— interestingly, a note at the end of this cue sheet states: ” Theme Song “Beggars of Life” published by Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, 1571 Broadway, New York City. Write publishers for organ slides and specially prepared orchestration.” That note suggests there is yet more related music out there!