On Saturday evening, April 6, 2019, an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 200 welcomed organist Tony Thomas to Pittsburgh for a highly anticipated screening of Buster Keaton’s 1928 film The Cameraman.
Although Thomas is renowned for his skills as an improviser and film accompanist, and although he has performed for Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society (PATOS) before, this was his first time accompanying a silent film in Pittsburgh. The audience of young and old included seasoned silent film fans alongside those new to the art form.
As a prelude to the Keaton feature, Thomas opened the program with two Milt Buckner-inspired organ solos: “We’ll Be Together Again” (co-written by Frankie Laine) and Buckner’s own “Jumpin’ at the Zanzibar.” While Thomas seemed to favor the organ’s piano sound for his sweeping right-hand improvisations, he made full use of the Wurlitzer’s many other sounds. Some clever call-and-response passages found his hands hopping nimbly from one manual to another and back again. Once properly warmed up, Thomas took a swig of water (eliciting a round of applause) and introduced the main attraction: The Cameraman.
The 1928 film was Buster Keaton’s first for M-G-M, and to many Keaton enthusiasts, it marks the end of Keaton’s “golden age.” For much of the ’20s, Keaton had enjoyed considerable artistic control over his films, producing such
