Silent Film, With Orchestra, Featured in Native American Symposium

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A still image from 'Last of the Mohicans'

The 17th annual University of Arkansas Native American Symposium will feature the 1920 silent film classic, The Last of the Mohicans, with a live performance by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, premiering their arrangement of the film’s musical score. The screening and live orchestra performance will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main. The event is free and the public is welcome.

The University of Arkansas Native American Symposium was established in 1995 as a forum to celebrate the history and culture of Native Americans and to discuss their current concerns. In recent years the symposium has added a unique feature by using classic silent films with live musical accompaniment to explore Native American issues. 

The Last of the Mohicans, directed by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown, was the first film version of the James Fennimore Cooper novel, and is noted for its cinematography, direction, performances and treatment (for its time) of racial issues. It is also entertaining, especially with its musical accompaniment.

“The idea of silent film is not something that is immediately appealing to most students in the 21st century, until they actually experience it,” said Frank Scheide, one of the symposium organizers. “Seeing a well-crafted silent motion picture with live music combines the experience of watching a movie while attending a concert. Students who have attended Mont Alto performances at the university in the past have said they really enjoyed the opportunity of seeing these films in this entertaining context, and appreciated learning about Native Americans in the process.

As described on its website, “The Mont Alto Orchestra is a five to seven piece chamber ensemble of classically trained musicians ... who recreate the film going experience provided by the small local orchestras that were popular in America from 1890 through 1930s ... in the days before talkies. Mont Alto revives this tradition in recordings and live performances ... in authentic period style, using original photoplay music. Tight ensemble playing and appropriate music selection bring the films to life. “

"The group has performed at theaters and film festivals around the country, working from a repertoire that includes several thousand orchestrations photocopied from the surviving collections of four silent film theater music directors. This is their third time to perform as a group at the University of Arkansas Native American Symposium.

The Native American Symposium and Mont Alto's performance are sponsored by the office of admissions, Honors College, the Multicultural Center, the office of diversity, the Sam M. Walton College of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Education and Health Professions, the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, and the department of communication.