SCHROON LAKE, NY — “I laughed so hard I literally fell out of my seat!” That sentiment sums up the experience of the hundreds of film goers who have attended silent-film comedy accompanied on live piano by Ben Model at the Strand Theater in Schroon Lake. 

On Monday, August 1, at 8:00 pm, Mr. Model returns to the Art-Deco gem of a movie house—this time to accompany a feature-length classic by the Buster Keaton, known as the “Great Stone Face,” who, along with Charlie Chaplin, was one of the two greatest silent-film comedians, as well as one of the most groundbreaking filmmakers in early cinema of any kind. His last independent silent feature, “STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.” is one of his funniest films, according to a write-up on the official website of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), which hails the comedy as “rich in period detail and energized by some of Keaton’s most inventive gags, including the most elaborate climax he devised for any of his films.” 

The owners of the Strand, Larry and Liz McNamara, are proud to present “STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.” accompanied by Ben Model, who is a resident accompanist at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). This is the opener of a two-part “Classic Movie Mondays” series that concludes on August 29, also at 8 p.m., with the timeless and ultimate private-eye film noir, “THE MALTEST FALCON,” starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade and hosted by Jeremy Arnold, author of the TCM tie-in books “The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why They Matter” and “The Essentials Vol. 2: 52 More Must-See Movies and Why They Matter.” 

Tickets to “STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.” are $10 (cash only, please) and available at the door. The Strand box office is at 518-532-9077, and the theater is located at 1102 US-9, Schroon Lake.  Find more information about the Strand on Facebook at The Strand at Schroon Lake.  

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, in partnership with the Schroon Lake Arts Council, and with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. “Classic Movie Mondays” is also supported by funding from Adirondack Film, a not-for-profit organization that supports the art and the appreciation of film and filmmaking in the greater Adirondack region.” 

Photo at top provided by Larry McNamara of the Strand Theater.