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For our November Silent Film, The Music House presents Buster Keaton’s Spite Marriage with accompaniment by Dave Calendine on the “Mighty” Wurlitzer Theater Organ. This 1929 classic was Buster Keaton’s final silent film, and, while not as well known as some of his other films, it contains some of the funniest scenes he ever committed to film.

In this film Keaton plays Elmer, a humble worker in a dry cleaning establishment, idolizes stage actress Trilby Drew (Dorothy Sebastian). She, in turn, is carrying a torch for fellow actor Lionel Benmore (Edward Earle). When he spurns her for the younger Ethyl Norcrosse (Leila Hyams), she impulsively asks Elmer to marry her, only to regret it almost immediately. Her handlers extricate her from the marriage, and when Elmer finds himself first in the hands of criminals and then at sea, he is more than happy for the opportunity to forget her. But a series of coincidences throw Elmer and Trilby back together again, and she will have cause to re-evaluate her opinion of him.

Dave Calendine is an amazingly talented organist and pianist and a great entertainer. As a young organ student, Dave visited the Akron Civic Theater, where organist Lyn Larsen performed on The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ. Dave was wowed by this incredible pipe organ. By l6, his skills were so impressive that he was offered a job playing the Wurlitzer at the theater. He played there for three years and eventually went on to perform on several theatre organs around Ohio, the US and overseas.  Now a resident of the Detroit area, Dave is a staff organist at The Fox Theater, has served as the live organist for The Detroit Red Wings for numerous seasons, performs at The Redford Theater and at his church as well as concerts at the Sanfillipo Foundation in Illinois, and at the national Music Box Society International conventions. Dave is a frequent performer for our silent film series at the Music House Museum on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ, which made its way “up north”.