Local Silent Film Historian Takes Work to Princeton and Beyond

Candace Braun

While a world of wisdom can come from film schools and internships with prestigious production companies, sometimes the best knowledge comes from your own flesh and blood.

That's true for motion picture and video specialist Bruce Lawton, a product of three generations of cinematographers, Don, Karl, and Rick Malkames, his great-grandfather, grandfather, and uncle, respectively. Now Mr. Lawton has followed in their footsteps, running his own film archive out of his home in Princeton.

Never having gone to film school, Mr. Lawton has learned everything he knows from his family and from studying books and films on his own, starting with an introduction at the age of three: "My grandfather was pretty much my teacher and I got infected pretty early on."

Especially intrigued by motion pictures created before he was born, Mr. Lawton began his professional film career in 1988 with Killiam Shows in New York City, where he served as an archival director of the company's vast collection of restored silent classic films and archival material. After leaving his position there, he continued on the same path, preserving classic films and presenting them to audiences from near and far with his New York partner, Ben Model.

"The films that I like to focus on are films that don't get enough recognition... ones that for some reason or another aren't as well remembered," he said.

This summer, Mr. Lawton has been hosting a 1960s spy film series at the Princeton Public Library. The Harry Palmer Trilogy stars Michael Caine as the antithesis to James Bond, and according to Mr. Lawton, the films are "less sensational, more realistic and more seedy" than the ones associated with "007."

Other library programs Mr. Lawton has presented are a series on classic and screwball comedy, and an outdoor showing of The Odd Couple. Future film library programs may include a 10th anniversary screening of I.Q., which was filmed in Princeton, and a film series on the late Marlon Brando.

World Traveller

Mr. Lawton has shown material from his exclusive archive of classic silent and comedy films all over the world, from parts of the midwest and west coast, to the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.

For the past 10 years he has also run a non-profit program with his partner in New York City. The Silent Clowns Film Series is New York's longest running showcase for classic silent comedy. Accompanied on piano by Mr. Model, each film is presented by Mr. Lawton, who holds a question and answer session with the audience at the conclusion.

Mr. Lawton and Mr. Model also travel to schools locally to show silent comedies, screening films to students in parts of New York and New Jersey, including the Stuart Country Day School and Princeton Day School. Mr. Lawton has also run programs at the Arts Council and Nassau Presbyterian Church.

The film specialist said he feels that today's youth too rarely see films that were made before their time: "I think people underestimate what young people today are interested in," he said. "I think a lot of kids are interested in films like this if you take the time to present it to them."

Finding ways to relate the films to something that students are familiar with is key, he said. For example, actor Mike Meyers based his Austin Powers character on the persona of Harry Palmer.

Mr. Lawton said he also enjoys showing his films with a classic film projector, because of its historic significance and because the machine fascinates children.

The Big Screen

With several film credits to his name, Mr. Lawton is listed with top producers, directors and cinematographers on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com). Some of his projects include discovering and providing material for Turner Entertainment for the restoration of Buster Keaton's The Cameraman, and providing footage for a DVD edition of Michael Agee's series of Laurel & Hardy silent films.

He has also retrieved over 10 hours of rare audio recordings of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz for a CD-ROM produced by Lucie Arnaz, and he was the east coast coordinator for Chuck Workman's The First 100 Years of Film, presented on HBO.

The film archivist's latest personal project is on silent comedian and filmmaker Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, whose career was ruined after he was tried three times and eventually acquitted for rape and manslaughter.

Mr. Lawton recently completed a special edition multi-DVD set of films by Arbuckle that will be released at the end of the year. He is currently working on a three-part documentary on Arbuckle's life.

Earlier this year he also provided rare never-before-seen outtakes from Douglas Fairbanks' silent classic film, The Thief of Bagdad (1924) for a special edition DVD of the film.

The final film in the Harry Palmer Trilogy will be presented at the Princeton Public Library on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. Those who missed the first of the three films are encouraged to request a second showing by calling Sue Roth at (609) 924-9529, ext. 257, or visiting www. princetonlibrary.org.

To request a film showing by Mr. Lawton, email Burbank74@aol.com.