Moultonborough Library to screen 1926 silent film version of 'The Scarlet Letter'

MOULTONBOROUGH — It was a picture that MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer didn't want to make, fearing the scandalous story of adultery in old New England would offend the movie-going public.

But silent screen star Lillian Gish, then at the height of her fame, insisted that "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne would be her next film.

Gish prevailed, and the result was MGM's splashy big budget adaptation of a classic literary tale anchored by Gish's landmark performance as Hester Prynne.

See it when "The Scarlet Letter" (1926) will be shown with live music on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Moultonborough Public Library, at 4 Holland St.

The screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films.

Admission is free. The screening is being held to honor this year's upcoming 'Banned Books Week' (Oct. 4-10), an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read and shines a spotlight on the harms of censorship.

"The Scarlet Letter" has been banned or challenged at various times because critics accused it of promoting immorality, obscenity, and pornography due to its plot about adultery.

Adapted from Hawthorne's 1850 classic novel set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1642 to 1649, "The Scarlet Letter" featured Lillian Gish in the leading role as Hester Prynne.

Hester is married to Roger Prynne, whom she does not love. During her husband's long absence she walks in the woods with her pastor, the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, and they soon fall in love.

When a child is born to her, she is condemned to wear upon her breast the brand of adulteress and is shunned when she refuses to divulge the name of the child's father.

The situation leads to a shattering climax in which a community is forced to confront its own hypocrisy and double standards.

"The Scarlet Letter" was directed by Victor Seastrom, a Swedish filmmaker brought to Hollywood by MGM.

Seastrom's talent for memorable visuals is evident throughout "The Scarlet Letter."

Film critic Paul Malcolm observed that “early in the film Gish, as Prynne, loses her bonnet chasing a songbird through a summer glade. When the wind catches her waist-long tresses, Gish appears for an instant as if she had stepped into a painting by Botticelli."

The film was the second that Gish made under her contract with MGM and a departure from the ingénue roles she had performed in service to director D.W. Griffith.

Her first MGM picture was an adaption of "La Bohème" with co-star John Gilbert, in which she played the pathetic consumptive Mimi.

Although "The Scarlet Letter" cost MGM nearly $500,000 to make, it proved a solid box office hit, earning a profit of just under $300,000 after its release 100 years ago.

The silent film version of "The Scarlet Letter" (1926) will be screened with live music on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Moultonborough Public Library.

Admission is free. For more information, call the library at 603-476-8895.

For more about the music, visit jeffrapsis.com.