Alloy Orchestra finds romance with 'The Eagle'

If you hear hints of Tchaikovsky or Mussorgsky in the Alloy Orchestra's rich new score for the silent film "The Eagle," it is probably accidental. Alloy's allusions are quiet and come out of the collective unconscious of the three men who write the ensemble's film scores instinctively and "democratically," as Alloy Orchestra founder Ken Winokur puts it. You can't even be sure the allusions don't come out of your own unconscious.

"The Eagle" was unveiled on Thursday night at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, presented by CRASHarts. The score reflects the group's new turning away from loud percussion and toward melody and subtle effects, involving, in this case, wind chimes, clarinet, accordion, and harp textures on the synthesizer. Much of the ensemble's "rack of junk" (Winokur's phrase), including a car spring and horseshoes, sat still. In its 27th feature film score, Alloy has at last found romance, in the handsome persons of Rudolph Valentino and costar Vilma Banky .

The film was shown in a new slow-emulsion print produced by Box 5, run by Winokur and his wife, Jane Gillooly, that revealed the fine detail and painterly shades of director Clarence Brown's 1927 original -- in a long backward pan of a feast table, for example, a smoky cell room, or for that matter, the fullness of Valentino's nose.

The new print and score of "The Eagle" were premiered last April at Lincoln Center. This was the hometown premiere, which opened a six-performance run at the ICA that ends tomorrow afternoon. ("The Eagle" will be repeated this evening; also featured are Lon Chaney's "Phantom of the Opera" and Buster Keaton's "The General.")

"The Eagle," drawn from Pushkin, is the story of a soldier (Valentino) who catches the eye of the lustful czarina, who wants him as her sexual valet, which he refuses, which means trouble. He flees to his country estate, which has been taken over by a brute, who has a beautiful daughter (Banky). She falls in love with the soldier, who is persuaded not to kill the brute, is imprisoned, and is finally spared. It's about 80 minutes long and surprisingly weighty and satisfying. Each scene involves thoughtful angles, long "hold that emotion" takes, and beautifully crafted sets by William Cameron Menzies. There's little printed dialogue, so the visuals are rarely interrupted, and that means more room for the music.

The score, by Winokur and partners Terry Donahue and Roger Miller, is a long, shimmering strand that becomes agitated at climactic moments -- drums when soldiers gather -- and shifts quietly from one texture to another. Mussorgsky is hinted at in the scene-setting opening chords. Drums darken a death sentence. Accordion and piano accompany courtship, and wind chimes and harp create the mood for the consummation. The music never intrudes. Sometimes it could do more, for example, to point up moments of rather clumsy humor. Irony is not yet in Alloy's wonderful mix.