Silent Film: "The Mark of Zorro" accompanied by Clark Wilson

Clark Wilson is one of the most prominent and recognized scorers of silent photoplays in America today. He works exclusively with the organ in developing accurate and historic musical accompaniments as they were performed in major picture palaces during the heyday of the silent film.

Wilson began his scoring career in 1980 and has successfully toured with hundreds of film presentations at schools and universities, concert halls and performing arts centers, theatres, film festivals, and conventions. He is the organist of choice for many of the American Theatre Organ Society’s international convention silent-film presentations, has performed at American Guild of Organists and Organ Historical Society conventions and the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, and has scored pictures for Kino International for public DVD release. He currently enjoys creating scores for (and working with Suzanne Lloyd on the presentation of) classic Harold Lloyd comedies. His work has encompassed North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

After a brief program of "spotlight solos", Clark will cue the 1920 classic "The Mark of Zorro", starring Douglas Fairbanks as Don Diego Vega, a young aristocrat who secretly becomes the masked vigilante Zorro to fight corruption and oppression in Spanish California. The swashbuckling adventure sees Diego, a seemingly foppish nobleman, adopt a heroic dual identity to protect the poor and downtrodden, leaving his signature "Z" mark at the scene of his exploits.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher The Susan A. & Joseph N. Graif Foundation Inc.