Restored ‘Chicago’ roars back in 1928 silent version

Long before the 2002 musical “Chicago” razzle-dazzled its way to the best picture Oscar, Cecil B. DeMille produced a lavish, silent version of the ribald comedy about a flapper named Roxie Hart who kills her boyfriend and is then incarcerated on the infamous “murderess row.”

Reported lost for many years, the 1928 production was actually in the DeMille family collection, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive recently restored “Chicago” from DeMille’s personal 35-millimeter nitrate print. The revitalized film is making its public debut Wednesday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater as part of UCLA’s Festival of Preservation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Lost and Found” series.

Based on the hit 1926 Broadway play by Maurine Watkins, “Chicago” had its origins in the articles Watkins wrote for the Chicago Tribune about Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan, both of whom had been accused of killing their lovers. (William Wellman also threw his hat in the “Chicago” ring with his 1942 version, “Roxie Hart,” with Ginger Rogers).

In the DeMille film, Phyllis Haver plays Roxie, Victor Varconi is her husband, Amos, and Eugene Pallette portrays her ill-fated sugar daddy.

At the screening, live musical accompaniment will be supplied by the Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra.

Crawford, 60, is best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chuck Connors’ son in “The Rifleman,” the western series that ran on ABC from 1958 to 1963. Since the early ‘90s, Crawford and his orchestra have performed vintage dance band music at special events.

“I am compiling the score,” Crawford says. “They gave me a DVD of the movie. I have about 4,000 recordings in my iTunes library, a lot of vintage stuff. It’s been a treat to play the film and think of different songs from the period.”

Crawford might also be doing some singing with the orchestra. “I haven’t decided how much singing I am going to do. But I think it would be effective to come in occasionally with a chorus or maybe just a phrase or two. We will probably be doing this acoustically, in which I have an authentic megaphone I can use. I think it will be a real experience for the audience.”

-- Susan King