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LOGAN — The silent films of the early 20th century could soon become a new novelty. That's the hope behind a project to bring a 1920s organ back to life.
The Utah Theatre on Center Street in Logan has one of maybe a couple hundred remaining Mighty Wurlitzers. At one time they were a staple in silent theaters.
Over the past few weeks, some organ experts from Utah, Idaho and California have been working to make the Mighty Wurlitzer work like new.
“Wurlitzer, in its heyday, built about 2,000 instruments, but there were maybe 20 left, if that,” said Mike Ohman, whose company Ridges Pipe Organ was hired to restore the Wurlitzer.
The organs were used to help set the mood, like happiness, or fear from the villain or scary moments from the damsel in distress.
"This is 18 ranks of pipes, and eight instruments, eight percussion instruments, and about 30 traps; meaning snare, drums, cymbal, glockenspiel, a variety of those types of things as well. As well as bells, sirens, whistles, boat sounds. Anything that might be on the screen, the silent screen, you want to be able to replicate it in sound, so that people could get involved with it."
Restoring the organ is a very tedious process. Many of the parts were acquired from around the country.
Mike Ohman and his wife donated two-thirds of the instruments that make up this restored Mighty Wurlitzer. The organ came from a couple in California.
"It takes a couple of years, really to restore from the beginning,” he said. “You have to tear everything apart, clear down to the bare wood, and restore it with leather parts and materials. They're a fascinating instrument once they go."
It has some modern upgrades too, like wireless controls, so the organ doesn't have to be attached with huge cables.
"There are technologies that have been developed that make great improvement to what they had in 1924 when this organ was built," Ohman said.
Each of the components have to be refined, tuned and carefully put in place.
“We try to find vintage materials to put in them,” Ohman said.
And after weeks of work, this 1924 organ is beginning to sound like new again.
“It's a magical moment, to hear one of these begin to breathe and sound like it has a life,” said Jim Clark, an organ expert from Rexburg, Idaho.
Ohman said they are virtually ready to go. They are doing the fine-tuning and regulating now. In several weeks, it will be ready to show.
He said all of this is being brought back to life in hopes that today’s generation will gain a new appreciation.
"It's a new genre to the students of today,” Ohman said. “To witness a silent film or to become acquainted with them again is a real treat."
“There's some magic in it,” Clark said. “It's the kind of thing that's almost hard to describe. When you're sitting in the house and the organ comes up slowly from the pit and you hear that music, it's fun."
Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc
