Milwaukee Film is bringing The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest films and based on the story of Jack the Ripper, to the Oriental Theatre.
Moviegoers will be in for a special treat as the screening of the silent classic, which takes place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, will feature live organ accompaniment by Richard Hills, one of the world’s leading organists. Hills will travel to Milwaukee from the United Kingdom to play the Oriental Theatre’s newly restored 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ.
Hills is widely acknowledged as one of the very few musicians to have bridged and mastered the divide between the classical and theatre organ and has been honored with numerous awards and accolades.
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The Lodger was Hitchcock’s first suspense film and was an immediate success among critic in what many considered to be his true directorial debut. The movie focuses on a landlady, played by Marie Ault, and her husband (Arthur Chesney), who take in a new lodger (Ivor Novello). At first excited that their tenant has paid a month’s rent in advance, they quickly become concerned about his suspicious behavior and wonder if he is a killer who has been terrorizing young, local blonde woman.
Hills earned Organist of the Year honors in 2010 from the American Theatre Organ Society and has appeared several times as a soloist on national and international television and radio programs. He made his solo debut in 2013 at BBC Proms, a summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held predominantly at the Royal Albert Hall in central London.
After returning to Proms as a soloist in 2015, Hills then appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony and John Wilson Orchestras during the 2019 Proms season. Hills also had solo recital at London’s Royal Festival Hall, along with concerts in the United States, Europe and Sweden.
His many recording credits include a collection of British music performed on the dual-purpose Compton organ of Southampton’s Guildhall.
Hills is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists in London and a strong supporter of the work of the United Kingdom’s Cinema Organ Society, for which he serves as musical advisor.
