The Reg Lenna Center for the Arts brought the humor of nearly a century ago to Jamestown on Saturday evening, as they presented a showing of two silent films by Charlie Chaplin, with the accompaniment of the 12-piece Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra.

Director Andrew Greene served as master of ceremonies, explaining that it was typical for silent films in the 1920s to be accompanied by a 12-piece orchestra, with special instruments involved, especially trumpet-like cornets and an exotic drum kit which includes noisemakers such as honking horns and scratching sounds such as would accompany the ripping or trousers in the film.

Greene wore tails and white gloves, and he encouraged the audience to make sighing noises when lovely Edna Purviance came on screen, and to hiss any villains who appeared, among other responses. Ironically, the hissing turned out to be wildly popular, while the other sounds weren’t used as much.

The first half of the program involved two works in ragtime, performed by the orchestra, and then the showing of ”The Kid,” from 1921, one of Chaplin’s most celebrated work. The plot involves an unwed mother, unable to provide for her baby, so she puts him into the back seat of a limousine with a note begging the finder to take care of the orphaned child.

She then goes to a bridge where it seems she means to jump to her death, although she is saved by a passerby with a baby of her own, which inspires her to live.

Meanwhile, the limo is stolen by a pair of thugs. When they discover the child, they leave it in an alley, next to some trash cans, where it is discovered by the Little Tramp himself. Chaplin decides to provide for the child himself, although the curious devices to which he needs to resort were good for many laughs, such as a coffee pot with a nipple over the spout, which was hung from the ceiling to feed the child.

Although there are a number of risks to the adopted father and son, eventually the natural mother, who has become a wealthy film actress, discovers the child and the Little Tramp is welcomed in her home and rewarded for his kindness.

The audience seemed to enjoy the film and orchestra very much, but a number of people left at intermission, stating that more than an hour was long enough. Following intermission, they orchestra returned with a second feature, this one five years earlier in Chaplin’s career. It was called ”Behind the Screen,” and presented a humorous look at how films got made in the Mack Sennett Studios.

The second film was largely slapstick, without much of a story line. Chaplin was the assistant to a very tall and muscular stage hand named Goliath. Chaplin did all the work, dragging around columns painted to look like stone, and other large and heavy props, while his superior largely slept in a chair, but every time the big boss came by, it was during the rare second when Chaplin had paused for a rest and Goliath had stood and picked up an object.

A surprising number of people in the audience said that they had never seen a silent film, or never seen one with orchestral accompaniment, so the experience was a rare opportunity for them to understand the early years of cinema. It was a light and enjoyable evening of entertainment.