WILTON — It’s known as the ‘Sweet Science,’ and its popularity in the 1920s played a big role in getting the movie industry off the ground.

It’s the sport of boxing, the subject of a summer mini-series of silent films with live music at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.

The films include a newly restored drama directed by William Wyler, a classic thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, and a boxing comedy that was Buster Keaton’s top-grossing film of the silent era.

The series will open with ‘The Shakedown’ (1929), a recently restored boxing drama from Oscar-winning director William Wyler to be screened on Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses and support the Town Hall Theatre’s silent film series.

The screening will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, the Town Hall Theatre’s silent film accompanist.

Later screenings in the boxing mini-series include Alfred Hitchcock’s boxing melodrama ‘The Ring’ (1927) on Sunday, July 27; and Buster Keaton’s boxing comedy ‘Battling Butler’ (1926) on Sunday, Aug. 24.

“Boxing was as popular as baseball in 1920s America, and that’s reflected in the many films with boxing stories produced during that era,” said Rapsis, accompanist for the series.

‘The Shakedown,’ a boxing story about a crooked prizefighter who adopts an orphan, shows young director William Wyler already fluent in the language of cinema.

Wyler’s 50-year Hollywood career would go on to include winning three Oscars and directing such Golden Age milestones as ‘Roman Holiday’ (1953) and ‘Ben Hur’ (1959). Wyler was nominated for ‘Best Director’ a dozen times–more than anyone else in Academy Awards history.

In ‘The Shakedown,’ Wyler weaves an on-screen tale that flows deftly from action to suspense, but also includes moments of light-hearted comedy.

Starring James Murray and Barbara Kent, ‘The Shakedown’ is set in a hard-boiled world of professional swindlers who hustle small-town crowds with fixed boxing matches.

After saving an orphan’s life, boxer Dave Roberts is forced to decide whether to continue his low-life ways, or turn the tables and escape those who control him.

As the small-town fighter, actor James Murray was following up his acclaimed performance in King Vidor’s 1928 drama ‘The Crowd.’

Murray’s promising career as a leading man, however, would soon be undone by alcoholism, which rendered him unemployable.

Murray was reduced to panhandling during the Great Depression, dying at age 35 by drowning in New York City’s Hudson River.

Petit starlet Barbara Kent (who stood under five feet tall) peaked in popularity during the transition from silents to talkies, when ‘The Shakedown’ was released. Afterwards, her career gradually faded.

Making her last screen appearance in 1935, Kent continued with an active life that included flying her own airplane into her mid-80s. She died in 2011 at age 103.

Playing the orphan was noted child actor Jack Hanlon, who would soon become a member of the popular “Little Rascals” troupe.

Hanlon, who would leave show business to serve as a paratrooper in World War II and later worked as a professional mover, died in 2012 at age 96.

Although completed as a silent picture, the huge popularity of movies with talking sequences caused Universal to order Wyler to reshoot parts of the film to create a version that included dialogue.

Wyler embraced the new method of making movies, incorporating speech naturally into his stories, impressing studio bosses with his sure technique and laying the groundwork for his long career.

In ‘The Shakedown,’ Wyler makes a brief cameo as a comic bungler who holds a ‘Round 3’ card upside down during the climactic boxing match.

Wyler would go on to play an influential behind-the-scenes role in the cinematic careers of performers ranging from Bette Davis and Audrey Hepburn to Laurence Olivier and Barbara Streisand.

The original silent version of ‘The Shakedown’ will be shown at the Town Hall Theatre, with live music by New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.

‘The Shakedown’ (1929) will be screened with live music on Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses.

For more info, visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.