Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan Star at Niles in June

June is a busy time at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. The month begins and ends with events honoring the Fremont museum's unique legacy. The month begins with the annual "Charlie Chaplin Days," which honors Niles' brief but glorious association with the legendary film comedian. June ends with the 15th Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival, which celebrates the museum's similar association with the pioneering Western film star, Gilbert "Broncho Billy" Anderson. This latter event is a three day affair packed with a good deal more than just Westerns.

In between, June features a rarely seen Jack Pickford film (Jack was Mary's troubled brother), two classic movies with the young Jackie Coogan (later Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom, The Addams Family), and the museum's regular Comedy Short Subject Night and Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee. Here is the schedule of films and events for the month.

"Charlie Chaplin Days"
Early on in his career, Charlie Chaplin spent a little more than a year in present day Fremont while working at its Niles Essanay studio. And each year, to celebrate their special legacy, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum puts on a two day celebration with films, a look-alike contest, a pie fight, activities, and more. Both days include the screening of Chaplin films shot in Niles in 1915.

Saturday, June 2
11:30 am  A Night Out with Ben Turpin
12:30 pm  The Champion
1:30 pm    In The Park
1:45 pm    The Movies Go West (1974, Geoffrey Bell) narrated by Hal Angus
2:30 pm    A Jitney Elopement
3:30 pm    The Tramp
4:00 pm    When the Movies Came from Niles (1964, KPIX-TV) documentary
7:30 pm    The Kid (1921, Charles Chaplin Productions) with Char­lie Chaplin, Edna Purviance and Jackie Coogan starring in the landmark film that helped make Coogan world famous. This classic Chaplin feature will be preceded by two shorts, Gentlemen of Nerve (1914, Keystone) with Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and Work (1915, Essanay) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance.

Sunday, June 3
11:30 am  A Night Out with Ben Turpin
12:30 pm  The Champion
1:30 pm    In The Park
1:45 pm   The Movies Go West (1974, Geoffrey Bell, sound) narrated by Hal Angus
2:30 pm    A Jitney Elopement
3:30 pm   The Tramp

2:00 pm   Charlie Look-a-like Contest, with the Google Chaplin doodle shown before the contest
4:00 pm   Pie Fight of the Century  More info on Museum website

"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday, June 9 at 7:30 pm
In the tinted & toned The Man Who Had Everything (1920, Goldwyn Productions), Jack Pickford deftly plays the title character, a spoiled, reckless rich kid with no real direction in life. One day, he nearly runs over a blind beggar with his car, and shows no remorse. In response, the beggar curses him, saying "May you always have everything that you want." This neatly packaged morality play foreshadows aspects of Pickford's own troubled life. (He was the alcoholic, womanizing brother of Mary Pickford and the husband of tragic silent movie actress Olive Thomas.) The feature will be preceded by two shorts: Friends (1912, Biograph) with Mary Pickford and Henry B. Walthall, and the classic Out West (1918, Comique) with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuck­le and Buster Keaton.

"Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee"
Sunday, June 10 at 4:00 pm
This month's Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee includes four short films, Brats (1930) and Any Old Port (1932)  with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and Helping Grandma (1930) and Fly My Kite (1931) with Our Gang.

"Comedy Short Subject Night" with Judy Rosenberg at the piano
Saturday, June 16 at 7:30 pm
This laugh-packed comedy program features some of the most famous comedians of the silent era. On the bill are Easy Street (1917, Lone Star) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance, Neighbors (1920, Comique) with Buster Keaton, Mighty Like a Moose (1925, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase, and Should Married Men Go Home (1928, Hal Roach) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Judy Rosenberg at the piano
Saturday, June 23 at 7:30 pm
In Oliver Twist (1922, First National), Lon Chaney and Jackie Coogan (once called the "greatest boy actor in the world") team up in this Frank Lloyd-directed tale based on the Charles Dickens novel of survival in London’s un­derworld. The film was considered lost until a print surfaced in Yugoslavia in the 1970s. The print lacked intertitles, which were subsequently restored with the help of Coogan and Producer Sol Lesser. The feature will be preceded by two short films, For His Son (1912, Biograph) with Charles West and Blanche Sweet, and Lulu’s Doctor (1912, Vitagraph) with Clara Kimball Young, Maurice Costello and Dolores Costello (the the great-grandfather and grandmother, respectively, of contemporary actress Drew Barrymore). Dolores Costello plays Lulu.

"15th Annual Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival"
June 29, June 30, July 1
This annual three-day event deserves its own blog, and will get one toward the end of the month. For now, suffice to say, people come from all over the country to watch films and enjoy the company of other early film and history buffs. For further information see the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum website.

For more info: The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum is located at 37417 Niles Blvd. in Fremont, California. For further information, call (510) 494-1411 or visit the Museum's website at www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/.

Thomas Gladysz is a Bay Area arts journalist and early film buff, and the Director of the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and international fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television and radio, and introduced Brooks' films around the world.