The recent Academy Awards have shown a spotlight on the artistry and films of the silent era. That spotlight is something the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont does every month. Appearing on the Niles screen in March are Hollywood legends Harry Carey, Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd and others. And throughout the month, the film museum will show a few short magical movies by Georges Méliès (the subject of Martin Scorcese's multi-Oscar winning Hugo), an eclectic assortment of feature film presentations, and four installments of the famous serial, The Perils of Pauline. Here's the schedule for the month.
"Saturday Night at the Movies," with Judy Rosenberg at the piano
Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 pm (suggested donation $5.00)
In The Prairie Pirate (1925, Hunt Stromberg Productions), Harry Carey stars as a rancher turned bandit out to avenge the death of his sister at the hands of an unknown marauder. Fred Kohler is also featured as the bandit. The feature film will be preceded by two shorts, Georges Méliès' The Monster (1903, Star Films), and The Perils of Pauline, Episode 1, Trial by Fire (1914, Pathe) with Pearl White, Crane Wilbur, and Paul Panzer.
"Saturday Night at the Movies," with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 pm (suggested donation $5.00)
Set in New Orleans after the War of 1812, The Eagle of the Sea (1926, Paramount) stars Ricardo Cortez and Florence Vidor in a story of romance and adventure on the high seas in an action yarn directed by Frank Lloyd. The evening's entertainment includes Georges Méliès' The Infernal Cakewalk (1903, Star Films), the animated Felix Revolts (1923, Sullivan - retitled Ghosts) with Felix the Cat, and The Perils of Pauline, Episode 2, Goddess of the Far West (1914, Pathe) with White, Wilbur, and Panzer.
"Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee"
Sunday, March 11 at 4:00 pm (suggested donation $5.00)
This month's Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee includes a classic feature and two great shorts. On the bill are the full length Way Out West (1937) and a classic short, The Music Box (1931), in which Stan and Ollie move a piano. Also on the bill is Bored of Education (1936), with Our Gang.
"Saturday Night at the Movies," with Jon Mirsalis at the Kurzweil
Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 pm (suggested donation $5.00)
In The Coming of Amos (1925, Cinema Corporation of America, tinted), an Australian sheep rancher fulfills his promise to his dying mother by visiting his uncle on the French Riviera. He meets and falls in love with a Russian princess who was forced into a bad marriage to save her family from the Communists. Rod La Rocque and Noah Beery fight over Jetta Goudal in this comic romance produced by Cecil B. DeMille. The feature film will be preceded by two shorts, Why Broncho Billy Left Bear County (1913, Essanay) with Gilbert M. Anderson, Marguerite Clayton, and Lloyd Ingraham, and The Perils of Pauline, Episode 3, The Pirate Treasure (1914, Pathe) with White, Wilbur, and Panzer.
"Comedy Short Subject Night," with Frederick Hodges at the piano
Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 pm (Suggested Donation $5.00)
This laugh-packed comedy short subject night features some of the most famous comedians of the silent era. On the bill are The Vagabond (1916, Lone Star) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance, Bumping into Broadway (1919, Rolin) with Harold Lloyd, The Paleface (1921, Comique) with Buster Keaton, and Why Girls Love Sailors (1927, Hal Roach) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
"Saturday Night at the Movies," with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 pm (suggested donation $5.00)
In A Girl’s Folly (1917, Paragon Films), a restless girl yearns to leave her rural home and "get away from it all." One day she comes upon a film crew shooting a film near her home. She makes friends with the film's leading man, who encourages her to try her luck as an actress. The restless girl leaves her small town and goes to the big city to break into the picture business. However, things don't turn out quite the way she planned. A Girl’s Folly is a glimpse at the film business as it was circa 1917 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, with actors Robert Warwick and Doris Kenyon in a comedy directed by talented Maurice Tourneur. The evening's entertainment includes Georges Méliès' The Palace of the Arabian Nights (1905, Star Films, hand colored), the animated Koko the Convict (1926, Out of the Inkwell Films) with Koko the Clown, and The Perils of Pauline, Episode 4, The Deadly Turning (1914, Pathe) with White, Wilbur, and Panzer.
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.
