Silent Movie Theatre
611 N. Fairfax Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
611 N. Fairfax Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90036
31 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 56 comments found
Great press release about the screenings at the Silent Movie Theatre of the William Castle films, direct from
www.williamcastle.com
I apologize in advance if actually giving out information about an upcoming film series at a particular theatre and not drivel is acceptable for this fine site.
“FROM THE GRAVE: A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE “MASTER OF THE MACABRE†WILLIAM CASTLE
“Yes, I am fully aware that I died in 1977. But you didn’t think a little thing like rigor-mortis would prevent me from attending the upcomingWilliam Castle’s Shockers retrospective in Los Angeles did you? Of course you didn’t.
William Castle’s Shockers, presented by the very undead folks from Cinefamily at Hollywood’s iconic Silent Movie Theatre, has been running Saturday nights in October. But, of course, there’s also a Halloween double feature on Sunday night, October 31st.
I’m looking forward to seeing my daughter Terry there that evening – we’ve been having a little trouble connecting these past few years. (She always loved my story about coming up with the idea for The Tinglerwhile standing in line outside … The Silent Movie Theatre!) Terry’s got a few tricks of her own up her pretty sleeves. It’s in the genes.
Maybe I’ll see you there too.
You know, getting ready for Halloween was always one of my favorite things when I was alive. Still is. This year I decided to write a horror novel … with a little help from 30 writer friends. I wrote Chapter One ofScare It Forward and posted it on October 1. Every day this frightful month one of my friends is posting a new, sequential chapter. The final chapter, 31, will be posted on Halloween night. I guarantee it will scare a corpse out of his own grave.
If you dare, you can read each day’s installment of Scare It Forward at http://williamcastle.com/blog/scare-it-forward/
I made over forty B movies following a formula for box office success: low-budget chillers geared to the burgeoning boomers. The Tingler, House on Haunted Hill, Thirteen Ghosts, Macabre, Strait-Jacket (scripted by Psycho’s Robert Bloch), and Homicidal â€" which TIME magazine liked better than Psycho.
But some called me a master of ballyhoo who shamelessly promoted his pictures with gimmicks like The Coward’s Corner and Percepto seat buzzers.
Gimmicks!! What utter nonsense."
To read the latest messages from, leave a message for, or buy William Castle’s recently re-released autobiography, Step Right Up! I’m Gonna Scare the Pants Off America:
http://www.williamcastle.com
Any “reports” last night from 13 Ghosts?
Ghosts seen with or without viewers?
stale cigar smoke wafting through the theatre?
to give this thread another bump and also get this theatre packed in tribute to the “king of ballyhoo” William Castle
Here’s the link (updated to take you directly to the Castle films)
View link
William Castle’s daughter will be in attendance on Halloween for the Tingler/House on Haunted Hill.
Back in 1959, William Castle used the Silent Movie Theatre to film one of the more crucial segments of
The Tingler"
in October of 2010, William Castles’s films will play at the Silent Movie Theatre on Saturday nights.
it kicks off 10/2 with 13 Ghosts and wraps up on Halloween night with “The Tingler”
I had the great pleasure of attending the screenings at the Film Forum in NYC and had a blast. If you have the chance, you owe it to yourself to experience Emerg-0, Percept-o, Illusion-O, vote in the Punishment Poll and well sitting in the Coward’s Corner is on you.
Tickets are now on sale, you’ll need to scroll down to get the information. Get tickets early. The Film Forum sold out.
View link
Thanks Chuck1231.
Exterior photo of the Silent Movie Theatre.
View link
Auditorium
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2010 photo of the Silent Movie Theatre.
View link
Intersting concept.
The Related Websites link still works and shows the same information as the link that you posted.
OK, I guess the name stays the same. Easier to find it under Silent Theater anyway.
Ken, that page says “CineFamily at the Silent Theatre.” So it seems like a marketing thing and the name hasn’t really changed.
There was an article in the Sunday LA Times about repertory cinema in LA. The name of theater is now Cinefamily. The website is www.cinefamily.org
If you to the link in Joe Vogel’s post from April 22, 2008 from YouTube. You can see a few clips of Bob Mitchell playing the organ at the Silent Movie Theatre.
RIP
LA Times today notes passing of Bob Mitchell, long time organist who played at this theater and Strand in Pasadena, the latter in the 1920s. He was also organist at Dodger Stadium when it opened in 1962.
This was once a fairly classy joint…it’s sad to see how the current management has let it go to seed. It’s dirty, needs a repainting, the neon sign is broken – as if no one cares. Their schedule is overloaded with artsy obscurities that seem to be programmed mostly for hipster approval – forget entertainment. It’s as if the powers that be are ashamed of the theater’s history. Well, at least they’ll throw you a free beer!
Wow what a great place. Im hope I get to see it sometime. Great pics as usual Lost Memory.
A photo I took last week of the Silent Movie Theatre can be seen here. Too bad part of the lighting was burnt out.
when the theatre is listed as part of your “favorites” list, an email automatically goes to you.
My apologies, gents. But how did you two find out so fast? I’ve looked everywhere for a “Inform me when others mention my name” option on this site!
If you enjoy silent movies, good for you. I don’t enjoy watching them. And I don’t feel any shame for expressing my opinion.
I don’t denigrate the importance of silent movies. I just don’t like watching them.
Updating my comments from Sep 28, 2005, this past week I went to the Silent Movie Theatre for the first time since Larry Austin’s sad demise. The ticket taker, soda seller, and rah-rah girl for the evening was a young lady named Mo, who bears a striking resemblence to Natalie Portman (and yes, she tells me she gets that all the time). The people who own the theatre now, called the Cinefamily, run it as a sort of mix of the old with a dash of Melrose chic. The silents are now shown only on Wednesdays, but are hewed to a monthly theme. But best of all, Bob Mitchell, who must be close to 100, God bless him, still plays the organ at the theatre now and then. And shame on you ken mc and Lost Memory for your cavalier attitudes on silent movies. Without them, we wouldn’t have the movies as we know them today!
Here’s a brief video clip from YouTube showing Bob Mitchell playing the organ at the Silent Movie Theatre. Bob Mitchell’s career as an organist began when, at the age of twelve, he was hired to play Christmas carols between movies during the holiday season at the Strand Theatre in Pasadena, California. Soon he was accompanying the movies themselves, and his temporary holiday engagement stretched into a four year tenure as the Strand’s organist.
He has been playing the organ at the Silent Movie Theatre since 1990.
Here is another article about the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/6jsxvs
This photo shows some of the owners since the 1940s:
http://tinyurl.com/5ays3y