Enjoy the Silents

Orpheum's organ pipes up for classic film series

Comments (0) By Jill Koch Thursday, Sep 19 2002

Movie buffs are about to get the silent treatment -- and it's all the buzz among Valley cinephiles. The Silent Sundays film series returns for its fourth season this Sunday, September 22, with a screening of The Phantom of the Opera, the 1925 classic starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin.

courtesy of Orpheum Theatre

The Phantom menaces the Orpheum.

Details

Series begins Sunday, September 22, with free public tours of the Orpheum Theatre, at noon and 12:30 p.m. At 2:30, an organ concert for ticket holders precedes the 3 p.m. screening of The Phantom of the Opera. A film discussion follows the screening. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10.50 for seniors, and $6 for students and children younger than 13. Season tickets are $57. Call 602-262-7272 or log on to www.silentsundays.com to order.

203 West Adams

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Held at downtown's historic Orpheum Theatre, Silent Sundays replicates the old-time cinema experience, from the pre-feature cartoon -- this Sunday, it's Koko's Cartoon Factory -- to the dramatic musical accompaniment, courtesy of organist Ron Rhode and the Orpheum's Mighty Wurlitzer.

The organ, in fact, is the star of the show. Before the film rolls, free theater tours provide an up-close look at the Mighty Wurlitzer, and proceeds from Silent Sundays contribute to its upkeep, overseen by the Valley of the Sun chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society.

The film series continues November 3, with a Douglas Fairbanks double feature -- The American Aristocracy and The Americano -- honoring America's veterans. On December 15, The General, starring Buster Keaton, and The Great Train Robbery, Hollywood's first narrative film, hit the screen; Laurel and Hardy's Mud and Sand and Rudolph Valentino's Blood and Sand follow on February 9. The series gives a nod to Women's History Month with a March 9 screening of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, featuring early cinema sweetheart Mary Pickford, along with film shorts starring other influential women of the silent screen. The season concludes April 13 with Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush.