Please check w/ theaters to confirm below information. Internet Movie Database – www.imdb.com links are provided to provide more information about films.
<< The Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater pays tribute to Columbia Pictures with screenings of features dating from the studio’s first “A” picture release, 1928s “Submarine” directed by Frank Capra, to the British Cold War Spy spoof “Our Man in Havana” (1959) starring Alec Guinness. The January line-up includes two additional Capra titles, “It Happened One Night” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” both on the National Film Registry. Several of the features will be preceded by short subjects released by Columbia ranging from popular big bands of the 1940s to comedies starring The Three Stooges and Charley Chase.
Columbia Pictures began as CBC Film Sales Corporation in 1918. Founded by Harry Cohn, his brother Jack Cohn, and Joe Brandt, it took on the Columbia Pictures title in 1924. A minor player in Hollywood in the early years, the studio gained more prestige in the late 1920s, largely due to a successful association with director Frank Capra and is now one of the leading film studios in the world.
The largest nitrate film collection held by The Library of Congress is that of Columbia Pictures, consisting of 35, 366 reels. It was acquired when the American Film Institute (AFI) founded in 1967, focused attention on film preservation and actively sought motion picture materials in need of preservation. Thousands of titles have come to LC (as gifts) from AFI, the majority of them original nitrate negatives and masters from major studios such as Columbia, RKO and Universal.
Many thanks for your help in sharing information about the free film screenings at the Packard Campus Theater. New people find us every week thanks to your efforts. >>
1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002
Sunday Feb 11 at 4:00pm – La Boheme (1926, 95 min)
Concession stand food & drinks, + free popcorn!
428 W. Duke of Gloucester Street, Williamsburg, VA 23185
Hosted by Katherine Preston, David N. and Margaret C. Bottoms Professor of Music.
From the British Film Institute’s National Archives:
Sunday Feb 18 at 4:30pm – Cine-Concert: The Informer (1929, 100 min)
From the NGA’s website: << Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 novel The Informer, set in Dublin in the aftermath of the Irish Civil War, has been adapted for the cinema several times (even by O’Flaherty’s cousin John Ford in the 1930s). This restoration from the BFI was the first adaption. “O’Flaherty claimed in his autobiography that he wrote The Informer ‘based on the technique of the cinema, as a kind of high-brow detective story.’ Set in the revolutionary ferment of the newly independent Ireland, among a cadre of poor political activists, this silent version captures the essence of the novel, that atmosphere of a world without possible escape, very like the closed system of later film noir” — Bryony Dixon. The new BFI-commissioned score by Irish composer Garth Knox includes accordion, flute, Irish pipes, and viola d’amore. >>
Free admisson! NGA Website
Sunday Feb 25 at 4:00pm – Cine-Concert: Edmund Kean: Prince Among Lovers (1924, 139 min) From the NGA’s website: << Russian exile actor Ivan Mosjoukine settled in Paris and became a legend of the French silent cinema. In Kean ou Désordre et génie he portrays the troubled career of the fabled British Shakespearean stage actor, Edmund Kean — c onsidered one of the finest actors ever to perform — in a visually striking work by avant-garde Russian screenwriter and director Aleksandr Volkov. Recently restored from original negative by Cinémathèque française in collaboration with the Czech Film Archive and the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC), the film’s beauty and psychological depth dramatically portray Kean’s life and loves while reconstructing (within French movie studios) a set based on the legendary Drury Lane in London’s West End. >>
Musicians Gabriel Thibaudeau and Frank Bockius in performance!
Saturday Mar 3 at 4:00pm – Cine-Concert: Shooting Stars (1928, 103 min) From the NGA’s website: << Shooting Stars is the first film of Anthony Asquith (son of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916), whose most celebrated work was the 1952 adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest. “
Musical sountrack of a score by John Altman was commissioned by the British Film Institute for a 12-piece ensemble!
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Lab Theatre II, 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002
Sunday Apr 22 at 4:00pm – It (1927, 72 min) starring Clara Bow!
Concession stand food & drinks, + free popcorn!
<< Directed by Frank Borzage, winner of the first Best Director Academy Award (for “Seventh Heaven” in 1927), this romantic drama stars Seena Owen as Hester Bevins, a simple country girl who yearns for adventure. Though she has a handsome young man, Jerry, who is devoted to her, she leaves her village and goes to New York in search of a grander life. There she becomes the lover of a wealthy and unscrupulous businessman. But when Jerry returns blinded and dying from the war, Hester must choose between her new life and the man whose loyalty to her has never failed. Frances Marion wrote the screenplay based on a short story of the same name by Fannie Hurst. This 35 mm tinted film print was restored by the Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation Center. The short film “Federated Screen Review # 5” will precede the feature. >>
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910
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Thanks Mark. Your comment got me thinking that it would be helpful info to provide the sort of accompaniment being provided…from piano to full orchestra.
I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but silents aren’t truly silent, and without dialogue, the music plays a LARGER role than in sound film. Yes, info. on the accompaniment is always helpful.
Terrific to find this blog. I try to get to silent screenings when I can, especially when there is organ accompaniment, but they can be hard to track down. THANK YOU THANK YOU for setting this up.
Mark.
Agreed. Thanks. I’m bookmarking this page. This is necessary, because there are SO MANY showings around DC/Balt. I’ve been scouring the googles and the weekly city arts papers to keep an eye on things, but that can be frustrating. (Especially when you see something awesome already happened, and you JUST missed it!).