Sierra Madre Playhouse will have a good time its Milestone 100th Anniversary in Grand Fashion with a two-day Silent Movie Competition Saturday and Sunday, February 3 and 4, 2024, midday – 8 pm
The historic Sierra Madre Playhouse, which opened as a silent movie show in 1924, celebrates its milestone a hundredth Anniversary in grand fashion. With a two-day silent movie competition on February 3 and 4, 2024, midday to eight pm. the playhouse will make a return to the golden age of cinema, when silent footage reigned supreme and the magnificence, glitz, and mystique of the Roaring 20s captivated the nation.
The multifaceted occasion launches with a free group occasion and consists of 5 iconic silent movies. The movies will function stay accompaniment by celebrated virtuosic pianist Frederick Hodges. “The Bees Knees,” Roaring 20s-inspired gala centennial celebration with a Harold Lloyd double invoice, can be set to happen. The gala will embrace a champagne dinner, and speakeasy, honoring Suzanne Lloyd, Harold Lloyd’s granddaughter, and trustee of his intensive movie library.
Evolving over the many years from its film home origins, as we speak Sierra Madre Playhouse is a historic landmark. The playhouse options its authentic distinctive façade and immediately recognizable neon marquee. Inside, a big selection of daring and distinctive programming, together with theater, music, movie, comedy, and family-friendly choices is offered.
The wide-ranging weekend-long anniversary celebration launches with an admission-free screening of silent movie comedy shorts by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The group occasion is offered in recognition of and gratitude for the large help Sierra Madre Playhouse has acquired from Southern California audiences over the previous century. (February 3, midday; free, reservations required).
The competition’s options line-up showcases 5 iconic silent movies. Amongst them are three Harold Lloyd comedies directed by Frank Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, Security Final! (80 minutes), Scorching Water (59 minutes), and Lady Shy (89 minutes), in addition to Helen’s Infants (85 minutes), directed by William Seiter, and Buster Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. (45 minutes). Virtuosic pianist Frederick Hodges will present stay accompaniment for every cinematic gem. And famous movie historian Lara Gabrielle, the competition’s curator and host, will introduce them. (February 3, 4 pm, 8 pm, and February 4, midday, 4 pm, 8 pm.).
Including aptitude and glamour to the festivities is “The Bees Knees,” a roaring 20s-themed gala centennial celebration embracing the venue’s roots as a fabled silent film home . The gala will honor Suzanne Lloyd, a movie preservationist who serves as trustee of her grandfather Harold Lloyd’s movie library and intensive 3D library of greater than 200,000 images. The occasion consists of admission to a Harold Lloyd double invoice of Security Final! and Scorching Water, plus a round-table dialogue with Suzanne Lloyd.
Between movies, friends are inspired to decorate in festive Twenties apparel, resembling flapper clothes, sequin headbands, pearl necklaces, feather boas, fedoras, and bowler hats. They are going to parade throughout the road to the restaurant Roe Fusion to get pleasure from a gala champagne dinner and speakeasy with themed cocktails and menu harkening again to the Roaring 20s. (February 3, 4 pm.)
Sierra Madre Playhouse Board Chair David Gordon, who can be chairing “The Bees Knees” gala celebration, says, “We invite all the group to the silent movie competition to have a good time Sierra Madre Playhouse’s milestone 100th anniversary! With the big selection of occasions featured, there’s one thing for everybody. We’re thrilled to honor the deep and lasting roots, colourful historical past, and vital cultural position of this magnificent venue that has advanced into the award-winning Sierra Madre Playhouse. It’s one among Southern California’s enduring cultural treasures, and as we speak its expansive array of stay performances and movie applications proceed to thrill audiences of all ages. The silent movie competition is really a becoming tribute to the ‘Grande Dame’ of Sierra Madre.”
Tickets to Sierra Madre Playhouse’s silent movie competition are :
- $19.24 per screening, in honor of the yr the theatre opened,
- or $77 for all 5 function movies,
- and $100 for “The Bees Knees” gala celebration (consists of gala champagne dinner and speakeasy, admission to screenings of Harold Lloyd’s iconic movies, Security Final!, and Scorching Water, plus a round-table dialogue with gala honoree Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of Harold Lloyd and trustee of his movie library).
For data and tickets on the silent movie competition and “The Bees Knees” gala centennial celebration, please name 626.355.4318 or go to www.sierramadreplayhouse.org.
Sierra Madre Playhouse is situated at 87 West Sierra Madre Boulevard, Sierra Madre, CA 91024.
SCHEDULE FOR THE TWO-DAY SILENT FILM FESTIVAL:
Comedy Shorts – February 3, 2024, 12 PM (FREE COMMUNITY KICKOFF EVENT)
Comedy shorts by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton (60 minutes)
Security Final! – February 3, 2024, 4 PM
Security Final! (80 minutes), starring Harold Lloyd, directed by Frank Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. This silent romantic comedy follows nation boy Harold Lloyd (Harold Lloyd) who strikes to the massive metropolis to make it large so he can have his sweetheart (Mildred Davis) be part of him and marry him. Some wild heart-stopping adventures ensue, together with one of the iconic scenes in silent movie historical past. Vainness Truthful declares, Security Final!, with its extraordinary scene of “the man within the glasses, hanging from the clock” ten tales off the bottom, “has come to represent silent movie.” The New York Occasions calls it “one of the enduring pictures from the silent movie period.”
“The Bees Knees” Gala Centennial Celebration (SPECIAL EVENT) – February 3, 2024, 4 PM
This particular occasion consists of admission to the gala champagne dinner and speakeasy, plus screenings of Harold Lloyd’s iconic movies Security Final!, and Scorching Water and a round-table dialogue with gala honoree Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of Harold Lloyd and trustee of his movie library and intensive 3D library.
Scorching Water – February 3, 2024, 8 PM
Scorching Water (59 minutes), starring Harold Lloyd, directed by Frank Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. The episodic film options three distinct segments within the lifetime of Hubby (Harold Lloyd) coping with home life and in-laws.
Lady Shy – February 4, 2024, 12 PM
Lady Shy (89 minutes), starring Harold Lloyd, directed by Frank Newmeyer and Sam Taylor. The movie facilities round Harold Meadows, a tailor’s apprentice who’s extraordinarily shy round ladies. He writes a “how one can” guide for younger males titled “The Secret of Making Love,” which humorously particulars wooing various kinds of ladies, and he goes on a journey to get it printed.
Helen’s Infants – February 4, 2024, 4 PM
Helen’s Infants (85 minutes), starring Child Peggy, directed by William Seiter; consists of Buster Keaton’s works. Harry, attempting to win the love of the Lawrence’s neighbor Alice, results in a collection of comical conditions.
Sherlock, Jr. – February 4, 2024, 8 PM
Sherlock, Jr. (45 minutes), starring and directed by Buster Keaton. Buster, a movie show projectionist and janitor, desires of being a detective. He faces rivalry for the affections of a girl and is mistakenly accused of theft, resulting in a dream sequence the place he turns into Sherlock Jr., a detective in a film.
ABOUT SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE
Sierra Madre Playhouse, a vibrant Southern California cultural hub with a wealthy historical past spanning practically a century, energizes audiences and the group with distinctive theatrical productions and charming stay performances. Hailed as a “jewel” (Pasadena Weekly) and “a landmark theater” (ABC7 Los Angeles), it has garnered large accolades for its diversified repertoire and thought-provoking training and outreach applications curated with social affect in thoughts.
The Los Angeles Occasions proclaims, “That is theater from the guts.” As one among San Gabriel Valley’s solely performing arts facilities presenting a broad spectrum of efficiency genres, together with theater, music, dance, movie, comedy, and family-friendly productions that includes eminent native and nationwide skilled artists, the treasured inventive beacon attracts audiences from throughout the Southland.
The intimate 99-seat Sierra Madre Playhouse affords an up-close and private connection to performances that resonate deeply, incomes a number of Ovation Awards, NAACP Awards, and LA Occasions Critics’ Alternative honors. It’s nestled right into a historic constructing on the inviting Most important Road of Sierra Madre, an enthralling village within the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Retaining its distinctive movie show façade and immediately recognizable marquee, the construction has undergone quite a few transformations since opening in 1910, from furnishings emporium to silent film theatre to the inventive establishment that now stands as a vibrant embodiment of the area’s wealthy cultural legacy. The Sierra Madre Playhouse fosters creativity that aspires to bridge divides and spark dialogue, all whereas celebrating the wealthy tapestry of the American expertise and the enduring pursuit of shared understanding.
ABOUT GALA HONOREE SUZANNE LLOYD
Suzanne Lloyd, the granddaughter of Harold and Mildred Lloyd, was raised at their Beverly Hills property, Greenacres. Harold Lloyd, the grasp comic who produced and starred in additional than 200 movies, got here to personify silent movies as “the person in glasses hanging from the clock.”
Harold acknowledged Suzanne’s aptitude for enterprise, skilled her effectively, and when he died in 1971, made the 19-year-old the trustee of his movie library and 3D library that holds greater than 200,000 images. Suzanne has devoted herself to movie preservation ever since and retains her grandfather’s movies alive by sharing his work with the world.
She launched the newly restored Speedy on the Tribeca Movie Competition with DJ Z-Journey, the American Movie Institute’s fiftieth Anniversary Competition, the Bologna Movie Competition, the San Francisco Silent Movie Competition, and in 2015, made seven options and eight shorts accessible on iTunes in varied languages in additional than 15 international locations (many for the primary time). In 2016, she did quite a few exhibits with the Academy of Movement Image Artwork and Sciences with Harold’s extraordinary 3D library, presenting uncommon, 3D images of opening day and the early years of Disneyland. Suzanne and Cinesite Studios are presently in partnership working to animate Harold for the primary time.
Suzanne served on the Board of the American Movie Institute as a trustee for greater than 20 years and has printed three books. She works carefully with Criterion, The Packard Humanities Institute, and the UCLA Movie and Tv Archive on the restoration of the library. She has produced the releases of Security Final!, The Freshman, and Speedy, and is presently engaged on The Child Brother to be launched by the tip of the yr.
ABOUT FILM CURATOR LARA GABRIELLE
Lara Gabrielle is a movie author and researcher whose work on Marion Davies has been featured within the Missouri Assessment and on PBS’s American Expertise. She has spoken about Davies at movie festivals and retrospectives worldwide and has served as a advisor on her life and legacy for books, dissertations, and movie tasks. Gabrielle lives in Oakland.
