At the end of August, we visited the Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood, run by The Cinefamily.

This place is great! One more reason we love living in Los Angeles – We drove there via Sunset Blvd, through the hills and the gorgeous neighborhoods and big trees that make up Bel Air and Beverly Hills.

Into Hollywood, where there is a music or comedy venue every block. I love L.A.

From their site – info about the theatre:

Built in 1942 by John and Dorothy Hampton, The Silent Movie Theatre ran for decades as the only fully functioning silent movie theatre in the country. It has been fully restored to its original, vintage 1940s art deco design, along with a brand new screen and sound system, to help a new generation enjoy the pleasures of cinema in a beautiful theatre.

Looks like this theatre has a lot of amazing, one-of-a-kind shows. For cinephiles. This is exactly the kind of small, volunteer-run program that I want to be able to support when we have a ton of money … someday.

The Silent Movie Theatre is the kind of place that … before the film started, someone came out to welcome us all, tell us a bit about the theatre, the current show and what was scheduled for the future. Apparently they are having a film sent over from Paris for a VERY limited time … a film that (from what I understand) the images were hand-painted on the film …. and there was a collective moan of longing from the audience present.

I love L.A.

Unfortunately, we missed Muppet-Saturday-matinees in July. Sad. Maybe they’ll do it again …

I first discovered this place because (long roundabout way) … I found out a friend of mine from high school is in No Age (kind of a big-name band), so I became a ‘fan’ of theirs on Facebook. And they announced recently that they would be doing a live score at 2 showings of ‘The Bear’ at the Silent Movie Theatre. So I sent the link to Andrew and he seemed really excited! Excited enough to move around our other plans that day and buy tickets.

And Andrew scoffs and social media. ha!

Anyway ….

So we went because it was No Age, because it was a one-of-a-kind event, and because the film didn’t look terrible. All I knew about it was it is called ‘The Bear’ and it must not have a lot of dialogue if they can do a live score of it.

Here’s a trailer of ‘The Bear‘ … from 1988:

Turned out to be perfect for live scoring … the film we saw was foreign with subtitles, so there was no need for audio. We did hear a little bit of audio, the bear growls, etc, but that’s it.

It was such an interesting experience. Andrew kept saying we should go because it was the ‘only time that set’ would be played, like it was a concert. But throughout most of the film, I completely forgot that it was live music. It was so seamless and choreographed and perfect for the action.

Here are some shots of the theatre before the show started….. I’m not good at estimating but it holds maybe 100 (?) people … And it was jam-packed. Sold-out. So cool.

Before the show started, in those 15 min or so when people were getting their popcorn and finding seats, they ran on the screen little one-frame ads for coming shows. …. There will be a bunch of fun old horror movies in October.

And the outside marquee as we were leaving.

If you’re a fan of movies, you really should keep an eye on their schedule … it’s not inexpensive ($12 or $15/person, maybe?), but it’s such a fun experience to do at least once.

so fun. I love that I have a husband that goes on these kind of adventures with me.