New York City has played a starring role in the movies since they were first made, and the Big Apple will be featured in a series of six vintage silent feature films as part of the “Silent New York” series at Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton.
Admission to the series is free, and a donation of $10 per person at each screening is suggested to help defray expenses. All films will be shown with live music by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis.
“Each of these films is a great way to see what life in New York City was like 100 years ago or more,” Rapsis stated. “Today, in addition to being great entertainment, they’re also a vivid window into the past.”
The series opens on Sunday, March 12, at 2 p.m. with “Little Old New York” (1923), a romantic drama starring Marion Davies. An Irish girl comes to 19th-century New York disguised as a boy to claim a fortune left to her brother, who has died. The rarely screened film was recently transferred from a sole surviving print held by the Library of Congress via a Kickstarter campaign supported in part by Town Hall Theatre patrons.
Other films in the series include:
Sunday, March 26, at 2 p.m., “The Regeneration” (1915) — A slum melodrama shot on location on New York’s lower East Side, with a gaggle of authentic low-life types performing alongside professional actors. Directed by Raoul Walsh, it was one of the first U.S. feature-length films, released the same year as D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation.”
Sunday, April 16, at 2 p.m., “Lights of Old Broadway” (1925) – Set in late 19th-century New York City, Marion Davies plays twins orphaned in childhood who grow up unaware of each other but whose lives intertwine much later on, with comic and dramatic results.
Sunday, April 30, at 2 p.m., “Speedy” (1928) — Harold Lloyd’s final silent feature finds him at the peak of his career playing a baseball-crazed go-getter forced to rescue the business of his girlfriend’s father from being destroyed by thugs. Filled with scenes of 1920s New York City, with notable cameo by baseball’s Babe Ruth.
Sunday, May 14, at 2 p.m., “The Docks of New York” (1928) — Set in late 19th-century New York, roughneck stoker Bill Roberts gets into unexpected trouble during a brief shore leave when he falls hard for Mae, a wise and weary dance-hall girl. Intense silent drama from director Josef von Sternberg.
Sunday, May 21, at 2 p.m., “The Cameraman” (1928) — Buster Keaton tries to impress the gal of his dreams by working as a newsreel photographer. Can he get a break and get the girl? The film ncludes 1920s shots of Midtown Manhattan and the old Yankee Stadium.
For information about the movies, call 603-654-3456. For more about the music, visit jeffrapsis.com.