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BOX OFFICE: (315) 337-6453
The Capitol Theatre
220 W. Dominick St., Rome, NY, 13440
About Capitolfest:

    Capitolfest is Central New York's premier summer Cinephile film festival—a place to see rarely-shown and newly-discovered films of the silent and early talkie era, held at the historic 1,788-seat movie palace, the Capitol Theatre, in Rome, New York, which opened in December, 1928 as a movie house.  To date, Capitol remains the only building in Rome (population c. 30,000) constructed for the specific purpose of exhibiting motion pictures.  Although the theatre received an Modernistic face-lift in 1939, the auditorium is configured exactly as it was in 1928, and much of the original décor remains. 

    Included  as part of Capitolfest's silent film line-up is live organ accompaniment for each film, played on our original installation, 3-manual, 10-rank Style 70 Möller Theatre Organ.  Restoration work on the organ was started in 2002, and since then it has been used on a regular basis to accompany silent movies.  Each of the silent films will be accompanied by some of the world’s foremost exponents of authentic silent movie accompaniment.  Eminent musicians such as Avery Tunningley, Bernie Anderson, Dr. Phillip C. Carli, and Dennis James have performed for films on the Capitol's Moller in the past.  Additionally, ensembles such as the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra have graced the Capitol's orchestra pit in accompaniment of films.

    The goal of the Capitol Theatre's film series is to not only showcase vintage films, but to re-create the experience of seeing movies as when they were new.  All of the films at the Capitol are shown in 35 mm prints on the theatre’s carbon-arc, variable-speed projectors.  Capitolfest prints are provided by such archives as the Library of Congress, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Universal Pictures, the George Eastman House, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Sony Pictures, as well as rarer prints from private collections.  The festival's line-up focuses on obscure films that received critical praise in their time, but are now near-impossible to see.

Capitolfest 11:

 Capitolfest 11 will be held on August 9, 10 & 11 2013.
The first titles have been announced, and little-by-little, the schedule will be complete in mid-March!  Accompaniment will be provided by Dr. Philip C. Carli, Avery Tunningley, and Capitolfest newcomer, Robert Israel on the Capitol Grand Theater Organ.

Hotels and rates:

(*) Denotes a hotel with special Capitolfest rate.  You must mention "Capitolfest" to get this rate.

Adirondack 13 Pine Motel                 7353 River Rd.                                                                       (315) 337-4930
                                                          (driving time, 8 minutes)                                                  $50 single or double 

Angel’s Nest Bed & Breakfast           404 S. George St.                                                                   (315) 334-4618
                                                         (driving time, 1 minute)                                        $70 single, $80-$110 double

*Beeches Paul Revere Motor Lodge    7900 North Turin Rd. (Rt. 26 North)                                       (315) 336-1775
                                                         (driving time, 6 minutes)                                                   $85 single or double 

Carriage Motor Inn                            Rt. 233,Westmoreland (at I-90 exit 32)                                    (315) 853-3561
                                                         (driving time, 13 minutes)               $50 single or double (1 bed), $60 (2 beds)

Days Inn                                         5920 Airport Road, Oriskany                                                     (315) 736-0100
                                                        (driving time, 12 minutes)                                                   $75 single or double

*Econo Lodge                                 145 E. Whitesboro St. (cr. Erie Blvd./Black River Blvd.)            (315) 337-9400
                                                        (driving time, 1 min, within walking distance of Capitol)       $90 single or double

*Hotel Utica                                       102 Lafayette St., Utica                                                           (877) 906-1912
                                                        (driving time, 21 minutes)                                                  $79 single or double

Oak & Ivy Bed and Breakfast         600 N. George St.                                                                     (315) 337-3065
                                                      (driving time, 1 minute)                                            $85 twin room (2 twin beds)

Microtel Verona                              5118 NY State Route 365 (I-90 & Exit 33), Verona                 (315) 363-1850
                                                       (driving time, 14 minutes)                                           $139 single, $149 double

Quality Inn                                     200 S. James St.                                                                        (315) 336-4300
                                                      (driving time, 1 minute, within walking distance)                   $90 single or double

Red Carpet Inn                               799 Lawrence St.                                                                      (315) 339-3610
                                                       (driving time, 3 minutes)                                   $55 single, $65 double (2 beds)

The Rome Motel                              8257 N. Turin Rd. (Rt. 26 North)                                             (315) 336-4200
                                                        (driving time, 8 minutes)                                                             rates not avail.    

*Wingate Hotel                                  90 Dart Circle                                                                          (315) 334-4244
                                                       (driving time, 8 minutes)                                                                     $119 single

Festival passes now on sale!

REGISTRATION RATES  (rates listed represent a pre-August 1 10% discount) ADULT/CAPITOL FRIEND/CHILD)
1. Entire show RegistrationAll Three Days $55/$49/$33
2. Sat & Sun RegistrationWeekend Pass (Saturday & Sunday, All 5 Sessions)$45/$39/$23
3. One-day RegistrationAll day Friday, Saturday OR Sunday (2 or 3 sessions)$26/$22/$14
4. Single session RegistrationAny ONE session (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday)$14/$12/$8

POST-August 1st Prices
1. $60/$54/$37
2. $55/$44/$27
3. $29/$24/$16
4. $16/$14/$9

Purchase your tickets now!

Select your tickets:


Our Tribute Star at Capitolfest 11:

    When Carole Lombard died at the age of 34 in a plane crash following a World War II war bond drive, the American film industry lost one of its most talented and intelligent actresses. Starting out in silent films as a Mack Sennett bathing beauty, she later epitomized screwball comedy in movies such as Twentieth Century (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936) (for which she received an Oscar nomination) and Nothing Sacred (1937).
    Lombard, however, was also a capable dramatic actress whose talents can be seen in her subdued performances in such films as Vigil in the Night (1940), The Eagle and the Hawk (1933), In Name Only (1939) and They Knew What They Wanted (1940).  Her two final films contain two of her best performances: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) and the Ernst Lubitsch war satire, To Be or Not To Be (1942).
     She was married to William Powell from 1931-33 and to Clark Gable from 1939 until her death.




Friday, August 9
Session 1 (Noon to 5 pm)
All silents during this session accompanied by Dr. Philip C. Carli
All films presented in 35mm/carbon arc unless noted.

Special Friday Pre-Glow Program

12:00 pm Flaming Waters (FBO, 1926)
with Malcolm McGregor, Pauline Garon, Mary Carr, John Miljan.  Story by E. Lloyd Sheldon. Directed by F. Harmon Weight. 70 minutes/silent.

Note: This show will be presented digitally, and will be the only
program of the weekend to be shown as such.

Sailor and hero-of-the-day Dan O'Neill (McGregor) returns from a voyage at sea only to find his mother (Carr) washing clothes for a living. O'Neill discovers that his mother has been swindled by a fake oil-stock promoter who has conned her out of all her savings.  O'Neill tries to avenge his mother's loss by swindling the swindlers.

"A genuine thriller.  In fact, one could hardly believe that a writer could take the tramped over material about oil fields and fake oil promoters and make such an excellent entertainment out of it...The interest is held so well that one hardly realizes that one has seen a seven-reel picture.  There are thrills aplenty.  And they are the  kind that will make spectators raise themselves above their seats."—Harrison's Reports, 3/20/1926

1:15 pm Along Came Ruth (Warner Bros./Vitaphone, 1933)
with Ruth Etting, Charles Althoff, Chester Clute. Directed by Joseph Henabery.  21 minutes.

Exhausted from overwork, famed singer Ruth Etting takes her maid and travels to a hotel in the "sticks," where she plans to take a much needed rest.  Registering under an assumed name, she soon finds herself participating in a local entertainment.  Miss Etting sings "Shine on Harvest Moon," "Moonlight on the River," and "My Heart's At Ease."

1:40 pm My Pal, the King (Universal, 1932)
with Tom Mix, Mickey Rooney, Stuart Holmes, Noel Francis, James Kirkwood.  Directed by Kurt Neumann.
62 minutes.

Tom is the head of a rodeo troop visiting a European country, where he befriends the 12-year-old king (Mickey Rooney). When the king is kidnapped Tom and his boys set off to rescue him. 

"Excellent. This is not a western, although a wild west show has been cleverly worked into the story.  It has everything—fast action, human interest, comedy, and some fine melodramatic situations."—Harrison's Reports, 10/1/32

"Another sweet box office surprise...good, clean wholesome entertainment without a vestige of anything that could stir objections from anyone."—Motion Picture Herald, 8/4/1932

2:55 pm Intermission (15 minutes)
3:10 pm DeForest Phonofilm:
CASEY AT THE BAT (192?)
5 minutes.

This Phonofilm short stars famed actor DeWolf Hopper in his famous recitation of the comic baseball poem, "Casey at the Bat,” which he introduced in 1888.


Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.
3:20 pm DeForest Phonofilm:
A FEW MOMENTS WITH EDDIE CANTOR (1923)
7 minutes.

Eddie Cantor performs musical and comic interludes.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.

3:30 pm The Affair of Susan (Universal, 1935)
with Zasu Pitts, Hugh O'Connell, Walter Catlett, Irene Frankliin, Inez Courtney, and Thomas Duncan. Screenplay by Clarence Marks, Andrew Bennison, and H. M. Walker.  Directed by Kurt Neumann
62 minutes.

A comedy re-working of 1928's Lonesome, The Affair of Susan is an amusing "lonelyhearts" comedy with Hugh O'Connell as a worker at an auto assembling plant putting tail lights on cars.  ZaSu Pitts sticks tails on chocolate scotties in a candy factory.  Coney Island provides the background for most of the film, with the new lovers separated when a chute-the-chute capsizes.  Walter Catlett is the romance disturber.

"An amusing and delightful morsel of entertainment."—Photoplay, December 1935
5:00 pm Dinner Break (2 hours)
Session 2 (7 pm to 10:30 pm)
All silents during this session accompanied by Dr. Philip C. Carli
7:00 pm The Campus Vamp (Sennett/Pathe, 1928)
with Daphne Pollard, Johnny Burke, Sally Eilers, Matty Kemp, Carol Lombard.  Directed by Harry Edwards.  17 minutes/silent.

Another entry in the Sennett campus series, featuring a love triangle between Sally, Carole and Matty.  Johnny Burke and Dapne Pollard supply the gags.

7:20 pm Power (Ralph Block/Pathe, 1928)
with William Boyd, Jacqueline Logan, Alan Hale, Joan Bennett, Carole Lombard.  Written by Tay Garnett.  Directed by Howard Higgin.
60 minutes/silent.

A follow-up to the Boyd/Hale vehicle Skyscraper, Power finds the duo teamed as "two-fisted workers on both dams and feminine hearts." They swing back and forth over the highest dam in the world, without the bat of an eye, but when the girl "looking for 'clucks' with loose jack" comes to town, they fall like weaklings, and are both duped by the same gold-digger.

"This picture is classed as one of the best of the month for no particular reason except that it keeps you laughing throughout."—Photoplay, September 1928
8:20 pm Intermission (15 minutes)
8:35 pm DeForest Phonofilm:
PRESIDENT COOLIDGE TAKEN ON THE WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS (1924)
4 minutes.

The 30th President of the United States addresses the country in what is the first talking picture of a President in office.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.
8:40 pm DeForest Phonofilm:
BEN BERNIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA (192?)
6 minutes.

Ben Bernie and his famous orchestra play jazz selections.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.

8:55 pm Nothing Sacred (David O. Selznick/United Artists, 1937)
with Carole Lombard, Frederic March, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly.  Produced by David O. Selznick.  Screenplay by Ben Hecht. Directed by William A. Wellman.
100 minutes/Technicolor.

Reduced to writing obituaries for a prominent newspaper because of a fraud, in which he was unknowingly implicated, ace reporter Wally Cook (March) looks to impress his boss (Connolly) by cracking open the story of Vermont girl Hazel Flagg (Lombard), who is supposedly dying from radiation poisoning.  Unbeknownst to Cook, Hazel has merely been misdiagnosed by her inebriate doctor (Winninger).   When Cook offers Hazel an all-expenses paid trip to New York in exchange for an exclusive story, she finds the offer too good to pass up and continues the charade!

The first Technicolor screwball comedy, Selznick's smash-hit follow up to that same year's A Star is Born reunites Frederic March and director Wellman.  Long fallen into the public domain and mostly seen in inferior two-color prints, Capitolfest 11 will present a newly-restored 35mm print from the original three-strip Technicolor camera negatives.
Saturday, August 10
Session 3 (9:30 am to 1:00 pm)
9:30 am From Hell to Heaven (Paramount, 1933)
with Carole Lombard, Jack Oakie, David Manners and Adrienne Ames.   Based on the play by Lawrence Hazard. Directed by Erle C. Kenton. 67 minutes.

A variation (and perhaps satire) on the popular stage play and film Grand Hotel, several occupants of a resort hotel await the outcome of a horse race that they have all bet on, and circumstances that brought them there are dramatized.

"A different sort of story with spice, comedy, tragedy, and Jack Oakie thrown in to provide ample good measure....There's good entertainment here for nearly everybody." —Photoplay, April 1933
10:45 am Intermission (15 minutes)
11:05 am Don't Weaken (Rolin/Pathe, 1920)
with Harry 'Snub' Pollard, Marie Mosquini.  Directed by Alfred J. Goulding.  10 minutes/silent.

Not to be confused with the Sennett comedy with the same title of 1920, Don't Weaken is an entry in Hal Roach's 'Snub' Pollard series.  Don't Weaken finds 'Snub' on a golfing green with his caddy, and the hilarious situations that ensue.

"[A particular gag] is practically certain to secure a laugh and one or two other bits are also likely to be productive of giggles." —Wid's Daily, 5/2/1920
11:20 am DeForest Phonofilm:
WEBER AND FIELDS IN THEIR FAMOUS POOL ROOM SCENE (1925)
15 minutes.

The Vaudeville duo of Weber & Fields recreate their hilarious pool room scene for the Phonofilm camera.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.

11:40 am The Cohens and Kellys in Africa (Universal, 1931)
with George Sidney, Charlie Murray, Vera Gordon, Kate Price, Lloyd Whitlock. Directed by Vin Moore.
70 minutes.

Unable to acquire the ivory necessary for the successful operation of their piano business, Cohen and Kelly pack up their families and set off on an African exhibition in search of the legendary elephant’s graveyard.  The fifth of the Cohen and Kelly movies, and the last to feature the original starring quartet of Sidney-Murray-Gordon-Price.

“When you have seen the Cohens and Kellys once, whether they happen to be in Atlantic City, Alaska or Africa, you know pretty well what to expect and you will not be disappointed.  The African expedition, in search of ivory from which to make piano keys, offers ample opportunity for fantastic regalia, frank buffoonery and odd encounters with wild animals and cannibals...." —Frederick James Smith, New Movie, April 1931

"It's a scream from start to finish... don't miss this!" —Photoplay, January 1931
1:00 pm Lunch Break (70 minutes)
Session 4 (2:10 pm to 6:00 pm)
All silents during this session accompanied by Robert Israel
2:10 pm Lon Chaney Fragment:
A Mother's Atonement (Rex/Universal, 1915)
with Cleo Madison, Lon Chaney, Ben Rothwell, Millard K. Wilson, Arthur Shirley, Wyndham Standing, Mildred Manning.  Written by Ida May Park, Directed by Joseph De Grasse. 20 minutes/silent.

Presented as part of a "Rare Lon Chaney" tribute—reels 1 & 2 extant of 3.

In this rare, early Chaney feature, Cleo Madison plays Chaney's daughter, who after living with him on an island for many years, goes to the mainland in search for work, and along the way is reunited with her estranged mother.  Chaney appears in the first reel, as both an old man and his younger self in a flashback.

"This is not a picture for the unsophisticated as it makes no pretense of hiding its true colors. The first scenes, photographed in the environs of a lake, are ideal, being well chosen and excellently filmed." —Motion Picture News

2:40 pm Lon Chaney Fragment:
The Place Beyond the Winds (Red Feather/Universal, 1916)
with Jack Mulhall, Dorothy Phillips, Lon Chaney, Joseph De Grasse, C. Norman Hammond, Alice May Youst, Mr. Powers, Grace Carlyle, Countess Du Cello. Written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Harriet T. Comstock. Directed by Joseph De Grasse.  40 minutes/silent.

Presented as part of a "Rare Lon Chaney" tribute—reels 2-5 extant of 5.

Priscilla (Dorothy Phillips), a slip of a girl, out of place in the austere household of her tyrannical and super-religious father (Hammond), succeeds in awakening the grand passion in the heart of half-breed Jerry Jo (Chaney).  His efforts to possess her, even at the cost of her honor, drives her from her father's house, from the shelter of the gentle school master (De Grasse), and from all of life which she had known, into the outer world, where circumstances again conspire to weave about her new home the settings of a drama in which she again takes a principal role.  However, chastened and wiser, it is that of a mediator.

"This contains some very picturesque and enjoyable scenic views. The story, while not of a dramatic type, is well constructed and holds the interest. Dorothy Phillips plays the part of Priscilla artistically; Lon Chaney portrays well the part of the half-breed." —Moving Picture World
3:30 pm Intermission (15 minutes)
3:45 pm Broadway Love (Bluebird/Universal, 1918)
with Dorothy Phillips, Juanita Hansen, William Stowell, Harry von Meter, Lon Chaney, Eve Southern, Gladys Tennyson.  Based on a story by W. Carey Wonderly. Written and Directed by Ida May Park. 60 minutes/silent.

Based on the Snappy Stories magazine story of the same title, Broadway Love stars Dorothy Phillips as Midge O'Hara, a country girl turned chorus girl on Broadway, and the backstage drama surrounding her suitors (Chaney, Stowell, and von Meter), contrasted against the star of the show, Cherry Blow (Hansen).

"W. Carey Wonderly, the author of the story, knows his Tenderloin and the life that passes inside and outside of its many stage doors...Dorothy Phillips makes Midge a reality, and that is both a personal and artistic triumph. Well-played roles are provided by...Lon Chaney as Elmer Watkins, and Harry von Meter as Jack Chalvey."—Moving Picture World

From the collection of George Eastman House.
4:55 pm DeForest Phonofilm: SISSLE & BLAKE (1923)
5 minutes.

Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake present snappy tunes from their act.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.

5:00 pm Mr. Lemon of Orange (Fox, 1931)
with El Brendel, Fifi D’Orsay, William Collier, Sr., Ruth Warren. Directed by John G. Blystone.
60 minutes.

Featuring El Brendel in a dual role (and the only film appearance of Brendel not doing his famed Swedish accent).  Mr. Lemon, a timid, practical-joking Swede, has the misfortune to bear a remarkable resemblance to cold-hearted gang leader Silent McGee.  When the lives of the two wildly differing characters converge, hilarious complications ensue.  Eddie Cantor was brought in to supply comedy dialog.

"A good comedy of mistaken identity, of the gangster species. El Brendel impersonates two people, one a Mr. Lemon, a timid, harmless Swede, who likes to play tricks on every one, and the other a tough gang leader, known as Silent McGee."  —Harrison's Reports, 4/4/1931

"El Brendel, of all players, is to be seen at the Roxy in a dual role in a round of foolishness known as 'Mr. Lemon of Orange.'  A good deal of the jocularity in this offering is not what could be called fresh, but, as it so often happens, the audience at a first showing of this film yesterday afternoon seemed to relish the old stuff, if laughter is any criterion." —Mordaunt Hall, New York Times, 3/28/1931
6:00 pm Dinner Break (2 Hours)
Session 5 (8:00 pm to 11:10 pm)
All silents during this session accompanied by Avery Tunningley
8:00 pm Assistant Wives (Hal Roach, 1927)
with Charley Chase, Edna Marion, Anita Garvin, Eugene Pallette.  Directed by James Parrott.  20 minutes/silent.

Charley plays an underpaid law clerk who finds it neccessary to make his boss believe the girl who flaps flapjacks across the street from their business is his wife.  Charley does this in order to promote a raise for himself and his supposed wife, but instead, it promotes considerable hard luck.  The boss accepts an invitation to dinner and Charley, using his "assistant wife," has a difficult time in keeping up the pretense!

"Fast-moving laughs!" —Film Daily, 11/27/1927
8:20 pm The Showdown (Paramount, 1928)
with George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Neil Hamilton, Fred Kohler.  Based on the stage play "Wildcat" by Houston Branch.  Directed by Victor Schertzinger.
80 minutes/silent.

A follow-up to Underworld, Paramount's smash hit of 1927, The Showdown reunites stars George Bancroft and Evelyn Brent. Bancroft plays a wildcat oil driller working in the South American tropics who is upset when a scout for a rival firm (Kohler) appears on the scene.  Bancroft and Kohler end up vying for the affections of married woman Evelyn Brent while her husband (Hamilton) is away. 

Offering popular star Bancroft another two-fisted tough guy role, Harrison's Reports noted that, "The work of George Bancroft in this picture is as good, his acting as impressive, as was that in Underworld." —Harrison's Reports, 3/3/1928

"A picture of considerable dramatic vitality...Bancroft makes Cardan a memorable screen creation.  This reviewer does not recall any characterization with quite the same flavor and tang...The action of the whole cast is admirable, especially admirable in its simplicity."—Alfred Rushford Greason, Variety, 3/7/1928
9:40 pm Intermission (15 minutes)
9:55 pm DeForest Phonofilm:
COHEN ON THE TELEPHONE (c. 1923)
4 minutes.

Monologist and comic Monroe Silver performs the famous "Cohen on the Telephone" routine.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.
10:00 pm DeForest Phonofilm: EUBIE BLAKE PLAYS HIS FANTASY ON 'SWANEE RIVER' (1923)
4 minutes.

Jazz great Eubie Blake plays his take on Stephen Foster's famous piece.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.
10:10 pm The Night Ride (Universal, 1930)
with Joseph Schildkraut, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Kent, Harry Stubbs, DeWitt Jennings.  Directed by John S. Robertson.  60 minutes.

Based on Henry La Cossitt's story, "Deadline at Dawn," The Night Ride stars Joseph Schildkraut as Joe Rooker, a reporter for The Globe, who is called out during his wedding ceremony to Ruth Kearns (Kent) cover a bank murder mystery story.  Based on a special brand cigarette found at the scene, Rooker implicated Tony Garotta (Robinson), noted gangster.  When Garotta is accused, Rooker finds himself and his family under fire by the gangster.

"A powerful melodrama, the result of a good story, artistic acting, and capable direction." —Harrison's Reports, 1/25/1930

"Here is a picture that has everything of its kind for action, tense situations and dramatic appeal. Joseph Schildkraut is a knockout, with Edward G. Robinson also taking a goodly share of the honors."—Film Daily, 1/19/1930
Sunday, August 11
Session 6 (9:30 am to 1:05 pm)
All silents during this session accompanied by Robert Israel
9:30 am DeForest Phonofilm:
ABBIE MITCHELL IN SONGS OF YESTERDAY (c. 1925)
15 minutes.

Presented at the original DeForest sound speed of 21 1/3 fps in an archival print from Library of Congress.

9:45 am Captain of the Guard (Universal, 1930)
with John Boles, Laura La Plante, Sam De Grasse, James Marcus, Harry Cording, Lionel Belmore, Otis Harlan, George Hackathorne, Richard Cramer. Directed by John S. Robertson.
83 minutes.

A musical interpretation of the origin of France's national anthem, "La Marseillaise," with the story centering around the French Revolution, with Royalist officer Boles falling in love and marrying pupil Laura La Plante.  After La Plante’s father is killed by a band of Royalist soldiers, she joins the revolutionists, in direct opposition to her husband.  Originally titled La Marseillaise, Captain of the Guard was notorious for being one of Universal's biggest flops of the year—the historical inaccuracies so great that a last-minute apology title was added at the start of the film.

“The big scale on which ‘Captain of the Guard’ has been produced, and the stirring scenes of the march of the French revolutionists on Bastille to save the imprisoned heroine, make ‘Captain of the Guard’ entertaining except, perhaps, to those that have read the history of the French revolution; for the picture has thrown historical facts to the winds….But there is no doubt that the picture will appeal to the masses.” —Harrison’s Reports, 4/5/1930
11:10 pm Intermission (15 minutes)
11:25 am The Bicycle Flirt (Sennett/Pathe, 1928)
 with Billy Bevan, Vernon Dent, Dot Farley, Carole Lombard. Directed by Harry Edwards.

Billy flirts with a girl riding in a car with her brother-in-law and his wife.  Hilarity ensues.

"Billy Bevan has a typical goofy role that gives him plenty of opportunity to be dizzy and roll up a good percentage of laughs... It is well gagged and moves at a snappy pace."—Film Daily, 3/11/1928

From the collection of George Eastman House.

11:45 am The Bedroom Window (William C. DeMille/Paramount, 1924)
with May McAvoy, Malcolm McGreggor, Ricardo Cortez and Ethel Wales. Directed by William C. DeMille.
80 minutes/silent.

Famed mystery writer Matilda Jones (Ethel Wales) is launched into a real-life mystery when her neighbor is killed by a gunshot fired through his bedroom window.  The police find a suspect in Robert Delano (Cortez), the boyfriend of the victim's daughter, Ruth Martin (McAvoy).

“Most of the honors...are due to Miss E. Wales, who, as a writer of detective stories, assumes a Sherlock Holmes role most successfully; she causes many laughs.  Everyone in the cast does good work.” —Harrison’s Reports, 6/14/1924

"It is a pleasure to see Ethel Wales walk away with the photoplay...'The Bedroom Window' is a good picture as murder-mystery pictures go, and Miss Wales is the best thing about it."—The Baltimore News-American, June 1924.

"A mystery comedy of the highest order, with a wealth of dramatic episodes that work to a smashing climax."—San Francisco Bulletin, June 1924.
1:05 am Lunch Break (65 minutes)
Session 7 (2:10 pm to 6:15 pm)
All silents during this session accompanied by Dr. Philip C. Carli
2:10 pm Voice of Hollywood #12 (Tec-Art/Tiffany, 1931)
 with Franklin Pangborn, Anita Louise, William Boyd, William Powell, Carole Lombard.
10 minutes.

Franklin Pangborn, guest announcer for radio station STAR, introduces Anita Louise, who then plays the harp. Scenes from Rita La Roy's wedding are followed by glimpses of several Hollywood couples: Stuart Erwin and June Collyer, William Boyd and Dorothy Sebastian, Richard Arlen and Jobyna Ralston, Russell Gleason and Mary Brian, Thelma Todd and Ivan Lebedeff, Ann Harding and Harry Bannister, William Powell and Carole Lombard. Lupe Velez, Norma Shearer, Constance Bennett, Phillips Holmes, and Lois Moran also make brief appearances.

2:30 pm It Pays to Advertise (Paramount, 1931)
with Norman Foster, Carole Lombard, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher, Eugene Pallette, Tom Kennedy Louise Brooks. Based on the play It Pays to Advertise by Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter C. Hackett.  Directed by Frank Tuttle.  66 minutes.

In order to prove his worth, Rodney Martin (Foster) starts his own soap company in competition to that of his father's (Eugene Pallette).  Hiring his ad man Ambrose Peale (Gallagher) and his secretary Mary (Lombard), Martin finds that the slogan for his soap ("Thirteen Soap, Unlucky for Dirt!") is a run-away success—but he's used up all of his money and can't produce a single bar!

Based on the stage play by Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter C. Hackett, this sound film is a remake of Paramount's 1919 film of the same title starring Byrant Washburn and Lois Wilson.  Silent sex symbol Louise Brooks makes a rare talkie appearance in this film, one of her last.

"The old stage play revamped for the talkies with plenty of speed and lots of laughs. Skeets Gallagher, Norman Foster and Carole Lombard head a perfect cast."—Photoplay, August 1931
3:40 pm Jack Theakston's Short Subject Follies
Curated by Capitol Theatre Assistant Manager and Film Historian Jack Theakston
40 minutes.

Jack Theakston brings back his usual cavalcade of short subjects, trailers, odds and ends (emphasis on "odd") and snipes!  Now in its seventh installment—once you've seen Jack's line-up, you'll never forget it!
4:30 pm Intermission (15 minutes)

 4:50 pm The Dancing Town (Paramount Pictures, 1928)
with Helen Hayes, Humphrey Bogart, Hal Skelly, Ada May, Harry Beresford, and Elizabeth Patterson.  Written by Rupert Hughes, Directed by Edmund Lawrence.  21 minutes/silent.

Also known as The Prancing Prune, The Dancing Town is the third in Paramount's "Great Artists and Authors" series of 1928 (although the fourth completed).  This New York production notable as the screen debut of Humphrey Bogart, who was still an actor on the Broadway stage at this point in his career.

5:10 pm The Cruise of the Jasper B (William C. deMille/PDC, 1926)
with Rod La Rocque, Mildred Harris, Snitz Edwards. Adapted by Zelda Sears & Tay Garnett, From the Novel by Don Marquis.  Directed by James W. Horne.  60 minutes/silent.

A descendant of a family that was once pirates, Jerry Cleggert (La Rocque) must get married on the deck of the old 'Jasper B' or forfeit an inheritance.  Luckily, Jerry finds a bride in Agatha Fairhaven (Harris), but in the midst of their trip to get married, Agatha is kidnapped by bandits!

“Situations and subtitles are clever; photography is fine; direction is capable; acting swell; ensemble just what such a combination would make it.” —Chicago Tribune

"I have just finished looking at 'The Cruise of the Jasper B' in the projection room and I think it's a perfectly gorgeous thing.  I wish you would convey my congratulations to everybody concerned in it, for good continuity writing, good casting, good directing, good photography, and above everything else, such a splendid fidelity to the spirit of the thing."—Don Marquis, author.

CAPITOLFEST 11 is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.