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Capitolfest!
Capitolfest--the Capitol Theatre's massive annual classic summer film festival--features classic movies, with organ accompaniment for the silents. At Capitolfest 4 in 2006, the spotlight was on a centennial tribute to actress Thelma Todd and a salute to Paramount Pictures.
 The Capitolfest film festival includes several extremely rare talking films, as well as some equally rare silent gems. Each of the silent films is accompanied by one of the world's foremost exponents of authentic silent movie accompaniment. All the films at the Capitol are shown in 35mm prints on the theatre's carbon-arc, variable-speed projectors from archives such as the Library of Congress, UCLA Film and Television Archive, and Sony Pictures. The goal of the Capitol Theatre is to not only show these vintage films, but to re-create the experience of seeing these movies when they were new. This year there were two Capitolfest themes: A Salute to Paramount Pictures, and a Centennial Tribute to actress Thelma Todd. Several Vitaphone shorts were also shown, chosen from among the 2006 restorations.
By popular request, Capitolfest included a Friday evening session for the second year in a row, showcasing some 16mm titles that are not available in 35mm. The 16mm 'Pre-glow' program was presented in the more intimate setting of the Rome Elks Club, across the street from the rear of the Capitol building. The Elks Club is in the 1848 Wheeler Armstrong house, and the grand ballroom in which the movies were shown possesses an original installation 1933 classical Moller organ, with a touch of theatre organ voicing. Avery Tunningley accompanied the all-silent program on this occasion.
Capitolfest differs from other classic movie festivals in its leisurely pacing. There are
intermissions within each session (featuring live organ music) and relatively lengthy breaks between sessions, allowing attendees to savor the films. (Thus our slogan: "a vacation--not a marathon.") The optional Saturday dinner buffet at the Elks Club proved a tremendous hit at all Capitolfest events with live organ accompaniment during dinner.
As always, Capitolfest organizers would be more than happy to provide interested parties with more information. Updated info (including a list of area hotels) can also be found on the Rome Grand Theatre Organ website at www.theatreorgans.com/ny/rome.
Details for Capitolfest 5, scheduled for summer of 2007, will be available soon! Stay tuned!
Capitolfest 4: 2006 Schedule of Events:
August 12 & 13, 2006
2-Day 35mm Classic Movie Festival (with optional 16mm show “pre-glow”)
Friday, August 11 (“pre-glow”), Elks’ Club 16mm program (both features are silent,
accompanied by Avery Tunningley on the 1933 original installation Moller classical
organ)
7:00 Nevada (Paramount, 1927) Gary Cooper, Thelma Todd, William Powell (55 min.)
8:00 Jewish Prudence (Roach, 1927) Max Davidson (20 min.)
8:30 Intermission (15 min.)
8:45 North of 50-50 (Roach, 1924) Dippy Doo Dads (10 min.)
8:55 Irene (First National, 1926) Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, George K. Arthur
(Technicolor sequence) (90 min.)
The remaining films are all in 35mm, shown at the Capitol Theatre; silents
accompanied on the Capitol’s 1928 original installation Moller theatre organ:
Saturday, August 12
Session #1
10:00 am Screen Snapshots, vol. 9, no. 7 (Columbia, 12/28/29) Mary Pickford, Bebe
Daniels, Oliver Hardy, Tito Schipa, et. al. (10 min.)
10:10 am War Mamas (Roach, 1931) Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts; D: Marshall Neilan (20
minutes)
10:30 The Big Timer (Columbia, 1932) Ben Lyon, Constance Cummings, Thelma Todd
(74 minutes)
11:45 Intermission (15 minutes)
12:00 am Girls About Town (Paramount, 1931) Kay Francis, Joel McCrea, Lillian
Tashman, Eugene Paulette; D: Geo. Cukor (66 min.)
1:05 Lunch break
Session #2 (silent movie accompaniment by Philip C. Carli)
1:45 Bert Lahr in Faint Heart (Warner Bros./ Vitaphone, 1930) (20 min.)
1:55 VITAPHONE SHORT (10 min.)
2:10 Thunderbolt (Paramount, 1929) Fay Wray, George Bancroft, Richard Arlen; D:
Joseph von Sternberg (85 min.)
3:40 Intermission (15 minutes)
3:55 Alice Gets Stage Struck (Winkler, 1926) Walt Disney mix of animation and live
action (7 min.) SILENT
4:05 Phil-for-Short (1919) Evelyn Greeley, James A. Furey; D: Oscar Apfel (60 min.)
SILENT
5:10 Dinner break
Session #3 (silent movie accompaniment by Avery Tunningley)
6:45 Harry Langdon Joins Roach Studios (1929) Harry Langdon, Thelma Todd (20
min.)
7:00 A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927) Clara Bow, W.C. Fields, Buddy
Rogers, et. al. (10 min.) SILENT
7:15 Kiki (UA, 1926) Norma Talmadge, Ronald Colman; D: Clarence Brown (90 min.)
SILENT
8:35 Intermission (15 minutes)
8:50 Dick Rich & His Synchro-Symphonists (Warner Bros./ Vitaphone, 1928) (10 min.)
9:05 Um-Pa (Columbia, 1934) (Musical Novelties series) (20 min.)
9:25 The Big Squirt (Columbia, 1937) Charley Chase, Lucille Lund, Bud Jamison (20
min.)
9:45 The Spider (Fox, 1931) Edmond Lowe, Lois Moran, El Brendel; D: Wm. Cameron
Menzes, K. MacKenna (60 min.)
Sunday, August 13
Session #4 (silent movie accompaniment by Bernie Anderson)
10:15 a.m. Josephine Harmon in Harmonizing Songs (Warner Bros./ Vitaphone) (10
min.)
10:30 a.m Hollywood on Parade (1933) no. A-7 Marx Brothers, Jackie Cooper, et. al.
(12 min.)
10:45 a.m. Love Among the Millionaires (Paramount, 1930) Clara Bow, Stanley Smith,
Skeets Gallagher, Mizi Green (74 min.)
12:05 Intermission (15 minutes)
12:25 Beauty and the Bus (Roach, 1933) Thelma Todd, Patsy Kelly (20 min.)
12:50 The Caveman (First National, 1926) Marie Prevost, Matt Moore, Phyllis Haver,
Myrna Loy; D: Lewis Milestone (70 min.)
Session #5 (silent movie accompaniment by Dr. Philip Carli)
3:00 Tex McLeod in A Rope and a Story (Warner Bros.,/ Vitaphone, 1928) (10 min.)
3:10 Screen Snapshots, series 9, no. 18 (Columbia, 1929) (10 min.)
3:20 Screen Snapshots, series 14, no. 6 (Columbia, 2/35) Boswell Sisters, Three
Stooges, Jackie Cooper, et. al. (10 min.)
3:30 Jack Theakson’s Short Subject Follies A cavalcade of shorts, trailers, & snipes
(40 min.)
4:15 Intermission (15 minutes)
4:30 The Hazards of Helen (1914) Chapter 13 Helen Holmes (20 min.) SILENT
4:50 Time (1929) Produced by the Elgin Watch Co. (orig. tinted print) (20 min.) SILENT
5:15 The Canadian (Paramount, 1926) Thomas Meighan (80 min.) SILENT
PRE-AUGUST 1 REGISTRATION PRICES: 2-Day weekend pass (Sat & Sun) $40; One-
Day pass (Sat OR Sun) $25; Any single session (Sat or Sun) $14; Weekend pass PLUS
Friday pre-glow $45.
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