The Silent Film Society of Chicago

 

                                                       

  The Silent Film
Society of Chicago
4050 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
(773) 205-SFSC

 

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The 2010 Silent Summer Film Festival Returns to the Portage Theatre

The Silent Film Society of Chicago is proud to present The 2010 Silent Summer Film Festival for six consecutive Fridays beginning July 23, 2010. Harold Lloyd, Ramon Navarro, Douglas Fairbanks, Lon Chaney and Mary Pickford headline a stellar lineup of classic silent films presented in all their 35-mm magnificence. Each film will be accompanied with live organ by distinguished photoplay organists Dennis Scott and Jay Warren.

Don't miss the festival's special event on Aug. 6 with the showing of The Mark of Zorro with live photoplay accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. All films begin at 8 p.m. at the Portage Theater, 4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. Map of Portage Theater. See the schedule below.

Ticket Info
Tickets are $10 for regular advance, $9 for students and seniors, except for Aug. 6.
For Aug. 6 The Mark of Zorro, tickets are $15 regular advance, $14 for students and seniors.
All tickets are $12 at the door, except on Aug. 6 when admission is $17.
Festival passes are $51 regular admission, $45 for students and seniors.

Advance tickets are on sale at the Portage Theater box office, 4050 N. Milwaukee Avenue during box office hours, or call 773.736.4050. Tickets are also available at the City Newsstand, 4018 N. Cicero in Chicago, 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Or purchase tickets online using PayPal. Please note that all tickets purchased less than one week before the show will be held at will call for pickup on the day of the show.

Regular Advance Tickets

Senior/Student Advance Tickets


Opening Night!
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 8 p.m.

The Freshman (1925) with Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston
35MM Print from the Harold Lloyd Trust
Live theatre organ accompaniment by Dennis Scott
Pre-show music with the West End Jazz Band

Harold Lloyd is a nerdy college freshman whose idea of college life has been inspired by what he has seen in the movies, and he strives to become the "big man on campus." But Lloyd is the furthest thing from cool -- he loses his girl (Jobyna Ralston as Peggy) and soberly realizes he's a loser. He decides to try to change his image by trying out and making the varsity football squad. With the big game on the line, can Lloyd win back his girl and win the game? Some scenes were filmed at the Rose Bowl and the University of California's Memorial Stadium.


Friday, July 30, 2010 at 8 p.m.
Ben-Hur (1925) with Francis X. Bushman, Ramon Navarro

35MM print from the collection at George Eastman House
Live theater organ accompaniment by Jay Warren 
Extra! Pre-Show Chariot Race

In this spectacular 1925 epic film, Francis X. Bushman is convincingly cold as Messala, the Roman boyhood friend and eventual rival of Ben-Hur (Ramon Navarro) The great sea battles are incredibly real. Actual Roman war ships were built to truly capture the feel of the great battle. The famed chariot race is still one of the all-time great achievements in cinematography with the grand setting of the mammoth Circus Maximus as the backdrop.

Special Event!
Friday, August 6, 2010 at 8 p.m.

The Mark of Zorro (1920) with Douglas Fairbanks
Live photoplay accompaniment  by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
35MM print from the Museum of Modern Art

Don Diego Vega (Douglas Fairbanks) is a terrible disappointment to his father and to his intended wife Lolita. He seems to lack ambition and appears to be always tapped out and at times appears frail. But it's a perfect cover for his alter ego, Zorro, the Robin Hood of Old California. This is one of the first swashbuckler films by Fairbanks -- fast, daring and entertaining!
 


Portage Theater 90th Anniversary!
Friday, August 13, 2010 at 8 p.m.

The Penalty (1920) with Lon Chaney
Live theatre organ accompaniment by Dennis Scott
35MM print form the collection at George Eastman House

The "man of a thousand faces" Lon Chaney is the master of the San Francisco underworld known as "Blizzard." Legless, deformed and cruel, he exists as a demoniacal madman seeking revenge for the questionable amputation that was performed to save his life after an accident when he was a child. Dark and gothic, this chilling film made Chaney a first-rate star. This film was featured during the opening weekend for the Portage Theater in 1920.
 

Friday, August 20, 2010 at 8 p.m.

Harold Teen (1924) featuring Arthur Lake and Mary Brian
Live theatre organ accompaniment by Jay Warren
Plus Pre-show entertainment with vocalist Jean-Marie Minton and Jay Warren
Film introduction by author and film historian Ken Irwin

 "Harold Teen" was a popular comic strip which debuted in the Chicago Tribune in 1919. Created by Evanston native Carl Ed, the strip lasted until 1959. Harold Teen is a Midwestern farm boy who moves to California with his grand pop. Mary Brian plays his high school sweetheart Lillums Lovewell, and Alice White plays the enticing Giggles Dewberry, who's all set to claim Harold for herself. All the ensuing trials and tribulations that follow add up to a a hilarious late-20s comedy.


Friday, August 27, 2010 at 8 p.m.

Pollyanna with Mary Pickford
Live theatre organ accompaniment Dennis Scott
35MM print from the Mary Pickford Foundation & Milestone Films
Closing Night ceremonies Pre-show music with West End Jazz Band at 7 p.m.

"America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford plays Pollyanna, the orphaned daughter of a missionary who goes to New England to live with her spinster Aunt Polly, who is much stricter and quite humorless. Pollyanna's room in the attic is dire at best. Despite the hurtful and cold reception, Pollyanna keeps a sunny outlook. Suddenly she is fighting for her life, injured in an accident by a reckless driver. Her young admirer Jimmy steals the show in this heartwarming story.


This project is partially supported by a City arts I grant from the city of Chicago, dept. of cultural affairs and the Illinois arts council, a state agency.



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