When was the last time you saw a silent movie? When was the last time you saw a silent movie on the big screen?
Friday night we had the chance to watch the original 1925 Phantom of the Opera. That's the original Phantom with Lon Chaney, the one that caused so much controversy when it was shown because women were fainting when the Phantom was first revealed.
It was a rainy night and the perfect way to kick of the Halloween Weekend - the "original" horror flick with a pipe organ accompaniment. We sat in the balcony and settled into the pew like seats, thinking that "I hope this is short because these seats are uncomfortable."
The lights dimmed and we were thrust into the past. Back to a time when this was the height of entertainment. When going to the movies was an experience. A time when seeing the phantom in all of it's gorrieness was something you had only imagined and never thought you would actually see.
Watching a silent movie with a huge pipe organ playing the score was amazing. Watching a silent movie on the big screen was amazing. The thing that bewildered me the most was that I didn't miss the dialog, after 10 or 15 minutes I completely forgot that there was no dialog.
The movie was so campy though, Christine fainted I don't know how many times and The Phantom killed someone just by tipping over a boat! All in all though, it was a great way to start the weekend.
Saturday night our neighbor had a big birthday/dinner party for his boyfriend. We had a blast drinking wine, sitting on the patio gabbing and eating birthday cake that had fallen off of the platter and onto the floor.
We had just finished singing Happy Birthday, the birthday boy blew out the candles, and when the host turned around to set the cake down he turned and stopped but Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion came into play: "...an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."
It's true, we saw it happen and we laughed, laughed loudly and for much longer than we should have because we were drunk on wine!
The host was mortified, of course, and was concerned what his guests would think, I told him "You think this party is a flop because you dropped the cake, but I can guarantee you - people will be talking about this party for a LONG TIME." That made him smile, because he knew that was true!
Did you eat cake that had been on the floor this weekend?
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6 comments:
hmm. the last time i saw a silent movie was probably 2-3 years ago. i watched andy warhol's sleep at The Getty Museum in LA.
Anyways, I was about to watch a silent movie at St. John the Divine last Friday (also with pipe organ in the background). But I was stuck in heavy traffic, rain and chaos so I missed it!
I loved The Ritz! Fantastic play and Rosie Perez was amazing as Googie Gomez.
Last silent thing I saw was probably something like re-runs of Harold Lloyd comedies, like 25 years ago on Sunday morning TV.
Last time I ate cake off the floor? Not telling!
I love Phantom...this would have been a blast, watching the original silent version.
...and I don't think I've ever eaten cake off the floor!
P.S. You really need to attend a small town parade one of these days! :-)
Lori - I grew up in a small town (about 1000 people) and I do miss those small town parades, they're so much better than the big city parades!
I didn't eat cake off the floor, but I did lick some of my vodka off the bar Saturday night.
Nope. No cake eaten off the floor but I just looked at my floor which I washed just yesterday and it is COVERED with dog hair.
Have fun living with a dog and a cat!!
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