Back Into The Dark. (silent Movie Theater/cinefamily)
Built in 1942 by John and Dorothy Hampton, The Silent Movie Theatre ran for decades as the only fully functioning silent movie theatre in the country. It has been fully restored to its original, vintage 1940s art deco design, along with a brand new screen and sound system, to help a new generation enjoy the pleasures of cinema in a beautiful theatre. Previous owner had done some fine refurbishing of the 60-year-old facility and, with the addition of a back patio, which led to more of a rental for private functions rather than showing movies. Sammy Harkham (one of the owners of Family Books, a couple of blocks from the Silent Movie), current co–owner of the Silent Movie Theater decided to bring the movie freaks back to the screening room. Along with his brother and Hadrian Belove, they’ve put together an idea of an organization of movie lovers devoted to finding and presenting interesting and unusual programs of exceptional, distinctive, weird and wonderful films. The Cinefamily.
“The Cinefamily’s goal is to foster a spirit of community and a sense of discovery, while reinvigorating the movie-going experience. Like campfires, sporting events and church services, we believe that movies work best as social experiences. They are more meaningful, funnier and scarier when shared with others” – is what we can read from the home page of the Silent Movie Theatres website. And it’s not hard to believe, since Hadrian Belove – manager of the Silent Movie Theatre, the home of Cinefamily project is the same whose last endeavor was the glorious West L.A. video store CineFile. “We started CineFile around the time that Blockbuster was making revenue-sharing deals with the studios, when something like 60 percent of independent video stores were going out of business. In terms of the whole industry, it was the worst time to start. But we believed in our concept.” – says Belove, currently challenging himself with a new project.
Part of the theater’s strategy is selling a membership plan in the mode of Netflix. Separate tickets are 10 bucks apiece, but for $25 a month, you get to come as often as you want (plus you get one free bucket of popcorn). Belove’s mission statement is in the calendar: “Seriously. I want you to be able to take a chance, to check something out just ‘cause you’re intrigued or bored or just really like our popcorn. That’s essential: what it says is, if you’re willing to commit to two to three tickets a month, we’re going to encourage you come as much as you like. And I’d rather have a fuller house, because you’ll enjoy the film more.”
Programming of Cinefamily project is focused on the experience of variety and surprise, for instance, Feature Fridays have an early show of some “high art” title – Francois Truffaut’s autobiographical Antoine Doinel series for example, the “low art” late shows on Friday are Home Alones (which mixes the Macaulay Culkin blockbuster with creepier titles like the incest-tinged The Cement Garden) or Sects, Drugs,
