Arcada's silent film series to feature the first movie shot underwater
Kick off the new year with a screening of the 1916 film based on Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," the first full-length movie filmed underwater.
The Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St. in St. Charles, is continuing its "Silent Film Night" series at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9. The movie will be accompanied live by Jay Warren, Chicago's foremost pipe organ expert, on the classically restored 3/16 Marr Colton/Geneva Arcada organ.
The film, also taking elements of Verne's novel, "Mysterious Island," features Allen Holubar, Dan Hanlon and Edna Pendleton.
The film is directed by Stuart Paton, a Scottish native who traveled to Hollywood where he was an actor and writer before starting to direct films in 1914.
The underwater footage was shot near Nassau in the Bahamas using the Williamson Photosphere, created by John Ernest Williamson, based on his father's invention.
Charles Williamson, a ship captain, had created a deep-sea tube to give divers a steady supply of air and a means of communication while doing underwater salvage work. Though the original invention wasn't very successful, J.E. Williamson realized he could adapt his father's creation for motion picture photography. To learn more about these underwater film endeavors, read "A Pioneer Under the Sea" on the Library of Congress website.
Carl Laemmle's Universal Studios also constructed an elaborate film set based on an East Indian city, with a Hindu temple with minarets and domes, and created a full-size mock-up of Verne's submarine the Nautilus.
In 2016, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Tickets are $10 or $8 for members of the Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts or the Silent Film Society of Chicago. Visit www.arcadalive.com.
Enjoy fresh popcorn while watching a silent film in a 1920s vaudeville theater. In addition to popcorn, there are food and drink specials, including hot dogs, Bavarian pretzels, pizza grinders, and regular or jumbo Guinness beer brats.
It will be followed by Rudolph Valentino's 1921 romantic drama "The Sheik" on Feb. 6, Lon Chaney's 1920 crime drama "The Penalty" on March 6, and the 1928 German melodrama "Pandora's Box," featuring Louise Brooks, on April 3. The film series is held on select Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
As a regular photoplay organist for the Silent Film Society of Chicago, Warren has accompanied most of the great silent films throughout his 40-year career. He has been featured annually for the society's highly regarded Silent Summer Film Festival since its beginning in 2000.
For a dozen years, he played the huge E.M. Skinner pipe organ for silent films at the University of Chicago's famed Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. He also performs film accompaniment on the beautiful Letourneau pipe organ in the Crimi Auditorium of Aurora University. He also has made several silent film photoplay appearances on the incredible five-manual Wurlitzer located at the Sanfilippo Foundation's Place de la Musique in Barrington.
The Arcada Theatre opened in 1926 as a silent film and vaudeville theater. In later years, the theater owners had the Geneva Organ Co. put in a larger console and add more pipes.
The Chicago Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society helps maintain the organ which has about 1,000 pipes, plus real drums, cymbals and the usual noisemakers used in the days of the silent movies to make the background sound.
To learn more about the Chicago Area Theatre Organ Enthusiasts and other upcoming events, visit www.facebook.com/CATOE61/. For more on the Silent Film Society of Chicago, visit www.facebook.com/SilentFilmChicago/