Rome’s Capitol Theatre, 220 W. Dominick
St., first opened its doors on Dec. 10, 1928, and eight decades later
the original 35mm carbon-arc projectors are still whirring away. On
Sunday, Dec. 7, the Capitol concludes its yearlong 80th anniversary
celebration with a recreation of a program that first ran at the
1,788-seat movie house in December 1928. Included are three short
subjects, a cartoon, a feature film and organ music galore, all for the
princely sum of 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children, as the
Capitol reverts to 1928-era ticket prices for the occasion.
The show begins at 6 p.m. with a
half-hour of music from organist Avery Tunningley, who will stick with
1928-vintage songs. On-stage statements from current Rome Mayor James
Brown and Theatre Historical Society of America president Karen Noonan
follow at 6:30 p.m. The shorts commence at 6:50 p.m. with the Walter
Lantz silent cartoon Farmyard Follies (Tunningley provides organ accompaniment), plus sound shorts that include Robert Benchley in The Treasurer’s Report, Ray Mayer and Edith Evans in Where East Meets West and the comedy team of Shaw and Lee in The Beau Brummels. Then Tunningley returns to the organ for intermission music at 7:30 p.m.
The feature attraction screens at 7:50 p.m. with MGM’s 85-minute Our Dancing Daughters,
a Roaring ’20s flapper melodrama that ensured Joan Crawford’s rise to
stardom. The film is a silent with a recorded Movietone soundtrack
featuring music and sound effects; if the soundtrack somehow suffers a
mishap, Tunningley will surely come to the rescue with an organ
improvisation.
For information about the Capitol’s upcoming roster, call 337-6453.
—Bill DeLapp
