Phantom of the Opera

Realizing that I had not taken advantage of enough of my "Summer Calendar" events, I decided at the last minute on Friday night to go to "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) in Prospect Park, with original live accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra. Somehow I thought this would involve a very small niche audience, like three people, but it was packed. Not as packed as New Pornographers, but still very full. I suppose in addition to silent film buffs there are people who wanted to hear a concert by the Alloy Orchestra (the premiere of this piece, besides), as well as many others who just wanted to sit outside and watch a movie. I went to the movie at Brooklyn Bridge Park the night before and it was packed as well, I think these events are really taking off. Prospect Park Bandshell has the advantages of good acoustics, beer and food for sale, folding chairs, and in this case at least, 35mm projectors. It's so great to have a film in 35 and hear the clack clack clack as it's running. Except when one breaks down and they have to try to fix it for ten minutes and then end up just showing it on one projector, which means 3 minute pauses every 10 minutes or so. I don't know if it's better or worse for me having been a projectionist and knowing exactly what he's going through up there. I am insanely tolerant of what's going on, but at the same time stressed out in this overly empathetic way, having flashbacks to my own projection-room traumas.

The band was great though. They had a really excellent score for the movie and improv-ed their way through all the reel change pauses. The movie was pretty great too, it was a brand-new restored print with hand-tinting and a sequence in primitive Technicolor. I found out today that the first color movie was actually in 1908! (It was silent and only 8 minutes long.) Lon Cheney was excellent and it was quite suspenseful even if the plot was a bit thin.

This coming Friday they will be showing The Sound of Music in full-on Cinemascope, and that's the end of their movie season.