Movies

Vintage Vibes Go Virtual With This Silent Film Fest

The Catalina Island Museum's annual Silent Film Showcase will celebrate its 33rd anniversary with a three-day online celebration.

Santa Catalina Island/Lawrence Manning

What to Know

  • May 15-17
  • Facebook Live
  • Two online movie screenings and a Valentino-themed lecture

"Hollywood" may spring to mind when we think of modern movies, or perhaps the location of a favorite studio, but there is a regional spot that, above all others, seems to wear the silent film crown best.

It's Catalina Island, where many silent movies were filmed a century ago.

That isn't the sole reason that many fans of the non-talkie era adore Avalon and its cultural treasures, though; the Catalina Island Museum has been a powerhouse in the silent film-screening circuit for well-over three decades now.

Plenty have fans have traveled those 22 miles across the sea to see silents of the past, but, due to our stay-at-home world, we aren't doing that right now.

So the Catalina Island Museum is bringing the comedic and vamping silent treasures to us, via a "weekend-long virtual experience.

That weekend is coming up, from May 15-17, and the 33rd Annual Silent Film Showcase schedule each day offers something silver-toned and sweet.

You'll want to head to Facebook Live for screenings of "Mud and Sand" as well as "Seaside Simps," and tune in for a lecture on "The Curse of Valentino's Ring."

Catching a boat over to the island to revel in these long-ago treasures, ideas, stars, and on-screen treats?

No need to do so, at least not this year, for the Avalon institution is making our mid-May weekend even silenter, in the most stylish and cinematic sense.

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