Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:47 pm
Something I always enjoy about the screenings put on by the Silent Clowns group in NYC are the slides shown before the show itself begins, while the audience files into the auditorium. These consist of carefully photographed glass slides from the silent era, mostly advertising new releases -- along with ads, public service announcements, and admonitions such as Ladies Kindly Remove Your Hats. Occasionally there will be slide advertising a film featuring Harrison Ford (1884-1957), and seeing that name up on the screen, in conjunction with a movie from the 1910s or ‘20s, always gets a chuckle from the crowd. And usually you’ll hear someone make a quip along the lines of: “Wow, I knew he’d been around a while, but I had no idea!”
-- Charlie Morrow