ROCKLAND — As a special centennial event, the Strand Theatre will present Silent Picture Day on Saturday, July 22. Two movies released in 1923 will be screened: Our Hospitality at 2 p.m., and Little Old New York at 4:30 p.m. Both films will be presented with live piano accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis. Ticket prices are 25 cents, the cost of a Strand movie ticket in 1923.
In Our Hospitality, starring Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge, sole surviving son William McKay settles a family feud by marrying the rival feudist’s daughter, Virginia Canfield. Before the wedding, city boy McKay attempts to escape the little Kentucky hamlet unobserved. When the Canfield men give chase, he hitches a ride on a pioneer railroad train, then is swept over a high falls. A floating log saves McKay, and he rescues Virginia when she follows the chase and falls in the water. The film is directed by Buster Keaton and John Blystone, and has a running time of 1 hour, 14 minutes.
Little Old New York stars Marion Davies as young Patricia O’Day, who comes to America to claim a fortune left to her brother, who has died en route. In that circumstance the fortune should revert to the stepson, Larry Delavan, but disguised as Patrick, her brother, Patricia gets the inheritance and wins the friendship of Larry Delavan when she assists him in financing Robert Fulton’s steamship venture. During a riot Patricia reveals her true identity; she and Delavan marry and go to Ireland. This film is directed by Sidney Olcott, and has a running time of 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Silent Picture Day is part of a year-long celebration of the Strand Theatre’s 100th anniversary in 2023. The theater underwent an extensive renovation in 2005, and in 2014 became a non-profit organization which is now owned and operated by the Friends of the Strand Theatre. The Strand is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Tickets for these special screenings are 25 cents and will be available at the box office 30 minutes prior to show time. For more information, visit www.rocklandstrand.com or call (207) 594-0070 EX 3.
The Strand Theatre is located at 345 Main St., Rockland.