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The Hollywood Theatre is giving audiences the chance to celebrate spooky season the way they might have done it 99 years ago.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, the historic Northeast Portland theater will screen the 1925 silent horror film The Phantom of the Opera, complete with an original score played on the theater’s Wurlitzer pipe organ. The score was composed by organist Martin Ellis of the Columbia River Theatre Organ Society. The organization maintains the Hollywood’s pipe organ and sends professional theater organists to play the instrument at screenings about once a month.
The Phantom of the Opera stars Lon Chaney as the “phantom” who haunts the Paris Opera House, motivated by his love of singer Christine Daaé (Mary Philbin). The 90-minute film is based on the 1910 Gaston Leroux novel of the same name, as is the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
While there are the classic dramatic moments of the film, such as the chandelier drop and the Phantom’s big reveal when he pulls off his mask, the Hollywood is billing the screening of the unrated, silent film as family-friendly. Randall Rego, the Hollywood’s marketing coordinator, says the film is spooky but mostly just atmospheric—nothing kids these days can’t handle. But the pipe organ really takes it over the top: “It’s really magnificent to hear it fill the space,” Rego says.
SEE IT: The Phantom of the Opera at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org/show/the-phantom-of-the-opera. 2 pm Saturday, Oct. 26. $12.
