7/15/16

Spend a little time at the MAJESTIC THEATRE


This is actually a reposting of a post from July in 2013. It was as close as I could come to this week's Sepia Saturday prompt.

No idea where or when this shot was taken. I can take a guess that it was after 1913 because of the movie that is listed on the signboard.


Click on image to see it larger.

Step back in time and imagine what these ladies might be going to see.


Click on image to see it larger.

You can see Pathe Review on the signboard with "The Chameleon" listed as a film that was showing. This film came out in January of 1913. If you click on the title link above you'll find the following at IMDB: Released in the US as a split reel along with the documentary The Making of Hats


And perhaps after the show they dropped into the druggist next door to look at the fine Kodak products after having something wonderful to eat at the soda fountain. One can only imagine their conversation after viewing such titillating features.



Mike found the following comedy short which might be one that the ladies saw. Thank you Mike!



UPDATE: Reader AnyJazz has found an article about the theater which provides its location as Benicia, California.
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10 comments:

  1. Great that you can enlarge the photograph sufficiently to read the writing on the board and know what the patrons would have been seeing. I was thinking just recently after seeing Pathe in movie credits that I should look up its significance, and now your blog has prompted me to do so.

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  2. I love fining photos like this. The ability of a scanner to reveal tiny details lets anyone play detective. It made me go looking for the paired short,"the Making of Hats" and I came up with nothing under that title.

    However "The Chameleon" was made by Pathé Frères, a French film company, and in 1913 they released a comedy short called "Le chapeau de Max" — "Max's Hat" starring the French comedian Max Linder. It's quite possible that the title was mistranslated on IMDb and instead of a documentary, it was a comedy that the women saw at the Majestic Theatre. It's on YouTube and it's a funny sketch about the trials and tribulations for a gentleman wearing a top hat. Paste this link into your browser to watch. < https://youtu.be/WW-x7mEWBaI >

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    1. Ah ha! Yes, the details. They are what make the hunt so enticing. I will put this little film with the post. Merci!

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  3. Ah yes - I wish I could see the original photo of the one I used for this week's prompt. The poster is very enticing...I just need to enlarge it a bit in the hope of seeing a title.

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  4. Finally found it.
    http://www.beniciamagazine.com/August-2014/Backwards-Glance-The-Majestic-Theatre/

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  5. It must have been so exciting for the people to visit one of the theatres to see a movie, it was still all so new and more or less in its infant shoes.

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    1. It is hard to imagine the joy it must have brought them. Now people carry movie theaters in their pockets.

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