Douglas Fairbanks as “The Black Pirate” (1926) at Parson’s Nose
San Gabriel Mission Playhouse presents Silent Sundays, featuring a silent film with live accompaniment on their 1924 mighty Wurlitzer.
By Katlyn Ong
Enjoy an extraordinary lineup of silent films at San Gabriel’s Mission Playhouse on select Sundays through October. All movies will start at 2:30 pm. Tickets for individual showings are $12. Purchase your 2025 subscription in advance and see the whole series for $37. To purchase tickets, click here.
Accompanying each film will be an organist playing live music to match the feature film. Half of the films will be accompanied by organist Russ Peck and the other half by organist Mark Herman.
Organist Russ Peck currently performs at San Diego Symphony Hall/Jacobs Music Center for their silent film presentations and is house organist at San Diego’s Balboa Theatre. In addition to being an organist, he is principal timpanist for the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra.
Organist Mark Herman is an American Theatre Organ Society Organist of the Year. Mr. Herman tours throughout the country and has performed abroad in Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Film Lineup
- July 6: Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks
Accompanied by organist Russ Peck
Starring the ‘King of Hollywood’ Douglas Fairbanks, this story differs from the film adaptations that would follow. In the first half of this silent classic, you’ll learn the backstory of the Earl of Huntingdon (Fairbanks), the man who would become Robin Hood. The King’s treacherous brother, who is regent and is planning to seize the throne permanently, has enacted cruel practices during his time in power, throwing England into disarray. When the Earl learns what is happening from his beloved Lady Marian, a legendary character emerges. With epic sets and over a million dollars spent, Fairbanks brings Medieval England to life in this adventure drama. - July 27: Battleship Potemkin
Accompanied by organist Russ Peck
This 1925 war drama presents a dramatization of a true event where sailors on a Russian naval vessel mutiny against dire conditions they endure aboard the Potemkin. Roger Ebert called Battleship Potemkin “one of the fundamental landmarks of cinema.” It contains one of the most famous sequences in film history, the ‘Odessa Steps.’ Director Sergei Eisenstein “harnessed the power of montage- editing images to create a cumulative effect- as no filmmaker had before” (Erickson, TCM). “…The scene composition, the lighting, all the little visual details add up to create a film that is the very epitome of the silent drama” (moviessilently.com). - September 7: The General starring Buster Keaton
Accompanied by organist Mark Herman
Buster Keaton is Southern railroad engineer Johnnie Gray. His locomotive, The General, is stolen by Union spies with his love, Annabelle, on board. The action sequences that take place between Gray and the soldiers while trying to recapture the locomotive highlight Keaton’s athleticism, who did all of his own stunt work. Keaton spared no expense in the making of The General. The film contains a scene that is considered the most expensive single shot in silent film history. He transformed the little town of Cottage Grove, Oregon to Civil War era Georgia bringing in Civil War artillery, restored railroad cars, and vintage engines. A favorite of Keaton, The General is beautifully filmed. It is “admirably faithful to authenticity in costumes and props-the imagery evokes Matthew’s Brady Civil War photography…its visual scope is not simply impressive, it is also dramatic and at times awe inspiring” (Axmaker, 2014). - October 5: Shorts Number Please? & High and Dizzy starring Harold Lloyd
Accompanied by organist Mark Herman
The season of Silent Sundays at the Playhouse concludes with two 1920 shorts starring comic genius Harold Lloyd and his wife to be, Mildred Davis: Number, Please? & High and Dizzy.
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