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Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Jun
22
8:00 PM20:00
Movie

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Sat. Jun. 22 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

2hr 4min | PG | Crime/Drama | USA 

 

Acclaimed film director, Sidney Lumet would have celebrated his 100th birthday this June. In celebration the Senate is excited to present one of his best regarded and beloved films, Dog Day Afternoon, starring Al Pacino and John Cazale!  

 

Based on a real-life robbery turned hostage situation, this typically grimy piece of 70s realism was rightfully lauded by critics upon release and, today, has earned its place in the pantheon of great American films. In no small part its captivating and honest portrayal of desperate people at the edges of society solidified the legendary status of its director and star.  

 

Brimming with tension and pathos, it is just as potent now as it was in 1975. 

 

Come see it the way Mr. Lumet intended, on a big screen, in a movie theater, surrounded by fellow lovers of film! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

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Silents at the Senate - Gloria Swanson in Queen Kelly (1932)
Feb
17
8:00 PM20:00
Movie

Silents at the Senate - Gloria Swanson in Queen Kelly (1932)

Sat. Feb. 17 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $12 

1hr 11min | NR | Drama/Romance | United States 

Live Organ Accompaniment by Lance Luce 
 

 

Depravity seizes upon poverty as extravagance collides with innocence in Queen Kelly,

a silent drama of doomed romance, presented with live musical accompaniment by Lance Luce on the Senate’s Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ! This incomplete but still captivating exercise in cinematic excess from director/screenwriter Erich von Stroheim proves that even an unfinished work from a master is still a masterwork. 

Co-produced by and starring Gloria Swanson, one of the silent era's biggest stars, what survives of the film tells the story of a playboy aristocrat who balks at his betrothal to his mad queen. On the eve of the marriage, he falls for an enchanting and fiery convent girl (Swanson) and then schemes to possess her, no matter the cost.  

In its existing form, the film presents a meticulously realized world in beautiful detail, a simple but sumptuous tale of worlds colliding—an ill-fated meeting that ends, (spoiler) in tragedy.  

But the epic and transgressive melodrama that could have been was never completed, itself a victim of incompatibility. But rather than a clash of class and circumstance, what doomed Queen Kelly from reaching its potential was the battle between art and business, the vision of an auteur versus censorship. 

Silents at the Senate is proud to present the 1932 release of this almost lost piece of silent film history!

Released only in Europe well into the “talkie” period, this is the most concise and cinematically pure version of the film. It features the so-called “Swanson” ending, filmed after the dismissal of Stroheim and shot two years after the abrupt end to the production due to massive cost overruns and the directors’ efforts to skirt the demands of censors. 

 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

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