Yesterday was a fun day. I went up to L.A. for dinner and a movie. Ate at Farmer's Market. I'd never been there before. Neat place; lots of little restaurants, lots of produce. I just had pizza; I think I was a little overwhelmed by the choices. I didn't buy produce, since leaving it to sit in the car on such a hot day would've been a waste. Then went to the Silent Movie Theater for their holiday weekend screening of The General. I love that movie, not quite as much as Sherlock, Jr., but its still great. The theater itself is great; not presupposing from the outside, but a small, quaint lobby, and the theater itself is very charming. The seats are uncomfortable, but they have pillows on every seat for your comfort. And the walls are decorated with poster-sized photos of silent movie stars, including Fatty Arbuckle, Louise Brooks, Harold Lloyd, and quite a few I'd never be able to identify. The proprieter is young and energetic, bringing to the enterprise the fervent enthusiasm of a recent convert. This is only my second visit, but I certainly hope it won't be my last.

I was disappointed to see the sign when I got there that Janet Klein would not be performing as promised, due to illness. I enjoyed her the previous time I came (when the feature presentation was Harold Lloyd's Safety Last). But it was still a full evening; one of the nice things about the theater is you don't just get a movie, you get a nicely packaged entertainment experience. We didn't get Janet Klein on the ukelele, but there was live piano music during the shorts, and organ music during the feature. The shorts were actually more fun than the feature, probably because I've seen The General several times, but the shorts were new. They showed one of Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell cartoons, I believe it's called "Koko Steps Out," and involves a dog pulling the Earth's self-destruct lever. I've seen footage from it many times, but never seen the entire thing. I like in old cartoons (its in just about every Felix the Cat silent cartoon), when the characters interact with the thought bubble or dotted-line-of-sight or other construct, such as when the dog pulls himself up by his light-on-sight line to reach the lever. Next was a Charlie Chaplin PSA for Liberty Bonds, which was fun. It was nice to see in a crowded theater, with everyone hissing that horrible Kaiser Wilhelm. The highlight of the evening, though, was a Laurel and Hardy two-reeler, "Liberty." The plot was basically that Laurel and Hardy, fresh out of prison, are accidentally wearing each other's pants, and need to switch pants. But that eventually leads to the two of them teetering on the edge of an under-construction skyscraper in a hilarious and nerve-wracking finale. I don't know how it was filmed, exactly, but they obviously were at some height, and even though there was surely safety gear in place, it really was scary to watch. I don't mean to sound like some luddite, but it's funny that modern movies with all the special effects rarely can have that sort of visceral impact. I was also impressed that a man as heavy as Oliver Hardy could do such physically demanding comedy.

The feature presentation was The General, and it's still great fun to watch. I think its just that I've seen it many times, but the comedy is not quite as strong as Sherlock, Jr. or Seven Chances, but it's still funny, and takes a lot of risks. I'd recommend seeing it if you haven't, just as I'd recommend the Silent Movie Theater for any Southern Californians who haven't yet been.