[Scream!]
Some say the Silent Movie Theatre is star crossed and haunted. John Hampton built the picture house from scratch, transforming an open lot on Fairfax into the theater of his dreams, opening in 1942. As movie studios turned to talkies, many of the silent films suffered from classic Hollywood indifference and were destroyed intentionally or through neglect and improper storage. Hampton preserved his growing collection of celluloid silent films by immersing them in toxic chemicals in the bathtub of his apartment above the theater. Ultimately, his efforts may have contributed to his demise; he died of cancer in 1990.
Lawrence Austin, a friend of John and his wife, Dorothy Hampton, took over proprietorship of the theater in 1991. He brought in an organist to provide live accompaniment to the films. Prior to each screening, the organist would play “Pomp and Circumstance” as Austin strode to the front of the auditorium to deliver an erudite introduction to the evening’s film.
Info
Address The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre, 611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036, +1 323.655.2510, www.cinefamily.org, info@cinefamily.org | Getting there Metered street parking | Hours Mon–Fri 11am–6pm| Tip Iconic Canter’s Deli (419 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036), just south on Fairfax, serves up a mean matzo ball soup and bagel with schmear 24/7.
Six years later, after delivering such an opening address, on January 17, 1997, Austin returned to the lobby and was gunned down and killed. Also shot was teenage ticket taker and concessionaire Mary Giles, who survived her wounds to identify her assailant and Austin’s killer: 19-year-old Christian Rodriguez. Subsequent testimony revealed Rodriguez was a gun-for-hire on behalf of Austin’s lover and projectionist James Van Sickle, the lone beneficiary of the theater should Austin die. Both were convicted of murder, barely escaping the death penalty, and are serving life sentences for their crime.
Subsequent owner Charlie Lustman claimed to have heard the ghostly jangling of pocket change, a habit of the late Austin, in the empty lobby. The Cinefamily took over in 2007 and now hosts private events and screenings with celebrity guests, and shows art films and, on occasion, silent movies.
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