'Selena,' 'Metropolis' among lineup for CAPA Summer Movie Series
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Throughout the year, the Ohio Theatre welcomes countless actors, dancers, singers and musicians.
During any given summer, however, the theater might play host to some pretty iconic movie stars — say, Jimmy Stewart or Humphrey Bogart or Gene Kelly.
Each of those stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age will be seen as part of the 54th edition of the CAPA Summer Movie Series, which will take place from June 15 through July 16. This year, 19 feature films and a pair of Saturday morning cartoon programs are slated for screenings.
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The Ohio Theatre’s cinematic roots
For CAPA leaders, the movie series — said to be the country’s longest-running annual summer presentation of classic movies — represents an acknowledgment of the Ohio Theatre’s heritage: The venue, synonymous for decades with live performances, entered the world as a movie palace in 1928. The first movie exhibited at the theater was a silent drama starring Greta Garbo, “The Divine Woman.”
“The Ohio Theatre is a movie theater,” said CAPA president and CEO Chad Whittington. “That’s what it was built as in 1928. The history of film in this building goes right back to the beginning.”
In 1969, when CAPA came into existence on the heels of the near-demolition of the theater, movie screenings were an early revenue generator.
“You go back to 1969, the Ohio Theatre is saved from the wrecking ball, and it was the Summer Movie Series that really was one of those financial cash cows in the early years that allowed the theater to continue on,” Whittington said. “It wasn’t the live performances at that point.”
These days, PNC Broadway in Columbus and other live productions generate more revenue, Whittington said, but CAPA remains committed to honoring its cinematic roots with the movie series, which even survived the pandemic: A much-condensed version took place in September 2020.
“I’m always in awe when I see a thousand, 1,200, 1,500 people in the venue, thinking, ‘My God, this was happening back in the day,’” said CAPA vice president of programming Rich Corsi. “I’m still amazed the Ohio Theatre was built to show movies.”
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How the movie series comes together
Discussions about programing for the upcoming movie series usually start in January, when Corsi, freelance consultant Lance Carwile and movie series organist Clark Wilson start talking.
“Usually, we just swap emails,” said Carwile, who has been involved in planning the movie series since 1991.
“I check with Clark and say, ‘OK, what silent would you like to run?’ and maybe make some suggestions. ... I also talk to Rich, and based on past history and then some suggestions through the staff, or requests that they’ve gotten from the public, I put together a rough schedule and bounce it back and forth with Rich.”
Through five decades, certain classic titles have emerged as favorites, including “Casablanca,” “Some Like It Hot” and the works of Alfred Hitchcock.
“We have some favorites that we rotate usually about every seven years or so,” said Carwile, also noting an effort to be responsive to evolving audience preferences.
“We add some premieres in each year,” he said. “It freshens up the series. Each generation defines what it considers to be classic, so we add those into the mix.”
Wilson, who is featured on the Ohio’s Mighty Morton organ prior to and following most screenings, is deferred to in selecting each year’s silent feature (which he always accompanies in its entirety).
“We try to go back and forth between a serious film and a comedy film,” said Wilson, who has been the movie series organist for more than 30 years.
What's on tap this year?
This year’s movie series will unfold more quickly than some: The five-week duration was dictated by two PNC Broadway in Columbus shows that will open just before and just after the movies: “To Kill a Mockingbird” in June and “Frozen” in late July.
Even so, organizers have endeavored to curate a diverse lineup that satisfies all movie fans.
The series will open with the drag comedy “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” starring Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, on June 15 — just ahead of the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and March.
“We need to be serving all the communities within central Ohio (and) Columbus,” Whittington said. “The Summer Movie Series is a way we can do that.”
“Selena,” starring Jennifer Lopez as singer Selena Quintanilla Perez, will be shown on June 25, and Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” on July 12. Like “Priscilla,” both pictures are series premieres.
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Numerous other genres are represented in the series, including film noir (“The Maltese Falcon,” starring Bogart, on June 21), Western (“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” starring Burt Lancaster, on June 28) and musical (“Singin’ in the Rain,” starring Kelly, on July 15-16).
“The people by their attendance tell us what genres they like, which genres are up and coming and which ones may be not as popular as they once were,” Carwile said.
Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” regarded by film historians as the peak of the art form, will be shown on June 24.
And as in most years, a pair of movies by the Master of Suspense are on tap: Hitchcock’s “Rear Window,” starring Stewart and Grace Kelly, will screen on June 17-18 and “Psycho,” starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, on July 13.
“It’s just a matter of popularity and the fact that there are so many Hitchcock classics,” Carwile said of Hitchcock’s always-robust presence on the series schedule.
Wilson will accompany Fritz Lang’s silent science-fiction masterpiece “Metropolis” on July 6-7.
“We’ve done some comedies and decided it was time to do something big,” said Wilson, who will base his playing during the movie on the original score for the silent film. “That score is so incredible that I just think it’s a travesty to use anything else. Who could do anything better than that?”
Hunting for prints
The CAPA Summer Movie Series differentiates itself from many comparable summer film series in seeking 35mm prints for many of the movies it shows. Although the series opted for exclusively digital presentations in 2020 and 2021, 35mm prints were again in use last year.
“It takes more effort to do presentations in 35mm and hunt down prints,” said Carwile, but audience feedback suggests the trouble is worth it.
“Even if a print has a few splices or a few scratches in it, it’s something that reminds them of their experiences from watching movies before,” Carwile said.
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In 2009, when the movie series presented the musical “South Pacific” digitally, Corsi said that he heard from audience members who could tell the difference.
“We took it to heart,” Corsi said. “There are people who will not come to a digital presentation, and I respect that.”
A majority of the movies scheduled for this year’s series will be shown using 35mm prints.
CAPA employee Carl Shields is one of two projectionists who runs the projectors in the Ohio Theatre, which were installed in 1951. He prefers working with 35mm film, too.
“I compare it to playing an LP as opposed to a CD,” Shields said. “You have a nice large format you’re holding instead of just putting a disc in a machine.”
The day of the screening
Ideally, 35mm prints arrive a week in advance so that the projectionists can look them over; some don’t show up until 24 to 48 hours ahead of time.
“We actually have a work bench that we put the films on, and we visually check everything,” Shields said. “We also clean them with a really soft cloth to make sure there is no film damage or anything like that.”
If a film turns up in shabby shape, a digital version of the same title will be projected, but Shields said that is an unusual circumstance.
“A lot of the (movies) we played last year came from the Warner Bros. archive, and they seem to treat their films quite well,” he said.
Then it’s showtime.
Ushers will hand out programs and direct ticket buyers to the theater, which features general admission seating. Wilson can be heard on the organ 30 minutes before the feature presentation commences.
It all adds up to an experience far different than going to a multiplex — and with far more history, too.
“You close your eyes and imagine all the people, all the generations, the changes that have taken place,” Whittington said. “And yet you’re sharing this commonality with folks from the ’20s, ’30s, ’40s and beyond that would have experienced the organ and a movie here in the Ohio Theatre.”
At a glance
The 2023 CAPA Summer Movie Series will begin on June 15 and conclude on July 16 in the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St. Tickets cost $6, or $5 for senior citizens; 10-packs of tickets cost $40 and can be purchased through July 2. Below is a full schedule.
7:30 p.m. June 15: “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
7:30 p.m. June 16: “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life”
7:30 p.m. June 17 and 2 p.m. June 18: “Rear Window”
7:30 p.m. June 21: “The Maltese Falcon”
7:30 p.m. June 22: “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
7:30 p.m. June 23: “Goldfinger”
10 a.m. June 24: cartoon capers
7:30 p.m. June 24: “Citizen Kane”
2 p.m. June 25: “Selena”
7:30 p.m. June 28: “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”
7:30 p.m. June 29: “The Thin Man”
7:30 p.m. June 30: Fright Nite Friday with Fritz! presentation of “The Lost Boys”
7:30 p.m. July 1 and 2 p.m. July 2: “To Kill a Mockingbird”
7:30 p.m. July 5: “9 to 5”
7:30 p.m. July 6-7: silent film “Metropolis”
7:30 p.m. July 8 and 2 p.m. July 9: “The Empire Strikes Back”
7:30 p.m. July 12: “Do the Right Thing”
7:30 p.m. July 13: “Psycho”
7:30 p.m. July 14: “The Three Musketeers”
10 a.m. July 15: cartoon capers
8:30 p.m. July 15 and 2 p.m. July 16: “Singin’ in the Rain”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: CAPA announces lineup for 54th Summer Movie Series
