Mary Pickford in Sparrows at the Smith Rafael Film Center

First, I'll acknowledge that everyone defines "classic film" differently. To some, it's any movie produced before 1970. To others, anything before 1999. To me, classic films are early pre-1900 experiments, early 1900 silent films, and "talkie" pictures through the decades, up until the late-1950s or so when the big studio system began to dissolve. Sometimes a film just is too amazing and timeless, even though it may have been produced later, and so I might stumble now and then and talk about "The Godfather" or something, but mostly I will stick to films from my favorite eras - the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

I moved to Sonoma County just slightly more than a year ago, and - while I love it, love it - it was a bit disappointing to me that I couldn't readily find places to see classic films on a regular basis. Or so I thought. There ARE places to see classic films in the entire Bay Area, including in the North Bay where I live. It's just taken many months of subscribing to MeetUp groups, film clubs, and theater email lists to pull them all together. I hope to create a blog space here that makes it easier for other classic film fans in this area to stay in touch with the classic films they could be seeing.

That said, tonight I will be going to San Rafael to meet a friend to see a film I've only heard about but never seen: a silent film from 1926 called "Sparrows" and starring the adorable, talented and business-savvy Mary Pickford. It's being sponsored by the California Film Institute and shown at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. Here's what they have to say about this film I'm soooo excited about:

"Film scholar Christel Schmidt will introduce a special screening of screen idol Mary Pickford's penultimate silent film, presented in a beautiful 35mm restoration from the Library of Congress. Considered by business partner Charlie Chaplin to be her finest film, Sparrows is a "full-blooded melodrama about an intrepid girl who struggles to protect a band of younger orphans from their wicked captor (Leonard Maltin)." This Dickensian tale boasts highly stylized sets, including an ominous-looking swamp, and atmospheric cinematography influenced by German cinema. Screened with live piano accompaniment by Dan Redfeld, the film will be preceded by the film's original trailer and rare outtakes, also from the collection of the Library of Congress. Director: William Beaudine. (US 1926) Films approx. 100 min. Christel Schmidt is the editor of the newly released Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies (co-published by the Library of Congress and the University Press of Kentucky). Following the screening she will sign copies of her book, which will be available."

It's starts at 7, and we'll be going for a glass of wine somewhere on Fourth Street afterward to talk about it. I'll post a review tomorrow!