Just like Charlie Chaplin in the 1916 comedy “The Rink,” John Farson, the millionaire banker who built Pleasant Home in Oak Park, liked to slip on a pair of skates now and then.
Though, hopefully, there were fewer pratfalls when Farson threw skating parties for his friends.
This is one of the reasons “The Rink” will be among the silent films featured at Pleasant Home’s fourth annual Silent Movies on the Porch festival Friday nights in August. Program Director Sarah Najera hadn’t settled on the specific titles of the other films in the series at press time, but noted the programs would be comedies with an emphasis on movies by Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and, after scoring a big success last year, film pioneer Georges Mélies.
For a change of pace, Najera said she would be throwing Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle — one of the era’s most popular comedians before scandal destroyed his career — into the mix.
It probably won’t matter to most people which films Najera finally places on the schedule. She says the phone began ringing early in June with calls from people hoping the program would return.
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“It’s back by popular demand,” Najera said. “It’s become one of our most popular and well-attended programs. It’s a great family event that’s appropriate for all ages. Plus, we show comedies and people like to laugh. It’s just a fun, light-hearted evening out.”
The festival’s audience has doubled for each of the past three years, beginning at 25 and ending with turnaways at the door last August after admitting a capacity crowed of 100, Najera said. She expects the latter scenario again this year.
Najera isn’t surprised at the event’s popularity; piano accompanist Thomas Holmes’ blend of old-timey music cues and selective appropriations from the ragtime era, alongside some of his own improvisations, bring the films to life in a way that canned, recorded music can’t.
In addition to their entertainment value, Najera said she particularly enjoys the era in which the films take place — the heyday of the Pleasant Home, not so coincidentally. But she added that she often enjoys watching the audience as much as the movie.
“There’s always someone in the crowd who laughs really loud, which causes everyone else to laugh loudly, too,” Najera said. “It’s such a community experience.”
“It’s a chance for everyone to get together and be happy and forget some of the bad things that are happening in the world right now,” she added.
Contact: (708) 383-2654; www.pleasanthome.org
‘Silent Movies on the Porch’
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Aug. 5 – 26
Where: Pleasant Home, 217 Home Ave., Oak Park
Tickets: $10 donations are suggested