Academy Archivist Seeks to Save Silent Film Showcase

Michael Friend, director of the film archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, says he hopes “in the very near future” to convene a group interested in reopening the Silent Movie Showcase.

“I want to bring together the local supporters of the silent cinema, such as Randy Haberkamp and Robert Birchard of the Silent Society; Edward Richmond, curator of the UCLA Film and Television Archive; Keith Lawrence of the Mary Pickford Foundation and various others,” Friend said Wednesday. “I don’t know yet if this is even remotely possible, but at least we can talk about it.”

The operator of the Fairfax Avenue theater, Laurence Austin, was shot dead on Jan. 17 in an apparent holdup that left a 19-year-old cashier seriously wounded.

Richmond, who has already accepted Friend’s invitation to attend the meeting, said, “I think that the Silent Movie provided a tremendous service to the city of Los Angeles by providing an ongoing venue for silent films to be seen in a theater. It’s my hope that the Silent Movie can continue at one venue or another. From an archival point of view, my concern is safeguarding Austin’s collection, which include many rare and valuable items.”

Lawrence, who over the past year had made available to Austin many Pickford films unseen since their original release, said, “I feel like it’s really good that so many people are interested in maintaining a landmark and that Mary’s contribution may now be realized by the general public.”

Haberkamp and Birchard could not immediately be reached.

Meanwhile, Barry Arnold, who produced the New Year’s Eve event in New York’s Times Square, offered to stage a fund-raiser to keep the theater open. “When Barry was 15 he used to bicycle to Hollywood because he loved everything about the movies,” said Steve Rosenthal, an associate of Arnold, who is vacationing in Hawaii. “He wants to do whatever he can.”

Ownership of the theater is unclear. It was opened in 1942 by the late John Hampton and his wife, Dorothy, who now lives in a nursing home. Lawrence said Wednesday that about six months ago, Austin showed him a document giving him power of attorney over Mrs. Hampton’s affairs. At that time, according to Lawrence, Austin said, “I own everything.” Austin left a sister and a niece.

Services for Austin remain pending.