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Ice cream social and silent movie

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Contributed by: City of Lancaster on 7/3/2007

Take a cool break from the summer heat on Friday, July 20, and visit the historic Western Hotel/Museum when it hosts its annual ice cream social and outdoor silent movie during the City of Lancaster's "Celebrate Downtown" event.

From 6-8 p.m., visitors can eat ice cream, sip lemonade, drink a root beer float or an ice cream soda, participate in fun period games, see pioneer activities, get their faces painted, take a museum tour or learn about early movie houses/theaters.

The cost is $5 per people 12 years old and over, which includes silent movie admission. Admission is $2 for children under 11.

"Ladies - Kindly remove your hats." Before a silent film began, glass lantern slides would flash on the movie screen with sayings such as the one above.

After the ice cream social, the fun continues with our silent film classic "Captain January."

Most people are familiar with the 1936 sound-era version of this movie that featured mop-topped Shirley Temple and Buddy Ebsen - of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Barnaby Jones" TV fame - but not this version.

"Captain January" is a 1924 silent film (running 63 minutes) featuring child star Baby Peggy and former Littlerock resident Hobart Bosworth. Directed by Edward F. Cline, this was the first screen adaptation of the 1891 children's book "Captain January" by Laura E. Richards.

A movie for the entire family, it is the sentimental tale of an orphaned little girl and the people who try to separate her from her adoptive father, a lighthouse keeper.

The film features actor, director, screenwriter and producer Bosworth (1867-1943), who lived in Littlerock in his later years. Often called the "Dean of Hollywood Cinema," his second wife was Cecile Bosworth, a longtime Littlerock community activist, who died in April of 1997 at the age of 100.

The star of the movie is Baby Peggy, (little Peggy Montgomery), who today is known as Diana Serra Cary. One of the last surviving stars of Hollywood's silent period; she was born in Merced, Calif., in 1918.

Discovered at the age of 19 months, she was cast in nearly 150 shorts andnine features during the silent era. "Baby Peggy" was one of the top paid stars of the day. She was so popular she even had a doll fashioned after her. It has been said that young Frances Gumm - actress Judy Garland - as a child had one of these "Baby Peggy" dolls. If this is true, this might have been in old Lancaster.

Admission price for the movie only is $3 for adults 12 and over; children 11 and younger will be admitted for free. Although some seating is provided, visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Please note that no alcohol or pets are allowed.

The Western Hotel/Museum is located at 557 W. Lancaster Blvd. next to the U.S. Post Office.

For additional information regarding these special events, please call the city of Lancaster Museum/Art Gallery at (661) 723-6250.

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