Attend: One Night Only
Alice in Wonderland | W.W. Young | USA | 1915 | 42 minutes
Towne Cinema, Watertown, Wisconsin, Wednesday, December 30 at 7:00pm»
We received a late press release regarding this week’s centennial screening of W.W. Young’s version of Alice in Wonderland (1915), scheduled at the Towne Cinema in Watertown, Wisconsin (about one hour east of Madison).
The Towne Cinema in Watertown will be hosting an evening that celebrates the life of W.W. Young and his silent film “Alice In Wonderland”. The event will be held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the film’s release in 1915.
We will be showing the film on Wednesday, December 30 at 7pm at the Towne Cinema located at 308 E. Main Street. The film is 42 minutes in length. The screening will be free and open to the public. The free tickets can be picked up in advance at the theater or by calling (920) 390-4500. They will also be available at the door, space permitting.
This year, 2015 also marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s classic book, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” upon which the film is based.
Two newspaper review quotes from 1915, the year the film was released read:
“The production will please all who have the good fortune to see it.”
“The scene effects and costuming are but two of the things which make this a wonderful film.”W.W. Young was a native of Monroe, Wisconsin and attended UW-Madison where he founded the student newspaper The Daily Cardinal in 1892. He went on to be the UW’s first journalism major through the English Department,
prior to the start of the School of Journalism.We are very excited to have Charlotte Groth, local historian and genealogist who will give an introduction to the film before the screening. Charlotte is Young’s great great niece, and she will talk about his life as a journalist and filmmaker in a post film discussion.
Although the film is silent, the theater will be filled with music. We are going to feature as it would have been when the film was released 100 years ago. We are thrilled to have David Drazin a silent film accompanist from Evanston, Illinois who will perform during the film. Drazin is internationally recognized for his piano improvisations accompanying silent films, and has played at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy. He performs for silent films regularly at the Chicago Art Institute, The Detroit Film Theater, and at UW-Madison’s Cinematheque. Following the film Drazin will also perform during a reception at Lyons Irish Pub, 201 E. Main Street, which is just one block from the theater. The performance at Lyons will feature his work in jazz and blues and is also free and open to the public.