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Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Rating Details »
Categories: Museums, Performing Arts, Cinema [Edit]
37417 Niles Blvd(between G St & H St)
Fremont, CA 94536
(510) 494-1411
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
19 reviews for Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
I took my mom and dad and my kids here this past Saturday and we had an absolute BLAST, I tell ya.
As I lost myself in the music, I imagined how it must have been in the early 1900's when movies first came about..people must have been completely blown away. The songs from the piano perfectly matched the action, to the point where I almost didn't notice it anymore.
The people who staff it are some of the sweetest, most earnest people you'd ever meet. They're so into it and I LOVE IT!! We roared our way through the three movies. Even my 11-yr-old had a great time. My grandmother (born in 1901) used to be a piano player at "the pictures" until the "talkies" came around.
I ended the night by buying two items from the gift shop, Charlie Chaplin and Bronco Billy magnets.
This is in your own backyard, folks.
Go.
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- Useful (13)
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Yes, I am obsessed with this place. We went last Saturday and saw 4 comedy shorts with Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Billy Bevan,
All very clever and side splitting funny! There's something so cathartic about laughing aloud. I felt like my soul was cleansed.
Don't expect state-of-the-art films. The quality can vary. The Essanay is a low budget venue and many of their films are from private collectors and have not been restored We're talking about 70-80 year old films. But for most of us just watching these classics (in any condition) is pure joy,
They have been showing silent films every Saturday night for nearly five years! There is NO other theater that can make this claim.
The piano accompaniment is topnotch! We have heard all of their accompanists perform--they are all awesome.
So for $5 you can have a two hour fun-filled evening.
And their staff and volunteers are all five stars! Their
knowledge, dedication and enthusiasm is unbelievable!
Darn----forgot to mention they have doubled the size of their gift store!
Nice selection of books, DVD;s, postcards,flipbooks, old timey toys, bookmarks, door hangers,
Laurel and Hardy teeshirts. Some of their DVD's are movies about silent movies like "Singing in the Rain," "Silent Movie" etc.
People thought this was:
- Useful (10)
- Funny (5)
- Cool (8)
4 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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3/14/2009
UPDATE 7/8/09
We have learned to reserve seats when they have a comedy bill.
They are currently in… Read more »
if you are on the quest for hidden californian gems, you will certainly find one just a few miles north of fremont. the niles essanay silent film museum is probably the most unassuming diamond-in-the-rough artifact i've encountered in our state in recent history.
what makes this place special? i am a film buff, and there was a period of time in college when in between classes i would trek up from the science quad to the main library in the middle of the ucla campus, up to the third floor where the media lab is housed, and spend a good hour or so watching charlie chaplin films. i had no idea at the time where these were filmed - i assumed hollywood. it turns out that niles served as the first west coast film studio in the early 20th, and a good half of the films i'd watched were filmed here. historic niles now serves as its own humble monument to the little tramp. the main strip is lined with antique shops and cafes proclaiming names and titles and photographs of forgotten legends from a hundred years ago. and yet, i'd never heard of this place until now.
the venue itself is really tiny: a small hallway, packed with early silent film memorabilia, serves as the main body of the museum. turn around the corner and there's another room which displays a few old cameras and film reels. the real treat, however, is watching the silent films here, complete with live piano music accompanying, and occasionally live sound effects being performed with the film. we had the amazing honor of watching 1927's "wings" here, with none other than ben burtt (better known as R2D2's whistles - or, more recently, Wall-E's, "Waaoaaoaoaoalleee") throwing up machine gun and airplane sound effects. the viewing area looks like a converted (air-conditioned) garage, with wooden fold-down seats. the films themselves look great - i don't know whether they are using older prints, but i doubt they are using digital transfers, so whatever medium they are playing through has been lovingly cared-for.
i highly recommend this place to any film lover, or anyone with a flair for history.
People thought this was:
- Useful (5)
- Funny (3)
- Cool (5)
This was a great place! If you love black and white films, live piano music, great company, surrounded by film buffs, able to buy film memorabilia like postcards, books etc, + able to see a mini museum of filmography in the back, you will enjoy this place. It is a nonprofit organization that hosts silent movie screenings complete with live piano music to accompany it. This place can get pretty crowded when Charlie Chaplin's movies are playing. It's definitely a great experience, they also provide seat cushions. It's great, absolutely recommend it!
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- Funny (1)
What a fun place this was. Enjoyed a silent film from sometime in the 1920's and laughed the whole time. There were a few vaudeville actors on the side mimicking the movie. A great date place.
What a delightful little place, men dressed as Charlie Chaplain greeting people outside, then a keystone cop in charge of the shop, museum and theater in the back. Free silent movies in the back, snacks to buy and movie memorabilia to buy.
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Worth the trek to Fremont to attend a film here. Very kind, friendly staff and a great selection of films.
It's a great place to spend a Saturday night. And the price is right!
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If you're any kind of film enthusiast you must hit this place for their Saturday night silent movie fest. There's live piano accompaniment and it's only $5 for 2 hours of movies. The films are in pretty good condition and they have people who seem pretty knowledgeable introducing the films.
There's an intermission where you're free to use the restrooms or to look at some of their museum exhibits, which is kinda neat. They also have a raffle where you can win some of the stuff they sell in the store.
If you've never seen a silent movie before check this place out on one of their comedy nights and be prepared to laugh your ass off.
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Nice local museum where you can see what films used to be before the blockbuster syndrome. Call ahead to see what's up.
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As part of my Niles Canyon Railway Tour I decided to check out the silent film museum, with little knowledge of this place I had no expectations going in. I must say I was left this place surprised, first off the films weren't silent which was a good thing because I might have gotten bored really fast. The prices were a great deal, the staff was super friendly and the place is full of history. This isn't something I would go to every day however will be back to take friends visiting or taking locals to this little gem of a place on a little day tour of Niles.
In the site of the old Edison Theater this area used to be call "Hollywoodland North" back in the 20-40's then unfortunately the silent films when Niles became something of a ghost-town then got devoured by beheamoth suburb Fremont.
This musuem is in it's own words "dedicated support to the quest of finding, preserving and sharing the history of Niles, especially as it relates to film" and does a very good job of just that.
Visiting this place is a must for local Charlie Chaplin fans, and you can combine it with a stroll through the rest of quaint Niles OR if you're a nature nut or REI or active lifestyles person with a picnic and strenous hike up Mission Peak http://www.ci.fremont....
or around Coyote Hills which is part of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As for the museum I used to go as a kid and can't believe it's been fixed and open again. Saturday nights then have double bills of some of the best silent films ever!
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This little museum deserves some attention and it's FREE to visit. It was featured in VIA magazine as one of the reader's favorite exceptional small-town museums. Back in the olden days Charlie Chaplin made 4 films in Niles, one of his more famous one was "The Tramp".
We got there a little after noon Sat. and the lady asked us if we wanted a tour, sure. She then gave us some info about the place, showed us the pictures hanging on the wall, then she had a volunteer guy help us since she had to get back to the front. He was really good and enthusiastic about the history of the silent films.
There is a tin-lined projection booth, hand-cranked projectors, photos of Charlie Chaplin & Broncho Billy. He took us to where more historical stuff were in glass cases, he pointed out where they show the silent films (for a small fee on Saturday nights @ 7:30pm), and the upstairs where the projectors are.
Hrs:
12-4 Sat and Sun
Movies shown Sat 7:30pm (cost $5-$10 depending on film, plus a live pianist plays)
website:
http://www.nilesfilmmu.../
They have been around for 2 yrs and plan to make some more changes to bring back the original look of the place.
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Fremont had a movie studio? Chaplin lived in the area? Who knew? I guess Fremont is cooler than I thought.
I attended the Charlie Chaplin festival (1st weekend in June) & it was great. The museum is run by volunteers & they hold a wealth of information. I watched "The Kid" which is a very touching/funny Chaplin movie. I'm not too familiar with silent films & I've only seen short clips from the Robert Downy Jr. Chaplin film.
Having said this, I think I'm hooked. It was a very neat experience. The live piano accompaniment was amazing. The museum has these beautiful watercolor paintings & pictures of movie sets that were located right here in Fremont! The theater seats have a slot on the bottom for men's hat because as you know gentlemen would wear hats. It had never even occurred to me where men placed their hats when attending the theater back in the day.
The cost is only $5. An evening of entertainment for $5?! That's unheard of!
Shows are every Saturday night (7:30 p.m.) & throughout the day during festivals or special events. Check out the Tri-City Voice for information & showtimes.
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It's not just a museum, but a theater too.
If you are a Fremont native you probably know that a number of silent films, some staring Charlie Chapin, were filmed in Niles Canyon.
They play silent movies with live accompaniment often, and it is cheaper than the Century theaters.
If you are a movie buff or lover of silent films this place is worth a look.
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I'm feeling bad about ruining the "perfect 5" of the previous reviews. But I guess I'm jaded by other offerings at classical movie theaters and museums.
The museum is located in a Nickelodeon theater that was converted over the years for other uses. So it misses the ambiance of a restored theater, particularly the more comfortable, and better-appointed theaters that replaced the Nickelodeons.
And the collection is very small--it can be looked at easily in a few minutes. And once looked at, that's pretty much it...
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OK, I saw Underworld ( 1927 ) here over a year ago, but it was a great silent gangster drama, so now that I have an account wanted to write it up. Judy Rosenberg played the score live on the fly watching for the first time and that music really made the movie for me, enough I still remember her name. I heard she plays for the dance department at Mills as still don't understand how she did that so effectively. Better than a typical movie score by far, they should have recorded it. The theater is doing allot with a little and don't know of another place that plays silent movies on film every week with a live musical score. It makes a huge difference as I can't really watch silent movies from a DVD at home, but like this I now understand why they were so popular.
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This place is so cool. The museum is worth browsing through, and the tour is great.
They are selling "slats" where you can sponsor the restoration of the theater and get your name on a little piece of it.
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When I was a freshman in high school (without mentioning the exact date, let's just say Nixon was President), I went into SF one Saturday afternoon and picked up my first movie projector. It was an old German-made machine that was past its prime, but it worked, and it gave me and my friends the ability to watch movies whenever we wanted to. This was at least five years before the advent of the VCR. The first print I acquired was "The Tramp", one of Charlie Chaplin's early two-reelers, and one of his best. The novelty of having my own movie projector soon wore off, but before that happened I must have watched that film twenty-five times. I started to get curious about the making of "The Tramp", and eventually I went to the library and checked out every book they had about silent films. I was amazed to discover that Charlie Chaplin actually made a number of films, including "The Tramp", in the Bay Area! I read all about the Essanay Studio, which existed in the little village of Niles for about twenty years, and was responsible for the making of hundreds of silent movies, almost all of them Westerns. Fast forward about 35 years, and I'm sitting in a hotel room in Santa Clara, readinig the local paper and trying to decide if I really want to pay $9 to see that new film about Bob Dylan. Then I see the listing for the Essanay Museum. Less than a half hour drive from my current location, and they're showing "The Iron Mask" starring Douglas Fairbanks. Before you can say "Ho-LA!" I'm there. The museum is housed in a vintage 1913 Edison theater, the kind they built in small towns all over the US in the early days of film. This one has been upgraded with a sound system and a modern piano, but it still contains the original tin-lined projection booth, which I was allowed to visit during intermission. I really enjoyed the museum and seeing all the artifacts and photos on display, but the real thrill that night was watching the audience, many of whom were in their 20's and 30's, enjoying an 80-year-old black-and-white silent film. "The Iron Mask" was the last silent Douglas Fairbanks made. It's definitely one of his best, with alot of great fight scenes, some big laughs, and some heart-stopping stunts, performed by the star himself. I can't describe how gratifying it was to see all those young people, kids from my perspective, enjoying that classic film. I wished my kids had been there, so I could finally prove to them that films don't have to be in color or have a soundtrack to be good. Put the Essanay Museum on your to-do list, and remember there is a program of classic silent films EVERY Saturday night. You could easily spend an afternoon enjoying the small-town atmosphere of Niles, then have an early dinner at the Essanay Cafe before you head over to the theater.
To find out what's playing check out http//http://www.nilesfilmmu...
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We went to the saturday night showing of silent films, and it was a real kick in the pants. When we first got to the museum at 6:30pm, the doors were closed for the 7:30 show, so we went down the street to have dinner at the Essanay cafe (rave review is forthcoming). While at the cafe, our meal was running long, and somebody from the theater actually called the cafe to see if any dinner guests were coming to the show, and they were willing to hold up the start for 5 minutes. How nice is that?
Once we got in, the theatre was packed, and an emcee gave numerous anecdotes about the films we were about to see, and then introduced the live pianist I had no idea what went into showing these films, but our first silent short was shown on a hand cranked projector! The gentleman playing the piano was spot on, with music the entire time, providng wonderful thematic music. There was a short intermission with free popcorn and ice cream available and snack bar to buy candy or soda. There were people present who have been involved with the Niles silent film scene for decades, and it was refreshing to know this art is appreciated so deeply. Their spring film schedule is quite full, showing different films every week.
This is definitely a unique experience local only to us!
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