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BRATTLEBORO -- On Tuesday, Aug. 28, the one-year anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene and its rampage through Brattleboro’s Flat Street, Latchis Arts and the Latchis Theatre are showing "Singin’ in the Rain," the classic movie musical, with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, free to the community at 7 p.m.
Directed by Gene Kelly, the movie that heralded the dawn of Talkies on the big screen will also help the Latchis commemorate its conversion from 35mm film to digital projection.
The Latchis Hotel and Theatre was closed for 46 days after Irene’s flood waters receded, leaving behind a mess of mud and muck. A half-million dollar cleanup and repair project allowed the hotel and theater to re-open in October and life returned to the Latchis. Like many of its neighbors, some of the experience is fading into memory, some of it is still present every day.
Now it is time to celebrate the Latchis’ successful transition to a "new normal," and everyone is invited.
Also notable is the fact that the Latchis is phasing out most of its 35mm film projectors in favor of digital projection, where movies will be delivered on hard drive. This is saving the movie studios millions of dollars in film production costs. Each two-hour film comes in two or three shipping canisters holding miles of 35mm film, which gets threaded onto platters, projected onto the screen, and ultimately rewound back
Each film can cost $1,000 or more to make, and hundreds are made to distribute throughout the country. The conversion to digital projection, which the studios now mandate, will cut these costs significantly.
While "Singin’ in the Rain" will not be the last 35mm film ever shown at the Latchis, it does represent the end of both the silent film era, and the use of celluloid in cinema.
Everyone is invited to laugh at the rain, say hello to Talkies and good-bye to film, as we leave the year of Tropical Storm Irene behind.
The movie is presented for free, although donations to long-term flood recovery efforts in southern Vermont will be welcome. Information is available at www.latchis.com.
