Features

AFI opening draws star power

BY MARJORIE CLARKSON

Hollywood came to town in a big black sedan one cruelly cold spring night. Hollywood had never been to this burg before, but he had it from good sources the local guys were ok, and the fuzz wouldn't give him any lip. In fact, he heard the locals might want someone with a lot of moxie to show up and get some action going. He didn't figure a red carpet and cameras would be waiting to welcome him, but hey, when you're the boss you gotta expect anything and be jake about it.

What with all the dames showing up in black, except one doll in a silver hankie, and the pols mugging it for the camera, you might think you was in Tinseltown or the Big Apple.

But nah, it was just Silver Spring, showing off its new finery—a rehabilitated historic movie theatre with a big story of its own to tell.

No! No! Stop! That sounds like a Cagney "tough guy" from 1930s gangster movies, back when the Silver Theatre first opened. We needed a modern "tough guy" to open the new 2003 AFI Silver Theatre. You know the type: soft-spoken but steely; a loner. Wait a minute—I think I know just the right guy for this part:

Clint Eastwood showed up at the AFI Silver Theatre April 4th Grand Opening in a big black limousine. His reception from the local guys and gals turned out to be warm and welcoming. Fans cheered Eastwood as he stepped out of the limousine and onto a red carpet.

"This is tremendous and a rebirth of the arts for the area," was Congressman Chris Van Hollen's view.

Ashley Dubon, a Blair High School sophomore who came over from Takoma Park to watch the opening activities from the street, said, "It's really cool."

Even film critic Arch Campbell of NBC-4, on the job interviewing celebrities and attracting almost as much attention as those he interviewed, offered his enthusiastic approval of the re-done Silver Theatre.

"It's beautiful, gorgeous," he said, recounting how awful the theatre looked back in 1974 to 1984 when he would come out to review films. "It's great to see the way it looks now."

A week after the invitational grand opening came the AFI Silver Open House on April 12 and 13.

The day I dropped by, visitors listening to the Feliz Contreras Latin Jazz Ensemble filled the newly constructed 200-seat theatre.

In the main theatre, a tour guide emphasized to listeners that the citizens of Montgomery County owned this theatre because it was paid for by the county, and their opinions should be freely expressed to AFI management.

Another newly constructed theatre, with 75 seats, was showing cartoons and newsreels.

The open house gave many former customers of the Silver a chance to come back and see her in restored glory. Steve Buda, who grew up in Wheaton, said, "I think it's wonderful, being in here, touching the rails. It's a personal experience."

Robin Weller-Melnick drove down from Rockville to see if the theatre looked the same.

"It's great," she said. "I recognize the style, and the size looks massive."

When I asked her if she would come to films here, she answered, "Sure—it's better than what's out there."

The important question for AFI Silver Theatre management and the taxpaying citizens of Montgomery County is: are people coming to theatre now that the hullabaloo of opening is over? AFI Silver Theatre Director Murray Horwitz said that peope are indeed coming.

"Attendance has been strong, meeting our projections and building slightly each week," Horwitz said. "Of course, reading box office figures requires patience and a long view, but the first few weeks' results have been most encouraging."

When asked which films have done well, Horwitz answered, "our Trilogy Festival opened this weekend with The Godfather and these have been the biggest crowds so far."

It seems that the power of "tough guys" to attract a crowd never goes out of fashion.

Horwitz said that some of the old films, such as You Can't Take it With You, Olympia, and Grand Illusion, drew good crowds, too. Horwitz, AFI, Montgomery County officials and residents, and the 40 new AFI employees are all hoping they have invested in a blockbuster hit with the Silver. If the glamour and fanfare so far are any indication, they're golden.