I went to the Senate Theater in Detroit last night. It's an older neighborhood theater on Michigan Avenue in the southwest side, and is being rehabbed by a group of volunteers. I was simply curious to check it out, it having been around since 1926. Old architecture is always interesting.
The evening began with an organ recital on the massive instrument which originally was to accompany silent films as they ran. The music was indeed spectacular, in a carnival sort of way. That's not an insult; it was fun. But the music was a bit over the top.
Then came the feature: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Stanley Kubrick directed. It has its moments, but, like the organ recital, was decidedly over the top.
I suppose that was part of the point. Yet I can't escape the feeling that it's the sort of movie we're supposed to like because we're supposed to like it. A 1960s bit of Hollywood telling us what to think, it seemed. I walked away thinking that Strangelove was a film with a reputation which is beyond its real value. Think Psycho. Not Hitchcock's best, but a showy piece of cinema.
Still, I think I'll go back again. They're offering Buster Keaton's silent Our Hospitality on April 11, with organ accompaniment. I've never been to a silent with the full treatment, so I figure it's worth a look.
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