Silent Movies in Two Strike Park<\/a>, a special showcase of films from the era that usually takes place once a year. Tonight\u2019s program includes Buster Keaton\u2019s One Week (1920), Charley Chase\u2019s Crazy Like a Fox (1926), and Laurel and Hardy\u2019s Do Detectives Think? (1927).<\/p>\n Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n
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Professor Rinaudo\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rinaudo, nicknamed \u201cProfessor Rinaudo\u201d for his vast silent film knowledge, has spent his life preserving and screening silent classics. His love of old films stretches back to when he was a kid in the 1950s. He even bought 99-cent reels at Sears and would host screenings for neighborhood kids.<\/p>\n
Tonight, he will follow in the tradition of the itinerant \u2014 or traveling \u2014 projectionists of the early 1900s, by cranking out this evening\u2019s slate on a 1909 Power\u2019s Motion Picture Machine Model 6, which started its life with an itinerant projectionist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought it from the great-grandchildren of the original owner. It was found in a chicken coop and [I] did a total restoration,\u201d Rinaudo said.<\/p>\n
I was lucky enough to see the hand-crank process in action at his home in La Crescenta earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to crank at the camera man\u2019s speed,\u201d Rinaudo said. \u201cYou have to watch the action very closely \u2026 If it slows down, and it looks blurry then you need to speed up, because you\u2019ll betray the camera man\u2019s shutter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Educate and inspire\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rinaudo\u2019s La Crescenta home isn\u2019t just a showcase for his collection of antique film equipment. It also includes a 20-seat, 1910-style theater that he built. The silent movie palace is complete with an alluring red curtain and period-specific, ornate light fixtures that he manufactured himself.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784379435_669_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Joe Rinaudo stands in front of the stage.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Robert Garrova \/ LAist <\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
It defies logic that this huge theater, complete with a second story balcony and projection room, fits in this residential space. But there\u2019s more just below the theater, including an 800-pipe organ Rinaudo is working to restore so that music can accompany his film screenings.<\/p>\n
Catch a Professor Rinaudo screening<\/p>\n
Silent Movies in Two Strike Park<\/a>
Where: Two Strike Park, 5107 Rosemont Ave., La Crescenta
When: Saturday, July 18 at 8 p.m.
Free<\/p>\n\u201cThe pipe organ will of course add a new dimension to the theater. It\u2019s an 11-rank Wurlitzer built in 1920. It was saved from the Covell Theater in Modesto, California,\u201d Rinaudo said.<\/p>\n
The massive pipes of the Wurlitzer came to life thanks to a vintage air blower in the basement, their low tones enough to rattle your ribcage.<\/p>\n
Rinaudo\u2019s theater isn\u2019t open to the public, but through his nonprofit, he\u2019s thinking about how it can be preserved for all to enjoy. But you can catch his itinerant show at Two Strike Park in La Crescenta, usually once a year. And he’s hoping to soon start screening films again at the Nethercutt Collection Museum in Sylmar.<\/p>\n
“Eventually, all of this will go into the non-profit after my passing,\u201d Rinaudo said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to keep this as a private museum … that will continue to educate and inspire younger people about our history.\u201d<\/p>\n