Sat. Mar. 22 

Doors – 7:00 PM  

Film – 8:00 PM  

Tickets - $12 

2hr 13min | NR | Drama | USA 

Live Organ Accompaniment by Andrew Rogers 

Silents at the Senate begins its 2025 season with Pandora’s Box, a silent masterpiece from Austrian director G.W. Pabst, starring the American flapper icon Louise Brooks! Come see this impeccable example of pre-sound cinematic artistry, accompanied by organist Andrew Rogers on our Mighty Wurlitzer theater pipe organ!  

Produced during the artistically vibrant Weimar Republic period in Germany, Pandora’s Box adapts two popular stage plays into a single tale of depravity, temptation, wrath and ruin. It’s melodrama at its finest, made on the eve of the sound era when the visual language of silent cinema reached its absolute peak.  

And with the majesty of the world’s best instrument for silent film accompaniment enhancing the imagery and emotions, the awesome power of live sound and recorded vision—the original magic of the movies—cannot be denied. 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue 

Silents at the Senate Presents: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) 
Sat. Oct. 12 
Doors – 7:00 PM 
Film – 8:00 PM 
Tickets - $12 
1hr 18min | NR | Horror/Drama | United States 
Live Organ Accompaniment by Tony O’Brien
Tarot readings before the show!

This spooky season Silents at the Senate is proud to present the 1925 adaptation of the world’s most famous gothic romance, The Phantom of the Opera, with live organ accompaniment by theater organist Tony O’Brien! 

Silent screen legend Lon “The Man of a Thousand Faces” Chaney stars as the title character. A seemingly supernatural figure, the “Phantom” terrorizes patrons and employees at the Paris Opera House, all in the hopes of furthering the career of Christine, a singer and object of his deranged affections. But the real star just might be Chaney’s self-devised make-up work. Nearly a century on this grotesque tour deforce still represents the pinnacle of cinema—how imagery can creep into our minds, lurk in the shadows, and strike with vengeance when we least expect it. 

And to that visual power the Senate will add the unmatched auditory majesty of a Mighty Wurlitzer theater pipe organ, an instrument literally made to accompany a silent film. There is no better way to see The Phantom of the Opera!  

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts 

Sat. Sep. 21 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

2hr 8min | NR | Melodrama| Mexico

Presented with Cinema Lamont and La Carpa Theatre Teen Ensemble 

The Senate is honored to present Nosotros los Pobres (“We, the Poor”) an all-time classic melodrama from the golden age of Mexican Cinema, starring the eras most beloved icon of screen and song, Pedro Infante!  A portion of proceeds will benefit La Carpa Theatre Teen Ensemble.

Infante plays Pepe, a poor carpenter living with his adopted daughter Chachita in the slums of Mexico City. Amidst tragedy, betrayal and violence their fragile family attempts to find a place for love and hope in a world where the downtrodden have little else.  

Don’t miss your chance to see this enduring and heart-wrenching tale at the Senate. This is big drama and deserves the big screen. 

Sábado. 21 de septiembre.

Horario de ingreso: 7:00PM

Inicio de ceremonia: 7:30 PM

Película: 8:00PM

Precio de tickets: $6,00

Duración 2h08min/ Sin clasificación/ género: melodrama/ México

con Cinema Lamont and La Carpa Theatre Teen Ensemble 

The Senate tiene el honor de presentar Nosotros los Pobres, un clásico atemporal del melodrama de la época dorada del cine mexicano, protagonizado por el ícono más querido de la pantalla y la canción de la época, ¡Pedro Infante! Una parte de las ganancias beneficiará El Grupo de Teatro Juvenil La Carp.

Infante interpreta a Pepe, un pobre carpintero que vive con su hija adoptiva Chachita en los barrios bajos de la Ciudad de México. En medio de la tragedia, la traición y la violencia, su frágil familia intenta encontrar un lugar para el amor y la esperanza en un mundo donde los oprimidos tienen poco más.

No pierdas la oportunidad de ver esta conmovedora y desgarradora historia en The Senate. Es un gran drama y merece la gran pantalla.

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Sat. Feb. 17 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $12 

1hr 11min | NR | Drama/Romance | United States 

Live Organ Accompaniment by Lance Luce 
 

Depravity seizes upon poverty as extravagance collides with innocence in Queen Kelly,

a silent drama of doomed romance, presented with live musical accompaniment by Lance Luce on the Senate’s Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ! This incomplete but still captivating exercise in cinematic excess from director/screenwriter Erich von Stroheim proves that even an unfinished work from a master is still a masterwork. 

Co-produced by and starring Gloria Swanson, one of the silent era's biggest stars, what survives of the film tells the story of a playboy aristocrat who balks at his betrothal to his mad queen. On the eve of the marriage, he falls for an enchanting and fiery convent girl (Swanson) and then schemes to possess her, no matter the cost.  

In its existing form, the film presents a meticulously realized world in beautiful detail, a simple but sumptuous tale of worlds colliding—an ill-fated meeting that ends, (spoiler) in tragedy.  

But the epic and transgressive melodrama that could have been was never completed, itself a victim of incompatibility. But rather than a clash of class and circumstance, what doomed Queen Kelly from reaching its potential was the battle between art and business, the vision of an auteur versus censorship. 

Silents at the Senate is proud to present the 1932 release of this almost lost piece of silent film history!

Released only in Europe well into the “talkie” period, this is the most concise and cinematically pure version of the film. It features the so-called “Swanson” ending, filmed after the dismissal of Stroheim and shot two years after the abrupt end to the production due to massive cost overruns and the directors’ efforts to skirt the demands of censors. 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Sat. Jan. 20 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

1hr 32min | Not Rated |Noir/Thriller | USA 

Love and hate. Darkness and light. A terrifying evil that only righteousness can overcome.  

The stuff of fables, of scripture, of the deep and eternal struggle in our souls. An old story, but rarely has this tale been told with such indelible and nightmarish beauty as in the noir/thriller classic, The Night of the Hunter! 

Robert Mitchum stars as Robert Powell, a murderous “preacher” in Great Depression era West Virginia. After being released from the state penitentiary he quickly closes in on the stash of stolen money he knows to be hidden somewhere in the home of his now executed cellmate. With charisma and sex appeal he insinuates himself into the life of the widow Willa Harper, (Shelley Winters) presenting himself as a man of God as he preys upon her unfulfilled desire and the innocence of her children. 

The first and last film directed by acclaimed British actor Charles Laughton, The Night of the Hunter was initially ignored by audiences and harshly reviewed by critics. This, despite its daring visual style, a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize winner James Agee, and a movie star lead. Over the decades, however, the film developed a cult following thanks to television and revival art house theaters. Audiences were drawn to its strange synthesis of film noir mood, horror aesthetics, elemental themes, and abstract set design. As a result, its cult burgeoned while simultaneously undergoing a critical reassessment that now places it among the best of all time. 

Don’t miss this masterpiece on our big screen! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Joan Crawford in Rain (1932) “Pre-Code” Hollywood Presentation 

Sat. Sep. 16 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets - $6 

1hr 34min | NR | Drama| USA 

DRAMA! DRAMA! DRAMA! 

The word alone doesn’t do justice to Rain. It is a film so overflowing with fervid emotion, so redolent of the deepest and darkest impulses of humanity that only caps-lock, exclamation points and repetition can come close to matching its passionate intensity. 

So, in other words, Rain presents an excellent example of films released during the so-called “pre-code Hollywood” era. This brief period (1927-1934) before the enforcement of the Hays Code censorship guidelines was marked by shocking, salacious, suggestive, and even surprisingly sexually explicit plotlines that both scandalized and tantalized moviegoers.  

Rain was one such film. Set on an island in the South Pacific against a backdrop of tropical disease and monsoon rains, it stars a young Joan Crawford and Walter Huston. Crawford plays Sadie Thompson, a prostitute fleeing the law while Huston portrays the self-righteous missionary determined to dominate her. Both are passengers from a ship, now stranded due to a cholera outbreak. Both are in danger of being consumed by sin, lust, and compulsion. Neither may make it out of Pago Pago with their soul intact.  

Come see how this DRAMA! DRAMA! DRAMA! unfolds at the Senate. 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in a gated parking lot on Gilbert St., behind the theater.

Polyester (1981)  

Sat. Jul. 15 

Doors – 7:00 PM 

Organ Overture – 7:30 PM 

Film – 8:00 PM 

Tickets – $6 

1hr 26min | R| Comedy/Satire | USA 

Summer is here, which means the Senate is once again getting Hot, Sweaty, and Weird. Our cult film series begins this year with a classic that has a decidedly . . . funky reputation. 

Prepare your eyes, ears, and—yes—YOUR NOSE for John Waters’ Polyester, presented in Odorama!  

You'll gasp. You’ll guffaw. You may even be scandalized by the sounds and sights on screen. But your mind won’t believe your sniffer as your nostrils collide with this, the most astoundingly aromatic gimmick to ever invade the unsuspecting schnozzolas of moviegoers anywhere. 

Don’t miss it! Sniff it!

(By “it,” of course, we mean the scratch and sniff card given to the first 100 patrons through the door, allowing them to “smell” the action on screen.) 

In keeping with its goofy marketing ploy Polyester is a sleazy comedy with ridiculous characters and a low-brow sensibility, starring Divine, the unmatched (drag) queen of garish flamboyance. Sure, we can’t deny it, this is an outrageous and crass piece of trashy cinema, but it is also a witty satire. (No, really, it is.) Lampooning the dramatic excess of the suburban melodramas of 1950s Hollywood, it tells a story of infidelity, murder, strange sexual addictions, and anti-social teenage angst.  And it does it all with a cheesy organ soundtrack right out of a daytime soap and a visual style that crudely apes the king of 50s melodrama, Douglas Sirk.  

It’s one of John Waters’ best. Cheap and gaudy, but also thoughtful and remarkably crowd-pleasing. We hope to see you there! 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts. 

Parking is available in our gated lot, on Gilbert, and Michigan Avenue

Silents at the Senate closes out the Fall season with Flesh and the Devil, a film so intense with emotion – swinging from youthful cheer and love, to uninhibited lust, jealousy, and wrath – that we may need to keep the lights off in the theater for a minute after the movie.  

You'll need some time to collect yourself.   

Sat. Nov. 5
Doors – 7:00 PM
Film – 8:00 PM
Tickets - $12
1hr 52min | NR | Melodrama/Romance | USA

This enduring silent classic deftly blends light comedy, steamy romance, and tragic melodrama, making our Mighty Wurlitzer theater organ, unparalleled in its versatility, the perfect instrument for providing musical accompaniment. As the film takes you on this journey of agony and passion, organist John Lauter will be there to compliment and intensify the feelings with his live organ score.  

Starring romantic screen idols Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, Flesh and the Devil was and still remains a shocking and trailblazing film with visual style and stirring performances. Calling to mind the erotic thrillers of the 1980s like Fatal Attraction, this movie sizzles. The chemistry between its stars, who began a real love affair during shooting, cannot be denied. Meanwhile the camera titillates with then unheard-of close-ups of open mouth kisses and horizontal love scenes, while evocative flourishes of light and shadow heighten the dazzling eroticism of the drama.   

You will hardly believe what they were allowed to put on screen in the old days.  

And seeing it the way it was intended to be seen, on the big screen with live organ accompaniment, is a cinematic and musical time-traveling experience you won’t soon forget. Plus, as an added bonus, you can stick around after the show for a chamber tour, a rare chance to get an up-close look at the inner workings of a theater pipe organ. 

See you at the theater! 

Silents at the Senate is supported by the Knight Arts Challenge 

The Senate Theater and The Detroit Theater Organ Society is supported by The Michigan Arts and Culture Council and The National Endowment for the Arts.