Duck Soup Cinema

The Raucous Sound of Silence

Several times a year, we reclaim the silent-film heritage of the Capitol Theater with our Duck Soup Cinema Series. Local vaudeville-style acts open for a silent film screening that has the crowd roaring by the end of the night. Each show features a skilled organist who mirrors the actors’ emotions on the magnificent Grand Barton Organ, just as it was done in 1928.

Three of the four films in our 2019/20 Duck Soup Cinema season will be shown on authentic 35 millimeter film using the amazing projectors in Capitol Theater!

Hypocrites will be shown in digital format.

Check out Wisconsin Public Television’s University Place feature on silent film organist and composer Jelani Eddington. In the episode, filmed in Capitol Theater, Eddington accompanies scenes from “The Flying Ace,“ a 1926 silent film with an all-African American cast.

WATCH THE EPISODE

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2019/20 Duck Soup Cinema Series

A special season celebrating female pioneers in film.

Matinee Subscription Package Evening Subscription Package

Tillie’s Punctured Romance on SAT, OCT 19, 2019, 2 PM & 7 PM

35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Restoration funding provided by The Film Foundation, UK Film Council, and Saving the Silents.

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Hypocrites on THU, NOV 14, 2019, 7 PM

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Good References on SAT, JAN 11, 2020, 2 PM & 7 PM

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The Social Secretary on SAT, APR 18, 2020, 2 PM & 7 PM

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Check out our very own silent film, First Date, produced in the spirit of Duck Soup Cinema!

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Overture’s Duck Soup Cinema silent film series is nationally known for providing an authentic and rare silent film experience in the historic Capitol Theater, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in January 2018. As these films were released nearly a century ago, please be aware they may depict some of the theatric and social conventions of the time including material that may be considered socially insensitive today.

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See a full chronology of silent film in the Capitol Theater HERE

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Duck Soup Cinema is sponsored by Goodman Jewelers. Additional funding provided by Madison Stagehands and Projectionists Union, I.A.T.S.E Local 251, contributions to Overture Center for the Arts, and by members of the Duck Soup Cinema Club.