Event Details

The Marie Dressler Museum is located in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, inside the heritage house in which Marie Dressler was born in1868. Marie Dressler was an enormous silent film star in Hollywood during the 1920’s. To cover the house's restoration costs after a major fire, a huge fundraising campaign was launched and the house was restored, becoming the Chamber of Commerce Office in the early 1990's. As of 2016, the Dressler house is now home to the Marie Dressler Museum. The MDM has reimagined the house's previous Marie Dressler memorabilia display and has installed a brand-new permanent museum exhibit: From Cobourg To Hollywood: The Story of Marie Dressler. The permanent exhibit occupies one half of the house, while the town of Cobourg Visitor Information Office occupies the remaining half. The Museum launched a Vintage Film Festival in 1992 which is hosted at Port Hope's Historic Capitol Theatre, a Canadian heritage site recognized as one of the few remaining purpose-built atmospheric movie theatres in Canada.

This application is for the “30th Anniversary of the Vintage Film Festival” Taking place September 30 to October 22, 2023, at the Capitol Theatre, a 92-year-old National Heritage building in Port Hope. The special anniversary theme of the Festival is "From the Page to the Screen", with all screened films having literary roots. Programming will include:

(1) The 30th anniversary of Vintage Film Festival to be held October 20-22, featuring 13 vintage films, and including screening of "The Wizard of Oz", which was originally screened in the Capitol Theatre 84 years ago. The Festival will also include live piano accompaniment for The Phantom of the Opera and Broken Blossoms;

(2) The Wizard of Oz costume and puppet parade to be held October 20, which will include decorations and projections on buildings in Port Hope. Several local merchants will also display promotional material in their shop windows; and

(3) A costume and puppet-making workshops to be held in the summer months for volunteers and all access workshops to be held September 30 in Cobourg and October 7 in Port Hope. The Festival has enlisted Clelia Scala, a visual artist, mask and puppet designer, theatre designer and educator to lead the costume and puppet making workshops.