Silent Movie Theater

Dean Mora ought to write "Anachronism" as his occupation on tax forms. His job has about as much relevance to today's world as bootleg whiskey or a Model T. At 29, Mora is a silent-film accompanist.

Celebrate the 100th birthday of Chuck Jones, one of the most beloved directors of animated shorts. This Cinefamily tribute screens 35mm prints of Jones' best cartoons, including films from his personal collection featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. In addition, animation historian Jerry Beck will lead a panel discussion, and the night will end with a rare showing of Jones' 1973 television special "A Cricket in Times Square. " Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 4 p.m. Sat. $12. (323)

A repository of Hollywood history died Friday night when Laurence Austin, the proprietor of Silent Movie, the only theater in Los Angeles devoted solely to silent films, was gunned down in the tiny lobby of his theater on Fairfax Avenue. The gunman then fled down an aisle of the theater to an exit, firing randomly over the heads of about 60 movie-goers watching the Larry Semon silent short "School Days."

Do you love making snarky comments during sappy movies? Then you'll love Doug Benson's "Movie Interruption" series at Cinefamily. During his latest installment, Benson and friends will take on the schmaltzy holiday classic "Love Actually," starring easy target Hugh Grant. Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax, L.A. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. $14. (323) 655-2510, http://www.cinefamily.org.

The Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., will present an evening of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle films tonight at 8. The silent era comedian's widow, Addie Arbuckle, will be on hand for the screenings of "The Round Up" (1920), "Butcher Boy" (1917) and "Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers" (1915), following a dinner at Fatty's Row House Restaurant, 829 N. La Cienega. Silent Movie Theater: (213) 653-2389. For dinner reservations: (310) 657-9220.

The Silent Movie Theater marks the seventh anniversary of the fatal shooting the theater's then-proprietor, Laurence Austin, with a screening of F.W. Murnau's 1928 classic "Sunrise," which was about to start when Austin was shot to death in the lobby by a killer hired by his estranged companion- projectionist, James Van Sickle. Both the gunman and Van Sickle are serving life sentences. "Sunrise," Friday, 8 p.m., Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., (323) 655-2520.

The 21-year-old trigger man in the murder for hire of Lawrence Austin, the owner and operator of a popular silent movie theater, will spend the rest of his days in prison, a judge ruled Tuesday. In sentencing Christian Rodriguez to life without the possibility of parole, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J.D. Smith told the young man he is lucky to have avoided the death penalty.

MOVIES Scare off those extra Thanksgiving calories with a midnight screening of the sci-fi thriller "Alien: Resurrection. " Set 200 years after "Alien 3," the film features a cloned Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and a much-hyped and very daring underwater escape scene. Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. Midnight. Fri. $12. (323) 655-2510; http://www.cinefamily.org.

Do you love making snarky comments during sappy movies? Then you'll love Doug Benson's "Movie Interruption" series at Cinefamily. During his latest installment, Benson and friends will take on the schmaltzy holiday classic "Love Actually," starring easy target Hugh Grant. Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax, L.A. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. $14. (323) 655-2510, http://www.cinefamily.org.

Re " 'The Man Died Doing What He Loved,' " Jan. 19: Although our family didn't attend the Silent Movie Theater often enough to feel comfortable calling him "Larry," Laurence Austin always recognized us as he sold us tickets, or conversed happily when he took our tickets at the door. And he always pointed, smiling, at the Felix the Cat wristwatch my mother had found for him. This gentle, quirky man had attained what most can only aspire to--the vocation that was his life-long dream, and so perfect for his talents and temperament.

MOVIES Scare off those extra Thanksgiving calories with a midnight screening of the sci-fi thriller "Alien: Resurrection. " Set 200 years after "Alien 3," the film features a cloned Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and a much-hyped and very daring underwater escape scene. Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. Midnight. Fri. $12. (323) 655-2510; http://www.cinefamily.org.

MOVIES Watch the terrifying, inspiring and deeply weird roller coaster ride that is underground rocker Bobby Liebling's life. As the founder and lead singer of the almost-made-it 1970s metal band Pentagram, Liebling blew every shot at fame he got with drugs and outrageous behavior. The filmmakers who made "Rock School," pick up with Liebling in his later years and follow his attempt at a comeback in a new documentary called "Last Days Here. " Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 10:30 p.m. Fri. $12. (323)

MOVIES Attend a screening of "Killer Klowns From Outer Space," a camp classic featuring creepy clown puppets by the Chiodo Brothers, who are masters of special effects puppetry. Their handiwork has spanned decades, from the toothy fur balls in the Critters franchise to the gun-toting, epically vomiting marionettes in "Team America: World Police. " The Chiodo Brothers will host a Q&A after the film. Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.. 11:50 p.m. Fri., $10. (323)

JAZZ Gregg Young and the 2nd Street Band The storied guitarist and vocalist and his crack band fill the ArcLight courtyard with a festive selection of holiday favorites and, appropriately enough for the Cinerama Dome, classic movie themes. Young has matched chords with the likes of Bo Diddley and Sly Stone and was awarded smooth jazz artist of the year at the 2007 L.A. Music Awards. ArcLight Entertainment Center, 6360 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. Free. 7-10 p.m. (562) 433-4858.

"Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" is the main attraction, but vérité footage of department store Santas, misguided movie tie-ins, aborted holiday specials and exhumed cartoons contribute to the gonzo holiday blitz of Mondo Christmas at Cinefamily. The classic B-movie gets out of this world when morons from Mars kidnap Santa and try to bring Christmas to the children of the red planet. The Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., 8 p.m. $12. (323) 655-2510. www.cinefamily.

After a dramatic three-month pause following its sale, the Silent Movie Theatre reopens tonight with a classic of the genre, "The Last Laugh" (1924). Then things get scary. "The Last Laugh" is about the humiliating demotion of a hotel doorman, whose job is his life. Despite the title, it's a tragedy -- at least until the last 10 minutes. Even preeminent German Expressionist director F.W. Murnau, it seems, needed to create a crowd-pleasing ending. But he wasn't happy about it.

I was hardly surprised to see a well-deserved article on the revival of silent movies ("Silents Golden Again," Jan. 11), but I was very surprised not to see mention of the famed Silent Movie Theater, since 1942 as much a landmark on Fairfax Avenue as Canter's Deli and the Farmers Market. After all, it's the only one like it in America, with a fascinating history of its own. It offers comfortable seats combined with period-piece music and a wide cross-section of patrons. EDDIE CRESS Sylmar

MOVIES Watch the terrifying, inspiring and deeply weird roller coaster ride that is underground rocker Bobby Liebling's life. As the founder and lead singer of the almost-made-it 1970s metal band Pentagram, Liebling blew every shot at fame he got with drugs and outrageous behavior. The filmmakers who made "Rock School," pick up with Liebling in his later years and follow his attempt at a comeback in a new documentary called "Last Days Here. " Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 10:30 p.m. Fri. $12. (323)

The Silent Movie Theatre is getting a new voice. After decades of near-exclusive devotion to the pre-talkie era, the theater is being sold to two brothers who plan to add more modern revival fare to the bill. Charlie Lustman, who bought the shuttered building in 1999, is selling the business to Dan and Sammy Harkham in a deal expected to close at the end of the month. Lustman's last silent picture show as proprietor will be the Charlie Chaplin classic "The Kid," running Friday through Sunday.

The owner of the Silent Movie Theatre, saying that his planned Monday screening of D.W. Griffith's Civil War epic "The Birth of a Nation" had prompted overwhelming protests and threats against him, yanked the film the day it was scheduled to be shown. Charlie Lustman, owner of the Fairfax Avenue theater, announced the cancellation in the morning and said that he had received not only personal threats but also warnings that his theater would be destroyed if he showed the film.