Where cinema plays al fresco in summer
Neighborhood groups from Northern Liberties to South Philadelphia are screening movies after dark.
Armed with bug spray, water and snacks, about 200 people lounging in beach chairs or on blankets waited for the sun to go down over Liberty Lands at Third and Poplar Streets.
The Northern Liberties park has been home to an annual summer film series of quirky or nearly forgotten fare - known as the Lawn Chair Drive-in - since 1995.
From 1958's space invasion-themed The Brain Eaters to Woody Allen's 1973 Sleeper, longtime local film collector Todd Kimmell's series is a neighborhood favorite, drawing movie-lovers from around the city.
"I think people like the idea of never knowing what on Earth is going to be shown," said Matt Ruben, president of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association. "I don't think anyone could out-weird Todd's selection."
Free outdoor movies are a summer staple - a cheap night out that keeps parks occupied after dark. Sites such as Penn's Landing draw large crowds for blockbuster screenings, but Liberty Lands is one of a growing number of spots featuring a less-traditional line-up.
The Lawn Chair Drive-in screens movies every Tuesday through Aug. 18. Tonight's film is The Kid, a 1921 silent film starring Charles Chaplin.
Last Tuesday, Kimmell, 51, screened one of his favorites, La Belle et la Bete - better known in the United States as Beauty and the Beast - a 1946 black-and-white French version of the fairy tale.
Northern Liberties residents Charles Latham and Montana Torrey, both 27, spread out on a yellow blanket before the film started, their shoes lying nearby in the grass.
"It's great to be outside and also be entertained," said Torrey, an artist and art teacher.
As the sky finally grew dark, David Amodei, 23, who maintains the films for Kimmell, fiddled with the 16mm film projector, and suddenly the screen flickered to life.
The program began with a 1930s Coca-Cola advertisement, complete with the crackles and pops characteristic of older films. A preview for the 1935 movie Top Hat and a short animated piece starring Pooch the Pup, also from the 1930s, followed.
The audience - mostly in its 20s and 30s - applauded and then fell silent for the feature film.
Across town, the Jefferson Square Park Association in South Philadephia has been showing an Alfred Hitchcock series on Wednesdays since July.
"In these economic times, we thought having free events for the family would be a great idea," said Michael Toklish, president of the Jefferson Square neighborhood association. "It's more fun to see it out in the park than watch it on your TV."
Toklish said that the summer finale will take a break from Hitchcock to show the 1988 John Waters classic Hairspray on Aug. 15, preceded by a live band concert.
The local nonprofit arts center Scribe Video Center has put together a traveling outdoor summer film series, called Street Movies!, since 1996.
Showing a line-up of mostly locally produced independent short films at parks around the city, Street Movies! mixes outdoor entertainment with community activism.
On Aug. 26, Scribe is partnering with the North Light Community Center in Manayunk to show several films - including one about urban fishing - around the theme of water conservation.
"These things bring the community together," said Arte Verbrugghe, associate director of the North Light Community Center. "You can bring popcorn; if the kids get bored, they can jump on the playground."
Outdoor movies can also make public parks safer at night, said Boone Nguyen, Scribe's program coordinator.
"It's a process of reclaiming public spaces that might be endangered," Nguyen said. "When we're there, people stick around . . . to watch the films."
Scribe Video Center provides the partnering community with films, equipment, and, in some cases, a generator. It pays for screenings with a combination of state grants and privately raised funds.
The Jefferson Square neighborhood association received a state grant last summer to spend about $3,000 on a 15- by-20-foot folding screen, sound equipment, and a projector.
The Northern Liberties neighborhood association spent $325,000 last year renovating Liberty Lands. The face-lift included installing the performance stage used to mount the movie screen.
The association also pays Kimmell and Amodei about $3,500 each year to maintain the films and equipment. This year, they upgraded from an eight-foot-tall screen to one that is 12 feet tall.
"We think it's a worthwhile series," Ruben said. "Where else are you going to go to a movie and not pay $10.50 to see it?"
Kimmell, who started the Lawn Chair Drive-in at other sites around the city in the late 1980s, has been collecting and trading films since high school.
The former Northern Liberties resident lives in Mount Airy with his wife and two sons, but said he would continue to trek down each week to run the drive-in.
"You want to have a real cinema experience," he said. "You want to be spellbound in darkness."