Criterion alive with sounds of silent film Patrons find relevance in 1922 movie’s virtues

More than 200 people lined up to see two Friday night screenings of a romantic comedy at the historic Criterion Theatre.

They laughed at the antics of the rich and idle, cheered and applauded when the villain fell into the ocean and got his due, and they sighed when the society girl and the fisherman’s son finally embraced.

In fact, the 21st century audience probably enjoyed the circa 1922 film, “The Seventh Day” even more than its original viewers. The theater burst into laughter at long-forgotten ideals of virtue, such as when the fisherman’s innocent young daughter was described, “Betty had not yet tasted life, she found joy in making things clean and orderly.”

The squeaky-clean plot of “The Seventh Day,” is typical of early romantic films. A crowd of young flappers and their beaus take to sea on Daddy’s yacht (chaperoned, of course) to avert the restraints of prohibition.

After some very dramatic seasickness, the couples arrive at a seaside fishing village – actually New Hope, on Pemaquid Point – where they must spend a week waiting for their yacht’s engine to be repaired.

The girls shock the stodgy old Mainers with bare knees peeking out from their smart bloomers, and can’t wait to leave the horrible dull place that has neither hotel nor railroad.

But the simple life weaves a spell, drawing the flappers from sinful gambling, shimmying and cocktails on their yacht, to a sparse New England church service, “… in this picturesque place where people feel happiness without craving worldly sensations.”

Finally, lure of pure girls and hardworking fishermen proves irresistible, and not one, but two couples pledge to marry by week’s end.

The intertitles offered platitudes of virtue, which drew a mix of laughter and agreement from a modern audience unaccustomed to the theater as pulpit phenomenon of America’s silent film era:

“Men don’t set out to find happiness through hard work, but that is where they find it.”

“Work is pleasure when motivated by love.”

“Life is beautiful when you’re young and live in dream castles.”

“Inactivity is ideal for lazy people, but when enforced, it is as arduous as hard labor.”

While leaving the theater, several audience members said they miss the straightforward plots and message of silent-era films when they watch today’s blockbuster hits.

“I thought it was fabulous – the old-fashioned virtues are still true,” said Lynn Thompson of Salisbury Cove.

Despite having limited opportunity to rehearse, Glenn Jenks’ live ragtime piano accompaniment perfectly matched the film’s timing and underscored the humor and drama of the plot.

And with antique cars on display, and pianist Scott Kirby inspiring a crowd to dance out front, the Criterion Theatre was the perfect venue for the show.

In fact, the antique cars and bustling street reminded Nancy Salisbury, of Salisbury Cove, of her childhood on Mount Desert Island, when the Rockefeller limousine would be among the vehicles that lined Cottage Street for the popular Sunday afternoon show.

“It takes me back to when I was a little girl,” she said.

“The Seventh Day” was among the highlights of the first annual Bar Harbor Ragtime Festival, held throughout the weekend.

The festival was sponsored by First National Bank of Bar Harbor, Bar Harbor Banking and Trust, WBACH radio, Maine Arts Commission, Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce and Arcady Music Festival.