Testing Block: Capitola Screens 100-Year-Old Local Movie

Enjoy a special centennial showing of “The Testing Block,” the first silent movie shot in Capitola and Felton in 1920.

The film will be screened at the Capitola Community Center Sunday, Jan. 26 starting at 3 p.m.

The film is a western drama set during the California Gold Rush and stars William S. Hart and Eva Novak. Hart was one of the pioneers of the western genre during the silent movie era.

Hart’s character, Sierra Bill, starts out as an outlaw, but meets an attractive young musician named Nelly Gray (played by Novak). They marry and Sierra Bill goes straight.

An evil member of his former outlaw gang, however, drives the couple apart so that he might someday marry the beautiful Nelly. Bill then tries to get her back.

The print of Testing Block being shown is one of the few surviving copies and is stored in the Library of Congress. It was last shown here in 1978 in conjunction with the release of the book “Soquel Landing to Capitola-By-The-Sea” by Sandy Lydon and Carolyn Swift.

There will be refreshments, a display of movie memorabilia, and a short talk about the making of the movie by Capitola Museum Curator Frank Perry.

The event is presented by the Capitola Historical Museum and sponsored by the Cabrillo College History Success Club

Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

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Sunday, Jan. 26 • 3–4:30 p.m., Capitola Community Center, 4400 Jade Street

Visit www.cityofcapitola.org/capitola-museum for more information