Step Back in Time with Season Three of Silent Movie Mondays at Balboa Theatre

If you’ve never spent a Monday night watching a century-old film on the big screen while a live organist fills the historic Balboa Theatre with sound, Season Three of Silent Movie Mondays is your opening. And if you’re already a fan, you already know what to look forward to.

A Season Built for Atmosphere

Seven screenings. Seven classic films. Seven nights in the Gaslamp Quarter that feel nothing like anything else on the calendar.

Season Three opens on a suitably haunting note, with The Headless Horseman (1922) in September and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) in October – two early horror classics that set an autumn mood before the season opens into comedy, romance, and grand adventure.

A Laurel & Hardy holiday triple-feature lands in December, Buster Keaton’s The General (1926) rolls in February, and The Sheik (1921) and Harold Lloyd’s Grandma’s Boy (1922) round things out before the season closes with The Thief of Bagdad (1924).

The Organist Makes the Movie

What separates Silent Movie Mondays from simply watching an old film at home is the Wonder Morton Theatre Organ – and the acclaimed organists performing on it.

Each screening opens with a live pre-show from organist Rosemary Bailey to set the mood, followed by that evening’s featured organist scoring the film in real time. The effect is genuinely hard to describe until you’ve heard it: one player, one instrument, replicating the range of a full symphony.

After each film, the evening organist joins a film expert for a talkback – a conversation that tends to be as entertaining as the screening itself.

Come in Costume (Seriously)

This crowd dresses up. Many people arrive in period-inspired looks or costumes tied to the evening’s film, and it adds something to the whole experience.

The Balboa Theatre, which opened in 1924 as a venue for vaudeville and silent films, already does a lot of the atmospheric heavy lifting, but the audience tends to meet it halfway. Arriving early is worth it, and staying late even more so.

Grab a Season Pass Before June 30

For the full run, a season ticket is the move – and there’s an early bird deal available through the end of June. Seven shows for the price of six.

Individual tickets start at $18 for reserved seating, with discounts for students, seniors 65 and up, and military members. Premium reserved seating at $38 includes a bag of hot buttered popcorn.

See you there!

Season Three of Silent Movie Mondays is the kind of series that rewards showing up every month, and the Balboa Theatre is one of the best rooms in San Diego to be in.

📆 Kicks off Monday, September 21, 2026 | Dates run through spring 2027
📍 868 Fourth Ave, San Diego
ℹ️ Find more details here

See you there, San Diego!