The Parson’s Widow at the Rosendale Theatre

The Rosendale Theatre’s “Sunday Silents” series will return on March 5 with a showing of Danish director Carl Theodore Dreiser’s 1920 comedic drama The Parson’s Widow with live piano accompaniment by Marta Waterman.

Described by the website Silent London as “a warm and humanistic film, in which sorrow and sympathy coincide with mischief and good humor,” The Parson’s Widow was adapted from a 1879 short story by Norwegian writer Kristofer Janson and tells the tale of Sofren, a young theologian eager to get a parish and marry his fiancé, Mari. He is granted a parsonage but is horrified to find out as part of his duties, he is required to marry the widow of the parson before him, Dame Margarete (in the days before the social safety net, this was a practical solution—marrying a new parson to his forerunner’s widow saved the parish from supporting two separate households or reducing the discarded widow to poverty). Sofren and Mari quietly plot and plan a way to get rid of Dame Margarete— and soon find out that they have greatly underestimated the old woman.

Here’s a trailer for the screening:



The Parson’s Widow with live accompaniment by Marta Warterman will be shown at the Rosendale Theatre’s “Silent Sundays” series in Rosendale on March 5 at 2pm. Tickets are $6.