There were only a handful of prints at any given time. Wide release wasn't a thing, prints were sent on to the next theater once the run was finished or they were taken on a roadshow. Every time a print is projected, there is some damage. Big theaters in major cities would have clearer prints...
But smaller theaters would often complain about wear and tear and damage. (Plus, many theaters had to deal with clouds of tobacco smoke!) Theater managers would complain about "rainstorms" (scratched prints) and United Artists was singled out for providing unusually clean and clear film reels.
When we see a fresh restoration released on Bluray (like BEHIND THE DOOR), we are watching a movie as it would have been seen at its premiere. Your experience at the movies in the silent era was HEAVILY changed depending on where you were and how much money you spent.
Also, what we see on home media depends one what the film was transferred FROM and TO. For example, the first version of EVE'S LEAVES that I saw was an 8mm transfer to VHS. The next version I saw was probably a 16mm transfer to HD DVD. Big difference.
And once you get into 35mm transfers to HD (as we see with THE BLOOD SHIP), then you're really cooking! You can count the pores of the cast!
The film's last reel only survives on 16mm, so there is a drop in clarity but the good transfer means there is still a lot of detail.
So, I guess the modern silent film experience can also depend on where you are and how much money you have to spend. One thing is for sure, a high quality home media release is probably better than most theatrical experiences at smaller theaters, with battered prints and questionable music.
Ain't this just the truth. I saw "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) at a cinema that screened the film with NO musical accompaniment & distributed the translation on print-outs. The theatre was filled with people craning to read the paper in the dark. Way to kill what I'm told is an excellent film.
There are accounts of theater musicians going on autopilot and playing something like Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight when the comedy relief scene was done and high romance was ensuing. Big cities had orchestras. Tiny towns often had Whoever Could Kind of Play.
And wide release is a thing for studio fare now but we are still in the silent era with anything indie or foreign in the USA. (And, of course, foreign markets often have to wait for Hollywood films in wide release here.) Sound systems vary by theater, of course, but the score is the same everywhere
The available movies were different too. Most of the majors owned theaters (Universal being an exception) but small towns had indies and relied on what was called "States Rights" distribution. Westerns went over big. Big fancy epics tended to flop.
So, as with everything, your experience at the movies in the silent era depended on location, class and spending money. Far more than the talkie era and certainly more than the modern blockbuster era. Yes, IMAX is a different experience but the big Captain Zip Zap movie is still available to all.
I work at National Cinematheque of Chile. Here we restore films and have endless discussions about this issue. Do the film must look better then the original? What is the original? Which artifacts must remain? Things got worse when the filmmaker is alive and usually tries to re-edit the film.
Doubly in the silent era as some repertoire theatres are the theatres that are from that era still, hanging on by their nails! My favourite one to go to opened in 1910!
Ahhh, would love to hear even a small orchestra at a screening. Have attended two showings with Dennis James playing music intended for each film’s original release. That was cool.
I love the idea of a Kino alternate track of “improv by Aunt Irene”
Right? Give us the real experience (loads old fireworks under the theater seats for added authenticity)
On this topic, years ago I enjoyed the documentary Dawson City: Frozen in Time, about the discovery of a preserved cache of silent movies buried there. (I am guessing you've seen it.) They talked about the quality issue, too, & how long it took movies to reach the Yukon--it was the end of the line.