OGUNQUIT — Film fans will be able to revisit big-screen classics of the silent film era this summer as Ogunquit’s Leavitt Theatre is preparing to screen some of the best-loved movies from the earliest days of cinematic history.

Starting May 30 and running through Oct. 26, movie buffs can watch screenings of renowned classic silent films accompanied by live music on the big screen before an appreciative audience.

The series opens with “Speedway” (1929), a classic MGM race car drama filmed on location at the Indy 500 track. It debuts on Thursday, May 30 and the series wraps up with a chilling Halloween showing of Lon Chaney Sr.’s silent version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923).

A lot of “Speedway” is made up of footage shot during the Indianapolis 500 auto race in 1929. It was the final silent movie for star William Haines, who was forced to abandon his career by Hollywood studios when he was blacklisted because he was gay.

Leading lady Anita Page was at the height of her popularity when “Speedway” was released and received more than 10,000 fan letters each week in 1929.

“Speedway” was directed by Harry Beaumont, whose greatest successes were during the silent film era, when he directed films including John Barrymore‘s “Beau Brummel” (1924) and the silent youth movie “Our Dancing Daughters” (1928), featuring Joan Crawford. He also directed MGM’s first talkie musical, “The Broadway Melody,” which won the Best Picture Academy Award for 1929.

All told, seven films will be shown during Leavitt’s summer series including Harold Lloyd’s iconic comedy ‘Safety Last’ (1923) and an early sci-fi extravaganza about mankind’s first rocket trip to the moon.

“These are the films that first made people fall in love with the movies, and we’re thrilled to present them again on the big screen,” said Max Clayton, the Leavitt’s manager.

The Leavitt, a summer-only moviehouse, opened in 1923 at the height of the silent film era, and has been showing movies to summertime visitors for nine decades.

The silent film series honors the theater’s long service as a moviehouse that has entertained generations of Seacoast residents and visitors, in good times and in bad.

“These movies were intended to be shown in this kind of environment, and with live music and with an audience,” Clayton said. “Put it all together, it’s great entertainment that still has a lot of power to move people.”

Live music for each program will be provided by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based performer and composer who specializes in scoring silent films.

In accompanying silent films live, Rapsis uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the texture of the full orchestra. He improvises the music in real time, as the movie is shown.

In scoring a movie, Rapsis creates music to help modern movie-goers accept silent film as a vital art form rather than something antiquated or obsolete.

“Silent film is a timeless art form that still has a unique emotional power, as the recent success of ‘The Artist’ has shown,” Rapsis said.

After “Speedway” on Thursday, May 30 at 7 p.m., other programs in this year’s Leavitt silent film series include:

• Thursday, June 13, 7 p.m.: “Safety Last: (1923) starring Harold Lloyd. The iconic image of comedian Harold Lloyd dangling from the hands of a downtown clock is only one small piece of a remarkable thrill comedy that has lost none of its power over audiences.

• Thursday, June 27, 7 p.m.: “The Last Command” (1928) starring Emil Jannings. Intense drama about a former high-ranking officer in Czarist Russia now reduced to playing an extra in 1920s Hollywood. That performance helped Jannings win ‘Best Actor’ at the first-ever Academy Awards.

• Wednesday, July 17, 7 p.m.: “Woman in the Moon” (1929). In honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, Fritz Lang’s epic sci-fi adventure film about mankind’s first-ever journey to the moon. See the German space program that never was. (Note Wednesday night screening date.)

• Thursday, Aug. 15, 7 p.m.: “Paths to Paradise” (1925). Two competing would-be jewel thieves reluctantly team up to pull off a major heist. Starring Raymond Griffith, a leading comedian for Paramount Pictures whose popularity rivaled Chaplin and Keaton in the 1920s,

• Thursday, Aug. 29, 7 p.m.: “The Beloved Rogue'” (1926) starring John Barrymore. Epic costume adventure based on the life of the 15th century French poet, François Villon. Wrongly banished from the Royal Court and sentenced to death, can the patriotic poet save France from an evil plot?

• Saturday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m.: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) starring Lon Chaney. Just in time for Halloween, the Leavitt’s annual “Chiller Theatre” presentation stars Lon Chaney Sr. in the original screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel about a deformed bellringer in medieval Paris.

Admission is $10 per person with general seating for all shows throughout the summer series.

Leavitt Theater is located at 259 Main St. (Route 1) in Ogunquit.

For more information, visit www.leavittheatre.com.

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