Perhaps
part of the reason there are so many bad films today is because we have so
degraded the experience of going to the movies.
It’s important for everyone hustled into small, cramped theaters,
looking at tiny screens, or gagging on trailers to remember that going to the
movies was once serious business.
People dressed to go the movies. Often, live performances would accompany a
film, either with film stars making personal appearances or bandleaders playing
before and after the show. And because
movies were so plentiful and affordable, people went all the time. While these days barely 75 major films are
released a year, in the 1930s and 1940s, some 500 films would be released. Yes, that number was 500!
And
movie-going was the great American secular religion. It made gods out of names that still resonate
mightily: John Wayne (1907-1979), Fred Astaire (1899-1987), Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957), Judy Garland (1922-1969), Bette Davis (1908-1989) and Greta Garbo (1905-1990), for
example. And, like most religions, it
demanded the right ambiance for the sacrament to take place. And that … led to the creation of Picture
Palaces.
There
are very few of them today, but movie theaters were often built along the lines
of cathedrals. They were filled with
grand (or simply ornate) architecture, they were constructed on colossal scale
and they were designed to be a sacred space.
Entering a Picture Palace of old was to enter another realm – where
dreams came true, good triumphed over evil, and movies were worthwhile.
Most of
these Picture Palaces did not survive the change in the movie business that
started in the 1950s and lasted through the 1970s. In the 50s, movies faced stiff competition
from television, and as fewer movies were produced, more and more Picture
Palaces found that the economics of supporting such a vast piece of real estate
was no longer feasible. Most went under
the wrecking ball, to survive only in cherished memories, while some smaller
movie houses were sub-divided into multiplexes.
Fortunately
for New York-area readers, one Picture Palace still remains, and is the focus
of a volunteer-supported base of film and live-performance buffs. The
Loew’s Jersey City first opened in September 1929, one of five “Loew’s
Wonder Theatres” that opened during 1929-1930.
At that time, Journal Square in Jersey City was a popular entertainment
and shopping destination. Loew’s Jersey
City cost $2 million 1929 dollars to build – and ticket prices were first 35
cents.
The
initial plan for Loew’s was to run live theatre performance as well as
films. The stage of the theatre was
equipped with a full counterweighted fly system with
the 50'-0" wide screen rigged to be flown in and out. In front of the
stage, a three segment orchestra pit was installed. One segment, on left side of the
pit as viewed from the audience, contained the pipe organ console.
The organ lift could rise independently and rotate. The remaining width of the
orchestra pit could also rise, lifting the orchestra up to the stage level. The
third segment was an integrated piano lift in the center of the orchestra lift
that could either rise independently or with the orchestra lift.
Loew’s
hit its nadir in the 1980s; the last first-run film to play there was Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason
Lives. Plans were soon announced to
demolish the building, but it subsequently sold to the city of Jersey City, after
which volunteers began the restoration project.
The house had been broken into a multiplex, and volunteers restored
mechanical systems while the Garden
State Theatre Organ Society acquired a sister pipe organ to the match the
original.
This
wonderland echoes with memories. I know
people who were there for live performances of Frank Sinatra, Martin and
Lewis, Abbot and Costello and Kirk Douglas. I first went to Loew’s in the early 1990s for
a screening of This Island Earth
(1955). Volunteers had just begun to
reclaim this lost treasure, and the film was actually shown in the lobby. Since then, the theatre auditorium proper has
been largely restored, creating a premium theatre experience. In the past few years, your correspondent has
seen films as diverse as A Christmas
Carol (1951), March of the Wooden
Soldiers (1934), Pearl of Death
(1944), Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
– with Ray Harryhausen in attendance,
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
(1969), Psycho (1960) and many others.
This
Christmas, the Friends of Loew’s (as
the volunteers are called) have several special treats in store. On Saturday, December 14, Santa Claus will appear in the lobby
from Noon till 3:00 PM. The visit with
Santa is free, and digital photos are available for only $4. Visitors who bring a new hat, scarf, pair of
gloves or warm socks for the Winter
Warmth Drive for the Homeless can have their picture for free.
That
evening starting at 6:30, Loew’s hosts a concert and sing-along of popular
holiday music, performed by Taresa
Blunda, Howard Richman, the Choir of St. Dominic’s Academy and the
Brass Ensemble of the JC Arts High
School with Bernie Anderson at
the Wonder Organ. And that treat is
followed by a screening of the original Miracle
on 34th Street, starring Edmund
Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood. Tickets for both the concert and film are
only $14 for adults and $7 for children and seniors.
The
Friends of Loew’s have been working for nearly two decades to both restore this
theater to its former glory, and to establish it as a premiere revival house
and performance space. But they can’t do
it alone. Readers are encouraged to go
to events held at Loew’s, or to provide support in terms of work or
donations. You can get more information
at www.loewsjersey.org, or by calling (201) 798-6055.
For
those of you who will be joining me on Saturday, Loew’s Jersey City is located at
54 Journal Square, Jersey City, right across from JFK Blvd and the PATH Station.
Merry
Christmas!
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