Sue,
I loved your writeup on the old theater. It brought back one of my
favorite recurring sense-memories that seem more real than the hear and
now... of the times I walked out of the balcony at the grand old Fox
Theater movie palace in Pomona, California (now also restored to its
former glory). When I did that while a film was running... and I often
got up to stretch my legs if the film was less than enthralling at that
point... I stepped out of the dark balcony onto a vast, empty, almost
eerie expanse of red carpet and art deco wall sconce lighting. The
upstairs "lobby" was almost as large as the main lobby downstairs and
definitely more elegant. The restrooms at the far end of it were huge
and you passed though a large waiting room/smoking area containing plush
lounge chairs to get to the actual restroom. When the film was running,
this vast, luxurious expanse would be totally empty except for me --
quiet and still except for the faint murmur of the soundtrack coming
through the heavy balcony doors. The sense of history and time stopping
in mid-step was almost overwhelming whenever I stepped out of the movie
and into the strange half world of that lobby.
Balconies. Upstairs lobbies. Heck... "lobby cards" on display in
lobbies... what a world it was. Too bad we've lost all that as part of
daily living. And they have the nerve to call it progress...
-- JR
Susan Heim wrote:
Hello all,
I have just returned from Palo Alto, California where I was touring
Stanford University with my younger daughter. The area is just
beautiful and, while driving around in the rain, I came across a movie
theater called The Stanford. The downtown area of Palo Alto is a very
quaint little village. As I was driving down University Avenue, I
spotted a big window with a 3 sheet of Bandwagon facing out and next
to it a huge movie marquis with neon lighting. I made a U-turn at the
corner and came back, found a parking place and went up to the theater
door. It was mid-day on Sunday, raining and the door was locked. The
film on the marquis was Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Come Live
with Me. Wow!! A double feature!!. This little annex next to the
theater where the Bandwagon 3 sheet was hanging in the window was very
intriguing, so I looked through the window and saw walls filled with
one sheets, foreign posters, all framed up and looking wonderful. I
went back to the front of the theater and saw a man going to open a
door I hadn't tried and went right in, so I followed.
I wound up speaking to a couple of very nice people that explained
that they only show vintage films. The theater was restored several
years ago and a foundation pays for the theater to operate and they
don't show any "current" movies, only vintage films. The owner of the
theater is David Packard of Hewlett Packard Computers. In addition to
the theater, they have a gallery that had dozens of original movie
posters framed up including those Golddiggers of 1933 door posters
that were sold at Heritage a couple of years ago. They hang on either
side of the entrance as you enter the gallery. They are stunning in
person. On one wall, the currently have all the Fred/Ginger one
sheets. As you walk down a ramp into the gallery, the walls are lined
with inserts of Shirley Temple's early films. They was a Prisoner of
Zenda on one wall. They were currently "swapping" out a Breakfast at
Tiffanys for some other poster of an upcoming film.
They had a wooden display case filled with memorabilia and
newspaper articles about the theater. The theater was two story with a
winding staircase to the upper floor whose walls were also adorned
with beautifully framed movie posters. Needless to say, I was in
heaven. I would move there if I could one retire and two, had the
money. We saw a little 3 bedroom, 2 bath cottage just off the street
where the theater was and it was on the market for $2.4 million dollars.
You can find out more info about the theater at
www.stanfordtheater.org <http://www.stanfordtheater.org>. I'm just
wondering if some of our members that live in northern California know
about this wonderful theater. I'm so glad that there are still people
out there that love old movies and have the resources to keep
something like this theater alive and functioning for the rest of us.
It is truly a gift, as you can imagine, they don't make money. It's
truly a labor of love. Thank you, Mr. Packard, wherever you are!!
Sue
www.hollywoodposterframes.com <http://www.hollywoodposterframes.com>
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