Hey JR,
I remember it well. I, too, spent many a time in that theater in Pomona. I
saw a re-release of Gone With the Wind there and my Latin class went to see Ben
Hur there. I remember Ben Hur with much fondness now. I was about 16, had my
first "real" boyfriend and he went with our class to see the film. I remember
he held my hand and both our hands were sweating after about 10 minutes, but we
held hands all through the movie. How sweet that was as I think of it now! I
did manage, though, not to be too distracted as I wanted to see every part of
the movie. Even then, my love of movies took precedent. Thanks for the memory.
Sue
Date: Fri, 9 Apr 2010 02:22:11 -0400
From: jrl...@mediabearonline.com
To: filmfantast...@msn.com
CC: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Re: [MOPO] The Stanford Theater in Palo Alto
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.
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
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