October 26th 2013. Pick Of The Day.
New York City's premiere resource for classic film screenings in the metropolitan area. Offering reviews, recommendations, venues and a host of links keeping classic film and the silver screens alive.
The creepy and the kooky continue to unnerve this day, as Halloween preludes include William Freidkin's masterpiece of mindfuck THE EXORCIST, Roman Polanski's persona-unravelling REPULSION, and Tobe Hooper's nightmare-replicating THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. New and continuing series include Moving Image's Complete Howard Hawks, MoMA's To Save and Project and Dante Ferretti trib, Anthology Film Archives' Middle Ages on Film: Vikings!, and BAM's Puppets on Film. The full craic;
Nitehawk Cinema
THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) Dir; Paul Leni
THE EXORCIST (1973) Dir; William Friedkin
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971) Dir; Harry Kumel
Film Forum
NOSFERATU (1979) Dir; Werner Herzog
Museum of the Moving Image
REPULSION (1966) Dir; Roman Polanski
EL DORADO (1964) Dir; Howard Hawks
MoMA
THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1988) Dir; Terry Gilliam
THE STORMING OF THE WINTER PALACE (1920) Dir; Nikolai Evreinov
AMERICAN ANTI-NAZI FILMS REDISCOVERED (1936-38) Various directors
THAT NIGHT IN VARENNES (1982) Dir; Ettore Scola
Anthology Film Archives
THE VIKINGS (1958) Dir; Richard Fleischer
ERIK THE VIKING (1988) Dir; Terry Jones
WHEN THE RAVEN FLIES (1984) Dir; Hrafn Gunnlaugsson
BAM
RETURN TO OZ (1985) Dir; Walter Murch
Landmark Jersey Loews
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) Dir; James Whale
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) Dir; Rupert Julian
IFC Center
ALIENS (1986) Dir; James Cameron
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) Dir; Tobe Hooper
Today's Pick? I'm trying to keep in the Halloween spirit, which means I've gotta pass up such faves as Hawks' EL DORADO, Gilliam's MUNCHAUSEN and Murch's OZ (bring it!). What really seals the deal, however, is the opportunity to catch a most iconic work of both the horror genre and the silent era in a venue designed to replicate its very setting. So I'm going with Lon Chaney's immortal perf as THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Landmark Jersey Loews, complete with a musical overture and intro performed on the theater's recently restored pipe organ. There's even an actual chandelier that could really crash on your head! Let's see Andrew Lloyd Weber top that!
Marcus Loew was still flailing in search of his vocation, hell in search of his next buck, when he sank his meager savings into a penny arcade, one that turned him a profit. He partnered up with an ex-furrier who was looking into the new nickelodeon phenomenon, one Adolph Zukor, future co-founder of Paramount Pictures. Soon Loew was expanding into the movie theater biz, and as the new massive immigrant influx sought a cultural pastime to call their own, one that could nearly replicate the highbrow indulgences of legit theater and opera at a price they could afford, Loew and his competitors focused on extending the cultural experience to their audience's surroundings. Hence the movie palace was born, a crucial element in the evolution of the form from "flickers" to motion pictures.
The Landmark Jersey Loews opened its doors in 1929, well into the movie palace era, and screened continuously until 1986, when the Loews Corp. sold the failing venue after years of dwindling audience and neglect. A corporate bid was thwarted by a community organization that would come to be known as Friends of the Loew's, the same group that currently oversees its restoration and operation. Aside from live events and private rentals the venue has consistently offered classic 35mm screenings on the last weekend of the month, usually one on Friday night and two on Saturday. I first set foot in the LJL 5 years ago around this time of year, when I came across a seemingly tossed off listing for a Marlene Dietrich weekend they were hosting. It sounded too good to be true, so good that even as I couldn't find a single friend who wanted to accompany me to Jersey under any conditions, I ventured forth solo to look into this so-called restored movie palace and its 50-ft screen.
Upon entering I found myself jaw-dropped, scouring the walls for the group party photo from 1925 that I would appear in. I'd stepped into my Overlook Hotel. I'd always been the moviegoer here.
How had I never known about this place? Why weren't more people aware of this joint and in attendance? I purchased the dollar box of popcorn and nestled in for a screening of DESTRY RIDES AGAIN. On a 50-ft screen. When I returned to my more civilized side of the pond I couldn't stop raving about the place. I was a convert, as surely as the statue of St. George that festoons the palace would bear me witness, and I haven't stopped singing its praises since that night. This night you can treat yourself to a haunting within its halls by fiction's greatest terrorizer of public gatherings before the advent of Bababooie. The Phantom commands you.
For more info on this and all NYC's classic screenings in October '13 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. And be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter! Back tomorrow with more creepies and crawlies, til then you know the drill; safe, sound, keep an eye out for your neighbor. Excelsior!
-Joe Walsh
