Horror at Loew’s Jersey Theater (with live organ accompaniment)

posted by friendsoftheloews on October 20, 2008 at 10:56 am

Horror & Romance …
Visual Frights & Psychological Terrors …
— Classic Movie Chills —
October 24 & 25, 2008
At the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre
54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel. (201) 798-6055 Web. www.loewsjersey.org Email.

Friday, October 24 8PM: A Val Lewton Double Feature!

“Cat People”(Original) Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt. Directed by Jacques Tourneur (1942, 73mins., B&W, RKO. Not rated, but may not be suitable for children.)

PLUS – –

“The Body Snatcher” Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell. Directed by Robert Wise. (1945, 77mins., B&W, RKO. Not rated, but may not be suitable for young children.)

Admission for the DOUBLE FEATURE: $8 for adults; $6 for Seniors, Students & Children 12 and under.

— See Film Notes below for more info about these movies.—

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Saturday, October 25 8PM:

“The Phantom of the Opera” (Silent) — with live organ accompaniment by Ralph Ringstad, Jr. on the Loew’s massive Wonder Morton! Starring Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland. Directed by Rupert Julian. (1925, 79mins., B&W, Universal. Unrated, but may not be suitable for young children.)

Admission: $6 for Adults, $4 for Seniors, Students & Children 12 & under.

— See Film Notes for more info. —

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All titles will be screened in 35mm.

The Loew’s Is Easy To Get To: The Loew’s Jersey Theatre, at 54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ, is directly across JFK Boulevard from the JSQ PATH Center with trains to and from Lower and Midtown Manhattan and Newark’s Penn Station, is minutes from the NJ Turnpike & easily reached by car or mass transit from throughout the Metro Area.

Half-price off-street parking is available in Square Ramp Garage adjoining the Loew’s. Patrons present a coupon to garage attendant when they leave. Coupon is available at our box office.

What’s Special About Seeing A Movie At The Loew’s? The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre is one of America’s grandest surviving Movie Palaces. We show movies the way they were meant to be seen: in a grandly ornate setting — on our BIG 50 ft wide screen! The Loew’s runs reel-to-reel, not platter, projection, which often allows us to screen an archival or studio vault print that is the best available copy of a movie title.

The Loew’s Jersey is managed by Friends of the Loew’s, Inc. as a non-profit, multi-discipline performing arts center.

For directions or more information: Call (201) 798-6055 or visit www.loewsjersey.org

Classic Film Weekends are presented by Friends of the Loew’s, Inc.

Press inquiries call Colin Egan at (201) 798-6055 or CEL (201) 344-7477. Or email

Film Notes

Val Lewton
In just a three-year period in the 1940s, producer Val Lewton created some of the most influential and intelligent psychological horror films ever made, bringing a depth to the ‘B’ movie that would influence any number of independent-minded Hollywood filmmakers in years to come. The defining characteristic of most of his movies is the absence of the standard horror creature. Before Lewton, the payoff in a horror movie typically came from exposing a ghastly beast who capitalized on the technology of the studio’s makeup department. Lewton instinctively understood that it was scarier not to see the menace, and that keeping things in shadows said something darker and more original about the characters.

Cat People
Lewton’s first, and perhaps best, effort was Cat People. Simone Simon plays an enigmatic young fashion artist who is curiously affected by the panther cage at the Central Park Zoo. After a chance confrontation with a bizarre stranger at a restaurant, Simon becomes obsessed with the notion that she’s a Cat Woman—a member of an ancient Serbian tribe that metamorphoses into panthers whenever aroused by jealousy. The psycho-erotic complexities that evolve as Simone’s character “stalks” a romantic rival epitomize Lewton’s style of creating suspense and suggestion over “scare stuff”.
Cast: Simone Simon – Irena Dubrovna Kent Smith – Oliver Reed Tom Conway – Dr. Louis Judd Jane Randolph – Alice Moore Jack Holt – Commodore Alan Napier – Carver Elizabeth Dunne – Miss Plunkett Elizabeth Russell – The Cat Woman Henrietta Burnside – Woman Alec Craig – Zookeeper Eddie Dew – Street Cop Dot Farley – Mrs. Agnew George Ford – Whistling Cop Bud Geary – Mounted Cop Mary Halsey – Blondie Theresa Harris – Minnie Charles Jordan – Bus Driver Donald Kerr – Taxi Driver Connie Leon – Woman Murdock MacQuarrie – Sheep Caretaker Leda Nicova â€" Patient
Production: Jacques Tourneur – DirectorVal Lewton – ProducerDeWitt Bodeen – ScreenwriterNick Musuraca – CinematographerRoy Webb – Composer (Music Score)Mark Robson – EditorAlbert S. D'Agostino – Art DirectorWalter E. Keller – Art DirectorAl Fields – Set DesignerDarrell Silvera – Set DesignerRenie – Costume Designer

The Body Snatcher
The Body Snatcher features one of Boris Karloff’s best and most sinister performances. And while Bela Lugosi has far less screen time, the scene he shares with Karloff is among the best performances of his career. And ironically, The Body Snatcher proved to be the last “serious” horror film Lugosi would make; his subsequent work, until his death in 1956, mostly devolved into parodies of his earlier career. Henry Daniell plays a brilliant 18th century London surgeon who strives to make important medical advances but finds he can only do so by experimenting on cadavers â€" something that is strictly illegal in his time. He is thus forced into an uneasy and, perhaps, unholy alliance with Karloff, a London cabman who moonlights as a grave robber. It is in this tension between good vs. evil, the aristocratic Daniell vs. the low-born Karloff, and a growing sense of sanity vs. madness that Lewton creates his unique sense of horror based in mood, suggestion and psychology. And director Robert Wise sustains a pervasively eerie atmosphere throughout. Lewton co-wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Carlos Keith, based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson which, in turn was inspired by the homicidal career of notorious grave-robbers Burke and Hare. The film proved too strong for British censors, who kept Body Snatcher from being available in that country in its original form for more than fifty years.

Cast: Boris Karloff – John Gray Bela Lugosi – Joseph Henry Daniell – Dr. Wolfe “Toddy” MacFarlane Edith Atwater – Meg Camden Donna Lee – Street Singer Russell Wade – Donald Fettes Rita Corday – Mrs. Marsh Sharyn Moffett – Georgina Marsh Robert Clarke – Richardson Aina Constant – Maid Servant Mary Gordon – Mrs. Mary McBride Carl Kent – Gilchrist Milt Kibbee – Dan Jim Moran – Horse Trader Lawrence Wheat – Salesman Bill Williams – Medical Student
Production: Robert Wise – DirectorVal Lewton – ProducerCarlos Keith – ScreenwriterPhilip MacDonald – ScreenwriterRobert de Grasse – CinematographerConstantin Bakaleinikoff – Musical Direction/SupervisionRoy Webb – Composer (Music Score)J.R. Whittredge – EditorAlbert S. D'Agostino – Art DirectorWalter E. Keller – Art DirectorJack J. Gross – Executive ProducerDarrell Silvera – Set DesignerJohn Sturtevant – Set DesignerRenie – Costume DesignerHarry Scott – First Assistant DirectorRobert Louis Stevenson – Short Story Author

The Phantom of the Opera
Heavily influenced by German Expressionism, with its moody sets and murky patterns of shadows and light, The Phantom of the Opera is one of the great accomplishments of the silent era, and was the prototype for Universal’s hallmark cycle of horror films in the early talkie era. It is a melodramatic tale of Erik, a deformed man who haunts the dark passages and cellars of the Paris Opera House. An abused outsider all his life, the Phantom searches desperately for love in a world of socialites who are repulsed by his presence. The film’s visual emphasis on subterranean settings and impressive sets creates a stunning impact. The groundbreaking use of the costly two-strip Technicolor process in some key scenes is tremendously effective in conveying the film’s tone. But the greatest aspect of the film is Chaney himself who, as the Phantom, created such an empathetic villain that it is nearly impossible not to root for him. His performance is nothing less than riveting thanks to his unique blend of fine acting with his extraordinary make-up. For all the cinematic innovations that have come since this movie was made, this Phantom of the Opera remains one of the most chilling works in film history.

Cast: Lon Chaney – The Phantom Mary Philbin – Christine Daae Norman Kerry – Vicomte Raoul de Chagny Arthur Edmund Carewe – Ledoux, the Persian Gibson Gowland – Simon Buquet Edward Martindel – Philippe de Chagny [sound version] John St. Polis – Philippe de Chagny [silent version] Snitz Edwards – Florine Papillon Virginia Pearson – Carlotta Olive Ann Alcorn – La Sorelli Alexander Bevani – Mephistopheles Edward Cecil – Faust Chester Conklin – Orderly Bruce Covington – Mons. Moncharmin Ward Crane – Count Ruboff Cesare Gravina – Retiring Manager Grace Marvin – Martha John Miljan – Valentine Bernard Siegel – Joseph Buquet Anton Vaverka – The Prompter George B. William – M. Richard, manager Edith Yorke – Mama Valerius
Production: Rupert Julian – DirectorCarl Laemmle, Jr. – ProducerCarl Laemmle, Sr. – ProducerElliott J. Clawson – ScreenwriterGaston Leroux – Book AuthorFrank M. McCormack – ScreenwriterTom Reed – Screenwriter / Intertitle WriterRaymond Schrock – ScreenwriterMilton Bridenbecker – CinematographerVirgil E. Miller – CinematographerCharles Van Enger – CinematographerPhilip Springer – Composer (Music Score)Rick Wakeman – Composer (Music Score)Maurice Pivar – EditorBen Carre – Production DesignerCharles Hall – Production Designer

Theaters in this post

• Loew's Jersey Theatre