Lafayette Theatre

PeterApruzzese on November 3, 2005 at 5:29 am

The SALUTE TO FILM PRESERVATION coming November 12 & 13!

An incredible two-day festival honoring the heroic efforts made by film archives around the world to preserve our motion picture heritage. Rare features and vintage short subjects will be showing, highlighting films photographed in black & white, two-color & three-strip Technicolor, SuperCineColor and 3-D!

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
12:45 pm – ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD
(1952, directed by Charles Lamont, starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and Charles Laughton) The East Coast Premiere of the newly created UCLA Film & Television Archive print from the original SuperCineColor elements along with rare Bud & Lou coming attraction trailers and film footage. Featuring a personal appearance and Q & A with Lou’s daughter Chris Costello, moderated by Bob Furmanek & Ron Palumbo (authors of “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood”), in cooperation with the Fort Lee Film Commission.

3:30 pm – DOCTOR X
(1932, directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Lionel Atwill & Fay Wray)
Presented in Warner Bros. vault print created from the two-color Technicolor materials.

7:15 pm – THE BIG PARADE
(1925, silent, directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert)
Presented in a new restored print from Warner Bros. with live accompaniment by John Baratta on the Lafayette Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13
1:30 pm – Bob Furmanek presents 3-D FOLLIES
A selection of unique and rare short subjects preserved by the 3-D Film Archive and introduced by 3-D film historian Bob Furmanek. Presented in the miracle of perfected polarized 3-D.

3:30 pm – A STAR IS BORN
(1937, directed by William A. Wellman, starring Fredric March and Janet Gaynor) Presented in a restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive created from the original 3-strip Technicolor negatives.

7:15 pm – Howard Hughes’ HELL’S ANGELS
(1930, directed by Howard Hughes, starring Jean Harlow)
Presented in its full-length original version – complete with color sequences – with a restored print courtesy of Universal Pictures.

More information at the website: http://www.bigscreenclassics.com/preservation.htm

frankie on October 24, 2005 at 11:06 am

Last Saturday was my first trip to the Lafayette from Brooklyn. Standing on line for a 3-D movie made me feel like a kid again ! Entering the theater was a dream come true !You CAN go home again ! The prints & sound of both “House of Wax” and “Son of Frankenstein” were wonderful, and seeing Bela in a movie palace almost had me in tears ! Showmanship indeed ! Everyone out there needs to spread the word ! Bring your family & childhood friends ! Thank you Peter and everyone !

JeffS on October 15, 2005 at 8:15 am

I don’t think you’d find a single theater in the area that didn’t go through a period of crappy movies either before it closed and was demolished (like the Central), or reborn like the Lafayette.

BobFurmanek on October 11, 2005 at 4:06 am

Boy, 1972 sure was a terrible year for movies!

JeffS on September 12, 2005 at 4:07 am

Well, I’m looking forward to the Fall season starting this Saturday. Can’t wait to see ON THE TOWN! See ya there.

Bill Huelbig on July 25, 2005 at 5:35 pm

This has gotta be the first time an ad used gay prostitution to sell a movie. Leave it to Otto Preminger to break another taboo:

View link

Bill Huelbig on July 25, 2005 at 5:27 pm

The Lafayette was showing this crowd-pleaser in August 1965:

View link

PeterApruzzese on July 10, 2005 at 4:37 am

The Bergen Record has ads featuring the Lafayette. I’m going to put together some time over the remainder of the summer at the the Hackensack Library going through the microfilms.

RobertR on July 8, 2005 at 1:53 pm

Even the Lafayette played “Nana” on showcase LOL
View link

RobertR on June 13, 2005 at 4:35 pm

November 1974 the Lafayette had the exclusive Rockland showing of the X rated “Flesh Gordon”.

PeterApruzzese on June 9, 2005 at 5:36 am

I can’t say for cerain Robert, but I believe that UA had it until the late 70s. I have a copies of newspaper ads from 1954 showing it as a Skouras Theatre and from 1966-69 showing it as a UA theatre, so they got it sometime after the mid-50s.

I’m going to spend time this summer at the microfilm reader trying to put together a definitive playlist & history to use for an upcoming event and will post it here when it’s complete.

Pete Apruzzese
Director of Film Programming
Big Screen Classics at the Lafayette Theatre

umbaba on May 15, 2005 at 5:59 am

It was a great article and great pics of the interior. I think that more people will want to venture out to see the theater now. It’s too bad the Bigscreen Classic series is coming to an end for the Summer.

PeterApruzzese on April 26, 2005 at 2:04 pm

Thanks for the nice comments Irv, Richard, and Peter. See you at Godzilla this Saturday!

Pete Apruzzese
Director of Film Programming
Big Screen Classics at the Lafayette Theatre