The SALUTE TO FILM PRESERVATION comes to the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, NY - November 12 & 13

posted by PeterApruzzese on November 4, 2005 at 5:07 am

SUFFERN, NY — The Salute to Film Preservation – at the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, NY – honors the heroic work from film archives around the world in preserving our motion picture heritage and features six programs of rare and hard-to-see films.

Among the programs will be the East Coast premiere of the newly-restored SuperCineColor treat ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD, which will feature additional rare film footage and a personal appearance and Q & A session with Lou Costello’s daughter Chris Costello, presented in cooperation with the Fort Lee Film Commission.

Other films being screened highlight different film processes, including two-color Technicolor, three-strip Technicolor, silent cinema and 3-D. All of the films are screening in the finest studio and archive prints available and each show will feature pre-show music from the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ. Festival Dates: November 12 & 13, 2005.

Film Schedule
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
12:45 pm ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD (1952, directed by Charles Lamont) – starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and Charles Laughton; presented in a newly created print from the original SuperCineColor elements discoverd by Bob Furmanek, with rare trailers and film footage. Personal appearance and Q & A with Chris Costello moderated by Bob Furmanek & Ron Palumbo, authors of “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood”.

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

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

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13
1:30 pm Bob Furmanek presents 3-D FOLLIES (various years) a selection of unique and rare short subjects preserved and restored by 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 from the UCLA Film & Television Archive 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 with a restored print courtesy of Universal Pictures.

Tickets are $8.00 for each show. Money-saving multi-show tickets are also available: Saturday or Sunday Passes are $22.50 each. The Full Festival pass (all six shows) is $45.00. Advance tickets are now on sale at the Lafayette Theatre’s box office during normal theatre hours. Day-of-the-show tickets will go on sale at the box office approximately 30 minutes before showtime.

The Lafayette Theatre – named one of USA Today’s “10 Great Places to Revel in Cinematic Grandeur" by Cinema Treasures – is a renovated 1000-seat 1924 movie palace. Featuring a large auditorium, superb acoustics, clear sight lines, modern projection equipment, and the Ben Hall Memorial Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, the Lafayette Theatre is the premiere venue for classic films in the tri-state area.

Official website: http://www.bigscreenclassics.com/indexlafayette.htm

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Comments (1)

PeterApruzzese
PeterApruzzese on November 9, 2005 at 2:25 pm

UPDATE for those who’ve asked regarding the print quality for the festival, I’ve inspected and run the following:

Abbott & Costello Meet Captain Kidd looks excellent, sharp as a tack with very good color (compared to the ever-so-slightly soft look of the SuperCineColor original). The print itself appears flawless and new.

Doctor X is a slightly older print – mid-90s – but also looks great. The odd two-color Technicolor look is maintained in this printing and it makes the movie even creepier than I remembered.

The Big Parade is brand spanking new, right out of the lab and never run, it appears. It’s the full-length version complete with color tints.

A Star is Born, again a beautiful-looking UCLA preservation of the Technicolor original. The print itself appears flawless.

I saw the 3-D Follies prints 18 months ago and they are uniformly excellent. The only other print I’m waiting for is the Hell’s Angels, but Universal assured me it would be their best copy.

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

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