The organ was like velvet no matter how loud or soft it got, Dennis James playing during the silent film was the best I have ever heard accompany a silent film (a true art form all its own), Eddington blew me away, and whatever that 2nd classical piece was that Lew Williams played sent me to heaven—and by the way—New York isn’t the only place now where you can see the orchestra pit travel up (or down) from the basement!
I was brave and climbed the “mountain” to the projection booth. I saw the transformers (and something called rectifiers) for the first time. Does the carbon arc really get to 6,000 celcius? Pretty amazing stuff! Boulevard Drinks is a lifesaver for a quick cup of coffee and a hotdog. Ralph doesn’t like Warren and Dubin!? You could have fooled me!
WHAT A WONDERful three days, that will long stand out in my memory as a truly special time. I will be there for the next organ concert in March, as well as many times before then, for the classic films.
Three years later, after Pennsylvania Station was demolished, The New York Times printed an editorial which might also be applied the destruction of the Roxy,.
“…..we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build, but by those we have destroyed.”
Yep, that’s the room I was wondering about. Thanks for all of your great answers.
A little commentary on what it used to be like to go to the movies (and still is at the Loew’s Jersey)…
“It was a beautiful thing” and it was (warning: just a little off color language here and he sounds like my Dad; but this gentleman expresses exactly how I feel about it). I’m sure we can all agree with him…
Maharmusic: thanks for looking at the blueprints. You’re right, that was the Assistant Manager’s Office on the 1st floor.
I suppose that the people of the 1920s were in better shape than we generally are today. Or at least they developed the stamina of a mountain climber by climbing up all those steps every day.
Speaking of the fancy office on the left front side, orchestra floor — what was in that space originally? I’m going to guess and say a lounge for the ticket booth girls? or was the Assistant Manager’s office a suite?
God bless that wife of the Hartz executive in giving something back to the theatre. Some people have a conscience.
I clearly remember the theatre before 1974. It was in remarkably good condition and still felt and looked completely/totally like a 1920s movie palace. Yes, it was a little dusty in the higher reaches and somewhat dimly lit, but it was cared for. Someone really cared about that place in the 1960s/early 1970s — much as we do today.
And folk’s if you took something from the theatre in 1974 or 1986, please have the decency to return it to where it belongs.
Has there every been any thought to decorating the theatre with new or reproduction items? It’s just a thought of mine, but why can’t they put a cheap, fake, yet convincing painting in that place against the lobby wall with a red sheet over it (the middle wall between the two auditorium entrances)? It would look better than a red sheet.
Are there any plans to restore the plasterwork and the to paint the interior. It has always been my feeling, that if they just restored one section of the lobby wall (between a set of columns) that it would “sell” complete restoration of the theatre; because I suspect that most people are unaware of just how beautiful it originally was. Yet one red and worn damask wall panel should be left as it is now, in remembrance of the theatre’s long history.
I’m sorry, but if they can afford a nice management office, surely they can afford to do a little more decorating in the public rooms? In my opinion, of course.
Pjacyk: You’d almost think there would have to be an elevator. Did you every try to climb from the main lobby floor all the way up to the top level of the balcony? Even more so when you consider that a lower level lounge was planned but never built. That’s close to 100 feet of stair climbing. There must have been an elevator. Last time I was there I remember seeing the 1929 telephone booths (with glass inlaid wooden doors) and what looks to me like a 2nd coat check room on the mezzanine level. They’re on the right (next to the only restrooms—except for that new one on the orchestra floor, in the old Manager’s Office, which is just wonderful) as you come up the grand staircase on the left. It’s hard to describe the place in writing or even in photos. It is best to see it in person.
I guesstimate that the auditorium is about 80 feet tall, but I could be wrong. The lobby looks to be about 60 feet tall and the columns in the lobby are probably somewhere around 45 feet tall. The Music Gallery is about 30 feet tall, I think. Just a guess. Come to think of it, my childhood theatre is a full-fledged movie palace, isn’t it? One tends to forget things like that when they are so familiar with the place.
I do remember the days when the lobby promenade was cut off by walls and you were restricted to just the mezzanine lobby. I also remember how hard they tried to keep the place up in the 1970s/1980s before it closed.
I also clearly remember an oil painting just before the right side staircase on the right side wall. It was of a maiden. The painting always fascinated me. If I’m not mistaken it was one of the items that was kept after the 1974 “renovation.” It’s gone now. Don’t know where it went.
AND there was an exquisite bronze dome above the ticket booth outside the theatre. That got stripped off at some time after it closed. I wonder who has it? Anyway, wouldn’t it be fairly easy to create a fake bronze dome above the ticket booth (kind of like the new fake bronze tickets booths in Radio City?)
Mahermusic. I remember seeing that sink, on the way up to the projection room. I always thought it worked. Hmm, getting it to work could take some time. How many miles of pipe would need to be looked at?! (–; I know just how much of a climb it is up to that projection booth—two flights from the mezzanine (2nd level?, I called that floor the main balcony floor. I think that the mezzanine (loges) floor is a whole level below that 2nd balcony level). Anyway, how hard could that be to climb a few stairs? Don’t ask until you’ve tried it! (–; I’ve been up there three times so far—twice on my own, and once with a friend from Texas who had to see the Vitaphone projector. Very glad to hear that the window was repaired. The Brenographs are still there I assume; and the film vault on the right side? Isn’t there a separate splicing room as well, or was that done in the vault? It’s been awhile since I’ve been up there.
“The Apartment” played by Tom Hoehn, on the Balfour/Martin Morton “Wonder” Organ (inside the Loew’s Jersey) — a minor earthquake, but a beautiful one:
Thanks so much, Mahermusic. Your answers make me love the Loew’s Jersey even more (if that’s possible). It upsets me that there is a broken window and that the birds are getting in again. I hope they aren’t getting into the projection room. So I’m not nuts for thinking that the Lower Lounge could one day be built?! I love the idea of the big compressors being dumped in the depths of the building. Even backstage, it is quite a building. I have been backstage, but didn’t see much of it. I remember seeing the organ blower room, as well as maze of corridors and doors going who knows where. Bob deserves the honor of having the 1,000th comment for this truly great American theatre.
Isn’t the Loew’s Jersey land site amazing? It looks like it was built on a cliff. How many sub basements does it have? Three?
To LuisV: I have the utmost respect for “The Book” by Lamb, even though I have never seen it. The day when I do get to see it will be truly special.
To mahermusic: where was the planned grand staircase to the lower lounge that was never built? Also, I guess the auditorium has internal an internal fire escape on the right side; and what is was in that huge room under the projection room. Is the basement under the lobby oval shaped? or is it all divided up into little rooms? Could that lower lounge be built someday (in my wildest dreams)? What is the maximum height of the auditorium and lobby?
To Ziggy: Yes we should meet—at least on-line. I worship the Roxy Theatre—even though the architecture was questionable at best—but it sure did wow them, didn’t it. The 1920s theatres remind me of the huge casinos in Vegas today. And there is a very strong carnival/amusement park aspect to the 1920s theatres as well. I always found it odd that you’d have these Roman/Greek/Baroque/Mandarin temples, and in front of them were the carnival running lights. It is a little odd when you think about it with fresh eyes. Can you picture the Parthenon or Paris Opera with running lights?
Re the Roxy: “let’s stick a 6 foot tall gilded vase on top of that 40 foot tall twisted column! Sure, why not!” Ah—the Roaring ‘20s.
Still and all, I love the old palaces (the Rivoli’s and Tivoli’s) with a great passion.
Ok, ok. I’m definitely in the minority here. I have to keep an open mind. I will make a trip to NYC and look at Lamb’s “job book.” If the Loew’s Jersey isn’t in it, I’ll surrender. Even if Lamb didn’t have a hand in it, the Loew’s Jersey’s “company” ain’t (sic) bad: The Chicago Theatre, The NY Paramount — not shabby by any means.
I have also studied architecture as an amateur since I was 17 or so (that’s a long time ago now, and I’m glad to know I’m not the only person who has done so), and in my experience no two 1920s theatres are ever exactly alike.
That said, I’m not impartial. I grew up in Loew’s Jersey. I know the place like the back of my hand. So perhaps my Lamb theory is just wishful thinking, but Rapp & Rapp is right up there, isn’t it?
C.W. Rapp — died 1926. Geo. L Rapp — died 1918. Thomas White Lamb — died 1942. The Loew’s Jersey wasn’t completed until late 1929, and I doubt if it was on the drawing boards in 1926.
Yes, the problem and the virtue of Wikipedia is that anyone can edit it. So one may find facts there that are hard to find anywhere else; and at the same time, one must take everything on Wikipedia with a grain of salt. Quite frustrating. However, you can bet if the subject is a well known one, the information at Wiki is not bad. But when you get into who designed a 1928 atmospheric theater, how many people know the answer to that question now? I might be more trusting of a University website, but even there, did they just “lift” it from Wiki? Who knows.
Re: Lamb and the Loew’s: I know it in my bones, but I don’t have the time or the funds to research the matter. Look closely enough and one can just tell. Some people can tell a Picasso without having to refer to a book. I am almost certain the Rialto (Joliet), Chicago, and NY Paramount auditoriums are by Rapp & Rapp; and that the Fox in San Francisco, the Midland in Kansas City, and the Loew’s Jersey are by Lamb. Lamb’s theatres are generally more well thought out and refined. There is a certain sense of unity about them that one doesn’t find in other such auditoriums. Re: Eberson and the Stanley — the reference is on Wikipedia under both the Stanley Theatre and John Eberson entries. It is also on the New Jersey City University website.
Yes, the firm of Rapp & Rapp designed the theatre, but who was the architect? I suspect that there was a consulting architect for the auditorium and that he was Thomas W. Lamb. If it looks like a Lamb, and acts like a Lamb, is it a Lamb? Agreed that the lobby is most definitely Rapp & Rapp. It looks very similar to the Rialto in Joliet. (Too bad the lower lounge never got built at the Loew’s Jersey.) But that Jersey auditorium, from the proscenium cameos down to the orchestra floor damask walls, looks for all the world like Loew’s Midland and The Fox Theatre, San Francisco, two theatres by Lamb, in my opinion.
I used to wonder the same thing about the Stanley across the street. I thought to myself, this looks A LOT like an Eberson auditorium, even though the theatre was designed by Frank Wentworth. Come to find out, years later, that Eberson was in fact a consulting architect for the Stanley. I also wish that more was done with the Stanley, another truly great American theatre. It has been beautifully restored but would a movie hurt it so much now and then? Why can’t it be used for its original purpose even once a year? Just a thought. The Stanley is as great or greater than that other vast atmospheric, the Fox Theatre, Atlanta. Sorry to go off topic, but I did so in order to make my point about Eberson.
Yes, the Brooklyn Paramount was probably the most beautiful of them all. That proscenium soars, and I like the idea that it was a “semi-atmospheric” with that lattice work over the balcony. Parts of the Brooklyn Paramount are still there, and it has reopened as a theatre. I hope it can be restored along with the Kings.
The Kings certainly has the most beautiful lobby, and the shallow balcony is a wonderful feature that adds intimacy to the auditorium.
I’m partial to the Jersey. I grew up in that theatre (it spoiled for anything less, which is a lot of places), and I like the “opera house” look of the Jersey auditorium. I suppose that all of the Wonder Theatres have perfect sight lines.
One could make a study of just how much work went into laying out the seating. It would take at least a paragraph to explain all that went into it. Suffice it to say, the sight lines in the Jersey are perfect from every seat.
I’m glad to hear about the “King Kong” turnout. Perhaps word of mouth is finally starting to pay off.
I have heard that the Jersey a/c “sort of” works, but that it needs a complete and very costly overhaul. Used to love going in there in a hot summer day back in the 1970s. It was ice cold. I remember the fake icicles hanging from the marquee.
In reply to Bill Huelbig’s photo reference — That is one great photo of the Loew’s Jersey. I would love to have a large print of it. It reminds me very much of a photo of The Fox Theatre, San Francisco that was taken in 1929:
The Fox was designed by Thomas W. Lamb, and so was the Loew’s Midland Theatre (another that is very similar to the Jersey and the Fox). Even though Rapp & Rapp was the firm that designed the Loew’s Jersey, I strongly suspect that Lamb was a consulting architect for the Loew’s Jersey, which is a theory I have never heard offered before. OK, the Jersey Lobby is very much a Rapp & Rapp lobby (e.g. Chicago Theatre, Rialto Square), but that Jersey auditorium I believe is probably the work of Lamb.
For other reasons, I believe that the NY Paramount was not designed by Lamb: it strikes me as a firm/committee design.
Oh what the heck, I’ll say it. The Paramount was “boxy and narrow.” The Jersey is egg-shaped and wide. It has the “curviness” and attention to presentation detail that Lamb was so famous for. There is hardly a straight line in the Jersey auditorium which makes for a better theatre all around — sight lines, acoustics, audience psychology.
In a nutshell, I like to give credit where credit is due, and many signs and clues tell me that Lamb designed the Jersey auditorium. What are your thoughts on this?
The colors in “Dr. Who” on the big Loew’s screen reminded me so much of something I had only seen as a youngster in Radio City. It’s hard to put into words, but I’m sure you know what I mean. It’s a combination of the immense screen size, the carbon-arc light, and the color process. You never forget it, once you see it—and it is very rare today.
In my opinion, the Loew’s should have a Technicolor weekend, but you might want to use some “educational advertising” for those who don’t know what it is.
Odd question: are/were there any passenger elevators in the Stanley to whisk the audience up to the balcony — a la Radio City and the Roxy? or were elevators strictly a New York thing? Come to think of it, which movie palaces do have elevators?
The organ was like velvet no matter how loud or soft it got, Dennis James playing during the silent film was the best I have ever heard accompany a silent film (a true art form all its own), Eddington blew me away, and whatever that 2nd classical piece was that Lew Williams played sent me to heaven—and by the way—New York isn’t the only place now where you can see the orchestra pit travel up (or down) from the basement!
I was brave and climbed the “mountain” to the projection booth. I saw the transformers (and something called rectifiers) for the first time. Does the carbon arc really get to 6,000 celcius? Pretty amazing stuff! Boulevard Drinks is a lifesaver for a quick cup of coffee and a hotdog. Ralph doesn’t like Warren and Dubin!? You could have fooled me!
WHAT A WONDERful three days, that will long stand out in my memory as a truly special time. I will be there for the next organ concert in March, as well as many times before then, for the classic films.
Loew’s Wonder Weekend…
http://loewsjersey.org/content/view/57/
http://www.gstos.org/ww/
The Loew’s Jersey organ will be rededicated from October 3 through 5.
As a part of the Weekend, “Flesh and the Devil” with Greta Garbo will be shown on the 50 foot wide screen with theatre organ accompaniment.
So be there or be square (Journal “Square”… Get it? Groan…“).
Seriously, this will be a truly historical musical event, and a great show. Don’t miss it.
As Stepal2 wrote above:
Three years later, after Pennsylvania Station was demolished, The New York Times printed an editorial which might also be applied the destruction of the Roxy,.
“…..we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build, but by those we have destroyed.”
The Roxy Theatre was quite probably the greatest theatre ever built. It lasted 33 years. That’s a crime.
Yep, that’s the room I was wondering about. Thanks for all of your great answers.
A little commentary on what it used to be like to go to the movies (and still is at the Loew’s Jersey)…
“It was a beautiful thing” and it was (warning: just a little off color language here and he sounds like my Dad; but this gentleman expresses exactly how I feel about it). I’m sure we can all agree with him…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJHIsRW42m4
Really, a sink isn’t too much to ask for.
Maharmusic: thanks for looking at the blueprints. You’re right, that was the Assistant Manager’s Office on the 1st floor.
I suppose that the people of the 1920s were in better shape than we generally are today. Or at least they developed the stamina of a mountain climber by climbing up all those steps every day.
Speaking of the fancy office on the left front side, orchestra floor — what was in that space originally? I’m going to guess and say a lounge for the ticket booth girls? or was the Assistant Manager’s office a suite?
God bless that wife of the Hartz executive in giving something back to the theatre. Some people have a conscience.
I clearly remember the theatre before 1974. It was in remarkably good condition and still felt and looked completely/totally like a 1920s movie palace. Yes, it was a little dusty in the higher reaches and somewhat dimly lit, but it was cared for. Someone really cared about that place in the 1960s/early 1970s — much as we do today.
And folk’s if you took something from the theatre in 1974 or 1986, please have the decency to return it to where it belongs.
Has there every been any thought to decorating the theatre with new or reproduction items? It’s just a thought of mine, but why can’t they put a cheap, fake, yet convincing painting in that place against the lobby wall with a red sheet over it (the middle wall between the two auditorium entrances)? It would look better than a red sheet.
Are there any plans to restore the plasterwork and the to paint the interior. It has always been my feeling, that if they just restored one section of the lobby wall (between a set of columns) that it would “sell” complete restoration of the theatre; because I suspect that most people are unaware of just how beautiful it originally was. Yet one red and worn damask wall panel should be left as it is now, in remembrance of the theatre’s long history.
I’m sorry, but if they can afford a nice management office, surely they can afford to do a little more decorating in the public rooms? In my opinion, of course.
Pjacyk: You’d almost think there would have to be an elevator. Did you every try to climb from the main lobby floor all the way up to the top level of the balcony? Even more so when you consider that a lower level lounge was planned but never built. That’s close to 100 feet of stair climbing. There must have been an elevator. Last time I was there I remember seeing the 1929 telephone booths (with glass inlaid wooden doors) and what looks to me like a 2nd coat check room on the mezzanine level. They’re on the right (next to the only restrooms—except for that new one on the orchestra floor, in the old Manager’s Office, which is just wonderful) as you come up the grand staircase on the left. It’s hard to describe the place in writing or even in photos. It is best to see it in person.
I guesstimate that the auditorium is about 80 feet tall, but I could be wrong. The lobby looks to be about 60 feet tall and the columns in the lobby are probably somewhere around 45 feet tall. The Music Gallery is about 30 feet tall, I think. Just a guess. Come to think of it, my childhood theatre is a full-fledged movie palace, isn’t it? One tends to forget things like that when they are so familiar with the place.
I do remember the days when the lobby promenade was cut off by walls and you were restricted to just the mezzanine lobby. I also remember how hard they tried to keep the place up in the 1970s/1980s before it closed.
I also clearly remember an oil painting just before the right side staircase on the right side wall. It was of a maiden. The painting always fascinated me. If I’m not mistaken it was one of the items that was kept after the 1974 “renovation.” It’s gone now. Don’t know where it went.
AND there was an exquisite bronze dome above the ticket booth outside the theatre. That got stripped off at some time after it closed. I wonder who has it? Anyway, wouldn’t it be fairly easy to create a fake bronze dome above the ticket booth (kind of like the new fake bronze tickets booths in Radio City?)
Mahermusic. I remember seeing that sink, on the way up to the projection room. I always thought it worked. Hmm, getting it to work could take some time. How many miles of pipe would need to be looked at?! (–; I know just how much of a climb it is up to that projection booth—two flights from the mezzanine (2nd level?, I called that floor the main balcony floor. I think that the mezzanine (loges) floor is a whole level below that 2nd balcony level). Anyway, how hard could that be to climb a few stairs? Don’t ask until you’ve tried it! (–; I’ve been up there three times so far—twice on my own, and once with a friend from Texas who had to see the Vitaphone projector. Very glad to hear that the window was repaired. The Brenographs are still there I assume; and the film vault on the right side? Isn’t there a separate splicing room as well, or was that done in the vault? It’s been awhile since I’ve been up there.
“The Apartment” played by Tom Hoehn, on the Balfour/Martin Morton “Wonder” Organ (inside the Loew’s Jersey) — a minor earthquake, but a beautiful one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmbJZ5JGgjg
I’m sure it can be heard from every single room in the theatre? and even outside of it too!
Thanks so much, Mahermusic. Your answers make me love the Loew’s Jersey even more (if that’s possible). It upsets me that there is a broken window and that the birds are getting in again. I hope they aren’t getting into the projection room. So I’m not nuts for thinking that the Lower Lounge could one day be built?! I love the idea of the big compressors being dumped in the depths of the building. Even backstage, it is quite a building. I have been backstage, but didn’t see much of it. I remember seeing the organ blower room, as well as maze of corridors and doors going who knows where. Bob deserves the honor of having the 1,000th comment for this truly great American theatre.
Hmm, maybe this link will work?:
View link
Several good photos here (heavy sigh)…
View link
P.S. That broken pediment is WAY too wide. It breaks all the rules, but what a room! It’s the cat’s pajamas!
Ok, I’m done for today.
Who couldn’t love a place that looked like this (The Roxy):
View link
I’ll bet the columns in the Loew’s Jersey are taller.
Isn’t the Loew’s Jersey land site amazing? It looks like it was built on a cliff. How many sub basements does it have? Three?
To LuisV: I have the utmost respect for “The Book” by Lamb, even though I have never seen it. The day when I do get to see it will be truly special.
To mahermusic: where was the planned grand staircase to the lower lounge that was never built? Also, I guess the auditorium has internal an internal fire escape on the right side; and what is was in that huge room under the projection room. Is the basement under the lobby oval shaped? or is it all divided up into little rooms? Could that lower lounge be built someday (in my wildest dreams)? What is the maximum height of the auditorium and lobby?
To Ziggy: Yes we should meet—at least on-line. I worship the Roxy Theatre—even though the architecture was questionable at best—but it sure did wow them, didn’t it. The 1920s theatres remind me of the huge casinos in Vegas today. And there is a very strong carnival/amusement park aspect to the 1920s theatres as well. I always found it odd that you’d have these Roman/Greek/Baroque/Mandarin temples, and in front of them were the carnival running lights. It is a little odd when you think about it with fresh eyes. Can you picture the Parthenon or Paris Opera with running lights?
Re the Roxy: “let’s stick a 6 foot tall gilded vase on top of that 40 foot tall twisted column! Sure, why not!” Ah—the Roaring ‘20s.
Still and all, I love the old palaces (the Rivoli’s and Tivoli’s) with a great passion.
Ok, ok. I’m definitely in the minority here. I have to keep an open mind. I will make a trip to NYC and look at Lamb’s “job book.” If the Loew’s Jersey isn’t in it, I’ll surrender. Even if Lamb didn’t have a hand in it, the Loew’s Jersey’s “company” ain’t (sic) bad: The Chicago Theatre, The NY Paramount — not shabby by any means.
I have also studied architecture as an amateur since I was 17 or so (that’s a long time ago now, and I’m glad to know I’m not the only person who has done so), and in my experience no two 1920s theatres are ever exactly alike.
That said, I’m not impartial. I grew up in Loew’s Jersey. I know the place like the back of my hand. So perhaps my Lamb theory is just wishful thinking, but Rapp & Rapp is right up there, isn’t it?
Thanks for that information. Here’s more:
http://eng.archinform.net/arch/73578.htm
C.W. Rapp — died 1926. Geo. L Rapp — died 1918. Thomas White Lamb — died 1942. The Loew’s Jersey wasn’t completed until late 1929, and I doubt if it was on the drawing boards in 1926.
BTW, I’d give my eye teeth to see the blueprints.
Yes, the problem and the virtue of Wikipedia is that anyone can edit it. So one may find facts there that are hard to find anywhere else; and at the same time, one must take everything on Wikipedia with a grain of salt. Quite frustrating. However, you can bet if the subject is a well known one, the information at Wiki is not bad. But when you get into who designed a 1928 atmospheric theater, how many people know the answer to that question now? I might be more trusting of a University website, but even there, did they just “lift” it from Wiki? Who knows.
Re: Lamb and the Loew’s: I know it in my bones, but I don’t have the time or the funds to research the matter. Look closely enough and one can just tell. Some people can tell a Picasso without having to refer to a book. I am almost certain the Rialto (Joliet), Chicago, and NY Paramount auditoriums are by Rapp & Rapp; and that the Fox in San Francisco, the Midland in Kansas City, and the Loew’s Jersey are by Lamb. Lamb’s theatres are generally more well thought out and refined. There is a certain sense of unity about them that one doesn’t find in other such auditoriums. Re: Eberson and the Stanley — the reference is on Wikipedia under both the Stanley Theatre and John Eberson entries. It is also on the New Jersey City University website.
Yes, the firm of Rapp & Rapp designed the theatre, but who was the architect? I suspect that there was a consulting architect for the auditorium and that he was Thomas W. Lamb. If it looks like a Lamb, and acts like a Lamb, is it a Lamb? Agreed that the lobby is most definitely Rapp & Rapp. It looks very similar to the Rialto in Joliet. (Too bad the lower lounge never got built at the Loew’s Jersey.) But that Jersey auditorium, from the proscenium cameos down to the orchestra floor damask walls, looks for all the world like Loew’s Midland and The Fox Theatre, San Francisco, two theatres by Lamb, in my opinion.
I used to wonder the same thing about the Stanley across the street. I thought to myself, this looks A LOT like an Eberson auditorium, even though the theatre was designed by Frank Wentworth. Come to find out, years later, that Eberson was in fact a consulting architect for the Stanley. I also wish that more was done with the Stanley, another truly great American theatre. It has been beautifully restored but would a movie hurt it so much now and then? Why can’t it be used for its original purpose even once a year? Just a thought. The Stanley is as great or greater than that other vast atmospheric, the Fox Theatre, Atlanta. Sorry to go off topic, but I did so in order to make my point about Eberson.
Yes, the Brooklyn Paramount was probably the most beautiful of them all. That proscenium soars, and I like the idea that it was a “semi-atmospheric” with that lattice work over the balcony. Parts of the Brooklyn Paramount are still there, and it has reopened as a theatre. I hope it can be restored along with the Kings.
The Kings certainly has the most beautiful lobby, and the shallow balcony is a wonderful feature that adds intimacy to the auditorium.
I’m partial to the Jersey. I grew up in that theatre (it spoiled for anything less, which is a lot of places), and I like the “opera house” look of the Jersey auditorium. I suppose that all of the Wonder Theatres have perfect sight lines.
One could make a study of just how much work went into laying out the seating. It would take at least a paragraph to explain all that went into it. Suffice it to say, the sight lines in the Jersey are perfect from every seat.
I’m glad to hear about the “King Kong” turnout. Perhaps word of mouth is finally starting to pay off.
I have heard that the Jersey a/c “sort of” works, but that it needs a complete and very costly overhaul. Used to love going in there in a hot summer day back in the 1970s. It was ice cold. I remember the fake icicles hanging from the marquee.
In reply to Bill Huelbig’s photo reference — That is one great photo of the Loew’s Jersey. I would love to have a large print of it. It reminds me very much of a photo of The Fox Theatre, San Francisco that was taken in 1929:
View link
The Fox was designed by Thomas W. Lamb, and so was the Loew’s Midland Theatre (another that is very similar to the Jersey and the Fox). Even though Rapp & Rapp was the firm that designed the Loew’s Jersey, I strongly suspect that Lamb was a consulting architect for the Loew’s Jersey, which is a theory I have never heard offered before. OK, the Jersey Lobby is very much a Rapp & Rapp lobby (e.g. Chicago Theatre, Rialto Square), but that Jersey auditorium I believe is probably the work of Lamb.
For other reasons, I believe that the NY Paramount was not designed by Lamb: it strikes me as a firm/committee design.
Oh what the heck, I’ll say it. The Paramount was “boxy and narrow.” The Jersey is egg-shaped and wide. It has the “curviness” and attention to presentation detail that Lamb was so famous for. There is hardly a straight line in the Jersey auditorium which makes for a better theatre all around — sight lines, acoustics, audience psychology.
In a nutshell, I like to give credit where credit is due, and many signs and clues tell me that Lamb designed the Jersey auditorium. What are your thoughts on this?
I would give my eye teeth to see this film at the Loew’s Jersey (the 10th row would be about right (at least until they open the balcony again):
Happy Harmonies “TO SPRING” (1936):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3mSVMXqMCw
Hmmm — VHS vs. a 50 foot screen with true Technicolor and carbon arc light. Who wins? Need I even ask the question?
Interesting thing of it is that this being an MGM product, it was probably shown at the Loew’s Jersey some 72 years ago. How’s that for history!?
The colors in “Dr. Who” on the big Loew’s screen reminded me so much of something I had only seen as a youngster in Radio City. It’s hard to put into words, but I’m sure you know what I mean. It’s a combination of the immense screen size, the carbon-arc light, and the color process. You never forget it, once you see it—and it is very rare today.
In my opinion, the Loew’s should have a Technicolor weekend, but you might want to use some “educational advertising” for those who don’t know what it is.
Odd question: are/were there any passenger elevators in the Stanley to whisk the audience up to the balcony — a la Radio City and the Roxy? or were elevators strictly a New York thing? Come to think of it, which movie palaces do have elevators?