Mmmmmm… The Loews Jersey!
Spent Friday night and most of Saturday at the lovely Loews Jersey in Jersey City. Boy, moviegoers really were treated very well for some years in the early part of the 20th century. The Loews Jersey opened September 28, 1929 as a grand movie palace. The whole idea of these enormous movie palaces was to get people into the theater. Now the whole idea is to get you in and get you out.
The last time I was at the Loews Jersey was for the screening of the 1910 Edison Frankenstein, which was amazing to see in such a place. The Friends of the Loews Jersey have done even more work than when I was there a year ago. They meet every weekend and clean and paint and polish and all that. It’s just incredible that something so amazing was left to ruin, and even more amazing that anyone would vandalize it, but such is American life. The same American social mechanisms that produced such a glorious monster also contribute to its demise.
Off for the summer, the Loews Jersey will reopen in the fall with a 75th Anniversary of the opening of the theater itself. I’ll post some pictures at some point. This weekend was just super with Mr. Ray Harryhausen there to introduce Jason and the Argonauts, a Saturday matinee of This Island Earth, and a 50th Anniversary screening of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in the evening. Superb entertainment!