Old Time Movie Theaters

Recently, we traveled to New Jersey via the Path Train from Manhattan to attend a demonstration-talk at the Landmarked Loew’s NJ movie theater, and its Wonder Morton Theatre pipe organ. It was billed as an “Introductory Tour of the Theatre Pipe Organ”.

The first aspect that delighted us was the building itself, a 1927, lavish movie palace. The entrance canopy was a field of small lights, and the façade solid brass. The ticket seller’s booth was also polished brass with beveled glass panels, and upholstered in red velvet. We entered an enormous three-story Grand Lobby with marble columns supporting a rotunda, and a crystal chandelier worthy of the Phantom of the Opera! We were treated to a buffet luncheon in this space.

A grand staircase wound its way up to the Loge. There were intricate wood carvings and ornate polished brass ornamentation covering the wall surfaces, numerous elaborate sconces illuminated the space in a warm glowing light, and high above, coffered ceilings covered in gold leaf shimmered.   And oh the Ladies Room!  It took me back to a time a century past, comfort and luxury wrapped in a jeweled box.  It is spaces like this, which generate feelings of happiness, delight, wonder and joy that is the essence and purpose of architecture.

The thirty-two hundred-seat auditorium, hung with rich red tapestries, is undergoing extensive restoration, but we could not miss the magnificence it once was and will be again. The elaborate design of these movie palaces was based on European opera houses and palaces. But attendance in such theaters declined during the 1960s as television became the primary instrument of entertainment, and the great migration to the suburbs began. Alas, many of these old theaters have been torn down, but several remain and are becoming landmarked and restored, as is this one.

Loew’s had five of these magnificent places, called Wonder Theatres, one each in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and New Jersey. In Queens, it was the Valencia in Jamaica, and I remember “going to the movies” when a theatergoer would see a few cartoons, the newsreels, and two feature length films for about twenty five cents. It was considered a big date night, and we always got really dressed up. Alas, the pipe organ from the Valencia, though repaired and restored was removed to another location. The machine, which used to emit clouds across the star-studded ceiling, was in disrepair with no one alive who knew how to repair it. The theater, which has served as a church for the past thirty years, was painstakingly restored; the meticulous painting and detailing of the ornate walls and ceilings is magnificent.

Meanwhile, back in New Jersey, the pipe organ, a 1779 instrument, rumbled to life with pedal notes that reverberated within the cavernous theatre.   This massive theatre pipe organ added sound to silent films with audience sing-a-longs all becoming a part of the regular programming.

The console case itself was ornamented in the extreme; heavily carved wood and clad in gold leaf with decorations worthy of Mozart’s time. It rose dramatically out of the pit, and rotated around so the organist could face either the audience or the movie screen. Behind the huge red curtains, the screen was as large as an I-max!

The organist Bernie Anderson demonstrated many fascinating aspects of this organ to the audiophile society club members who sponsored this event. The organ had four ranks (keyboards, called manuals) with scores of levers all color-coded. For instance, if he pressed one lever down, the note C# would play on eight octaves simultaneously. There were of course the pedal boards played by the feet as well. The different tabs could render the sound of any instrument in the orchestra, which Bernie demonstrated with enthusiastic delight.  There is just no describing the depth and richness of the sounds he produced.

To conclude his presentation, he played a round of six old timey songs for the traditional sing-a-long, with the words projected on the large movie screen. And, for his finale, he played an improvised musical score to an old black & white Laurel and Hardy silent movie that was hilarious. It was SO much fun for an assortment of old and not so old hifi geezers and the occasional wife.