Our family has always loved going to the movies. We’ve seen all the blockbusters and the kid-friendly, Disney-style movies (although Disney seems to be pushing the envelope these days). The point is that we like the ambiance of a theater, the smell of hot dogs and buttery popcorn and the thrill of an epic story being told on the big screen.
We love going to the modern theaters that feature reclining chairs and 3D screens, but we pay a pretty penny to go there. So one day, I had an idea to take Ann and the kids to the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto. I had never been inside there myself, but when I lived in Palo Alto, I often would walk past the ornate entryway and the posters from a bygone era. I wondered if it might be too old-fashioned for the kids, but it was the opposite—we all loved it and were always excited to return.
The Stanford Theatre is a classic independent theater with neoclassical Persian and Moorish architecture. It was opened in 1925 at a cost of $300,000. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation purchased the theater in 1987 for $7.7 million and restored it for an additional $6 million. The 1989 grand re-opening featured a showing of The Wizard of Oz.
These days the movie palace specializes in films produced between 1910 and 1970 and features seasonal film festivals for various genres, directors, and actors. If you look at the schedule of past movie stars featured here, you’ll find names like Shirley Temple, Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Cary Grant and many others.
We bought our admission tickets for only $7 and were pleasantly surprised by the low cost of everything else. Not quite 1920s prices, but much more affordable than today’s mega multiplexes. Popcorn and soda were only $3, and candies were only a buck. Amazing! Heads up, though. The box office only takes cash, no credit cards or ATM cards.
We’ve been there many times now and have enjoyed the Olivia de Havilland Centenary Festival, the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind, and the movie posters on display throughout the theater’s Walk of Fame. The crowd is respectful and polite, as in bygone eras, but spirited when the movie provokes a reaction. There’s plenty of legroom in the theater, and because most showings are double features, an organist playing his “Mighty Wurlitzer” rises from under the stage to entertain between movies.
Overall, it’s a priceless experience to go back in time Hollywood-style. According to its own estimates, the Stanford Theater accounts for as much as twenty-five percent of all classic film attendance in the United States.
If you ever get a chance to visit this classic venue, tell them Rick & Ann sent you.
1 thought on “STANFORD THEATER”
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דירות דיסקרטיות Theron Zollicoffer