The Titanic and Other Sea Disasters On Screen April 27, 2012

Remembering the Titanic
Real & Reel Sea Disasters
A Tribute In Film to the 100th Anniversary of the Sinking of the "Unsinkable" Ocean Liner

At The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre
54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel. (201) 798-6055 Fax: (201) 798-4020 Web: www.loewsjersey.org

A Not-For-Profit Arts Center in a Landmark Movie Palace

All Titles Screened in 35mm on our BIG 50ft Wide Screen

This April marks the 100thAnniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Though all manner of natural and man-made disasters have occurred since, merely uttering the word “Titanic” still creates an electric sensation for millions. Perhaps it is the terrible irony that the proclaimed “unsinkable” ship sank on its maiden voyage . . . or a horrified disbelief that such a big passenger ship was allowed to put to sea without enough life boats. . . or revulsion at the failure of the crew to completely fill what few lifeboats there were . . . or the romantic mix on board of rich and poor set against the stark reality that far fewer of the poor survived. Or perhaps there is empathy, if not dark fascination, in realizing that the 1,500 people who lost their lives had to wait more than two and a half hours for the ship to sink, all the while knowing that there was little or no hope.
For whatever reason, wherever a ship is sailing, be it on the ocean or across a movie screen, and especially when there is some problem or accident, the memory of the Titanic lives.

Friday, April 27 8PM
“Lifeboat” Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Hume Cronyn. 1944, 100mins., B&W. Shown in 20th Century Fox's Vault Print!

If you think that the plot conceit of very different people being thrown together by fate and forced to work with each other for mutual survival was invented by '70s disaster flicks, think again. In 1944's "Lifeboat", a tiny lifeboat adrift in the North Atlantic holds eight survivors of a Nazi torpedo attack: sophisticated magazine writer/photographer played by Tallulah Bankhead, Communist seaman John Hodiak, nurse Mary Anderson, mild-mannered radio-operator Hume Cronyn, seriously wounded Brooklynese stoker William Bendix, insufferable capitalist Henry Hull, black steward Canada Lee and half-mad passenger Heather Angel. After a day of floating aimlessly, the castaways pick up another passenger, Walter Slezak), who is a survivor from the German U-boat. At first everyone assumes he is just a simple seaman, but it develops that he is in fact the U-boat’s captain, fluent in English and very intelligent – perhaps dangerously so. Unlike later disaster movies, there are no explosions, death-defying stunts or fantastic changes of locale. But what in lesser hands could have seemed talky and turgid, Hitchcock makes riveting through the verbal and psychological interplay between the well drawn characters. “The Master” is truly so here, maintaining the claustrophobic feel while still finding ways to create visual interest in such a limited setting. All of the cast turn in pitch-perfect performances. Bankhead is mesmerizing as she establishes her character precisely within the first few seconds -- a cynical, ironic, self-centered woman. She should be rather repulsive, but Bankhead makes her playful and appealing. Though she anchors the film, she does not overshadow it, allowing the likes of Hodiak, Hume Cronyn, and Bendix to shine as well. “Lifeboat” is the kind of movie you enjoy watching, and never forget.

$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Children (12 & younger).

Saturday, April 28 6PM
"A Night To Remember" Kenneth More, Honor Blackman, David McCallum, Jill Dixon. Directed by Roy Ward Baker. 1958, 123 mins., B&W, British

Thirty-nine years before James Cameron's opus "Titanic" set box office records, "A Night To Remember" offered movie goers what many still consider to be the definitive film re-creation of the most famous maritime disaster in history. This skillfully executed adaptation of Walter Lord's bestseller may not have the overt romance of Cameron's blockbuster, but it is just as moving and offers a more contemplative and complete portrayal of how and why the tragedy occurred. In a grim but not morbid approach, the film lays out the human side of the tragedy, offering an emotionally potent look at the relative handful who survived and the many who did not, while it also clearly depicts the reasons, technical and human, behind the shipwreck. Kenneth More heads a huge and stellar cast, with 200 speaking parts, as the Second Officer from whose point-of-view the story unfolds. For anyone even slightly interested in the real life tragedy that was the Titanic, "A Night To Remember" is an essential companion to Cameron's film.

$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Children (12 & younger).

Saturday, April 28 8:25
The Original
"The Poseidon Adventure" Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelly Winters, Jack Albertson, Pamela Sue Martin, Leslie Nielsen. Directed by Ronald Neame. 1972, 117 mins., Color

40th Anniversary Screening is co-sponsored by Cinema Retro magazine and will use 20th Century Fox's vault print! Noted film critic Stephen Whitty will host and be joined by David Savage of Cinema Retro, Poseidon expert Chris Poggiali and critic Matt Forke to share info and insights about the movie and its production.

The name of the fictional ship may be Poseidon, but producer Irwin Allen certainly knew his movie about a wrecked luxury liner would invoke the public's enduring fascination with the Titanic. After a massive tidal wave capsizes the Poseidon on her last voyage before being scrapped, the survivors divide into two groups: those who stubbornly remain where they are to await the help they are sure will come, and a handful who bravely follow impassioned Reverend Scott (Hackman) in what he believes is their best chance for rescue by forging their way upward through the shattered, upside-down ship, toward what was the bottom of the hull but is now on the ocean's surface. The group meets its share of catastrophic obstacles -- from explosions and flooded passages to their own crippling fear and uncertainty -- as the water rises higher and higher in the sinking ship. Part of what makes the movie so effective is the novelty of seeing people trapped in a world literally turned upside-down, where barber chairs dangle eerily from the ceiling and a giant Christmas tree provides a ladder, of sorts, to climb up to what normally would be a lower deck. Along for the water-logged trek are a gruff policeman (Ernest Borgnine), his wife - a former hooker (Stella Stevens), a sweet-natured bachelor (Red Buttons), a shell-shocked singer (Carol Lynley), an efficient waiter (Roddy McDowall), a nice old married couple (Jack Albertson& Shelley Winters) and a pair of unflappable kids (Eric Shea & Pamela Sue Martin). But the film is held together by Hackman, who followed up his Oscar-winning work in "The French Connection" with this committed performance as the maverick priest who repeatedly questions God's authority as he tries to lead his desperate flock to salvation above water. It's an unusual role brought to life by an excellent performance. "The Poseidon Adventure" was one of the first, and arguably the best examples of a signature film genre of the 1970s: the disaster movie. With its (sometimes faded) star-laden casts, out-sized plots, and requisite spectacular explosions, fires, floods and all manner of mayhem, the genre quickly became formulaic - if not at times unintentionally self-parodying. But the combination of Hackman's great performance, some truly original special effects, and tight direction makes "The Poseidon Adventure" hold up far better than many of the films that followed (pardon the pun) in its wake. It is still great fun to watch.

$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Children (12 & younger).
- - - Combo discounts available for multiple screenings in a weekend. - - -

**Film descriptions are compiled from various sources.

The Loew's Is Easy To Get To: The Loew's Jersey Theatre, at 54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ, is directly across JFK Boulevard from the JSQ PATH Center with trains to and from Lower and Midtown Manhattan and Newark's Penn Station, and is minutes from the NJ Turnpike, Rts 3 and 1&9 and the Holland & Lincoln Tunnels. We're easy to reach by car or mass transit from throughout the Metro Region.

Discount off-street parking is available in Square Ramp Garageadjoining the Loew's at the foot of Magnolia Avenue off of Tonnelle Avenue, behind the Loew's. Patrons must validate their parking ticket before leaving the Theatre.

What’s Special About Seeing A Movie At The Loew’s? The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre is one of America’s grandest surviving Movie Palaces. We show movies the way they were meant to be seen: in a grandly ornate setting – on our BIG 50 ft wide screen! The Loew’s runs reel-to-reel -- not platter -- projection, which often allows us to screen an archival or studio vault print that is the best available copy of a movie title.

PLUS – Live organ entrance music (from the Loew’s magnificently restored pipe organ) before most screenings.

The Loew’s Jersey is managed by Friends of the Loew’s, Inc. as a non-profit, multi-discipline performing arts enter.

Classic Film Weekends are presented by Friends of the Loew’s, Inc.

The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre receives support from the City of Jersey City, Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and the Municipal Council, and the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund, administered by the Hudson County Division of Planning, Thomas A. DeGise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Official Website: http://www.loewsjersey.org