Walk down the Hollywood Boulevard of Princeton once again this summer, as motion picture actors with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame return weekly to the silver screens, celebrating the titles that turned their famous legacies golden.
The Princeton Garden Theatre on Nassau Street has been a community arthouse theater and “museum of the cinematic experience” keeping film history alive for more than a century, executive director Chris Collier says. Part of that mission is seen through their flagship series Hollywood Summer Nights, which is planned throughout the season to showcase movies that vary in genre, era and subject matter, but remain timeless classics.
Since 2014, Princeton Garden Theatre has been managed by Renew Theaters, a nonprofit company that preserves and maintains smaller, yet significant, venues. Their robust membership program helps to keep these iconic structures in operation as snapshots in time, just with modern support.
“All through the year, we try to show a variety of repertory films, international arthouse classics, new restorations, and all sorts of different films. But over the summer, we’ve found Classic Hollywood is the right fit, and that it allows an opportunity for families to come beat the heat and do something fun. There are a lot of films that I feel people have grown up with or seen only on the small screen, or they want their kids to see, or they want to see again. This summer is a perfect time for that,” said Collier, who has been with Renew Theaters for about 15 years.
Hollywood Summer Nights began in May and runs through mid-September on Wednesdays and Thursdays. July’s films are “The Long Goodbye” on July 6, “Double Indemnity” on July 7, “The Music Man” on July 13, “Pulp Fiction” on July 14, the 1933 version of “Little Women” on July 20, “The Shop Around the Corner” on July 21, “Shaft” on July 27, and “Casablanca” on July 28.
The August roster has “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” on August 3, the Beatles documentary “A Hard Day’s Night” on August 4, “The Spanish Dancer” on August 10, “Born Yesterday” on August 11, “Now, Voyager” on August 17, “Dial M for Murder” on August 18, “Giant” on August 24, the 1984 version of the “The Karate Kid” on August 25, and “Blue Hawaii” on August 31.
September finishes up those lingering warm breezes with “Legally Blonde” on September 1, “The Pink Panther” on September 7, and “Thief” on September 8.
Ticket prices are $12.50 for general admission, $7.75 for members, $10 for seniors (ages 62+), $10 for Princeton University staff and faculty with valid identification, and for the Hollywood Summer Nights series, $5 for all students with valid identification. Memberships are also encouraged and recommended for reduced rates, benefits, and the ability to support a historic Princeton resource.
All of the movies are planned with one showtime, typically at 7 p.m., in accordance with distribution requirements, as well as to allow for PGT’s main attractions to equally shine. If a film sells out due to its popularity, as with “The Godfather,” encore screenings can be added.
“The funny thing is, there are a couple of core titles like ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Jaws’ that we know that when we put those out, people will absolutely flock to those,” he said. “The more we do this, I think the less we know how things are going to turn out.”
“A single date gives it that sense of uniqueness and makes it special,” Collier said. “The movie theater experience is very different from the streaming experience, where at home, you can watch 15 minutes of a movie and turn it off, or pick it up in three weeks. Part of the joy of this series is we don’t know when these movies are going to come around again — so this is the chance to catch it, and that often drives a larger audience, making the experience even more enjoyable.”
The ideas hail from their patrons and staff, who balance the classic films with lesser-known hidden gems. Each summer, PGT rotates through the works of acclaimed directors like Alfred Hitchcock (“Dial M for Murder”) and looks out for digital restorations.
“We want a variety of films from all different time periods that really showcase the whole gamut of classic Hollywood cinema,” Collier continued. The lineup for this summer includes categories like noir, drama, documentary, musical, comedy, action, and more. Once they check most of the boxes in style and year of origin, PGT plans “secret” complementary pairings that are up to the patrons to figure out the thematic similarities, actors, or references.
For example, June’s showings of “My Man Godfrey” and “The Godfather” composed their “The Gods” week due to the names. Double billed and both with terrazzo-brass Hollywood Walk of Fame stars, 1932 Princeton alumnus Jimmy Stewart and Humphrey Bogart were scheduled with at least two movies of their own — Bogart welcomed in the Hollywood Summer Nights series with “The Maltese Falcon” and “Sabrina,” while Stewart is in “After the Thin Man” and “Harvey.”
Collier said he is happy to show a long-awaited restoration of “The Shop Around the Corner” on July 21, which Stewart also stars in, to pay homage to the actor’s local relevance. Stewart’s leading role in Harvey is also presented in contrast with a smaller one in “After the Thin Man.”
Some connections are clearer, while others are hidden in layers of subtle, cinematic camouflage.
“Angels with Dirty Faces” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” are “a secret nod to that ’80s, early ’90s nostalgia,” because the former is watched and quoted by Macaulay Culkin’s character, Kevin McCallister, in “Home Alone.” Collier acknowledged that many of the lines will surely be recognized by aficionados of the Christmas classic.
While PGT usually observes a policy that does not allow people six years and younger into the screenings for the Hollywood Summer Nights, Collier explained that all prices are reduced for students this summer.
“If you go to a commercial Multiplex, it can end up costing over $100 for four tickets,” he said. “We want it to be a reasonably priced, fun way that a family can go out and enjoy. We find a lot of the titles may not always appeal to ages six and under, and part of that is just we didn’t want a family bringing, say, a two-year-old who would be very distracted and interrupt the movie for others. But if there’s a kid who is a movie enthusiast who wants to come see one of the films, we can always make sure that those budding cinephiles are well-helped.”
Throughout its history, the Garden Theatre changed ownership numerous times and was eventually purchased by Princeton University, then completely renovated over the years. With significant updates and improvements, the Garden Theatre reopened under Renew Theaters in July of 2014, “showing independent, foreign, and classic films for local movie lovers” ever since.
Renew Theaters owns three other movie theaters, all in Pennsylvania — the Ambler Theater in Ambler, where Collier himself started as a manager, the County Theater in Doylestown, and the Hiway Theater in Jenkintown. John Toner, the founding director, came up with the idea for Hollywood Summer Nights back in 1993 as he operated the County Theater.
Back then, as Collier explained, the County Theater was home to the film society Closely Watched Films, whose love for “classic art house and Hollywood films” resulted in the Doylestown cinema showing movies that otherwise flew under the radar.
As a staple of their programming, Princeton Garden Theatre’s Hollywood Summer Nights continues these values and traditions, becoming what Collier said is the most popular of their special events, sometimes even surpassing the successes of new releases.
“For a number of patrons, that’s what makes the Garden special. You can only see movies like that in our theater, you can’t see it at the commercial multiplex down the street, or even other independent theaters, so that’s one of the things that really sets the Garden apart,” he said. “People were really eager to come back and participate in them.”
Right before the pandemic, PGT was planning a combination of its special, spring and fall programming for its 100th anniversary, aiming to show 100 different films — one movie for each year the Garden was opened. But it was canceled, and none of those films were ever shown in person. Instead, the digital movies they could offer were “new releases by independent distributors” due to the streaming arrangements of the anniversary selections.
This is why, after PGT reopened in June of 2021 following 15 months of closure, every movie featured, especially for Hollywood Summer Nights, has been a celebration of its own.
In a joint project between Renew Theaters and Gettysburg’s Majestic Theater, several films are the subject of a series titled “Deep Focus,” where guest speakers host an online seminar and discussion based around the movie. Once a feature is chosen, patrons can watch the movie either at a PGT showing prior to the date of the Zoom session, or on a streaming service, to prepare.
Having already formed their perspectives from seeing the film in its entirety, participants can dive right into the “meat and potatoes,” as Collier said, ready to speak on the content or themes, as well as anything they deem fitting for a community dialogue.
This approach emerged from the pandemic, where virtual screenings kept the Princeton Garden Theatre thriving — but Collier said that they have proven to be even livelier than when these Q&As and vocalized opinions were in person.
“What we noticed right away was that we actually had better attendance and better engagement in those virtual events,” he explained, with the physical logistics of finding parking, seats, bathroom breaks, and babysitters able to tire a person out before any discussion commences. “We found that people are more invested in the discussion when that is the focus, and they’ve actually had time to watch the film and digest it, do some research, and come up with questions. It’s made for really wonderful conversations.”
With the world at their keyboard, speakers from all over have been able to lead these sessions as well, giving it a level of access that “sets the series apart” from the usual events at the Garden Theatre, according to Collier.
“We’ll eventually get back to in-person, but I don’t think we’re going to leave the virtual realm either. There’s definitely something added there that we’re going to keep exploring, using some of the tools that we had to learn during the pandemic, and continuing to make those successful for us,” he noted.
Just as the Garden Theatre first opened in 1920 with a silent film, on Wednesday, August 10, they are unveiling a 1923 silent costume epic restored by the Eye Filmmuseum and Milestone Films. Co-founded by Amy Heller and Dennis Doros, Milestone Films is an independent distribution and restoration company based in Harrington Park.
“The Spanish Dancer” follows a Romani performer who “becomes entangled with King Philip and Queen Isabel of Spain when her lover is arrested for defying the laws against dueling,” according to the Princeton Garden Theatre website.
With a new score from Bill Ware, a famous jazz vibraphonist and composer, the film has only been shown on rare occasions before the upcoming screening. Its corresponding seminar on Tuesday, August 23, at 7:30 p.m. is led by Heller and Doros.
Other Deep Focus selections for PGT are headed by writer Hannah Jack of Turner Movie Classics, whose Hollywood Classics include showings of the 1944 version of “Double Indemnity” on Thursday, July 7, and the 1950 version of “Born Yesterday” on Thursday, August 11.
“Double Indemnity” is described by Deep Focus as “the gold standard for film noir,” featuring an infatuated insurance salesman and a scheming femme fatale who, together, commit murder and fraud based on a double indemnity clause in the accident policy of the woman’s husband. The seminar is on Tuesday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m.
“Born Yesterday” is a comedic drama, political satire, and unconventional romance all in one, where a “crooked businessman” wants his girlfriend to have better manners so he can marry her — only to invoke spousal privilege, a common law term meaning she could not testify against him in court. The tycoon then hires a journalist to instruct her in the ways of etiquette, but being polite is the least of their problems when the tutor and underestimated pupil fall in love. The seminar is on Tuesday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m.
Online registration for all of the programs is available at the Deep Focus website, deepfocusfilm.org. These older titles, as Collier said, might be overlooked or skipped entirely if seen while scrolling on Netflix or another streaming service, but “if it’s on the big screen or in our catalog, you know that we vouch for it, that it’s been vetted, it’s been curated, and that often is a chance that people will take to come try something different, or see a movie that they haven’t seen,” he continued. “A lot of times they’re pleasantly surprised by the experience they have.”
“While it is easy to watch movies at home, there is a lot lost when you watch a movie on the couch,” Collier continued, noting that comedies in particular benefit from an audience. “A lot of these films that people know by heart and have seen many times before, maybe you have seen on the TV at home, are completely different and revelatory when you see it. On the big screen, you can take in all of the details the way it was meant to be seen, and with an audience. It really changes the viewing experience, and that’s one aspect of it. The other is these movies were meant to be seen on a big screen. They were meant to be shown in that format; we want to give people the opportunity to engage with them the way they were meant to be seen.”
PGT is planning its fall calendar, which will include Halloween movies. To keep track of what is coming soon, sign up to be part of PGT’s mailing list and/or check the website regularly at princetongardentheatre.org.
“We hope that people continue to come out to the theater, and we can continue to offer that cinematic experience,” Collier said, adding that as theatrical and streaming continue their ongoing battle, PGT will act accordingly — but never lose its signature touch.
“We plan on being here for another 100 years, continuing the same type of programming, keeping people engaged and seeing movies on the big screen,” he said.
Princeton Garden Theatre, 160 Nassau Street, Princeton. www.princetongardentheatre.org or 609-279-1999.
Also on the big screen
Families can also take children to Movie Nights on the Green in Palmer Square, a free event “under the stars” on two summer dates. “Encanto” will be playing on Friday, July 15, and “The Princess Diaries” on Friday, August 5, both from 8 to 10 p.m., as the movies start at dusk. Lawn chairs, blankets, and food are permitted. www.palmersquare.com.
Additionally, Prineton University Art Museum is offering a musical-themed series of family-friendly outdoor movie screenings on Alexander Beach, outside of Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus. Screenings take place Thursdays at 8 p.m. and include “Singin’ in the Rain” on July 7; “Chicago” on July 14; and “La La Land” on August 4. The museum also hosts a family picnic and movie night on July 28 featuring a screening of “Fantasia.” artmuseum.princeton.edu.
The Princeton Garden Theater combines classic movies with seminars.,
