Viewing a Film at The Stanford Theatre

Another day, another place I’d been wanting to visit but never did until this trip. Sheesh! I’m starting to sound like a broken record. But this place is a little different.

You all know I’m a classic film nut. I even have a regular feature about it! When I was a teenager I was watching a special about Hollywood hosted by Angela Lansbury. She hosted the show from a place called The Stanford Theatre. Now this was long before I knew of all the movie palaces found in Los Angeles. So when I saw the theatre I was awestruck. It was so beautiful! I needed to visit it! The only thing is life never found me in Palo Alto where it is located.

Well, on this trip I looked it up and found that Palo Alto was but a thirty minute drive from San Francisco. And I also found out that The Stanford Theatre screens classic films every week. Every week! Luckily my sister loves the classics and movie palaces as much as I do so on Saturday evening we headed south for a mini road trip within our road trip.

The Stanford Theatre is located on University Avenue in the heart of Palo Alto. The street is filled with shops and restaurants and on Saturday night it was jumping.

Now, I’m used to going to classic film screenings where there’s only a few people attending. Only occasionally are they sold out. So I was quite surprised when I found the theatre humming with activity. There were a ton of people of all ages attending the screening. It was awesome!

The theatre is as beautiful as I saw it on that TV special years ago. Before the show we were treated to live organ music on the house Wulizter. Soon it was showtime and I settled in to watch one of my favorite comedies How to Marry a Millionaire.

After the movie I checked out the lobby a bit.

Beautiful, simply beautiful. I also discovered that connected to the theatre is a small gallery where is displayed their large collection of film posters and lobby cards.

The evening was perfect and I have to say The Stanford Theatre was the highlight of my trip. Whenever I’m in the area again I’m going to be sure to visit as they screen classics weekly!

The Stanford Theatre
221 University Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301