The Stanford Theatre is dedicated to bringing back the movie-going experience of Hollywood's Golden Age. It is one of the few places where you can still watch movies on a big screen projected the way they were intended — in 35mm prints. Great classic films were not made to be watched on a video screen in your living room. They depend on a larger-than-life image, and the shared reactions of a real audience.
The Stanford Theatre first opened in June of 1925. For decades nearly every important Hollywood picture played there on its first release. The people of Palo Alto saw them all for the very first time in this theatre. In 1987 the Packard Foundation bought the theatre and restored it to its original condition. It quickly became America's most popular classic movie house. More people saw Casablanca there on its 50th anniverary in 1992 than at any other theatre in America.
The non-profit Stanford Theatre Foundation is dedicated to the preservation and public exhibition of films from the Golden Age of Hollywood. This means classic movies in a classic movie palace, complete with Wurlitzer organ rising from the orchestra pit every night before and after the 7:30 show, or providing the accompaniment to “silent” films.
Note: This is an unofficial posting of the Stanford Theatre schedules, from published information. This site is in no way connected with the Stanford Theatre nor the Stanford Theatre Foundation. Please check out the official site at stanfordtheatre.org in case this schedule isn't quite up-to-date! Programs are subject to change. For information, call (650) 324-3700.
(Showtimes in parentheses are for the Saturday and Sunday screenings.)
Judy Garland (Dorothy Gale), Frank Morgan (Prof. Marvel / Oz, the Wizard), Ray Bolger (Hunk / The Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Hickory / The Tin Woodman), Bert Lahr (Zeke / The Cowardly Lion), Margaret Hamilton (Almira Gulch / The Wicked Witch of the West), Billie Burke (Glinda, the Good Witch of the South), Charley Grapewin (Uncle Henry), Clara Blandick (Aunt Em), Pat Walsh (Nikko), Terry the Dog (Toto).
One of the most beloved films of Hollywood's Golden Age, The Wizard of Oz continues to enchant adiences more than 70 years after its premiere. You haven't really been to Oz until you've seen it on our big screen in glorious Technicolor, with an audience.
Special $5 admission for all.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Sep 3, 1939; last played Dec 2023
Julie Andrews, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Dick Van Dyke. Reginald Owen, Ed Wynn, Elsa Lanchester, Jane Darwell.
first showing at the Stanford Theatre
Clifton Webb, Robert Young, Maureen O'Hara, Richard Haydn, Louise Allbritton, Ed Begley, Randy Stuart, Larry Olsen.
In this charming domestic comedy, a young couple unwittingly hires an eccentric genius to be their live-in baby sitter. Clifton Webb was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the acerbic, no-nonsense Mr. Belvedere, who gets the whole town talking with his novel Hummingbird Hill.
first played at the Stanford Theatre April 8, 1948; last played Sep 2012
James Stewart (Alfred Kralik), Margaret Sullavan (Klara Novak), Frank Morgan (Hugo Matuschek), Joseph Schildkraut (Ferencz Vadas), Sara Haden (Flora), Felix Bressart (Pirovitch), William Tracy (Pepi Katona), Inez Courtney (Ilona), Charles Halton (Detective), Charles Smith (Rudy).
In the days before Christmas. a new sales clerk (Margaret Sullavan) is hired by a Budapest shop. She and the manager (Jimmy Stewart) have a stressful relationship on the job, unaware that they have been conducting a romance as pen pals who have never met in person.
"Among the greatest of films... The cafe conversation may be the best meeting in American Film." David Thomson
"One of the most beautifully acted and paced romantic comedies ever made." Pauline Kael
"Never did I make a picture in which the atmosphere and the characters were truer than in this picture." Ernst Lubitsch
first played at the Stanford Theatre Feb 4, 1940; last played Dec 2023
Edmund Gwenn (Kris Kringle), Maureen O'Hara (Doris Walker), Natalie Wood (Susan Walker), John Payne (Fred Gailey), Gene Lockhart (Judge Henry X. Harper), Porter Hall (Mr. Sawyer), William Frawley (Charles Halloran), Jerome Cowan (Thomas Mara), Philip Tonge (Mr. Shellhammer), Thelma Ritter (Mother), Alvin Greenman (Albert), Lela Bliss (Mrs. Shellhammer).
One of America's most beloved Christmas movies. A Santa Claus working at Macy's department store, a kindly gentleman who calls himself Kris Kringle, has everyone believing in Santa Claus, exept for one little girl.
first played at the Stanford Theatre July 13, 1947; last played Dec 2023
James Stewart (George Bailey), Donna Reed (Mary Hatch), Lionel Barrymore (Mr. Potter), Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billie), Henry Travers (Clarence), Beulah Bondi (Mrs. Bailey), Frank Faylen (Ernie), Ward Bond (Bert), Gloria Grahame (Violet Bick), H. B. Warner (Mr. Gower), Frank Albertson (Sam Wainwright), Todd Karns (Harry Bailey), Samuel S. Hinds (Pa Bailey), Mary Treen (Cousin Tilly), Virginia Patton (Ruth Dakin), Bobby Anderson (Little George Bailey), Jean Gale (Little Mary Hatch).
Every Christmas Eve more than 1000 people watch George Bailey's Odyssey at The Stanford Theatre. It's our most important tradition.
Advance tickets go on sale Saturday, December 7.
first played at the Stanford Theatre Apr 27, 1947; last played Dec 2023