West Orange Classic Film Festival Starts Sunday
Legendary New Jersey comedy team Abbott (from Asbury Park) and Costello (from Paterson) will end the 2025 West Orange Classic Film Festival.
The 19th annual West Orange Classic Film Festival—a joint project of the West Orange Arts Council and the West Orange Recreation Department—starts this Sunday and will run for seven consecutive Sunday afternoons—but not on Super Bowl Sunday—at the Essex Green AMC. Fest founder Ken Mandel says, “this unique festival celebrates West Orange’s rich cinematic history, rooted in Thomas Edison’s pioneering contributions to motion picture technology and the iconic Black Maria Studio.”
You can catch Alfred Hitchcock’s last film, 1975’s Family Plot, this Sunday, On Jan. 19, the 1985 mystery Clue—based on the popular board game of the same name—will be screened. On Jan. 26, a special guest—film scholar Gerard Amsellem—will introduce 1960’s Purple Noon crime thriller. The West Orange St. Patrick Day Parade Planning Committee chose Feb. 2 for Irish Studies Scholar Alan DeLozier to introduce the 1993 historical drama In The Name Of The Father starring Daniel Day-Lewis in one of his greatest roles. After skipping Super Sunday, the fest continues Feb. 16 with Madonna’s 1985 Desperately Seeking Susan, a Jersey-centric comedy also starring Rosanne Arquette.
As a nod to Black History Month, on Feb. 23, 1984’s The House of Dies Drear, about a family discovering their house was a stop on the Underground Railroad helping escaped slaves, will be introduced by screenwriter Richard Wesley. And the fest ends on a comedic note March 2 when classic-comedy expert Paul Castiglia introduces 1942’s Who Done it? starring Jersey legends Lou Costello (from Paterson) and Bud Abbott (from Asbury Park).
(Advertisement)