“High Tor” Starring Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews to be Shown at Lafayette Theatre

A film screening and special VIP panel discussion

When: Saturday, October 1, 2016: film screening, 11:30 am (Wurlitzer organ recital, 11 am); VIP luncheon and panel discussion, 1:30 pm

Where: Film screening, Lafayette Theatre, 97 Lafayette Avenue, Suffern; post-film luncheon at Marcello’s Ristorante, 21 Lafayette Avenue, Suffern

Price: $69 per person ($64 per person for HSRC Members). Includes film admission, VIP luncheon and panel discussion. To just see the film, the price is $5, tickets available at Fandango.com or Lafayette Theatre Box Office

The Historical Society of Rockland County [HSRC] is sponsoring special screening of the rarely seen film “High Tor “at Suffern’s Lafayette Theatre. It is the first time the film will be shown in Rockland County, where the story is set.

Based on a play of the same name, Maxwell Anderson’s “High Tor,” the first “made-for-TV” movie in history, was originally broadcast on CBS in 1956. The play, produced in 1937, led to the preservation High Tor Mountain by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The TV version stars Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews in her film and television debut.

Crosby plays Van Van Dorn, the owner of High Tor, who is being badgered to sell his mountain when he is trapped by a rock slide with some “shady” realtors. That night, he meets the spirit of a Dutch girl named Lisa, played by Andrews.

The HSRC sends specials thanks to the family of Bing Crosby; HLC Properties; and particularly Bing Crosby’s widow, Kathryn Crosby, who is delighted that the film will be shown at the Lafayette Theatre in conjunction with Rockland County History Month (October). The screening is also part of the Haverstraw 400th anniversary celebration.

“High Tor” went unseen in storage for more than 50 years when the film historian Joe Yranski, who had become friends with Kathryn Crosby, gained access to it through her generosity. It was shown at a members-only screening for the Film Society of Lincoln Center sixteen years ago; again in October 2015, in Fort Lee; and now in Rockland County at the Lafayette.

Panelists at the post-film VIP luncheon at Marcello’s will include Mr. Yranski; Jamie Anderson; and other invited participants.

To get tickets to the VIP panel one must visit www.rocklandhistory.org and download a form. Call HSRC @ 845-634-9629 if you cannot download the form. For $5 tickets to the screening only visit www.fandango.com or call the Lafayette Theatre Box Office @ 845-547-2120.