The Tuesday Night Movie Gang is a group of self-proclaimed movie buffs who meet Tuesday nights to watch movies, eat, drink and share laughs. In its almost 30 years of gathering on Tuesdays, the group has seen more than 1,600 films.
“We’re a bunch of enthusiasts getting together,” says Don Westley of Cumru Township, who was one of the founding members of the original Movie Gang in 1957. “I enjoy the camaraderie. For me, I love watching movies and showing them to others.”
“The movies are okay, but I do it for the camaraderie with these guys,” adds John Tumolo of Pricetown, who joined the gang 42 years ago. “They’re like an extension of the family. It’s amazing how we’ve stayed together as friends.”
These movie fans alternate viewing films at Westley’s home at The Heritage of Green Hills and at the home of 28-year member Kevin Gratz of Douglassville. They watch every genre, both old and new.
On a recent Tuesday night, the Movie Gang gave the usual HD Blu-ray player and 4K digital video projector a rest and showed 1939’s classic The Oklahoma Kid on 35mm film in Gratz’s home. Gratz has two 35mm film projectors in his basement theater. He purchased them in 1987 from the Mount Penn Fire Company. The projectors were originals from the former Majestic Theater, which operated from 1939-1984 in the same building as the fire department.
“What I love about film is you can feel it,” Gratz says. “You load the film. It’s a whole romance. Movies aren’t a physical medium anymore, and that’s why I want to keep the projectors. Film just has a look to it that can’t be replicated digitally. It’s probably one of the most unique features of my theater.”
Walking into Gratz’s basement is like visiting an actual theater. Just outside the theater is the “lobby,” complete with movie posters, a fully operating marquee advertising Jim Carrey’s movie The Majestic, old-fashioned Coke and Certs machines, a popcorn maker, a bar and more.
A colorful “confetti” carpet transitions into a signature Hollywood red carpet that leads to the movie theater, which features its own fun carpeting with images of movie reels, popcorn containers and popcorn pieces. Two rows of theater seats face a 10-foot-wide screen adorned by lavish red velvet curtains on each side. The seven-channel digital sound system delivers powerful sound to further capture a real theater experience.
His theater was inspired by Westley’s original 35mm home theater from his previous residence in Sinking Spring.
No one likes to miss a critical part of a movie for a tedious bathroom break or a popcorn refill, so Gratz found a solution when showing Blu-ray movies: install a small TV in the powder room and one at the bar.
“It doesn’t matter where you are downstairs; you won’t miss any parts of the movie,” says Gratz.
How It All Began
The idea to bring movie lovers together came from the late Ed Foley of Kenhorst. Foley was a full-time offset pressman who worked part-time as a theater projectionist at Rajah Theater – home to vaudeville, motion pictures and live appearances before being renovated into Reading’s Santander Performing Arts Center in the early 2000s.
Foley had just started the informal movie gang when he met 16-year-old Westley, who was working part-time as a projectionist at Rajah. Westley was mesmerized by Foley’s in-home vintage projectors and eventually built a home theater of his own using projectors he acquired from the former Embassy Theater in Reading.
Over the next 25 years, the Movie Gang gained additional members and met on different nights that were most convenient. “When it was Fridays, we’d watch movies until the sun came up,” Tumolo remembers.
In the mid-80s, the group settled on Tuesdays, and so the Tuesday Night Movie Gang was officially born. Westley occasionally wears his “Tuesday Night Movie Gang” t-shirt that the group made in its early days. “It still fits,” he boasts.
Six Degrees of Separation
Members come from different towns and various occupations and just happened to have “a friend we knew who was a movie buff,” Tumolo says.
Westley knew Foley from the Rajah. Tumolo worked with Foley at a printing company when he was 17. “He helped me grow up and molded me into the person I am today,” recalls Tumolo of his special friendship with Foley.
Terry Latchford of Temple knew Tumolo through his work and joined the group 32 years ago. “The only thing I’ve done longer is be married,” Latchford declares.
Long before Gratz knew about the Movie Gang, he had met Westley during his childhood years when Westley showed outdoor movies at pools, parks and playgrounds throughout Berks County in the 60s and 70s. Gratz also rented movies from Westley, who served as an agent with a film rental business.
“It’s how I got my love for outdoor movies,” says Gratz, who hosts a few outdoor movie nights every summer for the Movie Gang and other friends. “They bring back memories of those times.”
Gratz reconnected with Westley after college in 1986 when he came across an old film but didn’t have a projector to watch it. Westley invited him to view the film at a Movie Gang night, and – like the members who came before him – he was hooked.
Pennside resident Mike Farrara, an 18-year member, met Gratz through a summer internship at a telecommunications equipment company. He also did work with Tumolo through the printing business. For seven years, Farrara also brought his father-in-law, Ed Daniels, who passed away in 2009.
The “babies” of the group – 8-year member Paul Dodge of Sinking Spring and 3-year member David Cappuccio of Wyomissing – both know Westley from church. “All I needed to hear was that it was a group of guys who watch and talk about all things movies,” Dodge says.
Other members have come and gone; some moved away, lost interest or passed away. Foley passed away in 2004, but his legacy lives on through the Tuesday Night Movie Gang.
What Makes a Good Movie
The Movie Gang appreciates a well-scripted, -acted and -directed film – characteristics they say set an outstanding movie above the rest.
“When you watch a movie and say, ‘I have to watch that again,’ then it’s a good movie,” Farrara says.
“If I can get emotionally connected to a movie, then it’s a great movie,” Tumolo adds.
Dodge suggests that those film traits aren’t always necessary. “You can overcome a mediocre script if you have great actors,” he says.
The gang also enjoys watching silent films, especially those that Westley says have been “classically” scored by the late Foley, including Ben-Hur and The Phantom of the Opera.
“Ed would take music and score silent films,” Tumolo shares. “He did a wonderful, masterful job. We’d rather hear Ed’s scores than the movies’ scores.”
Taking the Bad with the Good
While the Movie Gang has watched hundreds of excellent movies (see some of their favorites on page 44), they are bound to see a dud now and again.
“Sometimes it’s so bad, it’s good,” says Dodge.
Several members mentioned Lady Ice and Ape 3-D as their ultimate lows. They tease Latchford for bringing some of the group’s least favorite films to the Movie Gang.
“Terry is known for his not-so-great films,” Cappuccio laughs.
“If it’s a bad movie, I probably own it,” adds Latchford, who others claim could operate his own movie rental business with his vast DVD collection.
Commentary John
Members can count on Tumolo to bring some comic relief to a bad movie through his witty commentary. He also lends his humorous comments to any film that presents an amusing opportunity.
“If there’s a good-looking woman on screen, you can expect John to make a comment,” jokes Farrara. “Whatever goofy thing is going on, you can expect John to say something about it.”
Tumolo enjoys being the group’s designated clown. “They get mad at me if I’m not here for any reason,” he says. “They say, ‘You should have been there. There were so many openings for you.’”
It’s Tradition
Like any other family, the Movie Gang has its own traditions during the holidays. At Easter, they watch Ben-Hur. Near the Fourth of July, they enjoy Yankee Doodle Dandy and, more recently, Jaws. Halloween season brings an array of horror flicks. At Christmas, family members join the Movie Gang to watch the holiday classic White Christmas.
“Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas if we didn’t watch Don’s 60-year-old 35mm print of White Christmas,” Gratz says. “One year we watched it on projected DVD, and it just wasn’t the same. We’re used to all the pops, clicks and splices of the film.”
Life-Long Friends
These special friends have shared more than just laughs and tears watching movies on Tuesday nights. They have celebrated each other’s joys – from weddings to births to bar mitzvahs to retirement parties – and comforted one another in times of sorrow.
“They’ve been an important part of my life for the past 18 years,” Farrara says. “My wife expects me to be away on Tuesday nights. I’m never going to miss the Movie Gang.”
Westley never imagined the Movie Gang would be thriving 57 years later. His hope for the future of the group is simple: “Just continue to meet and watch movies.”
by Kandace Wertz | photos by John A. Secoges, Secoges Photographics
