Chances are you do recognize a location , according to https://twitter.com/VisitHudsonNJ starting back in 1907 the Centaur Film Company Company was an American motion picture production company in Hudson County in Bayonne, New Jersey, by William and David Horsley. It was the first independent motion picture production company in the United States.

In 1909 the company added a West Coast production unit, the Nestor Film Company, which established the first permanent film studio in Hollywood, California, in 1911. The company was absorbed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in 1912 and the rest is history! Over the years, Hudson County has been the backdrop in many films and TV productions, least of which is the the famous scene from the Godfather “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” Scene was filmed in Liberty State Park, Moris Pesin Drive

https://twitter.com/VisitHudsonNJ invites you to come to Hudson County and visit these locations and feel like a star

For More Info on Filming in Hudson County, NJ contact Joe Waks   jwaks@hcnj.us 

Here is a list of movies filmed in Hudson County:

JOKER (2019)

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Di Niro

Directions:
William J Brennan Courthouse, 583 Newark Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07306

Loewâ€s Jersey Theatre, 54 Journal Square Plaza
Jersey City, NJ 07306 READ MORE

“Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” Scene

THE GODFATHER (1972)

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan

Directions:
Liberty State Park, Morris Pesin Drive
Jersey City, NJ READ MORE

The post did you know that these movies were filmed in hudson county? first appeared on River View Observer.

•Sunday, October 12 @1pm at The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery, 435 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ

•Saturday, October 18 @7:30pm at Fort Lee High School Auditorium, 3000 Lemoine Avenue, Fort Lee, NJ

•Sunday, October 19 @7:30pm at Fort Lee High School Auditorium, 3000 Lemoine Avenue, Fort Lee, NJ

When people think about the movie ”On the Waterfront” usually impressions that come to mind are Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden and the fact that it was mostly shot in Hoboken come to mind. Also, the famous “I could have been a contenda!” scene of Brandoâ€s has become something of a parody as people often try a Brando imitation with this famous line. This usually has more to do with his put on voice in “The Godfather” and some other campier roles. Nothing could be further from the truth in either the scene from the film or the nature of the story itself.

(Terry Malloy (Chris Botte) tells Edie (Noelle Fair) about his days as a prize fighter in a scene from Hudson Shakespeareâ€s stage adaptation of “On the Waterfront”)

SYNOPSIS: The story of “On the Waterfront” is about dreams denied and oppression on both the personal and societal level by those in power. In Hudson Shakespeareâ€s stage production Terry Malloy (Chris Botte) is a has-been at 29. He used to be a prized fighter who headlined fights at Madison Square Garden and now spends his days being a low level mob enforcer, dock worker and his only pleasure in life is tending to pet pigeons that he treats as his children. One night Terry is asked by his brother Charley “The Gent” Malloy (Alex Falaco), a mafia golden- boy, to take part in silencing a local dock worker named Joey Doyle. Doyle has been trying to organize their union against the mob boss “Johnny Friendly” Skelly (Jon Ciccarelli). Skellyâ€s mob has been keeping the locals in poverty taking most of their dock pay in kick-backs or not allowing them to work at all altogether. Terry believes that they are just going to simply rough up Joey to get him to stop his activities but the event takes a dark turn when Joey is instead thrown off the roof of his tenement.

The murder shocks but doesnâ€t surprise the neighborhood as Joeyâ€s Pop (Larry Frank) and Joeyâ€s best friends Runty (Charley Close) and Tommy (Dante Guilliano) try to come to terms with Joey†sudden death. While they are angry, they know that nothing can be done. The police are bought and paid for by Johnny Friendly and any retribution will lead to more killing, so they must remain “D n D”, deaf and dumb. Joeyâ€s firebrand sister Edie (Noelle Fair), who has been raised away from the neighborhood, doesnâ€t take this tact but instead seeks justice against Joeyâ€s killers. Edie allies with the only man who will listen to her pleas, the not quite comfortable in his skin Father Pete Barry (Scott Manganelli). Father Barry reluctantly accepts to try and help Edie but knows it will be an uphill battle not only against the mob controlled waterfront but his own church hierarchy who is also the pay from the mob.

As Father Barry tries to evoke some small change but getting the dock workers to organize it instead leads to Runty getting roughed with a baseball bat but also brings together Edie and Terry. Terry continually tries to dissuade Edie from pursuing justice against Joeyâ€s killers never divulging his full involvement. The idealistic Edie and the cynical Terry collide but find a common bond and attraction to each neither are what the other expected. Father Barry convinces Runty to turn stateâ€s evidence to the Waterfront Crime Commission which results in a rough end for Runty. Escalating the desperation, the Crime Commission is after Terry to testify against Johnny Friendly. Terry is torn between has family, the mob family, his new found love for Edie and a crisis of conscience to confess his involvement with Joeyâ€s murder.

Director Gene Simakowicz has always been a fan of the movie but was intrigued when he learned that there were several stage versions and delighted when asked by Hudson to direct this production. “I love the era and getting to the meet of the story,” he said. “People love the movie, but you have to forget the movie as that clouds any fresh take on the main story. I tell my actors donâ€t watch the film and try to imitate it. Do your own take. I have each actor provide an on the spot biography where I ask them as the character, ‘who are you?†‘How did you get here?†‘What are you looking to get out of this person†and this allows them to concentrate on the character story and not the film, Simakowicz said on his approach to directing the piece.

Hudson Shakespeare Company is producing this adaptation with The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery will be fundraisers for the upkeep of the historic sight. A $10 suggested donation is asked for admission and concessions will be sold. Both cemetery shows are at 1pm and will be under tents in case of inclement weather. The show will also be held at Fort Lee High School Auditorium at 3000 Lemoine Avenue, Fort Lee on Sat, Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 19 both at 7:30pm and admission for these shows are $10. The showâ€s second weekend are being produced in partnership with the Fort Lee Film Commission. All tickets can be purchased at the door. Please contact http://www.jerseycitycemetery.org/ and http://www.fortleefilm.org/ for advanced sales on their respective shows.

Hudson Shakespeare was established in 1992 and regularly produces a summer touring Shakespeare program performing lesser done Shakespeare works and unique takes on more popular titles. They also produce modern shows as second stage productions some of which included “Inherit the Wind” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” recently performed in Fort Leeâ€s municipal courtroom. For more information on all the shows, call 973 449 7443 or visit www.hudsonshakespeare.org .

The post Hudson Shakespeare Company presents “On the Waterfront” at The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery and Other Venues first appeared on River View Observer.

By Sally Deering

Inside photos by David Bayne

Award-winning actor Danny Aiello is the House Special — the “cherry on the Spumoni”– at Tutta Pasta Italian restaurant in Hoboken, where on any given day passers-by can catch a glimpse of Aiello holding court in the dining room, signing autographs for his fans and, in essence, spreading his special charm like finely seasoned olive oil on a hunk of crusty Italian bread.  

“People love Danny,” Tutta Pasta’s manager Vincent Borriello says. “They love to see him. He’s always happy and he makes other people happy.”

Cool in his wire-rimmed shades and hipper than most dudes his generation, the 76 year-old Aiello wants to leave ’em laughin’ in Hoboken – the town he “adopted” a few years back. So, more than two years ago, Tutta Pasta gave Aiello his own comedy venue, the second floor dining room where every Thursday night, he hosts “Danny’s Upstairs,” a comedy club for up-and-coming comics to do their thing.

“I love comedians,” Aiello says, on a recent Thursday night before show time. “I know what a difficult field (stand-up) is and I have connections. I can help the comics who perform here. That means something to me.” 

Aiello loves to laugh, he says, and with 85 movies under his belt – including an Academy Award nomination for his role as Sal, the pizzeria owner in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing,  — Aiello has cultivated connections and wants to use those connections to help others move up the show biz ladder. That’s why you’ll find Aiello sitting in the restaurant he grooves on, in the town he loves, watching, laughing and giving stand-up comics moral support and a place to shine in front of an audience. 

Showtime is 8:30 and the club seats about 50. The stage is small, with a mic and some spotlights lighting up the “Danny’s Upstairs” logo on the back wall. Waiters serve food and drinks and the place has the same look as other comedy clubs like the old Improv on 9^th and 44^th in Manhattan that closed a few years back (it’s a Chipotle eatery now.) It was in the early 1970s at the Improv, that Aiello entered the world of stand-up comedy – as a bouncer. While he watched the door, he also kept an eye on up-and-coming comics like David Brenner, Freddy Prinze, Rodney Dangerfield and Andy Kaufman. He observed their performances and the way they honed their jokes, dueled with hecklers and polished their acts to become headliners – which they all did.

From the Improv, Aiello hooked up with writer Louis Larusso, a Hoboken native who cast Aiello in several plays on Broadway including a production of Lamppost Reunion, a piece about Hoboken that Aiello says put him on the map. Aiello and Larusso became friends and ever since then, Hoboken cast its spell on Aiello and he fell in love with the town when it still had the look and feel of Budd Shulberg’s On the Waterfront, with its working class neighborhoods and old time charm.

Already a family man in 1977, (he has four children including Danny Aiello III who works as a professional stuntman, ) Aiello landed one of the lead roles in the Broadway hit Gemini, playing a warm-hearted dad who tries to help his son move beyond his working-class roots to finish Harvard.  Aiello brought pathos to the comedic role, something that he reveals time and again in the parts he plays. Whether it’s the gangster with a sympathetic heart in Woody Allen’s Radio Days, or the mama’s boy who lost Cher to Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck, Aiello gives his characters the heart of the working-class everyman who just wants to do the right thing – characters that are so old school, you can almost smell the Old Spice wafting from their shirt collars.

And now, Aiello shares that paternal instinct with the comics who perform on his stage every Thursday night. 

At a recent show, six comics performed – five guys and a gal in their 20, 30s and 40s — who told jokes about skydiving, being fat, their girlfriends – or lack of them – and shopping at Wal-Mart.  Some of them had TV credits like appearances on 30 Rock and many of them are doing the club circuit, traveling to other cities for one-night stands in rooms like “Danny’s.”

Willy Sacco, a nervous comic who jumped about the stage like a high-kicking Rip Taylor told this joke during his routine: “I love this stage. It’s the same size as my apartment.” And this one: “I was so broke I had to move back to my parents. They live in a nursing home.” He also did some shtick as John Travolta making meatballs and dancing ala Saturday Night Fever.

 Headliner for the evening, Mike Vecchione had a laid-back, low-key delivery and told jokes about his girlfriend, including this one: “Our fights are like an Iranian election. She always declares herself the winner.”

Vecchione then told a joke about ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder,) prompting a group of women at one of the tables to heckle and boo. Vecchione kept his cool and the ladies in check, keeping things light and breezy with a little flirtation. “I know what it is.  I feel the heat coming from this direction,” he said, talking directly at the giggling women. “I feel an attraction.”

All the comics kept the audience laughing throughout the 2-1/2 hour show and while they may not be big names like Artie Lange, Jackie Mason and Jerry Stiller who have performed at Danny’s, the comics are gaining experience and the opportunity to do their own material in a professional venue that takes them one step closer to their big break.

 “When I worked at the Improv, I watched David Brenner perform and after he went on, he would go over what worked and what didn’t,” Aiello says. “I try to stress to the comics that when you bomb, it teaches you to be better.”

 It’s that kind of enthusiasm and sage advice that makes Aiello hip and relevant. His zest for life is contagious and he continues to undertake projects that challenge and excite him and give him immense pleasure.  Aside from hosting his own comedy club and rehearsing a one-man show about Al Capone, Aiello just cut an album of songs, Live from Atlantic City, and his renditions of “Save the Last Dance,” and “Besame Mucho,” are now available at iTunes.

To his friends and fans, Aiello’s the Solid Gold Caddy of character actors who just keeps getting better with time. But take a closer look under the hood and you’re likely to find a guy with a big Italian heart, who acknowledges his lucky breaks and wants to share that luck with younger generations. Aiello was raised in New York, but he’s got a Jersey way about him, a stand-up guy with the heart of a working-class everyman who just wants to do the right thing.

You can almost smell the Old Spice wafting from his shirt collar.

 Danny’s Upstairs

Tutta Pasta Restaurant and Bar

200 Washington St

Hoboken

201-792-9603

www.dannysupstairs.com

By Sally Deering-

The post Danny Aiello, A Stand- Up Guy! first appeared on River View Observer.