Cinema Treasures

  • April 17, 2012

    New Book about Samuel ‘Roxy’ Rothafel - “American Showman” 30% Discount

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    Cinema Treasures is excited to announce the publication of a new book, “American Showman: Samuel ‘Roxy’ Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry” (Columbia University Press, 2012) by Ross Melnick and a 30% discount for Cinema Treasures users and Theatre Historical Society members.

    “Roxy” (1882-1936) built an enormously influential career as film exhibitor, stage producer, radio broadcaster, musical arranger, war propagandist, and international celebrity. He managed many of New York’s most important theaters, including the Regent, Strand, Rialto, Rivoli, Capitol, Roxy, and Radio City Music Hall, and was one of the nation’s most celebrated broadcasters from 1922-1935 on NBC and CBS.

    He also helped engineer the integration of film, music, and live performance in silent film exhibition; scored early Fox Movietone films such as Sunrise (1927) and Street Angel (1928); pioneered the convergence of film, broadcasting, and music publishing and recording in the 1920s; and helped movies and moviegoing become the dominant form of mass entertainment between the world wars.

    Regularly cited as one of the twelve most important figures in the film and radio industries, Roxy was instrumental to the development of film exhibition and commercial broadcasting, musical accompaniment, and a new, convergent entertainment industry. “American Showman” is the first book to examine Rothafel’s multifaceted career in film, music, and broadcasting.

    “It’s about time that we are finally getting the full story of America’s most daring and successful showman…. Ross Melnick’s book is that rare combination of in-depth research and a great read. Finally, Roxy has received his due.” – Rick Altman, University of Iowa, author of Silent Film Sound

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    For 30% off US orders, visit cup.columbia.edu and enter code AMEME.
    For 30% off orders in the UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and South Africa, email .uk or phone (1243) 843-291 and use code AMEME.

    “American Showman” is also available from Amazon – US and UKBarnes & Noble, and other retailers.

  • January 30, 2012

    Lansdowne Theatre, the most popular photo on cinematreasures

    Cinema Treasure’s most popular photo, with more than 13,000 views, is of the Lansdowne Theatre a long closed movie palace in Philadelphia’s suburbs. Howard Haas informs us that the photo is so popular because it is on the recent “After the Curtain” write up of the Lansdowne Theatre.

    As the nonprofit organization owning the Lansdowne Theatre is fundraising by charging rental fees to photographers, many stellar photos of the Lansdowne are emerging.

    Another recent site features an amazing photo of the stagehouse, and more tantalizing photos of the Lansdowne are found on this site.

  • December 23, 2011

    Happy Holidays from Cinema Treasures

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    All of us here at Cinema Treasures wish you a happy holiday and a healthy New Year. We look forward to many more serving you.

    Thank you

    (Thanks to Norman Plant for providing the photo.)

  • November 24, 2011

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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    Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Cinema Treasures. We hope you have a great holiday and if you’re not celebrating it, just have a great weekend.

    (Thanks to Ken Roe for providing the photo.)

  • September 23, 2011

    Cinema Treasures hits 25,000 photographs!

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    It’s just been just over three months since we relaunched Cinema Treasures and we’re happy to report we now have over 25,000 photos of movie theaters. Great work, everyone!

    (And special thanks to our long-time volunteer Ken Roe who uploaded the 25,000th photo, as seen above.)

  • August 28, 2011

    Cinema Treasures featured in the New York Times

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    We’re extremely excited to say that Cinema Treasures is profiled in the Arts and Leisure section of today’s New York Times.

    The New York Times: Scrapbooking Big-Screen Memories

    Also… special thanks to Amanda Petrusich and Konrad Fiedler at the Times, as well as Roger Ebert and Gordon McAlpin for their kind words.

  • July 16, 2011

    Photostreams of the Week: Ken Roe & Ed Solero

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    As we pass the 13,000 photo mark today, here are two terrific photo galleries for you to while away your Saturday…

    The first, from CT theater editor Ken Roe, is loaded with more than a thousand eye-watering images of cinemas from around the world. View images from China, Australia, the UK, and many other countries. You’ll love the mix of beauty and decay that Ken captures.

    The second, from Ed Solero, is a wonderful (and growing) selection of images primarily from the New York area. New and old, Ed’s photostream captures the ups and downs of New York moviegoing over the decades.

    For our Saturday photo blast, the local and the global seems like the right mix and represents some of the best and most unique images we’ve seen. And if you haven’t viewed our previous featured galleries, from Lauren Durbin and Norman Plant, now’s a great time to check them out.

    Thanks for all of your contributions!

  • July 15, 2011

    Improved ZIP code searching

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    We’re excited to announce we’ve upgraded our search engine to provide better results when searching for movie theaters by ZIP codes within the United States.

    When we relaunched the site six weeks ago, we had limited support for searching by ZIP code. But, as you might have noticed, if you searched for a ZIP code, we were only able to show movie theaters located within that exact area.

    While this feature was somewhat useful, we were often only able to return a very small number of movie theaters for each ZIP code query. As well, when searching dense urban areas like New York City, we’re unable to show nearby theaters… even if they were blocks away from the ZIP code you entered.

    So, now, when you search for a ZIP code, we’ll show you every movie theater within 30 miles of the ZIP code you entered (sorted by distance). We think this feature is much more useful now and hope all of you enjoy it!

  • July 13, 2011

    Adding Photographs / Copyright Reminder

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    Over the last six weeks our photo galleries have grown from nil to nearly 12,000 images. We’re absolutely thrilled by the response and we hope you’re enjoying them as much as we are. But …

    We wanted to send a quick reminder, though, that all images uploaded to the site should be those belonging to you, images taken by others but posted with their authorization, or those images currently in the public domain (ideally pre-1922 photographs out of copyright).

    Thanks for your understanding!

  • July 12, 2011

    Amazing Images: Avalon and Pantages

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    I was scrolling through today’s new batch of images when my eyeballs started feasting on Hollywood90038’s amazing new photos of the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and, perhaps even more rare, the Avalon Theatre on Catalina Island. Drool-worthy photos