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Memories
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March 31, 2008
Toronto theater history
TORONTO, CANADA — This piece in The Bulletin discusses some local theater history.
Toronto was considered hitting the big time on the traveling vaudeville circuit and with over 50 theatres from the opulent 3,000 seat Shea’s Hippodrome (now the site of New City Hall) to the small 50 seat Moore’s Musee Theater (once stood near the corner of Adelaide and Yonge) to prove it.
However what we needed now was a first-class Vaudeville house to rival anything New York City had; a theatre that would be beautiful in design, a theatre that could attract an up-market crowd, a theatre that offered only one top-billed show a night and thus making going to see a Vaudeville show an event! On Monday Feb. 16, 1914 Toronto got that upscale Vaudeville house with the astounding Winter Garden theatre. It loomed seven stories above Loew’s Yonge Street Theatre (now known as the Elgin), which opened the previous year on Yonge Street just north of Queen.
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March 28, 2008
San Diego cinema history
“Before it was the GasLamp” San Diego Reader blog
I have, however, written a separate account – LAST OF THE ALL-NIGHTERS – of my own memories and experiences while working the downtown theaters. I offer it here, as sort of a DVD-extra, at the bottom of the Gaslamp article, which appears below in its original “War & Peace” director’s cut draft.
Also in this blog, OVER 100 PHOTOS AND GRAPHICS that did NOT appear with the published article, most of which have never been seen outside of Miranda’s family and his closest associates!
(Thanks to San Diego Shooter for providing the photo.)
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March 25, 2008
Sneak preview reissue question
While looking at library microfilm newspaper ads from the early 1970’s, I stumbled on a real, real unusual one. When “Brewster McCloud” was playing wide in early 1971, they announced a sneak preview of next week’s feature which just happened to be a combo of “Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice” with “Thunderball” likely run by itself as the sneak preview. General Cinema’s Gannett ad for Central Plaza in Yonkers, NY stated “Sneak preview of a James Bond film friday night.” Hard to believe it, but true…
This is the first instance I have ever seen of a reissued film being run as a sneak preview on the weekend before it’s opening the following week. And boy, what a great double bill too !!!
Was this at all common back then???Thanks Much.
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March 21, 2008
Does anyone have memories about drive-in theater patrons? (I need ushers' comments, too)
Hi. I’m a graduate student at New York University. I’m planning to write a final report about who could and couldn’t go to drive-in theaters in 1930s through 1950s. If you have memories about drive-in theaters in that period, I need you to think about these questions: Were there African-American families? Were there women drivers? Were there immigrants? Were there single mom(dad) families?
And especially, if you were ushers at drive-in theaters at that time, can you tell me how much you earned and whether you had an experience to see drive-in films with your family or not.
When you write a comment(or email), please tell me your age and the time of your memory came from.Thanks for reading it. I would really appreciate your help.
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March 18, 2008
Theatre Architect Perry E. Crosier
The following information about theatre architect Perry Crosier is indexed in the catalog at the University of Minnesota Libraries:
Crosier, Perry E., 1890-1953
Perry E. Crosier & Son
Architects — Minnesota
Motion picture theaters
http://special.lib.umn.edu./findaid/xml/naa121.xmlBetween 1914 and 1916, Mr. Crosier had his own company of architects and contractors, the Crosier Construction Company. After the breakup of his company, Crosier continued to practice independently for most of his life. In 1921, he worked briefly with the architectural firm of Liebenberg & Kaplan and continued to collaborate with them, especially in the design of movie theaters throughout his career.
Some of the following theaters are listed on Cinema Treasures.
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February 21, 2008
The Theatre Organ Murders
I hope you don’t mind me sending you this info. But I wanted you to know about my latest book. Chock full of Dallas theatre organ history and more. It is a different slant on theatre organs for sure.
You will love this one.
DONE IN BY A DIAPASON? FRITTERED BY A FLUTE? VIOLATED BY A VOX HUMANA?
Yes, those and more.My latest book is “The Theatre Organ Murders”. A wickedly delightful tale set along Elm Street’s Theatre Row during its heyday. Although fictional, it includes many other real stories, true events, authentic histories and an amazing cast of characters. The fictional Rivertree Theatre and its astounding Rivertree Publix #1 Wurlitzer theatre organ set the stage for a string of bizarre and intriguing murders. More than a few myths, legends and real histories are included. But what is the real reason behind the murders? And WHO DONE IT? AND WHY? Also a great history of the famous Palace Theatre in Dallas and its amazing Publix #1 Wurlitzer Organ is told. And lots more goodies too such as an updated list of all of the downtown movie theatres that were never known about before, an updated Opus theatre organ list and more interesting things.
If you enjoyed “Street of Dreams, A History of Dallas' Theatre Row”, you will love this book.
Available at Xlibris or www.organmurders.com.
The lurid cover picture is worth the price of the book! And I had such fun writing this one.Regards,
Jeanette Howeth Crumpler
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February 20, 2008
Century’s Queens Theatre, Queens Village. NY
Hi All,
I just found this web site. It was great reading about people that I worked with during my
years in the theatre biz. I worked for Century Theatres from January 1952 until 1969, as Ass’t. Mgr. and also as manager of many Century Theatres. I was Ass’t. mgr. at the Queens Theatre in 1957-58. I was made manager in 1962 at the Park Theatre in New Hyde Park. Also managed the Floral Theatre in Floral Park, and the Community Theatre in Queens Village. I am now living in Ocala, Florida.It would be great to hear from anyone from that time I lived in NY.
Artie Ringfield…
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February 19, 2008
Curtain raised on lost picture palaces
LONDON, ENGLAND — This article in This is Local London delves into the history of some near-forgotten cinemas.
Another Gaumont cinema, in Rosehill, still stands as a bingo club in Bishopsford Road.
The building, designed by Harry Weston, was a shrine to modernism with its vertical windows and geometric patterns.
Circle motifs in the foyer resembled aircraft roundels and those on the wall recalled a ship’s portholes.
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February 5, 2008
Growing Up at the Carthay Circle
LOS ANGELES, CA — Back in the day, which for me was the late ‘60s, when as a teen of driving age I began to tour every historic movie site in Lala, I had the opportunity to see, for the first time, Gone With The Wind in its fresh new Technicolor print, at the very famous, historic and absolutely entrancing Carthay Circle Theater.
Digression: Back then, and until it premiered for the first time on tv in the ‘80s, that film was touted as so important to MGM it was too big to ever grace the likes of the living room tube, and was only ceremoniously trotted out every 7-10 years or so for one more in a series of periodic road show runs at some fancy glamorous beautiful old theater in or near historic Hollywood. The chosen site for it in 1967 was Carthay Circle.
My memory of the theater, the only time I had the opportunity to be near it let alone step foot inside, was that it was the creme de la creme, bathed in beautiful soft light at what I remember was the cul-de-sac end of a rather beautiful and quiet residential street. The interior was not as memorable but vaguely beautiful, showing no hint of the threadbare end one would imagine would precede the death of a palace just two years later. The atmosphere of the place, the building, the quiet site, was everything I could have imagined in a historic movie palace. It reeked of the glamour of the past and, when I experienced it, the glamour of the present.
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February 1, 2008
Vintage Canby Theatre Grand Opening announcement
CANBY, MN — The new Canby Theatre proclaimed the most beautiful and most modern in the northwest excepting only the Twin Cities, will open its doors to the public next Wednesday (November 15, 1939.)
The Opening Show, in technicolor, will be Darryl F. Zanuck’s technicolor production of HOLLYWOOD CAVALCADE starring Alice Faye and Don Ameche.
Special Grand Opening Matinee (Wednesday, November 15, 1939) at 4 p.m. Admission: Children 5 cents, Adults 25 cents.
The New Canby Theatre (replacing the Broadway Theatre) was equipped with ‘the finest American Seats, new projectors and best air-conditioning system on the market today.’