Radio City Music Hall
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
116 people
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By the way are Pacino and Keaton going into the Hall or coming out when they see the news of Michael’s father being shot? If it is before do they still go to see the Christmas show anyway? It sounds like it would have been a terrific one.
It’s nice that the Godfather got that right. Annie has Camille playing at the Hall whereas the musical Words and Music gets it right having it play at the Capitol(though I’m not sure if in reality Camille played there with a stage show as the film has it.)
It’s nice that the Godfather got that right. Annie has Camille playing at the Hall whereas the musical Words and Music gets it right having it play at the Capitol(though I’m not sure if in reality Camille played there with a stage show as the film has it.)
For anybody who thinks film can make money at the Music Hall, didn’t you read Pete Apruzzese’s post from Feb. 14?
With those outrageous fees, it’s simply not going to happen.
Some of the recent posts brought back some RCMH memories, so here’s my $0.02:
I saw three films in the WB film festival that played RCMH in the fall of 1996: “My Fair Lady” (print was of disappointing quality, there were audio problems and the house was far from full); “Bonnie and Clyde” (largely full house) and “The Exorcist” (close to, if not a complete sellout, and I remember Ellen Burstyn jokingly telling the audience that they were “crazy” to sit through the film again).
The only film I saw at RCMH during the film/stage show era was “Smokey and the Bandit” in the spring of 1977. A weekday matinee; there probably weren’t more than 100 patrons.
If Cablevision and the film studios could ever agree on terms for short term exclusive runs of new films at RCMH, there certainly are films that would draw huge crowds to RCMH. The upcoming film version of the musical “The Producers” would likely be a smash hit at RCMH.
The first tilm to play the Hall was “The Bitter Tea of General Yen” with Barbara Stanwyck, directed by Frank Capra. When I worked at the Hall I had friends in the Publicity Department who gave me the “official” mimeographed (in those days) list of all the films that played the Hall, their play dates and a brief description of the stage show that accompanied the film. It also had a year-end listing of the number of films that came from each studio. I updated the list with the films that played after the policy change in 1979, until I left in 2000. I have the list somewhere at home. When I get a chance I’ll see what it has to say about “Bells”.
Thanks,I found some lists here of films but I can’t locate the “Bells” listed but I take Simon’s word. I could only find partial lists. An entire list would be out-of-the question? I was wondering what the first ever film shown was at the RCMH. I think the first I saw there was “The Band Wagon”. I also saw many Disney and Audrey Hepburn films there,too in later years
Warren
When I mentioned the Star Wars films in 70mm I was thinking a day each. I agree it would never play a week, although maybe a triple 70mm show would last a whole week. I can imagine the lines at prime shows would be crazy because there would be almost no turnover.
Hey Myron, Welcome to the club. The answers to all your questions are on this this site and this location. Please take the time (well spent) and start at the top, take notes, memorize all the data and get an education. To make life a bit easier for you, “The Bells…” was the Hall’s Christmas film in 1945.
I believe in the film, “The Godfather”, the marquee of the Radio City Music Hall shows the film “The Bells of St. Mary’s” as being screened at the theatre. Did this film really show there or is it just fiction? Who would have a listing of way back in 1945 when the film was released? I’d love to know the first-ever film to be shown at this great theatre.I’m really curious.
What about what we talked about years ago. Classic films(no Excorcist, Abyss, Kill Bill, we want family friendly films here ) changing once a week with a great stage show during the summer. I’m talking about the Rockettes and symphony and ballet. Include great special effects like the burning of Nome, a Jules Verne trip to outerspace or the great ballets like Bolero or the Undersea. With the Media make it an historic event. Yeah I know it will cost a ton of money but like I’ve said a million times you’ll be employing a lot of people. If Lincoln Center can pay the fees of overpaid 3rd rate classical artists(I won’t get started) the city can find some money for one of its greatest institutions. Yeah and I’ll hold up the Rockettes anyday to what passes for art on the stages at 64th St. And what about corporate sponsorship? What tax breaks is Cablevision getting? Where did Christo(and I like his work) get 26 million for his 70’s orange shower curtains? The possibilities are endless.
Films by themselves are not going to work and neither are stage shows alone.
The city should prosecute Cablevision executives for crimes against the cultural heritage of New York.
I personally am not a huge fan of the Star Wars films but a 70mm festival would insure sell-out crowds. I would love to see the great epics that cant be watched properly on television like Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Cleopatra and even Titanic.
I agree with CConnolly. In 1989 “The Abyss” was shown at the Music Hall for one night only prior to its official opening day (in 70mm I think), and the place was packed. And didn’t Bob Furmanek say he saw the latest Harry Potter movie there last year? Was that open to the public or was it an invitation-only event?
Regarding films playing at RCMH.
First off, the “Kill Bill” films were a bad choice on my part. They’re not that good and they did not do as well as Miramax thought.
Of course there are the enduring classics that are standards. “Psycho” being one of them along with others (everyone will have their own list so I won’t go there now…)
What I’m trying to say is very simple: if the film is big enough, anticipated enough and it played even for short time at the Hall, people will come and the place would sell out. I think the days of RCMH being a movie showplace all the time are done. But a limited run of a big movie? Oh, yes indeed it would sell out.
Think of the next “Harry Potter” movie there. Or the next (awful) “Star Wars” installment? The line would be around the block.
Well now that Cablevision is presenting Dora and basketball and people are gunning for a Tarantino festival maybe overpriced condos aren’t such a bad idea.
Better dead than red.
Gee I don’t know, CConnolly … “Psycho” (1960) filled the entire orchestra section of the hall – thousands of seats, and on a weeknight yet! – while when I saw both “Kill Bill” movies on first run they each played to half empty theaters. But you can’t go by me – I’d go see any movie that played the Music Hall.
If you want to fill up the Music Hall, you’ve got to put the right film in there.
I can imagine “The Exorcist” packing the place. It’s debatable whether the film is a classic or not but it’s undeniably popular. Put “Pulp Fiction” or (even better) both “Kill Bill” films and, VOILA…a packed house GUARANTEED. (Again, the artistic merits of “Kill Bill” is highly debatable…I’m not talking about films that are good. Just films that will sell out the Hall.)
As fine as “My Fair Lady” is, to the present generation, (please forgive me…!) it’s a dinosaur. You’ll pull in some older folks, film lovers and maybe some “youngsters” who appreciate it but anyone else? No. Sad but true. Ditto for virutally any of the musicals starting in ‘65 with “Sound of Music” and going backwards.
Here’s a very troublesome story about the new film director Spike Jonze. He directed “Being John Malcovich” and “Adaptation.” The quote is from a review of the book “Rebels on the Backlot” by Susan Waxman from Salon.com:
“Waxman reports that one day on the set of "Being John Malkovich” director Jonze took Malkovich aside to tell him he was overacting a scene. “I was getting a little Blanche there, wasn’t I?” the star agreed. Jonze looked puzzled. “Blanche Dubois,” responded Malkovich. “Tennessee Williams? ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’? Blanche Dubois?” Jonze could only shrug; he had no idea what Malkovich was talking about. “What did you get me into?” Malkovich moaned to producer Steve Golin, who could only respond, “At least it won’t be derivative.”
Get it? Spike Jonze’s film references only go back as far as “Star Wars”. Sadly a lot of my peers and younger just don’t “get” classic film. If they have ANY film references at all, they go only as far back as the late 60’s for “Bonnie & Clyde”.
So, to fill up the Music Hall, you won’t do it with the classic films. There’s simply not enough of an audience for them. You COULD fill it up with contemporary or semi-contemporary films that could supplement the classics.
Before “The Exorcist” started that night, Friedkin told a great story relating to what CConnolly and R.H. said: in 1973 he and writer/producer William Peter Blatty were editing the film at Warner Bros' editing facility at 666(!) Fifth Avenue. They took a break for food at a nearby deli, and passed Radio City. Friedkin said to Blatty, “Well, there’s one theater our movie will never play!”
I was at the Hall for the My Fair Lady Saturday matinee and in the orchestra and I can tell you it was far from full.
Again does Cablevision receive any kind of city concessions? And if so why shouldn’t it be responsible to Hall’s history and that of the city. What it presents now is as if the Museum of Natural History were only to display ant farms. They’ve got the greatest theater in the world and they use it with less imagination than somebody with a shoebox.
The hell with a west side stadium. Obviously the city is choking on money it forces the taxpayers to keep coughing up. If the city says it doesn’t have it where do they get all their money for corporate welfare?(Yeah I know they provide jobs. Well I’d like to get those Rockettes working more than once a year and the out of work ballet dancers and musicians too.)
CConnolly-William Friedkin attended the showing and said as much from the stage.
I never knew “The Exorcist” played as a revival at the Hall. The former management must’ve been spinning in their graves.
About the beat up print of The Exorcist REndres told us about: there was a splice during an early scene with Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn, creating a jump cut where Linda Blair seemed to teleport across the room from one place to another. It got a huge laugh from the patrons in the Hall.
Some good comments are made in the above posts but I still have to say a classic film series at RCMH can make a profit. As a regular thing, no the expenses are way too high. As a festival for a few shows with the right films you can do a decent gross. The thing is the work involved equals a small profit compared to the returns of a sold out concert. But, if the halls sitting empty a few hundred thousand is still nice pocket change. There is so much sentimentality attached to the hall, it is different from seeing a classic film series at the Zeigfeld. I saw the screenings of Jaws and Psycho and can attest they were virtually sold out. No matter what percentage Universal took that night the hall made a nice profit on 6000 tickets, not to mention the concession.
I feel I must add a comment, since I was Head Projectionist at the Hall during the last days of the movie/stage show policy, and through the mentioned W.B. and Universal Film Festivals. Perhaps from the start, Radio City was too big for movies even in the 40’s. Roxy intended the Hall to do big stage presentations, and the New Roxy/Center theatre with little more than half the seats to do what the Hall eventually did. I once had a Vice President at the Hall from the “good old days” tell me that perhaps they should have converted the Hall into office space and saved the Center, as it was even then better sized for film presentations. I can remember days in the time before we changed policy in 1979 when no one would give us a film. I was told the only reason we got “Caravans” for our last Christmas Show in the old policy was through the kindess of Universal Pictures which picked up distribution so we would have a picture.
Now the situation is even more difficult with audiences used to every picture opening at the same time at a multiplex near them, and hundereds of channels of TV and DVDs in competiton for their attention.
Film at the Hall only works when it becomes an “event”. When that happens the results are amazing! “Lion King” with a Disney produced stage show opened in just two theatres, the Hall and the El Capitan, and made it into the week’s top ten earners at the box office tied with “Beverly Hills Cop III” on over a thousand screens. “Napoleon” with an orchestra and the triptych run on three screens, made it into the top ten the week it opened with just four screenings at the Hall. “The Magic of Lassie” had lines around the block, but it also had a stage show which featured the “real” Lassie. On the other hand, Universal gave us “Smokey and the Bandit” and (predictably) it did poorly — its just not a Manhattan kind of film. What hurt us was that distributors could say, “You had the #2 grossing film in the country that year and it died!"
I’m not absolutely sure, but to my recollection neither the W.B. nor Universal Festivals sold the house out. I don’t remember seeing many if any people in the third mezzanine under the booth, and I’m not sure the 2nd Mezzanine was open either. (By the way, the W.B. prints were what were generally available, thus explaining the slightly beat up "Casablanca”. “The Exorcist” and “My Fair Lady” both in 70mm came from an outside W.B. source and were really beat up. The Universal prints were new, and after we ran them became archival prints and aren’t available for other screenings.) Jim Rankin’s comments above are right on. Audiences have changed both with the times and the technology.
Jim Rankin is, of course, correct.
The New York Times ran an article a few weeks ago that stated that over 60% of a films gross earnings is achieved through DVD sales along. Only 20% is aquired through it’s theatrical release. The studios see a film’s theatrical release now as a mere platform to advertise the film for DVD. Just look how quickly “The Incredibles” is coming out on DVD (in March)! The big reason for the shift is because more people now buy DVDs to own rather than rent them like they did in the now good-old-days of VHS rentals. The fact that the studios now make the bulk of the money off of DVD sales is kept pretty much a secret because it’s part of their home entertainment divisions. The stars and writers do not get much of a percentage from it. Yet.
The big question is (they say…) will the trend of people buying DVD movies continue? The Times article stated that already DVD sales a slowing. People are waking up and realizing that they’re accumulating these huge libraries of movies they never watch (or may never want to). If that happens, maybe, just maybe, we might see a return to better theatrical releases. But is the damage done?
I’m not very into buying DVDs. I have maybe 20 or so but they’re strictly films that I love with my heart and have watched over and over again like “Citizen Kane”, “Dr. Strangelove” etc. I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would waste money buying a DVD of, say, “The Grudge” or “I, Robot”.
Sorry…I know this is not the place to put all this down but it does follow the basic theme that’s been written over the past few days.