I don’t see the C condemned rating in the ad which was given by the catholic church to this film as in suitable for no one. In other words the Music Hall’s first Christmas film was a dirty picture. It played for two weeks a hit holiday film for the time and Gene Raymond spoke about riding past the Hall and seeing the crowds lined up for the film and thinking those poor people are going to see a turkey. I don’t know why he felt that way as it is a lot of fun with some terrific Youmans' songs.
In The Godfather scene I believe there’s a news stand where there never had been a news stand because it would be in the way of pedestrian traffic and the area would most likely have been swarming with people either trying to get into the Hall or leaving it when the Christmas show was playing. I hate when they don’t get these things right. It throws me out of the movie.
Yes Jack Valenti lamented at the time of Without a Stitch about porn coming to a first run Broadway house. Especially one that recently had a year long run of a family roadshow.
Beautiful photo. Wish there were many more like this of midtown marquees. Close enough to get a full picture of the marquee and all adjacent artwork surrounding entrance. And in color. They are all too few at least those that survive. I’m sure the theater and the studios made many of them when a film first opened.
I find it interesting that this east side art house foreign film about a grown man’s obsession with a beautiful boy was playing at the Rivoli and the Fox in Hackensack. I saw my mother taking the DVD out of the library once and asked her if she knew what it is about and when I told her she immediately put it back.
By the way it is a very beautiful film but it is no longer the 70s and things are very different.
CMBMN doesn’t count because it is such schlock and has all the passion and sensuality of the Guiding Light
Anybody have a good picture of the proscenium? The one scanned looks poor. It’s always the most beautiful theaters that get torn down. The few remaining are nice but not this breathtaking. And the Paradise looks like it had been the greatest of them all.
Indeed. I think the Orleans used the actual stage, wings and dressing rooms of the Strand as well. Lots of space went unused from the time those theaters stopped being presentation houses.
But I believe though it used the Criterion name it actually was in the space of the very large Bonds clothing store which was next to the movie theater(I am of course not 100% sure.) All the movie theaters were in the actual Criterion space. After the main theater was split horizontally in two I could never go back though I did go to the Roundabout. The elegant oval lounge space in the basement…it’s unfortunate to think of it cut up into black shoebox spaces.
Twice walking on the opposite side of Broadway in the 80s I heard people saying something to the effect ‘I never thought that block would look like that.’ It really had gotten so cheap and tawdry looking after all those years of Bond/The Criterion/Woolworth.
If RobertEndres is still following this I wonder if he remembers if Mame and At Long Last Love were presented in stereo at the Hall. I seem to remember that they were but I am not 100% sure.
I ask this because the blurays are in mono. Of course the lps are in stereo. Were the film stereo tracks lost or were the films always in mono?
I saw Bryant and then the most apparent marquee and erroneously put the two together. Thank you for the year. By ‘64 the 60s had most definitely begun especially after the death of Kennedy. And was about to reach its apotheosis with the 64-65 NY World’s Fair. At least for a boy.
But is the Bryant that unreadable marquee across the street half hidden by a truck?
It would be interesting to know when Rocco played at the Bryant because it looks like the woman and the cars are out of the 50s. Maybe the photo is ‘60 or'61? It looks like the 50s had yet to turn into the 60s.
It was very famously so shortly after its Criterion American premiere. David Selznick tried to talk Lean out of it. I don’t know why Lean did it. Maybe the grosses were less than he had hoped?
Is there a comprehensive history of the film, its cuts, lengths, what cannot be found and opinions as to the quality in terms of the different versions? Even when I first saw it when it was brought back in the 70s it had its longueurs.
I understand what you’re saying about it looking awkward but I think it’s preferable to what’s on the Egyptian marquee. It could have been designed more professionally. The split logo looks awfully good on the Criterion marquee.
The Criterion also had the spinning logos on the top corners.
I hate when they get the theaters wrong like Annie having Camille at Radio City.
Words and Music at least gets it right with Camille playing at the Capitol. The problem there is that there is a stage show where Richard Rodgers hears his music. At this point there were no longer stage shows at the Capitol and Camille played without one. And why didn’t Camille open at the Astor on hard ticket?
In the old souvenir book there is a photo of the clown finale and it indeed looks terrific. I wish I could find an excellent source of the professionally done Impact photos of the stage shows. Scanned from old books doesn’t do them justice. Maybe they no longer exist.
I don’t see the C condemned rating in the ad which was given by the catholic church to this film as in suitable for no one. In other words the Music Hall’s first Christmas film was a dirty picture. It played for two weeks a hit holiday film for the time and Gene Raymond spoke about riding past the Hall and seeing the crowds lined up for the film and thinking those poor people are going to see a turkey. I don’t know why he felt that way as it is a lot of fun with some terrific Youmans' songs.
In The Godfather scene I believe there’s a news stand where there never had been a news stand because it would be in the way of pedestrian traffic and the area would most likely have been swarming with people either trying to get into the Hall or leaving it when the Christmas show was playing. I hate when they don’t get these things right. It throws me out of the movie.
Yes Jack Valenti lamented at the time of Without a Stitch about porn coming to a first run Broadway house. Especially one that recently had a year long run of a family roadshow.
Beautiful photo. Wish there were many more like this of midtown marquees. Close enough to get a full picture of the marquee and all adjacent artwork surrounding entrance. And in color. They are all too few at least those that survive. I’m sure the theater and the studios made many of them when a film first opened.
I find it interesting that this east side art house foreign film about a grown man’s obsession with a beautiful boy was playing at the Rivoli and the Fox in Hackensack. I saw my mother taking the DVD out of the library once and asked her if she knew what it is about and when I told her she immediately put it back. By the way it is a very beautiful film but it is no longer the 70s and things are very different.
CMBMN doesn’t count because it is such schlock and has all the passion and sensuality of the Guiding Light
I remember Tanya quite well. Today it would not fly.
On page 8 that is a very impressive screen. What years did that exist in the theater?
Meanwhile it was playing continuous perfs at the Music Hall. From 4 to 6 performances a day.
Anybody have a good picture of the proscenium? The one scanned looks poor. It’s always the most beautiful theaters that get torn down. The few remaining are nice but not this breathtaking. And the Paradise looks like it had been the greatest of them all.
Indeed. I think the Orleans used the actual stage, wings and dressing rooms of the Strand as well. Lots of space went unused from the time those theaters stopped being presentation houses.
But I believe though it used the Criterion name it actually was in the space of the very large Bonds clothing store which was next to the movie theater(I am of course not 100% sure.) All the movie theaters were in the actual Criterion space. After the main theater was split horizontally in two I could never go back though I did go to the Roundabout. The elegant oval lounge space in the basement…it’s unfortunate to think of it cut up into black shoebox spaces.
Twice walking on the opposite side of Broadway in the 80s I heard people saying something to the effect ‘I never thought that block would look like that.’ It really had gotten so cheap and tawdry looking after all those years of Bond/The Criterion/Woolworth.
‘And the streetlamp light fills the gutter with gold.’
These old color Times Square at night photos are always so beautiful when they’re taken after rain.
If RobertEndres is still following this I wonder if he remembers if Mame and At Long Last Love were presented in stereo at the Hall. I seem to remember that they were but I am not 100% sure.
I ask this because the blurays are in mono. Of course the lps are in stereo. Were the film stereo tracks lost or were the films always in mono?
I saw Bryant and then the most apparent marquee and erroneously put the two together. Thank you for the year. By ‘64 the 60s had most definitely begun especially after the death of Kennedy. And was about to reach its apotheosis with the 64-65 NY World’s Fair. At least for a boy.
But is the Bryant that unreadable marquee across the street half hidden by a truck?
It would be interesting to know when Rocco played at the Bryant because it looks like the woman and the cars are out of the 50s. Maybe the photo is ‘60 or'61? It looks like the 50s had yet to turn into the 60s.
It was very famously so shortly after its Criterion American premiere. David Selznick tried to talk Lean out of it. I don’t know why Lean did it. Maybe the grosses were less than he had hoped?
So Mad World, 2001, Lawrence. Any others?
Is there a comprehensive history of the film, its cuts, lengths, what cannot be found and opinions as to the quality in terms of the different versions? Even when I first saw it when it was brought back in the 70s it had its longueurs.
I understand what you’re saying about it looking awkward but I think it’s preferable to what’s on the Egyptian marquee. It could have been designed more professionally. The split logo looks awfully good on the Criterion marquee. The Criterion also had the spinning logos on the top corners.
The font of the title at the Egyptian is pretty amateurish. Looks like it was done by a local high school. Very odd they didn’t use original art work.
I hate when they get the theaters wrong like Annie having Camille at Radio City.
Words and Music at least gets it right with Camille playing at the Capitol. The problem there is that there is a stage show where Richard Rodgers hears his music. At this point there were no longer stage shows at the Capitol and Camille played without one. And why didn’t Camille open at the Astor on hard ticket?
So Funny Girl(which was a Panavision film. 70mm blowup?)was shown on the 75ft screen or the 90ft? Or was the 90ft installed for Marooned?
In the old souvenir book there is a photo of the clown finale and it indeed looks terrific. I wish I could find an excellent source of the professionally done Impact photos of the stage shows. Scanned from old books doesn’t do them justice. Maybe they no longer exist.
Another great Strand booking.
No discussion on all the major plans just announced for this theater?