Thanks Warren. I thought so, but I wasn’t sure if that retrofit had been complete by summer ‘62. I suppose any further discussion of this fact should continue on the Capitol’s page, but it’s incredible that more than half of the Capitol’s original seating was concealed behind draperies.
TheaterBuff… I was not referring to you at all. I was responding directly to Evan’s comments that this item was not funny at all due to the grim socio-economic realities of the world. In fact, I very much agree with Evan’s point of view concerning the slow bleeding-off of the American economy to foreign interests and cheap foreign labor and I am certainly no fan of the present Administration. I’m not trying to say that we the membership of CT are not concerned with these serious issues, but merely that – given the nature of this site – I think we can allow some room here to enjoy a moment of levity such as that provided by this light-hearted April Fool’s joke.
The article cites the Paramount’s 4144 seating capacity as being “second only to Radio City” in NYC. What about the Loew’s Capitol on Broadway? Had they already curtained off large chunks of seating for the Capitol’s conversion to Cinerama by the summer of 1962?
As for HTWWW… I am indeed saying “if you can’t do 3 strip Cinerama, don’t do it at all.” The way the horizon and other straight lines so obviously slant away from the center at either side of the screen is incredibly distracting whenever I’ve tried to watch this film in letterbox format on TV. Bad as it is on a 60 inch home screen, I can’t imagine that projecting such a broken and distorted image on a flat screen 50 FEET wide would help matters. Perhaps its just me, but I’d rather hold out and give that film its proper due. At least if there was a curved screen, I might be able to live with a single strip 35mm print… but otherwise, I vote “no” on that title for the Zeigfeld. And let’s face it… HTWWW is not all that great a movie. It is a bit cornball and cliche ridden, in my humble opinion. Whatever greatness it has, I believe, is due in large part to the 3 strip format in which it was originally presented. Perhaps I’m in the minority on that front.
I’d rather see William Wyler’s “The Big Country” at the Ziegfeld.
Another film I’d add to the list, Gary, would be the original “Planet of the Apes”. I’d love to know what are the top 25 film titles listed on those suggestion cards they handed out during the series.
Hi Gary… I only included “Waterworld” in my suggestion for a “second chance” week because I don’t think it ever had a shot at being fairly reviewed or given a chance to find an audience on its first release. As with “Heaven’s Gate” and “1941”, many critical minds had already decided to pan the film based on the film’s outsized budget and stories of the star’s egomaniacal behavior on set. In truth, I’m not a terrific fan of “Waterworld”, but I do think it was maligned for what occured off screen more so than for what appears on the screen. Similarly, I don’t think “1941” is nearly as bad as its reputation would lead you to believe and I happen to believe that the full 3 hour and 39 minute cut of “Heaven’s Gate” is a work of absolute beauty. I just thought it would be a neat idea to run these 3 alleged turkeys on the Ziegfeld’s big screen (and each is spectacularly suited for the big screen in its own way) to give them a shot at redemption at the hands of 21st Century audiences.
P.S… Wasn’t the Route 110 place called Adventure Land? I went there whenever we’d visit my great-grandfather’s grave in St. Charles Cemetary. Actually, the amusement park is still there, isn’t it? Or was until very recently.
Even after Adventurer’s Inn was demolished, the arcade on the corner across the street was still in operation well into the 1980’s. The multiplex there is not a bad place to see a film, if you avoid the smaller auditoriums close to the center lobby area (they would be #’s 1, 6, 7 and 12). In the other rooms, the screens are nice and big in relation to the size of the room, with brightly lit images and excellent surround sound reproduction. The wait for concessions, however, is painfully long.
I remember in the late ‘70’s when Pope John Paul II visited St. Stanislaus during his tour of the States. The very substantial Polish community gave the Pontiff (their fellow countryman by birth) a jubilant reception. I wonder if the Meserole closed for business that day or offered any special programming.
Carl Ballantine! I haven’t heard that name in ages. I remember him from his many variety show appearances and his stint as one of the crew in “McHale’s Navy”. I just looked him up on imdb.com and happily find that he is very much alive and kicking with a healthy stream of steady work in TV, movies and voice-over work still in evidence – though certainly not at the level it was during his ‘60’s – early '70’s heyday.
I worked just a few doors down the block from the former Meserole in the 1980’s at a Mini-Mart at 711 Manhattan Ave just off Norman. At the time, I seem to recall the theater housed Wholesale Liquidators type of discount store, which advertised on the old marquee. This was about 1984 or ‘85. I remember years later, I was driving back through the area and circled around Lorimer Street to see the shell of the auditorium and took note of how big a nabe it actually was.
Here’s an article from today’s NY Times regarding the old Globe Theater entrance on Broadway. As Bobs and YankeeMike mentioned, the former Broadway entrance is being demolished along with the Howard Johnson/Gaiety site next door to make way for a new office buidling. The billboards that have obscured the facade for decades have been removed while prep work for the demolition proceeds, revealing the 4 story structure beneath – at least temporarily.
Evan… I work for a company that has been “off-shoring” full time positions steadily for the past year and actually has a goal to quadruple the present number of such positions over the next year! But I think I can stand a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, particularly on this site which – while brimming with passionate discourse – is not exactly concerned with important socio-economic issues.
Ah, thanks Warren. I remember the Playland arcade that ran between 7th and Broadway (open to the sidewalk on both ends) up around 48th street (I think it was the block south of the Rivoli). Perhaps there was a Fascination sign jutting out from one of its facades. There was also an arcade on 42nd street, but I think it was on the north side of the street, not the south side as depicted in Jerry’s photo.
Timing would be key there, ErikH. They may not want to compete with themselves against the brand new “Superman Returns” being released the end of June. However, I’d pay full price for a “Superman” and “Superman II” double feature somewhere along the way!
Jerry… That “Fascination” sign looks very familiar to me, but I seem to recall seeing one just like it actually on Times Square (somewhere on Broadway or 7th Ave). I could be mistaken. It was some kind of topless dancing joint, wasn’t it? Or an old dime-a-dance ballroom? One of the Roxy Twin porn houses (where I understand they played video projection only) was located between the Empire and Anco back in my day. The other was down by the New Amsterdam.
A lot of great choices there, Gary. I would immediately strike “How the West Was Won”, however. I just don’t feel that a true 3-strip Cinerama film should be projected on a flat screen, no matter what the size. I my opinion, it will only serve to magnify the distortions where the 3 images meet and scream out at the top of its metaphorical throat for a proper 3-strip venue in which to be properly exhibited.
I, for one, like the idea of a “second chance” festival where infamous big-screen bombs like “Heaven’s Gate”, “1941” and “Waterworld” are given a chance to be seen the way they were originally intended and re-evaluated without the journalistic bias and scrutiny they were unfairly subjected to on their intitial releases.
By the way, “The Conversation” is one of my all time favorite films – a brilliant masterwork from Coppola that is arguably the finest American film of the 1970’s… But, I agree that it probably wouldn’t generate as much interest as many of the other titles on your list.
Bobby… the closest theater would be the College Point Multiplex on the Whitestone Expressway service road off Linden Place. From the parking lot (on the Toys R Us side) you can see the roof line of the RKO Keith’s hulking shell across the Expressway. I think this is where the old Adventurer’s Inn amusement park used to be. Or was that up by 20th Ave? I can’t exactly recall.
Anyway, the only theater left on Main Street is the Main Street Theater (itself now a multiplex) all the way down in Kew Gardens Hills.
I, for one, enjoyed the hell out of the “old 42nd Street” and, while it could indeed be a scary place to visit (particularly the theaters on the south side of the street), I’d have some of those old double and triple features again! I particularly miss the showmanship and the flair with which many of these theaters tried to lure us in. I always found any trip there to be a thrilling event and the proactively involved patrons of those grinders usually guaranteed your money’s worth regardless of the quality that actually showed up on screen! And some of those features on the bottom of the bill (in ragged prints that seemed to have been kicked around up and down the block for years) were pretty spectacular in their audacious perversity. This was the real avant garde of independent film making in the pre-Mirimax days of the ‘70’s and '80’s.
Certainly more charming than any of the current non-trailer “pre-show” reels they play in most theaters today. Thanks for sharing that, Robert. Brought back some memories. I seem to recall that played in the late 1980’s or maybe early ‘90’s? Anyone remember that reel that featured Dom DeLuise? I forget which theaters it played in. Possibly Loew’s, but maybe the old Redstone or National Amusements? And whatever happened to all those Will Rogers Institute pass-the-hat ads?
Hmmm. The curtains didn’t open and close when I saw “Chicago” there a couple of years back. Nor did they open and close when I saw “The Producers” as recently as this past December. Could it be that the practice has been re-adopted in the wake of the Classics series?
Next time I’m there, I’ll have to poke around the lobby a bit. I wonder if it was located in the rotunda on the right wall (as you come in) between the opening for the mezzanine stairs and the main entrance doors?
Jean… Can’t say I’ve ever seen it, but then I’ve only been going to the Beacon as a concert venue since the ‘80’s. Do you remember where it was? Was it in the rotunda? Or beyond that in the foyer perhaps against the back wall where the stairs leading to the lower lounge are located?
Very funny. I knew it was a gag with the bit about free egg rolls – aren’t they Chinese cuisine? Now we can magine how the good people of London greeted news that old London Bridge would be moved and reassembled brick by brick in Lake Havasu, Arizona, back in the 1970’s!
The sad irony is that all this political involvement has only become a necessity since the formation of the LPC. Maybe I’m mistaken about this, as my comments are completely off the cuff and without any sort of fact-checking, but prior to the process of obtaining landmark designation, didn’t property owners simply purchase, demolish and construct buildings at will (save for the various departmental permits required to perform work) and without having to give a second thought to public debate?
And since the LPC has come along, things have not gotten much better – at least as far as Movie Theater preservation is concerned. The fact that the RKO Keith’s lobby was designated a landmark (never mind how politically corrupted that inadequate designation was), didn’t stop owner Tommy Huang from vandalizing the place and tying the site up in litigation for nearly 20 years. And due to gaping holes in the process, owners were allowed to legally hack away at the facade of theaters like the Rivoli and Sutton in Manhattan, in order to render those structures ineligible for landmark designation while the plans for their final demolition and site redevelopment were being drawn up. In the case of the Rivoli, the pediment was stripped under the guise of “public safety” with assurances to inquiring minds that there were no plans to demolish the once great show place. And at the Sutton, the ionic columns were quickly and quietly stripped away under a permit filed for “repairs”.
Ideally, there should be a city-wide survey of architecturally significant structures to create a database of sites that may at some point be worthy of consideration for landmark designation. That database should be cross-referenced by the Buildings Department so that permits are not issued for such “repairs” without a review by an LPC liason to determine if the structure’s architectural and/or cultural merits indicate the need for an accelerated review process. In the meanwhile, the owner should be notified that any purposefully destructive work designed to avoid LPC designation will result in fines and the obligation on the owner’s part to restore such elements should the LPC rule in favor of designation.
Or something like that. Of course, that’s probably not economically feasible, but I did say it would be “ideal”!
Gary… the posts above by Peter Apruzzese, Bill Huelbig and REndres regarding “Lust for Life” and “The Professional” refer to that Douglas/Lancaster retrospective. Scroll up about half way up the page back to AlAlvarez' post of January 28th 2006, where he lists every engagement at the Ziegfeld from its opening in 1969 all the way through the ‘80’s. On February 8th, Al followed up with all the engagements during the 1990’s. Those lists make for a nice stroll down memory lane! And take note of how frequently the theater was closed for short periods especially during the '70’s and '80’s.
Thanks Warren. I thought so, but I wasn’t sure if that retrofit had been complete by summer ‘62. I suppose any further discussion of this fact should continue on the Capitol’s page, but it’s incredible that more than half of the Capitol’s original seating was concealed behind draperies.
TheaterBuff… I was not referring to you at all. I was responding directly to Evan’s comments that this item was not funny at all due to the grim socio-economic realities of the world. In fact, I very much agree with Evan’s point of view concerning the slow bleeding-off of the American economy to foreign interests and cheap foreign labor and I am certainly no fan of the present Administration. I’m not trying to say that we the membership of CT are not concerned with these serious issues, but merely that – given the nature of this site – I think we can allow some room here to enjoy a moment of levity such as that provided by this light-hearted April Fool’s joke.
The article cites the Paramount’s 4144 seating capacity as being “second only to Radio City” in NYC. What about the Loew’s Capitol on Broadway? Had they already curtained off large chunks of seating for the Capitol’s conversion to Cinerama by the summer of 1962?
Posted too soon.
As for HTWWW… I am indeed saying “if you can’t do 3 strip Cinerama, don’t do it at all.” The way the horizon and other straight lines so obviously slant away from the center at either side of the screen is incredibly distracting whenever I’ve tried to watch this film in letterbox format on TV. Bad as it is on a 60 inch home screen, I can’t imagine that projecting such a broken and distorted image on a flat screen 50 FEET wide would help matters. Perhaps its just me, but I’d rather hold out and give that film its proper due. At least if there was a curved screen, I might be able to live with a single strip 35mm print… but otherwise, I vote “no” on that title for the Zeigfeld. And let’s face it… HTWWW is not all that great a movie. It is a bit cornball and cliche ridden, in my humble opinion. Whatever greatness it has, I believe, is due in large part to the 3 strip format in which it was originally presented. Perhaps I’m in the minority on that front.
I’d rather see William Wyler’s “The Big Country” at the Ziegfeld.
Another film I’d add to the list, Gary, would be the original “Planet of the Apes”. I’d love to know what are the top 25 film titles listed on those suggestion cards they handed out during the series.
Hi Gary… I only included “Waterworld” in my suggestion for a “second chance” week because I don’t think it ever had a shot at being fairly reviewed or given a chance to find an audience on its first release. As with “Heaven’s Gate” and “1941”, many critical minds had already decided to pan the film based on the film’s outsized budget and stories of the star’s egomaniacal behavior on set. In truth, I’m not a terrific fan of “Waterworld”, but I do think it was maligned for what occured off screen more so than for what appears on the screen. Similarly, I don’t think “1941” is nearly as bad as its reputation would lead you to believe and I happen to believe that the full 3 hour and 39 minute cut of “Heaven’s Gate” is a work of absolute beauty. I just thought it would be a neat idea to run these 3 alleged turkeys on the Ziegfeld’s big screen (and each is spectacularly suited for the big screen in its own way) to give them a shot at redemption at the hands of 21st Century audiences.
P.S… Wasn’t the Route 110 place called Adventure Land? I went there whenever we’d visit my great-grandfather’s grave in St. Charles Cemetary. Actually, the amusement park is still there, isn’t it? Or was until very recently.
Even after Adventurer’s Inn was demolished, the arcade on the corner across the street was still in operation well into the 1980’s. The multiplex there is not a bad place to see a film, if you avoid the smaller auditoriums close to the center lobby area (they would be #’s 1, 6, 7 and 12). In the other rooms, the screens are nice and big in relation to the size of the room, with brightly lit images and excellent surround sound reproduction. The wait for concessions, however, is painfully long.
I remember in the late ‘70’s when Pope John Paul II visited St. Stanislaus during his tour of the States. The very substantial Polish community gave the Pontiff (their fellow countryman by birth) a jubilant reception. I wonder if the Meserole closed for business that day or offered any special programming.
Carl Ballantine! I haven’t heard that name in ages. I remember him from his many variety show appearances and his stint as one of the crew in “McHale’s Navy”. I just looked him up on imdb.com and happily find that he is very much alive and kicking with a healthy stream of steady work in TV, movies and voice-over work still in evidence – though certainly not at the level it was during his ‘60’s – early '70’s heyday.
I worked just a few doors down the block from the former Meserole in the 1980’s at a Mini-Mart at 711 Manhattan Ave just off Norman. At the time, I seem to recall the theater housed Wholesale Liquidators type of discount store, which advertised on the old marquee. This was about 1984 or ‘85. I remember years later, I was driving back through the area and circled around Lorimer Street to see the shell of the auditorium and took note of how big a nabe it actually was.
Here’s an article from today’s NY Times regarding the old Globe Theater entrance on Broadway. As Bobs and YankeeMike mentioned, the former Broadway entrance is being demolished along with the Howard Johnson/Gaiety site next door to make way for a new office buidling. The billboards that have obscured the facade for decades have been removed while prep work for the demolition proceeds, revealing the 4 story structure beneath – at least temporarily.
Evan… I work for a company that has been “off-shoring” full time positions steadily for the past year and actually has a goal to quadruple the present number of such positions over the next year! But I think I can stand a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, particularly on this site which – while brimming with passionate discourse – is not exactly concerned with important socio-economic issues.
Ah, thanks Warren. I remember the Playland arcade that ran between 7th and Broadway (open to the sidewalk on both ends) up around 48th street (I think it was the block south of the Rivoli). Perhaps there was a Fascination sign jutting out from one of its facades. There was also an arcade on 42nd street, but I think it was on the north side of the street, not the south side as depicted in Jerry’s photo.
Timing would be key there, ErikH. They may not want to compete with themselves against the brand new “Superman Returns” being released the end of June. However, I’d pay full price for a “Superman” and “Superman II” double feature somewhere along the way!
Jerry… That “Fascination” sign looks very familiar to me, but I seem to recall seeing one just like it actually on Times Square (somewhere on Broadway or 7th Ave). I could be mistaken. It was some kind of topless dancing joint, wasn’t it? Or an old dime-a-dance ballroom? One of the Roxy Twin porn houses (where I understand they played video projection only) was located between the Empire and Anco back in my day. The other was down by the New Amsterdam.
A lot of great choices there, Gary. I would immediately strike “How the West Was Won”, however. I just don’t feel that a true 3-strip Cinerama film should be projected on a flat screen, no matter what the size. I my opinion, it will only serve to magnify the distortions where the 3 images meet and scream out at the top of its metaphorical throat for a proper 3-strip venue in which to be properly exhibited.
I, for one, like the idea of a “second chance” festival where infamous big-screen bombs like “Heaven’s Gate”, “1941” and “Waterworld” are given a chance to be seen the way they were originally intended and re-evaluated without the journalistic bias and scrutiny they were unfairly subjected to on their intitial releases.
By the way, “The Conversation” is one of my all time favorite films – a brilliant masterwork from Coppola that is arguably the finest American film of the 1970’s… But, I agree that it probably wouldn’t generate as much interest as many of the other titles on your list.
Bobby… the closest theater would be the College Point Multiplex on the Whitestone Expressway service road off Linden Place. From the parking lot (on the Toys R Us side) you can see the roof line of the RKO Keith’s hulking shell across the Expressway. I think this is where the old Adventurer’s Inn amusement park used to be. Or was that up by 20th Ave? I can’t exactly recall.
Anyway, the only theater left on Main Street is the Main Street Theater (itself now a multiplex) all the way down in Kew Gardens Hills.
I, for one, enjoyed the hell out of the “old 42nd Street” and, while it could indeed be a scary place to visit (particularly the theaters on the south side of the street), I’d have some of those old double and triple features again! I particularly miss the showmanship and the flair with which many of these theaters tried to lure us in. I always found any trip there to be a thrilling event and the proactively involved patrons of those grinders usually guaranteed your money’s worth regardless of the quality that actually showed up on screen! And some of those features on the bottom of the bill (in ragged prints that seemed to have been kicked around up and down the block for years) were pretty spectacular in their audacious perversity. This was the real avant garde of independent film making in the pre-Mirimax days of the ‘70’s and '80’s.
Certainly more charming than any of the current non-trailer “pre-show” reels they play in most theaters today. Thanks for sharing that, Robert. Brought back some memories. I seem to recall that played in the late 1980’s or maybe early ‘90’s? Anyone remember that reel that featured Dom DeLuise? I forget which theaters it played in. Possibly Loew’s, but maybe the old Redstone or National Amusements? And whatever happened to all those Will Rogers Institute pass-the-hat ads?
Hmmm. The curtains didn’t open and close when I saw “Chicago” there a couple of years back. Nor did they open and close when I saw “The Producers” as recently as this past December. Could it be that the practice has been re-adopted in the wake of the Classics series?
Next time I’m there, I’ll have to poke around the lobby a bit. I wonder if it was located in the rotunda on the right wall (as you come in) between the opening for the mezzanine stairs and the main entrance doors?
Jean… Can’t say I’ve ever seen it, but then I’ve only been going to the Beacon as a concert venue since the ‘80’s. Do you remember where it was? Was it in the rotunda? Or beyond that in the foyer perhaps against the back wall where the stairs leading to the lower lounge are located?
Very funny. I knew it was a gag with the bit about free egg rolls – aren’t they Chinese cuisine? Now we can magine how the good people of London greeted news that old London Bridge would be moved and reassembled brick by brick in Lake Havasu, Arizona, back in the 1970’s!
The sad irony is that all this political involvement has only become a necessity since the formation of the LPC. Maybe I’m mistaken about this, as my comments are completely off the cuff and without any sort of fact-checking, but prior to the process of obtaining landmark designation, didn’t property owners simply purchase, demolish and construct buildings at will (save for the various departmental permits required to perform work) and without having to give a second thought to public debate?
And since the LPC has come along, things have not gotten much better – at least as far as Movie Theater preservation is concerned. The fact that the RKO Keith’s lobby was designated a landmark (never mind how politically corrupted that inadequate designation was), didn’t stop owner Tommy Huang from vandalizing the place and tying the site up in litigation for nearly 20 years. And due to gaping holes in the process, owners were allowed to legally hack away at the facade of theaters like the Rivoli and Sutton in Manhattan, in order to render those structures ineligible for landmark designation while the plans for their final demolition and site redevelopment were being drawn up. In the case of the Rivoli, the pediment was stripped under the guise of “public safety” with assurances to inquiring minds that there were no plans to demolish the once great show place. And at the Sutton, the ionic columns were quickly and quietly stripped away under a permit filed for “repairs”.
Ideally, there should be a city-wide survey of architecturally significant structures to create a database of sites that may at some point be worthy of consideration for landmark designation. That database should be cross-referenced by the Buildings Department so that permits are not issued for such “repairs” without a review by an LPC liason to determine if the structure’s architectural and/or cultural merits indicate the need for an accelerated review process. In the meanwhile, the owner should be notified that any purposefully destructive work designed to avoid LPC designation will result in fines and the obligation on the owner’s part to restore such elements should the LPC rule in favor of designation.
Or something like that. Of course, that’s probably not economically feasible, but I did say it would be “ideal”!
Gary… the posts above by Peter Apruzzese, Bill Huelbig and REndres regarding “Lust for Life” and “The Professional” refer to that Douglas/Lancaster retrospective. Scroll up about half way up the page back to AlAlvarez' post of January 28th 2006, where he lists every engagement at the Ziegfeld from its opening in 1969 all the way through the ‘80’s. On February 8th, Al followed up with all the engagements during the 1990’s. Those lists make for a nice stroll down memory lane! And take note of how frequently the theater was closed for short periods especially during the '70’s and '80’s.