Ziegfeld Theatre

Many people have mentioned New York’s now demolished great movie palaces such as the Rivoli, Loew’s Capitol, Warner, etc. but let’s not forget the grandest of them all, the ROXY THEATRE — the Cathedral of the Motion Picture. Equal in size to Radio City Music Hall but much more beautiful with its atmospheric interior vs. Radio City’s Art-Deco, the theatre had approx. 6000 seats.

Look for the TGI Friday’s at 5oth & 7th Avenue. That used to be the main entrance. The auditorium was where that hideous plain-modern office building now stands, just east of Tad’s steaks. The ROXY was torn down in 1960. There is no historical marker.

Only one movie opened at both the ROXY and RADIO CITY. It was KING KONG (the real one, not Peter Jackson’s silly remake) plus a stage show.

You can still see an honest-to-God movie palace in NYC if you venture with a few tough friends to the Bronx. Loew’s PARADISE (3885 seats) has finally been restored and re-opened; but for stage shows only. Go there, see what it was like.

Reference: Anybody here ever take pics of the Ziegfeld’s 27x63 foot screen used in the Spring of 1973 for the 70mm version of “This Is Cinerama”?
posted by veyoung
Cinema Centre may have a photo of the 70mm Cinerama set up from May 1973. On my examination of the exhibition with the WRO (Walter Reade Organization),
the system was 70mm 6-Track with curved screen positioned in front of the permanent screen. To give a close as possible quality presentation, as was mandatory by a master shownman, Walter Reade, Jr., a projected curtain was used, house lights dimmed, Lowell Thomas introduction started in complete darkness and, when Thomas announced: THIS IS CINERAMA, the entire screen was filled with the opening rollercoaster sequence. So the black and white monophonic introduction shifted to the full color curved screen multi-channel sound presentation. Grant you it wasn’t a true Cinerama (3 Projector 7-Track) presentation considering screen curvature and full sound, but it was damn close. Along the lines of the this 70mm presentation, HOW THE WEST WAS WON and WINDJAMMER (CineMiracle to Cinerama format) 70mm prints were struck and the catalog of CINERAMA HOLIDAY, SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, SEARCH FOR PARADISE, SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE, BEST OF CINERAMA and THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM where slated for 70mm Cinerama presentation prints. The snag on this project from coming to fruition existed in the fastly changing mode of major companies attempting to guess, instead of controlling, audience appetite for an enriching film experience. Poor move on their part with an equation that: societal turmoil + radical ethical rebellion = feed the dogs what they want and not what they need. They lost sight of delivering product that invites an individual for a cinematic experience, as pure enjoyable entertainment or, a reflective challenging glance of “day to day” mundane existence.

What surround sound formats does the Ziegfeld theater use? I know they support all formats.

Like Ed said a few posts above, when you sit in the first 10 rows the Ziegfeld’s screen appears huge. Anyone who saw “West Side Story” or “Ben-Hur” from there last February can attest to this.

The screen is the same size, which seemed really big at the time, but not so much now in comparison to the big screens at the newest AMC and Regal cinemas.

I think the seats at the “Z” are quite comfortable, with first class leg room. Would anyone rather be sitting in a cramped black box at the AMCLoewsCineplexNationalAmusementsEdwardsPacific 2,532-Screen Gigaplex?

No rocking seats there, uncomfortable seats only! When will the revival schedule be posted?

I, too, think the screen may be a bit on the small side for a theater of this size… particularly given that the house runs straight back in a rectangular box. The Rivoli, this most certainly is not. Those old palaces (massive as they might have been) fanned out from the screen and had overhang balconies that placed the front loges very close to the image… those screens may not have been all that much larger than the Ziegfeld’s, but they certainly seemed much larger, from most vantage points. The shape of the Ziegfeld, unfortunately, has a reverse telescopic effect as you sit further back in the theater.

Having said that, I tend to sit rather close to the screen, so the Ziegfeld works just fine for me. I tyically sit dead center in about the 10th row. From this vantage point, I found myself thoroughly immersed in the screening of “Casino Royale” I attended last month.

I guess I just remember the screens at the Criterion, Rivoli and Warner Cinerama where I found the screens larger and better placed in relation to the audience.
This is surprising as the Ziegfeld was built in the 60’s and they were still building excellent single screen theaters. Too bad the Ziegfeld wasn’t one of them.

That photo shows why the screen is too small for that theater despite the fish eye lens.

That gives it a noir look. Anyway, how is traffic by the theater if you go there? And where is the parking?

It’s a black and white photo, not a color one. Pretty soon with the sale of Cablevision’s Rainbow unit (which includes CLearview) to Liberty Media, everything will change; no Optimum Rewards for Clearview moviegoers, but the Clear Advantage program will live on at this theater and other Clearview cinemas.