Also check out images of the souvenir booklet for “How the West Was Won” on the Capitol Theater site as well as a 1978 behind-the-scenes booklet about Radio City Music Hall.
My Mom saw “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” here in ‘63 or '64 and purchased the souvenir program. I took a few shots from the booklet – which is in pretty sad state due to my handling of it as a child. I remember watching IAMMMMW when it was broadcast on network TV in the early '70’s and pouring over this booklet in the living room of my house in Elmhurst. One of my favorite all time movies… I wish a restoration of the full roadshow version would come to light some time before I leave this mortal coil.
Minor correction… My Mom saw HTWWW sometime in 1963 at the Capitol (called the Loews Cinerama for this engagement). I double checked with her on the date (I just assumed 1962) after I saw the copyright on the souvenir booklet dated 1963. The last pages of the booklet are devoted to clippings from rave reviews in the British press after the film’s London premier in late ‘62.
Please check out the images I posted from my Mom’s “Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” souvenir booklet she picked up at that film’s roadshow engagement at the old Warner Cinerama (nee Strand). I also posted from an old RCMH souvenir booklet (mine, not my Mom’s) on the Radio City Music Hall site.
Warren… gremlins may indeed be to blame for associating that message with your CT account, but it appears to be a response to the old news item about that Utah theater that cancelled a scheduled engagement of “Brokeback Mountain” a few months back.
I found my souvenir booklets from the last time I saw a movie presentation at RCMH, back in 1978. The film was “Crossed Swords” and it was advertised as the Hall’s “final attraction”, although regular movie and stage show programming remained for another year or so after this engagement. Here’s the cover to the “Crossed Swords” souvenir program (with a red “Final Attraction” sticker)as well as a number of images from the booklet I purchased about the Hall itself:
Andres, the traveler curtain is in use at the Ziegfeld during this series. There is a red contour curtain that is perpetually fully drawn into the proscenium, but I can’t recall from days of old if this is merely a decorative bit of drapery or if it was ever a functioning curtain. Anyway. the thick gold traveler is accompanied by another transparent traveler on an inside track that – if operated independently – could remain closed and act as a scrim while the overture plays. Here are some photos I took over the last couple of visits to the Zeigfeld. The last picture shows the traveler as it was closing after the credits rolled for WSS last Tuesday night.
I wanted to re-take a few of those shots that are a bit blurry or off center (the ladies' room signage and the end-cap for example), but when I went back the 2nd time, my camera battery expired and I forgot the spare!
Vito… you’re points about laziness and lack of showmanship are exactly what I’m talking about. Irv, you may well consider it splitting hairs, but for a theater as high profile as the Ziegfeld to undertake an ambitious series of movies “the way they were meant to be seen”, why stop short of the very best presentation possible? Make no mistake about it, I was thrilled to see WSS as I was to see “Ben-Hur” and I’m thankful to Clearview for the program. But, if they are listening to our suggestions and interested in making this series a success, then why not offer our honest and constructive criticism along with our genuine appreciation for the effort? Perhaps the ideas and opinions expressed here will result in higher quality prints in the future and presentations closer to the filmmakers' original intentions. Clearview has an opportunity to do something very special here in NYC and I for one would like to see them make the very most of it.
Patsy… I compared the photos and see what you mean. Looks like some extra material was added to the point at the top center where the drapery is pulled up into the crown of the proscenium design. That material seems to cover the spot where the stylish “H” was embroidered.
Thanks Robert R… Did the Main Street have a split balcony like the Continental did where the left balcony and right balcony had their own entrances and were seperated by the projection booth? And there was a downstairs lounge at the Main Street, wasn’t there? Or at least stairs going down to the bathrooms? I guess I should be asking this on the Main Street site, since that is where I must have seen “To Be or Not to Be.” Can’t think of the movies I saw at the Utopia, but I know I attended at least once or twice in the early ‘80’s.
I thought about that very thing you mention, Alto: folks unwittingly attracted by the advert showing up at the Fair for a grindhouse double feature. Assuming you are familiar with the layout of the theater, I’ll pose the same question here as I did in response to your comments about the Polk Theater… what is the configuration of the theater with respect to the “main screen” and the video booths? Is this theater more or less intact from its days as a nabe? While I have no recollections of it, my Mom tells me she took me to a number of films here when I was a very young child living in Elmhurst.
Alto… Are you a building inspector? Or just one of those “curious” young men? As dilapidated as the Polk and Fair may well be, they may also be two of the very few neighborhood theaters in NYC to remain more or less intact from their days of legitimate operation. The former Mayfair and Earle Theaters (both having survived their XXX porno days and now showing Bollywood fare) are the only others that come to mind.
How are the interior configurations of the Polk and Fair, beyond their advanced states of disrepair? Does the Polk operate like the Fair with video projected action films on the main screen and adult fare in private viewing booths? Where are the booths located?
There was a projectionist on duty the night I saw WSS, vito… I recall seeing a tall and thin grey-haired gentlemen walking up to the projection booth sometime before the show last Tuesday. And when I called the theater on Saturday before going to see “Ben-Hur” to find out about the print, the manager advised that a different projectionist was on duty and had not seen the print when it played the previous day. The abrupt cut as the music started to swell to a crescendo into the intermission card was jarring and unforgivable! I hold no hope for a complete intermission with “2001” (particularly since there is no musical cue in the movie and the scenes on either side of the intermission spot transition smoothly), but I am really hoping that they pull out the stops for the 70mm “Lawrence” presentation! Are you Clearview guys listening??? PLEASE!!! If for nothing more than the sake of my bladder!!!
Jamaica Estates is bounded by Union Turnpike to the north and runs from 188th street west to Utopia Parkway/Homelawn Street, with Hillside Ave as its southern most boundary. The Utopia Theater was located on the south side of Union Tpke just west of 188th, which would put it within the neighborhood’s boundaries. Hillcrest is the next neighborhood over to the west, running from Utopia Pkwy/Homelawn Street to 164th Street.
Ken J is right about the area where the Utopia Theater was being known as Utopia (which would provide some rationale for the name of the theater, since it was not located on or just off Utopia Parkway) although most folks would probably say either Fresh Meadows or Jamaica Estates.
Did this theater have a small balcony? I think I saw the Mel Brooks/Anne Bancroft remake of “To Be or Not to Be” here in ‘83, but I recall being in a balcony. I think I sometimes confuse my memories of this theater with those of the Main Street theater to the west in Kew Gardens Hills. One of these (I think the Main Street) had a balcony section at ground level and the orchestra seating below grade – could that be? Time plays weird tricks on one’s memory!
I believe you are right, Howard. If you ask veteran projectionists, I’m sure they’ll all tell you that having the curtains open on a blank screen is anathema. I remember seeing movies where the opposite problem existed and the curtains were closed during the closing credits – which you then had to read across the undulating pattern of the curtain fabric.
The overture should have definitely been played with the curtain drawn and the house lights only partially dimmed. I was at the 4:30 “Ben-Hur” this afternoon as well and pretty much agree with Irv’s assessment. I remember once seeing “2001” in the ‘80’s at a theater in Manhattan (the exact theater eludes me) and this was the first time I can recall seeing the movie with overture and entr'acte music intact – and there too the music was played with the lights down and curtain (if there was one) open. To my embarrassment, during the overture to “Ben-Hur” today, I was explaining this all to my girlfreind when a gentlemen a couple of rows in front of us turned around and “shsssh’d me! My apologies to that person, if he’s online here. I guess I’ve forgotten my overture etiquette!
Anyway… I have seen “Ben-Hur” before a number times, including the pristine restored DVD and the hack-edit jobs that passed for network TV showings in the ‘70’s (another film that I taped on audio cassette back then). But tonight I feel almost as though I have just seen the movie for the very first time and … Wow! My own fair lady, who had never seen the movie before in any form, was completely blown away. As for my assessment of the print, it was pretty good. As Irv said, there were some points where the color timing seemed off and definite signs of wear and tear at the back and front ends of each reel, but for the most part, the color was deep and crisp and very comparable to the WSS print that was screened last week. Better still, the print was in mutli-channel surround sound – something I desperately missed in the WSS screening – although there were one or two points where the soundtrack wobbled off pitch just a bit.
Here’s my biggest gripe (despite the lack of a 70mm print): there was no intermission! And worse yet, the edit to remove the intermission was rather abrupt and obvious. I asked the manager – Monique – about this and she claims that the print arrived this way. I wonder if it had more to do with the fact that the three movies in rotation this week add up to a combined running time of over 9 hours per day and there was but a 15 minute margin between the end of “Ben-Hur” and the 8:30 showing of “Braveheart”? In either event, I strongly urge Craig and the programmers for these series at the Ziegfeld to champion prints that come complete with intermission and entr'acte music – and that the films be presented with the intermission break (don’t just run through the intermission card and entr'acte music directly into the 2nd half of the movie)! Remember the slogan of the program; “Movies they way they were meant to be seen!” “Ben-Hur” and “My Fair Lady” were “meant to be seen” with an intermission!
Called the theater and neither the manager nor projectionist who was on duty yesterday were around. However, Monique – the manager today – said that she heard the print for “Ben-Hur” is superior to the one for MFL and more along the lines of the quality we saw for WSS. Hopefully, this is the case as I’d much rather enjoy the presentation today than use a free pass in the future if I’m not satisfied. I’ll report tonight.
My Mom saw “How The West Was Won” here in 1962 and purchased the hard-cover souvenir booklet on sale in the lobby. The hard cover is now gone, but I have the rest of the booklet and snapped a few images to share here:
There’s more to the book (cast photos, credits, behind-the-scenes information and other MGM hyperbole) but I thought the Cinerama description was the most interesting aspect to post.
There are no trailers running during the series – at least none so far. I plan on seeing “Ben-Hur” today at 4:30 and would love to know the condition of the print before I attend. I’m going to call the theater as soon as they’re open in hopes that the manager there will give me an honest appraisal. So far it has only screened once – at 12:30 in the afternoon during business hours yesterday. I wonder if Craig works at the theater, or somewhere else in the City.
Glad you liked the “Mad Mad World” booklet, Bill. I also have some images from the “How the West Was Won” booklet that I will post on the Capitol Theater site – since that is where the film played its roadshow engagement and where my Mom purchased the souvenir back in 1962. I did the same with a Radio City souvenir booklet from 1978 that I have from the last movie I ever saw there (“Crossed Swords”) which was advertised as the final attraction at the Hall (although that turned out not to be the case). I will post those images on the RCMH site. Our freind Bob Endres (REndres here on CT) is mentioned and photographed in the program – and I hope it’ll bring back memories for some of the RCMH veterans who contribute to CT.
Interesting, Bill. I happen to have an old and not-so-mint condition souvenir booklet for “Mad Mad World” that my Mom has had since she first saw the movie on Broadway in 1963. Since my scanner is on the fritz (and the booklet is not exactly in scan-ready condition), I snapped a few photos of the cover and a few pages within:
That last image states that the runtime of the movie was 210 minutes (including intermission – and presumably overture).
I must admit that I am to blame for the booklet’s shoddy condition as I can recall reading it over and over when I was a kid – usually spread out on the living room floor in my house in Elmhurst when I was 6 or 7 when CBS or ABC aired it in prime time back in the early ‘70’s. I remember I used an audio tape recorder once during a mid-70’s network broadcast to capture the entire soundtrack, which I then memorized while listening to it over and over.
Hmmm. I thought I read somewhere where she said something to the effect that “if you didn’t see the original 192 minute version, then you haven’t seen Stanley’s film.” I think she further commented that the 188 minutes that Harris had been able to find was probably the best they could hope for and was as close to Kramer’s vision as can be assembled today. I also think Kramer went on record as lamenting that the edited general release version was all that remained of his epic. Folks had problems with the “extended” VHS version from a few years back that inserted many of the trims from print that was “rectified” for projection on a Cinerama screen, including at least one scene (involving Jonathan Winters' character explaining what he’d do with the money) that Kramer never intended to make the final “roadshow” cut. The VHS version is certainly interesting to watch, but the “rectified” trims appear distorted and can be quite jarring as they editing between this footage and the non-rectified material is often done shot-to-shot within a scene.
With so many celebrities citing this film as an inspiration or one of their all-time favorites, I wish someone would get together the resources to fund Harris' restoration project – that is, if it isn’t too late for some of those lost-and-found elements.
Craig… What are the physical dimensions of the Ziegfeld screen – or does anyone else know for sure? I would love to see “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” in 70mm also. I can’t recall… was the 70mm version that played in Seattle (on a Cinerama screen) the same 154 minute version that is currently available on DVD (plus overture, entr'acte and radio calls)? I know Robert Harris was working on a restoration of the original 192 minute version (and had about 188 minutes of original elements) but with no one to finance the project, the elements he’s been able to find are (or have) deteriorated beyond salvageabilty). Anyone have info on this?
Craig… Outstanding! I’ll see a 35mm “2001” with the hope that it will be an appetizer for a future 70mm screening. Please, please, please do whatever you can to see if there is a good 70mm around for a future booking!
Also, you should consider discount “series” tickets for folks like Bill who want to take in the entire schedule.
Makes sense, William. Those films aren’t exactly in high demand these days for freshly struck 35mm prints! Yes, I suppose the grind house days are gone for good. Best we can do is flip in a DVD and try to re-create the ambience in our minds.
I’m not sure my curiosity is sufficient for me to brave a visit inside the Fair, wobbly! If there was a genuine change in policy and actual 35mm programming, that might be another story.
There are a number of titles listed on imdb.com as “Accident” but none of them make much sense as the movie on the Fair’s double bill. “Fist of Fear, Touch of Death” is a cheapie 1980 documentary about Bruce Lee; “Champions” might be a low budget no-name actioner from 1998 that smells of “direct-to-video”; and “Bruce Lee Back From the Grave” seems fairly self explanatory. Actually, the imdb entry for that one is quite amusing… listed as “Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave” (1976), it is a fictional action film (not a documentary) that opens with a bolt of lightning striking Lee’s grave whereupon he is resurrected and ready to open up a king-sized can of whup-ass! Sounds like one of the ways Hammer Films would revive Dracula at the beginning of each new installment in the series!
Also check out images of the souvenir booklet for “How the West Was Won” on the Capitol Theater site as well as a 1978 behind-the-scenes booklet about Radio City Music Hall.
My Mom saw “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” here in ‘63 or '64 and purchased the souvenir program. I took a few shots from the booklet – which is in pretty sad state due to my handling of it as a child. I remember watching IAMMMMW when it was broadcast on network TV in the early '70’s and pouring over this booklet in the living room of my house in Elmhurst. One of my favorite all time movies… I wish a restoration of the full roadshow version would come to light some time before I leave this mortal coil.
Souvenir cover page
Caricature fold-out
Fold-out legend
Single lens Cinerama
Facts and figures
Minor correction… My Mom saw HTWWW sometime in 1963 at the Capitol (called the Loews Cinerama for this engagement). I double checked with her on the date (I just assumed 1962) after I saw the copyright on the souvenir booklet dated 1963. The last pages of the booklet are devoted to clippings from rave reviews in the British press after the film’s London premier in late ‘62.
Please check out the images I posted from my Mom’s “Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” souvenir booklet she picked up at that film’s roadshow engagement at the old Warner Cinerama (nee Strand). I also posted from an old RCMH souvenir booklet (mine, not my Mom’s) on the Radio City Music Hall site.
Warren… gremlins may indeed be to blame for associating that message with your CT account, but it appears to be a response to the old news item about that Utah theater that cancelled a scheduled engagement of “Brokeback Mountain” a few months back.
I found my souvenir booklets from the last time I saw a movie presentation at RCMH, back in 1978. The film was “Crossed Swords” and it was advertised as the Hall’s “final attraction”, although regular movie and stage show programming remained for another year or so after this engagement. Here’s the cover to the “Crossed Swords” souvenir program (with a red “Final Attraction” sticker)as well as a number of images from the booklet I purchased about the Hall itself:
Crossed Swords – “Final Attraction”
RCMH Souvenir Cover
Ushers and managers
Glory of Easter
Nativity
Kol Nidre
Rockettes rehearsal
Rehearsal page detail
Orchestra
Orchestra detail 1
Orchestra detail 2
Grand Organ – Ray Bohr
Movies at the Hall
Movies at the Hall cont’d
Lucille Ball
Special Events
Executives
Set design
The Great Stage
Great Stage diagram
REndres!!!
Maintenance
The queue!
I know a few RCMH veterans post here, so I hope this stirs a few memories and sparks more conversation on this page.
Andres, the traveler curtain is in use at the Ziegfeld during this series. There is a red contour curtain that is perpetually fully drawn into the proscenium, but I can’t recall from days of old if this is merely a decorative bit of drapery or if it was ever a functioning curtain. Anyway. the thick gold traveler is accompanied by another transparent traveler on an inside track that – if operated independently – could remain closed and act as a scrim while the overture plays. Here are some photos I took over the last couple of visits to the Zeigfeld. The last picture shows the traveler as it was closing after the credits rolled for WSS last Tuesday night.
Exterior day
Exterior night
Rear signage (W. 55th)
Ticket lobby chandelier
Lower Foyer statue
Lower Foyer Gallery
Stairway from Lower Foyer
Upper Foyer landing
Stairway from Upper Foyer
Upper Foyer lounge area
Upper Foyer lounge area alternate view
Men’s room signage
Ladies' Room signage
Rest Room entrance cove mirror
Auditorium from rear orchestra
Projection booth portholes
Side wall ornamentation
Seat row end-cap
Rear stadium seating
Side wall motif
Exit sign
Proscenium decorative panel
Traveler curtain in action
I wanted to re-take a few of those shots that are a bit blurry or off center (the ladies' room signage and the end-cap for example), but when I went back the 2nd time, my camera battery expired and I forgot the spare!
Vito… you’re points about laziness and lack of showmanship are exactly what I’m talking about. Irv, you may well consider it splitting hairs, but for a theater as high profile as the Ziegfeld to undertake an ambitious series of movies “the way they were meant to be seen”, why stop short of the very best presentation possible? Make no mistake about it, I was thrilled to see WSS as I was to see “Ben-Hur” and I’m thankful to Clearview for the program. But, if they are listening to our suggestions and interested in making this series a success, then why not offer our honest and constructive criticism along with our genuine appreciation for the effort? Perhaps the ideas and opinions expressed here will result in higher quality prints in the future and presentations closer to the filmmakers' original intentions. Clearview has an opportunity to do something very special here in NYC and I for one would like to see them make the very most of it.
Patsy… I compared the photos and see what you mean. Looks like some extra material was added to the point at the top center where the drapery is pulled up into the crown of the proscenium design. That material seems to cover the spot where the stylish “H” was embroidered.
Thanks Robert R… Did the Main Street have a split balcony like the Continental did where the left balcony and right balcony had their own entrances and were seperated by the projection booth? And there was a downstairs lounge at the Main Street, wasn’t there? Or at least stairs going down to the bathrooms? I guess I should be asking this on the Main Street site, since that is where I must have seen “To Be or Not to Be.” Can’t think of the movies I saw at the Utopia, but I know I attended at least once or twice in the early ‘80’s.
I thought about that very thing you mention, Alto: folks unwittingly attracted by the advert showing up at the Fair for a grindhouse double feature. Assuming you are familiar with the layout of the theater, I’ll pose the same question here as I did in response to your comments about the Polk Theater… what is the configuration of the theater with respect to the “main screen” and the video booths? Is this theater more or less intact from its days as a nabe? While I have no recollections of it, my Mom tells me she took me to a number of films here when I was a very young child living in Elmhurst.
Alto… Are you a building inspector? Or just one of those “curious” young men? As dilapidated as the Polk and Fair may well be, they may also be two of the very few neighborhood theaters in NYC to remain more or less intact from their days of legitimate operation. The former Mayfair and Earle Theaters (both having survived their XXX porno days and now showing Bollywood fare) are the only others that come to mind.
How are the interior configurations of the Polk and Fair, beyond their advanced states of disrepair? Does the Polk operate like the Fair with video projected action films on the main screen and adult fare in private viewing booths? Where are the booths located?
There was a projectionist on duty the night I saw WSS, vito… I recall seeing a tall and thin grey-haired gentlemen walking up to the projection booth sometime before the show last Tuesday. And when I called the theater on Saturday before going to see “Ben-Hur” to find out about the print, the manager advised that a different projectionist was on duty and had not seen the print when it played the previous day. The abrupt cut as the music started to swell to a crescendo into the intermission card was jarring and unforgivable! I hold no hope for a complete intermission with “2001” (particularly since there is no musical cue in the movie and the scenes on either side of the intermission spot transition smoothly), but I am really hoping that they pull out the stops for the 70mm “Lawrence” presentation! Are you Clearview guys listening??? PLEASE!!! If for nothing more than the sake of my bladder!!!
Was the show well attended, Rabbit? Were there upcoming shows advertised?
Jamaica Estates is bounded by Union Turnpike to the north and runs from 188th street west to Utopia Parkway/Homelawn Street, with Hillside Ave as its southern most boundary. The Utopia Theater was located on the south side of Union Tpke just west of 188th, which would put it within the neighborhood’s boundaries. Hillcrest is the next neighborhood over to the west, running from Utopia Pkwy/Homelawn Street to 164th Street.
Ken J is right about the area where the Utopia Theater was being known as Utopia (which would provide some rationale for the name of the theater, since it was not located on or just off Utopia Parkway) although most folks would probably say either Fresh Meadows or Jamaica Estates.
Did this theater have a small balcony? I think I saw the Mel Brooks/Anne Bancroft remake of “To Be or Not to Be” here in ‘83, but I recall being in a balcony. I think I sometimes confuse my memories of this theater with those of the Main Street theater to the west in Kew Gardens Hills. One of these (I think the Main Street) had a balcony section at ground level and the orchestra seating below grade – could that be? Time plays weird tricks on one’s memory!
I believe you are right, Howard. If you ask veteran projectionists, I’m sure they’ll all tell you that having the curtains open on a blank screen is anathema. I remember seeing movies where the opposite problem existed and the curtains were closed during the closing credits – which you then had to read across the undulating pattern of the curtain fabric.
The overture should have definitely been played with the curtain drawn and the house lights only partially dimmed. I was at the 4:30 “Ben-Hur” this afternoon as well and pretty much agree with Irv’s assessment. I remember once seeing “2001” in the ‘80’s at a theater in Manhattan (the exact theater eludes me) and this was the first time I can recall seeing the movie with overture and entr'acte music intact – and there too the music was played with the lights down and curtain (if there was one) open. To my embarrassment, during the overture to “Ben-Hur” today, I was explaining this all to my girlfreind when a gentlemen a couple of rows in front of us turned around and “shsssh’d me! My apologies to that person, if he’s online here. I guess I’ve forgotten my overture etiquette!
Anyway… I have seen “Ben-Hur” before a number times, including the pristine restored DVD and the hack-edit jobs that passed for network TV showings in the ‘70’s (another film that I taped on audio cassette back then). But tonight I feel almost as though I have just seen the movie for the very first time and … Wow! My own fair lady, who had never seen the movie before in any form, was completely blown away. As for my assessment of the print, it was pretty good. As Irv said, there were some points where the color timing seemed off and definite signs of wear and tear at the back and front ends of each reel, but for the most part, the color was deep and crisp and very comparable to the WSS print that was screened last week. Better still, the print was in mutli-channel surround sound – something I desperately missed in the WSS screening – although there were one or two points where the soundtrack wobbled off pitch just a bit.
Here’s my biggest gripe (despite the lack of a 70mm print): there was no intermission! And worse yet, the edit to remove the intermission was rather abrupt and obvious. I asked the manager – Monique – about this and she claims that the print arrived this way. I wonder if it had more to do with the fact that the three movies in rotation this week add up to a combined running time of over 9 hours per day and there was but a 15 minute margin between the end of “Ben-Hur” and the 8:30 showing of “Braveheart”? In either event, I strongly urge Craig and the programmers for these series at the Ziegfeld to champion prints that come complete with intermission and entr'acte music – and that the films be presented with the intermission break (don’t just run through the intermission card and entr'acte music directly into the 2nd half of the movie)! Remember the slogan of the program; “Movies they way they were meant to be seen!” “Ben-Hur” and “My Fair Lady” were “meant to be seen” with an intermission!
Called the theater and neither the manager nor projectionist who was on duty yesterday were around. However, Monique – the manager today – said that she heard the print for “Ben-Hur” is superior to the one for MFL and more along the lines of the quality we saw for WSS. Hopefully, this is the case as I’d much rather enjoy the presentation today than use a free pass in the future if I’m not satisfied. I’ll report tonight.
My Mom saw “How The West Was Won” here in 1962 and purchased the hard-cover souvenir booklet on sale in the lobby. The hard cover is now gone, but I have the rest of the booklet and snapped a few images to share here:
Title page
What is Cinerama?
Cinerama diagram close up
There’s more to the book (cast photos, credits, behind-the-scenes information and other MGM hyperbole) but I thought the Cinerama description was the most interesting aspect to post.
There are no trailers running during the series – at least none so far. I plan on seeing “Ben-Hur” today at 4:30 and would love to know the condition of the print before I attend. I’m going to call the theater as soon as they’re open in hopes that the manager there will give me an honest appraisal. So far it has only screened once – at 12:30 in the afternoon during business hours yesterday. I wonder if Craig works at the theater, or somewhere else in the City.
Glad you liked the “Mad Mad World” booklet, Bill. I also have some images from the “How the West Was Won” booklet that I will post on the Capitol Theater site – since that is where the film played its roadshow engagement and where my Mom purchased the souvenir back in 1962. I did the same with a Radio City souvenir booklet from 1978 that I have from the last movie I ever saw there (“Crossed Swords”) which was advertised as the final attraction at the Hall (although that turned out not to be the case). I will post those images on the RCMH site. Our freind Bob Endres (REndres here on CT) is mentioned and photographed in the program – and I hope it’ll bring back memories for some of the RCMH veterans who contribute to CT.
Interesting, Bill. I happen to have an old and not-so-mint condition souvenir booklet for “Mad Mad World” that my Mom has had since she first saw the movie on Broadway in 1963. Since my scanner is on the fritz (and the booklet is not exactly in scan-ready condition), I snapped a few photos of the cover and a few pages within:
Cover
Fold-out illustration
Actor Key to illustration
Single Lens Cinerama
Facts & Figures
That last image states that the runtime of the movie was 210 minutes (including intermission – and presumably overture).
I must admit that I am to blame for the booklet’s shoddy condition as I can recall reading it over and over when I was a kid – usually spread out on the living room floor in my house in Elmhurst when I was 6 or 7 when CBS or ABC aired it in prime time back in the early ‘70’s. I remember I used an audio tape recorder once during a mid-70’s network broadcast to capture the entire soundtrack, which I then memorized while listening to it over and over.
Truly one of my favorite all time films.
Hmmm. I thought I read somewhere where she said something to the effect that “if you didn’t see the original 192 minute version, then you haven’t seen Stanley’s film.” I think she further commented that the 188 minutes that Harris had been able to find was probably the best they could hope for and was as close to Kramer’s vision as can be assembled today. I also think Kramer went on record as lamenting that the edited general release version was all that remained of his epic. Folks had problems with the “extended” VHS version from a few years back that inserted many of the trims from print that was “rectified” for projection on a Cinerama screen, including at least one scene (involving Jonathan Winters' character explaining what he’d do with the money) that Kramer never intended to make the final “roadshow” cut. The VHS version is certainly interesting to watch, but the “rectified” trims appear distorted and can be quite jarring as they editing between this footage and the non-rectified material is often done shot-to-shot within a scene.
With so many celebrities citing this film as an inspiration or one of their all-time favorites, I wish someone would get together the resources to fund Harris' restoration project – that is, if it isn’t too late for some of those lost-and-found elements.
Craig… What are the physical dimensions of the Ziegfeld screen – or does anyone else know for sure? I would love to see “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” in 70mm also. I can’t recall… was the 70mm version that played in Seattle (on a Cinerama screen) the same 154 minute version that is currently available on DVD (plus overture, entr'acte and radio calls)? I know Robert Harris was working on a restoration of the original 192 minute version (and had about 188 minutes of original elements) but with no one to finance the project, the elements he’s been able to find are (or have) deteriorated beyond salvageabilty). Anyone have info on this?
Craig… Outstanding! I’ll see a 35mm “2001” with the hope that it will be an appetizer for a future 70mm screening. Please, please, please do whatever you can to see if there is a good 70mm around for a future booking!
Also, you should consider discount “series” tickets for folks like Bill who want to take in the entire schedule.
Makes sense, William. Those films aren’t exactly in high demand these days for freshly struck 35mm prints! Yes, I suppose the grind house days are gone for good. Best we can do is flip in a DVD and try to re-create the ambience in our minds.
I’m not sure my curiosity is sufficient for me to brave a visit inside the Fair, wobbly! If there was a genuine change in policy and actual 35mm programming, that might be another story.
There are a number of titles listed on imdb.com as “Accident” but none of them make much sense as the movie on the Fair’s double bill. “Fist of Fear, Touch of Death” is a cheapie 1980 documentary about Bruce Lee; “Champions” might be a low budget no-name actioner from 1998 that smells of “direct-to-video”; and “Bruce Lee Back From the Grave” seems fairly self explanatory. Actually, the imdb entry for that one is quite amusing… listed as “Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave” (1976), it is a fictional action film (not a documentary) that opens with a bolt of lightning striking Lee’s grave whereupon he is resurrected and ready to open up a king-sized can of whup-ass! Sounds like one of the ways Hammer Films would revive Dracula at the beginning of each new installment in the series!
…that should be a “gentleman” (singular not plural).