Paris Theater

Odd to see the Paris day and dating with Embassy 46th Street.
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According to Al’s list above, this classic pulled into the Paris for quite a nice run in December of ‘80:

Mon Oncle – Daily News 12/14/80

The Paris in the nineties…
04/13/90 MAMA, THERE’S A MAN IN YOUR BED
05/18/90 WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
05/25/90 JESUS OF MONTREAL
06/29/90 CHILDREN OF PARADISE
07/13/90 LIFE IS A LONG QUIET RIVER
08/03/90 METROPOLITAN
09/07/90 (name change to LOEWS FINE ARTS)
11/02/90 VINCENT AND THEO
12/28/90 ALICE
04/12/91 DADDY NOSTALGIA
05/24/91 AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE
06/28/91 MY FATHER’S GLORY
07/26/91 MY MOTHER’S CASTLE
09/13/91 DOGFIGHT
10/04/91 THE MAN IN THE MOON
11/15/91 MEETING VENUS
11/29/91 THE INNER CIRCLE
01/24/92 KAFKA
03/13/92 HOWARD’S END
10/30/92 THE LOVER
11/13/92 (renamed LOEWS PARIS FINE ARTS)
05/28/93 (renamed PARIS)
06/04/93 THE MUSIC OF CHANCE
08/20/93 KING OF THE HILL
09/24/93 JAMON JAMON
11/05/93 REMAINS OF THE DAY
03/11/94 GERMINAL
05/13/94 WIDOW’S PEAK
08/12/94 A LA MODE
09/30/94 PLAYTIME/ JOUR DE FETE
10/14/94 THE BROWNING VERSION
11/04/94 THE LAST SEDUCTION
12/23/94 DEATH AND THE MAIDEN
02/24/95 ONCE WERE WARRIORS
03/31/95 JEFFERSON IN PARIS
06/30/95 BELLE DE JOUR
09/29/95 PERSUASION
11/10/95 CARRINGTON
12/15/95 OTHELLO
03/08/96 THE STAR MAKER
04/12/96 JANE EYRE
05/17/96 THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF
06/28/96 PURPLE NOON
09/20/96 SURVIVING PICASSO
12/27/96 HAMLET
04/04/97 ANNA KARENINA
05/02/97 closed?
07/25/97 DAY FOR NIGHT
08/22/97 FACES
08/23/97 SHADOWS
08/24/97 HUSBANDS
08/25/97 LOVE STRANGERS
08/26/97 MINNIE & MOSKOWITZ
08/27/97 A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
09/05/97 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
10/03/97 WASHINGTON SQUARE
12/26/97 THE WINTER GUEST
02/13/98 VIEWS OF MERCHANT IVORY (14 FILMS)
03/13/98 AMISTAD
03/27/98 A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES
05/01/98 WILDE
06/12/98 THE LAND GIRLS
07/10/98 A NIGHT AT THE OPERA/ A DAY AT THE RACES
07/31/98 THE GOVERNESS
09/18/98 A SOLDIER’S DAUGHTER NEVER CRIES
10/23/98 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
04/09/99 FELLINI’S 8 1/2
05/21/99 BESIEGED
07/09/99 THE DINNER GAME
10/29/99 THE LEGEND OF 1900
11/19/99 MANSFIELD PARK
12/17/99 TOPSY-TURVY

Thank you, Al, for all your hard work – I love seeing lists like this.

Amazing that “A Man and a Woman” played the Paris for a year and three months. My own best memory of the Paris is seeing “Another Woman” there in 1988, and hearing the audience laugh at it. Not with it – at it. Woody Allen had fallen out of favor with the so-called sophisticated New York audiences that used to worship him as a genius only a few years before. I thought that was one of his better movies, too.

Oops. Make that MANON OF THE SPRING above.

Thanks Ed, here they go…
01/30/80 COUP DE TETE
03/05/80 MY BRILLIANT CAREER
07/16/80 PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
08/27/80 MAKE ROOM FOR TOMORROW
10/15/80 BYE BYE, BRAZIL
12/17/80 MON ONCLE D'AMERIQUE
05/06/81 I SENT A LETTER TO MY LOVE
08/26/81 HEARTLAND
10/14/81 THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR
02/03/82 closed
02/10/82 CIRCLE OF DECEIT
03/31/82 A WEEK’S VACATION
05/05/82 SMASH PALACE
06/23/82 LA VIE CONTINUE
08/25/82 BIRGITT HAAS MUST BE KILLED
09/15/82 JOSEPHA
10/13/82 FITZCARRALDO
12/22/82 COUP DE TORCHON
03/02/83 THE GIFT
04/27/83 LA TRAVIATA
08/17/83 I MARRIED A SHADOW
09/14/83 HEAT AND DUST
11/23/83 LA BALANCE
01/25/84 CONFIDENTIALLY YOURS
04/04/84 LES COMPERES
06/20/84 CAREFUL, HE MIGHT HEAR YOU
09/19/84 SWANN IN LOVE
11/21/84 A SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY
03/06/85 A PRIVATE FUNCTION
05/29/85 DANGEROUS MOVES
07/24/85 THE MAN WITH ONE RED SHOE
08/07/85 THE LAST METRO/ THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR
08/14/85 DANCE WITH A STRANGER
11/07/85 THE OFFICIAL STORY
03/12/86 A ROOM WITH A VIEW
11/12/86 THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
02/11/87 ONE WOMAN OR TWO
03/11/87 SALVADOR
03/18/87 KANGAROO
04/29/87 L'ANNEE DES MEDUSES
07/01/87 JEAN DE FLORETTE
09/16/87 MAURICE
01/27/88 THE GRAND HIGHWAY
03/23/88 BEATRICE
04/13/88 CONSUMING PASSIONS
04/27/88 JEAN DE FLORETTE/ MANON OF THE SPIRIT
05/04/88 DA
06/29/88 A HANDFUL OF DUST
08/31/88 BANDITS
09/21/88 MILES FROM HOME
10/26/88 ANOTHER WOMAN
01/11/89 THE DRESSMAKER
03/15/89 HANUSSEN
04/05/89 CRUSOE
04/19/89 A FEW DAYS WITH ME
05/10/89 THE RAINBOW
07/12/89 LES MISERABLES (1957)
07/26/89 EAT A BOWL OF TEA
08/23/89 A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL
09/20/89 TOM JONES (1963)
10/18/89 FIGHT FOR US
11/01/89 ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
11/15/89 HENRY V
12/27/89 CAMILLE CLAUDEL

You have to hail the film buyers of the Paris. They booked the classics before anyone knew they were classics. This is, without a doubt, New York’s primary “arthouse”.

The Paris filmography may by off by five days.

02/03/71 SAY HELLO TO YESTERDAY
03/03/71 ROAD TO SALINA
03/24/71 FRIENDS
06/23/71 THE CROOK
08/11/71 DEEP END
09/15/71 THE BEAR AND THE DOLL
10/13/71 IT ONLY HAPPENS TO OTHERS
11/24/71 KING LEAR
16/02/72 BARTLEBY
23/02/72 WITHOUT APPARENT MOTIVE
19/04/72 MY UNCLE ANTOINE
10/05/72 THE SORROW AND THE PITY
09/08/72 LA SALAMANDRE
04/10/72 WEDNESDAY’S CHILD
29/11/72 WHY
06/12/72 A MAN AND A WOMAN
13/12/72 CESAR AND ROSALIE
28/03/73 MONEY MONEY MONEY
04/07/73 MONSIEUR VERDOUX
22/08/73 THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
26/08/73 THE WILD CHILD/ STOLEN KISSES
29/08/73 JULES & JIM/ SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER
31/08/73 THE TALL BLOND MAN WITH ONE BLACK SHOE
21/11/73 ENGLAND MADE ME
01/02/74 CHILDREN OF PARADISE
01/23/74 THE EXORCIST
06/26/74 A FREE WOMAN
08/14/74 HARRY & TONTO
10/30/74 THE PAHNTOM OF LIBERTE
12/18/74 EMMANUELLE
04/23/75 DON’T CRY WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL
05/14/75 LE SECRET
07/02/75 CHARLOTTE
09/17/75 JUST BEFORE NIGHTFALL
10/15/75 LIES MY FATHER TOLD ME
01/28/76 SCENT OF A WOMAN
02/25/76 GREY GARDENS
04/28/76 BAMBINA
06/02/76 CHILDREN OF PARADISE
07/28/76 COUSIN COUSINE
04/13/77 BLACK AND WHITE IN COLOR
10/26/77 THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN
03/01/78 DONA FLOR AND HER TWO HUSBANDS
07/12/78 VIVA ITALIA!
10/04/78 VIOLETTE
12/27/78 GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS
05/23/79 THE TOY
06/13/79 DOWN AND DIRTY
01/08/79 WHY NOT?
10/10/79 THE EUROPEANS

Turns out I saw “Not a Love Story” at the 57th Street Playhouse back in ‘82 (thanks to AlAlvarez for verifying that info – as well as a fantastic list of bookings for the Beekman Theater for the '60’s, '70’s and '80’s). But I definitely saw that French farce “The Gift” here and I also recall seeing Werner Herzog’s sisyphean “Fitzcarraldo” in '82.

I hope Al soon finds some time to work his magic for Paris Theater bookings as well.

Thanks KenRoe… I was able to find the listing on imdb.com, but I’m still trying to piece together the actual theater in which I saw the film. I saw quite a number of movies along this 57th-58th street corridor of theaters during the 80’s, but memory does not serve me well. I used to have a log that I kept in a spiral graphpaper notebook wherein I noted just about every single movie I saw (along with the theater and cost of the ticket) between mid-1979 and 1983 or 84. The whole project started as a means of tracking how many movies I saw in a year (I knew it was a lot) and how much money I spent on admissions… it grew into an obsession. Once my parents sold the house in Laurelton and moved us out to Long Island, I stopped keeping track since we lived out of boxes at various relatives houses for a number of months. I haven’t seen the book in years and I know I still have it somewhere (my mom’s house? my ex-wife’s garage?)… I guess it’s high time I try and track it down.

My wife and I just got back from a four day weekend in NY. Along with shopping, eating at great resturants, seeing “The Odd Couple” on Broadway, Emanuel Ax at Carnegie Hall, we caught “Mrs Palfrey At The Clarmont” at the Paris. Always an elegant theater the Paris continues to be one of the best places to see a movie. It’s weekends like we just had that make me wish I still lived in NYC.

“King Lear” in 1971
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Here’s a Showcase program from December, 1967:

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“The Stranger” was everybody’s favorite Existentialist novel, but Visconti’s photogenic, operatic style seemed to swamp the bleakness of Camus. Somehow even the Italian title (“Lo straniero”) didn’t appear right. Anway, the briefly-lived Showbills distributed in art theaters during the early ‘60s made a short comeback in the winter of ‘67-’68, and this—now renamed “Showcase”—is one of them. By comparison with the earlier version, it was quite stripped downâ€"no photo from the film, no full credits list (you’d never know Visconti was involved in it), but mainly a lot of ads for restaurants and art galleries and imported aperitifs.

Here’s a Showbill from September 1961:

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Whatever happened to Philippe de Broca? “Le farceur” arrived with exuberant word-of-mouth and heaps of praise from the NY critics. They portrayed it as going beyond the New Wave in sophistication and with popular entertainment value sometimes missing from its peers. Plus, everyone agreed that it was quite possibly the funniest film ever made. I thought it was funny, but not that funny; sophisticated but not that sophisticated. After it, de Broca made a couple of films that received some attention, notably “King of Hearts” and “That Man from Rio,” and then disappeared into a stream of work that few have ever heard of. Recent filmographies list one, sometimes two features per year, plus tons of work for television. The phenomenon made me very skeptical about whether European films in the long run were really very much better than their H’wood counterpartsâ€"a good lesson to learn at the time when, to many, sub-titles seemed they could do no wrong.