Loew’s State was the most successful movie palace on broadway. It was located on the busiest intersection and was home to M-G-M films until the early 1960’s. Loew’s State reverted to spanish and then back to english a few times.The United Artists was the least successful movie palace on the street. It was closed many times and would reopen until it went Spanish language and then became a Church. The Orpheum and United Artists are the best maintained movie palaces on Broadway. The Los Angeles is the most beautiful and is begging to be restored. If I had to pick one theatre the City of LA should put money into it would be the Los Angeles. A lot of location filming keeps the Los Angeles going and the bills paid. It still irks me today that the City of LA poured a great deal of money into converting a bank into a theatre on Spring St downtown in the 1980’s only to go bust when they had the Palace on Broadway which would be a superb legit house for the spoken word.Its time that the City of LA start focusing on Broadway and Spring St instead of Bunker Hill.brucec
Warren I agree with you, but I think most of the movie palaces may have lasted a little longer like in Canada and Britain.The Chicago loop was vital until the early 1970’s until exploitation became the norm. Hollywood Blvd did very well during the 1970’s day and date with Westwood on Exclusive Runs. The urban core in most of our downtowns were declining in the 1960’s some faster than others. I still think if more thought and imagination many of our great cinemas could have been incorporated within a megaplex like the Cinerama Dome,Gruaman’s Chinese,Odeon in London,and the Rex in Paris. I think in Times Sqaure the Criterion could have been incorporated into a megaplex. I think City planners in New York City should have pushed for a megaplex on Times Square as well as 42nt St. I loved the era of the exlusive run because these theatres were deluxe houses and put on a great show. I know Chicago didn’t want any new megaplex built in the Loop they wanted them off North Michigan Ave across the river.I think if the Roxy had lasted a little longer it would have made a great mid size concert hall the way Radio City became in the late 1970’s.brucec
Tivia: The Roxy (Cathedral of the Motion Picture) was demolished in 1960 and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(The Tiffany’s of the major studios) was seperated from Loews Inc. the last major studio to comply with the government consent decree which forced the major studios to divest there theatres in the US. The greatest movie palace ever built was destroyed and Loew’s M-G-M was spit up with the help of the government, only survived until 1969 until Kerkorain got his hands on it.I regret that I never was able to attend a movie and a stage show at the Roxy.brucec
I love the Cinerama Dome and I like the ArcLight Cinemas but the Grove usually does more business on the same film unless its in the Dome. The Grove is a little more popular than the ArcLight. Pacific Theatres owns and runs both theatres but to there surprise the Grove has been more successful as has been stated in Variety a number of times.I am from the old school I like the decor of a theatre like Grauman’s Chinese where the theatre can be as exciting as whats on the screen.The Arclight has great picture and sound and presentation and Pacific has invested a great deal of money in there flagship operation.I have friends who live on the westside and will make a special trip if a film is playing in the Dome but not a special trip for the Arclight blackbox theatres unless its an exclusive run.I have to applaud Pacific Theatres showmanship in bringing a little class back to moviegoing in Hollywood.I regard the Cinerama Dome,El Capitan,Grauman’s Chinese,National and Village theatres as the best theatres in LA to see a movie.brucec
I think the City of Chicago needs to get behind the Uptown restoration.The Uptown is the perfect midsize venue for concerts.Maybe the City should have a chat with Clear Channel who operate and book theatres like the Wiltern in LA and Warfield in San Francisco.The current Mayor helped get the ball rolling for the restoration of the Oriental and the Palace to help revitalize the Loop, the restoration of the Uptown could help the Uptown district as well.The longer the City waits the more expensive the project will become. I think the Uptown could be restored for $30 Million. The theatre was never divided or altered.The City should at least spend the money to stabalize the building regardless of who owns it.brucec
Warren I agree with you about the Hollywood-Mark Hellinger but it will never return to being a movie palace. The Mark Hellinger would be a legit theatre right now if the church would give it up and move to another location. Disney would love to operate the Mark Hellinger like the New Amsterdam. Im sure the Nederlanders have first choice if the church chooses to sell or lease it out since they sold it to the church in the first place. The Mark Hellinger is the perfect size house to host broadway musicals. Cameron M. wanted the Mark Hellinger for “Miss Saigon” but the Nederlanders leased it to the church because they needed the money to offset the flop “Legs Diamond” with Peter Allen.The Broadway community was upset with the Nederlanders for doing so. Many musical shows coming into New York have to wait for a theatre like the Mark Hellinger which has caused a booking jam the last few years.brucec
Since the Mayfair is the last movie palace left in Times Sqaure from the old days maybe the City of New York could declare it a landmark and eligble for federal and state funds. Why couldn’t a new building incorporate the theatre the way the Palace was down the street.The excuse I have always heard from New York City is that they have so many legit theatres and this is why there are no movie palaces left in the Times Sqaure Area. Im afraid London has done a better job preserving movie theatres in the West End and they also have many legit theatres. New York City has gone from having some of the best movie theatres in the world to having theatres now that in many cases are not even on par with theatres you see in the suburbs across the US.New York City maybe one of the few large cities in the US that has not restored a large movie palace in there entertainment Zone called Times Sqaure because I regard Radio City as outside Times Sqaure.
Here are some examples of Restored Movie Palaces in Entertainment Zones in the US
Seattle Paramount and Fifth Ave
Portland Portland(Paramount)
San Francisco Orpheum,Warfield and Golden Gate
Oakland Paramount and Fox Oakland(resoration in progress)
San Jose California(opens in Sept)
Hollywood Chinese,El Capitan,Pantagees Egyptian not eligible
Los Angeles Orpheum,United Artists(Church) many unrestored
San Diego Fox(Copley),Balboa and Sprecles
Phoenix Orpheum
Dallas Majestic
San Antonio Majestic and Aztec(under restoration}
Denver Paramount
St Louis Fox and St.Louis(Powell)
Kansas City Midland
Minneapolis Orpheum,State and Pantagees
Chicago Chicago,Oriental and Palace
Detroit Fox,State and Grand Circus(Opera House)
Cleveland Palace,State,Allen and Ohio
Columbus Ohio,Palace and Southern
Indianapolis Indiana and Circle
Buffalo Sheas Buffalo
Pittsburg Heinz Hall(Loew’s Penn),Benedlum(Stanley)and Byham
Baltimore Hippodrome
Providence Ocean State(Providence)
Boston Wang(Metropolitan),Majestic(Saxon) and Opera House
Wash DC Warner
Richmond Carpenter
New Orleans Saengar and unrestored Loew’s State
Jacksonville Florida
Tampa Tampa
Miami Guzman(Olympia)
Birmingham Alabama
Omaha Orpheum and Astro(Rose)
Albany Palace
Syracuse Landmark
Salt Lake Capitol
Louisville Palace
Memphis Orpheum
Jersey City Loew’s Jersey and Stanley(Church
Albuquerque Kimo
Tuscon Fox and Rialto
These are a few examples and there are many more. New York City along with Phildelphia, and Cincinatti are among the worst in saving historic movie palaces.brucec
Its to bad Oakland can’t find a major patron the way the Fox California in San Jose has.It would be nice if the Port Of Oakland paid for half the restoration like the Silicon Valley has for the California. This is just an observation.Maybe Clear Channel may be interested because the Fox-Oakland is the size theatre they are looking for. Clear Channel helped with the restoration of the Baltimore Hippodrome and Boston’s B F Keith Opera House.brucec
The City of Beverly Hills helped cause the demise of the movie palaces in downtown Beverly Hills. The big Three were the Fox-Wilshire,Beverly and the Beverly Warner. As long as they were able to play the exclusive reserved seat attractions these theatres did very well.The studios were also to blame for not placing the proper movies in the 1970’s that wouldn’t have attracted the unruly crowds that caused problems with the residents in the area.They opened “Woodstock” in Beverly Hills instead of Westwood or Hollywood and the “Excorcist” instead of Hollywood on exclusive runs.The Beverly Hills market was great for the upscale and roadshow films such as “The Sound of Music”.I saw “On A Clear Day” at the Beverly what a great film presentation. General Cinema was the wrong chain to be running this theatre. They were mainly in the suburban mall market and didn’t run single screens in the city. After problems with the “Excorcist” and “Woodstock” Beverly Hills started resticting parking and not allowing for midnight shows. The City help destroy going to the movies in Beverly Hills during the 1970’s. The Fine Arts and the Music Hall are upscale smaller cinemas that have been able to survive because they attract the audience that the city is happy with. It was not until the Beverly Center was built did movies return to Beverly Hills in a major way but this was in a mall on the cities border.brucec
Saw many movies in my youth at the Alameda. It rememded me of a smaller version of the Oakland Paramount. The Alameda has a great marquee. The Alameda was well maintained till the day it closed as a movie theatre.brucec
Denny Downtown San Diego is changing rapidly and is becoming very upscale. It won’t be long before the area around the California is redeveloped.brucec
I forgot to name the theatre where I saw “Ben Hur” as a reserved seat roadwhow attraction back in 1959 when I was 7 years old and recently saw “Troy” in 2004. The theatre in question is the Grand Lake Theatre on Grand Ave in Oakland Calif. I moved out of the Bay Area in the late 1970’S and moved back in 2003.The Grand Lake is rated by a poll in the local newpapers as the best theatre to see a movie in the East Bay. They even play the organ on Fri/Sat/Sun.brucec
I saw “For Pete Sake” at the Astor Plaza when it opened in 1974.I thought it was a nice modern theatre at the time but no way came even close to the Rivoli,Criterion,Warner,State,Capitol,Paramount and Roxy. In fact the ugliest legit theatre on broadway the “Minskoff” is located in the same building as the Astor Plaza.I still can’t get over the fact that NYC let the “Hotel Astor” be demolished for this ugly skyskraper.Remember the ugly Madison Square Garden replaced the Pennsylvania Train Station which NY has never recovered from.I do understand the love for the big screen and the “Astor Plaza” and the “Ziegfeld” are all that is left.The era of the megaplex is here,but what I don’t understand is the lack of imagination going into the building of many of these megaplex theatres. They want so much to be the modern day movie palace and some do a better job than others. Thank god many of our beloved movie palaces have found life as Performing Art Centers. When I lived in LA they use to rate the 10 best places to see a movie and most were single screens.Why can’t the theatre owners use an Egyptian,Mayan,French,Italian, theme throughout the megaplex including the auditoriums. I find more thought has gone into the Lobby than the auditoriums. Lucky for me I am still able to go to a first run movie palace where I first saw “Ben Hur” as a reserved seat attraction back in 1959 and saw “Troy” in 2004.brucec
Here are a few films that played Loew’s State from the New York Times movie adds.
Nov 1953 How To Marry a Millionaire
Mar 1955 Blackboard Jungle
Jun 1955 The Seven Year Itch
Mar 1959 Some Like it Hot
Nov 1959 Ben Hur
Dec 1970 Love Story
Oct 1971 The French Connection
Mar 1972 The Godfather
Dec 1973 The Sting
Dec 1976 King Kong
Dec 1977 Saturday Night Fever
Jun 1978 Grease
Loew’s State was one of the most successful movie palaces in Times Square up until it closed and was torn down in the 1980’s.It was Loew’s flagship after the Capitol was torn down in 1968. It maintained its first run status and didn’t suffer a decline like the Rivoli,Criterion,and Warner. It was the largest grossing theatre in Times Sqaure from 1968 until the day it closed.brucec
I left out the most famous film from the New York Times movie adds to play the Capitol,1939’s “Gone With The Wind” which opened on
Tuesday December 19th at 8:30PM. The Astor Theatre also opened with “Gone With The Wind” with reserved seats but the Capitol no reserved seats. The Add also states “Gone With The Wind” will not be shown except at advanced prices at least until 1941.brucec
Here are a list of a few of the films that Played Radio City from 1950 Thru 1970
1950 Stage Fright,Father of the Bride,The Men, King Solomons Mines
1951 Royal Wedding,The Great Caruso,Showboat,An American in Paris
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth,Singing in the Rain,Ivanhoe
1953 Shane,The Bandwagon,Roman Holiday,Mogambo,Kiss Me Kate
1954 Knights of the Round Table,The Long Long Trailer,White Christmas
1955 Love Me or Leave Me,Mister Roberts,I’ll Cry Tommorrow,Picnic
1956 The Swan,High Society,Bhowana Junction,Tea and Sympathy
1957 The Spirit of St Louis,Funny Face,Silk Stockings,Sayonara
1958 No Time For Seargeants,Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,Auntie Mame
1959 The Nuns Story,North By Northwest,Operation Petticoat
1960 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,Midnight Lace,The Sundowners
1961 Fanny,Come September,Breakfest at Tiffanys,Babes in Toyland
1962 Lover Come Back,The Music Man,To Kill a Mockingbird,Jumbo
1963 Bye Bye Birdie,Spencers Mountain,Come Blow Your Horn,Charade
1964 The Pink Panther,The Unsinkable Molly Brown,Mary Poppins,
1965 The Sandpiper,The Great Race,That Darn Cat,Dear Heart
1966 Inside Daisy Clover,How To Steal a Million,Follow The Boys
1967 Two For The Road,Barefoot in the Park,Wait Until Dark
1968 The Odd Couple,Bulitt,The Impossible Years,Hotel,The 25th Hour
1969 The Love Bug,True Grit,A Boy Named Charlie Brown,Mayerling
1970 Airport,The Out of Towners,Darling Lili,Scrooge
The most successful film to ever play the Music Hall was
Paramount Pictures The Odd Couple it played for 14 Weeks and
grossed $3.1 Million in 1968.
Cary Grant is the Music Hall’s alltime boxoffice champ.The
Music Hall played Twenty-seven of his films which played a
total of 113 weeks.
Fred Astaire is second place with Sixtheen films playing a
total of sixty weeks.
Greer Garson is the Queen of Radio City with Eleven films
playing a total of Seventy-Nine weeks.
Ginger Rogers had twenty-three films which played fifty-five
weeks.
Katherine Hepburn had twenty-two films which played sixty-four
weeks. Hepburn is the only performer,male or female,to have
seventeen successive films open at the Music Hall.
Note the above stats are from the 1979 Radio City Music Hall
by Charles Francisco.brucec
Here are a few films that played Radio City from the New York Times movie adds.
Mar 1933 King Kong
Apr 1937 A Star is Born
Jan 1938 Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs
Mar 1939 Stagecoach
Oct 1939 Mr Smith Goes To Washington
Mar 1940 Rebecca
Aug 1950 Sunset Boulevard
Oct 1951 An American in Paris
Apr 1953 Shane
Oct 1954 White Christmas
Sep 1964 Mary Poppins
Here are a few films that played the Roxy over the years from the New York Times movie adds.
Feb 1931 Dracula
Mar 1939 The Hounds of The Baskervilles
Feb 1940 Of Mice and Men
Mar 1940 My Little Chicadee
Oct 1950 All About Eve
Sep 1953 The Robe
Jun 1956 The King and I
Aug 1957 The Sun Also Rises
The Roxy was the flagship theatre of 20Th Century-Fox.brucec
Here are a few more films that have played the Capitol over the years.I have the New York Times movie Adds for the following films.
Aug 1934 Treasure Island
Dec 1935 A Night at the Opera
Jan 1937 Camille
Aug 1939 The Wizard of Oz
Oct 1940 The Great Dictator
Jul 1947 The Hucksters
Feb 1952 The African Queen
Aug 1953 From Here To Eternity
Jun 1954 The Caine Mutiny
Feb 1961 The Misfits
Mar 1962 Sweet Bird of Youth
Aug 1967 In The Heat of the Night
Feb 1968 The Planet of the Apes
Apr 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
The Capitol was one of the most important movie palaces in the United States. It was the flagship theatre of Metro-Goldywn-Mayer which was considered the Tiffany’s of the movie studios during this period of time.brucec
I saw one of the last movies to play the Esquire it was a Vincent Price film. My shoes stuck to the carpet it was so sticky. The Esquire was torn down to make room for the the Powell St Bart Station.brucec
Here are a few films that played exclusive run at the Mayfair/DeMille.
1951 Detective Story
1931 Frankenstein
1945 Gentlemens Agreement
1960 Psycho
1965 Magnificient Men in Flying Machines
I have the New York Times Movie Adds for these features except Flying Machines.Brucec
Would love to see photos of the State Lake marquee during the 1950’s,1960’s and early 1970’s. This theatre was one of the nations most important movie palaces during this period of time. The Chicago Loop was second only to Times Square in terms of importance to the movie studios. The Loop didn’t decline until the 1970’s. Most cities entertainment zones started there decline in the 1960’s.The State Lake made a nice bookend to the Chicago Theatre across the street. It would be wonderful if the City restored the marquee and Box Office to the entrance of the State Lake building.brucec
I thought Hello Dolly was a flawed film but I still liked it on the Big Screen. I saw it in 1969 at Grauman’s Chinese. The movie cost 26 million back in 1969 the most expensive Musical up to that time. The Production Values were great and the Hello Dolly Street set at 20Th Century-Fox was one of the largest ever built. The movie was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Midnight Cowboy which reprsented the new Hollywood.brucec
Loew’s State was the most successful movie palace on broadway. It was located on the busiest intersection and was home to M-G-M films until the early 1960’s. Loew’s State reverted to spanish and then back to english a few times.The United Artists was the least successful movie palace on the street. It was closed many times and would reopen until it went Spanish language and then became a Church. The Orpheum and United Artists are the best maintained movie palaces on Broadway. The Los Angeles is the most beautiful and is begging to be restored. If I had to pick one theatre the City of LA should put money into it would be the Los Angeles. A lot of location filming keeps the Los Angeles going and the bills paid. It still irks me today that the City of LA poured a great deal of money into converting a bank into a theatre on Spring St downtown in the 1980’s only to go bust when they had the Palace on Broadway which would be a superb legit house for the spoken word.Its time that the City of LA start focusing on Broadway and Spring St instead of Bunker Hill.brucec
Warren I agree with you, but I think most of the movie palaces may have lasted a little longer like in Canada and Britain.The Chicago loop was vital until the early 1970’s until exploitation became the norm. Hollywood Blvd did very well during the 1970’s day and date with Westwood on Exclusive Runs. The urban core in most of our downtowns were declining in the 1960’s some faster than others. I still think if more thought and imagination many of our great cinemas could have been incorporated within a megaplex like the Cinerama Dome,Gruaman’s Chinese,Odeon in London,and the Rex in Paris. I think in Times Sqaure the Criterion could have been incorporated into a megaplex. I think City planners in New York City should have pushed for a megaplex on Times Square as well as 42nt St. I loved the era of the exlusive run because these theatres were deluxe houses and put on a great show. I know Chicago didn’t want any new megaplex built in the Loop they wanted them off North Michigan Ave across the river.I think if the Roxy had lasted a little longer it would have made a great mid size concert hall the way Radio City became in the late 1970’s.brucec
Tivia: The Roxy (Cathedral of the Motion Picture) was demolished in 1960 and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(The Tiffany’s of the major studios) was seperated from Loews Inc. the last major studio to comply with the government consent decree which forced the major studios to divest there theatres in the US. The greatest movie palace ever built was destroyed and Loew’s M-G-M was spit up with the help of the government, only survived until 1969 until Kerkorain got his hands on it.I regret that I never was able to attend a movie and a stage show at the Roxy.brucec
I love the Cinerama Dome and I like the ArcLight Cinemas but the Grove usually does more business on the same film unless its in the Dome. The Grove is a little more popular than the ArcLight. Pacific Theatres owns and runs both theatres but to there surprise the Grove has been more successful as has been stated in Variety a number of times.I am from the old school I like the decor of a theatre like Grauman’s Chinese where the theatre can be as exciting as whats on the screen.The Arclight has great picture and sound and presentation and Pacific has invested a great deal of money in there flagship operation.I have friends who live on the westside and will make a special trip if a film is playing in the Dome but not a special trip for the Arclight blackbox theatres unless its an exclusive run.I have to applaud Pacific Theatres showmanship in bringing a little class back to moviegoing in Hollywood.I regard the Cinerama Dome,El Capitan,Grauman’s Chinese,National and Village theatres as the best theatres in LA to see a movie.brucec
I think the City of Chicago needs to get behind the Uptown restoration.The Uptown is the perfect midsize venue for concerts.Maybe the City should have a chat with Clear Channel who operate and book theatres like the Wiltern in LA and Warfield in San Francisco.The current Mayor helped get the ball rolling for the restoration of the Oriental and the Palace to help revitalize the Loop, the restoration of the Uptown could help the Uptown district as well.The longer the City waits the more expensive the project will become. I think the Uptown could be restored for $30 Million. The theatre was never divided or altered.The City should at least spend the money to stabalize the building regardless of who owns it.brucec
Warren I agree with you about the Hollywood-Mark Hellinger but it will never return to being a movie palace. The Mark Hellinger would be a legit theatre right now if the church would give it up and move to another location. Disney would love to operate the Mark Hellinger like the New Amsterdam. Im sure the Nederlanders have first choice if the church chooses to sell or lease it out since they sold it to the church in the first place. The Mark Hellinger is the perfect size house to host broadway musicals. Cameron M. wanted the Mark Hellinger for “Miss Saigon” but the Nederlanders leased it to the church because they needed the money to offset the flop “Legs Diamond” with Peter Allen.The Broadway community was upset with the Nederlanders for doing so. Many musical shows coming into New York have to wait for a theatre like the Mark Hellinger which has caused a booking jam the last few years.brucec
Since the Mayfair is the last movie palace left in Times Sqaure from the old days maybe the City of New York could declare it a landmark and eligble for federal and state funds. Why couldn’t a new building incorporate the theatre the way the Palace was down the street.The excuse I have always heard from New York City is that they have so many legit theatres and this is why there are no movie palaces left in the Times Sqaure Area. Im afraid London has done a better job preserving movie theatres in the West End and they also have many legit theatres. New York City has gone from having some of the best movie theatres in the world to having theatres now that in many cases are not even on par with theatres you see in the suburbs across the US.New York City maybe one of the few large cities in the US that has not restored a large movie palace in there entertainment Zone called Times Sqaure because I regard Radio City as outside Times Sqaure.
Here are some examples of Restored Movie Palaces in Entertainment Zones in the US
Seattle Paramount and Fifth Ave
Portland Portland(Paramount)
San Francisco Orpheum,Warfield and Golden Gate
Oakland Paramount and Fox Oakland(resoration in progress)
San Jose California(opens in Sept)
Hollywood Chinese,El Capitan,Pantagees Egyptian not eligible
Los Angeles Orpheum,United Artists(Church) many unrestored
San Diego Fox(Copley),Balboa and Sprecles
Phoenix Orpheum
Dallas Majestic
San Antonio Majestic and Aztec(under restoration}
Denver Paramount
St Louis Fox and St.Louis(Powell)
Kansas City Midland
Minneapolis Orpheum,State and Pantagees
Chicago Chicago,Oriental and Palace
Detroit Fox,State and Grand Circus(Opera House)
Cleveland Palace,State,Allen and Ohio
Columbus Ohio,Palace and Southern
Indianapolis Indiana and Circle
Buffalo Sheas Buffalo
Pittsburg Heinz Hall(Loew’s Penn),Benedlum(Stanley)and Byham
Baltimore Hippodrome
Providence Ocean State(Providence)
Boston Wang(Metropolitan),Majestic(Saxon) and Opera House
Wash DC Warner
Richmond Carpenter
New Orleans Saengar and unrestored Loew’s State
Jacksonville Florida
Tampa Tampa
Miami Guzman(Olympia)
Birmingham Alabama
Omaha Orpheum and Astro(Rose)
Albany Palace
Syracuse Landmark
Salt Lake Capitol
Louisville Palace
Memphis Orpheum
Jersey City Loew’s Jersey and Stanley(Church
Albuquerque Kimo
Tuscon Fox and Rialto
These are a few examples and there are many more. New York City along with Phildelphia, and Cincinatti are among the worst in saving historic movie palaces.brucec
Its to bad Oakland can’t find a major patron the way the Fox California in San Jose has.It would be nice if the Port Of Oakland paid for half the restoration like the Silicon Valley has for the California. This is just an observation.Maybe Clear Channel may be interested because the Fox-Oakland is the size theatre they are looking for. Clear Channel helped with the restoration of the Baltimore Hippodrome and Boston’s B F Keith Opera House.brucec
The City of Beverly Hills helped cause the demise of the movie palaces in downtown Beverly Hills. The big Three were the Fox-Wilshire,Beverly and the Beverly Warner. As long as they were able to play the exclusive reserved seat attractions these theatres did very well.The studios were also to blame for not placing the proper movies in the 1970’s that wouldn’t have attracted the unruly crowds that caused problems with the residents in the area.They opened “Woodstock” in Beverly Hills instead of Westwood or Hollywood and the “Excorcist” instead of Hollywood on exclusive runs.The Beverly Hills market was great for the upscale and roadshow films such as “The Sound of Music”.I saw “On A Clear Day” at the Beverly what a great film presentation. General Cinema was the wrong chain to be running this theatre. They were mainly in the suburban mall market and didn’t run single screens in the city. After problems with the “Excorcist” and “Woodstock” Beverly Hills started resticting parking and not allowing for midnight shows. The City help destroy going to the movies in Beverly Hills during the 1970’s. The Fine Arts and the Music Hall are upscale smaller cinemas that have been able to survive because they attract the audience that the city is happy with. It was not until the Beverly Center was built did movies return to Beverly Hills in a major way but this was in a mall on the cities border.brucec
Saw many movies in my youth at the Alameda. It rememded me of a smaller version of the Oakland Paramount. The Alameda has a great marquee. The Alameda was well maintained till the day it closed as a movie theatre.brucec
This theatre needs a proper marquee.brucec
Denny Downtown San Diego is changing rapidly and is becoming very upscale. It won’t be long before the area around the California is redeveloped.brucec
I forgot to name the theatre where I saw “Ben Hur” as a reserved seat roadwhow attraction back in 1959 when I was 7 years old and recently saw “Troy” in 2004. The theatre in question is the Grand Lake Theatre on Grand Ave in Oakland Calif. I moved out of the Bay Area in the late 1970’S and moved back in 2003.The Grand Lake is rated by a poll in the local newpapers as the best theatre to see a movie in the East Bay. They even play the organ on Fri/Sat/Sun.brucec
I saw “For Pete Sake” at the Astor Plaza when it opened in 1974.I thought it was a nice modern theatre at the time but no way came even close to the Rivoli,Criterion,Warner,State,Capitol,Paramount and Roxy. In fact the ugliest legit theatre on broadway the “Minskoff” is located in the same building as the Astor Plaza.I still can’t get over the fact that NYC let the “Hotel Astor” be demolished for this ugly skyskraper.Remember the ugly Madison Square Garden replaced the Pennsylvania Train Station which NY has never recovered from.I do understand the love for the big screen and the “Astor Plaza” and the “Ziegfeld” are all that is left.The era of the megaplex is here,but what I don’t understand is the lack of imagination going into the building of many of these megaplex theatres. They want so much to be the modern day movie palace and some do a better job than others. Thank god many of our beloved movie palaces have found life as Performing Art Centers. When I lived in LA they use to rate the 10 best places to see a movie and most were single screens.Why can’t the theatre owners use an Egyptian,Mayan,French,Italian, theme throughout the megaplex including the auditoriums. I find more thought has gone into the Lobby than the auditoriums. Lucky for me I am still able to go to a first run movie palace where I first saw “Ben Hur” as a reserved seat attraction back in 1959 and saw “Troy” in 2004.brucec
Here are a few films that played Loew’s State from the New York Times movie adds.
Nov 1953 How To Marry a Millionaire
Mar 1955 Blackboard Jungle
Jun 1955 The Seven Year Itch
Mar 1959 Some Like it Hot
Nov 1959 Ben Hur
Dec 1970 Love Story
Oct 1971 The French Connection
Mar 1972 The Godfather
Dec 1973 The Sting
Dec 1976 King Kong
Dec 1977 Saturday Night Fever
Jun 1978 Grease
Loew’s State was one of the most successful movie palaces in Times Square up until it closed and was torn down in the 1980’s.It was Loew’s flagship after the Capitol was torn down in 1968. It maintained its first run status and didn’t suffer a decline like the Rivoli,Criterion,and Warner. It was the largest grossing theatre in Times Sqaure from 1968 until the day it closed.brucec
I left out the most famous film from the New York Times movie adds to play the Capitol,1939’s “Gone With The Wind” which opened on
Tuesday December 19th at 8:30PM. The Astor Theatre also opened with “Gone With The Wind” with reserved seats but the Capitol no reserved seats. The Add also states “Gone With The Wind” will not be shown except at advanced prices at least until 1941.brucec
Here are a list of a few of the films that Played Radio City from 1950 Thru 1970
1950 Stage Fright,Father of the Bride,The Men, King Solomons Mines
1951 Royal Wedding,The Great Caruso,Showboat,An American in Paris
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth,Singing in the Rain,Ivanhoe
1953 Shane,The Bandwagon,Roman Holiday,Mogambo,Kiss Me Kate
1954 Knights of the Round Table,The Long Long Trailer,White Christmas
1955 Love Me or Leave Me,Mister Roberts,I’ll Cry Tommorrow,Picnic
1956 The Swan,High Society,Bhowana Junction,Tea and Sympathy
1957 The Spirit of St Louis,Funny Face,Silk Stockings,Sayonara
1958 No Time For Seargeants,Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,Auntie Mame
1959 The Nuns Story,North By Northwest,Operation Petticoat
1960 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,Midnight Lace,The Sundowners
1961 Fanny,Come September,Breakfest at Tiffanys,Babes in Toyland
1962 Lover Come Back,The Music Man,To Kill a Mockingbird,Jumbo
1963 Bye Bye Birdie,Spencers Mountain,Come Blow Your Horn,Charade
1964 The Pink Panther,The Unsinkable Molly Brown,Mary Poppins,
1965 The Sandpiper,The Great Race,That Darn Cat,Dear Heart
1966 Inside Daisy Clover,How To Steal a Million,Follow The Boys
1967 Two For The Road,Barefoot in the Park,Wait Until Dark
1968 The Odd Couple,Bulitt,The Impossible Years,Hotel,The 25th Hour
1969 The Love Bug,True Grit,A Boy Named Charlie Brown,Mayerling
1970 Airport,The Out of Towners,Darling Lili,Scrooge
The most successful film to ever play the Music Hall was
Paramount Pictures The Odd Couple it played for 14 Weeks and
grossed $3.1 Million in 1968.
Cary Grant is the Music Hall’s alltime boxoffice champ.The
Music Hall played Twenty-seven of his films which played a
total of 113 weeks.
Fred Astaire is second place with Sixtheen films playing a
total of sixty weeks.
Greer Garson is the Queen of Radio City with Eleven films
playing a total of Seventy-Nine weeks.
Ginger Rogers had twenty-three films which played fifty-five
weeks.
Katherine Hepburn had twenty-two films which played sixty-four
weeks. Hepburn is the only performer,male or female,to have
seventeen successive films open at the Music Hall.
Note the above stats are from the 1979 Radio City Music Hall
by Charles Francisco.brucec
Here are a few films that played Radio City from the New York Times movie adds.
Mar 1933 King Kong
Apr 1937 A Star is Born
Jan 1938 Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs
Mar 1939 Stagecoach
Oct 1939 Mr Smith Goes To Washington
Mar 1940 Rebecca
Aug 1950 Sunset Boulevard
Oct 1951 An American in Paris
Apr 1953 Shane
Oct 1954 White Christmas
Sep 1964 Mary Poppins
brucec
Here are a few films that played the Roxy over the years from the New York Times movie adds.
Feb 1931 Dracula
Mar 1939 The Hounds of The Baskervilles
Feb 1940 Of Mice and Men
Mar 1940 My Little Chicadee
Oct 1950 All About Eve
Sep 1953 The Robe
Jun 1956 The King and I
Aug 1957 The Sun Also Rises
The Roxy was the flagship theatre of 20Th Century-Fox.brucec
Here are a few more films that have played the Capitol over the years.I have the New York Times movie Adds for the following films.
Aug 1934 Treasure Island
Dec 1935 A Night at the Opera
Jan 1937 Camille
Aug 1939 The Wizard of Oz
Oct 1940 The Great Dictator
Jul 1947 The Hucksters
Feb 1952 The African Queen
Aug 1953 From Here To Eternity
Jun 1954 The Caine Mutiny
Feb 1961 The Misfits
Mar 1962 Sweet Bird of Youth
Aug 1967 In The Heat of the Night
Feb 1968 The Planet of the Apes
Apr 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
The Capitol was one of the most important movie palaces in the United States. It was the flagship theatre of Metro-Goldywn-Mayer which was considered the Tiffany’s of the movie studios during this period of time.brucec
I saw one of the last movies to play the Esquire it was a Vincent Price film. My shoes stuck to the carpet it was so sticky. The Esquire was torn down to make room for the the Powell St Bart Station.brucec
Here are a few films that played exclusive run at the Mayfair/DeMille.
1951 Detective Story
1931 Frankenstein
1945 Gentlemens Agreement
1960 Psycho
1965 Magnificient Men in Flying Machines
I have the New York Times Movie Adds for these features except Flying Machines.Brucec
Would love to see photos of the State Lake marquee during the 1950’s,1960’s and early 1970’s. This theatre was one of the nations most important movie palaces during this period of time. The Chicago Loop was second only to Times Square in terms of importance to the movie studios. The Loop didn’t decline until the 1970’s. Most cities entertainment zones started there decline in the 1960’s.The State Lake made a nice bookend to the Chicago Theatre across the street. It would be wonderful if the City restored the marquee and Box Office to the entrance of the State Lake building.brucec
I thought Hello Dolly was a flawed film but I still liked it on the Big Screen. I saw it in 1969 at Grauman’s Chinese. The movie cost 26 million back in 1969 the most expensive Musical up to that time. The Production Values were great and the Hello Dolly Street set at 20Th Century-Fox was one of the largest ever built. The movie was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Midnight Cowboy which reprsented the new Hollywood.brucec
Yes this is the theatre which holds all the major premieres. The Empire use to hold many premieres also.brucec