Comments from theatrefan

Showing 451 - 475 of 543 comments

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Palladium Times Square on Aug 10, 2004 at 8:10 pm

Hi Mikeoaklandpark,
Yes the original Loew’s Orpheum was knocked down to make way for an apartment bulding with modern cinemas uderneath. The 3rd Avenue entrance to the theatre is gone. Since this theatre has opened they have redone the lobby, because the ticket booth area used to be outside. The inside of this theatre is like the other Loews of this era ala the 84th St, Village 7, and 19th Street East. The one unique feature is the marquee is sort of a throwback to the old fashioned ones of yesterday, it had a curved hump in the front.
Unfortunately like all other theatres the land they were sitting on had much more value than the actual building.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Palladium Times Square on Aug 10, 2004 at 7:35 pm

There is a magazine called “Scene” being give out at Loews theatres to celebrate the chain’s centenial 1904-2004. As soon as you open the front cover there is a picture of the Astor Plaza hosting the premiere for Funny Lady from 1975. I got my issue at the Loews Orpheum yesterday, you might want to check for it at your local Loews theatre. It also contains an interesting article and photos that chronicle the last 100 years of the Loews Theatre Chain.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Marboro Theatre on Aug 10, 2004 at 7:30 pm

Whatever Regal is going to do i hope they do it soon, this place is about to collapse in on itself at any given moment.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Benson Twins on Aug 10, 2004 at 7:28 pm

Yes you’re right,

I remember it being to the right as you entered the lobby. The auditoriums here always seemed kind of small, when I used to compare the Benson to the Marboro and Oriental. I remember when the Benson had “Return of the Jedi” playing in 1983, the ticket line was all the way down 86th Street.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Benson Twins on Aug 9, 2004 at 7:20 pm

Does anyone here remember the Benson with the ticket booth outside the lobby?

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about RKO National Twin on Aug 9, 2004 at 7:19 pm

Thanks dave-bronx,

I remember rignt after it closed being shocked, I wonder if theatre chains also knew about the forthcoming Ewalk-Empire duo of 38 movie screens a few blocks away. The Criterion closed rignt after the Empire opened, pretty soon so will the State.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Marboro Theatre on Aug 9, 2004 at 7:13 pm

The Marboro is in awfull shape, I don’t think anything inside can be salvaged at this point. There is horrible water damage in the two former upstairs theatres and along the side walls of the two downstairs ones as well. Regal is just going to gut this entire cinema and rebuild it from scratch inside the shell. Other than the side walls above the exits and a chandelier upstairs, a lot of this theatres original ornamentation was lost forever in the quading process in the 1970’s

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about RKO National Twin on Aug 9, 2004 at 2:55 pm

Thanks dave-bronx,

Still have the old pacer-cats type ticket stub with the RKO Century Warner Logo on it. To finish this story, Cineplex Odeon wound up buying them in 1986 along with the Walter Reade Chain for their entry into the NYC market, they merged with Loews Theatres in 1998 and had to sell off a bunch of the theatres to Cablevision’s Cleaview Cinemas in NYC, almost all of the theatres they sold off were the old former RKO & Walter Reade locations. Could the National also have been closed prior to the merger to comply with the DOJ anti-trust guidelines?

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about RKO National Twin on Aug 9, 2004 at 12:12 am

DennisZ,

Do you by any chance know what year RKO Stanley Warner took over the Century Theatres Chain? I know it was sometime in the early 70’s but I’m trying to get an exact year, thanks!

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Fortway Theatre on Aug 9, 2004 at 12:07 am

The ceiling may still be painted blue, but unfortunately because of the drop ceilings in auditoriums number 3 & 4 you can’t tell. I believe the Fortway was part of the Golden Theatre chain along with the Alpine in the 1980’s before Cineplex Odeon took it over.

This theatre still has many remnants of its former single auditorium days, especially the side walls in auditoriums 2&3, and in the main theatre # 1, the proscenium is still visible along with two female figures on both sides of it. The Forway is the last of a dying breed of once glorious theatres chopped up to show movies in the era of the multimegaplex.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Palladium Times Square on Aug 7, 2004 at 10:14 am

I went by the Astor Plaza last night, everything that Loews could salvage they took, as you look into the lobby, all of the Poster Cases that used to hang on the walls are gone, all that remains is their outline on the wall and wires dangling loose. The boxoffice ticketing system and microphone are gone, as is the schedule for what the movie and showtimes are. The marquee still has the Village sign on it, but it is dark. It’s a sad sight indeed! If anyone wants a outdoor shot of the theatre now is the time to take it.

Also you might want to check this article out from Fridays Daily News:
View link

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Palladium Times Square on Aug 5, 2004 at 4:08 pm

No, it was when the Astor Plaza closed. The largest is the Loews auditorium in Loews Lincoln Square at 62.5' The second biggest are all 62' and are as follows: Loews Kips Bay Auditorium 10, Loews Ewalk, Auditoriums 12 & 13. The Ziegfeld was the sixth largest at 52'. The magazine I am getting this info from does not say which ones are 3 & 4, but one of them has to be in the AMC Empire 25 and falls between 61' & 62'

Keep in mind that the Lincoln Square opened in 1994, Kips Bay & Ewalk in 1999 and the Empire in 2000, so before all these theatres were around the Astor Plaza was the biggest in NY.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Palladium Times Square on Aug 5, 2004 at 2:31 pm

The Loews Astor Plaza movie screen at 61' was the fifth biggest in New York City.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's 72nd Street Theatre on Aug 5, 2004 at 2:24 pm

I spoke with the manager at the Astor Plaza that last weekend, he said yes indeed they were giving them some of the Astor Plaza’s seats, but not all of them, he looked very busy so I couldn’t ask any further questions.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's 72nd Street Theatre on Aug 5, 2004 at 2:21 pm

Yes the Alpine still exists as a 7 screen theatre. It has two large auditoriums on the left side and 5 smaller ones on the right, they date back from the late 80’s. I don’t thing anything inside that was original remains, or it could be hidden by the ugly ceiling panels. The Alpine never had a balcony so they is no second level, only the projection room.

I did see in the photo of the 83rd St. that the condos on top of the 84th St had yet to be built, when they did start construction I wonder if people could hear it watching their movies.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's 72nd Street Theatre on Aug 5, 2004 at 5:07 am

Thanks dave-bronx, I always wondered why one was the 83rd and the other the 84th Street. Unfortunately these replacements could never match any of the original theatres. As we have all said, most of the time the property that theatres sat on was far more valuable than keeping the original theatre operating and open. In all of NYC does Loews Cineplex have any of their original theatres still operating? The Alpine in Brooklyn is the only one that seems to come to mind, and that one went thru some different chains before returning to the Loews chain.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's 72nd Street Theatre on Aug 4, 2004 at 10:09 pm

There are 4 Loews theatres in Manhattan that are built on previous Loews locations, They are the State, Orpheum, 72nd Steet and 84th Street. I wonder when they were doing all this real estate selling, did Loews automatically include a provision in the contract that would allow them to replace the old existing theatre with a new one underneath whatever was being built on top like a condo or office building?

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's 72nd Street East on Aug 4, 2004 at 10:02 pm

It must have cost Sony Theatres (Loews) quite a bundle to change all the signs from Loews to Sony and finally back to Loews on all of the Marquees. I think the last of the Sony Theatres were the Lincoln Square and the Metreon, and I heard Loews Cineplex owed Sony a lot of money for the use of the Sony Name, so they had to give up using it.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's Oriental Theatre on Aug 4, 2004 at 4:03 pm

The Loew’s Oriental opened on October 13th, 1927 only about a month after Marcus Loew the chains founder passed away. The first feature to premiere at the Oriental was “Beau Geste” and the last three movies to play there were “Muriels Wedding, A Goofy Movie & Tommy Boy”

Hawthorne Amusement Corp. (A Loew’s Theatres Subsidiary) owned this theatre for much of its run. Abe Boritz was the projectionist at the time of its closing and had worked in this theatre for 26 years. The final ticket prices at the time of its closing in 1995 were $4.00 for a matinee show and $7.00 all other times.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Loew's Gates Theatre on Aug 4, 2004 at 5:08 am

J.F. & Broadway… thank you both for the photos!

Judging by these photos, It looks like you would enter the theatre and then have to turn left to be in the auditorim, I wonder if this theatre has a big lobby. The sunburst style Loew’s marquee was shared by the Alpine in Brooklyn and the Delancy in NYC.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Kings Theatre on Aug 4, 2004 at 4:59 am

Thanks ErwinM.

I guess part of the reason the 175th Street still had the original one is because Rev Ike bought the theatre from Loew’s in the late 60’s. They started ripping out all the organs in the early 70’s. I could have sworn I saw an organ in the Valencia too, maybe I am confusing it with another theatre turned church.

I saw the documentary on the Kings and at the very start there is a gentleman playing a theatre organ, I wonder if that was the oringinal Kings organ. It sounded great!

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Kings Theatre on Aug 3, 2004 at 10:34 pm

Does anyone know what happened to the oringinal theatre organ that was once in the Loew’s Kings? I know the Jersey’s went to California and they are replacing it with the one fron the Paradise. Also do the 175th St. and Valencia still have there Wonder Organs?

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Palladium Times Square on Aug 3, 2004 at 8:15 pm

Can’t wait to see this place in Sept. I’m sure it will be nothing short of spectacular.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Marboro Theatre on Aug 3, 2004 at 8:11 pm

They keep saying they will reopen it, that the building is not for sale, I guess they must have a lot of people asking to buy it and turn it into another drug store, just wht we don’t need! Consider the Alpine in Bay Ridge it doesn’t have parking near it either and it’s always packed on weekends. The unfortunate thing is the way this building has crumbled it’s going to take a lot of work to get it to even resemble the Midway.

theatrefan
theatrefan commented about Regal Lynbrook 6 on Aug 3, 2004 at 4:18 pm

UA was not known for the upkeep of their theatres, usually they would run them into the ground. I’ve been to this cinema and it wasn’t bad at all, but it is obsolete by modern Regal standards, and according to them it is due for an overhaul.