Palladium Times Square
1515 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1515 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
33 people
favorited this theater
Showing 501 - 525 of 577 comments
Does anyone know when this theatre is closing?
Bill..I envy you, seeing How West was Won at Clairidge in Cinerama. I would have loved to have seen that. The theater is now a dump. I saw Rocky 3 in 70mm at the Bellevue in 82…the last movie I saw there as a single screen. Even the DVD version doesn’t have the widescreen or sound that the bellevue had in 82. I wonder whatever happened to that print?
The Bellevue was one of the most awesome theaters. That’s another one that has but cut to 4 screens.Everything is multiplexed. Young people today will have no feel for what a movie experience in a great theater should be….all we have our the memories. They could cut the Astor up into a 10plex if they wanted to. I’d rather see them bring it down than do that.
Vincent mentioned the Lee Theater in Fort Lee. I saw SPARTACUS there in 1961. As of a couple of years ago, the land where that theater stood is still an empty lot. If I were a rich man, I’d rebuild the Lee exactly as it used to be.
I hope Loews Jersey is a major success maybe it might shame NYC to save the great remaining houses such as Loews Kings, Loews Paradise. It seems only LA has great single screen theatres still showing first run movies because they are industry houses.I think the megaplex should have devoted at least one screen as there flagship with posh surroundings, curtains in front of the screen, great screen and sound presentations. When a studio spends up to 200 Million on a film such “Troy” it needs to be seen on a huge screen, large auditorium or why bother to go.I remember I went to the megaplex to see a Bond film and they had it in a small auditorium and small screen so I demanded my money back and got it. People who pay $8-$10 per film should demand top theatre presentation and not put up with substandard conditions.brucec
There were some films that were Roadshown in only 35mm, but most of the time it was 70MM. But there were only a few 70MM prints available per city or area. Like Manhattan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and others. But these were the main markets.
Vincent
I will check on the other houses. Because Century Projectors were used in a lot of the single strip Cinerama houses. Three-Strip Cinerama used specially equipped Century Projectors. The Single -Strip Cinerama houses (Super Cinerama) used Century JJ model projectors. That was what were in the Capital Theatre and the Warner Cinerama in Times Square. The Norelco equipped theatres in Times Square were:
Rivoli Theatre
Criterion Theatre
Loew’s State Theatre
Palace Theatre
National Theatre
and the Strand Theatre got them from the State when it was coming down or the National.
The Astor Plaza Theatre has Century JJ model 35/70MM machines.
William how about the Claridge after Cinerama, the Lyric in Asbury Park and the Virginia in Atlantic City all major roadshow houses or did they play their films on hardticket in 35mm?
As of June 1968 the following theatres in New Jersey were equipped with Norelco 70/35 mm projection equipment.
Asbury Park—-St. James Theatre
Atlantic City—Center Theatre
Camden County(Pennsaken)—Eric Theatre
Lawnside—White Horse Pike Drive-In
Paramus—Century’s Paramus Theatre
Patterson—Fabian Theatre
Totowa—-Cinema 46
Upper Montclair—Bellevue Theatre
West Trenton—Someric Theatre
Woodbridge—-Fox Cinema
Bill…thats great that the Paramount is still intact. When I was a kid I remember it playing Carnal Knowlege. I saw both Patton and Hello Dolly at the Fox in Hackensack. Didn’t know that they played Bergen County in 70mm. Saw Fisherman with my family at a NY State theater across the border. One of those single screen strip mall theaters which were actually very nice and when compared with multiplexes now seem luxurious. Liked the movie very much and always wondered if my 11 year old critical faculties were correct. I don’t think it was very successful. Might in fact have been one of those films that killed the roadshow and with it the theaters that exhibited them.
I can’t imagine Asbury Park now. As a little boy I remember it being quite beautiful.
Vincent: The Paramount Theater in Asbury Park is still intact. It’s opposite Convention Hall, on the other side of the arcade. My cousin and I were walking through the arcade last summer and the side doors to the Paramount were open for some reason. It still looks great, and my cousin had a flashback to 1960 when he saw PSYCHO there.
Rhett & Vincent: Thanks for talking about the great old single-screen theaters in North Jersey. I believe Cinema 46 had 70mm projection for PATTON and HELLO, DOLLY in 1970. Now it’s the site of a CompUSA store. The Bellevue in Upper Montclair was definitely 70mm – I saw THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN there in 1968 on a class trip and it was awesome. Nobody ever talks about that movie anymore, but to see and hear it like that was unforgettable. And the Clairidge, of course, had 3-strip Cinerama. I saw HOW THE WEST WAS WON there in 1963 – enough said. I go there once in a while to see current movies but it’s tragic to see it now, remembering what it once was.
Rhett, Of course I remember the Claridge and their was also the Bellevue which was another elegant north Jersey road show house which I now believe is a triplex. There was the Lee in Fort Lee which was a beautiful single screen house torn down during the ‘70s.
Also there were great theaters in Asbury Park and Atlantic city. The only one I know that is standing is the Lyric in Asbury which was a road show house that is now a porno movie theater(As a child I remember My Fair Lady was playing there and next door at the St James was the Sound of Music. And behind the St James was the Mayfair with Disney’s Cinderella. I think '65 was another civilization.)
Unfortunately I didn’t go to most of these theaters as single screen houses as I was too young. In the '70s when I could go at that point they were being torn down, cut up or only showing exploitation films so if a theater was intact I didn’t go often. Now I wish I had.
What do you suppose the standards were when the Astor Plaza and the 42nd Street E-Walk Theatre began screening new releases day-and-date a couple of years ago? Do you think that was more distributor-driven (i.e., seeing the money potential to make an additional cash hit with a 2-3 week run at the Astor Plaza) or something Loews was more pro-active with, considering: a) how difficult it was to book first-run films on the day of their release into the Astor Plaza, what with the 38 competing screens two blocks away; or, b) the sinkhole – arguably on the level of what the Loews State has been since the E-Walk Theatre opened in November of ‘99 – a mostly move-over, 1440-seat single screen house would be, imploring them to pursue the current booking policy for the theatre?
Vincent..I’ve never been to the Warner…I’d love to see picture from these old Nj theaters…don’t know where to find them…especially from passaic County…I’m dying to get to Loews Jersey City..I was gonna go last week to see Angels/Dirty faces and West Side Story..the problem is they start the films too late and they’re spaced apart…I’d have to wait around till the next one…
I prefer earlier shows like the lafayette shows…plus Jersey City, not the best area…I was in Times Square yesterday, and was very depressed since all of these discussions about the heyday. I agree, that it’s like a big shopping center. I miss the old theaters. I never went to the Criterion, I just remember walking by it alot when the cut it up to like what, 8 theaters? I saw Raging Bull at the Cinerama in 80, wish I could have seen more there, it’s now an arcade? The Astor is showing The Punisher for God’s sake…not the final movie I’d like to see there, maybe I’ll just let it lie with 2001…on a good note, I went to Film Forum to see a pristine print of High Noon, it was awesome.
Hey Vincent, remember theaters like the Claridge in Montclair? now it’s chopped up into 6 small uncomfortable theaters,…as is The Allwood in Clifton and The Hawthorne and Hyway…all cut up…They were great huge single screen theaters back in the day…and what’s with the Ziefeld, I hear it’s not open all the time…The problem with these theaters are they’re not being used right,,,,they’re run by suits with no feel for the experience and love of a great movie..
For all the theatres that California lost look at how many were luckily saved. We dont have a single Broadway house left showing movies. Art theatres like the Plaza, Bleeker and 8th St Playhouse are all memories. The Suttons days are numbered and how much longer will have Loews Tower East? New York is destined to have the same suburban multi-plexes as Long Island.
William as I’ve said before concerning the Rivoli the only way a great building like that comes down is because the Landmarks commission is in bed with the developers. I can’t even walk in Times Square any more. If I have to go there for any reason I am in and out. I feel I’m in an overbuilt monstrous shopping mall. Same for Rockefeller Center. And these used to be my favorite places in NY. Even in the dark days of the 70’s they were as aweinspiring to me as the Acropolis or the Taj Mahal. Our American wonders.
The Totowa is gone?!! How great the Lafeyette is still with us. Remember Breaking Away and other films from that beautiful gem. The Warner was great even after they cut off the balcony because the main auditorium was intact. Since then it was made smaller. My sister worked there during the time of Tron. She knew an old usher there from the 60’s and he told her the place back then was the height of class and elegance. It was huge and my parents told me that when they went to see the Graduate there they had to sit apart the place was so packed. As a single theater I as well saw a number of films there in the early 70’s and it was something.
Have you been to the Loew’s Jersey?
Vincent,. It’s great you’ve been to the NJ theaters I know. First- 2201 at the Astor a few years back? As I remember , it DID have an intermission. But I saw it the first weekend. There was paractically no advertising for it at all and it bombed, so I assume they just cut the intermission for later shows. I agree with all comments on the state of theater management these days. They’re all run by high school kids and managers who know squat. You ever try to tell one the difference between anamorphic and flat when they frame it wrong. Don’t you want to smack them when they say “That’s how the film was sent to us”. Everyone on this site has forgotton more about the proper way to run a theater than these bozos will EVER know. Imagine if we all bonded and ran our own theater just running classic movies…our way… WOW…unfortunately I think we’d all be like the characters in Reservoir Dogs. Hey, it’s a thought. My compliments to all the passion from you movielovers, I thought I was alone. The morons who run these theaters today have no love for movies, and they’re all stupid.
Vincent, I saw Earthquake at Cinema 46 in Sensurround too and many others for over 25 years. First film there for me , :Live and Let Die". Over the years, it went downhill, run by highschoolers etc. And the last film I saw there, “Empire Strikes Back” in 1997, 1 week before the theater closed in April 97. I went there when they were tearing it down, I was bummed. Stanley Warner…what can I say..first film there…Star Wars in 77, what an experience, I also saw the re-release on the same screen. I was there this past weekend for Man on Fire. I love the big theater. I would have loved to see it as a single screen theater, I only remember it as a triplex to start,,, but the big theater is still the same for me. There’s talk of razing that too for a bigger multiplex.
Now my memories are coming from, The Lafayette in Suffern NY. A true classic 1 screen theater, they love movies there and they show classics every week. Go to …bigscreenclassics.com….you’ll see.
I assume the Astor will go downhill fast now that it’s gonna close. Bad projection, sound etc. Oh the humanity!!! I miss the 70’s. hey Vincent..remember the Totowa Cinema…with the big sheetrock 3 dimensional screen??? That was a theater…first twinned…now gone. RIP 1992.
It not a true distortion of the picture but the way it is cropped on the screen. Having worked projection at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. We ran many 70MM prints there, many of the later prints. You would trouble with titles on the sides, very light scenes washing out the other side of the screen. The rectified prints gave a larger aspect ratio, almost like the Ultra-Panavision prints. Seeing one of those Ultra-Panavision films on the proper screen, you can get a aspect ratio of 2.76:1 , while both used the same 2.2:1 camera and projector aperture ratio. The Ultra-Panavision photography was done with anamorphic lenses that added a modest 1.25:1 squeeze. Which is basically what the lab did to make a Cinerama rectified print. In a well equipped theatre like the Rivoli, you could play 70MM print like “2001” and not have any problems. During the mid 80’s MGM had a print of “2001” playing in Los Angeles at the GCC Avco Theatres in 70MM. I went to see it, but they only have a flat screen the experience was not the same. Like you and many others have said about the Rivoli Theatre. How great the a movie going experience was at that theatre. Out of all the theatres in the area (not counting the Music Hall). I think the Rivoli would have had the best chance in surviving. But UA got rid of her in favor of the Criterion plex. Since the Rivoli was a free standing building it had no chance. My office is across the street from the site of the Rivoli, boy it would’ve been great to leave the office and see a movie in a real theatre..
Well it premeired in NY on a curved screen at the Capitol and that’s how I saw it at the Rivoli which was not a Cinerama house. I noticed no distortion. In fact seeing it on a curved screen gives 70mm a visual depth that a flat screen doesn’t have. 35mm anamorphic will I believe be pretty much the same on flat or curved. I saw Fiddler on the Rivoli’s curved screen in ‘71 and it looked flat as a pancake.
Just think these were equipped to run 70MM in the Times Square area:
Astor Plaza, Cinerama (Warner), Capital, Criterion, DeMille, State 1 & 2, Rivoli, National, Ziegfeld, Radio City Music Hall, Palace.
In a few of the above posts people have talked about seeing “2001” at the Capital (Loew’s Cinerama), Rivoli and Astor Plaza. The film “2001” was shot in SuperPanavision 70, which is a spherical format 70MM. Which would play better on a flat screen. While if you saw the film at or in a Cinerama Theatre during roadshow engagements. You would have seen a Cinerama rectified print. The rectification gradually applies a squeeze towards the outside edges that would be naturally removed by the image being projected againist the oblique curved sides of the Cinerama screen. Those rectified prints played at Cinerama Theatres only. The rectified print would also deliver a larger aspect ratio to the screen. You can still play a spherical (flat)print on a curved screen, but the image has a little distortion dealing with the curved screen.
I was talking about the cable station American Movie Classics :) I should have been clearer.
Nothing will ever replace the movie palaces or duluxe houses of the past. I love to go to the movies and for good or bad we will have to live with the era of the megaplex. Not all megaplex’s are created equal. The AMC and Harkin theates megaplex’s have big curved screens and good presentaions in Arizona. Since Arizona is growing rapidly they have built auditoriums that are quite large. I always ask for the largest auditorium when a movie is playing. New features could be playing on 4 screens. The Pacific Grove is wildly popular in LA because it pays homage to the old Hollywood and it a little more upscale than the average megaplex.The large exhibitors like AMC Regal,Loews etc don’t know how to run a single screen today. Only your regional chains such as Harkins, Pacific, Mann and Landmark care about the historic theatres they still have in there trust. It always comes down to the bottom line.Since large movies open on 2000-4000 screens this has made single screens no longer viable with a few exceptions. The day the exclusive run for a motion picture ended so did the need for single screens. I just wish more creative ways could have saved many single screens by adding on additional screens like at the ArcLight in LA where they added 14 screems to the Cinerama Dome.bruce
AMC has turned into a nightmare worse then other commercial laden stations.
AMC!, maybe two years ago. Not now. The Fox movie channel is OK.