Great SOM ad posted by NYer.
I was so disappointed that when SOM was brought back it was shown at the National and not the Rivoli. It would have been so great to see it there. But maybe 20th Century Fox saw that the Rivoli had booked La Mancha figuring it would play through Easter and did not want to miss a major midtown opening.
Only a few months and LaMancha was gone with plenty of time to bring in Music. It was a crazy idea to make the film hard ticket in any case. Even if it had been good(and though I’ve never seen it it’s supposed to be better than its reputation) it was not going to be in any circumstances another FOTR.
This was a magnificent theater a very long time ago as one can easily see from a period photo. But with every modification it becomes a further eyesore. That last photo is embarrassing. Why bother if they were not going to precisely duplicate the original theater. From the recent photos you might as well be at a multi plex in New Jersey. Tear it down and put up another skyscraper that will further destroy London. Thank god I was in London decades ago before they started destroying it with all these monstrosities. I was sickened by seeing it in Match Point(a film I liked.)
I wonder if Funny Girl stayed much longer at the Criterion than it was financially feasible to do so. Columbia already had Oliver set to be its wide release'69 Christmas film for the family trade and they were holding off FG because they didn’t want two big musicals competing against each other. And of course Oliver would do much better at that time. I picture FG playing to empty houses in its last months at the Criterion(my favorite roadshow theater as it was the first one I was ever in and it was a very glamourous event like occasion). One could look at Variety but it was notorious for printing inflated grosses admittedly given to them by theaters.
That’s quite a filled to the brim stage show along with a Ustinov/Smith caper comedy on screen . I can’t even begin to imagine. When New York was New York.
No. The only second run I remember seeing was Superman when it moved over from its long first run at the Astor Plaza. Then I saw Aliens which was the last film I saw there before it was twinned.
Looks like the red neon frame on the marquee was still up at this point for Willard before they got rid of the neon and replaced it with silver aluminum. This means I saw it but had forgotten. It looked great surrounded by the Bond’s neon. And with the Gordon’s Gin spectacular above it was the last of the old great Times Square blocks.
Believe it or not I heard two different people in the late 70s/early 80s when I was walking on the opposite side of the street when they saw the decrepit disrepair the site was in say ‘I never thought I’d see that block look like that.’ I myself would have loved to be going to the Criterion during the roadshow era. Just the marquee announcing some big buget epic or musical must have been exciting.
I know they are listing Music Hall bookings but it is amazing there are so many other wonderful Selznick films of the period. Do not underestimate the power of Benzedrine. Though I think those pills ultimately ruined his health they allowed him super human energy.
Was The Robe CinemaScope screen wide enough to stretch beyond the sides of the proscenium or was it the same screen to be used for the CinemaScope films that played along with a stage show and had to be raised into the flies above?
So obviously a big miss with its paper mache sets, very miscast leading lady and cut songs. And right on the heels of the huge unexpected success of Seven Brides which looked even worse but had an ideal cast, much better choreography, a tight book and a sensational director coming into his own.
As the big summer film the Hall knew Seven Brides was the winner.
I never saw a non 70mm film either genuine or blow up at the Rivoli. When showing a Panavision 35mm print like Jaws did they fill the curved Todd AO screen with the image or was it projected with borders making the screen smaller?
If you look at the two links the one in in 2006 the entire roadshow print was restored:
‘FotoKem Restores “South Pacific” “Bigfoot” Scanner Restores 65mm Classic to Better Than Original Condition with 14 Minutes of Lost Footage’
But at the second link the AFI print was 157 minutes.
The current Bluray and TCM showing completely ignore the restoration as if it never happened. So did it? And if so why is that not acknowledged? What happened to it?
I should also say that as a record collector from way back the current young people who run companies sometimes have no idea what they are doing(not always.) They ruin older recordings with compression or brightening or they do not find the best sources for a reissue.
Not having been around way back when their sense of what things should sound like or how to go about finding the best sources is severely compromised.
Great SOM ad posted by NYer. I was so disappointed that when SOM was brought back it was shown at the National and not the Rivoli. It would have been so great to see it there. But maybe 20th Century Fox saw that the Rivoli had booked La Mancha figuring it would play through Easter and did not want to miss a major midtown opening.
Only a few months and LaMancha was gone with plenty of time to bring in Music. It was a crazy idea to make the film hard ticket in any case. Even if it had been good(and though I’ve never seen it it’s supposed to be better than its reputation) it was not going to be in any circumstances another FOTR.
This was a magnificent theater a very long time ago as one can easily see from a period photo. But with every modification it becomes a further eyesore. That last photo is embarrassing. Why bother if they were not going to precisely duplicate the original theater. From the recent photos you might as well be at a multi plex in New Jersey. Tear it down and put up another skyscraper that will further destroy London. Thank god I was in London decades ago before they started destroying it with all these monstrosities. I was sickened by seeing it in Match Point(a film I liked.)
I wonder if Funny Girl stayed much longer at the Criterion than it was financially feasible to do so. Columbia already had Oliver set to be its wide release'69 Christmas film for the family trade and they were holding off FG because they didn’t want two big musicals competing against each other. And of course Oliver would do much better at that time. I picture FG playing to empty houses in its last months at the Criterion(my favorite roadshow theater as it was the first one I was ever in and it was a very glamourous event like occasion). One could look at Variety but it was notorious for printing inflated grosses admittedly given to them by theaters.
Ok so who took that just posted color photo of the Loew’s Jersey because it’s magnificent.
So Poseidon Adventure had its world premiere in LA and the NY premiere opened the National?
That’s quite a filled to the brim stage show along with a Ustinov/Smith caper comedy on screen . I can’t even begin to imagine. When New York was New York.
As per the Nickelodeon ad by Nyer this was to be the Music hall Christmas film but was not ready in time for the Nov opening.
TSATR set for the Easter show was then moved up. Only time I sprung for mezz tickets.
Sorry-Alien.
No. The only second run I remember seeing was Superman when it moved over from its long first run at the Astor Plaza. Then I saw Aliens which was the last film I saw there before it was twinned.
budget
Looks like the red neon frame on the marquee was still up at this point for Willard before they got rid of the neon and replaced it with silver aluminum. This means I saw it but had forgotten. It looked great surrounded by the Bond’s neon. And with the Gordon’s Gin spectacular above it was the last of the old great Times Square blocks.
Believe it or not I heard two different people in the late 70s/early 80s when I was walking on the opposite side of the street when they saw the decrepit disrepair the site was in say ‘I never thought I’d see that block look like that.’ I myself would have loved to be going to the Criterion during the roadshow era. Just the marquee announcing some big buget epic or musical must have been exciting.
I know they are listing Music Hall bookings but it is amazing there are so many other wonderful Selznick films of the period. Do not underestimate the power of Benzedrine. Though I think those pills ultimately ruined his health they allowed him super human energy.
Was The Robe CinemaScope screen wide enough to stretch beyond the sides of the proscenium or was it the same screen to be used for the CinemaScope films that played along with a stage show and had to be raised into the flies above?
Amazingly Makas was still the Hall’s pianist in the 70s at which point the 50s might as well have been the Jurassic era. It certainly was to me.
So obviously a big miss with its paper mache sets, very miscast leading lady and cut songs. And right on the heels of the huge unexpected success of Seven Brides which looked even worse but had an ideal cast, much better choreography, a tight book and a sensational director coming into his own. As the big summer film the Hall knew Seven Brides was the winner.
I never saw a non 70mm film either genuine or blow up at the Rivoli. When showing a Panavision 35mm print like Jaws did they fill the curved Todd AO screen with the image or was it projected with borders making the screen smaller?
If there ever was a Music Hall film Magnificent Ambersons was it. But like Kane Radio City passed because of Rockefeller ties to Hearst?
The above picture seems like the early 70s when the film was re-released yet the artwork is the original.
In New York the re-release used new artwork. So what year was the picture taken?
Warren G. Harris has an impressive list of books on Amazon. Seems to be a major Hollywood golden age historian.
Was the Hawaii billboard picture taken down?
That’s pretty good considering it pretty much died as a roadshow in NY.
It made it to September reserved seats? How long did it last at the Warner in NY?
Allora perche la pubblicita' e' in inglese?(tranne ‘parlato in italiano’)
If you look at the two links the one in in 2006 the entire roadshow print was restored:
‘FotoKem Restores “South Pacific”
“Bigfoot” Scanner Restores 65mm Classic to Better Than Original Condition with 14 Minutes of Lost Footage’
But at the second link the AFI print was 157 minutes.
The current Bluray and TCM showing completely ignore the restoration as if it never happened. So did it? And if so why is that not acknowledged? What happened to it?
I should also say that as a record collector from way back the current young people who run companies sometimes have no idea what they are doing(not always.) They ruin older recordings with compression or brightening or they do not find the best sources for a reissue.
Not having been around way back when their sense of what things should sound like or how to go about finding the best sources is severely compromised.