I don’t believe the U.S. release of AIDA was of a subtitled print at all. While indeed sung in Italian, there were sporadic bits of “summarizing” English narration for each episode and no subtitles provided. The 1982 re-issue (same version) at the Guild was with reserved performances, but not reserved seats. The original opera was heavily truncated, with startling jumps, even within arias, where music was cut out. In his review for the New York Times for the 1954 opening, Bosley Crother referred to the then virtualy unknown Sophia Loren as “a handsome woman”!!!
No, definitely not. The Palace was further up on the opposite side of the street…about 500 feet away. I’ve been to both theatres: the Palace when it showed films in the 1970s and 1980s and the former Majestic in the 1990s when the auditorium was open. I believe it may have been used for local theatre productions for a time. I’d like to find out where the Gem Theatre, listed as 1231 Main Street in directories, was located in relation to those two places.
The theatre screened movies even before 1969 as stated in the description. In April, 1961 Federico Fellini’s then-sensational LA DOLCE VITA began its New York run at this theatre.
As I response to an email I sent the Bijou regarding the above concern of mine, I received this response:
Mr. DeLuca,
Since becoming a nonprofit and with the resultant management change we have made many changes. I understand the importance of having the correct equipment and we purchased a 1:33 aspect ratio lens several months ago. Recent films shown at the Bijou including Modern Times and The Animation Show have all used the lens, as did The Boy with the Green Hair. This film was the children’s matinee title for the past two Saturdays and has finished its run. The new matinee film for the next two Saturdays is The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm.
I hope this puts your concerns to rest, that we have dealt with the matter accordingly.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Newton
General Manager
Bijou Community Cinema
Phone/fax 508-757-5311 www.bijoucinema.org
Last year at the Bijou I had a very bad experience with the post-war German film series. The projectionist had to choose between cutting off heads or cutting off subtitles. So he cut off heads. I went into the projection booth to speak to him. He understood the problem but said he could do nothing about it because the theatre did not own the correct lenses or aperture plates for a proper screening. I asked for a refund and left. This is an extremely important issue…showing the image as it was meant to be seen, not arbitrarily cropped. The theatre would have trouble showing the current “My Architect” properly as well, because that is also a 1:1.33 Academy ratio film.
In its heyday the Rainbo ran four nights a week, and continuously on Sunday from 2 to 11 P.M. The top admission was 25 cents for adults and 11 cents for kids at Sunday matinees.
I used to love this theatre before its conversion, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, into a cinema-cafe'. I do not find watching a movie here now a good experience: sub-standard projection and sound, awkward mobile seating on a flat floor, insufficiently darkened auditoriums (I guess seeing what you eat is more important than seeing the movie!) The former manager-projectionist Ralph was a true professional, and watching movies at the Castle in those days used to be an enjoyable experience. I’m happy the theatre is open and functioning, but I wish the place were better.
Cinema 2 (Cinema II) was where Pontecorvo’s THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS opened to great acclaim in 1967. It was put into the Beekman, a substantially larger theatre, after that. The movie is currently getting a major re-issue, because of its relevance to events in Israel/Palestine and Iraq.
The policy on Cinema Treasures seems to be to give a venue its latest name. Amusing hypothesis: if before the Roxy Theatre closed, it had been a porno theatre for a few weeks under the name “Pussycat Palace”, would it have to be listed here as “Pussycat Palace” rather than the Roxy???
I fully agree, but then the World should not be listed as the Embassy 49th Street either because it was a major art house under that name for many decades and “Embassy 49th Street” only for a relatively brief time also.
In June of 1979, as an adjunct to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, there was a retrospective of the films of Roberto Rossellini. Many of the screenings took place at the Garden Theatre. I had come down from Rhode Island to see all of what was shown and grew to love both the city and this wonderful theatre.
I went to the 68th Street Playhouse many times over the years. The film I remember most that premiered here (in 1984) was the Danish ZAPPA, directed by Bille August, a potent story about adolescent turmoil. Despite fine reviews, ZAPPA was not a commercial success and seems to have completely disappeared from the planet.
This theatre has dependably excellent projection and 70mm capability in the large auditorium, and they sporadically do revival series of selected films in 70mm. Memory: as a teenager in 1960 I went to the Coolidge Corner for the first time ever to see Francois Truffaut’s THE 400 BLOWS. It made an indelible impression on me. It’s a shame that the original entrance and part of the lobby were turned into a commercial space, so that one has to go in through a thoroughly banal-looking side entrance carved out of a wall. Uggh!
For the record, a showing I attended last Sunday of the 1929 silent PICADILLY was shown in an incorrect 1:1.66 aspect ratio, causing heads and bottom of frame to be sliced off. When I protested at the end of the first showing, it was still not corrected by the second showing. The Brattle has proper lenses, aperture plates, and maskings to show films on this type in a 1:1.33 ratio(actually even that’s too wide for this silent). Very bad indeed!
I drove by yesterday. The theatre is closed. In one of the poster windows is a leftover poster from CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Does anyone have any information on whether there are any current plans for this theatre?
I don’t believe the U.S. release of AIDA was of a subtitled print at all. While indeed sung in Italian, there were sporadic bits of “summarizing” English narration for each episode and no subtitles provided. The 1982 re-issue (same version) at the Guild was with reserved performances, but not reserved seats. The original opera was heavily truncated, with startling jumps, even within arias, where music was cut out. In his review for the New York Times for the 1954 opening, Bosley Crother referred to the then virtualy unknown Sophia Loren as “a handsome woman”!!!
No, definitely not. The Palace was further up on the opposite side of the street…about 500 feet away. I’ve been to both theatres: the Palace when it showed films in the 1970s and 1980s and the former Majestic in the 1990s when the auditorium was open. I believe it may have been used for local theatre productions for a time. I’d like to find out where the Gem Theatre, listed as 1231 Main Street in directories, was located in relation to those two places.
The theatre screened movies even before 1969 as stated in the description. In April, 1961 Federico Fellini’s then-sensational LA DOLCE VITA began its New York run at this theatre.
As I response to an email I sent the Bijou regarding the above concern of mine, I received this response:
Mr. DeLuca,
Since becoming a nonprofit and with the resultant management change we have made many changes. I understand the importance of having the correct equipment and we purchased a 1:33 aspect ratio lens several months ago. Recent films shown at the Bijou including Modern Times and The Animation Show have all used the lens, as did The Boy with the Green Hair. This film was the children’s matinee title for the past two Saturdays and has finished its run. The new matinee film for the next two Saturdays is The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm.
I hope this puts your concerns to rest, that we have dealt with the matter accordingly.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Newton
General Manager
Bijou Community Cinema
Phone/fax 508-757-5311
www.bijoucinema.org
Last year at the Bijou I had a very bad experience with the post-war German film series. The projectionist had to choose between cutting off heads or cutting off subtitles. So he cut off heads. I went into the projection booth to speak to him. He understood the problem but said he could do nothing about it because the theatre did not own the correct lenses or aperture plates for a proper screening. I asked for a refund and left. This is an extremely important issue…showing the image as it was meant to be seen, not arbitrarily cropped. The theatre would have trouble showing the current “My Architect” properly as well, because that is also a 1:1.33 Academy ratio film.
In its heyday the Rainbo ran four nights a week, and continuously on Sunday from 2 to 11 P.M. The top admission was 25 cents for adults and 11 cents for kids at Sunday matinees.
The address was 561 Smithfield Avenue.
I used to love this theatre before its conversion, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, into a cinema-cafe'. I do not find watching a movie here now a good experience: sub-standard projection and sound, awkward mobile seating on a flat floor, insufficiently darkened auditoriums (I guess seeing what you eat is more important than seeing the movie!) The former manager-projectionist Ralph was a true professional, and watching movies at the Castle in those days used to be an enjoyable experience. I’m happy the theatre is open and functioning, but I wish the place were better.
Yes, they definitely were.
Yes, Mr. Coles, I too knew Roger personally and I loaned my 16mm print of Rossellini’s DESIDERIO, from my private collection, for that series.
Cinema 2 (Cinema II) was where Pontecorvo’s THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS opened to great acclaim in 1967. It was put into the Beekman, a substantially larger theatre, after that. The movie is currently getting a major re-issue, because of its relevance to events in Israel/Palestine and Iraq.
The policy on Cinema Treasures seems to be to give a venue its latest name. Amusing hypothesis: if before the Roxy Theatre closed, it had been a porno theatre for a few weeks under the name “Pussycat Palace”, would it have to be listed here as “Pussycat Palace” rather than the Roxy???
I fully agree, but then the World should not be listed as the Embassy 49th Street either because it was a major art house under that name for many decades and “Embassy 49th Street” only for a relatively brief time also.
In June of 1979, as an adjunct to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, there was a retrospective of the films of Roberto Rossellini. Many of the screenings took place at the Garden Theatre. I had come down from Rhode Island to see all of what was shown and grew to love both the city and this wonderful theatre.
Roberto Rossellini’s numbing GERMANY YEAR ZERO opened here in September, 1949.
I went to the 68th Street Playhouse many times over the years. The film I remember most that premiered here (in 1984) was the Danish ZAPPA, directed by Bille August, a potent story about adolescent turmoil. Despite fine reviews, ZAPPA was not a commercial success and seems to have completely disappeared from the planet.
This theatre has dependably excellent projection and 70mm capability in the large auditorium, and they sporadically do revival series of selected films in 70mm. Memory: as a teenager in 1960 I went to the Coolidge Corner for the first time ever to see Francois Truffaut’s THE 400 BLOWS. It made an indelible impression on me. It’s a shame that the original entrance and part of the lobby were turned into a commercial space, so that one has to go in through a thoroughly banal-looking side entrance carved out of a wall. Uggh!
Some comments on this theatre can be found in the entry for the Little Carnegie Playhouse, which was located a block from the Angelika 57.
For the record, a showing I attended last Sunday of the 1929 silent PICADILLY was shown in an incorrect 1:1.66 aspect ratio, causing heads and bottom of frame to be sliced off. When I protested at the end of the first showing, it was still not corrected by the second showing. The Brattle has proper lenses, aperture plates, and maskings to show films on this type in a 1:1.33 ratio(actually even that’s too wide for this silent). Very bad indeed!
The Cable Car Cinema is a SINGLE SCREEN THEATRE, NOT A TWIN. Above information should be corrected. The theatre seats 125.
Since there is so much discussion here of the Lincoln Art/Angelika 57/Bombay/Biograph, I’m adding that theatre as a new posting under “Angelika 57”.
I drove by yesterday. The theatre is closed. In one of the poster windows is a leftover poster from CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Does anyone have any information on whether there are any current plans for this theatre?
It was located at the end of the trolley line that ran up Pocasset Avenue and a brief stretch of Dyer Avenue.
The space where the theatre had been became a medical lab.
I think this theatre popped up in the 1970s, carved out of a parking garage building. I saw Ingmar Bergman’s CRIES AND WHISPERS there in 1973.