Criterion Theatre
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
28 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 615 comments
Yeah, but maybe with the Capitol being the first to close, and at such an early date, spared it the ignomy of presenting exploitation fare.
Still, I wish it had remained longer to give me a chance to visit, even if I had to sit through Fists of Fury or Emmanuelle…
Hello-
to Al A. thanks for your reply. reflecting on your reply probably of the 7 theaters studios used on a regular basis for their roadshow engagements(Criterion, Loew’s State, RKO Palace, Demille, Warner, Rivoli and Loew’s Capitol)the only one that never became a “exploitation” house to any degree was the Loew’s Capitol. its last 2 films(Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey) are both candidates for the best science fiction film ever made.
I don’t think any of these theatres avoided exploitation films. Their distributor alliances dictated the product. They all eventually played some low budget horror, Kung Fu, sexploitation or blaxploitation films.
Hello-
to vindanpar- I always enjoy reading your posts and your most recent one prompts a question. I have no idea why a studio picked whichever of the 7 Times Square houses used on a regular basis for roadshow engagements for their newest such engagement. now if a house had already become known as an “exploitation house” why would Fox have booked this theater for the roadshow engagement of Tora Tora Tora (one of my favorite WW II films) or Columbia for Nicholas and Alexandra(one of my favorite historical epics)?
As to CC’s current photo from Funny Girl to Myra Breckinridge in a matter of months shows you how Times Square and movies in general were changing very rapidly and not for the better. And then to come shortly trashy ordeals at the Criterion like Possession of Joe Delaney and Mandingo. One of the most important cinemas turned into an exploitation house in less than 6 months. More like 2 months if you include Patton as one of its more prestigious offerings. Places like Loews State and then the National and Astor Plaza managed to not wallow in the mud. Unfortunately the Criterion was the best of them.
Der Bingle?
Don’t dig that kind of croonin', chum…!
It was the $6.50 I had trouble making out but that’s what I figured. Maybe the highest movie ticket price ever adjusted for inflation for a non benefit performance? In fact taking inflation into account My Fair Lady seems to have had the highest ticket prices ever overall. Even Sound of Music at the Rivoli was cheaper. $1.25 cheaper for a loge seat on a Saturday night in 1965 dollars was a big difference.
Anybody have the prices of This is Cinerama or Cleopatra at hand for comparison?
Grindhouse could you list the prices for MFL for NY’s Eve which are difficult to make out?
Hello-
I should think The Guns of Navarone had ROADSHOW written all over it. I’m highly surprised Columbia didn’t do so.
A 20-week run is considered short?
AlAlvarez explained why this hit roadshow film had such a short run at the Criterion. Had it had a regular run I would have been able to see it here. Frustrating.
Second to last successful roadshow film. Clicking on the My Fair Lady article brings you to a beautiful picture of the Criterion at night playing the film which had to be early ‘65 because no Oscar yet and it looks like a Jan or Feb snow fall. What you of course you cannot tell is the marquee had lights which I believe went on and off from left to right. I saw it very long ago online. On you tube there is a very nice Pathe film of the premiere in London. In black and white with sound. There is also some silent color footage. Beaton writes in his diaries the response was disappointingly not enthusiastic. Well he didn’t think it was very good anyway. I wish as much had survived of the NY premiere. I can’t even remember who the host was. And with typical NY courtesy on one of the professionally most exciting nights of her life he confronts Hepburn about who did her singing in the film. She should have hauled off and flattened him but doesn’t even flinch and responds graciously.
“Patton” premiered here at the Criterion 50 years ago today. And here is a new retro article celebrating the film which includes (North American) roadshow chronology and historian Q&A.
Criterion in 1971 among other in below link.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21612362@N05/sets/72157629137226648/with/6948877089/?fbclid=IwAR1yqOGPN-v1_cRyUSinKoWV4hCX4HXAmeEfPLKcRvwAq8Q2QU9sBzMfxZk
Hello-
in the case of Star Wars and Reds I’m guessing the souvenir programs might have been sold only at the Loews Astor Plaza. I saw both films again at other 1st run theaters in Manhattan and don’t remember the programs being sold.
also there were films that had exclusive 1st runs at the Ziegfeld after Cabaret that had souvenir programs- The Rose which opened Nov. 1979 and Gandhi which opened Dec. 1982.
the last two souvenir programs I purchased at a theater when I saw the film were The Lion King(June'94) at RCMH and Hercules(June'97)at the New Amsterdam. both were special 2 week engagements were stage shows that played at the theaters noted before the films opened wide. the souvenir program for The Lion King which was beautifully designed is one of the great film souvenir programs ever.
Reds had a souvenir program? Didn’t even know Star Wars had one when it opened. In fact last one I remember seeing on sale at a counter was Cabaret at the Ziegfeld.
Let’s see ‘em…
Star Wars and Reds are among the several souvenir programs I still have in my possession.
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to vindanpar- I compliment you on your Oct. 23 post.
speaking of souvenir programs. I went to see Star Wars 1st screening opening day May25, 1977 at the Loews Astor Plaza. programs were kind of on the way out but I hoped they’d have one anyway. when i entered theater and didn’t see anyone at a table hawking the program i went “ohm well”. as I approached the refreshment stand what did i see but a huge stack of programs on a counter behind the stand.
interestingly four and a half years later at the 1st screening opening day of Reds they had a person at a table hawking the souvenir program.
Such is the way with many of the fussier CT members, it seems. They are extraordinarily thin skinned, and when taken to task on how the game should be played, they take their ball and run home!
A 10 year member with only two comments, and that critique was one of them. And now the photo posted and profile have disappeared…
May I add that you have given us a wonderful shot of the world premiere of this film in front of the Criterion. May you post many more but without the tart observations which definitely put a crimp in your contributions. I may not like a crude trashy racist graphic exploitation film like Mandingo which turned the Criterion into a sleazy 42nd street grind house a couple of blocks north but as a gentleman I simply stay clear of discussing it.
DEFG Let me put you straight. You clearly have missed quite a bit. On this site we discuss many things. Not only the theaters, but the movies that played there, the memorabilia that was sold in the theater and how the movies are presented to us in the present day. Sometimes we go off on tangents but that is because we all find ourselves on the same page and the thought of one film that played here might bring us to a film that played at a theater close by. But if you switched to that theater no one would know you had written a response.
In case you are unaware these theaters sold such important memorabilia as souvenir books. I had remarked that when I saw Nick and Alex at this theater the book was not available and found it strange as it exists. This brought us to a discussion of the film itself and I was informed by bigjoe that it was available on bluray. Sadly I missed it as it sold out but he is now informing me of what he found to be an excellent bluray of Anne. If he had informed me of this on the Plaza page I very probably would have missed it.
The Criterion stopped being a treasure in 1980 when it was sliced and diced which is now 40 years ago. There are precious few of us left who can offer our experiences of what it was like to enter into these magical places to see films.
Earlier in the month I talked about Marni Nixon dubbing in the film of My Fair Lady. My Fair Lady had its world premiere at this theater in Oct of ‘64. This started a discussion of dubbing in films. Now we couldn’t go jumping about to all the theaters that featured movies in which actors were dubbed could we?
I hope you can join us in these somewhat wandering nostalgic threads as longtime contributors are inevitably joining the Roxy and Carthay Circle in the sky. But lay off Funny Girl. It is a Criterion Theater classic and its last hit roadshow film. If you feel a deep need to trash it go to Amazon where your type are welcomed though admittedly by very few.
Hello-
to vindanpar- since you missed out on Twilight Time’s A+ blu-ray disc of Nicholas and Alexandra they recently issued Anne of the Thousand Days on blu-ray. in terms of the richness of the colors and the crispness, clarity and sharpness of both the picture image and the multi-channel audio tracks its everything a blu-ray disc of a large scale historical drama should be.
Hello-
in recent comments I mentioned I had 140 movie souvenir programs/brochures. of those 140 14 are hardcover-
Around the World in 80 Days South Pacific Windjammer Ben-Hur The Alamo Spartacus Kings of Kings El Cid The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm Mutiny on the Bounty How THE West Was Won My Fair Lady The Greatest Story Ever Told Hawaii
does anyone remember any other movie programs/brochures that were hardcover?
Sarita Montiel, one of the icons of 60’s Spanish musical cinema was also dubbed in her early films. She was typecast as an indigeneous Mexican in Westerns by Hollywood until her career as a white European musical star was revived back home in Spain.