I finally saw the side wall of the Queen Anne today, after all these years.
When it was still an art house in 1969, two days before Apollo XI landed on the moon, the Queen Anne was showing this Oscar-winning class act. I don’t think I agree with what it says in the small print on the bottom, though:
WOW! It sure didn’t look like that when I saw Rodney Dangerfield in “Easy Money” there in 1983. The fourplexing looked like a lot of sheetrock put up inside the shell of the theater, covering up the glorious interior which I’m seeing for the first time in this photo.
What were they thinking back then? Anyway, we should just be grateful that the theater has been restored. If they ever show movies again, I’m there.
When the Ziegfeld in NY showed “Goldfinger” in digital last year, I sat in the front row and was pleasantly surprised at how good it looked. I was expecting to see pixelation all over the place, and there was none. Since Justin had a problem, I guess it depends on the theater and the equipment.
I saw this theater on Turner Classic Movies yesterday. MGM’s “Some Came Running” with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine was filmed in this town in 1958, and the theater held a re-premiere of the movie a few years ago. TCM showed a short subject about it.
Back on November 1st 2008, the Lafayette presented the 1959 classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. But this was not the first time the movie had played at this theater:
I first saw the Gloria Swanson Roxy photo as a little kid. Little did I know that the demolition of the beautiful Roxy would be repeated hundreds of times in the years to come, in theaters all over the country.
Actually, the name of the movie at the Embassy was “Quartet”. It was a British film, a compilation of four short stories by W. Somerset Maugham. It was so successful, the filmmakers made a sequel of sorts a few years later called “Trio” (3 stories instead of 4).
Vito: “The Bible” was the first D-150 feature which opened in 1966, but I’m sure you’re right about the year you saw the demonstration.
Looking at the ads back then, I always thought the D in D-150 stood for Dino DeLaurentiis, producer of “The Bible”. I’ll bet he liked to think it stood for that too :) When “Patton” was released in 1970, it was called Dimension-150.
Warren: a lot of Cinerama fans are purists who believe Cinerama actually came to an end with “How the West Was Won”. But when I saw “2001” (shot in Super Panavision 70mm) on the full size Cinerama screen at the Capitol in 1968, I was astounded by it. And I sure would love to see “The Greatest Story Ever Told” on a Cinerama screen. I guess if it says Cinerama in the ad, that’s enough for me :)
I think it’s amusing that “My Fair Lady”, filmed in Super Panavision 70, makes no mention of that in their roadshow ad. I guess in 1965, 70mm was just taken for granted. Those really were the days.
“Quantum of Solace” looked and sounded great at the Ziegfeld today. I just wasn’t sure what was happening on the screen or in the story at any given time. There’s nothing new about fast editing of action sequences in Bond movies, but these scenes were fast to the point of incoherence. Maybe Bond fans younger than me wouldn’t think so. I also felt old while watching the trailer for the new “Star Trek” movie. It sure ain’t your grandfather’s “Star Trek”.
Next attraction at the Ziegfeld: “Che”, on December 12th for one week only. 4 hours + intermission.
Ken: as a kid I loved going to that same Automat you can see in the picture. I’ll bet if someone revived that idea today, in a location like Times Square, the tourists would eat it up (excuse the pun).
1967: an exciting announcement for Palace Theater patrons:
View link
I finally saw the side wall of the Queen Anne today, after all these years.
When it was still an art house in 1969, two days before Apollo XI landed on the moon, the Queen Anne was showing this Oscar-winning class act. I don’t think I agree with what it says in the small print on the bottom, though:
View link
WOW! It sure didn’t look like that when I saw Rodney Dangerfield in “Easy Money” there in 1983. The fourplexing looked like a lot of sheetrock put up inside the shell of the theater, covering up the glorious interior which I’m seeing for the first time in this photo.
What were they thinking back then? Anyway, we should just be grateful that the theater has been restored. If they ever show movies again, I’m there.
Correction: that “Goldfinger” show was in April of this year, 2008. Time is going by so fast …
When the Ziegfeld in NY showed “Goldfinger” in digital last year, I sat in the front row and was pleasantly surprised at how good it looked. I was expecting to see pixelation all over the place, and there was none. Since Justin had a problem, I guess it depends on the theater and the equipment.
They did pre-screen Benjamin Button, twice. But they should have had a film backup.
View link
Good point, Warren. The fully lighted tree and the Christmas show really should go together.
Thanks, Vito – what a great article! I loved how the projection team was referred to as a family.
I saw this theater on Turner Classic Movies yesterday. MGM’s “Some Came Running” with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine was filmed in this town in 1958, and the theater held a re-premiere of the movie a few years ago. TCM showed a short subject about it.
Back on November 1st 2008, the Lafayette presented the 1959 classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. But this was not the first time the movie had played at this theater:
View link
The paper is the Bergen Evening Record, December 26 1959.
Here’s another excellent site, dealing not only with 70mm but all other widescreen processes including Cinerama. It’s the creation of Martin Hart:
View link
I first saw the Gloria Swanson Roxy photo as a little kid. Little did I know that the demolition of the beautiful Roxy would be repeated hundreds of times in the years to come, in theaters all over the country.
It’s hard to make out, but under the title on the marquee it says “BRILLIANT” **** – News. It looks like the word WORLD is in there too.
Both “Quartet” and “Trio” were shown on Turner Classic Movies on the same night, about a year ago.
Actually, the name of the movie at the Embassy was “Quartet”. It was a British film, a compilation of four short stories by W. Somerset Maugham. It was so successful, the filmmakers made a sequel of sorts a few years later called “Trio” (3 stories instead of 4).
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0040335/
Lost Memory: are YOU “misterboo”? I’ve never seen that name anywhere on these pages except in your posts.
Vito: “The Bible” was the first D-150 feature which opened in 1966, but I’m sure you’re right about the year you saw the demonstration.
Looking at the ads back then, I always thought the D in D-150 stood for Dino DeLaurentiis, producer of “The Bible”. I’ll bet he liked to think it stood for that too :) When “Patton” was released in 1970, it was called Dimension-150.
Those are the oldest actual newspaper pages I had. I probably saved them because of the Beatles ads.
It was a Wednesday (8/11/65).
Vito and William: here’s another page from the same 1965 paper which you might not have seen, posted on the Strand and Capitol pages:
View link
Warren: a lot of Cinerama fans are purists who believe Cinerama actually came to an end with “How the West Was Won”. But when I saw “2001” (shot in Super Panavision 70mm) on the full size Cinerama screen at the Capitol in 1968, I was astounded by it. And I sure would love to see “The Greatest Story Ever Told” on a Cinerama screen. I guess if it says Cinerama in the ad, that’s enough for me :)
I think it’s amusing that “My Fair Lady”, filmed in Super Panavision 70, makes no mention of that in their roadshow ad. I guess in 1965, 70mm was just taken for granted. Those really were the days.
“Quantum of Solace” looked and sounded great at the Ziegfeld today. I just wasn’t sure what was happening on the screen or in the story at any given time. There’s nothing new about fast editing of action sequences in Bond movies, but these scenes were fast to the point of incoherence. Maybe Bond fans younger than me wouldn’t think so. I also felt old while watching the trailer for the new “Star Trek” movie. It sure ain’t your grandfather’s “Star Trek”.
Next attraction at the Ziegfeld: “Che”, on December 12th for one week only. 4 hours + intermission.
Ken: as a kid I loved going to that same Automat you can see in the picture. I’ll bet if someone revived that idea today, in a location like Times Square, the tourists would eat it up (excuse the pun).
Thanks, Michael. I now have another reason to admire the city of Toronto!