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).
In this ad you can see two Cinerama pictures from United Artists within 4 blocks of each other, one great (“Greatest Story” at the Warner) and one lousy (“Hallelujah Trail” – I never liked that movie. Maybe it was better in Cinerama …) Whatever you or I may think of the movies, though … what a choice to have!
The date is August 11, 1965. Imagine two spectacular Todd-AO films from 20th Century-Fox within a couple of blocks of each other. And you could get “Choice Beatle Tickets” for only $10 – the 1st Shea Stadium concert was held on August 15th.
The date is August 11, 1965. Imagine two spectacular Todd-AO films from 20th Century-Fox within a couple of blocks of each other. And you could get “Choice Beatle Tickets” for only $10 – the 1st Shea Stadium concert was held on August 15th.
In this ad you can see two Cinerama pictures from United Artists within 4 blocks of each other, one great (“Greatest Story”) and one lousy (“Hallelujah Trail” at the Capitol – I never liked that movie. Maybe it was better in Cinerama …) Whatever you or I may think of the movies, though … what a choice to have!
They did pre-screen Benjamin Button, twice. But they should have had a film backup.
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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:
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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!
In this ad you can see two Cinerama pictures from United Artists within 4 blocks of each other, one great (“Greatest Story” at the Warner) and one lousy (“Hallelujah Trail” – I never liked that movie. Maybe it was better in Cinerama …) Whatever you or I may think of the movies, though … what a choice to have!
View link
The paper is the New York Journal-American, dated 8/11/65.
Here’s an ad from the long-defunct newspaper the New York Journal-American:
View link
The date is August 11, 1965. Imagine two spectacular Todd-AO films from 20th Century-Fox within a couple of blocks of each other. And you could get “Choice Beatle Tickets” for only $10 – the 1st Shea Stadium concert was held on August 15th.
Here’s an ad from the long-defunct newspaper the New York Journal-American:
View link
The date is August 11, 1965. Imagine two spectacular Todd-AO films from 20th Century-Fox within a couple of blocks of each other. And you could get “Choice Beatle Tickets” for only $10 – the 1st Shea Stadium concert was held on August 15th.
The ad was dated 8/11/65. The paper: the New York Journal-American.
In this ad you can see two Cinerama pictures from United Artists within 4 blocks of each other, one great (“Greatest Story”) and one lousy (“Hallelujah Trail” at the Capitol – I never liked that movie. Maybe it was better in Cinerama …) Whatever you or I may think of the movies, though … what a choice to have!
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