Criterion Theatre

1514 Broadway,
New York, NY 10036

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Showing 76 - 100 of 611 comments

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 9, 2019 at 2:44 pm

Hello-

to vindanpar- I had a feeling she had to have known. on the 50th Anniversary blu-ray disc they included Wouldn’t It Be Lovely and Show Me as Hepburn shot them. even better is on the soundtrack cd they should have included the songs as she shot them as a bonus. a few years ago they released a nicely remastered cd of the Gypsy soundtrack album. what made it special was simple- in addition to including all the soundtrack LP tracks they also included as a bonus all of Russell’s song as she shot them before her vocal’s were enhanced by Lisa Kirk I think it was.

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 8, 2019 at 3:42 pm

I believe she knew. It caused quite the kerfluffle before the film opened. Nixon claimed Previn blamed her for spilling the beans. Though how could anyone not know Hepburn did not have a trained voice after Funny Face and Breakfast? I think there is also a clip of the red carpet interviewer asking Hepburn about it as she stops to talk at the entrance of the Criterion going into the world premiere. Why such a shrewd experienced actress like her did not have it in her contract that she would do her own singing I do not understand. The way she was led on caused her great embarrassment. Watch her give the Oscar to Rex on youtube. This lady was beyond classy.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 8, 2019 at 2:37 pm

Hello-

i should have said the reprise of Just You Wait as Eliza is kneeling front of the fireplace looking for the ring is all Hepburn but that the original rendition of the song was mostly Hepburn with an assist from Nixon.

also I have heard as well that till the premiere of MFL at this theater that Hepburn had no idea her vocals had almost totally been replaced. is it really possible she had no idea whatsoever?

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 7, 2019 at 7:22 pm

Didn’t even know Chips made it to cd let alone a 3 cd set. Those prices are quite the sucker punch. Big joe did you grab it when it came out? The middle part of Just You Wait is Nixon. You can hear the voice change when it begins One day I’ll be famous, then Hepburn starts again with And they’ll march you Henry Higgins. I always wondered if Nixon got a % of the lp sales and how much because it was a huge bestseller. She was refused WSS so Bernstein gave her a small part of his. Which probably ended up being a ton of money.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on October 7, 2019 at 3:59 pm

My understanding is that Audrey Hepburn recorded all the songs for “FAIR LADY” only to discover she was dubbed at the premiere, but we only heard Marni Nixon. Peter O'Toole’s voice was so awful on the “CHIPS” recordings they had to bring someone else in to replace his songs. I have never been able to find that “CHIPS” CD soundtrack at a resonable price.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 7, 2019 at 3:47 pm

Hello-

to Mike(saps)– as they say beauty is in the eye of the

           beholder isn't it? 
                

to vindanpar- a year or so before the Katz/Harris

           restoration of MFL i bought an A+ cd
                           that was imported from Holland. it contains
                           the same tracks as on the soundtrack 
                           released by Columbia Records when the 
                           film first opened. it doesn't contain
                           any of the extraneous noise etc... that's
                           on the expanded cd issued with the Katz/
                           Harris restoration. 
                

to Al A.– if I am not mistaken Marni Nixon did not

           do all of Eliza's singing in MFL. i can
                           swear i read a few years ago the Just You
                           Wait number is Hepburn as is the reprise
                           of the song after Eliza and Higgins have 
                           their big fight after they get home from 
                           the ball. 
                
vindanpar
vindanpar on October 6, 2019 at 8:52 pm

O'Toole was dubbed in Chips? It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it. He certainly deserved the Oscar over Wayne though I suppose if you see Wayne’s name on a list of nominees you think well yes and you put a check next to it.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on October 6, 2019 at 7:45 pm

Joe, I’m sure you’re a nice guy but you do seem to love a lot of movies many others consider mediocre at best…

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on October 6, 2019 at 7:43 pm

Don’t forget that the “MY FAIR LADY” soundtrack was dubbed by others. So was “GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS”. “DOLITTLE” and others were not, and the reviews said that was not such a good idea.

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 6, 2019 at 7:31 pm

While not a fan of the film I’ve been a fan of the score(buying a cutout of the lp,there were a lot of those) since I was very young. The Bobby Darin album is also worth getting. And the 2 cd set is indeed excellent. Remarkable that all these isolated musical tracks were kept for an unsuccessful film when My Fair Lady’s extended cd had to use the musical tracks from the film soundtrack thereby having to include the extraneous noises. Were all those musical tracks tossed?

I wish the stage show had worked to give those songs a new lease on life. And I wish I could have seen it in Todd AO at Loew’s State as there are some wonderful visual sequences. Hell I wish I could have seen anything there before it was twinned.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 6, 2019 at 2:50 pm

Hello-

I happen to like Dr. Dolittle and saw it twice during its roadshow run at the Loews State. the still available Twilight Time Blu-ray disc in terms of richness of colors and the crispness, sharpness and clarity of both the picture image the multi-channel is everything a Blu-ray disc should be.

talk about a film being edited just before its premiere. aside form the image of Harrison riding on the giraffe on the cover of the soundtrack album the booklet enclosed has a description of a Prologue sequence that doesn’t appear on the Blu-ray. also the souvenir program sold in the lobby of the State has a description of Harrison singing a song about Emma(Samantha Eggar)at the end of the film that doesn’t appear on the Blu-ray disc either.

fortunately an A+ 2 disc cd set was released last year of
ALL the music recorded for the film.

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 5, 2019 at 8:18 am

Well Harrison on a giraffe was certainly a very famous image from Dolittle dominating the cover of the soundtrack album and block long billboard in front of Loew’s state and not simply a staged photo for publicity but a scene from the film cut before the opening due to disappointing previews.

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 3, 2019 at 5:23 pm

Just when exactly was it pointed out to them they got the title wrong? Like just after all the print advertising was made and they said the heck with it? It sounded good to me.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 3, 2019 at 3:56 pm

Hello-

to Mikeoaklandpark- I saw The Rose three times during its 70MM exclusive engagement at the Ziegfeld. so I can imagine your horror when you took your friend to see it in one of the lower level auditoriums here. its kind of like who in God’s name would want to watch Lawrence of Arabia on an iPad or tablet?

wally 75
wally 75 on October 3, 2019 at 3:44 pm

We all knew 50 YEARS AGO it was West of Java…didn’t care then.

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 3, 2019 at 3:24 pm

Krakatoa, East of Java was I believe also false advertising. I mean it was an outright lie.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on October 3, 2019 at 2:56 pm

They were beyond horrible. It was like sitting in your living room. After seeing The Rose at the Ziegfeld in 70MM than after it transferred here and taking a friend to see it, horrible isn’t even the word.

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on October 2, 2019 at 6:01 pm

I would love to see photos of inside the theatre when it converted to seven screens. The basement theatres were lousy and BS Moss had mono system installed in the basement in 1981.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on October 2, 2019 at 4:47 pm

If there were awards for false advertising, the motion picture industry would win the award every year.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 2, 2019 at 4:40 pm

Hello-

to Al A. thanks as always for your info filled replies. be that as it may I’m sure they had a number of other lobby cards they could have used. I don’t know how much before Nicholas and Alexandra opened that the staff at this theater did up the display cases to either side as you entered. but to include a photo of a scene they most have known wasn’t in the film while it may not meet the legal definition of false advertising was certainly a really odd thing to do.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on October 2, 2019 at 4:01 pm

bigjoe, some of those Roadshow lobby cards were on display a year before the film opened. The movies were not yet fully edited and in most cases, still filming.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 2, 2019 at 2:07 pm

Hello-

to Al A.–

I thank you for your reply. its just I would say roadshow engagements where a film played at only 1 theater in all of NYC for weeks, months or in many cases well over a year is a somewhat different case. the only thing I can think of is this- I think the film is just about perfect as is but the big wigs at Columbia may have said “hey at 3hrs. 9mins. it s long enough” so at the last minute they cut out any scenes not pertaining to the title characters. so I’m assuming the posters, lobby cards etc…. were shipped out even before the final cut was arrived at.

vindanpar
vindanpar on October 2, 2019 at 12:48 pm

My favorite example of this is Considerate Men from 1776. It was featured in the preview of the film at the Music Hall and then of course was cut before the film opened. The ad for How to Succeed on opening day featured Coffee Break which was cut before opening never to be seen again. Like it’s stereo soundtrack which no longer exists. UA treated this film very badly. I understand the bluray isn’t very good. And Bosley in his Times review talks about the wonderful color.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on October 2, 2019 at 12:08 pm

Lobby cards with scenes not in the film were very common in the 70’s. Also, trailers with scenes that did not make the final cut and there was some controversy over newspaper ads that featured scenes not in the film. This was not limited to Roadshows.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on October 2, 2019 at 12:01 pm

Hello-

Nicholas and Alexandra opened at this theater Dec. 0f 1971. its one of my favorite large scale historical dramas. its also this theater’s last roadshow engagement. to which I remember something always I thought was strange. in the display cases to either side as you entered the theater were lobby cards capturing scenes from the film. one had Rasputin talking to Alexi a scene which does not appear in the film. can anyone remember any other roadshow engagements at any of the other six theaters Times Square houses where the lobby cards depicted scenes there weren’t in the film.