to vindanpar- I got the blu-ray of Oliver issued by Twilight
Time and while I still enjoyed the film the color at times
seemed a bit washed out. its almost worth getting the Columbia
Classics Vol.2 4k set this Sept. just to get the Oliver
disc.
also this is embarrassing but I’ve been trying to figure out what BBB stands for.
to vindanpar- don’t you think its interesting that the
blu-ray disc of the roadshow cut Of Thoroughly Modern
Millie is being issued by Kino and not Universal Home
Video?
the comments you related about what people have said about
the TSOM blu-ray disc baffle me. as I said before the 50th
Anniversary blu-ray disc played on my 43" 4K tv in terms of
both the colors and crispness of picture image defines the
term spectacular. so if there are people who say the colors
is off on the blu-ray disc need new glasses or need to get
their eyes checked.
I haven’t looked at my blu-ray disc of The King and I recently
so I can’t comment on whether the colors seemed a tad off to me.
but I did watch the 50th Anniversary blu-ray disc of TSOM last
week on my 43" 4K t.v. and the colors, the sharpness of the picture
image and the audio tracks were spectacular. so I have no idea
what the roadshow projectionists are talking about.
another thought. why do you think some studios were more adept
at keeping prints of their roadshows cuts in first rate condition
than others? this is especially true if the films were tweaked for
general release. Cleopatra opened at the Rivoli at 4hrs. and the
film was tweaked twice with the general release cut being
3hrs. 15mins. but Dorothy Spencer the film’s editor kept the
45mins. of trims so when the film made its debut on home video
it was the original 4hr. roadshow cut.
interesting situation. it doesn’t say much for 20th Century Fox’s
ability at keeping prints of their classics intact. what in God’s
name happened to the first rate Todd-AO roadshow print you saw at
the Warner 70MM festival that say 9/10 years later it no longer
existed. the fact that Oklahoma’s Todd-AO roadshow print in A+
condition exits to this day makes the whole situation a tad bizarre.
to vindanpar-I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the 70MM
festival at the Warner Cinerama in the late 70S. granted I
wasn’t there but I’m hedging the bet that although it looked
and sounded A++ the print you saw was the general release cut.
if it was the original roadshow cut why would 20th Century Fox
Home Video have needed to lamely reconstruct it?
speaking of Oscar winning films which had roadshow runs at this
theater. a few years back 20th Century Fox Video released a 2
disc blu-ray set of South Pacific. one disc had the general
release cut most people were familiar with and the 2nd disc a
lame try at reconstructing the roadshow cut. apparently when SP
was tweaked for the general release the trims weren’t saved so
in the roadshow cut the tweaked scenes are replaced by the same
scenes from a b&w work print. I have always found it interesting
some studios save the trims and other didn’t.
if I am not mistaken after The Sound of Music finished its
record 80? week roadshow engagement at the Rivoli didn’t it
move here and on a continuous performance basis ran another
6 months?
to Al A. thanks for posting the video link. I’ve tried typing
it 3 times but zippo. to which I accept there is visual
proof that Mark 1-2-3 was actually ob the marquee. though
it must have been for a relatively short period since as I
have said I’ve been a regular patron at the TKTS booth
since the day it opened and don’t remember it.
to vindanpar. you certainly make a number of valid points. to
which a question- the Astor was a moderate sized movie theater
whereas the Roxy and Paramount were HUGE. wouldn’t you say HUGE
theaters like the Roxy and Paramount were doomed the second
tvs became commonplace in the American home?
this theater’s fate is similar to many smaller neighborhood
theaters around NYC. they were state of the art when they
first opened in the early 1910s but were outdated by the time
sound films made their mark.
speaking of the film The Queen of Sheba. its one of those
classics from the silent era that has been “lost” for decades.
but I wonder if its really “lost” or possibly is stored in
unmarked cans deep down in the bowels of some film archive.
to stevenj I have a question I hope you can help me
with. there was a large single screen movie theater
on Union or Chestnut Sts. that was the 1st theater in
the country to have a THX sound system installed. when
I was out in SF the first week of May 1998 the theater
was still playing Titanic which had opened Dec. 1997.
which theater was it?
to stevenj thanks for the info. whether in NYC or SF when grand
old movie theaters are gutted or repurposed its usually for retail.
this is the 1st instance I’ve come across in either NYC or SF where
a grand old movie theater was turned into condos.
in reference to cjwin’s post of 4/17/2017. it was stated
roadshow films returned for a short period in the 80s before
the theater went exclusively to adult films. the studios
discontinued the roadshow policy after the Dec. 1972
opening of Man of La Mancha so what roadshow films in the
80s is cjwin referring to?
the last thing the intro at top says is that the theater
was gutted in 2000. since it says it was gutted rather than
demolished what is it being used as today?
to vindanpar. was a roadshow engagement deemed successful
based solely on how many weeks it ran or how many weeks it
ran juxtaposed with the film’s production cost. Cleopatra’s
roadshow run here was 63 weeks and The Greatest Story Ever
Told’s at the Warner was 44 weeks I would say those were
damn good roadshow runs.
now at 100 years old one wonders how this theater survived while
other neighborhood theaters didn’t. for instance the Coliseum at
Bway and 181 St.in Manhattan would have bested this theater by a
year as the oldest continually operating movie theater in all of
NYC if hadn’t been demolished last year. groups tried to save the
theater but weren’t able to.
to vindanpar- might you have meant musical roadshow? after Hello
Dolly closed at this theater there were several roadshow films in
several of the big Times Square houses. Fiddler opened here in
Nov. 1971. Patton opened at he Criterion Feb. 1970 and Tora Tora
Tora also at the Criterion Nov. 1970. plus as Al A. states
Nicholas and Alexandra opened at the Criterion Dec. 1071. plus
as stated Man of…… is the last time the studios used one of
the big Times Square houses for a roadshow run.
speaking of the old 42 St. theaters. Disney published a
beautiful book on the Mew Amsterdam across the street
following its reopening in 1997. while the book contains
photos of the interior literally right before the
renovation began it oddly contains no photos of the
interior when it was still a functioning movie theater
in the mid-late 80s.
I have often wondered what went into deciding to release
a film on a roadshow engagement as opposed to a continuous
performance one. I have always figured it was a combination
of how important a property was and its production cost.
as you stated if nothing else MOLM will be remembered as
the last time a studio used one of the 7 big houses in the
Times Square area for a roadshow engagement.
I was wondering what in God’s name was going on with this
theater since its been in a state of “renovation” for like
20 years. I don’t know why it can’t be renovated into some
sort of entertainment complex. do we really need more
retail space?
Hello-
to vindanpar- I got the blu-ray of Oliver issued by Twilight Time and while I still enjoyed the film the color at times seemed a bit washed out. its almost worth getting the Columbia Classics Vol.2 4k set this Sept. just to get the Oliver disc.
also this is embarrassing but I’ve been trying to figure out
what BBB stands for.
Hello-
to vindanpar- don’t you think its interesting that the blu-ray disc of the roadshow cut Of Thoroughly Modern Millie is being issued by Kino and not Universal Home Video?
Hello-
the comments you related about what people have said about the TSOM blu-ray disc baffle me. as I said before the 50th Anniversary blu-ray disc played on my 43" 4K tv in terms of both the colors and crispness of picture image defines the term spectacular. so if there are people who say the colors is off on the blu-ray disc need new glasses or need to get their eyes checked.
Hello-
I haven’t looked at my blu-ray disc of The King and I recently so I can’t comment on whether the colors seemed a tad off to me. but I did watch the 50th Anniversary blu-ray disc of TSOM last week on my 43" 4K t.v. and the colors, the sharpness of the picture image and the audio tracks were spectacular. so I have no idea what the roadshow projectionists are talking about.
another thought. why do you think some studios were more adept at keeping prints of their roadshows cuts in first rate condition than others? this is especially true if the films were tweaked for general release. Cleopatra opened at the Rivoli at 4hrs. and the film was tweaked twice with the general release cut being 3hrs. 15mins. but Dorothy Spencer the film’s editor kept the 45mins. of trims so when the film made its debut on home video it was the original 4hr. roadshow cut.
Hello-
why in God’s name are they changing the entrance to 47th St.? the
entrance as always been on 7TH Ave.
Hello-
interesting situation. it doesn’t say much for 20th Century Fox’s ability at keeping prints of their classics intact. what in God’s name happened to the first rate Todd-AO roadshow print you saw at the Warner 70MM festival that say 9/10 years later it no longer existed. the fact that Oklahoma’s Todd-AO roadshow print in A+ condition exits to this day makes the whole situation a tad bizarre.
Hello-
to vindanpar-I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the 70MM festival at the Warner Cinerama in the late 70S. granted I wasn’t there but I’m hedging the bet that although it looked and sounded A++ the print you saw was the general release cut. if it was the original roadshow cut why would 20th Century Fox Home Video have needed to lamely reconstruct it?
Hello-
speaking of Oscar winning films which had roadshow runs at this theater. a few years back 20th Century Fox Video released a 2 disc blu-ray set of South Pacific. one disc had the general release cut most people were familiar with and the 2nd disc a lame try at reconstructing the roadshow cut. apparently when SP was tweaked for the general release the trims weren’t saved so
in the roadshow cut the tweaked scenes are replaced by the same scenes from a b&w work print. I have always found it interesting some studios save the trims and other didn’t.
Hello-
if I am not mistaken after The Sound of Music finished its record 80? week roadshow engagement at the Rivoli didn’t it move here and on a continuous performance basis ran another 6 months?
Hello-
to Al A. thanks for posting the video link. I’ve tried typing it 3 times but zippo. to which I accept there is visual proof that Mark 1-2-3 was actually ob the marquee. though it must have been for a relatively short period since as I have said I’ve been a regular patron at the TKTS booth since the day it opened and don’t remember it.
Hello-
to vindanpar. you certainly make a number of valid points. to which a question- the Astor was a moderate sized movie theater whereas the Roxy and Paramount were HUGE. wouldn’t you say HUGE theaters like the Roxy and Paramount were doomed the second tvs became commonplace in the American home?
Hello-
as grand as this theater and the Roxy in Manhattan were they were doomed with a capital D the second t.v. became commomplace in the American home.
Hello from NYC-
this theater’s fate is similar to many smaller neighborhood theaters around NYC. they were state of the art when they first opened in the early 1910s but were outdated by the time sound films made their mark.
Hello-
speaking of the film The Queen of Sheba. its one of those classics from the silent era that has been “lost” for decades. but I wonder if its really “lost” or possibly is stored in unmarked cans deep down in the bowels of some film archive.
Hello Again from NYC-
to stevenj I have a question I hope you can help me with. there was a large single screen movie theater on Union or Chestnut Sts. that was the 1st theater in the country to have a THX sound system installed. when I was out in SF the first week of May 1998 the theater was still playing Titanic which had opened Dec. 1997. which theater was it?
Hello from NYC-
to stevenj thanks for the info. whether in NYC or SF when grand old movie theaters are gutted or repurposed its usually for retail. this is the 1st instance I’ve come across in either NYC or SF where a grand old movie theater was turned into condos.
Hello from NYC-
in reference to cjwin’s post of 4/17/2017. it was stated roadshow films returned for a short period in the 80s before the theater went exclusively to adult films. the studios discontinued the roadshow policy after the Dec. 1972 opening of Man of La Mancha so what roadshow films in the 80s is cjwin referring to?
Hello from NYC-
the last thing the intro at top says is that the theater was gutted in 2000. since it says it was gutted rather than demolished what is it being used as today?
Hello-
to vindanpar. was a roadshow engagement deemed successful based solely on how many weeks it ran or how many weeks it ran juxtaposed with the film’s production cost. Cleopatra’s roadshow run here was 63 weeks and The Greatest Story Ever Told’s at the Warner was 44 weeks I would say those were damn good roadshow runs.
Hello-
now at 100 years old one wonders how this theater survived while other neighborhood theaters didn’t. for instance the Coliseum at Bway and 181 St.in Manhattan would have bested this theater by a year as the oldest continually operating movie theater in all of NYC if hadn’t been demolished last year. groups tried to save the theater but weren’t able to.
Hello-
to vindanpar- might you have meant musical roadshow? after Hello Dolly closed at this theater there were several roadshow films in several of the big Times Square houses. Fiddler opened here in Nov. 1971. Patton opened at he Criterion Feb. 1970 and Tora Tora Tora also at the Criterion Nov. 1970. plus as Al A. states Nicholas and Alexandra opened at the Criterion Dec. 1071. plus as stated Man of…… is the last time the studios used one of the big Times Square houses for a roadshow run.
Hello-
speaking of the old 42 St. theaters. Disney published a beautiful book on the Mew Amsterdam across the street following its reopening in 1997. while the book contains photos of the interior literally right before the renovation began it oddly contains no photos of the interior when it was still a functioning movie theater in the mid-late 80s.
Hello-
to markp- thanks for the info. speaking of which what happened to the loading dock it had when it was a legitimate theater?
Hello-
I have often wondered what went into deciding to release a film on a roadshow engagement as opposed to a continuous performance one. I have always figured it was a combination of how important a property was and its production cost. as you stated if nothing else MOLM will be remembered as the last time a studio used one of the 7 big houses in the Times Square area for a roadshow engagement.
Hello-
I was wondering what in God’s name was going on with this theater since its been in a state of “renovation” for like 20 years. I don’t know why it can’t be renovated into some sort of entertainment complex. do we really need more retail space?