Rivoli Theatre
1620 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1620 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
50 people
favorited this theater
Showing 976 - 1,000 of 1,004 comments
Star opened as the fall ‘68 movie at the Rivoli. Does anyone have memories of seeing it there and what the audience reaction was? Did they like it any better than the critics? Did Andrews show up at the premiere or did she skip it like she did the London premiere(supposedly at the behest of a once talented husband who then went on to ruin her career for two decades.)
Flatbush
“Funny Girl” opened at the Criterion Theatre.
I’ve been trying for ages to find some shots of the interior. That’s where my interest in theatres lies. Be that as it may, I have so many great memories of the Rivoli. From “Around the World in 80 Days” to “Cleopatra” and “The Sound of Music.” Didn’t “Funny Girl” open there? I think the last time I was there was for the opening of “Hello, Dolly.” It’s sickening to think of all the glorious theatres we’ve lost, not just here in New York City but everywhere. I’m thankful the 42nd Street theatres were saved, some of them, but am disgusted that the last remaining empty theatre, The Times Square, has been bought by a company that is going to covert it to retail space and sell “hip hop” clothing. Now what the hell is “hip hop” clothing? Oh well, another one bites the dust.
As Barton has said, Ebay is a very good source for programs from many different theatres. From regular weekly programs (Roxy, Rivoli, Paramount, Chinese, Million Dollar, Fox San Francisco, Orpheum) to original opening night programs. Plus the original loby organ from the Fox Theatre in San Francisco.
Probably because it was a Paramount theatre, some of the dancers were given the chance for extra work if they wanted to go out to the Astoria Studios and dance in the films “The Sorrows of Satan” and “Untamed Lady”, and some accepted.
One tale of some interest. The organist who followed Prof. Firmin Swinnen at the Rivoli around 1923 was Harold Ramsbottom. When Publix under Sam Katz took contol of theatre in 1925 they changed his name to Harold Ramsey.
Thank you, harwel, for identifing “Adolf” for me. I heard a lot about him, and his techniques.
Actually, Ebay has turned out to be the best source! But maybe someone has a collection. I have tried the Museum of the City of NY and the NY Historical Society. I have a relative who knew well and worked with Dr. Hugo Riesenfeld, Josiah Zuro, Senia Gluck (Sam Gluck, Senia Gluckoff, Gluck-Sander, and his various names), Felicia Sorel, wife of Gluck, the Serova Dancers, etc, and the others associated with those “prologues”. At one time Charles LeMaire did the dancers costumes.
Also check the microfilm of the Morning Telegraph. That paper was particularly good covering show business in New York. The Times ads are not particulary informative about the supporting program. They concentrate more on the film. You are right about the dancers. Adolf Bolm was the choregrapher for a few years in the early 20s. The “prologues” ran from 1918 to Dec 1925 when Publix Theatres replaced them with “units.” The units unlike the prologues were not thematically linked to the picture and they traveled from city to city. Notable unit producers were John Murray Anderson and Gus Edwards among others.
Yes, but the Theatre also put out a brief, usually one fold program. I have about 20 of them, but want to find copies of many more. By the way, Senia Gluckoff, whom you cite was later known as Gluck-Sandor, a rather important figure in NY Dance world. George Raft once performed the Charleston on the Rivoli stage. Their shows were “high class” for the time. The dancers were often taxied to the Rialto and sometimes the Criterion to do double duty.
Have been through NY Times and Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I am not interested in the films that played there but rather the performers in the pre-movie shows they put on. Growing up, I heard a great deal about those shows and those theatres as I know someone who was in those shows for almost the whole period of time I stated. Have found quite a bit of info on both theatres (your comments on the Rialto are the acurate ones, Warren), but I am sure there is much more to be found.
What are the best sources for finding programs from the Rivoli and Rialto theatres (NYC) from their inception through 1928?
I believe that I viewed “Oklahoma” in 1956 at this theater. Did they claim to have the world’s largest indoor movie screen at the Rivoli?
Thanks. Jacques
Does anybody have pictures of the flat Todd AO screen at the Rivoli before the D 150 screen was installed before Sand Pebbles.I would also like to know its size. I only know the interior with D 150 screen from films I saw there in the 70’s. Also being that Sand Pebbles was in Panavision on the huge screen it might have been fairly grainy(like the washed out looking Fiddler on the Roof.) Anybody have memories of seeing this film there?
I always thought Sound of Music had played there on the deep curved screen which would have been great. I figured they would have have kept that configuration from back to Oklahoma and the other Todd AO films that played there. Guess I was wrong. When did the flat screen
go in.
Anybody out there have a doctorate in the Rivoli theater?
By the way I saw GWTW there in 70mm in ‘73 or '74 though not on hardticket.
One of my first visits to the Rivoli Theatre was to see the 70MM reissue engagement of “Gone With The Wind.” Stupendous is the only word to describe the theatre and my first viewing of GWTW. This was truly a motion picture palace. Anyone today who has only been to the movies at the megaplexes has not been to the movies! To anyone who attended the movies at the palaces, those days will always be missed. On visits to New York City, walking past 1620 Broadway, I remember what it used to be. Same with the Capital, up the street. Some day, more people will regret the demoltions that we allowed to happen in “the name of progress.”
During the 40’s, UA’s offices were 1501 Broadway and they later moved to 233 West 49th Street. Magna Theatres and Todd-AO were also located in that building.
Remember what UA did to it at the end booking wise? It went out as a grind house. They used to joke it was the Marvin 1 & 2. (Marvin was a distributor of most of the lowest of the schlock films in the 70’s and 80’s they distributed for little companies with no distribution arm. If I remember right their office was right near The Rivoli).
I saw a second run of The Sting at the Rivoli in 1974. It was NYC top roadshow house with reserved seating. The last successful roadshow picture Fiddler on The Roof played the Rivoli in the early 1970’s. United Artists destroyed the Rivoli just like they did with the Egyptian in Hollywood but the Egyptian survived despite UA. If the Rivoli had a stage house it would have survived as a broadway house because there became a huge demand on Broadway for a theatre this size to house the large musicals. I would venture to say The Rivoli was one of the top ten theatres in the country to the movie studios for most of its history. It was a prestige industry house and its seating capacity was perfect for the big event films of the 1950’s through the early 1970’s.
When they installed the giant TODD-AO screen for “Oklahoma” it measured 66 feet long along the arc, but was 50 feet long along the chord, which gives an idea of the extent of the curvature. The height was 27 feet. The distance at the center from the arc to the chord was almost 14 feet.
downstairs theatre had a deep curved screen the curtains opened and closed after each presentaion and just like the Strand the upstairs theatre, theatre 2 was situated on a large stage that covered the orchestra section of the cinema. This was common for most single screen theatres that were converted. THe Rivoli retained it’s curved screen after twinning but it was only downstairs and it remained that way until the theatre was shuttered in 86.
yeah that was tripple tragedy they razed them at the same time There was a warning for the Rivoli but I think that year the State and the Strand which was called Cinerama twin and Warner twin in my lifetime closed without warning. I used to cut school to see movies at this theatre I loved the other two but this theatre was the only one at that time that would let me in at school hours I would spend all half the day gazing at that deeply curved screen in theatre one if a movie that I wanted to see played in theatre 2 I wouldn’t see it there. It was named United Artists twin at the time of closing.
The upper facade was removed during the “twinning” when people thought it was getting a cleaning, it was actually being removed so that building wouldn’t be granted “landmark status” on the facade. The eddict came from the Naifys on the east coast. This would enable them to sell, tear down the building, which they did in 1988. I believe the frieze was unaltered until that time it was removed in 1980. In 1988, The Rivoli, State and the Strand were razed one right after the other.
I saw Fiddler on the Roof here and though filmed in panavision it was shown on the large curved screen that looks similar to the screen that was installed for Oklahoma in ‘55 in the photo on Martin Hart’s wide screen web site. I also saw Gone With The Wind and 2001 on this screen in the 70’s so I assumed it was there all through the 60’s as well with The Sound of Music’s run shown on a curved rather than flat screen.
The above comment:
In 1963, Fox put up a Egyptian facade on the building for “Cleopatra” which was kept until the 80’s. Is wrong, as SteveP stated the building was Greek and dated back to 1917.
The facade on the Rivoli was Greek, not Egyptian— and dated to 1917 when the building was designed by Thomas Lamb.