Paramount Theatre

The following are September 2008 photos of the former Paramount Theatre: 1, 2, 3, 4

I thought it was the singer, Frankie, that drew the crowds at the Paramount, apparently not…Great shot, RobertR.

This might shake some memories loose. I remember seeing two stage shows at the Paramount on Times Square. The first featured Phil Spitalny and His All-Girl Orchestra (featuring Evelyn and her magic violin). The second starred Johnny Ray.

OK. I took some pictures, but not worth much now. Thanks.

I was in front of the Hard Rock yesterday. If I understand correctly, the marquee is a re-creation and not the original? Also the Paramount lettering on the building?

Do I remember correctly that Frank Sinatra appeared here during the engagement of his “Johnny Concho”? He (oddly enough) co-produced this minor western, which he later dissed on the TV special “Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back."
I saw "Johnny Concho” at the Paramount and vaguely recall Sinatra making a live appearance.
Also caught “The Carpetbaggers” here on a mobbed Saturday night in the summer of 1964.

Great picture. I attended that show. Estrogen was rampant.

Cheers.

Ernie Nagy

Cooper’s subdued laconic on screen style doesn’t strike me as one that would have effectively translated on stage. I wonder how well it went over in the upper reaches of the Paramount. If his claims of exhaustion are to be believed (and there’s no reason to doubt it), I wonder if he didn’t tucker himself out from having to project to the theatre’s back rows. I can’t make out the details on the ad… does it say how many performances were scheduled for the day?

In my May 10, 1946 copy of the NYC edition of the (Communist) Daily Worker are some select movie ads (obviously not all theaters in NYC advertised in this newspaper), including one for Paramount Times Square indicating:

Paramount Presents Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Bendix in “The Blue Dahlia” A George Marshall Production, Doors open 8:30 a.m., then a musical note separating columns and on the right side of the ad:

In Person DUKE ELLINGTON and his Orchestra, Stump & Stumpy, Extra The Mills Bros. (This is the show I would have wanted to see.)

I look at this historically as someone then determined it was worthwhile to run this ad for this show in the Communist Daily newspaper. If it wasn’t for the content, then perhaps management had a vested interest.

I’ve read that those Capitol Theatre shows drew disappointing attendance. As I indicated above, Sinatra saw his popularity tail-off around this time and I’m curious as to just how well (or poorly) these shows at the Capitol were received by the public. Do you have any B.O. figures, Warren?

Fantastic. I think we may have it. My parents are going through their memory banks to see if it was Benny G or Johnny L with that extra added attraction: Young Blue Eyes.

Personally, I’d rather have been at the Benny Goodman, Jack Benny show.

And I am going to buy Pete Hamill’s book to make sure we know just who’s horse head it was.

Thanks all. I believe the investigation is being erased from the board.

The story has grown out of proportion as a great American urban legend, read Pete Hamill’s great book “Why Sinatra matters”. The much-discussed and embellished story of a contract Sinatra had to get out of was his contract with Tommy Dorsey, the band he sang with after leaving Harry James. Harry basically just let Frank go and wished him well, realized what an opportunity Dorsey was offering. Dorsey was not so easy going, signed hungry young talent to iron-clad contracts giving himself a healthy cut of that performer’s pay should they elect to leave (in Frank’s case, almost 55% of all future earnings) Frank signed to just get free and start pursuing the opportunities that were being offered. The contract was re-negotiated by his agents at MCA (the Music Corporation of America) joined by an army of lawyers. The proceedings were a matter of public record in the courts. Frank ended
up paying Dorsey $60,000 lump-sum to get out of the contract. I’m sorry if that’s not as romantic, but them’s the facts.
Frank was Italian, which for decades before he reached his initial popularity meant they weren’t even considered WHITE by wasps, it took the massive numbers of Americans of Italian descent fighting in WWII to begin the change of opinion against such prejudice. There were many figures in organized crime Frank knew, he sang in nightclubs for a living, and such establishments aren’t owned by conservative wasp businessmen, they were owned by gangsters. No credible researcher or author (including the notorious Kitty Kelley) could find any concrete link to this urban legend.
As an aside, Frank was quoted as being very sad when the Paramount was gutted, and wished that he had a souvenir from the building, even if just a knob from a dressing room door.

I have a revision that makes more sense given everyone’s feedback. I was wrong about the dates. I thought I heard my parents say they went to the show at the Paramount before they were married in 1947. My parents just told me that there first date was before my father enlisted and went into the Navy… in the Spring of 1943! My parents were married in 1947 after my father returned from the war.

My father just told me about how Frankie got out of the Harry James contract with a little help from some friends. He also told me how the story was retold within “The Godfather.”