Just came back from tonight’s screening of ‘North By Northwest’ at the Paris. GREAT! I hadn’t been there for quite sometime, and it was great to be back. It was really cool to be watching ‘North By Northwest’ only steps away from one of the film’s locations. There’s Cary Grant hanging out at The Oak Room at The Plaza….literally right around the corner from the Paris. COOL!
These Saturday Midnight shows seem to be pretty successful. The place wasn’t full, but I counted at least 60 or so people in the floor seats, and there must have been more in the mezz. Not bad for a midnight revival screening in Mid-town on a Saturday night. After the show there was a guy in the lobby who works for the Paris talking to people about the midnight shows. I overheard that they showed ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in 70mm a few weeks ago. DAMN! I wish I was there for that one. When I asked what was on deck for next week, he told me there is no schedule, just check the New York Times or the Village Voice for the midnight show advertisements. The Paris is a great theater, my only complaint which has nothing really to do with the theater itself, was that the music from the club next door, Frederick’s can be heard thudding through the walls from time to time during the film. Not too overwhelming, but even though it was noticeable it didn’t take anything away from the experience of seeing the film there.
If tonight is any indication it looks like the midnight Saturday shows will be happening for at least the foreseeable future, and that my friends, is a very cool thing.
This theater opened in the mid 1970s as a triplex. One of the first, if not the first film they showed was the Dino Delaurentis remake of ‘King Kong’. ‘Star Wars’ also had a first run at this theater as did the 1979 movie version of ‘Hair’. Even though it was a triplex, the individual theaters were all very spacious and very close in size to some of the single screen theaters in the area.
I have some serious roots in Fords. I lived there as a kid in a house that was built for my great grandmother in the early 1900s on Woodland Ave. Up until 4th grade I went to Ford Avenue-School 14 where my great aunt taught from the time it opened in 1924 until she retired in the late 60s (before I started going there). My great grandfather owned a butcher shop, I think on New Brunswick Ave., the same street as the Fords Cinema. I have great memories of living there as a kid. An All-American storybook working class town if I ever saw one.
On an unrelated note. You grew up in Fords in the 50s? Which school did you go to, School 14 or School 7? My Aunt taught at School 14. If you were there in the 50s there’s a good chance she may have been your teacher.
If anybody has any info on further Saturday Midnight screenings at the Paris, please post them here. I was unable to go tonight to see ‘Rebel Without A Cause’, but I want to start going to these Midnight screenings to support the theater and this kind of program. Hey Paris Theater management, keep up the good work and continue to do the Saturday midnight screenings!! If you need some assistance in programming the screenings, let em know!! I would be more than happy to get involved.
South Florida: Ft.Lauderdale, Miami, Lauderhill, etc. has absolutely no hills or valleys. With the exception of the beaches South Florida has some of the most boring terrain humans have ever laid eyes on. Flat, overgrown, boring..yuck. To me it always looked like a big, dirty shag carpet.
Oh wait! There is one huge hill…a landfill, a mountain of trash, that’s visible from the Turnpike somewhere around Boca Raton(?). If you want to see a hill in S. Florida you can find it there, just hold your nose. But hey, the beaches can’t be beat and regardless of the lame terrain, I think at this point I would prefer living there in January instead of the Northeast any-day-of-the-week.
I remember the Loews Lauderhill being a single screen as well. There were also two other theaters in that immediate area, but I can’t remember what they were called or exactly were they were. Actually one was right on 441. A single screen, and from what I remember somewhat ambitious in design. Definitely built in the 60s, just like everything else down there. Nothing existed in that area before then. I remember seeing ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ there. It may have been the GCC theater you’re talking about. I also saw ‘Animal House’ and ‘Grease’ in another theater around there. The design of that that theater was more ‘box-ee’ not ambitious or interesting like (what may have been) the GCC theater.
No, they were not the same theater. The Movies at Plantation was in fact a 7 screen theater and if I recall correctly opened a few years before the 4 screen Broward Mall theater did. Both were located near the Mall. The four screen was directly across from the west side of the mall on a side street (that I forget the name of) that led about a ¼ mile or so south from West Broward Blvd.
The Movies at Plantation was directly on W. Broward Blvd. between Pine Island Road and University Dr.
I’m pretty sure I saw ‘Star Wars’ there in 1977. I had seen it a couple of times in one or two different theaters in the area and I distinctly remember seeing it there. Back then, the Lauderhill Mall and the Lakes Mall, located a few miles north on 441, were the two very accesible malls in the area, totally reachable by bus. I can remember going to both malls by myself or with friends when I was as young as 12 years old. Can’t beleive my parents actually let me run around like that so far from my neighborhood at a young age. Slightly different times I guess. This was before the Broward Mall opened around 1978.
Speaking of the Lakes Mall, does anybody have any info on the theater that was there called the Lakes 6? I saw many, many films there and hung around that mall a bunch. Jeez some of the films I saw at the Lakes 6:
Viva Knievel
Oh God!
Spinal Tap
Police Academy
Telefon (with Charles Bronson & Lee Remick)
and a few Midnight Movies
I’ll never forget one of the best porn titles I saw on a Times Square marquee, probably around 1987-88 when the show ‘21 Jump Street’ was pretty popular. The marquee at the theater, probably on 45th or 46th street & Broadway read, get this… ‘21 Hump Street’!! Ah, memories!
I sailed by The Beekman tonight on the M15 Bus and noticed the trademark ‘Beekman’ logo had been removed from both sides of the sidewalk marquee. For whatever reason the same ‘Beekman’ logo that sits over the center window facing the street is still there. I’m sure that will be gone soon though. Very sad. It looks like a beautiful corpse being barbarically ravaged by vultures.
Warren, don’t look in the dictionary just pick any ‘hot’, ‘trendy’ place in the city and you’ll see an example of the ‘panzie palace’ ie., droves of people that have no identity trying to prove that they in fact have one. You can find this specifically at ANY bar or lounge that has a velvet rope and a long line. Dance clubs I’ll make an exception on, but bars that people wait to go into just to buy over-priced drinks and hear some crappy DJ? I don’t get that. Just go to a regular bar! If you have to wait on line for some nightlife it should involve dancing, a band, or both. And if you do wait on these trendy bar lines just to feel cool and buy $12 cocktails, then you are just lost and hopelessly searching for identity.
I saw the projectionist picketing a week or so, and spoke two one or two that were on the line. I made the decision to not patronize the IFC until a change is made and union projectionists are hired. The “Independent” in IFC doesn’t mean “independent” of the standards and ethics of the theater business. But in this current climate of apathy I’m not surprised they made that move.
Yet another case of a corporation (Cablevision) thinking that they can do whatever they damn please without any reprecussion. Screw that!
“New York is being ripped out of itself. In a weird sort of way I kind of wish Dinkins would get re-elected so the crime rate would sky-rocket and all these transplants from Kansas would stop trying to re-make Manhattan into suburbia with high-rise buildings and get out of here. Did you know that after about midnight on Saturday night you can’t find anyplace to eat on either Third or Lexington Avenues from 86th St. to about 45th? Years ago there were all kinds of places open late…”
I’m with you dave-bronx. I have lived in NYC for 20 years. One of my main objectives for coming here, besides going to school, was to get the hell out of the suburbs that I had grown up in for most of my life. I wanted 24/7 electric weirdness. Cool things to do, interesting experiences and people. I wanted THE city life and for a long time I got it and never looked back. When I would go home to visit I would love the fact that I was so disconnected from what was happening there. New chain stores and franchises would be popping up there that I had never heard of because I lived on planet Manhattan where we were immune from all that crap. It was great! I would go home and drive around and be like ‘Red Lobster? Never saw that before.’
There were no Kmarts, Walmarts, Circuit Citys, Olive Gardens, or any of that crap in NYC. For most of my time here I never even owned a TV. I didn’t need one. I was completely unaware of who any of the ‘Entertainment Tonight’ caliber celebrities were, and I loved it.
It’s hard to beleive that a city as tough as New York would let itself beturned into the panzie palace it is fast becoming. It seems that everything around here is the complete opposite from what it was 10-15 years ago. My neighborhood in the East Village used to be a pretty sleepy place, now it’s like Six Flags Great Adventure around here on the weekends. Where did all of these rich, arrogant, overly primped, overly goodlooking, Starbucks generation people who think they’re ‘slumming it’ come from? I want them outta here…NOW!
Hate to say it but it looks like ‘going to the movies’ will be gone one day, and that is just ridiculous. People will never realize the harm that this genericized, isolated culture that is in the process of taking over, will do in the end. Just recently there was a study that showed that ¾ of Americans would rather stay at home to watch movies. What the hell is that all about? It’s the dumbing down of society, and it keeps going & going & going &…
A society of apathetic robots is what we are becoming. No opinons, no points of view, no questioning the decisons that go on around you. Just a culture of consumption. Target, Walmart, Doritos, McDonalds, Xbox, Paris Hilton, endless reality shows. It’s just bad..really bad. This is not the country I grew up in, it’s turning into something else that I really don’t like at all.
Just another comment re: filming inside the Fillmore East. Concert footage for the 1971 Joe Cocker documentary, ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen" were also filmed at the Fillmore East.
A few corrections on your history: The Commodore/Fillmore/Saint in fact was never multiplexed after the Saint closed. After The Saint’s closing the building stood empty for at least seven years or so. I know this for a fact because I was in the building in early 1995 not to long before demolition and the interior was still constructed as The Saint. I can tell you that there were definitley no multiplex theaters in there. If I recall correctly, theater multiplexing was an idea for the building post-Saint that never happened.
Also, “The Last Days of the Fillmore” documentary and LP you mentioned was made at, and only about the Fillmore West in San Francisco during the last concerts NOT the Fillmore East. One of the only times, if not the ONLY time camera crews came into the Fillmore East for a program or documentary of any kind was on September 23, 1970 to shoot a special for public television called ‘Welcome to the Fillmore’. It was videotaped and included performances from Van Morrison, The Byrds, Albert King, Sha Na Na, The Elvin Bishop Group and others. It also included some documentary footage of a regular day around the theater. This show was broadcast the day The Fillmore East closed on Sunday June 27, 1971 (the 34th anniversary just passed a few days ago).
I heard that The Paris played Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ this past weekend at midnight. Damn! I hate when I miss stuff like that. Anybody have any idea what they are going to show this weekend at midnight?
Was there last night for the final screening. Showed up late and took alot of photos. It was an interesting and slightly strange experience. One acknowledgment to the closing was a nondescript 8 ½ x 11 sheet of white paper printed in a Palatino font hanging on one of the entrance doors. It read: “This is the closing day for the Clearview Beekman Theater. Thank you for all the wonderful years.” There were about 10 or so people there watching the film. When the Beekman’s projector had shown it’s last reel ever on it’s screen and the lights came up all was quiet. It was all very uncerimonious. I was glad I was there. A few of us hung out, took pictures, roamed around and had a good last look. I couldn’t help thinking what it must have been like the day the theater opened in 1952 (anybody know what the first film was?). And so here we are in “the future”, that period in time that we all used to hear about growing up, wondering what it would be like. The landscape and connections to yesterday’s New York City changing drastically before our eyes, and the patrons and ghosts of The Beekman’s heyday floating back there in the past.
Fuck NYU and all the rich kids that go there that have no clue, nor care about preserving anything in NYC, or preserving anything for that matter. I know that may sound belligerent and sub-mental, but I’m sick of these kids born in the 80s that grew up on Nickleodeon TV that seem interested in nothing but turning their lives into some lame Indie-Yuppie fashion show. They are a major force in the watering-down of New York City, and it seems that their kind is being catered to at every turn these days. Granted, having a safe, less dangerous place to live is a good thing, but in New York City fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point if view, you take the danger away and clean things up a bit, and it’s not New York City anymore, it’s a shell of it’s former self. Yeah…it’s still the ‘big apple’ and all that, but it is now a suburbanized apple. The kids moving into these dorms think they are getting the real NYC, and probably feel all cool living here in their clean, comfy dorm listening to The Killers or The Strokes, but they are getting the FAKE New York!! Screw them, their reality shows, their money, their arrogance, and their school that could give a rat’s ass about maintianing the character of the town they have the gall to plant their school in.
In addition to having an interest in these old theaters, I am also a huge Tikiphile and only learned of the Hawaii Kai’s exsistence within the last year or two. The most aggravating thing about that is that it seems I was living here in NYC during it’s last years in business if in fact it did close in the late 80s early 90s. DAMN! I don’t ever remember seeing it or hearing anything about it. I wish I could turn the clock back on that one. From what I understand the classic Joe Pesci “I’m funny like a clown I amuse you?” scene in ‘Goodfellas’ was filmed there. I’ll have to take a look a that film again to see.
Meanwhile I was able to find an amazing color postcard from the Hawaii Kai on Ebay a year or so ago. If I had a scanner I would post it here. It’s a great postcard with four different views of the interior. I haven’t seen it posted on Ebay since, so I think I got lucky with that one. As far as what’s located where Hawaii Kai used to be…..a brand spankin' new Applebee’s Restaurant. Big surprise eh? With all the cool restaurants in New York, who the hell would want to go to Applebee’s. Gee whiz..that’s a real ‘unique’ New York City experience…
“Hey everybody, let’s make a special trip to New York and have dinner at Applebee’s because ya know..there just ain’t enough of them to go to here in the suburbs.'
Went to the Ziegfeld tonight to see ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. I can’t remember the last time I was there. I know I missed a couple of great revival screenings in the past, but I was never jazzed about any of the first run stuff either. It must have been years since I was there last, and I am so glad that I went tonight. Even though many people on this blog think it pales in comparison to the the old NYC theaters of yore (which I’m sure it does), it’s still an amazing place and pretty much all we have left in terms of grand old places of any kind. As far as ‘Hitchhikers Guide’ is concerned, I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about! It seems like a movie geared to those who have already read the book. It get’s points for creativity and great set design (and Zooey Deschanel is nice to look at too), but the story was muddled as hell. Kind of a shame since it was a really great looking film. The Ziegfeld screened it in digital projection with amazing clarity and sound, and coming from a Luddite like me that saying alot.
Once again all I can say is that this place is a jewel in the rough, and I hope I get to see many, many more flicks there in the future.
And just for old time’s sake here are some I’ve seen there in the past:
Vertgo (revival screening early 90s)
The Doors
Edward Scissorhands
Jurrasic Park
Primary Colors
and probably more I can’t remember. Hope they do more revival screenings soon.
I noticed that other theater as well. It’s called The Stanley. The Jehovah Witnesses bought it and have restored it. I don’t think they show movies there but I read somewhere that they give tours.
You are correct sir. In tribute, the Emmigrant Savings Bank still does have some great art which includes collages by an artist that I forgot the name of, and photos from the Fillmore East era by the official/unofficial house photographer Amalie Rothschild. If you are a fan of the theater (which you probably are) and a fan of the Fillmore era music Amalie Rothschild released a book of her photos a few years ago called ‘Live at the Fillmore East’ which not only documents many of the bands that played their but the general environment when it was still a live music venue. Great photos of the interior, the people, and of course Bill Graham at work. If you don’t buy it, it is at least definitely worth a look.
Just came back from tonight’s screening of ‘North By Northwest’ at the Paris. GREAT! I hadn’t been there for quite sometime, and it was great to be back. It was really cool to be watching ‘North By Northwest’ only steps away from one of the film’s locations. There’s Cary Grant hanging out at The Oak Room at The Plaza….literally right around the corner from the Paris. COOL!
These Saturday Midnight shows seem to be pretty successful. The place wasn’t full, but I counted at least 60 or so people in the floor seats, and there must have been more in the mezz. Not bad for a midnight revival screening in Mid-town on a Saturday night. After the show there was a guy in the lobby who works for the Paris talking to people about the midnight shows. I overheard that they showed ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in 70mm a few weeks ago. DAMN! I wish I was there for that one. When I asked what was on deck for next week, he told me there is no schedule, just check the New York Times or the Village Voice for the midnight show advertisements. The Paris is a great theater, my only complaint which has nothing really to do with the theater itself, was that the music from the club next door, Frederick’s can be heard thudding through the walls from time to time during the film. Not too overwhelming, but even though it was noticeable it didn’t take anything away from the experience of seeing the film there.
If tonight is any indication it looks like the midnight Saturday shows will be happening for at least the foreseeable future, and that my friends, is a very cool thing.
This theater opened in the mid 1970s as a triplex. One of the first, if not the first film they showed was the Dino Delaurentis remake of ‘King Kong’. ‘Star Wars’ also had a first run at this theater as did the 1979 movie version of ‘Hair’. Even though it was a triplex, the individual theaters were all very spacious and very close in size to some of the single screen theaters in the area.
Hey Jerry-
I have some serious roots in Fords. I lived there as a kid in a house that was built for my great grandmother in the early 1900s on Woodland Ave. Up until 4th grade I went to Ford Avenue-School 14 where my great aunt taught from the time it opened in 1924 until she retired in the late 60s (before I started going there). My great grandfather owned a butcher shop, I think on New Brunswick Ave., the same street as the Fords Cinema. I have great memories of living there as a kid. An All-American storybook working class town if I ever saw one.
Hey Jerry-
On an unrelated note. You grew up in Fords in the 50s? Which school did you go to, School 14 or School 7? My Aunt taught at School 14. If you were there in the 50s there’s a good chance she may have been your teacher.
Jerry Kampo-
Interesting. Maybe I had my Dad’s stories mixed up or he had the details mixed up about ‘Deep Throat’. Was the Keyport Strand a drive-in theater?
Would love to see any memorabilia you have from the Amboys Drive-In if you have any.
If anybody has any info on further Saturday Midnight screenings at the Paris, please post them here. I was unable to go tonight to see ‘Rebel Without A Cause’, but I want to start going to these Midnight screenings to support the theater and this kind of program. Hey Paris Theater management, keep up the good work and continue to do the Saturday midnight screenings!! If you need some assistance in programming the screenings, let em know!! I would be more than happy to get involved.
As Winston Churchill once said “When you’re going through hell, keep going.'
I hope everybody in London that is on Cinema Treasures is safe and sound. Condolences to all that were effected.
Irv
New York City
Ron Newman-
South Florida: Ft.Lauderdale, Miami, Lauderhill, etc. has absolutely no hills or valleys. With the exception of the beaches South Florida has some of the most boring terrain humans have ever laid eyes on. Flat, overgrown, boring..yuck. To me it always looked like a big, dirty shag carpet.
Oh wait! There is one huge hill…a landfill, a mountain of trash, that’s visible from the Turnpike somewhere around Boca Raton(?). If you want to see a hill in S. Florida you can find it there, just hold your nose. But hey, the beaches can’t be beat and regardless of the lame terrain, I think at this point I would prefer living there in January instead of the Northeast any-day-of-the-week.
Dave-bronx
I remember the Loews Lauderhill being a single screen as well. There were also two other theaters in that immediate area, but I can’t remember what they were called or exactly were they were. Actually one was right on 441. A single screen, and from what I remember somewhat ambitious in design. Definitely built in the 60s, just like everything else down there. Nothing existed in that area before then. I remember seeing ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ there. It may have been the GCC theater you’re talking about. I also saw ‘Animal House’ and ‘Grease’ in another theater around there. The design of that that theater was more ‘box-ee’ not ambitious or interesting like (what may have been) the GCC theater.
lostmemory-
No, they were not the same theater. The Movies at Plantation was in fact a 7 screen theater and if I recall correctly opened a few years before the 4 screen Broward Mall theater did. Both were located near the Mall. The four screen was directly across from the west side of the mall on a side street (that I forget the name of) that led about a ¼ mile or so south from West Broward Blvd.
The Movies at Plantation was directly on W. Broward Blvd. between Pine Island Road and University Dr.
I’m pretty sure I saw ‘Star Wars’ there in 1977. I had seen it a couple of times in one or two different theaters in the area and I distinctly remember seeing it there. Back then, the Lauderhill Mall and the Lakes Mall, located a few miles north on 441, were the two very accesible malls in the area, totally reachable by bus. I can remember going to both malls by myself or with friends when I was as young as 12 years old. Can’t beleive my parents actually let me run around like that so far from my neighborhood at a young age. Slightly different times I guess. This was before the Broward Mall opened around 1978.
Speaking of the Lakes Mall, does anybody have any info on the theater that was there called the Lakes 6? I saw many, many films there and hung around that mall a bunch. Jeez some of the films I saw at the Lakes 6:
Viva Knievel
Oh God!
Spinal Tap
Police Academy
Telefon (with Charles Bronson & Lee Remick)
and a few Midnight Movies
I’ll never forget one of the best porn titles I saw on a Times Square marquee, probably around 1987-88 when the show ‘21 Jump Street’ was pretty popular. The marquee at the theater, probably on 45th or 46th street & Broadway read, get this… ‘21 Hump Street’!! Ah, memories!
I sailed by The Beekman tonight on the M15 Bus and noticed the trademark ‘Beekman’ logo had been removed from both sides of the sidewalk marquee. For whatever reason the same ‘Beekman’ logo that sits over the center window facing the street is still there. I’m sure that will be gone soon though. Very sad. It looks like a beautiful corpse being barbarically ravaged by vultures.
Warren, don’t look in the dictionary just pick any ‘hot’, ‘trendy’ place in the city and you’ll see an example of the ‘panzie palace’ ie., droves of people that have no identity trying to prove that they in fact have one. You can find this specifically at ANY bar or lounge that has a velvet rope and a long line. Dance clubs I’ll make an exception on, but bars that people wait to go into just to buy over-priced drinks and hear some crappy DJ? I don’t get that. Just go to a regular bar! If you have to wait on line for some nightlife it should involve dancing, a band, or both. And if you do wait on these trendy bar lines just to feel cool and buy $12 cocktails, then you are just lost and hopelessly searching for identity.
I saw the projectionist picketing a week or so, and spoke two one or two that were on the line. I made the decision to not patronize the IFC until a change is made and union projectionists are hired. The “Independent” in IFC doesn’t mean “independent” of the standards and ethics of the theater business. But in this current climate of apathy I’m not surprised they made that move.
Yet another case of a corporation (Cablevision) thinking that they can do whatever they damn please without any reprecussion. Screw that!
“New York is being ripped out of itself. In a weird sort of way I kind of wish Dinkins would get re-elected so the crime rate would sky-rocket and all these transplants from Kansas would stop trying to re-make Manhattan into suburbia with high-rise buildings and get out of here. Did you know that after about midnight on Saturday night you can’t find anyplace to eat on either Third or Lexington Avenues from 86th St. to about 45th? Years ago there were all kinds of places open late…”
I’m with you dave-bronx. I have lived in NYC for 20 years. One of my main objectives for coming here, besides going to school, was to get the hell out of the suburbs that I had grown up in for most of my life. I wanted 24/7 electric weirdness. Cool things to do, interesting experiences and people. I wanted THE city life and for a long time I got it and never looked back. When I would go home to visit I would love the fact that I was so disconnected from what was happening there. New chain stores and franchises would be popping up there that I had never heard of because I lived on planet Manhattan where we were immune from all that crap. It was great! I would go home and drive around and be like ‘Red Lobster? Never saw that before.’
There were no Kmarts, Walmarts, Circuit Citys, Olive Gardens, or any of that crap in NYC. For most of my time here I never even owned a TV. I didn’t need one. I was completely unaware of who any of the ‘Entertainment Tonight’ caliber celebrities were, and I loved it.
It’s hard to beleive that a city as tough as New York would let itself beturned into the panzie palace it is fast becoming. It seems that everything around here is the complete opposite from what it was 10-15 years ago. My neighborhood in the East Village used to be a pretty sleepy place, now it’s like Six Flags Great Adventure around here on the weekends. Where did all of these rich, arrogant, overly primped, overly goodlooking, Starbucks generation people who think they’re ‘slumming it’ come from? I want them outta here…NOW!
Hate to say it but it looks like ‘going to the movies’ will be gone one day, and that is just ridiculous. People will never realize the harm that this genericized, isolated culture that is in the process of taking over, will do in the end. Just recently there was a study that showed that ¾ of Americans would rather stay at home to watch movies. What the hell is that all about? It’s the dumbing down of society, and it keeps going & going & going &…
A society of apathetic robots is what we are becoming. No opinons, no points of view, no questioning the decisons that go on around you. Just a culture of consumption. Target, Walmart, Doritos, McDonalds, Xbox, Paris Hilton, endless reality shows. It’s just bad..really bad. This is not the country I grew up in, it’s turning into something else that I really don’t like at all.
Just another comment re: filming inside the Fillmore East. Concert footage for the 1971 Joe Cocker documentary, ‘Mad Dogs & Englishmen" were also filmed at the Fillmore East.
Shoeshoe14-
A few corrections on your history: The Commodore/Fillmore/Saint in fact was never multiplexed after the Saint closed. After The Saint’s closing the building stood empty for at least seven years or so. I know this for a fact because I was in the building in early 1995 not to long before demolition and the interior was still constructed as The Saint. I can tell you that there were definitley no multiplex theaters in there. If I recall correctly, theater multiplexing was an idea for the building post-Saint that never happened.
Also, “The Last Days of the Fillmore” documentary and LP you mentioned was made at, and only about the Fillmore West in San Francisco during the last concerts NOT the Fillmore East. One of the only times, if not the ONLY time camera crews came into the Fillmore East for a program or documentary of any kind was on September 23, 1970 to shoot a special for public television called ‘Welcome to the Fillmore’. It was videotaped and included performances from Van Morrison, The Byrds, Albert King, Sha Na Na, The Elvin Bishop Group and others. It also included some documentary footage of a regular day around the theater. This show was broadcast the day The Fillmore East closed on Sunday June 27, 1971 (the 34th anniversary just passed a few days ago).
Is there a schedule posted somewhere for the midnight Paris shows?
I heard that The Paris played Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ this past weekend at midnight. Damn! I hate when I miss stuff like that. Anybody have any idea what they are going to show this weekend at midnight?
Was there last night for the final screening. Showed up late and took alot of photos. It was an interesting and slightly strange experience. One acknowledgment to the closing was a nondescript 8 ½ x 11 sheet of white paper printed in a Palatino font hanging on one of the entrance doors. It read: “This is the closing day for the Clearview Beekman Theater. Thank you for all the wonderful years.” There were about 10 or so people there watching the film. When the Beekman’s projector had shown it’s last reel ever on it’s screen and the lights came up all was quiet. It was all very uncerimonious. I was glad I was there. A few of us hung out, took pictures, roamed around and had a good last look. I couldn’t help thinking what it must have been like the day the theater opened in 1952 (anybody know what the first film was?). And so here we are in “the future”, that period in time that we all used to hear about growing up, wondering what it would be like. The landscape and connections to yesterday’s New York City changing drastically before our eyes, and the patrons and ghosts of The Beekman’s heyday floating back there in the past.
br91975 I’m with you.
Fuck NYU and all the rich kids that go there that have no clue, nor care about preserving anything in NYC, or preserving anything for that matter. I know that may sound belligerent and sub-mental, but I’m sick of these kids born in the 80s that grew up on Nickleodeon TV that seem interested in nothing but turning their lives into some lame Indie-Yuppie fashion show. They are a major force in the watering-down of New York City, and it seems that their kind is being catered to at every turn these days. Granted, having a safe, less dangerous place to live is a good thing, but in New York City fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point if view, you take the danger away and clean things up a bit, and it’s not New York City anymore, it’s a shell of it’s former self. Yeah…it’s still the ‘big apple’ and all that, but it is now a suburbanized apple. The kids moving into these dorms think they are getting the real NYC, and probably feel all cool living here in their clean, comfy dorm listening to The Killers or The Strokes, but they are getting the FAKE New York!! Screw them, their reality shows, their money, their arrogance, and their school that could give a rat’s ass about maintianing the character of the town they have the gall to plant their school in.
hardbop & RobertR-
In addition to having an interest in these old theaters, I am also a huge Tikiphile and only learned of the Hawaii Kai’s exsistence within the last year or two. The most aggravating thing about that is that it seems I was living here in NYC during it’s last years in business if in fact it did close in the late 80s early 90s. DAMN! I don’t ever remember seeing it or hearing anything about it. I wish I could turn the clock back on that one. From what I understand the classic Joe Pesci “I’m funny like a clown I amuse you?” scene in ‘Goodfellas’ was filmed there. I’ll have to take a look a that film again to see.
Meanwhile I was able to find an amazing color postcard from the Hawaii Kai on Ebay a year or so ago. If I had a scanner I would post it here. It’s a great postcard with four different views of the interior. I haven’t seen it posted on Ebay since, so I think I got lucky with that one. As far as what’s located where Hawaii Kai used to be…..a brand spankin' new Applebee’s Restaurant. Big surprise eh? With all the cool restaurants in New York, who the hell would want to go to Applebee’s. Gee whiz..that’s a real ‘unique’ New York City experience…
“Hey everybody, let’s make a special trip to New York and have dinner at Applebee’s because ya know..there just ain’t enough of them to go to here in the suburbs.'
Went to the Ziegfeld tonight to see ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. I can’t remember the last time I was there. I know I missed a couple of great revival screenings in the past, but I was never jazzed about any of the first run stuff either. It must have been years since I was there last, and I am so glad that I went tonight. Even though many people on this blog think it pales in comparison to the the old NYC theaters of yore (which I’m sure it does), it’s still an amazing place and pretty much all we have left in terms of grand old places of any kind. As far as ‘Hitchhikers Guide’ is concerned, I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about! It seems like a movie geared to those who have already read the book. It get’s points for creativity and great set design (and Zooey Deschanel is nice to look at too), but the story was muddled as hell. Kind of a shame since it was a really great looking film. The Ziegfeld screened it in digital projection with amazing clarity and sound, and coming from a Luddite like me that saying alot.
Once again all I can say is that this place is a jewel in the rough, and I hope I get to see many, many more flicks there in the future.
And just for old time’s sake here are some I’ve seen there in the past:
Vertgo (revival screening early 90s)
The Doors
Edward Scissorhands
Jurrasic Park
Primary Colors
and probably more I can’t remember. Hope they do more revival screenings soon.
Hardbop-
I noticed that other theater as well. It’s called The Stanley. The Jehovah Witnesses bought it and have restored it. I don’t think they show movies there but I read somewhere that they give tours.
KenRoe-
You are correct sir. In tribute, the Emmigrant Savings Bank still does have some great art which includes collages by an artist that I forgot the name of, and photos from the Fillmore East era by the official/unofficial house photographer Amalie Rothschild. If you are a fan of the theater (which you probably are) and a fan of the Fillmore era music Amalie Rothschild released a book of her photos a few years ago called ‘Live at the Fillmore East’ which not only documents many of the bands that played their but the general environment when it was still a live music venue. Great photos of the interior, the people, and of course Bill Graham at work. If you don’t buy it, it is at least definitely worth a look.