I attended a preview of Paramount’s “In and Out” (Kevin Kline and Joan Cusack) and was asked to fill out a comment sheet. It was fun to do it, but I now realize that was in 1997 – 10 years ago already. I also wonder if it still gets done today.
Re: Warren’s October 1966 ad. I wonder how MGM got away with proclaiming “Winner of 6 Academy Awards” in their “Zhivago” ads. They were counting Art Direction and Set Decoration as two separate awards, and they’re not. But that put them one Oscar up on “The Sound of Music”. I love both movies dearly, but it’s still false advertising.
Ken: It was still good to see that photo again. Please continue to post any other photos you have. There’s room here for all of them, even with the duplication.
Rhett is right about it being a very nice theater. And when you realize it’s the last single-screen left in Bergen County … I don’t want to state the obvious, but that really makes it a cinema treasure.
I’m going to the Rialto tonight to see “Venus”. I checked back through my collection of old Bergen County movie ads to see what played at the Rialto over the years. They showed “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” on the day I was born in 1954. Other great shows include “Lawrence of Arabia”, “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”, “Bye Bye Birdie”, “From Russia With Love”, “You Only Live Twice”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, many more. I’ll keep them in mind tonight when I visit the theater for the first time in more than 30 years (I saw Fellini’s “Amarcord” there in 1975).
Thanks for the good news, Gary. I too am anxiously hoping for the return of the Classics but if “Dreamgirls” is still making money, and people are still choosing to see it at the Ziegfeld instead of anywhere else – nothing wrong with that!
Henry Blanke produced both “The Nun’s Story” and “The Miracle”. The great commercial and critical success of the first must’ve made up for the big flop of the second.
“The Miracle” was supposed to be the first story film in Cinemiracle (a Cinerama-like giant screen process which had been used for the 1958 travelogue “Windjammer”), but it was filmed in the much cheaper Technirama instead.
Astyanax has an excellent idea there. A new 35mm print of “Becket” played the Film Forum last month, but a movie that big really should be seen at the Ziegfeld for maximum effect.
“Dreamgirls” is still playing at the Ziegfeld. It’s listed through the Thursday afternoon 2:30 show, but nothing is listed after that on the Clearview website.
To the Classics Series faithful: Keep hope alive! And to Forrest136: there was extremely large interest from the public to last year’s two series. Check out the posts above going back about one year ago.
Will06: I sure hope so. Last year they started on Super Bowl Weekend so they’re already late, but maybe “Dreamgirls” is still doing good business. The next couple of weeks will tell one way or the other.
The first time I made the trip alone from New Jersey to a Manhattan revival house was to see “The Birds” at the Elgin. To this sheltered teenager it seemed a slightly dangerous place, and had a strange smell too (pot?). But that was part of why it was so memorable. And where else in those days could you see “The Birds” on a screen that big? I went back several more times – I recall seeing “Nights of Cabiria” there.
I photographed these classic Cinerama pictures that were hanging in the lobby of the Clairidge – and got my camera confiscated for it until the movie ended. They thought I was going to bring it into the theater, but I didn’t bother telling them I’d never do that. I wasn’t the least bit interested in how the Clairidge looks now, but in 1961 … that’s a different story.
Vincent mentioned the Quad Cinema. By coincidence I saw “Little Miss Sunshine” (very good) there last night, and I sat in one of the front 5 rows. The image looked nice and big from there, but there’s no way you can ever compare it to a similar seat in the Ziegfeld, where you’d have to turn your head to properly see the far edges of the screen. There’s just no comparison.
Like Ed said a few posts above, when you sit in the first 10 rows the Ziegfeld’s screen appears huge. Anyone who saw “West Side Story” or “Ben-Hur” from there last February can attest to this.
John Gregory Dunne’s book about 20th Century Fox in the mid-1960’s, “The Studio”, features a long and hilarious account of the first preview of the 1967 “Doctor Dolittle” at this theater. The Fox executives came to realize they had a real stinker on their hands, but so much money had been spent on the picture that no one was about to (or allowed to) admit that.
I attended a preview of Paramount’s “In and Out” (Kevin Kline and Joan Cusack) and was asked to fill out a comment sheet. It was fun to do it, but I now realize that was in 1997 – 10 years ago already. I also wonder if it still gets done today.
Vito, what was the name of the important picture? We can see if it stood the test of time.
Re: Warren’s October 1966 ad. I wonder how MGM got away with proclaiming “Winner of 6 Academy Awards” in their “Zhivago” ads. They were counting Art Direction and Set Decoration as two separate awards, and they’re not. But that put them one Oscar up on “The Sound of Music”. I love both movies dearly, but it’s still false advertising.
Ken: It was still good to see that photo again. Please continue to post any other photos you have. There’s room here for all of them, even with the duplication.
Rhett is right about it being a very nice theater. And when you realize it’s the last single-screen left in Bergen County … I don’t want to state the obvious, but that really makes it a cinema treasure.
I’m going to the Rialto tonight to see “Venus”. I checked back through my collection of old Bergen County movie ads to see what played at the Rialto over the years. They showed “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” on the day I was born in 1954. Other great shows include “Lawrence of Arabia”, “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”, “Bye Bye Birdie”, “From Russia With Love”, “You Only Live Twice”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, many more. I’ll keep them in mind tonight when I visit the theater for the first time in more than 30 years (I saw Fellini’s “Amarcord” there in 1975).
Thanks for the good news, Gary. I too am anxiously hoping for the return of the Classics but if “Dreamgirls” is still making money, and people are still choosing to see it at the Ziegfeld instead of anywhere else – nothing wrong with that!
Henry Blanke produced both “The Nun’s Story” and “The Miracle”. The great commercial and critical success of the first must’ve made up for the big flop of the second.
“The Miracle” was supposed to be the first story film in Cinemiracle (a Cinerama-like giant screen process which had been used for the 1958 travelogue “Windjammer”), but it was filmed in the much cheaper Technirama instead.
Astyanax has an excellent idea there. A new 35mm print of “Becket” played the Film Forum last month, but a movie that big really should be seen at the Ziegfeld for maximum effect.
“Dreamgirls” is still playing at the Ziegfeld. It’s listed through the Thursday afternoon 2:30 show, but nothing is listed after that on the Clearview website.
To the Classics Series faithful: Keep hope alive! And to Forrest136: there was extremely large interest from the public to last year’s two series. Check out the posts above going back about one year ago.
Was it Keye Luke? On the tour I took, the guide said the well-known Chinese-American actor painted all the murals in the theater.
Will06: I sure hope so. Last year they started on Super Bowl Weekend so they’re already late, but maybe “Dreamgirls” is still doing good business. The next couple of weeks will tell one way or the other.
MikePSJ: “Jaws” was rated PG, with this addition: “… but may be too INTENSE for younger children.”
The first time I made the trip alone from New Jersey to a Manhattan revival house was to see “The Birds” at the Elgin. To this sheltered teenager it seemed a slightly dangerous place, and had a strange smell too (pot?). But that was part of why it was so memorable. And where else in those days could you see “The Birds” on a screen that big? I went back several more times – I recall seeing “Nights of Cabiria” there.
One benefit of being a nun back in the 60s – you got to see Cinerama:
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I photographed these classic Cinerama pictures that were hanging in the lobby of the Clairidge – and got my camera confiscated for it until the movie ended. They thought I was going to bring it into the theater, but I didn’t bother telling them I’d never do that. I wasn’t the least bit interested in how the Clairidge looks now, but in 1961 … that’s a different story.
View link
View link
View link
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You’re right, JSA. That’s a pilgrimage I would really love to make. I’m surprised it hasn’t played there for more than 11 years.
Oh wait – for the 7th time at the Dome. 8th time in L.A., though.
Wow, Michael – another first-rate job. I really hope the Cinerama Dome plays “2001” again soon, for the 8th time!
Vincent mentioned the Quad Cinema. By coincidence I saw “Little Miss Sunshine” (very good) there last night, and I sat in one of the front 5 rows. The image looked nice and big from there, but there’s no way you can ever compare it to a similar seat in the Ziegfeld, where you’d have to turn your head to properly see the far edges of the screen. There’s just no comparison.
Thanks, Vito. Your memories and your sharing them with us are definite examples of non-architectural Cinema Treasures.
Like Ed said a few posts above, when you sit in the first 10 rows the Ziegfeld’s screen appears huge. Anyone who saw “West Side Story” or “Ben-Hur” from there last February can attest to this.
John Gregory Dunne’s book about 20th Century Fox in the mid-1960’s, “The Studio”, features a long and hilarious account of the first preview of the 1967 “Doctor Dolittle” at this theater. The Fox executives came to realize they had a real stinker on their hands, but so much money had been spent on the picture that no one was about to (or allowed to) admit that.
Vito: On average, how big were the audiences at those after-midnight shows?
I still find it hard to believe that Times Square, once such a vital all-night moviegoing mecca, is now practically devoid of movie theaters.