Robby the Robot made a personal appearance here in March 1956 to promote “Forbidden Planet”, but to refer to him as a “monster” as it does in this L.A. Times ad is not only inaccurate, but more than a little insulting :)
There were reel change marks in the upper right corner of the image at the end of every reel. I didn’t think digital prints used those. It looked and sounded great anyway, though.
The last exhibited feature film I saw with an intermission was “Gods and Generals” in 2003. With a running time of 231 minutes (12 minutes shorter than “Cleopatra”), I was very glad it had one! It was a good movie, but a tremendous flop.
Ed: I think it was a better print. The one at the Ziegfeld had a lot more scratches if I remember right. The sound was incredibly good on both of them.
The acoustics and deep echo at the Loew’s did an amazing thing tonight. They turned “2001” into an even more otherworldly experience than it already was.
Keir Dullea appeared on stage before the movie and told some great Kubrick stories. He even did a funny impression of Otto Preminger.
That makes two fantastic movie nights in a row at the Loew’s Jersey.
Just got back from “Casino Royale” at the Ziegfeld. The Daniel Craig naysayers (of which I was one, I have to admit) should all be eating their words as soon as they see the picture. He’s an excellent Bond, and I’m sure he’ll be Bond for the forseeable future. The movie itself was quite enjoyable, with a more engrossing story than a Bond movie has had for quite a while.
The marquee said it was a digital presentation, but it looked like film to me.
Top ticket price at the Ziegfeld is $11 now, by the way. Not counting “Dreamgirls”, of course.
Here’s the program from this weekend’s sci-fi show. It was a pleasure to hear Pat Neal say her world-saving line of dialogue live. The print of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” was flawless – Mitchell Dvoskin told me it came straight from the 20th Century Fox vault, and it looked it. Sounded great too – a cavernous space like the Loew’s really does justice to the supremely eerie, low-register electronic score Bernard Herrmann provided for this film. Looking forward to “2001” tonight, with Keir Dullea onstage. That movie should give the Loew’s echo another good workout.
Last night Celeste Holm made a personal appearance at the Lafayette for a screening of her 1956 film “High Society”. What a treat to see her in person – she was so charming. Jeff S took these pictures of her:
Actually I’m looking forward to the whole thing. I’ll pretend it’s 40 years ago. I hope the movie lives up to those expectations.
The only time I had reserved seats for a movie back in the roadshow days was for “2001” in 1968 at the Capitol. They were fine seats (front row of the upper mezzanine, or what they called the “divans”), but for that movie and on that screen, front rows of the orchestra would’ve been even better. My dad and I almost moved down there at intermission but chickened out at the last minute (didn’t want to break any reserved-seat rules).
Veyoung: The Ziegfeld has a seating chart too, but it’s in the upper lobby (concessions and restrooms area) right before you enter the actual theater. Maybe they will move it to the street-level boxoffice area for the Dreamgirls engagement.
To get you in the mood for Saturday’s screening of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”, here are some pictures I took in October 2005 of the house in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles where the exteriors of the movie were filmed in 1962. It looks a lot better now that the bars have been taken off the windows.
Just got back from a superb showing of “Psycho” at the Lafayette. The 46-year-old print was in amazingly good condition, and Bernard Herrmann’s shrieking violins scared everyone in the place, mainly because they were played at the most effective volume. The movie ended with one of the most enthusiastic and sincere rounds of applause I’ve ever heard at a classic film show.
The Ziegfeld has done it again. Through the combined force of its sound system and big screen, it had me cringing in terror at the phone booth scene in “The Birds”, a movie I’ve already seen around 100 times. That’s it for the Classics for me – already looking forward to the next installment.
“Flags of Our Fathers” opens there on Friday, but in the full-page ad in the Sunday Times the Ziegfeld is not even listed. Must be a printing error.
Correction: the “Lion in Winter” music was from the original soundtrack, not played on the organ. Either way, it was another very cool example of showmanship.
Yesterday’s “Becket” show ended in a very clever way, I thought … organist Jeff Barker started playing the theme from “The Lion in Winter”, the next movie made about King Henry II, played once again by Peter O'Toole. Of all the movies I’d ever seen from childhood TV viewings that I had yet to see in its original widescreen form, “Becket” was by far the one I most wanted to see. Thanks to the Lafayette and Pete, Nelson, etc., I can now cross that one off my list. Also thanks to the Lafayette, the Film Forum, the Ziegfeld, the Loew’s Jersey, widescreen DVD and cable airings, etc., I find I can’t come up with another film to replace it with. Yesterday marked a true turning point in my moviegoing life!
If I go to this next one, it’ll be to meet the one and only Patty McCormack, and to get her autograph on my “Bad Seed” DVD.
Vincent: The Chiller convention is held twice a year, in April and October. It’s usually in East Rutherford but this time they’re moving to Secaucus NJ. I’ve been to around 4 of them. One of the biggest highlights for me was meeting Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood from “2001”. There are several conventions around the area all year round: Star Trek, comics, etc. Just a few months ago there was a first annual Twilight Zone convention in Hasbrouck Heights NJ, but I didn’t find out about it in time to go. Maybe next year …
Longislandmovies: I’d say there were around 300 people at “West Side Story” on Tuesday night and about twice that many for “Grease” last Friday night. The “Grease” turnout was the biggest I’d seen at the Ziegfeld since “Raiders of the Lost Ark” back in March of this year.
Robby the Robot made a personal appearance here in March 1956 to promote “Forbidden Planet”, but to refer to him as a “monster” as it does in this L.A. Times ad is not only inaccurate, but more than a little insulting :)
View link
Tonight is the red carpet invitational premiere of “Dreamgirls”, which means we might see some pictures of the Ziegfeld in tomorrow’s New York papers.
Jeff: On both my home computer and the one here at work, it’s only “End”. I just did it.
No need to scroll down – just press the “End” button and it should take you right to the bottom of the comments section.
There were reel change marks in the upper right corner of the image at the end of every reel. I didn’t think digital prints used those. It looked and sounded great anyway, though.
The last exhibited feature film I saw with an intermission was “Gods and Generals” in 2003. With a running time of 231 minutes (12 minutes shorter than “Cleopatra”), I was very glad it had one! It was a good movie, but a tremendous flop.
Ed: I think it was a better print. The one at the Ziegfeld had a lot more scratches if I remember right. The sound was incredibly good on both of them.
The acoustics and deep echo at the Loew’s did an amazing thing tonight. They turned “2001” into an even more otherworldly experience than it already was.
Keir Dullea appeared on stage before the movie and told some great Kubrick stories. He even did a funny impression of Otto Preminger.
That makes two fantastic movie nights in a row at the Loew’s Jersey.
Just got back from “Casino Royale” at the Ziegfeld. The Daniel Craig naysayers (of which I was one, I have to admit) should all be eating their words as soon as they see the picture. He’s an excellent Bond, and I’m sure he’ll be Bond for the forseeable future. The movie itself was quite enjoyable, with a more engrossing story than a Bond movie has had for quite a while.
The marquee said it was a digital presentation, but it looked like film to me.
Top ticket price at the Ziegfeld is $11 now, by the way. Not counting “Dreamgirls”, of course.
Here’s the program from this weekend’s sci-fi show. It was a pleasure to hear Pat Neal say her world-saving line of dialogue live. The print of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” was flawless – Mitchell Dvoskin told me it came straight from the 20th Century Fox vault, and it looked it. Sounded great too – a cavernous space like the Loew’s really does justice to the supremely eerie, low-register electronic score Bernard Herrmann provided for this film. Looking forward to “2001” tonight, with Keir Dullea onstage. That movie should give the Loew’s echo another good workout.
View link
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Kristi: Thanks for such a lovely reminiscence. Your post is a fine example of what Cinema Treasures is all about.
Last night Celeste Holm made a personal appearance at the Lafayette for a screening of her 1956 film “High Society”. What a treat to see her in person – she was so charming. Jeff S took these pictures of her:
View link
View link
One more night to remember at the Lafayette.
Actually I’m looking forward to the whole thing. I’ll pretend it’s 40 years ago. I hope the movie lives up to those expectations.
The only time I had reserved seats for a movie back in the roadshow days was for “2001” in 1968 at the Capitol. They were fine seats (front row of the upper mezzanine, or what they called the “divans”), but for that movie and on that screen, front rows of the orchestra would’ve been even better. My dad and I almost moved down there at intermission but chickened out at the last minute (didn’t want to break any reserved-seat rules).
Veyoung: The Ziegfeld has a seating chart too, but it’s in the upper lobby (concessions and restrooms area) right before you enter the actual theater. Maybe they will move it to the street-level boxoffice area for the Dreamgirls engagement.
It is being projected digitally at the Cinerama Dome.
I hope the Ziegfeld does get the “Dreamgirls” roadshow. The Arclight Cinerama Dome has it for L.A.
That’s the Capitol all right. Check out the picture at the top of this page – the windows above the marquee are still the same in 1968.
To get you in the mood for Saturday’s screening of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”, here are some pictures I took in October 2005 of the house in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles where the exteriors of the movie were filmed in 1962. It looks a lot better now that the bars have been taken off the windows.
View link
View link
View link
Just got back from a superb showing of “Psycho” at the Lafayette. The 46-year-old print was in amazingly good condition, and Bernard Herrmann’s shrieking violins scared everyone in the place, mainly because they were played at the most effective volume. The movie ended with one of the most enthusiastic and sincere rounds of applause I’ve ever heard at a classic film show.
The Ziegfeld has done it again. Through the combined force of its sound system and big screen, it had me cringing in terror at the phone booth scene in “The Birds”, a movie I’ve already seen around 100 times. That’s it for the Classics for me – already looking forward to the next installment.
“Flags of Our Fathers” opens there on Friday, but in the full-page ad in the Sunday Times the Ziegfeld is not even listed. Must be a printing error.
Correction: the “Lion in Winter” music was from the original soundtrack, not played on the organ. Either way, it was another very cool example of showmanship.
Yesterday’s “Becket” show ended in a very clever way, I thought … organist Jeff Barker started playing the theme from “The Lion in Winter”, the next movie made about King Henry II, played once again by Peter O'Toole. Of all the movies I’d ever seen from childhood TV viewings that I had yet to see in its original widescreen form, “Becket” was by far the one I most wanted to see. Thanks to the Lafayette and Pete, Nelson, etc., I can now cross that one off my list. Also thanks to the Lafayette, the Film Forum, the Ziegfeld, the Loew’s Jersey, widescreen DVD and cable airings, etc., I find I can’t come up with another film to replace it with. Yesterday marked a true turning point in my moviegoing life!
Relating to the “West Side Story” discussion above, here are the autographs I got from Russ Tamblyn and George Chakiris:
View link
If I go to this next one, it’ll be to meet the one and only Patty McCormack, and to get her autograph on my “Bad Seed” DVD.
Vincent: The Chiller convention is held twice a year, in April and October. It’s usually in East Rutherford but this time they’re moving to Secaucus NJ. I’ve been to around 4 of them. One of the biggest highlights for me was meeting Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood from “2001”. There are several conventions around the area all year round: Star Trek, comics, etc. Just a few months ago there was a first annual Twilight Zone convention in Hasbrouck Heights NJ, but I didn’t find out about it in time to go. Maybe next year …
Longislandmovies: I’d say there were around 300 people at “West Side Story” on Tuesday night and about twice that many for “Grease” last Friday night. The “Grease” turnout was the biggest I’d seen at the Ziegfeld since “Raiders of the Lost Ark” back in March of this year.