RKO Warner Twin Theatre
1579 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1579 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
41 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 378 comments
Thanks, William. I thought so. Since hdtv267’s comment states he saw the movie December 17th, 1979 (3 days after opening night), I assume he must have seen it at the Rivoli and mistaken that theater with the Cinerama. Unless it was on another date.
Ed, “1941” did open at the Rivoli on Dec. 14th. 1979. That screening could have been an advance preview. In LA “1941” opened at Pacific’s Cinerama Dome, but it had an advanced Record Company preview at Pacific’s Picwood Theatre before the release date.
Hey hdtv267… Back on 12/17/2010, you commented that on that date in 1979, you attended a viewing of Speilberg’s “1941” at the RKO Cinerama. Are you sure you saw it here and not a couple of blocks up Broadway at the Rivoli? I remember the film opened on 12/14/1979 (a week after “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and same day as Steve Martin’s “The Jerk”) and that I initally saw it at the local UA theater in Lynbrook, Long Island. A big messy film that surely took its lumps from critics, but I was a fan from day one. Even so, as much as I enjoyed it at the Lynbrook, it was seeing that shelled Ferris Wheel roll down the pier and splash into the ocean on the big screen at the Rivoli – in 70mm – that left a truly lasting impression. I could swear I made that trip into the City to see the movie again within a couple of weeks of the movie’s opening. I’m almost certain it opened at the Rivoli – or could it have merely transfered? I doubt it played both theaters concurrently.
Hers is another Strand Theatre program from January, 1915. The feature this week was His Sweetheart starring George Beban. The program also featured a German WWI newsreel and a comedy short by Victor Moore. The entire program can be seen at theSilent Film Still Archive.
Here is the front page of a November 1915 program from the Strand Theatre. This week the theater was showing Bella Donna with Pauline Frederick, plus a newsreel and a short comedy featuring Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew. The entire program (minus a few pages that are only ads) can be seen at the Silent Film Still Archive.
Just some fun trivia. I was watching a DVD of a fun little telefilm from 1981 called “Senior Trip”. Seems to have been filmed sometime in May/June of ‘81 in Times Square. What a little time capsule this film is. There a few shots of the Strand when it was the Cinerama I & II. In one shot, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is shown on the 'lower’ marquee. In the next scene, actress Faye Grant is walking under the marquee and “Alligator” and “Search & Destroy” are playing.
I recently won a few New York Posts from May of ‘81 on Ebay and it’s fun seeing those very films in the listings.
i thank Tinseltoes for the advise on how to find all the
films that played the Strand/Warner on a roadshow engagement.
the advise was to search the NYT using ProQuest. what do i do?
type in “roadshow films at the Strand”? thanks in advance for
the additional info.
for me the hayday so to speak of the reserved seat or to use the
trade term roadshow film was from the 1955 release of “Oklahoma"
to the Dec. 1972 release of "Man of La Mancha”. is it possible to
get a list of the films that played the Warner on a roadshow
engagement during this period? many thanks in advance.
Hello Folks, I would like to share with you the following poster at: View link from a stage act that appeared at the Strand Theatre on Broadway. The Six Rockets, are said to be represented by ‘Johnson and Lowenstein.’ I would be curious to know more about this company whose offices were known to be 1560 Broadway, with a view to better understanding the places my grandmother (shown right in the group shot) visited as the Six Rockets. Are there any specialist sources I might use? Also, is it possible to at all to obtain the performance schedules of this venue in order to date the Rockets' performance? Last, by virtue of their performance at the Strand, exactly how ‘big’ might they have been? Any reference to an encyclopaedic-like summary on Vaudeville acts or diary-like accounts would be wholly appreciated!
Many thanks in advance, Inesita
It was in June of 1979, when this theatre was known as RKO Cinerama I & II Theatre, that “ROCKY II” opened here.
View link
Curly was still doing the shorts in 1942 till he had a stroke in 1947.
Tinseltoes, And you got all that entertainment for how much?
thanks.
On the tech side, you can play anything on the screen. But the original agreement for the D-150 package was the theatre bought the screen and masking and a set of lens. They got a pair of 35mm flat, 35mm scope and a pair for conventional 70MM. Which was for standard presentations. With the D-150 package the theatre got a pair of Super-Curvulon lens for D-150 presentaions. Under the original agreements only films licensed by the studio could be presented & advertised in the D-150 or Cinerama. So on a medium size theatre install with had a full screen of 70 feet. Your 35mm flat picture would be 40 feet wide, scope would be 47 feet or 17% larger than flat. For conventional 70MM your screen would be around 52 feet and for D-150 presentations it would be 70 feet wide. For large theatre installs the D-150 screen was 75-85 feet. Since only two films were shot in D-150 process which was alittle jazzed-up version of Todd-AO and studios stopping shooting films in 65MM, the D-150 process died. The D-150 company offered to sell the theatres the Super-Curvulon lens but many theatres returned them to the company and some kept them. So you could play anything on the screen but only true D-150, Ultra-Panavision or Todd-AO play well on the full curved screen.
What i said what i knew was true…and yes i do know the answer to my question…what i was getting at that you missed was…i asked you know the real tech side ie: expert on numbers..when you were
talking about, Aug 17 8:07 Cinerama 2.65, 2.76 etc.
Cinerama vs Todd A-0 D-150..After 35 years just wanted confirm what i knew….i thought you could do that and not take a shot at me…
I am not sure if I understand Wally 75’s question, but if he was a manager at the Rivoli, he should know the answer to his question. Am I wrong?
William
I was mgr. of the Rivoli NY. home of Mike Todd’s TODD-AO….what i remember, whatever the movie 35mm or 70mm it was on the D-150 screen.
It sounds like you know more about tech side of all this…
My question is wasn’t this more about the lens…Todd A-O whatever
film you project through the lens shows up equal on a D-150 screen?
thanks
Cinerama Corp. put a licensing agreement on the use of the size of the screen. You could play any film on the screen, but to advertise and use the name Cinerama & use the full screen you had to license it. D-150 houses also had a licensing agreement. The screens all had screen masking stops in the booth for the different aspect ratios for the screen. For 35mm:(1.37, 1.85, 2.40) For 70MM:(2.21-Todd-AO/Super Panavision etc.), Cinerama: (2.65, 2.76 for Ultra-Panavision). Four of those button stops could be used for regular engagements. The Cinerama masking stop opened the screen to the fullest opening. Cinerama and D-150 offered this licensing, but a company in San Franscisco offered a screen system (Vistarama) like the D-150 without the licensing agreement. Also depending on the install at the theatre the large curved screens were placed in front of the stage apron or the curve was cut in to the stage apron (Warner Cinerama Theatre, Hollywood) or the stage removed (Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood/ D-150), (Chinese Theatre, Hollywood).
It used the CINERAMA screen for all presentations, masked as it were to accomodate the size of the presentation.
Registering.
Just saw the excellent photos of Josephine Baker from 1951.I find it curious that La Baker would be willing to share billing with a Ku Klux Klan movie.
TIME MACHINE was shown widescreen in the standard 1.85 ratio.
In 1968 when then conversion was done to become the tri-plex. RKO-Stanley Warner theatres (a division of Glen Alden Corp.) owned the theatre property, but under the consent decree terms it will operate only the Orleans. William R. Forman’s Pacific East Theatres formally took over operation of the Cinerama and Penthouse theatres.
When RKO ran it was Cinerama, Penthouse and Orleans around the corner.
When did it become and by who did it become Cinerama 1 & 2…
Tinseltoes: You certainly come up with some AMAZING material. Thank you!