Rivoli Theatre
1620 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1620 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
50 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 1,004 comments
Hello-
I have always believed part of the somewhat off reputation this film has is Carol Channing devotees venting their frustration at her not getting the film role. aside the age thing for me Streisand WAS Dolly Levi, a matchmaker in 1890s NYC.
Interesting that the Sheridan was a Cinerama/Todd AO house.
You are correct, Vinanpar. It was “THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD” followed by other Cinerama films at the Sheridan that must have put “MUSIC” into the Colony.
Khartoum? Khartoum?!! But it didn’t open until the summer of ‘66 and SOM opened at the Colony March 17 '65.
Oh to have known Miami back in the 50s and 60s!
Of course, Channing created the character and played Dolly Levi née Gallagher over 5,000 times on Broadway alone, not to mention on national and international tours, but I guess the 27-year old Streisand (doing what seems to be a Mae West imitation) is the definitive Dolly. Or not.
“The Stewardesses” moved to the Astor while the Rivoli was being prepared for “Fiddler”, so it was closed for a few weeks. The Sheridan on Miami Beach was closed for months before it re-opened with “Deep Throat”, by an independent operator. It did not open “The Sound of Music” because “Khartoum” was still playing there.
Hello-
as with life in general in the movies “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. to which I find Hello Dolly a much more enjoyable movie experience that(I’ll probably be struck down by lighting) Singing in the Rain. I find its sumptuous production part of its allure. Kelly made a wise decision when he decided to shoot 1890s Yonkers on location per se in Garrison, N.Y. also Streisand was Dolly Levi. I don’t see Channing as possibly being as good a Dolly Levi as her.
Sorry looks like it was the Colony. I probably got it confused because it looks like the Sheridan was Miami’s major Todd AO house so I assumed SOM played there. What kept it out?
Oh no! Is that true?!!! Nah, you were just pulling my leg. Wasn’t the Sheridan Miami’s The Sound of Music two year reserved seat engagement?
“Hello, Dolly!” had bad reviews but a pretty good run. Most of the bad rep came from a “too young” Streisand who actually delivered.
Vindapar, I have the same nightmare. Is it from the Sheridan in Miami Beach going from FIDDLER to DEEP THROAT?
They often screw up Broadway shows when translated to the big screen. Barbra Streisand outings in particular. They “open them up”. In Dolly it was the never ending don’t rain on my parade.
I think that Hello, Dolly!’s “somewhat off reputation” is due more to the fact that it is something of an over-produced miss, a healthy serving of sweet cement, saved only by the talent of its charismatic leads, and less to do with its high expense and less-than-blockbuster rentals.
But what do I know, the Academy bestowed several Oscar nominations upon it, including best picture…
Well before Dolly the Rivoli was playing films like The Trip and the De Sade movie with Keir Dullea. I don’t know if they’re considered B but they seem more like 42nd St grind movies to me. Also I seem to remember though maybe I’m wrong before Fiddler this theater showing The Stewardesses in 3D. Maybe it was a nightmare.
Hello-
Hello Dolly is one of those films which in my opinion does not deserve its somewhat off reputation. like when Cleopatra opened June 1963 when HD opened Dec. 1969 in terms of the dollar value of the day it was to expensive a film to possibly break even unless it had a REALLY long run.
So hard to believe (but not disputing) that a truly “B” grade feature was the following feature into NY’s still remaining Premiere theatre. I don’t know why I’m surprised as we saw the same sort of programming in all our beloved 70mm premiere cinemas in Melbourne before they were closed/demolished.
So Hello, Dolly! moved in Manhattan from a 2,000 seat theater to a 450 and a 299 seat theater.
Hello Dolly in a Todd AO print played the 70mm roadshow house The St James in Asbury Park in the summer of ‘70 with continuous performances. The summer before had reserved seat performances of Funny Girl at the St James and Oliver at the Lyric.
The roadshow presentation of big budget films was ending.
I went to a Sat mat of HD in July. Price for balc was cheaper than loge and orchestra but it was very empty so I moved from my balc seat. to center first row mezz.
If I remember bigjoe59, the day it started was when they advertised now continuous performances. The three NJ theaters I referenced above were never roadshow engagements.
Hello-
when films went from roadshow to continuous performances in the same theater how did they advertise the change? if they advertised the change several weeks before the roadshow run ended wouldn’t people wait to see it less expensively as a continuous performance screening?
Hello Dolly definitely did. It also did at the Randolph in Philly.If I remember correctly, fox decided to make it continuous showings starting in June of 1970. When it opened at the Virginia in Atlantic City on June 24, 1970 it was continuous performances as was the Ocean in Wildwood, NJ and the Village Theater in Ocean City NJ.
Didn’t WSS, Hello Dolly, Fall of the Roman Empire and El Cid go from reserved seats to continuous perfs at their NY hard ticket theaters? Maybe there were others.
There was another book on roadshow film presentations which was pretty horrible. And to add insult to injury the guy never went to a roadshow presentation in his life and he was old enough. Have no idea why he considers himself such an expert. Maybe he spent a year looking at Variety on microfilm in his off hours. And he was looking for tenure at some University so he had to publish something, anything.
Hello-
I thank my fellow moviegoers for info on the roadshow engagement policy. now does anyone know of a first rate book on the subject? Kim Holston’s “Movie Roadshows” not only a few mistakes but omits films altogether as well.
Hello-
it was customary when a roadshow engagement finished the film would move to another 1st run theater in Manhattan on “continuous performances at popular prices”. but does anyone remember a roadshow engagement that went from reserved seat to continuous performances at popular prices in the same theater?
Hello-
another question about roadshow films on Blu-ray. when Cleopatra premiered at this theater June 1963 it was 4 hours. it was cut down to 3hrs. 40 mins. and then 3hrs. 15mins. for its run at neighborhood theaters around NYC. the Blu-ray is the New York cut as its known so Fox at least kept the trims. but why are some companies better at keeping the trims than others?
Before I saw the 70mm print, in 2013, I saw at a Fathom events, the digital version. The digital version was also stunningly beautiful! It was awesome. The Blu ray is probably similiar.