Palace Theatre

Techman: Perhaps you can verify a couple of stories about projection at the Palace. Bill Nafash said that when they installed 70mm for “Ben-Hur” and “Chips” the throw from the temporary booth to the screen was so short that they had to use very short focal length lenses to get the screen size they needed. To get the picture in focus with that set-up the lenses sat so far back in the lens barrels that the gate couldn’t be opened for threading. Thus the lens collar had to be slipped forward to thread and then pushed back into position after the threading was complete. Bill said that more than once the operators forgot to move the lens back into position and the reel came up spectacularly out of focus.

Did you ever work the 35mm/frontlight booth in the Palace? When I came to New York a stagehand at the Hall who also worked a show at the Palace snuck me into the booth to see the show. The Simplex X-L’s were still there, and as I recall it the bases had been cut down and the angle was so steep (as you mention above) that the operators would have had to sit down on cut-down stools to thread the machines.

That was APRIL 1969 for the “Ben-Hur” reissue.

>>but when vaudeville died out the Palace seemed to switch back and forth between film and legit stage shows…

Not exactly correct.

as always i thank my fellow posters for replying to my questions.
here’s a new one. when the Palace first opened and for many years
after it was the premiere vaudeville house in the country. but when
vaudeville died out the Palace seemed to switch back and forth
between film and legit stage shows. this is where my question
comes in. aside from the roadshow engagements of 55 DAYS AT PEKING
in 1963 and the re-issue of BEN-HUR in June of 1969 and the
premiere of the musical version of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS in Dec. of
1969 how many other films premiered at the Palace with roadshow
engagements? many thanks in advance for the info.

A photo-ad in Boxoffice magazine, April 6, 1959, showing marquee and crowds at the entrance for The Diary of Anne Frank.
http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_040659/4

Visiting the Palace was one of the highlights during my trip to NYC last week. What a gorgeous, amazing place. And the show, West Side Story, was beautifully staged. “Cool” and “Dance at the Gym” musical numbers were just stunning!

JSA

Here is a 1948 photo from the Smithsonian:
http://tinyurl.com/c3gju7

That’s a nice photo.

My first time at the Palace I saw Gwen Verdon in SWEET CHARITY. I also saw GOODTIME CHARLEY, the musical about Joan of Arc with Joel Grey and Ann Reinking. I also saw WOMAN OF THE YEAR, WILL ROGERS FOLLIES and AIDA. I had NO idea that the Palace had once again been used as a movie theatre following the runs of SWEET CHARITY and HENRY SWEET HENRY and before APPLAUSE opened in 1970.
One of my happiest theatre memories was attending the final preview of APPLAUSE with Bacall. That was an exciting evening for me. It was a Sunday night and there were lots of actors in attendance as Sunday night was their night off. I was on a college theatre trip and was very lucky to snag a great orchestra seat earlier that day. It must have been a house seat as the location was ideal.
Great memories at the Palace. Hope to see the new WEST SIDE STORY!

Here is a 1951 photo from Life:
http://tinyurl.com/5mqnqy

Thanks Ken mc for the photo. I never realized that the old Howard Johnsons was once a Childs!

Advanced search feature doesn’t seem to be working; what is/was the Fulton Theater?

Liza’s at the Palace. December 3 thru 14th.