Loew’s Prospect and Valencia are most prominent, but at least one poster for RKO Keith’s on the side wall. Two outdated posters for the Taft on the second floor front give a gala opening date of Thursday, December 31st, 1931.
The B&W feature was direct from a week’s run in midtown Manhattan at the Roxy Theatre, with different stage offering. Both showplaces were verging on bankruptcy proceedings due to the Depression and William Fox’s financial woes.
Curiously, MGM reissued “GWTW” that year in a wide-screen version with stereo sound, but the ad makes no mention of those enhancements. Did the Strand run a standard 35mm print instead?
This was during the Easter season of that year. The box office bell-ringer had been the Christmas feature at Radio City Music Hall in 1945, and was held back from neighborhood release until the next major religious holiday.
This came at a time when struggling management was testing “alternate booking” for non-peak periods of the year. The ice revue was a package deal, and didn’t include the Rockettes or other resident talent.
Listed with “The Strange Woman” as top feature, the Kings was also presenting B&W newsreel coverage of an oil refinery explosion in a Texas port city on April 16th that killed more than 580 people and injured thousands more.
The Valencia had an entire circus on stage, including elephants…This was a localized ad, placed in weekly newspapers serving Jamaica, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven. At the time, Loew’s also had other theatres in the borough in Astoria (2), Flushing, Corona, and Woodside.
The original Globe was returned to “legit” status as the Lunt-Fontanne, which is still a playhouse and currently in preview performances of “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.”
Due to its proximity to the Queens Borough Bridge and a bus/trolley terminal on Second Avenue, the 58th Street Theatre drew considerable patronage from neighborhoods in western Queens. And it was too far from Flushing to be a threat to its RKO sibling there. The two Thomas Lamb atmospherics were built simultaneously and opened a week apart in late December, 1928.
Movies were obviously not the main attraction during this phase of the Rialto’s history.
The supporting feature was part of Universal’s “Sherlock Holmes” series, which brought the sleuth into contemporary times.
The New York World’s Fair of 1939-40 had recently opened adjacent to Flushing, Queens, but the Fisk showed no signs of joining in the celebration.
Back page of programme for the week of May 28th, 1959, when “Ask Any Girl” was the screen attraction, with “Camera Holiday” filling the stage.
The Flushing was re-launched as the Taft on New Year’s Eve, 1931, according to posters displayed in this vintage photo of February, 1932
Loew’s Prospect and Valencia are most prominent, but at least one poster for RKO Keith’s on the side wall. Two outdated posters for the Taft on the second floor front give a gala opening date of Thursday, December 31st, 1931.
Advertised with a “Honey” of a movie here
“Lassie Come Home” had just opened there to the highest attendance since the record-breaking “Random Harvest.”
The B&W feature was direct from a week’s run in midtown Manhattan at the Roxy Theatre, with different stage offering. Both showplaces were verging on bankruptcy proceedings due to the Depression and William Fox’s financial woes.
But it wasn’t the 50th anniversary of release when uploaded in 2016.
According to business reports in Variety at the time, the Music Hall had 5,945 seats, the Roxy 5,886, and the Capitol 4,820.
New York premiere engagement opened on April 24th,1968 at the Astor and 86th St. East.
All with Easter holiday presentations, and opening as early as 7:30 in the morning.
Curiously, MGM reissued “GWTW” that year in a wide-screen version with stereo sound, but the ad makes no mention of those enhancements. Did the Strand run a standard 35mm print instead?
This was during the Easter season of that year. The box office bell-ringer had been the Christmas feature at Radio City Music Hall in 1945, and was held back from neighborhood release until the next major religious holiday.
This came at a time when struggling management was testing “alternate booking” for non-peak periods of the year. The ice revue was a package deal, and didn’t include the Rockettes or other resident talent.
Ad published on September 8th, 1929, the day after the grand opening.
Marquee promised that new residential and retail premises would be ready by Spring, 1975.
Previous occupant can be viewed here
Listed with “The Strange Woman” as top feature, the Kings was also presenting B&W newsreel coverage of an oil refinery explosion in a Texas port city on April 16th that killed more than 580 people and injured thousands more.
Opening program listed in this dual ad of several days later. Click here
The Valencia had an entire circus on stage, including elephants…This was a localized ad, placed in weekly newspapers serving Jamaica, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven. At the time, Loew’s also had other theatres in the borough in Astoria (2), Flushing, Corona, and Woodside.
The original Globe was returned to “legit” status as the Lunt-Fontanne, which is still a playhouse and currently in preview performances of “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.”
Numerous views of midtown theatres, starting with the Embassy Newsreel, can be seen in this B&W film footage from December, 1929
Due to its proximity to the Queens Borough Bridge and a bus/trolley terminal on Second Avenue, the 58th Street Theatre drew considerable patronage from neighborhoods in western Queens. And it was too far from Flushing to be a threat to its RKO sibling there. The two Thomas Lamb atmospherics were built simultaneously and opened a week apart in late December, 1928.