Ziegfeld Theatre

Could it have anything to do with backlash due to what has been characterized by some as negative racial stereotyping in the film’s depictions of African-Americans.

Woody Allen used to have all his pictures open at the tiny Baronet on Third Avenue because he liked to see the lines around the block. I think the last time I stood in line in NY was at the Beekman, and Jerry Seinfeld was a couple people ahead of me. Ah, the Beekman…

It seems from Howard’s pictures that they have removed or disabled the front curtain warmer lights at the Ziegfeld. Probably so they could run the cheesy slides. Sad.

Does it bother anyone else that the 2/3 of the space under the Ziegfeld’s marquee is a driveway for a parking garage? Such a theatrical place, then a garage! I know how vital parking is, especially in NY, but really, having it dominate the entrance kinda spoils the look. Of all the places to put a garage entrance, under the Marquee?? Still miss the place, though.

Lines outside a theater do create a kind of excitement, too, sort of an air of exclusiveness.

Same could be said for the succasunna theater’s weekly showings of classic movies, no advance ticketing, just pay and enter the theater. I think this will mean long lines at the Ziegfeld. Hope this is not a problem with the next movie, which is Blade Runner.

Irv: “Porgy and Bess” is on the schedule at the Ziegfeld on movietickets.com. One show at 8 PM on 9/26 and three shows on 9/27. I expect these shows might sell out if the word gets out.

Simon obviously hasn’t been to The Ziegfeld and if he has then he probably doesn’t like any theater built after the 1940’s. The Ziegfeld is “arguably” the last movie palace built in New York and while it is very much a modern design (compared to the old grand dames) it is still very much a dramatic and enjoyable theater in the tradition of the old palaces. It still feels like a special event to see a film here; at least for me. Also interesteing that the Ziegfeld can be called a “modern palace” when it is already about 40 years old. I can see The Ziegfeld eventually being landmarked as a prime example of modernist theater architecture and the lone remaining single screen movie palace in the city still operating as such. I hope that happens some day.

I just went to the Clearview Special Engagement website and saw that Sat. NIght Fever is being held over through this weekend, but Porgy and Bess is no longer on the calendar. They just have Blade Runner down as the next feature. Anybody know what’s going on here?

65mm scanned at 8K? I’m drooling. Too bad there aren’t 8K Digital projectors, heck 4K seems like a dream. If they went to all that trouble and had the original 65mm visual effect negatives, why not strike a 65mm master and make a few good prints and let it be re-released for a limited special road show-type engagement? LA, NY, DC/Baltimore, Seattle and Houston.

I’ve followed and read about Doug Trumbull’s preference for working with 65mm given its greater visual/color clarity and it does make a difference..just look at his body of visual fx work, to me, it stands superior to anything ILM has done pre-CGI, heck probably post-CGI, too.

As for the Clearview ad, it just states “special print” and I take print to mean film and not digital. Even if it turns out to be 35mm film, it will have those high value elements (65mm this, 8K scanned that, digital 5.1 track made from the original 6-track mag masters, etc) that will most likely exceed anything we have seen before, in a new cut never experienced before. Sounds like its worth the trip to NYC for me. :)

I really liked the first one (with the narration and hopeful blue sky ending, and saw it so many times in the movies, especially at the old St. Marks’s Cinema (/theaters/11089/) that I’ve worried about seeing a new version, even in pristine conditions.

Can’t wait for this one.
I may have to take the day off.
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BLADE RUNNER
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT AT THE ZIEGFELD
BLADE RUNNER
Deckard is a Blade Runner, a police man of the future who hunts down and terminates replicants, artificially created humans. He wants to get out of the force, but is drawn back in when 4 “skin jobs”, a slang term for replicants, hijack a ship back to Earth. The city that Deckard must search for his prey is a huge, sprawling, bleak vision of the future. This film questions what it is to be human, and why life is so precious.
Friday October 5th – Thursday October 18th (New Print)

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<<All of this was occurring as the fifth version â€" Scott’s final cut â€" was painstakingly assembled from original elements, including the original 65mm negative. De Lauzirika has been working on it over a seven-year period. “And this time, Ridley approved every single thing that went into it â€" every single cut, every single effect,” he says.“We’re right back to square one,” Galvao says of The Final Cut elements. “We scanned the cut negative, plus the negatives we dug out of vaults in England, here at Warner Bros., and [co-executive producer] Jerry Perenchio’s vault as well. We went through and viewed every frame of every roll that we could find.” “Honestly, I got to go through 977 boxes and cans of mag, IP, INs, 65mm visual effects comps, 35mm original dailies … everything ever printed,” de Lauzirika says. “I saw amazing, amazing material â€" much of which we’ve been able to pull and put on the DVD in some form, even if it didn’t make it into The Final Cut.“I think The Final Cut is the best version of them all. The picture and sound on it are just astounding. We really put a lot of work into the restoration, and we transferred the actual original neg at 4K, and it just looks stunning. Even more stunning are the visual effects, which were originally 65mm elements, then scanned at 8K. It looks like 3D. It’s so sharp, with all these details that I’d never seen before.”
According to Galvao, the assembly and restoration for The Final Cut included some reworking of the original effects â€" tightening some mattes, doing some wire removal, etc.>>

Now that the debate is over, all I can say is, I wish there was still a theater in New York that had three operational Cinerama booths, whether they were visible or not. Roadshow, you’re lucky to be living in a city that does still have such a theater. Even though they haven’t shown Cinerama for two years, they’re bound to do it again someday.

Back to the Ziegfeld, which is still a source of pride for New York even without the three booths: Movieguy, at one point I thought people in the audience were talking behind me during “Saturday Night Fever”. I soon realized that it was part of the surround soundtrack. Very impressive!

“Like the cardboard red-green 3D glasses”

Roadshow: You’re discussing 1950’s technology, yet refer to the anaglyph 3-D presentation system, which was widely used in the 1930’s and partially in the 1970’s.

Surely you know that of the 50 features done in 3-D in 1953/1954, all of them were shown in dual-strip Polaroid.

While a few were converted to the inferior red/green process for 70’s re-issues, all were originally seen in Polaroid.

Well I think you’re exaggerating quite a bit. I was at the Capitol in person, not looking at a picture, and observant enough to notice details like the fishnet pattern on the screen, the unique way they used the wide space behind the orchestra booth, the top of the ornate old proscenuim peeking over the top of the Cinerama drapes, and a steep incline of divans hidden behind a wall of heavy drapes at the back of the balcony that want all the way up to the original booth… I do remember seeing the A and C booths, but they didn’t make as strong an impression on me as all the other details, so I’ll still have to say that I didn’t find the booths intrusive, at all, and they were certainly covered to match the rest of the theatre.

Early Cinerama requirements were that the seats, walls, drapes, carpet all had to be the signature “Cinerama Red” so the booths would cetainly not be nearly as obvious as you suggest. Tech setup specs for Cinerama were very flexible in the placement of the booths and even the shape and curve of the screen.

There are pictures showing that Cinemiracle used three projectors in the same booth, shooting off mirrors, one of the distinguishing differences from Cinerama, in that they did NOT require 3 booths.

Much if what I’ve said is documented in pictures and text at the American Widescreen Museum – www.widescreenmuseum.com

Since all this has nothing to do with the Ziegfeld, I’m going to end the discussion at this point. This is all stuff that I should be covering and debating over on CinemaSightlines.

So back to topic, Being in LA, which seems to have a few more surviving single screen showcase theatres, I still miss the Ziegfeld, and especially envy the retro programming. I wish them al the success in the world and hope someone out here will get the idea, but I doubt it because the ArcLight is way too arrogant to make the effort that Clearview’s Ziegfeld staff seems to be.

Good Night, and Good Luck.