Dodger That would have been about 1958 by which time it was called the Bala. It was indeed a great old house. If I remember correctly at one point in the mid 1950’s or early 1960’s the theater had a a free bus that brought the kids from Wynfield Heights to the theater on Saturday morning and deposited them back home again after the show. The last movie I saw there was a ridiculous Arnold Schartzinager monstrosity about him getting pregnant- I watched it alone in the auditorium as a favor to Constantine to check for any defects in the new print (those were the days!) before it was triplexed. The BX80’s were without a doubt the best theater projectors ever built, better than any of the Simplex models.Powers 6
To Dodger- I saw my first 35mm projectors in this house, they were Brenkert BX80’s with Peerless lamps. My wife rescued what I believe was one of the two Brenkert heads I saw there when I was ten and I have it put together but with an Ashcraft lamp. Do you remember which Peerless lamp model it was? It would have had to have been one of the two models manufactured that had glass light up name plates on their tops. I remember that booth fairly well- the rewinds were originally in a separate room to the left, I think, and I remember an operator named Mike. Constantine was a great guy despite the fact that he ran a video store across the street!
The thing I remember about the Rivoli was that the marquee displayed odd, home made looking wooden letters that slid into wooden tracks. By the 1960’s from the street the theater looked lost and old fashoned among the other 52nd street houses. Even the closed ones!
Dodger That would have been about 1958 by which time it was called the Bala. It was indeed a great old house. If I remember correctly at one point in the mid 1950’s or early 1960’s the theater had a a free bus that brought the kids from Wynfield Heights to the theater on Saturday morning and deposited them back home again after the show. The last movie I saw there was a ridiculous Arnold Schartzinager monstrosity about him getting pregnant- I watched it alone in the auditorium as a favor to Constantine to check for any defects in the new print (those were the days!) before it was triplexed. The BX80’s were without a doubt the best theater projectors ever built, better than any of the Simplex models.Powers 6
To Dodger- I saw my first 35mm projectors in this house, they were Brenkert BX80’s with Peerless lamps. My wife rescued what I believe was one of the two Brenkert heads I saw there when I was ten and I have it put together but with an Ashcraft lamp. Do you remember which Peerless lamp model it was? It would have had to have been one of the two models manufactured that had glass light up name plates on their tops. I remember that booth fairly well- the rewinds were originally in a separate room to the left, I think, and I remember an operator named Mike. Constantine was a great guy despite the fact that he ran a video store across the street!
The thing I remember about the Rivoli was that the marquee displayed odd, home made looking wooden letters that slid into wooden tracks. By the 1960’s from the street the theater looked lost and old fashoned among the other 52nd street houses. Even the closed ones!