Criterion Theatre
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
27 people
favorited this theater
Showing 276 - 300 of 606 comments
Sat in the lodge, taken to the seats by an usher. Loved it. After Funny Girl I wasnt in the theatre again until they multi-plexed it. A night showing of a Streep film, ruined by screaming, crying kids. I never returned after that.
saw my first big roadshow here when i was a kid. 1968 Funny Girl. I loved it. Show curtain overture, intermission,souvenir program, the works. I was hooked on roadshow engagements!
I saw Lawrence of Arabia at the Criterion on one of my yearly visits to New York and it was a revelation. I didn’t know movies could be so beautifully sharp and detailed. It was magnificent and I can still see images from the film in my centre row seat about half way back. Only the original IMAX could equal this.
I was only in the Criterion once, with a church group, to see the Ten Commandments. My only remembrance of the theatre were the overstuffed seats with very heavy, and uncomfortable, flocking.
“LAST TANGO IN PARIS” was released on a roadshow basis in 1973.
The Roadshow concept dates from at least 1914. They were often called “Specials” during the 20s and 30s. So the concept ran from at least 1914-1972.
I’m unaware of any studio released roadshows after 1972. Some films like “The Deer Hunter” screened on reserved performances but certainly were not true roadshows.
Excellent page,suprised I have'nt found this one before.
Chris, you will find that Michael Coate’s lists are extremely accurate. That would give you a good place to start. After that, nothing beats sitting down at a microfilm terminal and looking up ads in the New York Times. Many libraries have New York Times indexes that also might give you a clue.
And don’t assume that the Roadshow era began in ‘55 and ended in '72…there are many examples of roadshow screenings before and after those dates.
hello to my fellow film buffs. i am doing my best to gather as
complete a list as possible of the roadshow films that played
at the seven theaters(Criterion,Loew’s State,RKO Palace,Demille,Warner,Rivoli,Loew’s Capitol in the Times Square area that the studios used for said policy. so would anyone have
a complete list of all the films that played at the Criterion on
a roadshow engagement during 1955-1972. many thanks in advance.
Thanks, Tinseltoes. “Pepe” when it premiered was around a half hour longer than the version we’ve seen all these years on TV. I think the original length was 3 hours 15 minutes (!). I wonder which guest stars wound up on the cutting room floor.
hdtv267 and saps: Thanks for posting the stuff about “Mighty Joe Young”. That’s always been a favorite of mine. When I saw it as a kid I actually did gape, gasp and wonder. I still do, actually.
Excerpt from NY Times review published July 28, 1949:
Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, who merged their talents as producer and director to scare the daylights out of movie-goers with the fabulous “King Kong” (1933), have fashioned another fantastic show in “Mighty Joe Young.” But in the new picture, which was presented yesterday at the Criterion, the producers are endeavoring to make all the world love, or at the very least feel a deep sympathy for, their monstrous, mechanical gorilla.
The film opened in NYC July of 1949.
wonderful…thanks
That re-release of “A Farewell to Arms” was in July 1938.
the so called basement 4 came first in the late 70’s in the basement of the bond build…the main house was not split up at this time..
bond was under going it’s own make over with a two or three leval night club…for a point of ref…go to post march 22 2010 click on flickr…click on the bond photo on the right…the window to the left of the marguee is where the entrance to the basement 4….had it’s own box office…the split up of the main house came later..
I could find no record of a twin operation as that post suggested. Perhaps they confused it with the Rivoli.
“Theatre was first twinned upstairs/downstairs. Then the downstairs was split left/right. The last 4 houses were in the basement” per post from 12/26/02.
I had the impression it was twined and some time later the other auditoriums were added in the basement. I may be wrong.
New link to pre-opening ad.
View link
That was some interesting photostream posted above — here’s the link: View link
Here is a photo circa 1937:
http://tinyurl.com/yk3qvec
Here is a photo from the late 70s:
http://tinyurl.com/yhcfwo6
Fantastic photo, ken. One of the best I’ve seen.
Circa 1940s photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yjqgb7d