Comments from RickB

Showing 326 - 350 of 580 comments

RickB
RickB commented about Belmont Theatre on Aug 16, 2011 at 8:23 pm

Jack Norworth is in the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, on the strength of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Shine On Harvest Moon.”

RickB
RickB commented about Regal Independence Plaza on Aug 7, 2011 at 12:13 pm

According to yesterday’s Times of Trenton the theater is up and running on a “soft opening” basis as the operators work the bugs out. No online version of the story is available.

RickB
RickB commented about United Artists Theatre on Aug 7, 2011 at 11:40 am

The “Rally Round The Flag Boys” picture may be seen here. Thanks to archive.org for having old versions of the theater page, making a search possible. The picture was originally listed as appearing courtesy of Fred R. Krauss; perhaps if someone in charge asks Mr. Krauss nicely he will let the site use it again.

RickB
RickB commented about Royal Theatre on Jul 22, 2011 at 6:06 am

This article includes a picture of the theater and a mention that the current plan for the theater is apparently conversion to residential use, although it doesn’t go into detail about what form that residential space might take (the theater is not the sole focus of the piece).

RickB
RickB commented about Regal Independence Plaza on Jul 20, 2011 at 6:45 pm

Cinema Holdings Group plans to reopen this theater as a discount house ($5 tickets) renamed the Destiny 12. They want to be open by the end of July. Story at nj.com

RickB
RickB commented about Elmo Theatre on Jul 5, 2011 at 5:57 pm

If this theater was torn down for an expressway built in the 1950s then the cars in the photos must be capable of time travel. Doesn’t really look like Chicago either. I like the marquee though. Which Elmo is that, really?

RickB
RickB commented about Franklin Theatre on Jun 26, 2011 at 8:47 pm

Story on the Franklin’s restoration in the July/August issue of Preservation magazine. Online version here: http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2011/july-august/franklins-star-attraction.html

RickB
RickB commented about Felton Theatre on Jun 17, 2011 at 7:41 am

Shut down for a year by the city. Philadelphia Inquirer story at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20110617_Troubled_Feltonville_nightclub_will_stay_closed_for_a_year.html

RickB
RickB commented about Arlo Theatre on May 30, 2011 at 9:49 am

The Arlo’s actual address was in the 2600 block of Westfield Avenue. It doesn’t show up at all on the Street View, so it can be given demolished status.

RickB
RickB commented about Comments Back Online on May 24, 2011 at 7:01 pm

Remember, the first 90% of the project takes up the first 90% of the time allotted, and the last 10% takes up the second 90%.

RickB
RickB commented about Felton Theatre on May 24, 2011 at 5:51 pm

The future of the “supper club” operation in the former theater is questionable after nine people were shot in the parking lot last weekend; Philadelphia’s mayor wants to shut it down. Philadelphia Inquirer story here.

RickB
RickB commented about We're relaunching Cinema Treasures next week on May 15, 2011 at 10:30 am

Oh, I suppose we’ll get by for a few days without memories of the Adelphi and the 400 in Chicago, news of a small-town theater reopening in Oklahoma, minutiae about the projection booth of a GCC twin in Pennsylvania, new listings of a nickelodeon in Boston, a miners' hall in Wales and a multiplex on Guam.

BUT IT BETTER BE WORTH IT! (I bet that it will.)

RickB
RickB commented about A look inside the AMC Empire 25, the busiest theater in America on May 7, 2011 at 7:26 am

Assuming they actually use all of the screens, 42,000 people per week is only an average of 240 per screen per day. Imagine what that figure must have been for the old palaces in their heyday.

RickB
RickB commented about Westmont Theatre on May 6, 2011 at 6:57 am

A $50,000 grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust “will help pay for the first comprehensive study of the physical condition and redevelopment potential” of the theater. Philadelphia Inquirer story here.

RickB
RickB commented about Puritan Theatre on May 1, 2011 at 4:35 pm

Both features on the marquee in the photo were 1956 releases.

RickB
RickB commented about Old Howard Casino Theatre on May 1, 2011 at 3:26 pm

Yes, I’m sure that the creme de la creme of Boston society regularly visited Jack’s Joke Shop to replenish their supplies of itching powder and fake noses.

RickB
RickB commented about Woods Theatre on Apr 26, 2011 at 7:27 pm

In one place on IMDB it has the release date as January 1962, but if you click the link it has a list including December 20, 1961, Chicago, Illinois. So The Happy Thieves may have been a world premiere engagement at the Woods.

RickB
RickB commented about United Artists Theatre on Apr 26, 2011 at 7:21 pm

The picture above is probably from early 1962—the UA marquee shows One, Two, Three with James Cagney while the Woods has Rita Hayworth and Rex Harrison in The Happy Thieves. Both are dated as 1961 films, but The Happy Thieves has a January 1962 release date.

RickB
RickB commented about Union Station 10 Cine' on Apr 23, 2011 at 10:48 am

Looks like the building has been foreclosed on and is going to auction in the coming week:
View link

RickB
RickB commented about Criterion Theater on Apr 19, 2011 at 8:41 am

Here is a 2009 newspaper story about the fire. According to the story the theater was built circa the 1880s as Moore’s Opera House. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” was the last feature shown before the fire.

RickB
RickB commented about Ellisburg Twin on Apr 16, 2011 at 7:17 pm

A little late…but yes, the 1983 pic is this theater.

RickB
RickB commented about Circus Cinema on Apr 16, 2011 at 11:53 am

Here is a screen capture from the TV series Taxi showing this theater’s marquee at right. It’s from a first-season episode titled Hollywood Calling.

RickB
RickB commented about Grand Pussycat Cinema on Apr 16, 2011 at 11:50 am

Here is a screen capture from the TV series Taxi showing this theater’s marquee (as the Embassy 49) at far left. It’s from a first-season episode titled, appropriately enough, Hollywood Calling.

RickB
RickB commented about Film Row in Memphis on Apr 8, 2011 at 7:31 pm

Do any other cities have similar clusters of surviving film-related buildings?

RickB
RickB commented about Uptown Theatre on Apr 4, 2011 at 7:38 am

Another Uptown story here, but nothing much new in it.