For those who missed King Kong at the Film Forum , the historic 1000-seat Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York will be showing it on Saturday, March 15 at 11:30am as part of its spring Big Screen Classics series.
I’ve heard through the grapevine that there is a concert of organ music planned at Radio City for Saturday night, August 9. No word yet on ticket prices, but it is a regular “open to the public” concert and is supposed to involve a number of different organists. I’ll update as I get passed along more information.
It was with the Russian gentleman in the Spring of 2006, I assume this is the current occupant. It wasn’t just the drywall, they had raised the floor as well which created a height problem due to the projection angle, but that could be dealt with.
Regarding programming, we had a full summer and autumn schedule worked out with classics and first-run, the idea was to try and see if there was enough interest to continue on a regular basis or just on an infrequent basis. We were willing to tackle all the film costs and promotion, the Paradise just needed to open the doors. The kibosh was apparently put on it by the technical director at the time, who had his own designs on the place if the current management failed.
Well, they did the conversion during their big renovation, which was prior to us making the offer of the gear back in the spring of 2006. They would need to turn the center box back into a small booth to show films, which would involve some reconstruction. Not likely at this point, from what we were told.
The Paradise was offered a complete working 35mm setup at no charge (as well as the programming of a full classic film series schedule) a few years ago and was not interested. Sadly, the original booth has been converted into “luxury boxes”, so there would need to be construction to accommodate projection gear.
We’re announcing the Spring 2008 season of Big Scren Classics Saturday morning matinees at the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York: movies, the way they were meant to be seen!. The Spring Season begins March 8 at 11:30 am – doors open at 11:00am for pre-show music with Jeff Barker on the Mighty Wurlitzer! All tickets – $7.00
March 8 – Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint
March 15 – KING KONG, Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray – 75th Anniversary!
March 22 – GRAND HOTEL, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford
March 29 – DOUBLE INDEMNITY, Fred MacMurray,Barbara Stanwyck
April 5 – THE NATURAL, Robert Redford, Glenn Close
April 12 – JASON & THE ARGONAUTS, Special Effects by Ray Harryhausen
April 19 – Frank Capra’s MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, James Stewart, Jean Arthur
April 26 – STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (a.k.a. A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH), David Niven, Kim Hunter
May 3 – ARTISTS AND MODELS, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
May 10 – THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles
May 17 – ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland
May 24 – CITY LIGHTS, Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill
May 31 – IN A LONELY PLACE, Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame
June 7 – HIS GIRL FRIDAY, Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell
June 14 – THE JOLSON STORY, Larry Parks, Evelyn Keyes
June 21 – CARTOON & COMEDY CARNIVAL, Looney Tunes, 3 Stooges, and more. ALL NEW!
You can also read the entire schedule online HERE ( View link ) or download a
flyer.
Thank you again for all of your support and hope to see you at the shows.
Justin – come to the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern on Saturday morning, March 15 at 11:30 am when we’ll be showing the 1933 King Kong. Watching it at home, even on the very nice DVD, isn’t the same experience.
When the outer 6 theatres opened in 1981, not all of the auditoriums were equipped with Dolby Stereo, but they all had it within a couple of years. The inner 6 theatres had it in at least 2 of the auditoriums when I was in their booth in 1980.
It’s under an hour to the 1924 single screen Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, open every day showing movies. Come on Friday or Saturday night and hear the Mighty Wurlitzer prior to the movie.
We don’t have 70mm at the Lafayette in Suffern, but we do run 35mm reel-to-reel.
Film Forum does not show 70mm (why would they on those postage stamps they call screens?), Radio City can, Ziegfeld can, the AMMI in Queens can, I think the Museum of Modern Art can. The Loew’s Jersey would be a great venue for 70mm outside of Manhattan
If it’s IB Technicolor, it would have to be a 35mm print as Technicolor never made 70mm IB prints. Should be nice if it’s in good shape, wish I lived closer.
It’s too bad it lost because “Scrooge” with Albert Finney is a terrific musical. Easily one of the three best filmed versions of the story, IMO (the 1951 Alistair Sim version & the 1984 George C. Scott television version are the others).
I don’t recall seeing anything in federal law requiring buildings to accept cell communications. When we had the Galaxy in Guttenberg, it was underground and cell and other radio devices didn’t work inside it. I’ll have to look up the actual law, but if I remember, it specifically says “transmitters” that interrupt radio signals. I believe it was the Communications Act of 1934.
As for lawsuits, I agree with you. Anybody can sue for anything and that’s just one waiting to happen. Whether it has merit or not is the debate.
Sorry, theatre operators have no right to break federal law. By blocking cell phones, you’re also blocking emergency police, fire, rescue squad, etc.
They are entitled to construct their buildings in such a way that cell phones don’t work (metal shielding, Faraday Cage, etc.), but the law specifies that ‘active’ jamming gear is highly illegal.
Interesting, then. When we saw Clearview’s books a few years ago (when we were looking to acquire them), the Ziegfeld showed the operating loss I mentioned above, which was also confirmed independently. Glad things have improved since then.
The rent is low comparative to other Manhattan real estate, but they still pay the same utilities, payroll, taxes, as everyone else. Of the approximately 28 shows a week they run, only about 8 cover their own expenses. Every other show is a loss.
That is not the case. If that were so, then no theatre would ever lose money, and we know that is not true. There is a minimal house allowance that is deducted from the gross ticket sales, but if the deal includes using that, they end up paying more in box office percentage to the studio.
The Lafayette Theatre’s HORROR-THON Film Festival returns on October 19-20-21!
FLASH: Bela Lugosi’s Dracula cape (worn by him on-screen in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein”) will be displayed at the 2pm show on Sunday of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein! This one-of-a-kind artifact comes to the Lafayette courtesy of collector Todd Feiertag. Go to: View link for more information.
Here’s the complete HORROR-THON 2007 line-up:
Friday, October 19,
8:00pm – Ed Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE plus Ed Wood Home Movies and more (Now in color for the first time!)
Saturday, October 20
2:00pm – FRANKENSTEIN starring Boris Karloff and Colin Clive
4:15pm – MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, starring Vincent Price and Hazel Court
8:00pm – THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring Lon Chaney, the silent horror classic will have LIVE Pipe Organ Accompaniment by Jeff Barker
Sunday, October 21
2:00pm – ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN; PLUS – Bela Lugosi’s original Dracula cape (as worn in this film) will be displayed at this showing!
4:15pm – CURSE OF THE DEMON starring Dana Andrews – uncut British version!
7:30pm – Robert Wise’s THE HAUNTING starring Julie Harris and Richard Johnson
All tickets – $8 per movie. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each showtime and you can buy your tickets at the door for each movie.
For those who missed King Kong at the Film Forum , the historic 1000-seat Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York will be showing it on Saturday, March 15 at 11:30am as part of its spring Big Screen Classics series.
I’ve heard through the grapevine that there is a concert of organ music planned at Radio City for Saturday night, August 9. No word yet on ticket prices, but it is a regular “open to the public” concert and is supposed to involve a number of different organists. I’ll update as I get passed along more information.
It was an ok tv movie, though way too preachy and unsubtle.
The subject was better explored in “Threads” (as noted by caesar) and the movie “Testament”.
It was with the Russian gentleman in the Spring of 2006, I assume this is the current occupant. It wasn’t just the drywall, they had raised the floor as well which created a height problem due to the projection angle, but that could be dealt with.
Regarding programming, we had a full summer and autumn schedule worked out with classics and first-run, the idea was to try and see if there was enough interest to continue on a regular basis or just on an infrequent basis. We were willing to tackle all the film costs and promotion, the Paradise just needed to open the doors. The kibosh was apparently put on it by the technical director at the time, who had his own designs on the place if the current management failed.
Well, they did the conversion during their big renovation, which was prior to us making the offer of the gear back in the spring of 2006. They would need to turn the center box back into a small booth to show films, which would involve some reconstruction. Not likely at this point, from what we were told.
The Paradise was offered a complete working 35mm setup at no charge (as well as the programming of a full classic film series schedule) a few years ago and was not interested. Sadly, the original booth has been converted into “luxury boxes”, so there would need to be construction to accommodate projection gear.
We’re announcing the Spring 2008 season of Big Scren Classics Saturday morning matinees at the historic Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York: movies, the way they were meant to be seen!. The Spring Season begins March 8 at 11:30 am – doors open at 11:00am for pre-show music with Jeff Barker on the Mighty Wurlitzer! All tickets – $7.00
March 8 – Alfred Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST, Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint
March 15 – KING KONG, Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray – 75th Anniversary!
March 22 – GRAND HOTEL, John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford
March 29 – DOUBLE INDEMNITY, Fred MacMurray,Barbara Stanwyck
April 5 – THE NATURAL, Robert Redford, Glenn Close
April 12 – JASON & THE ARGONAUTS, Special Effects by Ray Harryhausen
April 19 – Frank Capra’s MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, James Stewart, Jean Arthur
April 26 – STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (a.k.a. A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH), David Niven, Kim Hunter
May 3 – ARTISTS AND MODELS, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
May 10 – THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles
May 17 – ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland
May 24 – CITY LIGHTS, Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill
May 31 – IN A LONELY PLACE, Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame
June 7 – HIS GIRL FRIDAY, Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell
June 14 – THE JOLSON STORY, Larry Parks, Evelyn Keyes
June 21 – CARTOON & COMEDY CARNIVAL, Looney Tunes, 3 Stooges, and more. ALL NEW!
You can also read the entire schedule online HERE ( View link ) or download a
flyer.
Thank you again for all of your support and hope to see you at the shows.
Justin – come to the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern on Saturday morning, March 15 at 11:30 am when we’ll be showing the 1933 King Kong. Watching it at home, even on the very nice DVD, isn’t the same experience.
Good luck with everything! Just one thing – DVDs are not high-definition.
When the outer 6 theatres opened in 1981, not all of the auditoriums were equipped with Dolby Stereo, but they all had it within a couple of years. The inner 6 theatres had it in at least 2 of the auditoriums when I was in their booth in 1980.
Justin –
The inner theatres opened in 1977, the outer theatres opened in 1981.
It’s under an hour to the 1924 single screen Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, open every day showing movies. Come on Friday or Saturday night and hear the Mighty Wurlitzer prior to the movie.
We don’t have 70mm at the Lafayette in Suffern, but we do run 35mm reel-to-reel.
Film Forum does not show 70mm (why would they on those postage stamps they call screens?), Radio City can, Ziegfeld can, the AMMI in Queens can, I think the Museum of Modern Art can. The Loew’s Jersey would be a great venue for 70mm outside of Manhattan
If it’s IB Technicolor, it would have to be a 35mm print as Technicolor never made 70mm IB prints. Should be nice if it’s in good shape, wish I lived closer.
It’s too bad it lost because “Scrooge” with Albert Finney is a terrific musical. Easily one of the three best filmed versions of the story, IMO (the 1951 Alistair Sim version & the 1984 George C. Scott television version are the others).
I don’t recall seeing anything in federal law requiring buildings to accept cell communications. When we had the Galaxy in Guttenberg, it was underground and cell and other radio devices didn’t work inside it. I’ll have to look up the actual law, but if I remember, it specifically says “transmitters” that interrupt radio signals. I believe it was the Communications Act of 1934.
As for lawsuits, I agree with you. Anybody can sue for anything and that’s just one waiting to happen. Whether it has merit or not is the debate.
Sorry, theatre operators have no right to break federal law. By blocking cell phones, you’re also blocking emergency police, fire, rescue squad, etc.
They are entitled to construct their buildings in such a way that cell phones don’t work (metal shielding, Faraday Cage, etc.), but the law specifies that ‘active’ jamming gear is highly illegal.
Here is some historical data regarding numbers of tickets sold:
Year – Box Office Gross – Avg. Ticket Price – #’s Sold
1930 – 732 million – .20/ticket – 3.66 billion tickets sold
1935 – 566 million – .24/ticket – 2.39 billion tickets sold
1940 – 735 million – .28/ticket – 2.62 billion tickets sold
1945 – 1,450 million – .34/ticket – 4.264 billion tickets sold
1950 – 1,376 million – .48/ticket – 2.86 billion tickets sold
1955 – 1326 million – .52/ticket – 2.55 billion tickets sold
1960 – 951 million – .69/ticket – 1.38 billion tickets sold
1965 – 927 million – 1.02/ticket – 909 million tickets sold
1970 – 1,162 million – 1.55/ticket – 750 million tickets sold
1975 – 2,115 million – 2.05/ticket – 1.03 billion tickets sold
1980 – 2,749 million – 2.60/ticket – 1.06 billion tickets sold
1985 – 3,749 million – 3.55/ticket – 1.06 billion tickets sold
1990 – 5,022 million – 4.23/ticket – 1.19 billion tickets sold
1995 – 5,490 million – 4.35/ticket – 1.26 billion tickets sold
2000 – 7,670 million – 5.39/ticket – 1.40 billion tickets sold
2001 – 8,410 million – 5.65/ticket – 1.49 billion tickets sold
2002 – 9,520 million – 5.80/ticket – 1.64 billion tickets sold
2003 – 9,490 million – 6.03/ticket – 1.57 billion tickets sold
2004 – 9,540 million – 6.21/ticket – 1.54 billion tickets sold
2005 – 8,990 million – 6.40/ticket – 1.40 billion tickets sold
2006 – 9,490 million – 6.58/ticket – 1.44 billion tickets sold
Interesting, then. When we saw Clearview’s books a few years ago (when we were looking to acquire them), the Ziegfeld showed the operating loss I mentioned above, which was also confirmed independently. Glad things have improved since then.
The rent is low comparative to other Manhattan real estate, but they still pay the same utilities, payroll, taxes, as everyone else. Of the approximately 28 shows a week they run, only about 8 cover their own expenses. Every other show is a loss.
That is not the case. If that were so, then no theatre would ever lose money, and we know that is not true. There is a minimal house allowance that is deducted from the gross ticket sales, but if the deal includes using that, they end up paying more in box office percentage to the studio.
The Ziegfeld loses about a million dollars every year. They are not profitable, especially under Clearview’s control.
Spartacus should be 13 reels. Sounds like you have one reel, which runs about 16-18 minutes,
As for the worth, ask the studio – Universal.
According to his son, he was buried in one of the many capes he wore on stage as Dracula.
The cape we are displaying was a Universal Studios Costume Department cape that was worn by Bela in the film Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.
The Lafayette Theatre’s HORROR-THON Film Festival returns on October 19-20-21!
FLASH: Bela Lugosi’s Dracula cape (worn by him on-screen in “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein”) will be displayed at the 2pm show on Sunday of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein! This one-of-a-kind artifact comes to the Lafayette courtesy of collector Todd Feiertag. Go to: View link for more information.
Here’s the complete HORROR-THON 2007 line-up:
Friday, October 19,
8:00pm – Ed Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE plus Ed Wood Home Movies and more (Now in color for the first time!)
Saturday, October 20
2:00pm – FRANKENSTEIN starring Boris Karloff and Colin Clive
4:15pm – MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, starring Vincent Price and Hazel Court
8:00pm – THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring Lon Chaney, the silent horror classic will have LIVE Pipe Organ Accompaniment by Jeff Barker
Sunday, October 21
2:00pm – ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN; PLUS – Bela Lugosi’s original Dracula cape (as worn in this film) will be displayed at this showing!
4:15pm – CURSE OF THE DEMON starring Dana Andrews – uncut British version!
7:30pm – Robert Wise’s THE HAUNTING starring Julie Harris and Richard Johnson
All tickets – $8 per movie. Doors open 30 minutes prior to each showtime and you can buy your tickets at the door for each movie.
Go to: View link for more information.