Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
favorited this theater
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Judging from some of the more objective reviews (not the ridiculous hack critics like Joel Siegel) “War of the Worlds” sounds techically impressive but emotionally thin and uninvolving on a real human emotional level like “E.T.” or even “Close Encounters”. In other words, audiences might be “wowed” by it much like they do at a very expensive interactive theme park ride but they won’t walk away with much to remember it by. And THAT (IMO) is exactly what is so wrong with American films today. They’re all $200 million spectacles without an ounce of anything to relate to.
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I saw “War of the Worlds” there last night. I had some problems with the humans in the movie – some of the scenes just didn’t make any sense – but the alien war machines are a truly awesome sight. And the Ziegfeld’s sound system came through spectacularly with some of the loudest and most frightening sound effects I’ve ever heard.
From Richard Roper:
At last week’s premiere of “War of the Worlds” at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York, guests had to surrender cell phones and handbags to security personnel.You know, because of the whole piracy thing. Even though you can’t get more than about 30 seconds of grainy video with your camera phone, and you’d have to be a blithering nincompoop to take out a personal video camera at a major premiere and attempt to point-and-shoot at the screen for two hours.
But here’s the beauty part. The New York Times reported that among those who had to check their personal belongings were actors Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins — who has an extended cameo in “War of the Worlds” — and the film’s director, Steven Spielberg.
That’s right. They took away Spielberg’s cell phone.
Unbelievable. That makes about as much sense as frisking Donald Trump as he enters Trump Tower, asking Hugh Hefner for ID at a party at the Playboy Mansion, or making sure Bono isn’t sneaking in a tape recorder to a U2 concert.
When you’re taking away Steven Spielberg’s cell phone at a premiere of a movie DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG, you’re not just doing your job, you’re following the orders of monumentally silly people.
The Ziegfeld was among the handful of theaters that was equipped with Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the 1990-1991 precursor to the contemporary digital sound formats.
The gold drapery,teaser,and black undermasking were all removed and filled in with the largest possible somewhat deeply curved screen (27 by 63 feet). The sound system was also upgraded for this 70mm presentation. The result was a poor imitation of the original Cinerama, however the screen should have been maintained for future 70mm blockbusters.
Now, the current screen must be only 40', as it appears to be about the same size as Baltimore’s Senator. So, how can they properly show Cinerama on a flat screen that is only 40' wide?
Here is a great ad from the half assed revival of “This is Cinerama” in 1973.
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While browsing the comments here I remembered how I went to the Rivoli for my 10th birthday to see Dr. Zhivago. We also saw The Sound of Music there. I believe we also saw Dr. Doolittle there, or maybe that was at Radio City. The entire family would get all dressed up, my dad would get the car out of the lot and we’d make our way uptown. My sisters and I would sightsee all the way, I was fascinated by “Fascination” in Times Square! After the show we’d all go to The Old Homestead for dinner. It was a big event to go to the movies as a family while growing up in NYC.
If we wanted to see Batman & Robin or Beatles movies, we walked to the Loew’s (Low-eez) on Delancey St. or the Essex St. theater. :o)
I miss those days.
Universal presents KING KONG. World Premiere Monday, 12 December 2005. Regular performances start Wednesday, 14 December 2005.
The girl taking the tickets was courteous, she said, welcome to clearview etc. It was the box-office girl that was rude…wheres the manager during this. Why do they put people with no personality at the boxoffice where people are paying .
It would be nice if the Ziegfeld closed the Summer with a classic bigscreen film. But “That’ll be the day”
Okay, I do remember the not-so-friendly cashier at the booth, who, on this day, was reading a book. She and the ticket taker were watching, in bemusement, as I was trying to buy our tickets using the automatic kiosk. It didn’t work, so I ended up buying it from her. She did say “enjoy the show” and that was about it. Rude, well, its NYC. At least told us to enjoy the show, perhaps she sensed we were out of town… :)
Rhett, post your comment on the Walter Reade page. Who knows?…it might draw some attention.
I ventured in to NYC to see “Revenge of the Sith” in Digital before it ends in a few days. I must say I was impressed. It was one of the hottest days and I see that the Ziegfeld has fixed the Air conditioner problem. maybe too good, I had to put a jacket on but didn’t mind. When I saw “Atack of the Clones” it was another hot day and the ac didn’t work, I baked. Another reason Ididn’t like the film. But now I saw all 3 new Star Wars on the Ziegfeld screen…and the digital for Sith was impressive. The curtain actually opened then closed before the previews, the closed curtains brought back “Apocalypse Now” memories from ‘79.
Question: How much theater remodeling have they done since the theater opened??
My only gripe…after paying a whopping $10.75, the box office girl never even looked up at me, she was busy writing a letter, and didn’t even say thank you….to quote C-3PO…“How rude”
Later, I went to the Walter Reade for a screening of “Atlantic City” great flick, great print, big screen….but that theater is starting to get the grundgy look, messy walls, no closed curtain….they need to remodel.
My friend and I visited NYC and made a stop at this theater to see Revenge of the Sith in DLP. I must say that the theater is quite ornate and large but the screen size was smaller than I expected. I suspect its about 40' or so wide, about the size of some of the larger auditoriums in your local multiplex, or like our Baltimore’s Senator. Its a bit strange to have to go up the stairs, then turn right into an auditorium that seems to go down again. The lobby pictures show a Ziegfeld that had a much more decorative top structure that is missing from the current one. Was this the same theater?
The picture and sound are better than in most theaters I have experienced with this DLP/Dolby Digital Cinema set up. Excellent sound separation, with little reverberation, yet powerful subwoofers add to the aural experience! Its nice to see an ‘older’ theater outfitted with the latest presentation technologies and sound. If people are going to leave their DVDs and cable to see a movie, this is how it should be experienced.
I assume due to Spielberg’s lake of interest in digital, War of the Worlds will be a film presentaion?
The next attraction at the Ziegfeld will be the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise remake of H.G. Wells' ‘The War of the Worlds’ (a wee little movie I suspect at least a few of us have become well-acquianted with of late), opening June 29th.
QUOTE: “How is the digital projection at this theater? I know there are several brands out there, some newer and better than others, and of different quality.
So who has the best digital projection, this screen or the ones at AMC or Loews? Or are there others I should consider for the best digital presentation?“ (saps)
The Ziegfeld is equipped with a current-generation digital projection system capable of showing movies at 2K resolution. So seeing “Revenge Of The Sith” at the Ziegfeld should offer picture quality as good as or better than any competing cinemas also showing a digital presentation.
Check out the following list if you’re curious where the Digital Cinema presentations are being held:
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In my opinion, the only thing that can and will spell The Ziegfeld’s doom is if some developer for some reason or another decides to build a competing “palace” at a better site, say nearer or actually in Times Square. The Ziegfeld is kind of off the beaten path and let’s face it, it’s really not that nice from the outside, at least.
Imagine if someone were to build a theater the same size or even larger than the Ziegfeld in which to hold it’s premieres?
Since this scenario is highly unlikely, I think the place is safe because there really isn’t another place in Manhattan that can host a premiere AND play the movie. Yes, The Music Hall is better for premieres but it’s not playing the movies for more than one night.
If I correctly understand the property data provided on the OASIS NYC website, the Ziegfeld is on the same zoning lot (block 1007, lot 29) as the the adjacent through-block “park” and adjacent office building (whose official address seems to be 120 W. 55th St.) The lot is listed as being 200 ft. wide (the width of most mid-town Manhattan blocks), and 500 ft. deep. (I believe the blocks between Sixth and Seventh are about 800 ft. deep, so this is a pretty deep lot.)
The maximum FAR (floor area ratio) allowed on the site is 12, but the actual FAR seems to be 19.9, which means that the builders qualified for one or more bonuses. They probably got a bonus for the front and side plazas, plus a bonus for the through-block park. Whether a bonus was given for a movie theater on this site, I don’t know.
(I also mention some of the zoning issues for this site in my April 14th post in this thread, above — but at that time I hadn’t looked up the site on OASIS NYC yet.)
While I doubt they would be able to build more office space on the Ziegfeld site — I think all the office space allowed is already in the tower on the other side of the through-block “park,” I would imagine they could change the use of the Ziegfeld Theater (unless they got a bonus for building it). So maybe it could become a “Toys R Us” (as someone joked in an earlier post) or a good-sized disco, etc.
If there were plans to close the Ziegfeld (due to a lack of profitability), I’d be very surprised if the outcry was significantly greater than the (apparently very little outcry) for the Beekman and Cinema I, II & III. But, then again, I’ve been surprised to read that people consider the Ziegfeld a “treasure” and a “movie palace,” so who knows, maybe there is a large and vocal group of fans who could provide sufficient pressure. But, given the the theater’s lack of distinguished architecture and the lack of any genuine historical importance (understandable, since it was only built in the late 1960s), it’s hard to imagine what kind of appeal could be made and what kind of pressure exerted.
My guess is that the Ziegfeld will survive, however, because it does seem to be profitable for certain kinds of films and because it might be difficult to find an economically compelling alternative use for for this site, given the zoning.
I wonder if the Ziegfeld could be expanded upwards, maybe with a proper balcony installed and a few hundred more seats. I’d love to go to a 2000+ seat theatre on a regular basis.
I would have to say that for now, The Ziegfeld is safe. Think about it: the land upon which is sits is mid street and sits between two A class office towers. The footprint isn’t really big enough to provide a developer with anything that they could build anything really dynamic. Just my opinion.
Add to the mix the (hopefully) anticipated outcry that would befall anyone even proposing this and I think it’s somewhat safe to assume it will be around for awhile.
But. You. Never. Know.
There are so few nice places to see movies in New York. There are many places to see films, but a nice auditorium is fairly rare. We have screening facitilies here, and some are comfortable, and few have any design elements.
Loews 72nd Street East is a cool 1962 place to see a movie, but the entrance and lobbies are merely functional. This theat is a great place to see a movie though. Nice metal work on the stairs, comfortable seats (I believe taken from the Loews Astor Plaza), and two small balconies jutting out from either side of the projection booth. The upper auditorium at the UA 64th Street is very nice, and also sports a curved screen.
The Walter Reade is my favorite NY screening facility. Fresh popcorn, large indoor waiting area, often hung with posters or photographs, a single screen, comfy seats arranged smartly, and a screen that’s right there in front of you. Great sound, etc.
As far as cool New York history, the Paris is pretty much it. The Paris is really good fun with a large auditorium, excellent descension to the popcorn area, and great design elements. After the Beekman goes next month (so unbelievably wrong and sad) it’s really the single screen marquee theater showing new releases. I’m a big fan of the ImaginAsian (the retitled 59th Street East, aka the D.W. Griffith), and should also include that, as a departure from the airport-simulations of today’s moviegoing ‘experience.’
The Ziegfeld is really the best. As soon as you enter to buy a ticket, you’re under a chandelier. You walk into a downstairs lobby adorned with display cases with the original theater’s history and artifacts on display, then have a choice of ascending stairs or an escalator, with more chandeliers to guide you, then you’re in a curved end exit/entrance lobby with black doors on one side, and then you enter the main concessions lobby with yet another chandelier, a large French My Fair Lady poster, a round soft couch, and fun signs for Mens and Ladies restrooms, and fresh popped popcorn (depends how busy). Then a choice of left or right entrance to the mammoth audotorium with raised seating in the back (308 seats I believe) and another 800 seats on the main floor. And CURTAINS! They don’t always operate them, but for my third viewing of Reveing of the Sith the curtains opened and closed before the trailers, and then closed again at the end of the 9:30 show, which was great because that was the last show of the nonstop marathon which began Weds. evening (Thurs. morning).
I was in a new friend’s 11th floor apartment last night at 54th and 7th and looked out the window and right there was the Zeigfeld! Would been great to have seen all the tents pitched for the anticipation of the Weds. premiere.
I’m partly seeing the film again because the film is fun, but mostly it’s to have yet another reason to go to the Ziegfeld, especially with a few hundred other people there. I love seeing that place so alive.
I’m not sure about best digital projection (although Episode III looked better at the Ziegfeld than Episode II did three years ago), but I will say that the Ziegfeld is the overall best theater in the city, especially now that Radio City Music Hall isn’t showing movies anymore.
So, do you think is the best digital projection in the city?