Rivoli Theatre

If memory serves, and forgive an old man if it doesn’t, 1965 was also the year we first saw D-150. I seem to recall going to a UA house in Queens (lefrack city?) for a demonstration.

Thanks, that would make sense for that size ad that many weeks into the engagement. Mid week ads were smaller that the Fri-Sun versions.

Thanks, Bill
Those were the days. Going to the movies and Broadway in Times Square.

On the “My Fair Lady” ad it was in it’s 11th month at the Criterion out of 88 weeks. What was the day of the week for the paper?

I think it’s amusing that “My Fair Lady”, filmed in Super Panavision 70, makes no mention of that in their roadshow ad. I guess in 1965, 70mm was just taken for granted. Those really were the days.

Great find Bill.
I was working at the Syosset on Long Island that year, I recall it being a good year for 70mm.
Also notice the amasing list of plays on B'way at the same time.

Totally agree.
For those of us who never saw these theaters before they were roadshow houses we still could appreciate their greatness and enjoy their large wonderful screens and 8 track analogue sound.
Though I started going at the very, very end of the roadshow era.
At that point it was almost dead and who wanted to see Tora Tora Tora? I remember the Criterion marquee but wild horses couldn’t drag me in to see it.
Now if I had seen them in their great heyday then it might have been another story.
But really how long did the Roxy last with it’s great proscenium. It seems it did not last through the 30’s before it was being draped over. Same with the Capitol and Loew’s State and possibly the Strand. Didn’t seem any of them lasted too long with their original interiors.
Possibly only the Paramount stayed the same until Vistavision changed it’s interior in the mid 50’s.
And I thought the Criterion stayed the same until it was split in the early 80’s.
Warren maybe you could shed some light on this on the pages of each theater?
It would be great info.

I miss them all but I was too young to have ever seen the Roxy, Capitol or Paramount.
I do remember however walking in front of the doors of the Paramount with my parents when I was a little boy and them pointing it out to me telling me that Frank sinatra used to sing there.
The doors had been whitewashed(remember when they used to do that?) and I guess they were preparing it for demolition.
Now that I remember the few times we went into the city then I probably walked in front of the Astor and Capitol as well but they made no impression as they were just buildings to me.

Warren,

Thanks for your response from 7/11. Although I’m a fan of the widescreen/roadshow era of the 50’s & 60’s, I also recognize that the drastic interior design changes needed to accomodate the new giant screens did not always work for the best.

JSA

Why would the Criterion pull South Pacific for something like The Old Man and the Sea?
It had it for 8 months and probably could have played the film there for another year.
How long did Old Man and the Sea last?

It seems that Todd could have fit the screen initially at the Criterion for Oklahoma which would have caused little damage instead of at the Rivoli. Then Around The World. And after that SP.
And the Rivoli could have roadshowed Ten Commandments quite comfortably.
From what I have read there was no special presentation of it at the Criterion except hard ticket and I believe it wasn’t even shown in real Vistavision!

Warren,

In your opinion, do you think that the Todd-AO install was a “hack” job? Or perhaps, with a little more thought and effort, the conversion could have accomodated both the big screen and the integrity of the original architecture?

JSA

MikeJW: The letterboxing on your DVD’s is probably pretty close. All of those films were shot on 65mm film, and when magnetic tracks were overlayed the aspect ratio should be 2.21:l, as opposed to CinemaScope’s 2.55:1 aspect ratio with magnetic tracks and “Foxhole” perfs., or 2.35:1 with optical or mag/optical soundtracks. The picture area on 65mm without the inside two mag tracks would be closer to 35mm, and perhaps a bit of cropping top and bottom was done to fill out the 35mm ratio. Of course, “Oklahoma” was shot with both 35mm and 65mm cameras (since Todd-AO originally used a 30frame/sec. speed vs. 35mm.24 frame/sec) so those aspect ratios would automatically be correct for each format. My laserdisc (remember those?) copy of “Oklahoma” has an extra with both versions placed one over the other so you can see the difference between the formats. If you want more information, Martin Hart’s “Widescreen Museum” mentioned above has tons of fascinating material.

Warren was the original proscenium there behind the Todd Ao screen?
If they removed it would the Rivoli have looked the way it was before?
What do you remember seeing before ‘55?
Did you see the original showing of Oklahoma and what was your reaction? Or were you angry because of what they did.

It WAS beautiful, and its a sin that it was destroyed. This building, along with many other old palaces, were built of brick, mortar and plaster, not like these sheetrock screening rooms they build today.

I will never forget seeing FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at the Rivoli in Summer, 1972. My mom took me into NYC weeks before to order the tix at the box office. While she did that, I looked at the beautiful lobby cards that were on display (remember them?). The film itself, on that screen was mind-blowing. I was 8 years old, and sat through that three hour movie completely in awe.

I only wish I could have seen SOM, STAR!, HELLO DOLLY!, and the other biggies there as well!