Loew's State Theatre
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
39 people
favorited this theater
Showing 451 - 475 of 535 comments
We will never see days like this again. Taken in 1955
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Joan Crawford Surrounded by Fans
Actress Joan Crawford is surrounded by fans as she hands out autographed photographs of herself to early arrivals at the premiere of her film Sudden Fear, in the lobby of Loew’s State Theatre in New York City.
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How incredible is this 1938 picture of Loew’s State with Judy on stage?
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GMC used to get a lot of TV play in the 70’s and I always thought Clark was wonderful and O'Toole very moving. Maybe Herbert Ross' best film.
And then there’s Sweet Charity another terrific ‘69 film musical.
There, you have 3 big fat late 60’s musical floppos which killed off the film musical.
And each one is a gem.
I would nominate Francis Ford Coppola’s 1968 film “Finian’s Rainbow” as one of the best roadshow musicals of the late 60s.
I agree with Vincent. The same goes for the other roadshow musical in Robert’s ad, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”. I’d avoided seeing that for years because of its reputation as a big bomb. But I saw it on TCM last year and it was excellent all around, with one of Peter O'Toole’s best performances.
I saw the roadshow Paint Your Wagon in 6 track stereo at the Warner Cinerama during the Broadway on Broadway festival in ‘78.
It was absolutely sensational. The late 60’s musical often get a very bad rap. But some that were failures are really good and far exceed anything that came after.
1969 the roadshow of “Paint Your Wagon"
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Warren
That’s a great ad “A Lion in Your Lap, A Lover in Your Arms” :)
October of 1953 Joan Crawford in “Torch Song” opened here.
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October 1965 “Agony and the Ecstasy” opened roadshow here
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http://www.lileks.com/NYC/timessquare/4.html
There is a picture here of this band at Loew’s State in 1944 or 45
http://nfo.net/usa/c2.html
http://nfo.net/usa/LeeCastleLoewsState.jpg
1954 saw “Gone With the Wind” at Loews’s State.
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Warren: That’s a great image of the original State. Source?
1952 saw Joan Crawford in “Sudden Fear” at the State
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Three Roadshows
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From the 1968 annual report of Loew’s Theatres:
“Perhaps the most interesting development in current theatre design is exemplified by the project now underway at Loew’s State, your Company’s flagship theatre on Broadway.
“The Uris Corporation, which has entered into a long-term ground lease with Loew’s, is erecting a 48~ story office building on the site of the famed Loew’s Capitol at 51st Street and Broadway in New York City. To replace the Capitol, Loew’s State, six blocks south on Broadway, is being converted into two theatres: Loew’s State 1 and Loew’s State 2.
“As illustrated in the volumetric projection, this is being achieved by extending the balcony line of the original Loew’s State, so that State 2 sits above State 1. A high-speed escalator will whisk patrons from the ground floor up to State 2.
“Each theatre will have its distinct decor, designed by a young, imaginative, nationally known interior designer. State 1 is in contemporary style; State 2 recalls the romantic Victorian era.
“Adjoining the escalator in the lobby will be ‘The Capitol Corner’, a nostalgic recollection of The Capitol. Among the features: an ancient, Carrara marble, Roman well-head; a, French rock-crystal chandelier; a bronze railing and the grandfather’s clock known to Broadway moviegoers for half a century.
“Huge oval portraits of great movie stars of the past will serve to visually connect the lobbies.
“Loew’s State 1 will reopen on December 11, 1968, with, the American premiere of the Columbia musical, ‘Oliver’; State 2 will open one week later with the United Artists musical, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” each under a reserved seat policy.
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“So-called 'piggy back’ theatre construction demonstrates how imaginative collaboration among exhibitors, architects, builders and decorators can result in the creation of two distinct properties out of one, to make more efficient and profitable use out of cubic space in high land-cost areas.
“We intend to continue to expand our theatre division through construction of new theatres, as well as duplexing in appropriate situations.
“Loews is proud to be in the vanguard of the trend~setting movement for future center-city and suburban shopping center theatre design.”
Six pictures of the Loew’s State interior accompany this report. Unfortunately, the resolution of these scanned images online is pretty bad.
I know we’ve had this converstion before but did people at the time really view Gilda the way we do today?
I mean the Hall was a very family friendly, classy place and how many parents complained when they went to see stuff in the nabes like Blondie and puppet shows and Gilda with their tykes?
People must have found Hayworth so sensational that the thick atmosphere of moral licentiousness that drips from every scene must have been completely difused by Hayworths star wattage which has no equal today.
Thank you all for your comments. I’m from Denmark and was in New York back in 1986 and again two years later, where I sadly noticed, that the State was gone. In 1986 I went to see “Knights of the city” in State 1. After the film was finisged, I tried to exit the door, but somehow it was closed, and I ended upstairs in the grand foyer to State 2. Here I could see, the horrorflick “House” was just going to start. As a curious teenager alone one afternoon without parents, I stayed and was amazed by the cinema-structure. Here in Denmark we have the magnificent Imperial with 1,102 seats – originally 1,521 from 1961-87, but ever since 1986 I wondered how State was originally build and later twinned. Thank you for giving me all this information!
Yes, Warren, “Blondie’s Lucky Day” must have been the nabes' way of drawing kids and families with their kids to see “Gilda.” On 26 April ‘05, I posted a photo of Loew’s Alpine on that theater’s page, and the double-bill you mention is listed on the marquee (be sure to enlarge the photo by clicking the image). I’m amazed that “Gilda” bored you. No film ever bored me, then or later. Whenever the footlights dim, I find all the movie stars strong, all the writerr, directors, and cinematographers good-looking, and all the films above-average.
Wow! BoxOfficeBill…that was terrific. You gave such a wonderful description of all the things to choose from back then in Times Square! Must’ve been quite a time there.
I’m singing jubilant arias! A few months ago, I reported on posts for RCMH and Loew’s Alpine that I remember having seen Rita Hayworth’s “Gilda†at Loew’s State in Spring 1946, with a stage show featuring a puppet act that spurred my parents to bring me to just around the time of my fourth birthday. Several wonderfully reasonable responses to my posts expressed surprise at pairing such a steamy film with a live program geared for kids. I saw their logic and began to doubt my power of recall. True, we had a family friend who worked in the Loew’s offices above the State (just under Marilyn Monroe’s panties in my post of 23 July ’04), and I can imagine her luring my folks with the promise that Young BoxOfficeBilly would just love the puppet show. True, my parents never flinched from trying out all kinds of entertainment, especially if accessed with a back-door pass. And true, BoxOfficeBillyWorld held no holds barred for learning experiences: gotta toughen the kid up. But this particular memory of Putting-the-Blame-on-Mame and taking pure delight in a handful of puppets really did challenge credibility. I resolved to plunge into the archives.
I finally did just that, and the results proved offputting. The NY Times Directory of the Film revealed that in ’46 “Gilda†had played at RCMH from 14 March to 3 April, suggesting that it might then have moved to the State on Wednesday the 10 or 17 April. The NYT archives for these dates produced no pay dirt (on the 17, a film I’d never heard of, “Miss Susie Slagle’s,†held the screen at the Stateâ€"where did that one come from?). But then on 24 April, smack in the middle of Easter week, “Gilda†opened at the State, and with it, the following stage show: Irene Bordoni, “America’s French Singing Star†(huh?); the Three Smoothies , likely a tap-dance act; Al Cowan and his Musical Madcaps: ‘nuff said; Ladd Lyon: a magician?; Harold Barnes: a ventriloquist? and Block and Sully, Comedy Stars of Stage and Radio. There, say you: no puppets, no gloves, no box, no memory. True, say I; but I wonder just how long this show stayed around. So, I scrolled on to the following week’s pages. The ad for 1 May announced: “Gilda†Held Over Second Week; All New Stage Show Featuring: Johnnie Scot Davis and Orchestra with Garth Andrews; Vic Perry, Toast of England’s Café Society; the Diamond Brothers, Gentlemen Never-the-Less; Diana Berry, Youthful Dancing Comedienne (!); and … finally … the Tommy Trent Puppet Parade. My heart leapt and I began to sing then and there.
For the record, the competition for movie-cum-stage shows in mid-town that Easter season was pretty fierce: at RCMH, “The Green Years†plus Easter show; at the Roxy, “Dragonwyck†with Jackie Miles and Connee Boswell on stage; at the Capitol, “The Ziegfeld Follies†ending a seven-week run with Xavier Cugat and Harvey Stone on stage, to be followed by “The Postman Always Rings Twice†with Guy Lombardo on stage; at the Strand, “Devotion†with Louis Prima on stage; and at the Paramount, “The Virginian†with Eddy Bracken and Johnny Long on stage. I’m still glad that we wound up at “Gilda†and the puppets. Of course, it’s possible that my parents were initially drawn by the Youthful Dancing Comedienne or perhaps by the Toast of England’s Café Society.
In May of 1938 Loew’s State was playing Gary Cooper in “The Adventures of Marco Polo” with a stage show starring Georgie Jessel. Loew’s other big houses were day and dating the same movie without the State’s stage show, but some of them had an amaetuer night.
I must have actually been in this theater. I was doing some research in the library and decided to call up the movie listings from the summer of ‘83 to see check out what theaters were open in Manhattan back. There was a whole bunch in Times Square.
I remember that summer catching the film “Blue Thunder” in a Times Square movie house. I always assumed it was the Criterion or the National, but it was playing at the State. I also remember, for a few dollars less, “BT” was playing simultaneously at one of the 42nd Street grindhouses.