Rivoli Theatre
1620 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1620 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
49 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 1,005 comments
Hello-
as always thanks for your reply. why the tweaks to roadshow prints are sometimes saved and other times destroyed who knows why. Kubrick certainly had the clout to not only tweak the film shortly after it opened but to discard the trims. now when Cleopatra played the neighborhood theaters around NYC the film had been tweaked to 3hrs.15mins. and for years that was the only cut of the film people saw. but Dorothy Spencer the film’s editor must have saved the trims because when the film debuted on home video the vhs tapes were the original 4hr. roadshow cut.
I read that the prints of 2001 had not been shipped out yet to the rest of the country so that Kubrick was able to have all first run prints cut. So that the Uptown and Capitol were the only theaters to show it for a brief period as Kubrick first edited it. Considering how meticulous he was I assume he had all that film destroyed as he had all models used in the film destroyed so that it would be impossible for them to be used in other movies.
Anybody know if any of those snips actually did survive? It would depend on a cutter being sneaky and being able to hide the film like the editor of 1776 did when Jack Warner demanded that Cool Cool Considerate Men not only be cut from the film but also be destroyed.
Hello-
if I am not mistaken a few years ago I remember reading a post on the Capitol page that the original 2hr. 40min. cut of 2001 did in fact play there for a very short period.
also I’m intrigued as to how the D-150 screen in Syosset
differed from the Todd-AO screen at this theater.
I wonder if we will ever see the 160 minute 70mm version of 2001 that played at the Uptown in Washington for a day before it was cut?
Hello-
eventhough I saw 2001 at the Capitol twice I honestly don’t recall exactly what the end credits said but there is a clue. if I am not mistaken the A++ 4K disc of 2001 is a direct restoration of the actual Super Panavision 70MM camera negative. so since the end credits on the 4K disc simply has the Cinerama logo on screen for a second or two I’m guessing that’s what I saw at the Capitol.
What did it say at the end of the showing at the Capitol? Filmed in Cinerama or just the logo like on the 4k?
Hello-
to vindanpar-
as always I enjoy our discussions about roadshow films. I saw 2001 twice during its roadshow run “in Cinerama” at the Capitol. the other time is saw it theatrically was a few years later the Ziegfeld showed it 70MM and Six Track Stereophonic Sound. if I might be so bold as to say as on the absolutely spectacular 4K disc the end credits don’t say “filmed in Cinerama” the well known Cinerama logo simply appears on the screen for a second or two.
Moviejs1944 uploaded a picture for The Bat Whispers which I did not know opened at the Rivoli. It was one of the first films filmed in 65MM. I saw its restoration at MOMA. But there was no mention of widescreen on the theater signage so I guess they showed the 1.33 version. This is odd because if they didn’t show the 65mm first run in NY where else would they show it in this format except in Hollywood? Very odd.
Anyway the best thing about the film is its title. The wide screen added nothing to its mise en scene. But the outside display at the Rivoli is spectacular.
I hope grindhouse doesn’t mind that I took his ad for the Syosset for 2001 and also placed it here as this is where I saw it in ‘76 and it was one of the greatest cinematic experiences of my life. I wasn’t expecting that it was going to be that all too rare religious experience for me. They showed it on the Dimension 150 screen and the end of the print it said filmed in Cinerama.
I saw it again in 78 and it was not nearly as impressive on the Todd AO screen and at the end it said filmed in 70mm or some variation of the 70mm process.
Hello-
Cleopatra’s roadshow engagement at this theater lasted I believe 63 weeks. now for how much of that 63 week run was the original 4hr. cut used?
Please update, it was twin on December 16, 1981 with Ghost Story on two screens. Theatre was renovated again on September 13, 1984 and reopened on October 26, 1984 as the United Artists Twin. Theatre closed June 18, 1987 under the name United Artists Twin. Theatre 1 890 seats and Theatre 2 744 seats. At the end, UA was showing low budget movies. Grand Reopening ad in photos section.
Hello-
to vindanpar. was a roadshow engagement deemed successful based solely on how many weeks it ran or how many weeks it ran juxtaposed with the film’s production cost. Cleopatra’s roadshow run here was 63 weeks and The Greatest Story Ever Told’s at the Warner was 44 weeks I would say those were damn good roadshow runs.
Oops sorry. I left out ‘summer.’ Variety said it would be Broadway’s first summer without a roadshow playing in many years. When I mentioned Fiddler I meant that there was only one more summer with a Broadway roadshow.
Hello-
to vindanpar- might you have meant musical roadshow? after Hello Dolly closed at this theater there were several roadshow films in several of the big Times Square houses. Fiddler opened here in Nov. 1971. Patton opened at he Criterion Feb. 1970 and Tora Tora Tora also at the Criterion Nov. 1970. plus as Al A. states Nicholas and Alexandra opened at the Criterion Dec. 1071. plus as stated Man of…… is the last time the studios used one of the big Times Square houses for a roadshow run.
“Nicholas & Alexandra”.
When Variety announced that Hello Dolly was closing at the Rivoli it said that this would be the first time in 15 or 18 years(I don’t remember which because there were the Cinerama films) Broadway would be without a roadshow film. There would only be one more Fiddler in ‘72.
Hello-
I have often wondered what went into deciding to release a film on a roadshow engagement as opposed to a continuous performance one. I have always figured it was a combination of how important a property was and its production cost. as you stated if nothing else MOLM will be remembered as the last time a studio used one of the 7 big houses in the Times Square area for a roadshow engagement.
The failure of Man of La Mancha (I couldn’t figure why they gave it the roadshow treatment when nobody was clamoring for it, and it probably was why SOM opened its re-release at the National and not the Rivoli, such a missed opportunity for me, even though La Mancha ended its run there before the re-release) finally finished off the Hollywood roadshow. It should have opened continuous run or at Radio City where it would have had some sort of success.
Ed, you don’t say much but you get your point across.
Very odd. I can’t even google a link to postings here. How does one erase that history?
Another in a long list of folks here who, unless allowed to post without questioning the authoritative basis of their proclamations, have opted to take their ball and go home!
A Alverez…and where did his/her posts go???? In fact this most recent thread (up until yesterday’s date) completely disappeared from the “Recent Comments” list accessible from the Home page.
Good to hear. I’ve only watched bits and pieces of it on TV and have never had it in any video format. The only time I saw it in its entirety was when I saw it at the Embassy in Times Square. It had a full audience(which surprised me as this was the 80s) and was a lot of fun. I thought with a 4k release it was about time to have it and watch it again. Now when do we get Ben Hur in 4k? I’m a big Chuck, DeMille and Wyler fan.
Hello-
to vindanpar- I second Peter A.’s assessment of the Ten Commandments 4K disc. recently I bought a 43" 4K t.v. the film looks beyond spectacular.
Coming from Peter Apruzzese I feel better that I didn’t throw $20 away.