Capitol Theatre
1645 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1645 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
36 people
favorited this theater
Showing 501 - 525 of 808 comments found
These 1959 photos show the auditorium just prior to and immediately after John McNamara’s “modernization.” The last photo shows the new draperies that were installed to change the seating capacity of the balcony sections.
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In March 1965 the showing of “Hush…Hush…Sweet Charlotte” at the Loew’s Capitol Theatre in New York coincided with the showing at the Loew’s Metropolitan in Brooklyn.
Both Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland appeared at both theatre’s in person, promoting the movie. Of course I went to both theatre’s for this once in a lifetime treat.
Living in Brooklyn I was familiar with the Metropolitan, however it was my first visit to the beautiful Capitol Theatre.
I took a color snapshot of the Capitol marquee advertising the movie, and which I hope to post here, when I learn how to do it, for all to see.
JoeB.
The Capitol was indeed a beautiful theater. I remember seeing “ALEXANDER THE GREAT"there. staring Richard Burton and Fredric March.
Minor correction… My Mom saw HTWWW sometime in 1963 at the Capitol (called the Loews Cinerama for this engagement). I double checked with her on the date (I just assumed 1962) after I saw the copyright on the souvenir booklet dated 1963. The last pages of the booklet are devoted to clippings from rave reviews in the British press after the film’s London premier in late ‘62.
Please check out the images I posted from my Mom’s “Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” souvenir booklet she picked up at that film’s roadshow engagement at the old Warner Cinerama (nee Strand). I also posted from an old RCMH souvenir booklet (mine, not my Mom’s) on the Radio City Music Hall site.
My Mom saw “How The West Was Won” here in 1962 and purchased the hard-cover souvenir booklet on sale in the lobby. The hard cover is now gone, but I have the rest of the booklet and snapped a few images to share here:
Title page
What is Cinerama?
Cinerama diagram close up
There’s more to the book (cast photos, credits, behind-the-scenes information and other MGM hyperbole) but I thought the Cinerama description was the most interesting aspect to post.
Bryan: I couldn’t view the 1962 auditorium photo posted on 12/04/03.
Sheesh! A 71 piece orchestra! I’m not expert in the field but are Philharmonic orchestras much larger than that?!?
The Capitol’s first orchestra was led by Erno Rapeé (1891-1945), who was also a noted film composer. He had just finished tenure at the Rivoli and later went on to conduct the Radio City Music Hall orchestra. The breakdown of the Capitol original orchestra was:
16 First Violins, 10 Seconds, 8 Violas, 7 Cellos, 6 Basses, 2 Flutes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 4 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, 1 Tuba, 3 Drummers, 2 Oboes and 1 Harp.
Thanks, Ed. I checked out my favorite Cinema Treasures picture, of the Capitol playing “2001” in 1968, and the vents in the sidewalk near the curb are the only things remaining from those days.
Here’s a shot of the Paramount Plaza (nee Uris) office building that replaced the Capitol Theater back in ‘68. Unfortunately for me, the Mars 2112 theme restaurant that occupies the northern end of the building’s sunken plaza is one of my daughter’s favorite places to eat in Manhattan.
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The Winter Garden Theater is directly across the street.
The wall was on W 50, at the rear of the stage.
The photo caption said rear, but I suppose it could be a wall facing on 50th Street. It could not be 51st Street because the arrow would be facing towards Eighth Avenue and away from the theatre.
Actually, judging from the photo and the arrow pointing around the corner, I should think it was on West 50th street. So when you walked in through the lobby, the theater was to the left?
Was that billboard on West 51st? And was that the rear stage wall? I’m not familiar with how the theater was situated on the block.
Warren— a great pic. “All the show on the screen”! What a way of directing attention from the vacant stage. Since the film opened on 25 Oct. ‘35, the shot would have been taken around that time.
There’s a terrific split-second shot of that billboard in “On the Town” as the boys exit from the IRT subway, but it passes so quickly that I’ve never been able to catch the titles advertised. When production of “Town” began on 28 March ‘49, the Capitol was featuring George Raft in “Outpost in Morocco” with Gordon Jenkins and a “Company of 52” on stage. Two weeks later the Capitol’s Easter show brought in those great B'klyn icons, Thelma Ritter and young Tony Curtis in “City Across the River” with Art Mooney and Orchestra on stage. Next time you see it, keep an eye peeled to catch whether it’s either. Meanwhile, Gene and Frank were holding down Loew’s State with Esther Williams in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” for eight weeks beginning March 10. Nice timing for Kelly.
Here’s a rare view of the Capitol’s rear billboard, snapped soon after the theatre dropped stage shows and ran films only, a policy that lasted for eight years (1935-43):
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I have never heard of this Van Heflin film before
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Warren—
That’s a great front cover for the “Guys and Dolls†program. But its rear cover is atrocious. Who decided to use a monochrome still from the brawl in a Havana bar? Here it is:
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Page 3 offers a few more flattering shots:
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And p. 10 assures us that Brando performed his own singing:
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In one staggering leap, it just hit me that I picked up this program at the Capitol almost exactly fifty years ago on a cold mid-December Saturday afternoon. It proved yet another occasion to use guest passes proffered by a family friend who had worked in the corporate offices at Loew’s State. Only now I was a high-school Freshman with down on my upper lip and slowly descending sideburns, and it was getting to be pretty embarrassing to accompany my folks to the Capitol for an MGM tune fest.
It might have pained less if we had taken in a war movie or some action romp. But I just couldn’t face the guys in the cafeteria and say that I had seen a musical with my parents, even if it offered a mock strip-tease with “Take Back Your Mink.†As it turned out, I would share just one more family trip to the Capitol, and that took place the following summer with “War and Peace†(now that was a war movie, so I could hold my head high with the lip I’d already shaved once). After that, I was on my own when it came to attending first-ruin movies. Meanwhile, at Easter “Guys and Dolls†had hit the Loew’s nabes after playing at the Capitol for almost three-and-a-half months as Warren has mentioned. On Good Friday I went to see it again, this time with a friend, at Loew’s Kameo on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. We nearly got thrown out of the house for our wisecracks, exactly as Damon Runyon and Joseph Mankiewicz would have wanted it to be.
Here’s the front cover of the souvenir program for “Guys and Dolls,” which sold at the Capitol for a whopping 50 cents per copy. Despite mixed reviews, “Guys and Dolls” ran for nearly 3.5 months at the Capitol, starting on November 3, 1955 with a gala charity premere for the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. The booking was exclusive for the NYC area, but performances were “grind” due to the Capitol’s then 4,448-seating capacity, which was considered too large for a roadshow policy:
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I like how the ad for “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” tells us that the movie is “after Stephen Vincent Benet”. Seems like moviegoers were more cultured back then, or just plain smarter.
I like how the ad for “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” tells us that the movie is “after Stephen Vincent Benet”. Seems like moviegoers more cultured back then, or just plain smarter.
As Percy would say “That’s a dandy, maw!”
An all-time low? The Kettle series was VERY popular with audiences at that time. In fact, they’ve been released to entertain new generations in DVD box sets.
And Percy Kilbride on stage to boot? That was a show not to miss!
In May, 1951, the Capitol hit one of its all-time lows with the NYC premiere engagement of “Ma & Pa Kettle Back on the Farm.” The stage show was headed by one of the film’s stars, Percy Kilbride, who did a comic mind-reading act. Also on the bill were singer Kitty Kallen and Frankie Carle & His Orchestra.
There is some early 30’s MGM Joan Crawford film with George Montgomery I believe where an unwanted suitor keeps trying to get Joan to see the new million dollar picture at the Capitol. Anybody know which film this is?