Silk Stockings contains some of Astaires and Charisse’s best dancing so to have seen that at the Music Hall in cinemascope and stereo-well it must have been great.
Does anybody know if North by Northwest played there in stereo?
Concerning sound, when I saw Singin in the Rain there in ‘75 they utilizzed some sort of fake stereo and while I usually hate that sort of thing it was beautifully done. Those wonderful MGM arrangements came through with such clarity and impact and the movie has never sounded as good since.
I also remember the sound for the musical numbers of Scrooge being very good especially in the finale scene where one had a sense of surround sound as the various musical factions converged(this is what I believe happened as I haven’t seen the film since '70.)
I do remember those films playing at the Hall however at that point I had seen so many bad movies there that I couldn’t stomach any more. It was just one dog(or kangaroo) after another. There was an Easter movie called Mr. Billion that they had to pull after a couple of weeks and stick in a Disney film about mining ponies which I think I saw a part of. I also took no pleasure in the minimalist stage shows which took place on a bare stage containing only a few people. They themselves looked pretty embarassed.
The only nice thing was that for the price of a movie ticket you could actually enter the place and spend some time there.
When I saw 7 Brides at the Music Hall in the late 70’s the cinemascope screen seemed wider than any panavision or 70MM film I had ever seen there(and no seams.) It was great except for the Ansco color. Could I have been mistaken?
Also weren’t the MGM musicals such as Brigadoon at this point in ‘54 presented in stereo at the Hall?
I worked as a front lobby doorman at the Music Hall during The Blue Bird.The only patrons the Music Hall had in the evening by this time were high school spring trips to New York. After sightseeing during the day they would come to the Music Hall at night. During this film the patrons would exit the auditorium in droves and hang out in the lobby until the stage show started(I never was able to sit through the entire film myself.)The stage show itself was pretty bad and its amazing the Music Hall was still able to limp along for another year or two as the only people going there were the few desperate tourists still going to New York in the latter 70’s. A very sad time which as far as the Music Hall and Rockefeller Center were concerned only got worse(unless of course you like watching basketball games in theaters and like shopping at Banana Republic.)
Box Office Bill on the Rivoli site talks about some of the climactic dramatic moments in film that were shown in Magnascope at the Music Hall. I was wondering if anyone who was going to the Music Hall in the late forties early fities could tell us if the big musical climactic moments were shown that way as well. For example the Varsity Drag from Good News, The American in Paris ballet from same film and the Broadway Melody from Singin In the Rain.
I assume that the members of the American Cinemateque had no interest in the Egyption as a theater but simply as a facility. They ok’d the plans of the architect fully knowing their philosophy and then proceeded to fund accordingly. I am glad that Will brings up the IM Pei pyramid at the Louvre. A beautiful structure in and of itself but a disaster in its positioning. Of course the French will say “But that is the point.” To which I respond that the Parisians are doing to Paris architecturally in a fit of anti western guilt what the germans wanted to do to it during WW 2.
I would have loved to have seen Paris before the pyramid, the Tour Montparnasse and La Defense.
Before I go on about this there must be someone from the American Cinemateque who reads this site. Please explain why you would have done this to Sid Grauman’s Egyption.
Maybe you would consider a position producing Wagner in Europe?
It was very frustrating during the 70’s and 80’s seeing two beautiful NY buildings like the Criterion and the Rivoli being so badly utilized while the comparatively worthless Astor Plaza and Ziegfeld were treated like jewels. For some reason when the 60’s became the 70’s both these theaters became undesirable dumping grounds but they were exactly as they were in the 60’s when they were the most desirable bookings in NY. Is it simply location? The destruction of the Astor Hotel was the worst thing to happen to Times Square and it has never recovered(unless of course you consider a New Jersey by way of Tokyo shopping mall an improvement.)
In the early 70’s when it played family fare I remember the Guild would get the spillover of the holiday crowds from Radio City. Yes, the Music Hall still had lines in the very early 70’s for their holiday shows. Kind of like what I heard about the 50’s. If the lines at the Music Hall were very long people would go to the Roxy instead. Imagine having such a choice!
Jim, I have the impression from others on this site that there have been restorations in other cinemas in LA that have been done with great sensitivity and respect for the original architecture and design. I assume these as well needed to conform to contemporary structural requirements.
Perhaps your final paragraph brings us closer to what was going on. White guilt is very much the rage these days. Condescension and disdain for so much of western culture is a badge that many people wear very proudly. When charges of elitism are made rest assured that the accusers are often the worst offenders.
Star opened as the fall ‘68 movie at the Rivoli. Does anyone have memories of seeing it there and what the audience reaction was? Did they like it any better than the critics? Did Andrews show up at the premiere or did she skip it like she did the London premiere(supposedly at the behest of a once talented husband who then went on to ruin her career for two decades.)
Warren and Vito,
We are probably the only 3 people on the face of the planet who know or care that King Kong opened at the new Roxy and not the old Roxy. As New York compulsively destroys its history and diminishes its quality of life out of monstrous greed(a Manhattan football stadium anyone?) you’ve got to admit this is nothing but arcane info with no relation to life as we know it. We’re talking about another civilization.
Theater fan,
For years I have been looking in vain for a book just like that. With all the NY photo books why hasn’t somebody done a book of all the billboards and marquees of Broadway and Times Square from the beginning of the century through the end of the ‘60s?
Seems like the glory days for the Criterion were from South Pacific to Funny Girl. Last time I was there when it was still intact was for Alien in ‘78. Went once again after it was cut in two and it broke my heart so I never went back.
Could never figure out why during the '70s it and the Rivoli got the exploitation junk and the twinned Loews State and Astor Plaza got the A Hollywood product especially when the former two in the '60s had been the top NY bookings.
Warren,
During the ‘60s the Demille along with the block long sign above the
Astor and the Victoria had the best NY movie billboards. They were sensational in 3 D and with moving parts(Unless I was delusional at 8 years old.) And the picture I’ve seen of the giant nude Jane Fonda! This should be in color in a coffee table book of the great Manattan movie signs and marquees. It was at the beginning of the '70s when they stopped using the billboard. The last movie I remember it being used for was Ginger. Then it was used for years for that boring Panasonic ad.
By the way folks. Looks like Toys R Us is going, going… Time to rebuild the Criterion.
Does anybody know where one can obtain color photos of the Demille wrap around sign from the 60’s when it was a roadshow house? From what I remember as a child it was pretty spectacular. The back of the Rivoli was very nice too and I wouldn’t mind seeing photos of that from the same time period as well. And while we’re at it how about the marquee of the Criterion. Remember the spinning Funny Girl logos that sat atop the corners?
Warren I went to the Walter Reade the other night and was put out by the fact that they weren’t using the curtain(is this permanent?) I think this was the last theater that used one. When I went to comment to the staff in the lobby they looked at me as if I was certifiable. I suppose if this bothers me maybe I am.
BOBill,
It seems very strange to me that the first presentation of Cinerama would be a float. I would think that they would have wanted the curtains to open on a normal size screen and then on the words This is Cinerama to open on an ever widening screen. To launch such a project this would be the only possible way.
I am sure that there are people from the American Cinemateque who read this page. Could you give us the name of the perpetrators?
Who in the world would want to bring an urban environment into the Egyption? AC please explain this to us.
How do these people get a ton of money for work that rots before your very eyes?
They should be in Europe where the regular disfiguring and trashing of great works is considered a noble cause.
Warren, when the Strand, the Criterion and the Rivoli all came down at about the same time there wasn’t even a murmur and I was so sick I’ve hardly been to Times Square since. Paul Goldberg(?)the architecture critic of the NY Times called it exhilarating and I can’t write what I wanted done to him.
There is in The Great Gatsby an afternoon when the characters decide to take their cars into the city and they talk about going to one of the air-conditioned theaters(unnamed) at around 50th street and it thrilled me to know at the time I read it that two of those theaters about which Fitzgerald wrote were still standing-the Strand and Rivoli. The Roxy hadn’t been built yet.
Silk Stockings contains some of Astaires and Charisse’s best dancing so to have seen that at the Music Hall in cinemascope and stereo-well it must have been great.
Does anybody know if North by Northwest played there in stereo?
Concerning sound, when I saw Singin in the Rain there in ‘75 they utilizzed some sort of fake stereo and while I usually hate that sort of thing it was beautifully done. Those wonderful MGM arrangements came through with such clarity and impact and the movie has never sounded as good since.
I also remember the sound for the musical numbers of Scrooge being very good especially in the finale scene where one had a sense of surround sound as the various musical factions converged(this is what I believe happened as I haven’t seen the film since '70.)
I do remember those films playing at the Hall however at that point I had seen so many bad movies there that I couldn’t stomach any more. It was just one dog(or kangaroo) after another. There was an Easter movie called Mr. Billion that they had to pull after a couple of weeks and stick in a Disney film about mining ponies which I think I saw a part of. I also took no pleasure in the minimalist stage shows which took place on a bare stage containing only a few people. They themselves looked pretty embarassed.
The only nice thing was that for the price of a movie ticket you could actually enter the place and spend some time there.
When I saw 7 Brides at the Music Hall in the late 70’s the cinemascope screen seemed wider than any panavision or 70MM film I had ever seen there(and no seams.) It was great except for the Ansco color. Could I have been mistaken?
Also weren’t the MGM musicals such as Brigadoon at this point in ‘54 presented in stereo at the Hall?
I worked as a front lobby doorman at the Music Hall during The Blue Bird.The only patrons the Music Hall had in the evening by this time were high school spring trips to New York. After sightseeing during the day they would come to the Music Hall at night. During this film the patrons would exit the auditorium in droves and hang out in the lobby until the stage show started(I never was able to sit through the entire film myself.)The stage show itself was pretty bad and its amazing the Music Hall was still able to limp along for another year or two as the only people going there were the few desperate tourists still going to New York in the latter 70’s. A very sad time which as far as the Music Hall and Rockefeller Center were concerned only got worse(unless of course you like watching basketball games in theaters and like shopping at Banana Republic.)
I thought that Magnascope was simply an enlarged screen. Was there cropping involved? And how much?
Box Office Bill on the Rivoli site talks about some of the climactic dramatic moments in film that were shown in Magnascope at the Music Hall. I was wondering if anyone who was going to the Music Hall in the late forties early fities could tell us if the big musical climactic moments were shown that way as well. For example the Varsity Drag from Good News, The American in Paris ballet from same film and the Broadway Melody from Singin In the Rain.
I assume that the members of the American Cinemateque had no interest in the Egyption as a theater but simply as a facility. They ok’d the plans of the architect fully knowing their philosophy and then proceeded to fund accordingly. I am glad that Will brings up the IM Pei pyramid at the Louvre. A beautiful structure in and of itself but a disaster in its positioning. Of course the French will say “But that is the point.” To which I respond that the Parisians are doing to Paris architecturally in a fit of anti western guilt what the germans wanted to do to it during WW 2.
I would have loved to have seen Paris before the pyramid, the Tour Montparnasse and La Defense.
Before I go on about this there must be someone from the American Cinemateque who reads this site. Please explain why you would have done this to Sid Grauman’s Egyption.
Maybe you would consider a position producing Wagner in Europe?
It was very frustrating during the 70’s and 80’s seeing two beautiful NY buildings like the Criterion and the Rivoli being so badly utilized while the comparatively worthless Astor Plaza and Ziegfeld were treated like jewels. For some reason when the 60’s became the 70’s both these theaters became undesirable dumping grounds but they were exactly as they were in the 60’s when they were the most desirable bookings in NY. Is it simply location? The destruction of the Astor Hotel was the worst thing to happen to Times Square and it has never recovered(unless of course you consider a New Jersey by way of Tokyo shopping mall an improvement.)
In the early 70’s when it played family fare I remember the Guild would get the spillover of the holiday crowds from Radio City. Yes, the Music Hall still had lines in the very early 70’s for their holiday shows. Kind of like what I heard about the 50’s. If the lines at the Music Hall were very long people would go to the Roxy instead. Imagine having such a choice!
Jim, I have the impression from others on this site that there have been restorations in other cinemas in LA that have been done with great sensitivity and respect for the original architecture and design. I assume these as well needed to conform to contemporary structural requirements.
Perhaps your final paragraph brings us closer to what was going on. White guilt is very much the rage these days. Condescension and disdain for so much of western culture is a badge that many people wear very proudly. When charges of elitism are made rest assured that the accusers are often the worst offenders.
Star opened as the fall ‘68 movie at the Rivoli. Does anyone have memories of seeing it there and what the audience reaction was? Did they like it any better than the critics? Did Andrews show up at the premiere or did she skip it like she did the London premiere(supposedly at the behest of a once talented husband who then went on to ruin her career for two decades.)
Warren and Vito,
We are probably the only 3 people on the face of the planet who know or care that King Kong opened at the new Roxy and not the old Roxy. As New York compulsively destroys its history and diminishes its quality of life out of monstrous greed(a Manhattan football stadium anyone?) you’ve got to admit this is nothing but arcane info with no relation to life as we know it. We’re talking about another civilization.
Theater fan,
For years I have been looking in vain for a book just like that. With all the NY photo books why hasn’t somebody done a book of all the billboards and marquees of Broadway and Times Square from the beginning of the century through the end of the ‘60s?
Seems like the glory days for the Criterion were from South Pacific to Funny Girl. Last time I was there when it was still intact was for Alien in ‘78. Went once again after it was cut in two and it broke my heart so I never went back.
Could never figure out why during the '70s it and the Rivoli got the exploitation junk and the twinned Loews State and Astor Plaza got the A Hollywood product especially when the former two in the '60s had been the top NY bookings.
Vito what roadshow engagements di you cover for?
Warren,
During the ‘60s the Demille along with the block long sign above the
Astor and the Victoria had the best NY movie billboards. They were sensational in 3 D and with moving parts(Unless I was delusional at 8 years old.) And the picture I’ve seen of the giant nude Jane Fonda! This should be in color in a coffee table book of the great Manattan movie signs and marquees. It was at the beginning of the '70s when they stopped using the billboard. The last movie I remember it being used for was Ginger. Then it was used for years for that boring Panasonic ad.
By the way folks. Looks like Toys R Us is going, going… Time to rebuild the Criterion.
Does anybody know where one can obtain color photos of the Demille wrap around sign from the 60’s when it was a roadshow house? From what I remember as a child it was pretty spectacular. The back of the Rivoli was very nice too and I wouldn’t mind seeing photos of that from the same time period as well. And while we’re at it how about the marquee of the Criterion. Remember the spinning Funny Girl logos that sat atop the corners?
Warren I went to the Walter Reade the other night and was put out by the fact that they weren’t using the curtain(is this permanent?) I think this was the last theater that used one. When I went to comment to the staff in the lobby they looked at me as if I was certifiable. I suppose if this bothers me maybe I am.
BOBill,
It seems very strange to me that the first presentation of Cinerama would be a float. I would think that they would have wanted the curtains to open on a normal size screen and then on the words This is Cinerama to open on an ever widening screen. To launch such a project this would be the only possible way.
If only we can see this reclaimed. It is the last movie theater in Times Square.
I am sure that there are people from the American Cinemateque who read this page. Could you give us the name of the perpetrators?
Who in the world would want to bring an urban environment into the Egyption? AC please explain this to us.
How do these people get a ton of money for work that rots before your very eyes?
They should be in Europe where the regular disfiguring and trashing of great works is considered a noble cause.
Do you mean when the theater opened? And could you give us the top 4?
You guys get yourselves over to the Loew’s Jersey and prepare to be really awed. The movies are better too.
Warren, when the Strand, the Criterion and the Rivoli all came down at about the same time there wasn’t even a murmur and I was so sick I’ve hardly been to Times Square since. Paul Goldberg(?)the architecture critic of the NY Times called it exhilarating and I can’t write what I wanted done to him.
There is in The Great Gatsby an afternoon when the characters decide to take their cars into the city and they talk about going to one of the air-conditioned theaters(unnamed) at around 50th street and it thrilled me to know at the time I read it that two of those theaters about which Fitzgerald wrote were still standing-the Strand and Rivoli. The Roxy hadn’t been built yet.
I thought the greatest theater ever was the Astor Plaza.