What an interesting life he seems to have led. Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times obituary:
Cyrus I. Harvey, a quirky entrepreneur who created two significant brands in disparate fields â€" Janus Films, a distributor of movies by international directors like Bergman, Fellini and Kurosawa, and Crabtree & Evelyn, the purveyor of aromatic soaps and botanicals â€" died Thursday in Dayville, Conn. He was 85 and lived in Woodstock, Conn.
Janus Films, founded in 1956, grew from his part ownership of the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, Mass., which he and a partner, the actor Bryant Haliday, had transformed from a live-theater venue to a movie house that showed the art films Mr. Harvey had grown to love as a Fulbright scholar in Paris.
Mr. Harvey and Mr. Haliday showed Janus films at the Brattle and at the 55th Street Playhouse in New York. They had named the company for a Roman god usually depicted with two heads facing in different directions.
What an interesting life he seems to have led. Here’s the lead paragraph of the Times obituary:
Cyrus I. Harvey, a quirky entrepreneur who created two significant brands in disparate fields â€" Janus Films, a distributor of movies by international directors like Bergman, Fellini and Kurosawa, and Crabtree & Evelyn, the purveyor of aromatic soaps and botanicals â€" died Thursday in Dayville, Conn. He was 85 and lived in Woodstock, Conn.
And hee’s the mention of the Brattle theater and 55th Street Playhouse:
Janus Films, founded in 1956, grew from his part ownership of the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, Mass., which he and a partner, the actor Bryant Haliday, had transformed from a live-theater venue to a movie house that showed the art films Mr. Harvey had grown to love as a Fulbright scholar in Paris.
Mr. Harvey and Mr. Haliday showed Janus films at the Brattle and at the 55th Street Playhouse in New York. They had named the company for a Roman god usually depicted with two heads facing in different directions.
What’s playing at the Roxy?
I’ll tell you what’s playing at the Roxy.
A picture about a Minnesota man falls in love with a Mississippi girl
That he sacrifices everything and moves all the way to Biloxi.
That’s what’s playing at the Roxy.
What’s in the Daily News?
I’ll tell you what’s in the Daily News.
Story about a man bought his wife a small ruby
With what otherwise would have been his union dues.
That’s what’s in the Daily News.
What’s happening all over?
I’ll tell you what’s happening all over.
Guy sitting home by a television set
That used to be something of a rover.
Warren’s links posted on May 16, 2008 are still working and are worth checking out. (Where is he, anyway? I miss him.)
I recently saw It Should Happen to You on TCM, starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, and I noticed the “International” theater’s marquee said it was an NBC television studio.
I believe the big billboard that she puts her name on is the one directly to the right of the theater, which billboard is noticable in all the exterior shots posted here.
Chuck1231, could you re-post the Dr. Zhivago picture you added on April 10, 2005? Right now in order to see it one has to log into your photobucket account.
I am happy to report that I saw movies at every one of the those theaters between 1975 and their closings. Except the Pix, which I may have visited during its incarnation as Peep-O-Rama, but that business may have only used the lobby and not the main auditorium.
So, St. Vincent’s buys the theater, tears it down and never builds anything, leaving a vacant lot. 40 years later St. Vincent’s is out of business. Karma is a bitch. Fuck them.
A long-shuttered 85-year-old Coney Island theater that once hosted Al Jolson will be preserved as part of the city’s amusement-district revamp.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday unanimously approved designating the 2,500-seat, seven-story Coney Island Theatre building on Surf Avenue — renamed the “Shore Theater” in 1964 — a city landmark.
Great news, Craig. I hope you can get some good promotion going — articles in the local papers, advertising at the Chelsea, etc., to make this one a big success.
Excerpt from NY Times review published July 28, 1949:
Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, who merged their talents as producer and director to scare the daylights out of movie-goers with the fabulous “King Kong” (1933), have fashioned another fantastic show in “Mighty Joe Young.” But in the new picture, which was presented yesterday at the Criterion, the producers are endeavoring to make all the world love, or at the very least feel a deep sympathy for, their monstrous, mechanical gorilla.
Ed, where’ve you been? It’s nice to see your name all over the threads again.
What an interesting life he seems to have led. Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times obituary:
Cyrus I. Harvey, a quirky entrepreneur who created two significant brands in disparate fields â€" Janus Films, a distributor of movies by international directors like Bergman, Fellini and Kurosawa, and Crabtree & Evelyn, the purveyor of aromatic soaps and botanicals â€" died Thursday in Dayville, Conn. He was 85 and lived in Woodstock, Conn.
Janus Films, founded in 1956, grew from his part ownership of the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, Mass., which he and a partner, the actor Bryant Haliday, had transformed from a live-theater venue to a movie house that showed the art films Mr. Harvey had grown to love as a Fulbright scholar in Paris.
“Instead of spending two years at the Sorbonne, he spent two years at the cinémathèque,†his wife said.
Mr. Harvey and Mr. Haliday showed Janus films at the Brattle and at the 55th Street Playhouse in New York. They had named the company for a Roman god usually depicted with two heads facing in different directions.
What an interesting life he seems to have led. Here’s the lead paragraph of the Times obituary:
Cyrus I. Harvey, a quirky entrepreneur who created two significant brands in disparate fields â€" Janus Films, a distributor of movies by international directors like Bergman, Fellini and Kurosawa, and Crabtree & Evelyn, the purveyor of aromatic soaps and botanicals â€" died Thursday in Dayville, Conn. He was 85 and lived in Woodstock, Conn.
And hee’s the mention of the Brattle theater and 55th Street Playhouse:
Janus Films, founded in 1956, grew from his part ownership of the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, Mass., which he and a partner, the actor Bryant Haliday, had transformed from a live-theater venue to a movie house that showed the art films Mr. Harvey had grown to love as a Fulbright scholar in Paris.
“Instead of spending two years at the Sorbonne, he spent two years at the cinémathèque,†his wife said.
Mr. Harvey and Mr. Haliday showed Janus films at the Brattle and at the 55th Street Playhouse in New York. They had named the company for a Roman god usually depicted with two heads facing in different directions.
Nice page and cool links!
Here is a shot I hadn’t seen before, which I found on someone’s flickr acount.
View link
It’s nice to see a little action on a thread other than the usual suspects.
Techman, I hope this helps:
What’s playing at the Roxy?
I’ll tell you what’s playing at the Roxy.
A picture about a Minnesota man falls in love with a Mississippi girl
That he sacrifices everything and moves all the way to Biloxi.
That’s what’s playing at the Roxy.
What’s in the Daily News?
I’ll tell you what’s in the Daily News.
Story about a man bought his wife a small ruby
With what otherwise would have been his union dues.
That’s what’s in the Daily News.
What’s happening all over?
I’ll tell you what’s happening all over.
Guy sitting home by a television set
That used to be something of a rover.
That’s what’s happening all over.
(Or so sayeth Frank Loesser!)
And how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Warren’s links posted on May 16, 2008 are still working and are worth checking out. (Where is he, anyway? I miss him.)
I recently saw It Should Happen to You on TCM, starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, and I noticed the “International” theater’s marquee said it was an NBC television studio.
I believe the big billboard that she puts her name on is the one directly to the right of the theater, which billboard is noticable in all the exterior shots posted here.
Chuck1231, could you re-post the Dr. Zhivago picture you added on April 10, 2005? Right now in order to see it one has to log into your photobucket account.
Brad, you have an amazing collection of fascinating theater marquees. Thank goodness Barto and Mann so thoroughly documented their appearances.
Um, that should have been provided, not proved!
Nice image of the Underwater wrap-around ad, lifted from three posts above proved by hdtv267.
http://media.oldmovieexhibition.com/bnr.jpg
The Laffmovie was the Empire, right?
I am happy to report that I saw movies at every one of the those theaters between 1975 and their closings. Except the Pix, which I may have visited during its incarnation as Peep-O-Rama, but that business may have only used the lobby and not the main auditorium.
I’d love to see one of the Times' ads, especially near the beginning of the run.
>>but when vaudeville died out the Palace seemed to switch back and forth between film and legit stage shows…
Not exactly correct.
So, St. Vincent’s buys the theater, tears it down and never builds anything, leaving a vacant lot. 40 years later St. Vincent’s is out of business. Karma is a bitch. Fuck them.
Can you post the ad that you got that info from, Tinseltoes?
Per New York Post 12/16/10
Coney theater landmarked
A long-shuttered 85-year-old Coney Island theater that once hosted Al Jolson will be preserved as part of the city’s amusement-district revamp.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday unanimously approved designating the 2,500-seat, seven-story Coney Island Theatre building on Surf Avenue — renamed the “Shore Theater” in 1964 — a city landmark.
View link
Or orchestra/balcony?
The image will be the same size, although not quite as sharp.
But I’ll take it, anyway.
Great news, Craig. I hope you can get some good promotion going — articles in the local papers, advertising at the Chelsea, etc., to make this one a big success.
Excerpt from NY Times review published July 28, 1949:
Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, who merged their talents as producer and director to scare the daylights out of movie-goers with the fabulous “King Kong” (1933), have fashioned another fantastic show in “Mighty Joe Young.” But in the new picture, which was presented yesterday at the Criterion, the producers are endeavoring to make all the world love, or at the very least feel a deep sympathy for, their monstrous, mechanical gorilla.
My uncle lives in this town but I don’t know if he ever went to this theater.