Re-posted from Vito’s post today on the Loew’s State page:
Nov. 10th: On this date in 1953 the second picture released in CinemaScope opened simultaneously at the Loew’s State and Brandt’s Globe.
I believe “How to Marry a Millionaire” was actually the first movie filmed in Scope but Zanuck in his wisdom decided to release “The Robe” first to introduce the miracle you see without glasses.
Newspapers still give out a lot of free space in their feature pages — stills from movies and shows, listings of what’s hot or noteworthy, featurettes, etc. Apparently the Times was sold on the idea that a theatrical release of the restored Metropolis on the big Ziegfeld screen was newsworthy, and with a little more effort on Clearview’s part I’m sure the other papers would have made the same judgment. I wonder if they were even approached.
Speak for yourself! I try to read all three but I can’t afford the Times right now ($2.00 per day!) Since the News and Post have a combined local/metropolitan total much higher than the Times, even a few dozen or few hundred more patrons led to the Ziegfeld by a little ballyhoo in the tabs could have made a difference.
There was no promotion at all for for Metropolis in either the Daily News or the Post — no paid ad and no blurb in the “Goings On” sections. I didn’t see the Times so I don’t know if they covered it, but promoters have to realize that movie lovers also read the News and the Post, and not just the high-brow Times.
The Harris? Is there a theater behind that front wall? I think you mean the Lyric and Apollo, which kept the 42nd and 43rd Street facades and many architectural ornamentation, but lost their roofs and everything else and were gutted to the ground; a brand-new theater was constructed on the site, much as the Miller was.
The Selwyn? That was truly a renovation, since the auditorium is intact and was extensively renovated back to its original look. The lobby did collapse during construction and was rebuilt.
I’m not familiar with the New Yorker. Care to elaborate?
Wow, those photos bring back some memories I, too, only knew this theater after it was triplexed, and that balcony rake was so steep it was dizzying. But when it wasn’t crowded, it was perfect to hang your feet over into the row below.
I think the problem is that the managers here don’t know about curtains or have any experience with them — they are rotated from houses that don’t have curtains and never did have curtains, so their perception is that a blank screen is the norm.
And the union projectionists — God bless ‘em — may know from curtains, but if the managers are not bugging them to use the curtains, then why should they bother.
In high school I was an usher at the local theater, (the Larkfield /theaters/13570/)) and our smoking section was in the loge (balcony.) So I used to come up quietly behind smokers in the orchestra section and tap them on the shoulder saying “Smoking’s in the balcony only.” More than one patron was very startled by my sudden appearance. I can only imagine that during Psycho they might have jumped out of their skins, but this movie was a couple of decades before my time.
That’s a great 4-star review. The reviewer Wanda Hale hits all the right notes without giving away an ounce of the plot. How exciting to have gone into this movie not knowing too much about it – what chills and thrill await within.
“Theatre was first twinned upstairs/downstairs. Then the downstairs was split left/right. The last 4 houses were in the basement” per post from 12/26/02.
Article in today’s Newsday: The site was sold to Lowe’s hardware and the theaters will close and be torn down in a year or so; no replacement is planned by National Amusements, which is using the proceeds to reduce some of their debt.
Doris Eaton Travis, the Last of the Ziegfeld Girls, Dead at 106
Doris Eaton Travis, the former Ziegfeld Follies dancer who inspired 21st century audiences with her pluck, good will “ and fancy footwork ” at 12 of 13 annual Easter Bonnet Competition performances for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, died May 11 at the age of 106, according to Tom Viola, executive director of BC/EFA.
She was 106 and was thought to be “the last of the Ziegfeld Girls” “ the bejeweled ensemble of women who graced the stage of the New Amsterdam Theatre (and elsewhere) in producer Flo Ziegfeld’s revues in the first quarter of the 20th century.
She wowed a 1998 audience when she appeared with four other graying Ziegfeld veterans in the first Easter Bonnet fundraiser at the restored New Amsterdam on West 42nd Street, where she had performed 80 years earlier.
Ms. Travis' most recent East Bonnet appearance was April 26-27 at the Minskoff Theatre. The crowd, once again, went wild.
“She was truly our good luck charm,” Viola told Playbill.com. “In 1998, at 94, she was in incredible shape ” in amazing shape. We brought her back every year, and she would dance in the opening number. She taught Sutton Foster how to dance ‘The Black Bottom,’ she danced with the ‘Cagelles’ from the previous revival, we celebrated her 100th birthday on stage, she appeared with the cast of Billy Elliot"
Ms. Travis had lived recently with her nephew Joe Eaton and his wife outside of Chicago. She previously lived in Norman, OK, where she ran a horse ranch with her husband for 40 years.
Viola told Playbill.com that she took ill Sunday and was taken to the hospital to be rehydrated and was released, but was brought back to the hospital on May 11. She was reportedly talkative in the car, then chatting with the nurses about being a Ziegfeld girl and having just returned from the Bonnet Competition in New York City.
She slipped away quietly, without incident, at the hospital. Viola said, “I’ll bet the sound of the extraordinary ovation she received on stage at the Minskoff just two weeks ago today was ringing in her ears.”
Ms. Travis took her first step on Broadway in the 1917 play Mother Carey’s Chickens, and took her last bow April 27, during the opening number of the 2010 Easter Bonnet show. She rode onstage in a giant Easter basket, giving the initial impression that she could no longer walk. But Ms. Travis brought the audience to its feet when she rose to her own feet and took center stage. Steadied by two shirtless young male dancers, she executed a kick or two and thanked the audience for the love they had shown her over the 12 years of her appearances at the Bonnet event. She then headed into the wings under her own power.
One more
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Another shot
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Photo of workers removing marquee.
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I heard the local news is reporting that the old marquee is down and the one is going up. Any additional info and photos is appreciated.
Re-posted from Vito’s post today on the Loew’s State page:
Nov. 10th: On this date in 1953 the second picture released in CinemaScope opened simultaneously at the Loew’s State and Brandt’s Globe.
I believe “How to Marry a Millionaire” was actually the first movie filmed in Scope but Zanuck in his wisdom decided to release “The Robe” first to introduce the miracle you see without glasses.
View link
Any photos of the work-in-progress of replacing the current marquee?
But they need to make their own effort for specialized product like Metropolis.
Newspapers still give out a lot of free space in their feature pages — stills from movies and shows, listings of what’s hot or noteworthy, featurettes, etc. Apparently the Times was sold on the idea that a theatrical release of the restored Metropolis on the big Ziegfeld screen was newsworthy, and with a little more effort on Clearview’s part I’m sure the other papers would have made the same judgment. I wonder if they were even approached.
Speak for yourself! I try to read all three but I can’t afford the Times right now ($2.00 per day!) Since the News and Post have a combined local/metropolitan total much higher than the Times, even a few dozen or few hundred more patrons led to the Ziegfeld by a little ballyhoo in the tabs could have made a difference.
There was no promotion at all for for Metropolis in either the Daily News or the Post — no paid ad and no blurb in the “Goings On” sections. I didn’t see the Times so I don’t know if they covered it, but promoters have to realize that movie lovers also read the News and the Post, and not just the high-brow Times.
Nice shot above on Oct. 11, 2010.
The Harris? Is there a theater behind that front wall? I think you mean the Lyric and Apollo, which kept the 42nd and 43rd Street facades and many architectural ornamentation, but lost their roofs and everything else and were gutted to the ground; a brand-new theater was constructed on the site, much as the Miller was.
The Selwyn? That was truly a renovation, since the auditorium is intact and was extensively renovated back to its original look. The lobby did collapse during construction and was rebuilt.
I’m not familiar with the New Yorker. Care to elaborate?
Wow, those photos bring back some memories I, too, only knew this theater after it was triplexed, and that balcony rake was so steep it was dizzying. But when it wasn’t crowded, it was perfect to hang your feet over into the row below.
I think the problem is that the managers here don’t know about curtains or have any experience with them — they are rotated from houses that don’t have curtains and never did have curtains, so their perception is that a blank screen is the norm.
And the union projectionists — God bless ‘em — may know from curtains, but if the managers are not bugging them to use the curtains, then why should they bother.
Nice profile of this theater (and of the Roxy /theaters/6618/)) on tonight’s NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.
Nice proile of this theater (and the Rockford /theaters/8314/)) on tonight’s NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.
Sinatra and Abbott & Costello on the same bill. Now that’s entertainment, folks.
In high school I was an usher at the local theater, (the Larkfield /theaters/13570/)) and our smoking section was in the loge (balcony.) So I used to come up quietly behind smokers in the orchestra section and tap them on the shoulder saying “Smoking’s in the balcony only.” More than one patron was very startled by my sudden appearance. I can only imagine that during Psycho they might have jumped out of their skins, but this movie was a couple of decades before my time.
That’s a great 4-star review. The reviewer Wanda Hale hits all the right notes without giving away an ounce of the plot. How exciting to have gone into this movie not knowing too much about it – what chills and thrill await within.
“Theatre was first twinned upstairs/downstairs. Then the downstairs was split left/right. The last 4 houses were in the basement” per post from 12/26/02.
Maybe the art houses of the time thought that “curtain at 8:40” made their presentations seem more like a theatrical event than just another movie.
This is where I get to say that the 1.85:1 image is bigger than the 2.39:1.
Article in today’s Newsday: The site was sold to Lowe’s hardware and the theaters will close and be torn down in a year or so; no replacement is planned by National Amusements, which is using the proceeds to reduce some of their debt.
From playbill.com
Doris Eaton Travis, the Last of the Ziegfeld Girls, Dead at 106
Doris Eaton Travis, the former Ziegfeld Follies dancer who inspired 21st century audiences with her pluck, good will “ and fancy footwork ” at 12 of 13 annual Easter Bonnet Competition performances for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, died May 11 at the age of 106, according to Tom Viola, executive director of BC/EFA.
She was 106 and was thought to be “the last of the Ziegfeld Girls” “ the bejeweled ensemble of women who graced the stage of the New Amsterdam Theatre (and elsewhere) in producer Flo Ziegfeld’s revues in the first quarter of the 20th century.
She wowed a 1998 audience when she appeared with four other graying Ziegfeld veterans in the first Easter Bonnet fundraiser at the restored New Amsterdam on West 42nd Street, where she had performed 80 years earlier.
Ms. Travis' most recent East Bonnet appearance was April 26-27 at the Minskoff Theatre. The crowd, once again, went wild.
“She was truly our good luck charm,” Viola told Playbill.com. “In 1998, at 94, she was in incredible shape ” in amazing shape. We brought her back every year, and she would dance in the opening number. She taught Sutton Foster how to dance ‘The Black Bottom,’ she danced with the ‘Cagelles’ from the previous revival, we celebrated her 100th birthday on stage, she appeared with the cast of Billy Elliot"
Ms. Travis had lived recently with her nephew Joe Eaton and his wife outside of Chicago. She previously lived in Norman, OK, where she ran a horse ranch with her husband for 40 years.
Viola told Playbill.com that she took ill Sunday and was taken to the hospital to be rehydrated and was released, but was brought back to the hospital on May 11. She was reportedly talkative in the car, then chatting with the nurses about being a Ziegfeld girl and having just returned from the Bonnet Competition in New York City.
She slipped away quietly, without incident, at the hospital. Viola said, “I’ll bet the sound of the extraordinary ovation she received on stage at the Minskoff just two weeks ago today was ringing in her ears.”
Ms. Travis took her first step on Broadway in the 1917 play Mother Carey’s Chickens, and took her last bow April 27, during the opening number of the 2010 Easter Bonnet show. She rode onstage in a giant Easter basket, giving the initial impression that she could no longer walk. But Ms. Travis brought the audience to its feet when she rose to her own feet and took center stage. Steadied by two shirtless young male dancers, she executed a kick or two and thanked the audience for the love they had shown her over the 12 years of her appearances at the Bonnet event. She then headed into the wings under her own power.
I would love to see the Mark Hellinger (born the Hollywood movie theater in 1930)return to showing movies. That’d be a blast.