Comments from bigjoe59

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bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 27, 2011 at 1:59 pm

most grand movie theaters/palaces were built say 1913-1941. many unfortunately have been razed.likewise many still standing have
been boarded up or gutted for retail use. therefore i have this question- of all the grand movie theaters/palaces still standing
are there any that have never shown porn, never been a second run
or grind house, never been converted to a concert hall or
performing arts center,never been twined, tri-plexed or even
quaded but have stayed in more or less their original state and
as first run theaters from opening day? the only one in the
country i can think of is Grauman’s Chinese.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Loew's Capitol Theatre on Jan 25, 2011 at 4:05 pm

to Michael C. i apologize for the repetitive nature of my
questions. as you suggested i looked at the Grauman’s Chinese
page and the Cinerama Dome Page. i did find my answers. i will
be sure in the future to browse the comments section for each theater before i ask further questions.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about RKO Warner Twin Theatre on Jan 25, 2011 at 3:38 pm

i thank Tinseltoes for the advise on how to find all the
films that played the Strand/Warner on a roadshow engagement.
the advise was to search the NYT using ProQuest. what do i do?
type in “roadshow films at the Strand”? thanks in advance for
the additional info.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Loew's Capitol Theatre on Jan 24, 2011 at 4:51 pm

i thank Michael C. for the info. the sites were quite fascinating. but many roadshow films were not in 70MM or Cinerama. so i was
wondering how i could get as complete a list as possible of the
films which played the Loew’s State/Loew’s State 1 & 2 on
a roadshow engagement during the 1955-1972 period.. many thanks in advance.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Criterion Theatre on Jan 24, 2011 at 4:38 pm

hello to my fellow film buffs. i am doing my best to gather as
complete a list as possible of the roadshow films that played
at the seven theaters(Criterion,Loew’s State,RKO Palace,Demille,Warner,Rivoli,Loew’s Capitol in the Times Square area that the studios used for said policy. so would anyone have
a complete list of all the films that played at the Criterion on
a roadshow engagement during 1955-1972. many thanks in advance.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 24, 2011 at 4:14 pm

an interesting question recently popped into my head. during the
hayday as i call it of the roadshow film(1955-1972)how did studios
decide whether or not to release a film on a roadshow engagement?
was it the cost of the film? if it wasn’t that than what was the
deciding factor? take for instance “The Music Man” from 1962 and
“The Great Race” from 1965. both films most have cost a pretty
penny to produce yet their exclusive first run New York City
engagements were both at Radio City Music Hall. i can’t believe
that all seven theaters(Criterion,,Loew’s State,RKO Palace,Demille,
Warner, Rivoli, Loew’s Capitol)used for roadshow films were booked.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about RKO Warner Twin Theatre on Jan 24, 2011 at 4:03 pm

for me the hayday so to speak of the reserved seat or to use the
trade term roadshow film was from the 1955 release of “Oklahoma"
to the Dec. 1972 release of "Man of La Mancha”. is it possible to
get a list of the films that played the Warner on a roadshow
engagement during this period? many thanks in advance.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 23, 2011 at 12:40 pm

as always i thank my fellow movie buffs for replying to my
questions. i am aware that during the heyday of the studio’s use of the roadshow policy other movie or even stage theaters in Manhattan
were used its just that the most used theaters or the biggies shall we call them were-the Criterion, Loew’s State,RKO Palace, Demille,
Warner, Rivoli,Loew’s Capitol. for instance other than THE BLUE
MAX’s roadshow run at the Sutton “A Man for All Seasons” and “The
Trojan Women” had roadshow runs at the Fine Arts and “The Lion in
Winter” had its roadshow run at the Lincoln Art Theater.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 21, 2011 at 7:53 pm

as i stated in my last post when it closed as a movie theater
the Embassy ½/3 was not in the best shape. aside from the Palace
which first opened as a vaudeville house all the other great
movie houses used for roadshow films are gone.to which my question-
assuming the money was found of course is it at least possible that
the theater could be in fact renovated back to the state it was in
when the Demille was one of the premiere roadshow houses in the
Times Square area?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Jan 21, 2011 at 7:47 pm

hello. as the info at the top states in its middle years the
Rivoli hosted roadshow engagements of-“Oklahoma”,“Around the
World In 80 Days”,“The Big Fisherman”,“West Side Story”,“Cleopatra”,
“The Sound Of Music”,“The Sand Pebbles”,“Hello Dolly”, “Fiddler
On The Roof”,“Man of La Mancha”. add to this the 1967 70mm reissue
of “Gone With The Wind” and “Star” which opened Oct. 1968. so my
question is this-aside from the 12 films just mentioned did the
Rivoli host any other roadshow films. anyone know? many thanks
in advance.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Loew's Capitol Theatre on Jan 21, 2011 at 6:17 pm

my first visit to the Capitol wasn’t until the end of its
existence. the film was the first run engagement of PLANET OF
THE APES in March? of 1968. i subsequently went to see “2001"
twice during its exclusive roadshow engagement. since "2001”
was the only roadshow film i saw at the Capitol would anyone
have as complete a list as possible of the roadshow films that
played the Capitol prior to “2001”. many thanks in advance.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 21, 2011 at 4:06 pm

thanks as always for the info. now i am somewhat confused by the
reply. the “Demille” showed porn or had strip shows and once it
was triplexed around 1990? i never remember it showing porn either.
so the period of time you are refering to must have been a really
ahort
period of time.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 21, 2011 at 3:17 pm

i thank everyone for replying to my questions. another one about
the theater itself. who was running the Embassy1/2/3 when it
closed? when the Loews’s Capitol, Loew’s State, Rivoli,Warner
were torn down and before the Criterion was gutted for Toys R' Us
i remember them being in half way decent shape. yet the Embassy
½/3 was in very uneven condition before it closed. this was
especially true of the men’s room on the orchestra and balcony level.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about TCL Chinese Theatre on Jan 20, 2011 at 9:27 pm

hello. i am fascinated by the history of the roadshow policy.
the last three roadshow films to open in NYC were “Fiddler on the
Roof” Dec. of 1971 at the Rivoli Theater,“Nicholas and Alexandra"
Dec. of 1971 at the Criterion and "Man of La Mancha” Dec. of 1972
at the Rivoli. does anyone know where these three films played
their roadshow engagements in the Hollywood area?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Palace Theatre on Jan 20, 2011 at 6:13 pm

as always i thank my fellow posters for replying to my questions.
here’s a new one. when the Palace first opened and for many years
after it was the premiere vaudeville house in the country. but when
vaudeville died out the Palace seemed to switch back and forth
between film and legit stage shows. this is where my question
comes in. aside from the roadshow engagements of 55 DAYS AT PEKING
in 1963 and the re-issue of BEN-HUR in June of 1969 and the
premiere of the musical version of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS in Dec. of
1969 how many other films premiered at the Palace with roadshow
engagements? many thanks in advance for the info.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Pantages Theatre on Jan 20, 2011 at 4:10 pm

again thanks to my fellow posters for replying to my questions.
i have a new one. Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire” opened in
New York City at Radio City Music Hall in Nov. of 1967. it had
a running time of 2hrs. 25mins. with no intermission and a
souvenir program was sold in the lobby. now the film had its
premiere engagement several months earlier at the Pantages in July of 1967. not only that but it was a roadshow run and it had a
running time of 2hrs. 52mins. with an imtermission. how long did
this roadshow engagement at the Pantages last?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 20, 2011 at 3:16 pm

i thank William for his info as to what films played the
Demille on a roadshow basis during the 1955-Dec. 1972 period.
now i might be wrong but i seem to have the idea in my head
that the roadshow film policy as i understand it started with
“Oklahoma” which debuted in Todd-AO at the Rivoli Theater in 1955.
my point being as i understand the history of the policy no film
played a roadshow engagement the Mayfair/Demille before the
opening “Spartacus” in 1960?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Jan 18, 2011 at 7:54 pm

my question is about the theater when it was known as the Demille.
from say 1955 thru Dec. 1972 the studios used the roadshow policy
to release all their “big” films. so aside from “Spartacus”,
“Hawaii”,“The Fall of the Roman Empire”,“Those Magnificent Men
In Their Flying Machines” and the Russian “War and Peace” is it
possible to find out what other films played the Demille on a
roadshow policy during the 1955-1972 period? thanks for any info.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Cinerama Hollywood on Jan 18, 2011 at 7:11 pm

i thank William for the info as to what films other than
“It’s Mad…..” played their premiere roadshow runs at the
Cinerama Dome. to which i have a follow up question. now
7 films are listed in addition to the 4 i mentioned in my
post. this is my follow up question- did the roadshow run at
the Cinerama Dome of “Darling Lili” include an intermission
and souvenir program? when the film opened in New York it
was not a roadshow engagement but played Radio City Music Hall
and there was no souvenir program.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Egyptian Theatre on Jan 17, 2011 at 7:48 pm

Hello Again. thanks for the info about the many roadshow films
which had healthy runs at the Egyptian. but might i be repetitive
and again ask if “Funny Girl”’s run at the Egyptian was the last
roadshow film to play the theater period? as i said in my first
post the studios didn’t abandon the roadshow policy till Dec.
of 1972. i am fascinated by the history of the roadshow policy
and wonder what the last roadshow film was to play the Egyptian.
anyone know?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Pacific 1-2-3 on Jan 16, 2011 at 5:56 pm

as i asked on the page for the Pantages and the Egyptian
during the Pacific’s many decades as a premiere first run
movie theater it must have hosted many roadshow films. is
it possible to find how exactly which films played the
Pacific on a roadshow policy?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Egyptian Theatre on Jan 16, 2011 at 5:52 pm

the history of the theater at the top of the page says the
run of “FUNNY GIRL” was the last of the long run roadshow films
to play the Egyptian. does that mean “FUNNY GIRL” was the
last roadshow film to play the Egyptian or simply the last
roadshow film to have a healthy run? i ask this question
because the studios didn’t abandon the roadshow policy till
December of 1972.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Pantages Theatre on Jan 16, 2011 at 5:20 pm

during the many years it was a premiere first run movie theater
how many reserved seat or to use the trade term roadshow films
did the Pantages show. is there a way of finding out?