Get a load of this grueling personal appearance schedule: 17 theaters in 3 days. Can you imagine one of today’s movie stars doing something like this to plug their picture?
I told a story about the console back in 2004. The technician was actually ruining a showing of “West Side Story” back in 1970. All the loud popping noises and static went away when he turned the console off, closed it up and walked away!
I visited the area this weekend and my friends took me to the Vintage to see “Everyone’s Hero”. It was quite a time trip for someone from New Jersey, the state where the first drive-in was born and which now has only one, sadly.
No “Gone With the Wind” for me last night – the theater was closed for a special event. No doubt some 2006 epic that’ll be forgotten in three weeks. I can’t go tonight, but I hope someone else can and then report on it so I can find out what I missed.
I wish Craig O'Connor would clear this up for good. I didn’t think a 1.85 reduction print masked to appear 1.37 would vertically fill the screen at the Ziegfeld from top to bottom, but the print I saw on Saturday did. It was the same height as “Citizen Kane”.
Pete: Could it be that one of the 1999 prints is what the Ziegfeld is running this week? Like I said before to Jeff, it sure looked full-frame 1.37 to me, and the color was unbelievable. I saw the 1997 1.85 print at the Astor Plaza and in Ridgefield Park, NJ, and this one looked much better.
Here is the most complete listing of credits for “The Wizard of Oz” I’ve ever come across. It also confirms what Pete said: shot in black and white, tinted in sepia.
I saw the 50th anniversary 35mm showing at Radio City Music Hall in 1989, but we sat so far away from the screen its impact was slighly diminished. At least Butterfly McQueen was there in person to introduce the show.
I’m probably going on Wednesday, and am looking forward to it. There’s something about seeing these very familiar movies on a huge scale from the Ziegfeld’s front row … suddenly they don’t seem so familiar any more.
While watching “The Wizard of Oz” it was easy to imagine myself back in 1939, only a few blocks away at the Capitol. No Judy and Mickey live stage show after the feature, but the movie must have looked just about the same as it did back then. On the way home I passed the spot where the Capitol once stood. The Gershwin Theater is now in that building, playing “Wicked”, so a version of the Oz story is still being told at that location.
It did look great up on that very large screen – no sacrifice of sharpness at all, and far surpassing the quality of 16mm. It had the same screen shape as “Citizen Kane” a week earlier, which was an actual 1.37 print.
It sounded like stereo in certain scenes (the cyclone, the “Optimistic Voices” at the approach to Emerald City), but there were more than 3 shots of de-registration, and it was projected in 1.37. It opened with a silent WB logo.
Yesterday afternoon’s “The Wizard of Oz” show was notable for a number of reasons. Not only was the film projected in its 1939 dimensions (the intricate details in Jack Dawn’s makeup designs really get a fine showcase from the front row), but Billie Burke Ziegfeld as Glinda appeared on the screen of the theater named after her husband. And there’s an autographed 1929 photo of Burke on permanent display in a glass case in the lobby.
Thanks for the ads, williamburge. I love how Pauline Kael says “You’d better go see it quickly” … before one of your friends can’t resist giving away the ending. I’m sure that happened a lot with that particular movie.
Paramus, NJ still observes the Blue Laws on Sundays for their multitude of retail stores, but they always made an exception for their movie theaters. They stay open on Sundays.
Get a load of this grueling personal appearance schedule: 17 theaters in 3 days. Can you imagine one of today’s movie stars doing something like this to plug their picture?
View link
Two big crowd-pleasing 1960’s hits at the Chinese:
View link
View link
One of the greatest movies ever made had its world premiere here at the Uptown – April 1968:
View link
Pictures from this December 1965 premiere are on display in the upper floor gallery of the El Capitan:
View link
I told a story about the console back in 2004. The technician was actually ruining a showing of “West Side Story” back in 1970. All the loud popping noises and static went away when he turned the console off, closed it up and walked away!
GREAT ad, Al. I’m really grateful that the Ziegfeld has lasted as long as it has and, especially, that it’s still here.
I visited the area this weekend and my friends took me to the Vintage to see “Everyone’s Hero”. It was quite a time trip for someone from New Jersey, the state where the first drive-in was born and which now has only one, sadly.
No “Gone With the Wind” for me last night – the theater was closed for a special event. No doubt some 2006 epic that’ll be forgotten in three weeks. I can’t go tonight, but I hope someone else can and then report on it so I can find out what I missed.
I’m going tomorrow night. I’ll post about it, but I didn’t see the Loew’s Jersey print.
When I first saw the sepia sequence I thought it was supposed to mean Kansas was in the middle of a drought, and everything was turning brown.
I wish Craig O'Connor would clear this up for good. I didn’t think a 1.85 reduction print masked to appear 1.37 would vertically fill the screen at the Ziegfeld from top to bottom, but the print I saw on Saturday did. It was the same height as “Citizen Kane”.
Pete: Could it be that one of the 1999 prints is what the Ziegfeld is running this week? Like I said before to Jeff, it sure looked full-frame 1.37 to me, and the color was unbelievable. I saw the 1997 1.85 print at the Astor Plaza and in Ridgefield Park, NJ, and this one looked much better.
Here is the most complete listing of credits for “The Wizard of Oz” I’ve ever come across. It also confirms what Pete said: shot in black and white, tinted in sepia.
View link
I saw the 50th anniversary 35mm showing at Radio City Music Hall in 1989, but we sat so far away from the screen its impact was slighly diminished. At least Butterfly McQueen was there in person to introduce the show.
August 1939: One of the Capitol’s most memorable shows.
View link
Here’s the ad for that 1939 stage and screen show:
View link
I’m probably going on Wednesday, and am looking forward to it. There’s something about seeing these very familiar movies on a huge scale from the Ziegfeld’s front row … suddenly they don’t seem so familiar any more.
While watching “The Wizard of Oz” it was easy to imagine myself back in 1939, only a few blocks away at the Capitol. No Judy and Mickey live stage show after the feature, but the movie must have looked just about the same as it did back then. On the way home I passed the spot where the Capitol once stood. The Gershwin Theater is now in that building, playing “Wicked”, so a version of the Oz story is still being told at that location.
It did look great up on that very large screen – no sacrifice of sharpness at all, and far surpassing the quality of 16mm. It had the same screen shape as “Citizen Kane” a week earlier, which was an actual 1.37 print.
It sounded like stereo in certain scenes (the cyclone, the “Optimistic Voices” at the approach to Emerald City), but there were more than 3 shots of de-registration, and it was projected in 1.37. It opened with a silent WB logo.
Yesterday afternoon’s “The Wizard of Oz” show was notable for a number of reasons. Not only was the film projected in its 1939 dimensions (the intricate details in Jack Dawn’s makeup designs really get a fine showcase from the front row), but Billie Burke Ziegfeld as Glinda appeared on the screen of the theater named after her husband. And there’s an autographed 1929 photo of Burke on permanent display in a glass case in the lobby.
Craig: Thanks for the bonus week (and thanks for all the other weeks too). Can’t wait to see what the titles are.
Thanks for the ads, williamburge. I love how Pauline Kael says “You’d better go see it quickly” … before one of your friends can’t resist giving away the ending. I’m sure that happened a lot with that particular movie.
Paramus, NJ still observes the Blue Laws on Sundays for their multitude of retail stores, but they always made an exception for their movie theaters. They stay open on Sundays.
The one and only Steven McQueen in:
View link
Just posted a new one here:
/theaters/1986/