This ad is dated 4/22/70, and features slighly more technical information than you could ever hope to see in a movie ad nowadays. I think we must be heading backwards as a civilization:
In this ad from April 1964, check out the classy features playing at the Route 46. I think people really were smarter back then :) In fact all 5 drive-ins had quite a selection of good movies to choose from:
Shortly after this year’s Oscars, an article in the LA Times Calendar section declared it (and Ben-Hur) as some of the worst winners ever for Best Picture.
I’ll bet the person who wrote that article would’ve changed their mind if they’d seen Ben-Hur at the Ziegfeld in February.
To Jerry Kovar: Thanks so much for posting the 42nd St. pictures on your Photobucket site. They’re all great, but I especially enjoyed the William Castles and the Liz-Eddie-Debbie one. All those amazing double features – it reminded me of when I first got “Midnight Cowboy” on video and spent so much time freeze-framing and slow-motioning, trying to see what all the double features were.
Unfortunately “Scary Movie 4” is playing at the Ziegfeld right now as well. But the theater’s director has assured us that the Classics will be returning in the fall. I hope the same thing will happen at the Dome, the ultimate place to see 70mm in the entire USA.
It sure would, Gary. I’m glad they printed my letter but they cut out what I thought was my best argument on behalf of “80 Days”: that it played 103 consecutive weeks at the Rivoli on Broadway. Quite an achievement for a so-called bad movie!
If I had to pick only one out of the 101, one that hadn’t played the Ziegfeld yet and would benefit the most from their big sound and screen, it would be “Patton”.
Warren: It’s been so long since I saw “Sweet Rosie O'Grady”, but didn’t that start off with a chorus singing the main titles while they were on the screen? (“20th Century-Fox PRESENNNNNTS! Betty Grable!” etc.) I’m pretty sure it was a Betty Grable movie where I heard this, and I think this was the one.
Gary – I was there too on the first day of “Roger Rabbit”. The air conditioning wasn’t working at all, and the ticket taker told everybody that. If it were any other theater, I would’ve turned around and left … but not at the Ziegfeld.
What Movieguy is describing is exactly the way it used to be at the Ziegfeld in the ‘70s and early '80s. Most times when a movie opened there exclusively, (“Close Encounters”, “Hair”, “Gandhi”, etc.), there were always lines around the block and a struggle to find seats.
Gary: After “Lawrence”, I asked one of the friendly Ziegfeld employees which classics did the best business, and she said it was the Indiana Jones movies.
My faulty memory got a jolt when I saw “Yours, Mine and Ours” on TCM last weekend. I had forgotten that I’d seen it here in 1968 when it was still a single-screen.
A good plan for the Ziegfeld (maybe for their upcoming 40th anniversary in 2009) would be to show some of the great films that had their first-ever New York engagements there. Just a few that come to mind: “Ryan’s Daughter”, “Cabaret”, “That’s Entertainment”, “Tommy”, “Barry Lyndon”, “Close Encounters” (even though they just showed it last month), “Gandhi”, “Hair”, “Apocalypse Now”, etc.
Jeff gave me his two free passes from the “Lawrence” sync sound incident, and I didn’t want to see “Ice Age 2”, so I gave them to my friend Jennifer. She took her 8-year-old son to see “Ice Age”, and he was very impressed with the way the Ziegfeld’s curtains opened and closed. That was most likely the first time he’d ever seen that in a movie theater.
Pete – you’re right about “The Professionals” back in 1986. That was a beautiful print, and I was lucky to be seeing the movie for the first time that way instead of on TV.
Hardbop: Back in February, before the “Ben-Hur” show, one of the managers announced that they will most likely bring the revivals back during the theater’s slow times. I believe she specifically mentioned September or October. Since then, the Ziegfeld has had fairly large crowds even on weekday nights, and one of their friendly employees told me that some of the “Indiana Jones” shows did extremely well. So the chances do look good.
The worst faded print I ever saw in a theater was “Lust for Life” (MGM, 1956 – in Metrocolor). It was shown at the Ziegfeld in 1986 and had turned completely pink. It was still worth seeing on a big screen, but what a shame for that particular movie to have faded so badly. It was practically ABOUT color.
Gary made a good point that no one else had addressed up to now: I saw 10 different titles in the series, and none of the prints had faded color. In fact, in some cases the color was quite spectacular. “North by Northwest” and “Ben-Hur” come to mind, especially considering how old those prints may have been – we’ll leave “Lawrence” out because that was a special case. Anyway, it’s just more proof that the Ziegfeld got things much more right than wrong during the Classics series.
JSA’s friendly rivalry challenge is a fantastic idea, and not impossible. Hey, just a few months ago classics at the Ziegfeld seemed like nothing more than a nice dream.
Last night’s “Lawrence” show played beautifully. The sync sound problem from Friday night was gone. Curtains opened and closed and house lights went on and off – all properly on cue. The worst thing that happened all night: someone’s cell phone went off twice during the near-silent Omar Sharif well sequence.
Vito: Many of the shows I attended at the Ziegfeld were as good as I’d ever remembered them and, in two cases, better. I’d never before seen “North by Northwest” and “Doctor Zhivago” on a screen that big and at a volume that loud.
For some reason this link is better – the image grows bigger when you click on the bottom right corner:
View link
This ad is dated 4/22/70, and features slighly more technical information than you could ever hope to see in a movie ad nowadays. I think we must be heading backwards as a civilization:
View link
A few weeks later: live rock and roll at the Stanley Warner:
View link
This ad from 2/12/69 announces the exclusive NJ engagement of “The Shoes of the Fisherman”, with the premiere benefiting the people of Biafra:
View link
In this ad from April 1964, check out the classy features playing at the Route 46. I think people really were smarter back then :) In fact all 5 drive-ins had quite a selection of good movies to choose from:
View link
12/18/68: The ad for “2001”’s exclusive Rockland/Bergen engagement at the Route 59. “A perfect gift for family or friend”:
View link
JSA said:
Shortly after this year’s Oscars, an article in the LA Times Calendar section declared it (and Ben-Hur) as some of the worst winners ever for Best Picture.
I’ll bet the person who wrote that article would’ve changed their mind if they’d seen Ben-Hur at the Ziegfeld in February.
To Jerry Kovar: Thanks so much for posting the 42nd St. pictures on your Photobucket site. They’re all great, but I especially enjoyed the William Castles and the Liz-Eddie-Debbie one. All those amazing double features – it reminded me of when I first got “Midnight Cowboy” on video and spent so much time freeze-framing and slow-motioning, trying to see what all the double features were.
Unfortunately “Scary Movie 4” is playing at the Ziegfeld right now as well. But the theater’s director has assured us that the Classics will be returning in the fall. I hope the same thing will happen at the Dome, the ultimate place to see 70mm in the entire USA.
It sure would, Gary. I’m glad they printed my letter but they cut out what I thought was my best argument on behalf of “80 Days”: that it played 103 consecutive weeks at the Rivoli on Broadway. Quite an achievement for a so-called bad movie!
If I had to pick only one out of the 101, one that hadn’t played the Ziegfeld yet and would benefit the most from their big sound and screen, it would be “Patton”.
Warren: It’s been so long since I saw “Sweet Rosie O'Grady”, but didn’t that start off with a chorus singing the main titles while they were on the screen? (“20th Century-Fox PRESENNNNNTS! Betty Grable!” etc.) I’m pretty sure it was a Betty Grable movie where I heard this, and I think this was the one.
Gary – I was there too on the first day of “Roger Rabbit”. The air conditioning wasn’t working at all, and the ticket taker told everybody that. If it were any other theater, I would’ve turned around and left … but not at the Ziegfeld.
What Movieguy is describing is exactly the way it used to be at the Ziegfeld in the ‘70s and early '80s. Most times when a movie opened there exclusively, (“Close Encounters”, “Hair”, “Gandhi”, etc.), there were always lines around the block and a struggle to find seats.
Gary: After “Lawrence”, I asked one of the friendly Ziegfeld employees which classics did the best business, and she said it was the Indiana Jones movies.
You can see what this theater looked like as a single with a 52 ft. wide screen at this site:
View link
My faulty memory got a jolt when I saw “Yours, Mine and Ours” on TCM last weekend. I had forgotten that I’d seen it here in 1968 when it was still a single-screen.
A good plan for the Ziegfeld (maybe for their upcoming 40th anniversary in 2009) would be to show some of the great films that had their first-ever New York engagements there. Just a few that come to mind: “Ryan’s Daughter”, “Cabaret”, “That’s Entertainment”, “Tommy”, “Barry Lyndon”, “Close Encounters” (even though they just showed it last month), “Gandhi”, “Hair”, “Apocalypse Now”, etc.
Jeff gave me his two free passes from the “Lawrence” sync sound incident, and I didn’t want to see “Ice Age 2”, so I gave them to my friend Jennifer. She took her 8-year-old son to see “Ice Age”, and he was very impressed with the way the Ziegfeld’s curtains opened and closed. That was most likely the first time he’d ever seen that in a movie theater.
Cinema Treasures: The Next Generation.
How big is the screen in the main auditorium? As big as the one at the Ziegfeld, or maybe even bigger?
Pete – you’re right about “The Professionals” back in 1986. That was a beautiful print, and I was lucky to be seeing the movie for the first time that way instead of on TV.
Hardbop: Back in February, before the “Ben-Hur” show, one of the managers announced that they will most likely bring the revivals back during the theater’s slow times. I believe she specifically mentioned September or October. Since then, the Ziegfeld has had fairly large crowds even on weekday nights, and one of their friendly employees told me that some of the “Indiana Jones” shows did extremely well. So the chances do look good.
The worst faded print I ever saw in a theater was “Lust for Life” (MGM, 1956 – in Metrocolor). It was shown at the Ziegfeld in 1986 and had turned completely pink. It was still worth seeing on a big screen, but what a shame for that particular movie to have faded so badly. It was practically ABOUT color.
Gary made a good point that no one else had addressed up to now: I saw 10 different titles in the series, and none of the prints had faded color. In fact, in some cases the color was quite spectacular. “North by Northwest” and “Ben-Hur” come to mind, especially considering how old those prints may have been – we’ll leave “Lawrence” out because that was a special case. Anyway, it’s just more proof that the Ziegfeld got things much more right than wrong during the Classics series.
Beth said:
“My experience seeing Space Odyssey at this theater changed my opinion drastically toward the positive, so for that, at the very least I’m grateful.”
For me, that kind of sums up what the Classics series was all about.
JSA’s friendly rivalry challenge is a fantastic idea, and not impossible. Hey, just a few months ago classics at the Ziegfeld seemed like nothing more than a nice dream.
Last night’s “Lawrence” show played beautifully. The sync sound problem from Friday night was gone. Curtains opened and closed and house lights went on and off – all properly on cue. The worst thing that happened all night: someone’s cell phone went off twice during the near-silent Omar Sharif well sequence.
Vito: Many of the shows I attended at the Ziegfeld were as good as I’d ever remembered them and, in two cases, better. I’d never before seen “North by Northwest” and “Doctor Zhivago” on a screen that big and at a volume that loud.