I too thought the lower volume was a problem with that first reel in the second half, but I never could bring myself to get up and ask the manager to turn it up. I did consider it, but I didn’t want to miss any of the movie. Looking back on it now, maybe I should have.
I asked one of the friendly Ziegfeld employees about the sound situation when the show was over. She told me that the woman who complained did it right at the beginning of the film, and it was turned down slightly, but not enough to spoil the presentation. She then complained at least two more times because it was still too loud for her. She even banged on the manager’s door. I guess she was too much of a troublemaker for them, and the result was the lowest volume I’d ever heard for a movie at the Ziegfeld in 36 years. I truly hope this woman stays away from the theater until “Ice Age 2” opens. All the rest of the upcoming films in the Classics series need to be, in the words of Vito, real denture-rattlers.
Fever Dog: The projector light is definitely bright enough. I think that’s the way those scenes are supposed to be. It’s the way they appeared in their original theatrical release, I’m sure. “The Godfather Part II” at the Ziegfeld was noticeably darker than any video version I’d ever seen, but it’s also the way I remember it looking back in 1975 at the Clifton (NJ) Theater.
“North by Northwest” this afternoon – great. The sound was amazing. The crop duster scene was never more intense, all due to the size of the image and the sound.
“Doctor Zhivago” tonight would have been a home run but unfortunately, during the intermission, someone complained about the soundtrack. The first half was at a volume level that brought out the full power of the sound and the score, as beautifully described by Irv a few posts above. When the trains went by, it did almost feel like Sensurround. After the complaint, the volume went way down and the movie sounded like it was playing at any old multiplex anywhere. I’m hoping the same projectionist is on duty for “Zhivago” on Thursday night and keeps the volume at its original level through the whole movie, letting the Ziegfeld do what it does best. I also hope the complaining person stays out of the Ziegfeld until the Classics series is over.
Thanks, Gary. A guy who calls himself Ziegfeld Man SHOULD be allowed to introduce the classic films there. It will be fun re-living “Close Encounters” at the Ziegfeld after almost 30 years. One thing I noticed back then at many of the 1977-78 shows which we don’t see happening anymore: people taking flash pictures of the movie while on the screen.
Vito: Have you been able to attend any of these shows at the Ziegfeld? I’m not sure if you live in the area, but we’d all enjoy hearing the comments of a true professional like yourself.
Tonight’s showing of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” looked like a brand-new print to me. The “MI3” trailer was once again attached, but there was a special surprise when the curtains first opened: the trailer for “2001”, which I’d never before seen in a theater. Also – NO COMMERCIALS! The Classics series just keeps getting better and better.
Michael: You’re right – I should always go right to the source for any 70mm information. Thanks for posting a picture of the Century’s Paramus as a single-screen theater on your 70mm in New York page. I’ve always wanted to see what it looked like – I didn’t get there till 1971 after it was twinned.
I attended the 2 PM showing of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on Saturday. It was the biggest crowd I’ve seen yet in the classics series, and the audience was fully into it. There was almost as much whoopin' and hollerin' as there was for the first midnight showing of “Star Wars Episode III” last May. The “Raiders” print was practically flawless, too. I’ll bet many people in that crowd left the theater wondering why they don’t make movies like that anymore. The show was preceded by a trailer for “Mission Impossible 3”, which got booed and laughed at.
This was another time machine trip for me. I saw “Raiders” at the Ziegfeld in 1981 – a 70mm moveover from the Loew’s Astor Plaza.
For both “Mink” and “The Odd Couple” we walked right in, went up to the 3rd mezzanine and found seats. The movie had probably already started, but that was a common practice back then – to stay and see what you missed, then get up and leave at the point where you came in.
The only time I was stuck in a really bad line was for “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”, the 1969 Christmas show. The line filled Rockefeller Plaza in a Disney World-like zigzag, as seen in the final picture in Ed Solero’s Feb. 20th post. It took hours – can’t remember how many, but we got on the line around noon and it had gotten dark by the time we entered the Hall.
Ed: I think that caption is referring to Cary Grant, and not the movie, as the Music Hall’s all-time box-office champ, which Warren pointed out right above your post. I always thought “The Odd Couple” was the biggest-grossing movie to play there. I was lucky enough to see both “That Touch of Mink” and “The Odd Couple” at the Hall.
Ed is right about the MGM lion. It’s one of only two MGM movies I can think of where the lion doesn’t roar. The other is “2001”. It was lucky for them: two of MGM’s finest pictures and biggest hits. Maybe someone knows if there are any more (not counting silent movies).
Pete: the original mono soundtrack was a most welcome addition to last year’s “Vertigo” DVD re-release. Bernard Herrmann’s music sounded great in the loud stereo mix, but the sound effects were terrible – all wrong. Very distracting.
The Ziegfeld is showing all three Indiana Jones movies for one week starting March 3rd. The Lafayette Theater in Suffern NY (easily accessible by bus or train from midtown Manhattan) is showing “Rebel Without a Cause” on March 4th at 11:30 AM. If your trip gets postponed (or you decide to come back again!), the Loew’s Jersey will be showing the 1956 version of “The Ten Commandments” on March 26th.
I think these three theaters are the best the area has to offer if you want to see a movie. But I agree wholeheartedly with William: you should definitely take the guided tour of Radio City Music Hall.
The schedule is up for the 70mm Lawrence of Arabia shows: 2:30 and 7:30 every day for one week (except no late show on Wednesday). You know what that means: INTERMISSION!
Vincent: I agree with you about “Ben-Hur” at the Loew’s, but if you check the Loew’s Jersey page you’ll find some people still had some complaints to make. There’s always going to be some people finding fault with anything. Eveything you said is valid and true, but I can’t bring myself to complain about the shows at the Ziegfeld. Four times now, I’ve left the theater happy and impressed and feeling 30 years younger. But if Clearview does make any changes based on your suggestions and those other CT members have made, that would be even more wonderful.
The three theaters showing classics in the New York area all have their own special characteristics that set them apart from each other. For perfection of presentation, showmanship and diversity of genres and subject matter, the Lafayette wins hands down. For the sheer spectacle of a 1920’s cathedral of cinema that is somehow still standing and still showing movies, it’s the Loew’s Jersey. For screen size and sound power, it’s the Ziegfeld. I’m only grateful that I live near enough to patronize all three whenever I want.
Hardbop is right – I would have bought some candy for sure if “Ben-Hur” had an intermission, but like I said before they had very little time to get the audience turned over for the next show.
The manager who told us there would be no intermission also said the Ziegfeld will be showing classics whenever there was a downtime in their schedule for new releases. I think she mentioned September and October. I figure the classics will outgross most of the new releases anyway, even at the reduced admission price.
Having attended the Ziegfeld four times in two weeks reminds me of something Carly Simon sang: These ARE the good old days.
It would’ve been nice to have the intermission at “Ben-Hur” today, but at least a theater manager spoke to the audience about it before the show started so it wasn’t an abrupt shock. It must have been removed to make sure the 4:30 showing of “Braveheart” started on time, but starting “Ben-Hur” at 12 noon instead of 12:30 would’ve solved that problem.
Anyway, that and the curtains being open during the overture were the only disappointments in the whole show. The color was beautiful, no frames were missing, and the sound and score were especially powerful. The sea battle and chariot race were seen and heard to maximum effect in a theater like the Ziegfeld, but the big screen also lent a special dimension to the quieter moments. Ben-Hur’s reunion with his mother and sister in the leper’s cave was never more moving to me than it was today.
Thanks for the Mad World posts, Ed. I like the way they tried to fool the public about single-lens Cinerama being a vast improvement over the 3-strip version, which of course it wasn’t. I too used to make audio tapes of entire movies and play them over and over. I think the one I played the most was Psycho.
Saps: the schedule for the first week of the extension is now posted on the website (Doctor Zhivago, Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest).
Ed: I saw “Mad Mad World” at the Cinerama Dome in 2003. It was a spectacular new 70mm print. The running time of the actual movie was 154 minutes, but it had the opening title song, the police calls intermission (which played over the speakers in the men’s room) and the exit music. I think I read somewhere that Karen Sharpe Kramer, Stanley’s widow, said he always considered the 154-minute version to be his final director’s cut. She was a guest speaker at the Dome that night.
Al: at that same sold-out 1974 show, the people in our row were passing around a large bottle of cough syrup with codeine and taking swigs from it. I and my 11-year-old brother passed on that. Hey, you don’t need any help from substances to get high from “2001”.
I too thought the lower volume was a problem with that first reel in the second half, but I never could bring myself to get up and ask the manager to turn it up. I did consider it, but I didn’t want to miss any of the movie. Looking back on it now, maybe I should have.
I asked one of the friendly Ziegfeld employees about the sound situation when the show was over. She told me that the woman who complained did it right at the beginning of the film, and it was turned down slightly, but not enough to spoil the presentation. She then complained at least two more times because it was still too loud for her. She even banged on the manager’s door. I guess she was too much of a troublemaker for them, and the result was the lowest volume I’d ever heard for a movie at the Ziegfeld in 36 years. I truly hope this woman stays away from the theater until “Ice Age 2” opens. All the rest of the upcoming films in the Classics series need to be, in the words of Vito, real denture-rattlers.
Fever Dog: The projector light is definitely bright enough. I think that’s the way those scenes are supposed to be. It’s the way they appeared in their original theatrical release, I’m sure. “The Godfather Part II” at the Ziegfeld was noticeably darker than any video version I’d ever seen, but it’s also the way I remember it looking back in 1975 at the Clifton (NJ) Theater.
“North by Northwest” this afternoon – great. The sound was amazing. The crop duster scene was never more intense, all due to the size of the image and the sound.
“Doctor Zhivago” tonight would have been a home run but unfortunately, during the intermission, someone complained about the soundtrack. The first half was at a volume level that brought out the full power of the sound and the score, as beautifully described by Irv a few posts above. When the trains went by, it did almost feel like Sensurround. After the complaint, the volume went way down and the movie sounded like it was playing at any old multiplex anywhere. I’m hoping the same projectionist is on duty for “Zhivago” on Thursday night and keeps the volume at its original level through the whole movie, letting the Ziegfeld do what it does best. I also hope the complaining person stays out of the Ziegfeld until the Classics series is over.
Irv: Thanks for the glowing report on “Zhivago”. I’m really looking forward to seeing it tonight (and again on Thursday night).
Thanks, Gary. A guy who calls himself Ziegfeld Man SHOULD be allowed to introduce the classic films there. It will be fun re-living “Close Encounters” at the Ziegfeld after almost 30 years. One thing I noticed back then at many of the 1977-78 shows which we don’t see happening anymore: people taking flash pictures of the movie while on the screen.
Vito: Have you been able to attend any of these shows at the Ziegfeld? I’m not sure if you live in the area, but we’d all enjoy hearing the comments of a true professional like yourself.
OK – if that wasn’t a new print of “Temple of Doom”, it was a perfectly preserved old one. Not one scratch or splice in the entire two hours.
Tonight’s showing of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” looked like a brand-new print to me. The “MI3” trailer was once again attached, but there was a special surprise when the curtains first opened: the trailer for “2001”, which I’d never before seen in a theater. Also – NO COMMERCIALS! The Classics series just keeps getting better and better.
Michael: You’re right – I should always go right to the source for any 70mm information. Thanks for posting a picture of the Century’s Paramus as a single-screen theater on your 70mm in New York page. I’ve always wanted to see what it looked like – I didn’t get there till 1971 after it was twinned.
I made a goof – after consulting Al Alvarez' list, I see that “Raiders” played the Ziegfeld in 1982.
I attended the 2 PM showing of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on Saturday. It was the biggest crowd I’ve seen yet in the classics series, and the audience was fully into it. There was almost as much whoopin' and hollerin' as there was for the first midnight showing of “Star Wars Episode III” last May. The “Raiders” print was practically flawless, too. I’ll bet many people in that crowd left the theater wondering why they don’t make movies like that anymore. The show was preceded by a trailer for “Mission Impossible 3”, which got booed and laughed at.
This was another time machine trip for me. I saw “Raiders” at the Ziegfeld in 1981 – a 70mm moveover from the Loew’s Astor Plaza.
Astyanax: “Helen of Troy” is out on DVD from Warner Home Video, and it includes the overture.
Robert Wise’s “Helen of Troy” (1956) had an overture, and quite a lengthy one, by Max Steiner.
For both “Mink” and “The Odd Couple” we walked right in, went up to the 3rd mezzanine and found seats. The movie had probably already started, but that was a common practice back then – to stay and see what you missed, then get up and leave at the point where you came in.
The only time I was stuck in a really bad line was for “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”, the 1969 Christmas show. The line filled Rockefeller Plaza in a Disney World-like zigzag, as seen in the final picture in Ed Solero’s Feb. 20th post. It took hours – can’t remember how many, but we got on the line around noon and it had gotten dark by the time we entered the Hall.
Ed: I think that caption is referring to Cary Grant, and not the movie, as the Music Hall’s all-time box-office champ, which Warren pointed out right above your post. I always thought “The Odd Couple” was the biggest-grossing movie to play there. I was lucky enough to see both “That Touch of Mink” and “The Odd Couple” at the Hall.
Ed is right about the MGM lion. It’s one of only two MGM movies I can think of where the lion doesn’t roar. The other is “2001”. It was lucky for them: two of MGM’s finest pictures and biggest hits. Maybe someone knows if there are any more (not counting silent movies).
Pete: the original mono soundtrack was a most welcome addition to last year’s “Vertigo” DVD re-release. Bernard Herrmann’s music sounded great in the loud stereo mix, but the sound effects were terrible – all wrong. Very distracting.
The Ziegfeld is showing all three Indiana Jones movies for one week starting March 3rd. The Lafayette Theater in Suffern NY (easily accessible by bus or train from midtown Manhattan) is showing “Rebel Without a Cause” on March 4th at 11:30 AM. If your trip gets postponed (or you decide to come back again!), the Loew’s Jersey will be showing the 1956 version of “The Ten Commandments” on March 26th.
I think these three theaters are the best the area has to offer if you want to see a movie. But I agree wholeheartedly with William: you should definitely take the guided tour of Radio City Music Hall.
The schedule is up for the 70mm Lawrence of Arabia shows: 2:30 and 7:30 every day for one week (except no late show on Wednesday). You know what that means: INTERMISSION!
Vincent: I agree with you about “Ben-Hur” at the Loew’s, but if you check the Loew’s Jersey page you’ll find some people still had some complaints to make. There’s always going to be some people finding fault with anything. Eveything you said is valid and true, but I can’t bring myself to complain about the shows at the Ziegfeld. Four times now, I’ve left the theater happy and impressed and feeling 30 years younger. But if Clearview does make any changes based on your suggestions and those other CT members have made, that would be even more wonderful.
The three theaters showing classics in the New York area all have their own special characteristics that set them apart from each other. For perfection of presentation, showmanship and diversity of genres and subject matter, the Lafayette wins hands down. For the sheer spectacle of a 1920’s cathedral of cinema that is somehow still standing and still showing movies, it’s the Loew’s Jersey. For screen size and sound power, it’s the Ziegfeld. I’m only grateful that I live near enough to patronize all three whenever I want.
I thought the Ziegfeld did have reel to reel capability (REndres' post on 1/18/06). Maybe this is why they got the 70mm print of “Lawrence of Arabia”.
Hardbop is right – I would have bought some candy for sure if “Ben-Hur” had an intermission, but like I said before they had very little time to get the audience turned over for the next show.
The manager who told us there would be no intermission also said the Ziegfeld will be showing classics whenever there was a downtime in their schedule for new releases. I think she mentioned September and October. I figure the classics will outgross most of the new releases anyway, even at the reduced admission price.
Having attended the Ziegfeld four times in two weeks reminds me of something Carly Simon sang: These ARE the good old days.
It would’ve been nice to have the intermission at “Ben-Hur” today, but at least a theater manager spoke to the audience about it before the show started so it wasn’t an abrupt shock. It must have been removed to make sure the 4:30 showing of “Braveheart” started on time, but starting “Ben-Hur” at 12 noon instead of 12:30 would’ve solved that problem.
Anyway, that and the curtains being open during the overture were the only disappointments in the whole show. The color was beautiful, no frames were missing, and the sound and score were especially powerful. The sea battle and chariot race were seen and heard to maximum effect in a theater like the Ziegfeld, but the big screen also lent a special dimension to the quieter moments. Ben-Hur’s reunion with his mother and sister in the leper’s cave was never more moving to me than it was today.
Thanks for the Mad World posts, Ed. I like the way they tried to fool the public about single-lens Cinerama being a vast improvement over the 3-strip version, which of course it wasn’t. I too used to make audio tapes of entire movies and play them over and over. I think the one I played the most was Psycho.
Saps: the schedule for the first week of the extension is now posted on the website (Doctor Zhivago, Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest).
I may have gotten the idea about Kramer and the shorter cut from this article:
http://povonline.com/notes/Notes110203.htm
It says Kramer was sometimes quoted as saying he preferred the 154-minute version.
Ed: I saw “Mad Mad World” at the Cinerama Dome in 2003. It was a spectacular new 70mm print. The running time of the actual movie was 154 minutes, but it had the opening title song, the police calls intermission (which played over the speakers in the men’s room) and the exit music. I think I read somewhere that Karen Sharpe Kramer, Stanley’s widow, said he always considered the 154-minute version to be his final director’s cut. She was a guest speaker at the Dome that night.
Al: at that same sold-out 1974 show, the people in our row were passing around a large bottle of cough syrup with codeine and taking swigs from it. I and my 11-year-old brother passed on that. Hey, you don’t need any help from substances to get high from “2001”.