Radio City Music Hall
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
116 people
favorited this theater
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Hey, what great memories. That’s something no one can take away. I didn’t realize, but yes, anyone could stay in a theatre all day if they so wanted. Unlike today when the house is cleared before the next showing. With those huge breaks between showings, it wouldn’t be possible to just go in when convenient and “stay til the part you came in on”. Those days are so long gone….So strange that people, including myself, never gave a second thought about entering a movie after it’s started or even mid point.
As someone who attended just about every new show from 1955 through 1972 I can tell you the Music Hall staff was a well-oiled,precesion
group of hard working men and women. Customer service was paramount and going to the Hall was always a delightful experience. No matter how big the crowds, the staff was always on their toes. I honestly can not recall one single negitive moment.
I remember my ritiual; we would arrive for the approx 6pm stage show and sit as close to the stage as possible, then rush up to the 3rd mezzanine for the movie,(I liked to sit directly under the projection ports) and finaly back down to the front of the theatre to watch rhe stage show again.
To all our younger people who may not remember the Music Hall hey days, let me say you missed out on one of the greatest movie/stage show experiences of a lifetime. sadly we may never se the likes of that again.
Wow. All of the planning and timing was a production in itself. I had no idea. Must have taken lots of professionls to carry this off day after day, especially when a hit film was booked. Interesting.
Greetings:
While one of the assistant managers at the front of the house, I remember from time to time when I was working with the senior manager in the lobby or on the orchestra floor he would have a number of situations to consider in keeping the show running on time. (ie did excess applause during parts of the stage show cause the show to run late, did a large number of seniors attending an earlier show require an organ break to run longer, He also had to keep stage show starting as close to noon, 3 PM, 6PM and 9PM according to the pre printed show schedule.) Regarding the last show the last film had to start and end with in a certain time periods and not run over or it would cost the management in the payroll due to certain agreed to terms in union contracts. Depending on the street line outside before house opening and what may or may have not been going on in the auditorium, rehersals, maintenance, (lighting) and it the house lights were on, The cashiers, and service staff were usually ready to go up “on the floor” an hour to an hour and ¼ before the scheduled start of the first film or stage show to start the sale of tickets and start foyer lines and lines to the 2nd or 3rd Mezz. areas. Those with reserved seat tickets were admitted to the foyer and first mezz promanade areas but were not admitted to the mezz area until the fire curtain was down and the house lights on normal and the electrician in the pit at the front of the orchestral elevator yelled back that the house was ready.
To continue: Four or five open boxoffices were common during peak times at the Hall and Roxy. Five minute breaks were the norm. The Hall had a 15 minute break after the first show on Sunday at holiday time anticipating tight initials. As to opening only 15 minutes before the start of a show: That referred to the doors between the foyer and the auditorium where patrons were held until the house was ready. The box office would start selling as early as 1 hour before the start of the first feature, depending on how long the street line was. Hope that answeres some of the questions. The Roxy, however, rounded out it times to the nearest five. 5:18 was posted as 5:20 and 1:18 was 1:15. Its fun to look at the other movie house schedules on Broadway, if posted.
All feature times were in minutes at all the Broadway and neighborhood theaters up until the drop of continuous showings and start of separate admissions for each show. The short breaks, particularly at the Hall and Roxy, weren’t meant to encourage concession purchases, as there weren’t any, certainly not in the 30s, 40s and 50s. That was a later phenominun. Only neighborhood theaters might have had concession stands. The time schedules were prepared to fit in the most number of shows during day; to allow for a moderate spill of patrons between stage and film showings as most patrons walked in at any time. A full house at the start of a day (Saturday or Sunday) was rare but a headache at the Hall and Roxy. Imagine 6,000 people coming up the aisles.
I was thinking the same thing regarding the show times. I wonder why they didn’t start the shows (both stage and movie) at even times. I guess we’re just used of todays showtimes with sometimes an hour between show times. But it does seem impossible how people could run the the bathrooms and buy concessions with 5 or 8 minute intermissions. Of course in the “old” days there would be a cartoon, newsreel, previews and sometimes a short before the main feature started. In the old days the feature would start at say 7:00 followed by a 3 min intermission, the the news etc. then the second feature. Then another short intermission and the first feature would be shown again. This was on week-nights in our neighborhood theatres. Sometimes no intermission at all. Just one feature running into the next. My, my how times have changed.
After all of the RCMH ads, I don’t know why I analyzed this one, but I did:
I’m surprised that doors opened only 15 minutes prior to the first show. Doesn’t seem like enough time to get everyone seated, or encourage visits to concession stands, etc….It appears that the ad was for Wednesday/Thursday only, not a peak period. Was it different for the weekend or Christmas shows?
With a running time of 126 minutes for THE JOURNEY, that left 8 minutes before the start of the stage show. Again, not much time for concession visits….And 44 minutes before the start of the next showing of THE JOURNEY. How long was a typical stage show. 36 minutes? With another 8 minute intermission?
Funny to see start times listed at odd times like 1:19 pm and 4:07. Brought back a memory that we didn’t pay much attention to start times back then, at least at the local neighborhood theaters. We walked in and watched until someone said, “This is where we came in”. Sometimes, with a double feature, you didn’t even know what movie you were watching for a while.
And parking was 50 cents for 6 ½ hours! jk
1959
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I would sit through this again just to see a movie at the Music Hall.
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Henry Blanke produced both “The Nun’s Story” and “The Miracle”. The great commercial and critical success of the first must’ve made up for the big flop of the second.
“The Miracle” was supposed to be the first story film in Cinemiracle (a Cinerama-like giant screen process which had been used for the 1958 travelogue “Windjammer”), but it was filmed in the much cheaper Technirama instead.
Great story Rob, it’s always fun when you join in these discussions.
It is too bad they did not make the 70mm print but at least they sounded some 35mm mag prints, which as you may recall where few and far between in the late 60s and throughout the 70s. Then came Dolby Stereo optical which was the beginning of the end for mag sound.
I am not usually one who cares for some of the “progress” made in todays movie making, like most folks on this board I sorely miss 70mm, but I do appreciate the excellent quality of Digital sound.
I still however have a problem with Digital picture, but that’s
another story. Keep that reel Rob, it’s one of life’s little treasures.
Vito, Radio City almost played “The Red Tent” in 70mm with 6 track mag. Paramount made a test reel of Reel 1, which was printed 1.85 in a 70mm frame. When they brought it in to test, they balked at making a print, because the photographs in the news coverage of the ship takeoff looked too “grainy”. Well, they were supposed to be shots taken from news! They left that reel at the theatre, and I used it for years as a test reel when we were going to play a 70mm print. It’s too bad they didn’t pull the whole print, since the six track music played under the titles was awesome. I hadn’t started at the Hall when it played, but the crew remembered the sound quality vividly. The test reel had the gap between the picture and the outer edge of the frame left clear on the outside, and with a black mat on the inside, so I always had a white scren on the right side of the screen when I ran it, but it was still fun to see.
Warren, great fun thinking back on those engagements, I recall seeing “The Red Tent” which was shown at the Music Hall with four track mag stereo sound. I was working at Century’s Plainview theatre on Long Island at the time, so when we booked the film I mentioned to the DM the availability of the mag print, which had become scarce in 1971, and we were able to obtain a mag print for the Plainview.
It’s those little fun memories that come back reading posts here.
I realise it’s not until the end of the year, but are any plans being made for the 75th anniversary?
Easter 1976
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Many thanks Warren – I will download some info to keep with the postcard.
Can anyone confirm which movie was playing at RCMH on 20th February 1936. I have a postcard sent to my godmother in England. The picture is of Rockefeller Center (Black & white picture). It was posted on 20th February the message is:
“This is the outside of the big cinema where we are all going tonight to see the new Rogers and Astaire film Best wishes L. Tuck"
sent to Miss Jennings, c/o Adv Dept, Harvey Nichols & Co Ltd, London SW1 England.
Follow the Fleet was released on that date in 1936 so it is most likely that.
Thanks
Kate
hello organized,i was wondering if you got in to see this years christmas show?
i’ve been away all year as I suffered a stroke on my birthday jan12,2006
thank GOD the organ is in the capable hands of RICHARD BISHOP.WE HAVE SEVERAL NEW ORGANISTS of which i haven’t gotten to hearyet, I was supposed to have a spot too
but my left hand and leg is affected and I can’t play.
A 1962 press photo from the Disney stage show
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I wish as well the Music Hall would have a festival of early cinemascope features before they shrunk to Panavision size. When I saw Seven Brides there in the late 70’s I had never seen a screen that wide in my life. The barn raising scene was stupendous.
That video is very frustrating. Nothing but pure editing. Just as your eye realizes what it is seeing it cuts away. How wonderful it would be to see newsreels of film openings at the Hall and the lines waiting for the hit films down to Fifth Av with shots of the marquee to see what was playing.
And then all the films ever taken of the stage shows.(Though you could leave out the 70’s as they were pretty weak.)
Now I realize this is a long shot, but if any Radio City execs read this I wonder given the huge success of the Dreamgirls exclusive engagement, (no I won’t call it a roadshow), why not do it at the Hall sometime.
Find a movie on the scale of a Dreamgirls and book it exclusively for a 10-day run. I would suggest perhaps two or three shows a day and (now here’s the kicker) throw in a short stage presentation with maybe the Rockettes.
Yeah, I know, dream on vito.
Thanks, Jerry. 2007 marks the 75th anniversary of the Hall, and I hope there’s at least one movie showing included in whatever special events they’re planning to commemmorate it.