Here are two ads for this theater that were actually personalized by the management, commenting directly on the movie being featured. It’s great showmanship, and it’s a lost art. The second link features two such ads, one for the Century’s Paramus and one for the Pearl River Theater (“Cleopatra” – You May Never See Its Likes Again!) Will we ever see the likes of ads like this again, not to mention the theaters and the movies?
This October 1963 ad announces the upcoming release of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. It’s from the Bergen Record in NJ, which explains “in less than an hour you can be there” … if only that were still possible today.
The main auditorium has been renovated but it was also made smaller. It doesn’t stretch as far back as it used to when it was the Rivoli. And, as far as I know, they don’t show movies in there (the biggest disappointment). At least the beautiful chandelier is still intact.
I was wrong about the year “The Sound of Music” played the Rivoli for many months. It was 1967, not 1966. Here’s a Bergen Record ad announcing the engagement:
“The Best of Everything” DVD features a Fox newsreel from the big premiere at the Paramount. Arlene Dahl attended with her husband Fernando Lamas, so they even managed to get in a plug for “Journey to the Center of the Earth”! (and what I wouldn’t give to have seen THAT at the Paramount).
Vito: Remember when 20th Century-Fox stopped using their logo at the beginning of their movies in 1970? Having a silent logo without the fanfare (“The Sound of Music”, “The Bible”) was bad enough, but to do any with it completely – what were those Fox executives thinking? I guess they were trying to be trendy and with-it, and the logo and fanfare were perceived as old-fashioned. I remember seeing “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” at Loew’s State 2 start off with the words “Twentieth Century-Fox Presents” over the opening shot, and thinking the projectionist had made a mistake. I think only a few movies fell into this category before somebody reversed this bad decision, but “Patton” was one of them.
An important scene in the horror classic “Rosemary’s Baby” was shot across the street from Radio City Music Hall during the run of “The Happiest Millionaire”. You can see Tommy Steele’s name on the marquee. Sad that such a dud movie was the last one Walt Disney personally produced before his death.
I think Spielberg chose flat to emphasize the height of the alien war machines. At least that’s the reason he gave for shooting “Jurassic Park” in flat: the height of the dinosaurs.
Another memorable event at this theater was “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1988. It was my second time seeing it. The first was at the Ziegfeld where at least 100 fundamentalist Christians marched on the theater in protest. At the Route 17 a week later, there were about 3 people outside the theater picketing the movie.
I saw “Rocky III” here in 70mm in 1982. The screen image was nothing special – it wasn’t even a Scope film anyway – but the opening song “Eye of the Tiger” and the whole rest of the movie did sound great in 6-channel sound.
Whenever “Wilson” was shown on TV, my dad always talked about how great it was seeing it at the Roxy. He said there were American flags draped all over the theater.
In September 1953, a great sci-fi classic was about to open at the Oritani:
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Here are two ads for this theater that were actually personalized by the management, commenting directly on the movie being featured. It’s great showmanship, and it’s a lost art. The second link features two such ads, one for the Century’s Paramus and one for the Pearl River Theater (“Cleopatra” – You May Never See Its Likes Again!) Will we ever see the likes of ads like this again, not to mention the theaters and the movies?
View link
View link
This October 1963 ad announces the upcoming release of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. It’s from the Bergen Record in NJ, which explains “in less than an hour you can be there” … if only that were still possible today.
View link
Here is an ad announcing the opening of this theater:
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Is this the same place? It’s got a handy map included (if you can read it clearly):
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Another great classic that played the Lee:
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Here’s an ad from when the Rivoli was showing a great film classic of the 1960’s:
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The main auditorium has been renovated but it was also made smaller. It doesn’t stretch as far back as it used to when it was the Rivoli. And, as far as I know, they don’t show movies in there (the biggest disappointment). At least the beautiful chandelier is still intact.
On this date (7/17/63) the Totowa was playing one of my favorite low-budget horror movies:
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This ad is from 1963, when the Totowa Drive-In was showing one of the best movies ever made:
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I was wrong about the year “The Sound of Music” played the Rivoli for many months. It was 1967, not 1966. Here’s a Bergen Record ad announcing the engagement:
View link
Thanks Vito, for pumping up the volume on “Journey”. Those lucky theater patrons (and the ghost of Bernard Herrmann) are grateful to you.
Vito: Did you actually project “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (with the fader up 2 or 3 DBs)? If so, I’d like to shake your hand! :)
“The Best of Everything” DVD features a Fox newsreel from the big premiere at the Paramount. Arlene Dahl attended with her husband Fernando Lamas, so they even managed to get in a plug for “Journey to the Center of the Earth”! (and what I wouldn’t give to have seen THAT at the Paramount).
Vito: Remember when 20th Century-Fox stopped using their logo at the beginning of their movies in 1970? Having a silent logo without the fanfare (“The Sound of Music”, “The Bible”) was bad enough, but to do any with it completely – what were those Fox executives thinking? I guess they were trying to be trendy and with-it, and the logo and fanfare were perceived as old-fashioned. I remember seeing “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” at Loew’s State 2 start off with the words “Twentieth Century-Fox Presents” over the opening shot, and thinking the projectionist had made a mistake. I think only a few movies fell into this category before somebody reversed this bad decision, but “Patton” was one of them.
What a beautiful theater! Did “Patton” play here in Dimension 150? It must have looked great in a place like this. Ditto “Oliver”.
Test image of “Airport” program – hopefully it will look better than the earlier images I posted:
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An important scene in the horror classic “Rosemary’s Baby” was shot across the street from Radio City Music Hall during the run of “The Happiest Millionaire”. You can see Tommy Steele’s name on the marquee. Sad that such a dud movie was the last one Walt Disney personally produced before his death.
Spielberg said:
“ … whereas 1.85 more closely approximates the way the human eye really sees …”
Heck, I thought Cinerama did that the best.
I think Spielberg chose flat to emphasize the height of the alien war machines. At least that’s the reason he gave for shooting “Jurassic Park” in flat: the height of the dinosaurs.
Dennis: If you check this site periodically, you may soon be lucky enough to see 70mm again …
http://www.in70mm.com/now_showing/index.htm
Most of the theaters seem to be in Europe, but you never know. At least 70mm is not completely dead, and most likely never will be.
Thanks, Robert. I wish “Becket” would get released on DVD someday. What a good movie.
Another memorable event at this theater was “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1988. It was my second time seeing it. The first was at the Ziegfeld where at least 100 fundamentalist Christians marched on the theater in protest. At the Route 17 a week later, there were about 3 people outside the theater picketing the movie.
I saw “Rocky III” here in 70mm in 1982. The screen image was nothing special – it wasn’t even a Scope film anyway – but the opening song “Eye of the Tiger” and the whole rest of the movie did sound great in 6-channel sound.
Whenever “Wilson” was shown on TV, my dad always talked about how great it was seeing it at the Roxy. He said there were American flags draped all over the theater.