Thanks BOB for the “Barefoot in the Park” program. I saw it there in 1967 also, but I lost my program over the years. Do you have the one for “The Odd Couple” as well?
I saw “War of the Worlds” there last night. I had some problems with the humans in the movie – some of the scenes just didn’t make any sense – but the alien war machines are a truly awesome sight. And the Ziegfeld’s sound system came through spectacularly with some of the loudest and most frightening sound effects I’ve ever heard.
Vincent: I saw it at the Capitol on a Saturday afternoon in June 1968, two months after it opened, and the hippie types had not discovered it yet. My dad and I sat in the front row of the upstairs (what the Capitol called the “divans”) and there was a huge balcony above us filled with people. The audience was very quiet throughout the film, but there was lots of laughter when HAL was trying to prevent Dave from disconnecting him (“I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.”) There was no pot smoking and no one sat on the floor in front of the screen, but my dad did suggest we move down to the front rows during intermission. We chickened out, though, because we had reserved assigned seats and we figured the ushers would object if we tried to change seats. Now I wish we had moved – Cinerama is always more impressive the closer to the screen you sit.
The last film I saw in the actual Cinema 46 was “Star Trek First Contact”, but it was in one of the smaller side theaters. When I think of Cinema 46 I always think of the main auditorium with the art gallery in the corridor, and that big screen. I think the last movie I saw in there was either “Poltergeist” or “Prince of the City”.
I had lots of great times at the Cinema 46. It was such a classy theater. I have no proof that they showed the 70mm versions of “Patton” and “Hello, Dolly”, but they both sure looked and sounded like it. I believe they had the exclusive North Jersey showing of “Earthquake” in Sensurround. I even saw “Eraserhead” here at a midnight show. Here are two local newspaper ads from back in the theater’s glory days, including the ad for “Tommy” which Rhett describes above:
The Route 17 Triplex in Paramus NJ only posts one word from each movie title on their marquee. It’s usually a pretty funny sight. Last week it said TENSION PANTS LAW YARD. I had to look up LAW in the paper – I couldn’t figure out that it was “Monster-in-Law”.
Thanks Sam. Vodvil does sound like one of those Variety terms, like Stix Nix Hix Pix. I just saw Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” recently, in which he translates that phrase.
RobertR: That’s a great Peter Pan ad. I especially like “VODVIL Tonight at Orpheum”. Was Vodvil supposed to be a modern, futuristic way to say vaudeville, to show that vaudeville wasn’t dead and could change with the times?
Vito: Didn’t George Lucas flee to Hawaii to escape all the craziness when “Star Wars” first opened and the mania began? I think I read that somewhere. Hey, maybe you projected the movie with him in the audience? :)
I believe the very first digital showing of “The Phantom Menace” was at the Meadows 6 in Secaucus. That’s what they said at the theater anyway, when they gave out the commemmorative badges. The shows may have opened to the public on the same night in both Secaucus and Paramus, but I think the first test of the system took place in Secaucus.
You’re welcome, BoxOfficeBill. But I couldn’t figure out how to make the programs bigger just by clicking on them, the way yours did. And I used Photobucket just like you. Maybe my PC is the cause of the problem? Anyway, thanks for your great story about that particular stage show in August 1972. Stories like that are a big part of what makes Cinema Treasures such a fun site.
I saw “Jaws” at the Colony in July 1975, when it was still a single-screen theater. The audience was deadly quiet through most of the picture – from fear, I have no doubt. I think the theater being a couple of blocks away from the Atlantic Ocean had a lot to do with that. Here is a picture I took back then:
Thanks for posting your programs, BoxOfficeBill. Even if the movies weren’t any good, these programs are something to treasure. You’ve inspired to look for my old Radio City programs. I think I still have a few from the early ‘70’s somewhere, including “Airport”.
They have to take apart, clean and rebuild all the seats in the balcony. The program says there’s 57 years worth of bubble gum built up on them. The AC must have been removed when the theater first closed in 1986, but I’m not sure. It was comfortable in there on Saturday night and it had been a fairly warm day, but I guess the heat and humidity build up as the summer goes on.
I think “Airport” in 1970 may have been the last really big hit to
play the Hall. I believe “Scrooge” did really well there too, later that year.
Thanks BOB for the “Barefoot in the Park” program. I saw it there in 1967 also, but I lost my program over the years. Do you have the one for “The Odd Couple” as well?
I saw “War of the Worlds” there last night. I had some problems with the humans in the movie – some of the scenes just didn’t make any sense – but the alien war machines are a truly awesome sight. And the Ziegfeld’s sound system came through spectacularly with some of the loudest and most frightening sound effects I’ve ever heard.
Thank you, Dave and Shade – the Beekman will never be 100% dead and gone as long as we can look at your pictures.
Vincent: I saw it at the Capitol on a Saturday afternoon in June 1968, two months after it opened, and the hippie types had not discovered it yet. My dad and I sat in the front row of the upstairs (what the Capitol called the “divans”) and there was a huge balcony above us filled with people. The audience was very quiet throughout the film, but there was lots of laughter when HAL was trying to prevent Dave from disconnecting him (“I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.”) There was no pot smoking and no one sat on the floor in front of the screen, but my dad did suggest we move down to the front rows during intermission. We chickened out, though, because we had reserved assigned seats and we figured the ushers would object if we tried to change seats. Now I wish we had moved – Cinerama is always more impressive the closer to the screen you sit.
The last film I saw in the actual Cinema 46 was “Star Trek First Contact”, but it was in one of the smaller side theaters. When I think of Cinema 46 I always think of the main auditorium with the art gallery in the corridor, and that big screen. I think the last movie I saw in there was either “Poltergeist” or “Prince of the City”.
I had lots of great times at the Cinema 46. It was such a classy theater. I have no proof that they showed the 70mm versions of “Patton” and “Hello, Dolly”, but they both sure looked and sounded like it. I believe they had the exclusive North Jersey showing of “Earthquake” in Sensurround. I even saw “Eraserhead” here at a midnight show. Here are two local newspaper ads from back in the theater’s glory days, including the ad for “Tommy” which Rhett describes above:
View link
View link
I too would love to see pictures of the actual theater. It was really a special place.
The Route 17 Triplex in Paramus NJ only posts one word from each movie title on their marquee. It’s usually a pretty funny sight. Last week it said TENSION PANTS LAW YARD. I had to look up LAW in the paper – I couldn’t figure out that it was “Monster-in-Law”.
Thanks Sam. Vodvil does sound like one of those Variety terms, like Stix Nix Hix Pix. I just saw Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” recently, in which he translates that phrase.
RobertR: That’s a great Peter Pan ad. I especially like “VODVIL Tonight at Orpheum”. Was Vodvil supposed to be a modern, futuristic way to say vaudeville, to show that vaudeville wasn’t dead and could change with the times?
Vito: Didn’t George Lucas flee to Hawaii to escape all the craziness when “Star Wars” first opened and the mania began? I think I read that somewhere. Hey, maybe you projected the movie with him in the audience? :)
I believe the very first digital showing of “The Phantom Menace” was at the Meadows 6 in Secaucus. That’s what they said at the theater anyway, when they gave out the commemmorative badges. The shows may have opened to the public on the same night in both Secaucus and Paramus, but I think the first test of the system took place in Secaucus.
You’re welcome, BoxOfficeBill. But I couldn’t figure out how to make the programs bigger just by clicking on them, the way yours did. And I used Photobucket just like you. Maybe my PC is the cause of the problem? Anyway, thanks for your great story about that particular stage show in August 1972. Stories like that are a big part of what makes Cinema Treasures such a fun site.
The last truly great movie to play the Music Hall prior to the 1978 closing:
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“Butterflies Are Free”, featuring Eileen Heckart’s Oscar-winning performance:
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“The Out-of-Towners”. The Hall was really rocking with laughter at this one:
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The Easter show for 1970, “Airport”, in 70mm:
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I found my old Music Hall programs, 5 of them. First up is “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”:
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I saw “Jaws” at the Colony in July 1975, when it was still a single-screen theater. The audience was deadly quiet through most of the picture – from fear, I have no doubt. I think the theater being a couple of blocks away from the Atlantic Ocean had a lot to do with that. Here is a picture I took back then:
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These pictures of the Uptown were taken on November 10, 2001, the last time “2001” played there:
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Thanks for posting your programs, BoxOfficeBill. Even if the movies weren’t any good, these programs are something to treasure. You’ve inspired to look for my old Radio City programs. I think I still have a few from the early ‘70’s somewhere, including “Airport”.
Here’s the contact information from their website:
http://www.loewsjersey.org/contact.php
This is a more complete scan of the same page:
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Here’s the program page which talks about the balcony renovation:
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They have to take apart, clean and rebuild all the seats in the balcony. The program says there’s 57 years worth of bubble gum built up on them. The AC must have been removed when the theater first closed in 1986, but I’m not sure. It was comfortable in there on Saturday night and it had been a fairly warm day, but I guess the heat and humidity build up as the summer goes on.