According to Lou Lumineck at the NY Post: Moss says the programming at the 1,131-seat venue would remain “pretty much as it is'‘ — first-run movies, movie premieres and special events like high-definition opera presentations. Cablevision spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew also declined to discuss the theater's finances or the length of the lease — believed to have around 10 years to go — but stressed that "this great partnership allows us to keep the Ziegfeld, which is open for business.’'
Wasn’t 1933 the year a lot of the 42nd Street playhouses — including Ziegfeld’s Follies' home the New Amsterdam — converted to first-and-second run grindhouses?
Joe, I suggest you read the Box Office article from 1947 that Tinseltoes posted on July 1, 2012. It is chock full of information about this theater, including its history, capacity and seating arrangemnts.
bigjoe59 posted:
Speaking of the legit theaters that once were located on the south side of 42 St. between 7th and 8th Aves…my question is simple – when the renovation for the “new” 42 St. began in earnest in the early 90s what was the state of the Candler Theater? Was it in such bad shape they decided to demolish it or was it in perfectly renovatable shape but no one wanted to spend the money so it was razed.
saps responded:
The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house [than the Anco], solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
techman707 responded:
It’s interesting you [Bigjoe59] should ask about the Candler building, since the union I was in, the projectionists Local 306, was located in the Candler building. The only reason they were FORCED to move was because of the demolition. The building was certainly NOT in bad shape. In fact, like so many of the older buildings that have been razed, it was a building that was built for the ages. Like comparing the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center, which building would you select to be in if were going to be hit by a plane?
The Lew Fields (aka Anco) was a featureless pit so it seems like no great loss.
The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house, solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
The old building is completely down and the new one looks massive from the outside. There is a bit of work to go but it should be impressive when finished.
Willstan, that’s pretty cool that you can remember seeing that movie so long ago. I saw a movie there a couple of years ago, but I have no idea what it was!
There’s something off about that photo, Gill (which I saved in the Photos section for closer examination.) The Palace was only three windows wide, with shorter buildings on each side, but that 1928 photo is seven windows wide. And wasn’t the verticle blade facing sideways rather than forward?
Perhaps that photo was an archtect’s model of what the proposed building would look like. Anyone..?
As I posted nine years ago (omg!), I saw Freaks here about 1970 when I was a young teenager. My girlfriend and I came in more than half-way through the film, and the movie freaked us out so much (one of us, one of us…) that we fled at intermission. It was years later that I finally had the nerve to watch it again, and it was as distrubing as I remembered it. A weird little theater perfect for such a weird little movie.
Deadline.com is reporting that Regal is spending $191M to acquire the Hollywood Theaters chain. Link to article. This is the comment I posted in Deadline’s comments section:
Since Regal has so much money to spend, I hope they can throw a couple of dollars at their Lynbrook sixplex, which has plenty of broken seats and doesn’t even have cup holders. They’ve been “planning” to rebuild for over a decade and so have spent very little on repairs and maintenance. Since their new purchase is expected to be “accretive to cash flows” I hope some of that cash flows this way.
According to Lou Lumineck at the NY Post: Moss says the programming at the 1,131-seat venue would remain “pretty much as it is'‘ — first-run movies, movie premieres and special events like high-definition opera presentations. Cablevision spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew also declined to discuss the theater's finances or the length of the lease — believed to have around 10 years to go — but stressed that "this great partnership allows us to keep the Ziegfeld, which is open for business.’'
Link here
So the Lyric wasn’t strictly a playhouse until 1934?
Was the 1922 Robin Hood a movie or a play?
And as Eliza wondered about her late aunt, “what become of her new straw hat that should have come to me?”
Wasn’t 1933 the year a lot of the 42nd Street playhouses — including Ziegfeld’s Follies' home the New Amsterdam — converted to first-and-second run grindhouses?
But the question is, will BowTie run the house for Cablevision as a regularly-scheduled movie theater?
Joe, I suggest you read the Box Office article from 1947 that Tinseltoes posted on July 1, 2012. It is chock full of information about this theater, including its history, capacity and seating arrangemnts.
Well, Cablevision hasn’t done too badly by the Music Hall, MSG and its theater, and the Beacon, so maybe isn’t all bad news…
There is so much info about the Lyric on the Lyric page, especially in links that Tinseltoes has already posted.
The intro for this historic house really needs to be corrected and expanded.
Reposted from Embassy 1,2,3 page:
bigjoe59 posted: Speaking of the legit theaters that once were located on the south side of 42 St. between 7th and 8th Aves…my question is simple – when the renovation for the “new” 42 St. began in earnest in the early 90s what was the state of the Candler Theater? Was it in such bad shape they decided to demolish it or was it in perfectly renovatable shape but no one wanted to spend the money so it was razed.
saps responded: The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house [than the Anco], solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
techman707 responded: It’s interesting you [Bigjoe59] should ask about the Candler building, since the union I was in, the projectionists Local 306, was located in the Candler building. The only reason they were FORCED to move was because of the demolition. The building was certainly NOT in bad shape. In fact, like so many of the older buildings that have been razed, it was a building that was built for the ages. Like comparing the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center, which building would you select to be in if were going to be hit by a plane?
Carry on!
The Lew Fields (aka Anco) was a featureless pit so it seems like no great loss.
The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house, solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
Direct link to article and photos here
Vito calls those strips “curtain raisers” but aren’t they also called “policy trailers?”
The old building is completely down and the new one looks massive from the outside. There is a bit of work to go but it should be impressive when finished.
Now if there was only some way to get there by mass transit we’d have it made.
Willstan, that’s pretty cool that you can remember seeing that movie so long ago. I saw a movie there a couple of years ago, but I have no idea what it was!
Here is the correct link for this cinema, which I soon hope to visit.
There’s something off about that photo, Gill (which I saved in the Photos section for closer examination.) The Palace was only three windows wide, with shorter buildings on each side, but that 1928 photo is seven windows wide. And wasn’t the verticle blade facing sideways rather than forward?
Perhaps that photo was an archtect’s model of what the proposed building would look like. Anyone..?
You need a speaker or you can’t hear the movie. :)
As I posted nine years ago (omg!), I saw Freaks here about 1970 when I was a young teenager. My girlfriend and I came in more than half-way through the film, and the movie freaked us out so much (one of us, one of us…) that we fled at intermission. It was years later that I finally had the nerve to watch it again, and it was as distrubing as I remembered it. A weird little theater perfect for such a weird little movie.
Deadline.com is reporting that Regal is spending $191M to acquire the Hollywood Theaters chain. Link to article. This is the comment I posted in Deadline’s comments section:
Since Regal has so much money to spend, I hope they can throw a couple of dollars at their Lynbrook sixplex, which has plenty of broken seats and doesn’t even have cup holders. They’ve been “planning” to rebuild for over a decade and so have spent very little on repairs and maintenance. Since their new purchase is expected to be “accretive to cash flows” I hope some of that cash flows this way.
Sigh…
It wasn’t long before before mass releasing on “showcase,” “flagship” and “blue ribbon” platforms.
It must have been magical to see 2001 on that big Capitol screen.