Criterion Theatre

Did anyone else see roadshow engagement of "The Ten Commandments" in 1955 at the Criterion.

Great. Just what everyone needed. Less history and more giraffes. Toys R Us has closed stores in CA due to their recent financial woes.

My first visit to the theater was to see "Hans Christian Andersen" in early 1953...and then again in 1964 to see the roadshow of "My Fair Lady", followed by my final visit in 1966 to see "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"... I hate to see these old movie palaces turn into toy stores, but the public today just doesn't "get it" about the real way to see a motion picture.

ALL the NYC premiers happened at the Criterion. All the outside boroughs had to wait their turn. Many folks recall "Opening Thursday at a theatre near you."

"Ben Hur", "Cleopatra", "5 Weeks in a baloon", "Around the World in 80 Days", "Spartacus", and other blockbusters opened there.

On the below comment about "Cleopatra", "Around the World in 80 Days" all opened at the Rivoli Theatre not the Criterion. "Ben-Hur" opened at the Loew's State Theatre. Criterion opened "South Pacific", "My Fair Lady", "Patton", "The Ten Commandments". The Loew's State Theatre was the MGM showcase house. The Rivoli Theatre was the first TODD-AO house in New York City. The Criterion Theatre installed the TODD-AO projection system around 1957.

Theatre was first twinned upstairs/downstairs. Then the downstairs was split left/right. The last 4 houses were in the basement. I was in here first time XMAS week 1962 for Lawrence Of Arabia.

This theater, along with many others in the area, can be seen in the film "Shaft".

Saw FUNNY GIRL there. What a great experience. It is sad to think that it is gone. New York has lost a lot of its history.

The Criterion wasn't totally demolished. Portions of it remain and still can be seen towards the rear of the second floor of Toys R Us...The Criterion was built in 1935 on part of the block-front site of the old Olympia Music Hall and two other theatres, which were demolished to make way for the Criterion, retail stores, and the International Casino nightclub. B.S. Moss built the Criterion, but had problems getting first-rate product, so he leased the theatre to Loew's for 20 years in a deal in which they shared 50-50 in any profits. But when Loew's was forced by the Federal Government anti-trust action to divest itself of some of its theatres, the Criterion was one of the first to go. It reverted to B.S. Moss and his family, which continued to operate it until the 1980s, when they leased it to United Artists Theatre Circuit.

I remember back in 1954 when "The French Line"
starring Jane Russell played in 3-D and played to record crowds.
Remember the giant billboard above the marguee?
JR in 3-D Need we say more?

In response to Warrens good comment, the Theatre was located on the
North half or 45th St. side of the block (left side when facing the block) facing the Loews State rear entrance and current Lyceum. The balcony fire escapes are still visable.They even re-painted the building side about 2 years ago. The 44th St. side in back of Toy's
without windows must have the area used by Bond Clothes, Woolworths, and the Roundabout Theatre.The Theatre entrance was in the middle of the block and when you walked through the long lobby you were at the right side of the auditorium.
I remember my first trip to Times Sq. around 1955 when they had the entire roof with the giant Pepsi Cola bottles on either side and the giant waterfall in the middle.

You are right the building's 45th St. sidewall is intact as are the other walls of the auditorium which I now believe is a stockroom for truck deliveries for Toys Are Us. The Toys R Us marquee or television monitor is exactly where the theatre's original marquee was. Since the building was only partially demolished, they were able to keep the ordinance that allowed them to retain the extended marquee they have now. I also worked as a fill in manager for B.S. Moss and I was there for Alien and Bo Dereks film "10". I can still remember her running on the beach ion her famous scene from that film. It was still a single screen at the time and a Moss theatre. During a Saturday matinee of "10", there was civil unrest outside the theatre that caused us to close the front doors and suspend the sale of tickets for a hhalf hour until the crowd outside simmered down. People in the theatre were unaware of the turmoil outside. I have a set of 11 x 14 movie stills from ALIEN that were discarded that I kept as a momento of the theatre.

A featurette of the premiere of "The Ten Commandments" can be seen on the new DVD release of the film.

60s-went to the movies & Bonds as a child. Early 80s Bond International Casino was a massive club, Criterion was still functioning as a private club/theatre till the end? Know
down the block (43rd) Toffanetti's (which my Mom & Dad patronized
in the 40s) became a Nathan's, now a Building with the huge NASDAQ
ticker (famous news wire neon Next block over)

Hi, My name is Holly, I'm 14 and a Big Dream Street fan, A band that performed their very first concert at the Criterion. In the video it seemed in fine shape, why did they knock it down? The concert was 12/14/99 Wayyyy back there. Yeah so I was like so sad when I read the back of the video box. It said that the concert took place just days before the Criterion was to close it's doors forever. Forever is such a sad word. Yes I am very emotional.
-Holly

There was talk for a time in the mid-1990s that United Artists was considering gutting the Criterion, most of the retail spaces to the theatre's right, and converting the property into a 15-screen house. However far along those plans were I don't know, but they were likely scuttled at the absolute latest after both Loews and AMC announced their plans to build their megaplexes on 42nd Street, a timeline that matches the point when UA's maintenance of the Criterion slid into something just barely north of non-existent.

UA's maintenance of all their theatres is always north of non-existernt. Then they wonder why people stop coming and the theatres close.

You should have seen the UA Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, during its last days as a United Artists Theatre. "Where the Stars See the Movies" (That was their catchline, during the 60's)

Holly, are you sure that Big Dream Street performed at the Criterion Theatre? I never knew that "live" shows were given there, even when it was a single auditorium, which had no stage facilities.

It might have been just a rental for doing the video and concert. We have had people rent theatres for meetings, screening and filming in a theatre auditorium. Maybe since they were going to close the theatre and someone wanted to do a rental.

No, it was really there, I've got the tape :)
-Holly

It was a Charity show for the Variety Children's Network
-Holly

What did the group perform ON? Were seats removed to make room for a platform stage? How many people attended the concert? I doubt that any auditiorium in the multiplexed Criterion seated more than 650. Perhaps the concert was really held in the "legit" Roundabout Theatre, which was next door to the Criterion?

William, although not as glorious a house as The Egyptian UA outdid themselves the last few months running The Movies at Bayside. Not only was no maintenance done they did not clean the bathrooms, mop the floors and barely picked up any trash from the floors. This is a sin because the thatre sits in a nice part of town.

That's why I hated going to some of their theatres. By their management cost cutting programs. The Egyptian was maintained and ran well during the 80's, but when the 90's hit. It all went down hill fast. During their last year open they tried, running it as a bargain house. ($1.50 or $2.00 any seat format) I went there a few more times before it closed. And it was not a pretty site to see how they let their Flagship West Coast Theatre die.

At least they maintained The Rivoli to the end except for hacking the exterior to prevent it from getting landmark status and booking grind films in this once proud house.

60s memories of the Criterion include roadshows such as Is Paris Burning and Patton...later memories include Rambo III on the main screen at ground level, The World According to Garp and A Cry in the Dark in Number 2 upstairs and Sharkey's Machine and sin of sins not to have seen in first run at the Sutton Raging Bull in the smaller basement screens...the latter was notable for simultaneous translation going on behind me in Spanish...Remember in the summer of 88 trying to see Die Hard in first run here and the air conditioning being down...they closed the theatre I think that night

I agree with you William on the UA Egyptian. I always noticed when I lived in LA in the 80's and early 90's that Pacific and Mann did a much better job maintaining there theatres compared to United Artists. Its to bad the Criterion was taken over by UA instead of another circuit after Moss stopped running the theatre.City planning should have kept one megaplex in Times Square and one on 42nd St.There will be no movies showing in Times Square which was once the Capitol of movie going.brucec

brucec, Yes both Pacific and Mann kept their theatres in good shape. But Pacific took extra good care of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre. They kept that lobby and theatre so clean and changed the bulbs in the original light fixtures and maintained a wonderful theatre.

Hey all. I agree about United Artists running down their theaters. There is one here in Ft. lauderdale which I haven't been in for many years. The last time I was it was starting to get runned down and some of the theaters were so small I would hvae preferred to stay home. I am going to Asheville, NC for the next 6 months and there are 2 United Artist thetares. I know the one across from the Asheville Mall, UA Buccaneer Cinema has a broken ugly marquee out side. I can imagine what the inside looks like.
Mike

I hope someday the Hollywood Pacific is restored.

But for right now it's being used as a Digital Projection showcase. But some day it will happen.

Sorry to go off-Criterion for a minute, but here are pictures of the inside of the Hollywood Pacific theater:

http://www.in70mm.com/news/2004/lfca/digital_symposium.htm

To get back to the Criterion, I have good memories of seeing "Tora! Tora! Tora!" "Nicholas and Alexandra" and "Alien" there. And its marquee was always prominently featured on the annual TV coverage of New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Some good photos of the Criterion and a history of the B.S. Moss family can be found at www.bowtiepartners.com I thank Barry S. Goodkin for bringing this to my attention.

The Criterion people were going to in the 1950's was not the otiginal Criterion, but probably the New York theatre renamed. On the same block, but on the southern corner was where the original Criterion was -- the one that showed the original The Ten Commandments back in the 1920's. In the 20's there were the two theatres on that same block.

Warren—
Thanks for the ’36 photos of the Criterion’s debut. I wondered how they could have twinned it upstairs/downstairs in the ‘80s, since the balcony was so shallow. The pics confirmed my memory of that shelf-like space. Loew’s had a share in ownership through the late ‘40s, no? The films through the mid-‘50s were mostly mediocre. I recall as a kid seeing there “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” and William Bendix in “The Life of Riley.” Disney favored it in the early ‘50s—I remember being brought to “Snow White” (’52 revival), “Robin Hood” (the live-action one), “Alice in Wonderland.” They also showed several 3-D schlockers—“Fort Ti” and “I, the Jury” (parents wouldn’t take me to “The French Line,” ‘cause the Legion of Decency condemned it). As a high-school kid, I sought it out for mature fare—I recall “Anatomy of a Murder” and “Advise and Consent.” My visit to “The Ten Commandments” in ’56 left me with wounds still borne today: To accommodate an extra reserved-seat showing, they ran an early-bird 9am screening that suited my teen-age wallet. I arrived at 8:59:99 and sprinted past the usher-women to find my seat (knowing where it was, thanks to Stubs). The lights were already down and Mr. DeMille’s prologue had begun. I crashed loudly into an industrial-size trash-can left in the far aisle after the previous night’s showing. A thousand eyes turned to me in the darkness, lit only by light shining from the screen. The can rolled toward the proscenium. Usher-women fanned out down the aisle on a witch-hunt. I darted into my seat, terror-stricken that I’d be ejected for causing a ruckus (not the least for being an unaccompanied 14-y.o.). I survived ejection, but limped for several weeks with what might have been a fractured shin. Shoudda sued ‘em.

O, and I thought "The Ten Commandments" was great on its giant curved VistaVision screen. Who could forget the Criterion's bright red traveller curtain?

I find it really interesting that the Criterion was demolished to make way for Toys R Us which is now condiering closing all their stores after Christmas.A great theater was lost for nothing.

Wasn't most of this theatre totaly destroyed in the creation of that horrible Toys R Us store? Is there anything that remains inside?

I once read that most of this buildings revenue source comes from those huge billboards on top of the building.

Seems like the glory days for the Criterion were from South Pacific to Funny Girl. Last time I was there when it was still intact was for Alien in '78. Went once again after it was cut in two and it broke my heart so I never went back.
Could never figure out why during the '70s it and the Rivoli got the exploitation junk and the twinned Loews State and Astor Plaza got the A Hollywood product especially when the former two in the '60s had been the top NY bookings.

The Criterion was always a money-maker due to its location and moderate size (low operating "nut"). When it first opened in the 1930s, the Moss ownership couldn't get top product, so it made a deal with the Loew's circuit to run the Criterion, sharing any profits 50-50. Under Loew's the Criterion got first-run MGM, Columbia, and Universal product. Loew's finally had to give up the Criterion due to the Federal anti-trust suit against the company, after which Moss took over 100%. By that time, the Criterion had established itself as a desirable house and they had no trouble getting top movies. When the hard-ticket era started, the Criterion was a prime target because of its size, which was similar to many "legit" theatres. The bigger palaces were not suited to reserved seat policies.

I think the Loew's booking office was better at getting product for their theatres during this era, I remember Loew's almost always having the top blockbusters of the day in the 70's and 80's.

Well last week they took off the side exit metal stairwells on the north side of the building that was for the balcony.

I remember those stairwells, one of the only ways to tell this used to be a theatre. I hate to say this, but this building probably will never be used for motion picture exibition again. It would take an investor with a big dream and even deeper pockets to make this happen.

In 1952, the Criterion was one of the first Broadway first-run theatres to show a movie simultaneously with a first-run in another part of Manhattan, in this case the Paris Theatre, on 58th Street just west of Fifth Avenue. The movie was Samuel Goldwyn's "Hans Christian Andersen," an RKO release starring Danny Kaye, with musical score by Frank Loesser. At peak times, which included Christmas week of that year, the Criterion ran nine showings per day, the first at 9AM and the last starting at 1AM. The Paris had eight showings, with the first at 10AM and the last at midnight.

The final features shown at the Criterion, which closed one week after the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street opened its doors to the public in April of 2002, were 'Black and White' (on 2 screens), 'Boys Don't Cry', 'The Cider House Rules', 'High Fidelity', 'The Hurricane', and 'The Sixth Sense', which, from the day it opened at the Criterion, wound up having a nine-month engagement. (The films I personally saw there were 'Deep Blue Sea', in the former balcony; the Jackie Chan flick 'Twin Dragons' in the right ochestra split; and 'Cider House' and 'Lake Placid' in two of the basement auditoriums. It was far from the best venue in the city after its many subdivisions, but the crowds it drew for action and horror films, especially on weekend nights, IMHO, made it a fun place to be.)

The block the Criterion sits on is waiting for a major high rise development.The Moss family still owns the building and is waiting for the right project.The Toys R Us was only temprorary,so the Criterion would have been lost anyway.The Criterion was a modern showcase for the roadshow attraction but the Rivoli was more of a movie palace.When the Criterion was plexed it would have been smarter of UA to have left the orchestra section alone along with the big screen. Then again UA was not very smart and was one of the worst operators of the large circuits.brucec

If the Moss family still owns the building, why did they allow the theater to be closed and a stupid toy store open? When they first divided the theater in the 80's they just divided the original theater in 2. The orchestra was kept intact and the balcony was made theater 2. Did UA divide the orchestra after they took over?

The Criterion couldn't have survived after the AMC Empire 25 opened and had already begun to suffer (as did the other Times Square movie houses) after the opening of the Loews 42nd Street E-Walk in November of 1999. Two harsh realities helped contribute to the downfall of the Criterion: studios always want to book their product into the top available venues, and the best ones at that (i.e., ones with stadium seating, etc.), which means that older sites within or close to the same booking zone traditionally become little more than move-over houses or dumping spots for films that stand zero chance of doing bang-up business and of turning any sort of profit. Studios also, quite often, won't book their product into two sites within the same zone (the E-Walk and Astor Plaza double-bookings being a unique circumstance because of their Times Square location, along with the movie-going crowds drawn to the area; the prestige house the Astor Plaza was - as opposed to the carve-up job the Criterion became; and Loews keeping the revenue the Astor Plaza strong, or at the least, solid, by limiting most of the films it ran in concurrence with the E-Walk to 2-3 week engagements).

(To answer your other question, Mike, the Criterion's layout, at the end, was as follows: orchestra split left/right - auditoriums 1 and 2; balcony - auditorium 3; basement/former lounge area - auditoriums 4 through 7.)

Thanks BR. I didn't know they split the orchestra. I rememebr seeing Bette Midler in Divine Madness there in 70mm. I sat up in the balcony. I am glad I got to see it before they carved it up. I was also lucky enough to have been to the Rivoli many times before they carved that up.

Virtually nothing ever built in the Times Square area has proved "permanent." The real estate is too valuable, so the owners are always ready to sell if a buyer offers the right price. The Toys 'R Us chain is reported near bankruptcy, so that Times Square store seems likely to close before the site gets re-developed.

It was very frustrating during the 70's and 80's seeing two beautiful NY buildings like the Criterion and the Rivoli being so badly utilized while the comparatively worthless Astor Plaza and Ziegfeld were treated like jewels. For some reason when the 60's became the 70's both these theaters became undesirable dumping grounds but they were exactly as they were in the 60's when they were the most desirable bookings in NY. Is it simply location? The destruction of the Astor Hotel was the worst thing to happen to Times Square and it has never recovered(unless of course you consider a New Jersey by way of Tokyo shopping mall an improvement.)

There's a saying that "The old becomes the new," and that seems to be the rule in the Broadway-Times Square area. The oldest buildings are always the targets for replacement by new ones. I'm surprised that the Paramount Building, which opened in 1926 at 1501 Broadway, still stands, but its turn will come eventually. It was still a comparative newcomer when the Astor Hotel was demolished.

Its to bad that some of the historic movie palaces of Times Sqaure weren't given air rights the way most of the historic Broadway Legit theatres were given. This encouraged the Legit theatre owners to restore/renovate many of there theatres.The Palace and the Broadway were encorporated in a build over of a new building,this may have saved the Rivoli and a few others.The Criterion and the Rivoli were the perfect houses for the big musicals,but they didn't have stage houses.I think the master plan in NYC was to revive 42nd St and many of its theatres and rebuild Times Square with new buildings. The revival of the Times Square moved much faster than people imagined and I think it caught the City by surprise. The revival of Times Square was good for the Legit community which had been pushing for a cleaner Times Square for many years,but caused us to loose the last of our big movie palaces in Times Square. Los Angeles is now the only big city to retain most of its big time movie palaces both Downtown and in Hollywood.Downtown Hollywood has restored/renovated all of its movie palaces with the exception of the Hollywood Pacific(Warner).The restored movie palaces of Hollywood would include the Chinese,El Capitan,Pantages and ongoing work on the Music Box(Henry Fonda).The Egyptian had been renovated but not restored and the Cinerama Dome though not a movie palace has also been renovated.The Vogue,Fox,New View,Holly,Hollywood and Vine are not movie palaces and have either closed or are used for other purposes. The Holly has been gutted and only the Vine still show movies.brucec

Wow.

UA certainly did run down the Criterion. The last films I saw there was "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Ten Things I Hate About You." Here's what I wrote about it in the late 90s.

The one and only time I was in this theatre, until last year, it was to see Presumed Innocent. That was a few years ago, and it was a rather abysmal experience. Times Square was a much different place, and at any hour, even the early afternoon, was an opportunity to be surrounded by teenage delinquents or worse. The one time I was there, the fire alarm went off during the climax of the film. Of course, there was no fire, and of course, there was no one getting up to leave the movie either.

All that has changed, although the theatres themselves do not seem so different. A recent trip (to see My Best Friend's Wedding) shows a whole different sort of clientele. The couple in front of me where speaking Russian and the man behind me only spoke French. The seats are still old; not the newer more comfortable ones theatres are installing when they renovate or are built new.

There are six theatres and they are split into two levels with separate entrances. This helps reduce sneaking into extra screenings, although once inside, it seems rather easy to walk into a second movie after having just seen one.

UA certainly did run down the Criterion. The last films I saw there was "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Ten Things I Hate About You." Here's what I wrote about it in the late 90s.

The one and only time I was in this theatre, until last year, it was to see Presumed Innocent. That was a few years ago, and it was a rather abysmal experience. Times Square was a much different place, and at any hour, even the early afternoon, was an opportunity to be surrounded by teenage delinquents or worse. The one time I was there, the fire alarm went off during the climax of the film. Of course, there was no fire, and of course, there was no one getting up to leave the movie either.

All that has changed, although the theatres themselves do not seem so different. A recent trip (to see My Best Friend's Wedding) shows a whole different sort of clientele. The couple in front of me where speaking Russian and the man behind me only spoke French. The seats are still old; not the newer more comfortable ones theatres are installing when they renovate or are built new.

There are six theatres and they are split into two levels with separate entrances. This helps reduce sneaking into extra screenings, although once inside, it seems rather easy to walk into a second movie after having just seen one.

The Criterion was better known for it's 50's and 60's attractions rather than it's interior beauty.Like the DeMille (previously the Mayfair, since devided and now left to rot)it was basically 3 walls and a screen. Where was everybody when they demolished the Roxy, the Rivoli, the Paramount,the Strand, (the backstage of which became a porno house in the 70's!)and the State?!

Marty, we are all in mourning for these magnificent theatres, the likes of which we will never see again.

I agree with an earlier post, Disney should purchase the Embassy 2,3,4 aka Demille and restore it like the El Capitan in CA. They could have also purchased the Times Square theater.

Marty,
The Criterion was a very elegant Art Deco theater with excellent sightlines. A spacious but not too large theater where the large screen was perfectly placed head on in front of the theater. It showed of its product as if they were jewels. Unless you were there during it's heyday it's hard to see in pictures what is more obvious in the old black and white photos of the Roccoco spectaculars built in the 20's.
It was one of New York's great movie theaters.

The theatre has no stage facilities, which would be a problem unless Disney wanted to show only movies there. But why would it when "exclusive" runs are no longer feasible? For stage productions, Disney already has the New Amsterdam, and makes deals with other "legit" houses when the need arises. The closing of Disney's "Aida" has left the Palace dark, and "Lion King" will eventually have to be replaced at the New Amsterdam.

Which theater r u talking about Warren?

Warren, The Palace will open the musical "All Shook Up" on
March 24 2005 with previews beginning on February 20, 2005
In the meanwhile, Vanessa Williams and Linda Elder have scheduled concerts in December. Wouldn't it be fun to use the some of the dark time till Jan 20 with vaudeville shows and a movie? like the ole days. Yeah ... that I'll happen.

I remember the Palace having movies in the late 60's until they booked Applause with Lauren Bacall. It's been a legit house ever since.

The Mayfair/DeMille has no stage facilities...In "the glory days," the Palace presented only vaudeville, with two shows per day. For a brief time before the Palace dropped vaudeville in 1932, movies were added, but the combined policy proved a flop, and only movies were shown until 1949. Variety shows on television revived the public's interest in vaudeville and the Palace resumed it, but without the "name" headliners of the past. It presented nine acts of ordinary vaudeville, plus a first-run "B" movie, with programs changing once a week. This lasted for about two years until the novelty wore off and the Palace tried again with just two-a-day vaudeville, starting with Judy Garland as headliner. Unfortunately, there were no longer enough big stars available for such a policy, so the Palace eventually went back to movies as a hard-ticket house.

Obviously the El Capitan must be making money, why wouldent that work in New York?

Has anybody else noticed that Broadway has turned into Branson for the middle aged and that Andy Williams has become ABBA?
New York lost Times Square and it now has lost its culture.

Goodbye greatest city in the history of the world.

I imagine the main reason why the El Capitan is such a draw are the stage productions which accompany most, if not all, the Disney flicks shown there. If a renovated Mayfair/DeMille/Embassy 1-2-3 were to become a studio o/o venue, it would most likely be run by a someone other than Disney - a studio whose product is 99% straight action, drama, comedy, etc., and doesn't lend itself to any sort of theatrical accompaniment. I suspect the property's ultimate fate will be conversion into retail space but maybe I'll be proven wrong...

Warren
The Demille did have a stage before they split it up. I interviewed their in 1976 when they were going to reopen as a dollar house. I rememeber the big stage and the redcurtains which were kept in the downstairs theater when they split it up.

Warren
The Demille did have a stage before they split it up. I interviewed their in 1976 when they were going to reopen as a dollar house. I rememeber the big stage and the redcurtains which were kept in the downstairs theater when they split it up.

Wow who was going to run the Demille as a dollor house? Peter Ellison?

It was after Walter Reade gave it up. It was in Aug 75. The opening was a doubel feature for $1.00. I remember one film was Jacquele Susan's Once Is Not Enough. I don't think it lasted long as a $1.00 theater. Right after that it became the Mark 1,2,3 and that didn't last long. The last owner was the Guild organization.
Sorry I gave the wrong year in my earlier post.

The most logical theatre for the Disney organization is the old Mark Hellinger which is now the Times Square Church. The church doesn't want to give it up at this time. Disney has two productions coming to Broadway in the next couple years "Mary Poppins" and "The Little Mermaid". The New Amsterdam will likely run "The Lion King" for several years unless they move it to another theatre.I doubt Disney would run a theatre in New York like the El Capitan as the cost would be so expensive.brucec

Well they are going to put in a Restaurant and bar into the space that once was the north side of the building where the fire exits once stood. It's signage has already been put up, going tobe called Bond 50 Restauant.
The Times Square church really maintains the old Mark Hellinger, really well. They painted the lobby and relamped the lobby light fixtures in the last two months.
Disney may do what they did to "Beauty and the Beast" when it left the Palace and moved-over to the Lunt and Fontane Theatre. They down sized the show from what played and opened on Broadway at the Palace. So it could still play on Broadway but smaller to fit the other theatre.

Who ran the Embassy 2-3-4 when it was the Mark 1-2-3?

The Lion King is still doing sell out business at the New Amsterdam which is the 3rd largest legit theatre on Broadway and it will be a few years before Disney will move it to a smaller theatre. The largest theatre on Broadway is the Gershwin and the Ford Center, soon to be renamed the Hilton Theatre, is the second largest. The Rivoli and the Criterion would have made great legit musical theatres if a stage house could have been built.Its a shame because the demand for a musical theatre seating between 1500-1800 is huge. Many musical shows are lined up waiting for a theatre of this size and many times have to postpone until the next season. The average hit musical is running longer and longer.Every theatre on Broadway is either running a show or is booked with a show coming in.brucec

I doubt that the Rivoli or the Criterion had the space behind the prosceniums to house a Broadway show. But the Loews State and the Strand would have been terrific as legit houses though maybe somewhat large. Though twice the capacity of the Gershwin they still would have been warmer more welcoming theatrical spaces than that aircraft hangar.
And the City Opera could have had a midtown opera house! The development in our city is a joke. I hope that Giuliani and Koch choke on their ill gotten gains.

It still sounds like the Embassy would make a good legit house.

The Embassy 2-3-4 (ex-Mayfair, DeMille) does not have stage facilities and I doubt that that they could easily be added since the theatre is boxed in by surrounding buildings. And does Broadway really need more "legit" theatres? The nearby Palace is sitting empty until the Elvis Presley musical opens there next year.

Enough with the juke box musicals!
I guess we've now got to deal with decades of them.
Where's my time machine?

Warren there is a huge demand for muscial theatres sitting between 1500-1800 seats. The Palace has been booked with a show ever since Disney announced the closing of "Aida". Many times a producer will book and reserve a desired theatre way in advance to assure there production the proper theatre. The in coming musical "Spamalot" reserved the Shubert months ago. The in coming musical Lennon reserved the Broadhurst almost a year in advance. Vincent you are correct, the Strand(Warner) and Loew's State could have been altered to house broadway musicals such as the Orpheum in San Francisco where they brought the stage into the Orchestra and reducing the capacity to make the theatre more intimate for broadway musicals.The cost of doing this would have been less than building a new musical theatre from the ground up. Then they could of built over these theatres like they did with the Palace. Broadway doesn't want theatres larger than 2000 seats, where the road requires musical theatres larger than 2000 seats. A hit show on Broadway will usually run 2-17 years like Phantom,Chicago,The Producers,Rent,Beauty and the Beast,Mama Mia,Hairspray,Movin Out,42nd Street and Avenue Q. Even a flop on Broadway can run anywhere from 6 months to a year.Broadway on the road plays most theatres only for a few weeks and require a larger theatre to recoup there costs. A few markets such as Toronto,Boston,Chicago,San Francisco,and Los Angeles may have a long run with a Phantom or a Lion King but this is rare.brucec

When Urinetown The Musical was forced, during a successful run, to leave the soon to be demolished Henry Miller (now only the landmark facade remains) the producers looked into rellocating to the Embassy 1,2 and 3 site (once the Demille and Mayfair), logistically a perfect venue for that show, it was found to be too broken down for the move. On the subject of the Capitol, which had been later converted to the Cinerama format (a still, gorgeous auditorium remained behind the sreen a drapes), it would have been better had1633 was built over and around it. It's 5000 seat capacity could have been reduced to make THAT a Broadway musical showcase, rather than the barn (THE GERSHWIN)that stands on that site!

a photo of this theater is in Rudi Stern's book "The New Let There Be Neon", on p.72, on the left of the department store.

Lots of great shots of the Criterion in the movie Kinsey. You can also see other theaters and the old Astor hotel.

The weird thing about the Gershwin is that as the second largest theatre on Broadway they would book the big shows in it that would fill it up like The Producers, but it's usally a move over house.

Then known as the New Criterion to differentiate from the original theatre on that site, it first opened to the public on September 16th, 1936, with "Give Me Your Heart," a Warner Brothers tear-jerker starring Kay Francis and George Brent. There was a press preview the previous evening.
...When DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" premiered at the Criterion in 1956, publicity claimed that DeMille's original 1923 version of the movie had opened at the previous Criterion. That could be true, but I haven't had time yet to verify it. That Criterion (originally known as the Lyric and re-named in 1899) was part of the Olympia complex and was a showcase for Paramount releases from about 1920 onwards.

Warren-- Last July you provided a link to photos from the opening in '36 -- your post deserves repetition:

Some good photos of the Criterion and a history of the B.S. Moss family can be found at www.bowtiepartners.com I thank Barry S. Goodkin for bringing this to my attention.
posted by Warren on Jul 20, 2004 at 10:04am

Speaking of the TC can somebody verify what a previous post says that this was not shown in genuine VistaVision at the Criterion. It seems odd that a major New York roadshow presentation in 56 was not shown it its original film process. Kind of like the Criterion deciding in 62 to present Lawrence in a 35mm reduction instead of the available 70mm.

I think that by the time of the release of "The Ten Commandments," Paramount had given up on VistaVision as a system that required a special projection system in theatres. The movie was photographed with VistaVision cameras, but released only in standard 35mm prints for projection at wide screen ratio.

For those of you who were fortunate to have seen true VistaVision at either the Music Hall(Funny Face I imagine in 57 would be included)or the Paramount is there an appreciable difference?

I saw true VistaVision at the Paramount. The picture was large, bright, and crystal clear, significantly more impressive than regular 35mm presentations at the time. I was not impressed with the projected aspect ratio which seemed less than 1.85. Even less impressive was Perspecta Sound. The film was "Strategic Air Command."

Warren, you are quite correct, only RCMH and The Paramount installed VistaVision projection. Allow me to share a few articles regarding both VistaVision and Perspecta sound.
Perspecta sound was an optical sound system that created an ersatz stereophonic effect from a monophonic soundtrack. This system was initially promoted by Paramount Pictures Corp. in conjunction with its VistaVision photographic process. While it is often stated that the compatibility of the Perspecta system benefitted exhibitors because it was less costly than a magnetic sound system, the actual equipment and installation costs were not substantially different. With the exhibitor the primary cost savings would lie in not installing auditorium speakers since Perspecta sound was limited to directional information in the stage channels only. In fact, Perspecta would be attractive primarily to theatres that had already installed a full magnetic system. Cost savings were very real to producers and distributors since it was not necessary to have magnetic stripes added to final prints. At the time Perspecta was initially introduced, the compatible magoptical soundtrack had not yet been developed. While Perspecta "stereo" sound may have been able to provide effective directional effects, it was not able to equal the frequency response, dynamic range, and improved signal to noise characteristics of magnetic systems since it utilized the optical recording standards created two decades before. It was able to generate an increase in dynamic range through amplification of the soundtrack. Perspecta sound system was used extensively by Paramount and M-G-M, with a few Warner Bros and Universal films also mixed in the system. Perspecta sound was introduced in 1954 and the last films made in the process were released in 1957.

As for VistaVision, Paramount Pictures promoted the 1.66:1 aspect ratio as THE ideal shape for movies. But when VistaVision came into being they quickly changed their tune and strongly supported a ratio of 1.85:1. Their framing guide, which shows up twice at the top left hand corner at the start of every reel, made provision for showing films at 1.66:1, 1.85:1 and 2:1. For struggling theatres Paramount felt that they could use 1.66:1 and not need to spend a huge amount of money installing a new screen and having major achitectural changes to their prosceniums. For theatres that had put in big screens for CinemaScope, Paramount felt that the Technicolor print could hold up to being cropped to an aspect ratio of 2:1, though it was not a recommendation. It was good old 1.85:1, the same shape that the other studios were quickly adopting for their cropped wide screen films that Paramount recommended for VistaVision. And compared to your run of the mill cropped wide screen image, VistaVision just blew them away.
A final personel note, the VistaVision at the Paramount was far superior to that of RCMH.

Are there any theatres left that could play a film in true "VistaVision?

Was Vistavison like cinemascope? I am to young to remember it.

Yes, How did VistaVision differ from CinemaScope? When did Paramount stop using it? It had to be still around at least by '57 (Funny Face) And when did Panavision become the standard? Early 60's? When did CinemaScope stop and Panavision start? How do they differ?Anyone want to educate us?

This topic (Cinerama, Cinemascope, VistaVision, etc..) should have it's own area on the website for discussion. It's really fascinating.

Here's a good website that gives a neat history of Cinemascope:

http://jkor.com/peter/scopehist.html

The VistaVision screen had more height and less width than CinemaScope. VistaVision's demise was comparable to the battles between the CBS and RCA systems for color TV, and VHS and Betamax in video recorders. The industry couldn't support more than one system. Panavision eventually replaced CinemaScope because it developed a better anamorphic lens.

Most of this information can be found in exhaustive detail on Marty Hart's incredible website Screenhttp://www.widescreenmuseum.com/
This guy is amazing.
Only wish he had an actual theater museum here in New York to demonstrate it. Of course we would need a few theaters. Like the Criterion for Super Panavision 70 The Rivoli for Todd AO and the Paramount for VistaVision and the Music Hall or the Roxy for the original 2:55 ratio Cinemascope (rather than the later 2:35.)

Thanks! Have always wondered how all there processes differed.

A note seconding Vito's comment that the Paramount's VistaVision looked better than RCMH's. I recall that when seeing "White Christmas" with my parents, we arrived late at the end of the morning show and took the last available seats in front row left, just next to the organ. The slanted perspective was grotesque, of course, but I remember wondering what all the fuss about sharpness and clarity meant, since the picture seemed just a picture. After the stage show, we moved back to the center auditorium to see the film from start to finish. Its sharpness and clarity appeared merely ordinary. Later I saw "Funny Face" and "North by Northwest" there (the latter from the third balcony, smoking cigarettes), and could say the same thing about the presentation.

RCMH's screen was flat, and the size of the place dwarfed all critical proportion. And Stereo sound effects, if any, were lost completely (I believe that RCMH didn't have true stereo until the '70s, no?). The Paramount's magnificent curved screen certainly enhanced its presentation. In some theaters, such a screen covering the entire proscenium invited an awful shutter flicker that had a negative effect. (This was true especially at the Astor.) But at the Paramount, the VistaVision projection lived up to its reputation, and the Stereo sound reverberated as true stereo. I saw "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and perhaps a few others there. VistaVision at the Capitol ("Vertigo") and the Criterion ("The Ten Commandments") seemed wholly unexceptional.

The Paramount had to cut into the proscenium for the VistaVision screen install. On sound it depended on what type of sound track they used for that location or engagement. VistaVision used three different types of sound. 1) Optical track Mono, 2) 4-Track magnetic stereo, 3) Perspecta sound optical track, very fake stereo. Perspecta sound used control tones to move sound information to speakers on stage and auditorium areas. Perspecta sound was a cheap version of stereo, that the studios could make extra money. So it depended on the size and format of that engagement to the full enjoyment of the sound.

Am I right in assuming from the Cinemascope website article that what we are seeing in multiplexes now are cropped Panavision prints? We're not seeing the whole picture? This is depressing.......

William, I don't recall any 4-track VistaVision prints, only mono or Perspecta, can you site any examples?. In my memory, the only time the Paramount had stereo sound was "House Of Wax" in 3-D and later Cinemascope prints. Some flat 1:85:1 prints like "Glenn Miller Story" and "From here to Eternity", which did not play the Paramount, were also 4-track mag.
TJ, the sad truth is aspect ratios are being multilated in todays movie boxes. In my day, we fit the projectors with lenses properly sized to project the exact ratio ratio with the aperature plates perfectly. It was important that the image on the screen be exactally what the director had intended. The film makers spend months, if not years, carefully constructing a movie, every frame is a portrait of the directors vision. Upon completion, the finished product is handed over to the projectionist who's job it is to present the film as it was intended to be seen. We have an obligation as projectionists and theatre owner to respect the directors hard work and make absolutly sure the film is presented scratch and dirt free, with the proper lens and aspect ratio, in sharp focus with proper light temperature. I am not so sure people running the movie theatres today give a damm about that anymore.

Just another reason for me to hate multiplexes. Sigh.

But lets face it the audiences don't give a damn either so why spend the money? They're more than happy to shove their money in the till many times over for the latest rotten blockbuster that they'll buy on DVD in a few months.
Wasn't Funny Face in true stereo?

I will argue that if movie going audiences were given something worth looking at, they would go in droves. The studios know this but they look only at their bottom line. It's a faster buck to produce dreck like the useless, pointless remake of "Assault on Precinct 13" knowing that the movie buying drones will scoop it up when it comes out on DVD.

I don't know about that. The mass audience seems to like the useless and the pointless(MI, Spiderman II, the collected works of Adam Sandler.) Times when thousands would line up outside the Hall to see Top Hat, Mrs Miniver and The Odd Couple seem to me today paleolithic.

I'd like top amend my above comment about having the dvd in a couple of months, today you can literally trip over them in the street or the subway on opening day.

Vito, the Paramount Theater also played "Charge at Feather River" in 4-channel Warnerphonic Sound, and 3-D. The 3 stage speakers were played from a 35mm magnetic full-coat print on an interlocked dubber, and the 4th mono surround channel was played off the right projector 3-D print. The left 3-D print contained a mono optical mix of the 4 channels. The theater could switch to this track in case the magnetic interlock went out-of-sync with the picture.

Many films were released in 35mm magnetic 3 channel interlocked stereo sound during 1953, and most Times Square movie palaces presented them in that format. Sadly, through studio neglect, most of those stereo tracks do not survive today.

Bob, thanks for that information. I knew Warnerphonic sound was not a mag track on the print, as was the case starting with "The Robe", but I did not remember how it was presented. Since the Paramount had four projectors, I wonder if they ran 6000 ft reels with an intermission, or ran the entire movie all the way through by making a change-over. I wish I had a chance to run a movie in that format. It was exciting enough interlocking left eye, right eye 3-D prints, to add a sound dubber to the mix must have been fun, similar in some ways to running Cinerama.

Could someone elaborate on the difference between the Criterion Theater and the Roundabout in the early 90's(1991-92?)? I remember it was known collectively as the "Criterion Center" then and the Roundabout at the Criterion had room for meetings and stage shows. I saw a production of Hamlet there in early 1992 where Elizabeth McGovern had a non-publicized "wardrobe malfunction" which was entertaining to us high-schoolers. I remember 1940's era escalators and Moderne looking signs inside which seemed authentic. Was this once part of the Criterion movie theater? Later, in 1996, I attended a business meeting there.
As for demolition, a bit of a misnomer if you mean ripped to the ground, which it was not, though most of the interior walls and fixtures were removed.
It looks like some Deco/Art Moderne type restaurant will open on the 45th St side of the building, borrowing details from the original structure.

The Roundabout/Criterion Center/Stage Right-Stage Left was originally the International Casino on the second floor of the building. The theater auditorium was separate. The Bond 45 Restaurant has opened, and the food and decor are fabulous. The restaurant is situated where the front of the orchestra and stage of the Criterion were located. The entire building is now known as the Bow Tie Building, since it is situated in the Bow Tie of Times Square.

I worked as an Usher at the Brooklyn Paramount until it closed in 1962, I then worked at the Criterion while West Side Story was playing until 1963 when Cleopatra opend and we were replaced by the reserved seat union ushers. They did however let us in to see the premier of Cleopatra.

"West Side Story" & "Cleopatra" opened and had their premieres over at the Rivoli Theatre.

So if you were working at the Rivoli for WSS and were not a member of the union then you were only there after the film ended its reserved seat run and went on continuous perfs. But how do you manage to confuse the Rivoli and the Criterion when you worked at the Riv and were there for two of its biggest attractions ever?

The Criterion claimed to be the first NYC theatre to project a 3-D (with glasses) feature on a wide screen with "Fort Ti," a Columbia Techicolor epic with George Montgomery that opened on May 29, 1953. An added attraction was "the first comedy short in 3-D," Columbia's B&W "Spooks" with the Three Stooges. During its brief running time, NYT critic Howard Thompson reported, the following items were hurled from the screen into the audience: a sickle, giant hypodermic needle, bread knife, meat cleaver, fountain pen, blowtorch, fire extinguisher, pitchfork, and eight custard pies.

I saw the Three Stooges short at the 8th Street Playhouse when they did that incredible 3-D summer. I am not sure if they screened Fort Ti, I would have gone to see it.

I saw "Fort Ti" at the Criterion one night after my final high school regents exam. I don't know if it was the "high" from being released from high school test bondage or the quality of the presentation, but the effect of "Fort Ti" was terrific, especially the stereo sound and the curved screen with 3-D.

Thats another question I have. How come they don't curve screens anymore?

Warren, Would you agree Jane Russell's "The French Line" was the biggest and highest grossing 3-D film to ever play the Criterion?
I remember the giant billboard proclaming, JR in 3-D,need we say more?

I don't know if "French Line" was the highest-grossing 3-D movie at the Criterion. You'd have to check the Variety grosses for all the 3-D movies that played there. I doubt if there were that many, since the fad didn't last very long.

A third 3-D film that played at the Criterion in that summer of '53 was Mickey Spillane's "I the Jury," with Biff Eliot as Mike Hammer. My hunch is that "The French Line" did better business than either that or "Fort Ti," since the Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the Jane Russell vehicle for suggestive costuming and situations, thereby guaranteeing enormous curiosity about the film.

Bill, I remember it well, a lot of noise over what today would be
PG-13. I sat through two complete screenings:)
Warren, I remember all the trouble we had with 3-D projection, it was at times a nightmare and was one of the main reasons for it's demise. Another reason if course was the public got bored with the whole idea. In fact the Criterion stoped showing "French Line" in 3-D
towards the end of the run due to all the projection problems. The add read, "Now you can see it without glasses"

On August, 16, 1945, Loew's Criterion was showing MGM's "sleeper" hit, "Bewitched," which used the advertising slogan of "My strange yearnings led me to kill for love." That same day, "Over 21" and "Portfolio of Art" stage show opened at Radio City Music Hall. The Capitol was in its fifth week of "Anchors Aweigh," with Paul Whiteman & Orchestra, Lionel Kaye, and Johnnie Johnston heading the stage program. The Roxy had "Captain Eddie" and Phil Silvers, the Berry Brothers, Professor Lamberti, and Carl Ravazza on stage. The Paramount was presenting "Incendiary Blonde," with Phil Spitalny's "Hour of Charm" All-Girl Orchestra and Imogene Coca on stage. The Strand featured "Christmas in Connecticut," with stage show topped by Erskine Hawkins & Orchestra, the Charioteers, and Carter & Morleland. "Rhapsody in Blue" was at the Hollywood, "Wonder Man" at the Astor. "Junior Miss" was in its ninth week at the Rivoli, while the RKO Palace was in its fifth week with "Along Came Jones." "Why Girls Leave Home" was at the Gotham, "Don Juan Quilligan" at the Victoria, "The Great John L" at the Globe. The World 49th Street was in its seventh week of a "Fantastic-But True!" double feature, "Atomic Raiders" and "Africa Speaks."

"Bewitched" was a piece of Arch Obler's schlock, no? And it was a "sleeper" hit even yet? The penchant for biography films that summer is notable: Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Incendiary Texas Guinan, Rhapsody in Blue Gershwin, and the Great John L. Sullivan--what a passion for pre-WWII America! I wonder what might have been the competition between Phil Silvers on stage at the Roxy and on screen in "Don Juan Quilligan" at the Victoria? Today's distributors would get all in a knot about that sort of thing, huh?

Ah Bill, Arch Obler, who will ever forget "Bwana Devil" in 3-D
Rememeber the ads? "A lion in your lap", "A Girl in Your Arms"
A bottle of aspirin in the projection booth.

I overlooked two midtown theatres in my programs of 8/16/45. Loew's State was in the third week of "Valley of Decision" (a move-over from RCMH) and a vaudeville bill. Loew's Mayfair had a double-feature that originated on the RKO circuit-- "Where Do We Go From Here?" and the re-issued "Call of the Wild." The latter was the result of an industry "product shortage" due to WWII.

When Funny Girl played at the Criterion in '68 a mezz seat(considered the best place for a movie though not by me) for a Saturday night was $6.00. A top Broadway musical for orch would cost you $15.00. This means that a roadshow mezz seat(which of course does not and will not ever exist again)would cost you today about $40.00. Then if in line with contemporary avarice we were to discuss Premium Seating a theater then could charge $100 for a hit roadshow film.

When Funny Girl played at the Criterion in '68 a mezz seat(considered the best place for a movie though not by me) for a Saturday night was $6.00. A top Broadway musical for orch would cost you $15.00. This means that a roadshow mezz seat(which of course does not and will not ever exist again)would cost you today about $40.00. Then if in line with contemporary avarice we were to discuss Premium Seating a theater then could charge $100 for a hit roadshow film.

Vincent: you would never, ever in this day and age be able to charge that much ($40) for a film no matter how special, unique or inventive the film or it's presentation was. Even $6.00 sounds a tad exhorbitant for a movie back in '68. My Mother took my older brother to see "The Sound of Music" at The Rivoli but she never told me how much it cost. I would imagine it would've been in the $4-$6 dollar range from the information you provide.

"Back Then" I would imagine a film's theatrical release could still be considered enough of an event to warrant jacking up the admission price. Today a film's theatrical release is done soley to drum up interest in a films eventual release on DVD. Home Entertainment is where the studios now make the BIG, BIG profits. It's not in theatrical releases and has not been in over 20 years.

CC I think the top for SOM at the Rivoli was $4.50 whereas the top for Fair Lady at the Criterion was a full dollar more for a whopping $5.50. This was four years before Funny Girl! I believe in an article at the end of '68 the Criterion manager said that the mezz seats were sold out through Feb '69. I remember my mother telling me that my aunt spent 4.00 a ticket for Fair Lady in Asbury Park(this was at the St James on roadshow.) I thought that was a crazy amount of money to spend on a movie.
Today if the Riv and the Cri still existed I would happily pay $40 for a 70mm film.

You and I might pay that much for a film in a big theater with a big screen and great sound. But I'm sorry. I see these people buying stacks of DVDs at the Virgin Megastore (ironically the site of the old Loews State) and these people would never do that. There's no market anymore for films to open in a spectacular way. The reason is not so much that the public wouldn't go but because the studios have switched their priorities away from the theatrical releases to home entertainment. This is not publicized by the studios but it's a known fact.

It's sad for us who remember how special it could be to see an event film in a theater. You and a lot of the others on this site remember even bigger, better times. I only remember the tail end of it. But it's enough for me to lament it's passing.

Well CC I only caught the tail end of it as well as the movies I mentioned above were in Times Square first run for me only names on a marquee. (Did though see Fair Lady at the Cri in both 65 and 71.)Then saw Nick and Alex at the Cri in 71 and Fiddler at the Riv. Lousy both of them. And neither in 70mm!

Vincent: I never saw "Nicholas & Alexandria" but I think that "Fiddler" is one of the finest musicals ever made. I've only seen it on TV but it's an under rated masterpiece. I didn't win Best Picture that year because I think by 1971, the country's mood had drastically changed and were more than burnt out by the onslaught of musicals that were heaped upon them after "The Sound of Music" and "My Fair Lady". But I've read more than one critical history that claims that "The French Connection's" win over "Fiddler" that year was a mistake but the Academy was reflecting the changing times and tastes.

Anyway, that's a major digression. Why was "Fiddler" lousy? Lousy film or presentation at The Rivoli? I understand that it was one of the last Roadshows.

Vincent: "Nicholas and Alexandra" was a 70mm blowup at the Criterion:

http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/70mm_in_new_york_1971.htm

I saw it there on a high school class trip and thought it looked incredible. I can remember how certain shots looked on that screen even now. It's a very good movie, even on TV. If you still don't like it, take a look at today's movie section in the paper and see what junk is playing nowadays. It'll make you appreciate "Nicholas" that much more. Maybe you should see "Fiddler" again also - it's a great movie. That was a 70mm blowup as well, but I only got to see it in 35mm in Rutherford, NJ.

That's astounding as it seems to me one of the worst adaptations of a musical I have seen. Earlier that year in '71 I had seen the Broadway production only a few blocks north of the Rivoli at the Broadway theater and I was overwhelmed. Magnificently stage by Jerome Robbins and designed by the genius of Boris Aronson it was filled with joy and color. The grainy, washed out neutered bore I saw on the curved screen at the Rivoli to a huge sold out house was a huge dissapointment. I watched a little of it recently on TCM and it was just as dull and unimaginative as I remembered. It played on roadshow for over a year and I never went back. Too bad as it was the last successful musical roadshow. I'm glad though you liked it as in and of itself it is a great work. I haven't seen the current production but you might want to take your daughter to it.

This was posted today on a theater chat site regarding the question of film musicals adapted from the stage. I wish I knew who the person is who wrote it and where they saw this. I am not registered on this site so could not respond. Maybe somebody out there knows where this took place. World premiere was at the criterion.


I understand a lot of people think "South Pacific," as a film, is boring and the color is overdone.
But recently, I had this privilege to see the film in its complete premiere version (170 mins -- 20 minutes longer than the video, TV, LD, and DVD version). Not only this -- most important of all, it was shown in its original Todd-AO format, on a gigantic deep-curved screen, with the magnificent six-channel magnetic soundtracks! When the song "Bali Hai" reached its climax, with the close-up of Juanita Hall's tremendous face on that 25-odd feet high, 60-odd feet long deep-curved screen, I was transfixed. And if there is a musical heaven, one of its greatest attractions must be when Alfred Newman's orchestra doing "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy" and is played on the six-channel Todd-AO stereophonic sound system. I can still feel the chills down my spine when writing this. It is an experience of lifetime.

Many said that the musical numbers filmed with the color-filter were overdone, but on the contrary, the problem of this film is within the segments WITHOUT the color filters. Just as the director, Joshua Logan, once predicted, the glorious on-location scenes of Hawaii are too beautiful. Much too beautiful and colorful that we were often drawn away from the dramatic center to appreciate the glorious color possessed by some flowers in the background...

Unlike most people, I was happy to see the Criterion go to make way for the new Loews E-Walk and AMC Empire. In the summer of '90 I entered the Criterion for the first and only time to see "Die Hard 2" in 70mm on "balcony" level auditorium, then sneaking onto the "orchestra" theatre before that was twinned. Not impressed with what I saw I checkout the restrooms in the basement which were in pityful condition. Also, to my surprise there was this long abandoned hallway that eventually lead to an emergency exit door to one of the cheap, poorly constructed auditoriums in the basement. This was truly one of the grossest filmgoing experiances of my life. The place was dark and ugly and thought "what the hell have I gotten myself into" and wondered if the NYPD should close this place down. I checked out all four theatres and all had THE worst projection and sound I ever seen. The place was just filthy and the patrons seedy. I didn't want to sit next to any of those weirdos. Luckily I managed to get out of there alive and never went back. Good-bye Criterion!

Celluloid Freak thats the way UA Theatres let many of their once pristine houses go. During its last days as a movie house UA let their prize Hollywood house the Egyptian run down.

William
To call the Egyptian run down at it's sad UA end is actually a compliment. It was WORSE then the 42nd St houses in their waning days. I never got to see the Criterion again after they made it a sixplex. As a twin it was not horrible compared to the things we have now, at least the auditoriums were large. How small were the basement theatres? By the way I think the only theatre that survived twinning and was still a class house was the original Loews State. The upstairs theatre contained the whole original house except for under the balcony where they built the new auditorium.

I never went into the basement theatres at the Criterion. Over at the Egyptian UA built a twin in an old store, it was the pitts. Loews did a nice job with the State.

The Warner Cinerama kept the Cinerama orchestra just as it was after they separated the balcony without putting in a low ceiling. So the 70mm on Broadway festival at the end of the 70's was wonderful.
The Criterion during its road show era was one of the greats. Too bad they didn't maintain this instead of the Ziegfeld. The Criterion was champagne, the Ziegfeld coca cola.

The basement theatres were tiny. I saw Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure at one of them and it felt like you were watching the film on a big screen television. The screen was that small!

In July, 1947, the then Loew's Criterion grossed an all-time record of $62,000 in its first week with Universal's prison melodrama, "Brute Force," starring Burt Lancaster & Yvonne DeCarlo.
The Criterion's previous record-holder, with an opening week of $55,600, was Columbia's Technicolored "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" (1946), with Cornel Wilde as guess who?

Look at the Criterion Center from the 1980's
http://www.kilduffs.com/theatre_NYC_criterioncenter.jpg

Boy how times had changed on Sept 27, 1972 "Blacula" from American International Pictures was playing here in its Exclusive New York Engagement. Nice to know the Criterion was still getting pictures exclusive before they opened all over town. This was the time of all those blacksplotation films. At the same time "Super Fly" was playing at Loews State 2 and Loews Cine.

May 25,1979 when Fox opened "Alien" it was only at 70mm houses. The Criterion played it around the clock 24 hours the first 2 days. It also opened at Loews Orpheum and Loews New York Twin. In Long Island it played UA Syosset and in New Jeresy RKO Paramus Quad and the General Cinema Menlo Park Cinema.

The great days of the Criterion!!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/FunnyGirlRoadshowatCriterion.jpg

Robert, fun looking at those ads, thanks!
It also reminded me of how in the 60s, the ads no longer carried tags like Roadshow or 70mm stereophonic sound. Of course
"Funny Girl" should have read, "Presented in washed out 70mm blow up. I'm not bitter, I prefered the 70mm to 35mm, even the blow ups. I just wished there had been more movies shot in 70mm.
Still, the Criterion was a great place to see a roadshow. Would you happenen to have any "10 Commandments" ads or from any during the fabulous 50s?

"May 25,1979 when Fox opened 'Alien' it was only at 70mm houses." (RobertR, Jun 15, 2005)
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This is only partially correct. Most of the initial engagements were 70mm, including all of the NYC area showings. San Diego showed it in 35mm, and other markets had 70mm and 35mm showings. This is explained in detail in this article:
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2003/70mm_release/alien_openings.htm

Re the Criterion, there are photos from the the "Alien" engagement on the "Alien Quadrilogy" DVD.

Alien was the last movie I saw at the Criterion. I went because I had just seen Funny Girl at the Music Hall and was feeling very nostalgic. Superman was the last movie I saw at the Criterion that I liked. I had first seen it in the suburbs. Oh why couldn't it have opened at the Criterion instead of the Astor Plaza? And two years before why couldn't Star Wars open there instead of the Astor Plaza?
If only people had realized it was a far greater movie theater than the Ziegfeld.

With the Gordon's Gin sign above it and the Bond store and the Woolworths it was one of New Yorks greatest blocks. In later years I actually heard while walking on the opposite side of the street on a few occasions strangers comment to each other how the block had really deteriorated and they couldn't believe it. I guess they had seen it for many years before its descent into cheap camera and souvenir stores and the Criterion's descent into black exploitation.
When the National(ugh)was playing the '73 revival of SOM the Criterion was playing Wattstoxx. A block above Loew's State was playing Lost Horizon.
How did the Criterion which was New Yorks greatest house in the 60'so quickly lose all its luster and turn into a grind house? Even the Rivoli and the Loew's State had far better bookings into the 70's.

In the summer of 1951, the Criterion was involved in the infamous "Wonderland War" between rival movie versions of the Lewis Carroll classic. On July 28th, the Criterion opened with the exclusive NYC premiere engagement of Walt Disney's animated Technicolor feature, "Alice in Wonderland," released by RKO Radio. Just two days earlier, another "Alice in Wonderland," a combination of Lou Bunin's puppetry and live action in Ansco Color, opened at Brandt's Mayfair, the Trans-Lux 72nd Street, and Brandt's Midtown. This was produced in England and France, and released by Souvaine Selective Pictures. Neither film thrilled the critics, but the import was unable to compete with Walt Disney's popularity and did a fast fold.

This theatre was called the Criterion Center 4 when, around Christmas of 1980, I saw Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull here in a kind of basement cinema.

Here is the Criterion day and dating with the Sutton.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/SuddenlyLatSummer.jpg

I know the summer of 1977 the Astor Plaza had "Star Wars", and the State must have had 2 better pictures for "Orca" to have opened at the Criterion. Paramount films usually played Loew's Theatres.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Orca.jpg

Does anyone know if Courage of Lassie opened at the Loews Criterion in Times Square in July 1946?

I think this was from the 1971 re-release because it was still being shown in 70mm.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/MyFairLadyre-issue.jpg

Howard Hughes had to go to court to get this film released because it was considered indecent. All this fuss over Ms Russels assets in 3D. It was sometimes advertised at the time as "JR in 3D, need we say more?". Did anyone ever see it in the 3D process? The only time I ever saw it was on the old Million Dollor Movie.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/TheFrenchLinein3D.jpg

I remember "The French Line" in 3-D, it did very very well.
Towards the end of the run at the Criterion, when the 3-D craze was nearing it's end, the Criterion finished the run in 2-D. Jane wore a very skimpy outfit in the big dance number at the end of the movie and it had to be filmed with one camera at a long shot as not to show too much of Ms Russell. Today,"French Line" would be rated G

Vito, the "Looking for Trouble" number was not filmed all in long shots. They had two cameras filming a medium and a close-up, and those are the angles which were used in the 3-D release of the film.

The long shot was only used in the re-cut which RKO did to get censor approval for the flat release of the film.

Just curious, how did the 1971 re-release of "My Fair Lady" do at the boxoffice? My guess is not well because by that time (1971) film was just entering it's 70s golden age (arguable) and a film like Fair Lady just would'nt "jive" with audiences.

I could be wrong but I'm curious...

I saw a late Saturday matinee and it was pretty empty(though in 70mm it had continuous perfs without an intermission. The mezz was priced higher-$3.50 than the orch or balc-$3.00.) I believe it ran for 3 weeks with Variety saying its weekly gross was 30K which seems improbable to me. It seems at that point the family movie going audience had completely turned its back on Times Square. My Fair Lady and the Criterion were the perfect movie-theater fit. The mass audience tastes had completely changed and it was painful to see.
By the way at the same time the unwatchable Love Story had long lines a block north at Loews State.

RE: what Vincent said. My cousin and I had to struggle to find two seats together for "Love Story" at Loew's State 1. That was also our first $3.00 movie ticket. We thought it was an outrageously high price.

Bob, I had not realised that, it has been a long time since seeing the film in 3-D. I thought the recent showings on TCM was he same as the 3-D version. We are just going to have to get TCM to dig up the 3-D version to show. Interesting fact you shared, thanks.

Vincent says: "The mass audience tastes had completely changed and it was painful to see."

Yes, unfortunately, that's what I figured. I think it depended upon the film and the venue. I saw "The Sound of Music" at our local theater on LI (Century's Baldwin) and the place was packed. It played there for a week and there was almost always a line. The timing was crucial as well. The re-releases "Music" during the summer of 1973, kids are off, parents are desperate for something to amuse them, etc. Perfect combo.

Did "My Fair Lady" go into a wide re-release nationally or just in Times Square?

It did. I believe that Warners was about to lose the rights which were to revert to CBS and this was their last hurrah with MFL(how did Jack Warner get this film so right and 1776 so wrong?)
I saw it as well in the burbs and while not packed it was much better attended.
It played at the smallest of our local theaters which has since been turned into a quad.

The Criterion during "Robin Hood"
http://photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/?action=view¤t=Criterion2.jpg

What a great color photo of Times Square in all its 50's glory! I'd like to see more like this.

The 1971 re-issue of "My Fair Lady" was a national re-release. Select cities got 70MM prints of the film, the Southern California location was the Fox Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills.

Here is the Criterion during the roadshow of "My Fair Lady"
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Criterion.jpg

Here's a 1920 image of the original Criterion Theatre, which was part of the block-long Olympia complex and demolished along with it in 1935 for the construction of new buildings that included another Criterion. The theatre started life in 1895 as a playhouse called the Lyric, but had been re-named Criterion by 1899. It became a cinema in 1914 and from 1920 until closing was operated by Paramount. The corner site at Broadway & 44th Street is now occupied by a Toys 'R Us store. At the top of the photo, you can see some of the stage housing of Loew's New York, which was also part of the Olympia complex and situated on the 45th & Broadway corner:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/128-2840_IMG.jpg

I believe this is the theater that became a Paramount house for its more prestigious product(Wings, Applause, Design For Living)rather than for the hoi poloi movie palace crowds across the street at the Paramount.
Does anyone have an interior photo of this one? Also what was the capacity?

Here is a 1934 image of the original Criterion Theatre, showing the Premier screening the Gaumont British release "Man of Aran" (a documentary directed by Rober Flaherty):
http://photobucket.com/albums/y191/KenR-UK/?action=view¤t=CriterionTheatreNYC1934.jpg

Here's a seating plan from the 1965 edition of Stubs. The first row of upstairs seating, AA in the Loge section, overhung row R in the orchestra:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3220_IMG.jpg

Disney dwarfed:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/135-3547_IMG.jpg

the white twor-1950
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0044.jpg

one minute to zero-1952
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0045.jpg

robin hood-1952
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0046.jpg

i the jury in 3-d 1953
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0048.jpg

CEASE FIRE IN 3-D-1953
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0050.jpg

THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR T-1953
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0051.jpg

THE COUNTRY GIRL-1954
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0052.jpg

LIVING IT UP-1954
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0053.jpg

YOUR NEVER TO YOUNG-1956
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0054.jpg

PEPE-1960
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/scan0055.jpg

SECOND CHANCE-1954-
http://photobucket.com/albums/b15/myrtleave/?action=view¤t=scan0056.jpg

Here's a 1956 image of the auditorium, taken just after the theatre had a $100,000 renovation for the roadshow engagement of "The Ten Commandments." Sheridan Kettering was the decorator. The Criterion's seating capacity at the time was reported as 1,671:
www.18.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/136-3697_IMG.jpg

Warren--

Thanks for the photo of the proscenium. It supplements the wonderful photos from '36 that you posted over a year ago, on your entry for July 20 2004 above. In my memory, the '56 renovation spruced up the lighting and bright red color design, but made no substantial changes upon the Criterion I knew in the '40s. And so it remained until the last film I saw there, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff," a decade later in '66.

Warren that's a wonderful photo(boy do I miss this theater, it sould have been treated like the Ziegfeld.) Do you have one just as good from when it was a 70mm roadshow house?

Vincent---
The theater looked exactly the same as a 70MM roadshow house as depected in Warren's photo. Imagine opening those drapes completely and inscribe a flat 2.2 to 1 screen in the lower area of the procenium and what you see is what you got.

Pablo,
I thought that the proscenium was somewhat wider and the traveler curtains overlapped the corners when it became a 70mm roadshow house. I could be wrong but I believe that when South Pacific opened there it had a huge curved screen which would have needed a new opening and curtains.
Anybody else who was there during the roadshow era remember if it was the same as in Warren's photo or if it had been remodeled?

Vincent---
In 1962 I saw "Lawrence of Arabia" at the Criterion and all subsequent 70MM presentations there except for "Patton" (D-150 presentation?). All were presented as in my post above. However, I have often wondered if "Sleeping Beauty" and "South Pacific" were presented on a larger curved screen with appropriate drapery treatment as befit the early Technirama and Todd-AO presentations.
Anyone remember?

Pablo--
I saw "Sleeping Beauty" there in Feb. '59 and can vouch that it appeared on the conventional behind-the-proscenium screen that the theater had used for "The Ten Commandments." Ditto for "Anatomy of a Murder" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," which appeared on the conventional screen in roadshow era.

Center for trash: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/criterion.jpg

Warren, the ad reads: "Be afraid, be very afraid", where they refering to what they did to that theatre?

At least the main screen was running "Space Camp" in 70MM 6-Track Dolby Stereo.

And the audience for the opening night of "The Fly", which I attended, was very enthusiastic (and also very afraid). I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I went it expecting a big stinker, an insult to the memory of the beloved 1958 version. I still think it's one of the few remakes ever made that were just as good as the original.

I can recall one scene in the 1958 version of 'The Fly' that brought gales of laughter from a Canadian audience. It's where Vincent Price mentions that "...soon it will be spring...." The audience is treated to a view outside of green grass, trees in full leaf and birds twittering. Anyone who has lived through a Montreal winter (where the action is supposed to take place) must have wondered what on earth was going on. Does this come under the heading of artistic licence?

Here is a great night shot of the Criterion in 1972 showing "The Possession of Joel Delaney"
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Theatres/1972det.jpg

1982 the Criterion had "Making Love" in the main house.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/makinglove.jpg

March of 1955 "The Country Girl" was here and at the Brooklyn Paramount
http://photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/?action=view¤t=BridgesatTokoRi.jpg

2/70 "Patton" was in this block ad of current attractions
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Fox1970HolidayBlock.jpg

INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL (1949):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/stromboli2.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/stromboli.jpg

Red carpet premiere (1968): www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/funny.jpg

The following link brings you to a panaramic photo Times Square (using your mouse to move left, right or up and down within the photo) that shows the Criterion still in business (when it was under UA as the Criterion Center). The image isn't the sharpest so I can't really make out what's on the marquee to properly date the photo, but MTV is clearly in business which probably places this during the Criterion's last days.

Anyway... here's the link: http://www.virtualnyc.info/panopages/timesquare/times-square-rainyday.htm

One of the films (advertised in the top right corner of the marquee) might be the Sharon Stone remake of Cassavete's "Gloria" which would date this to early 1999.

A 1953 opening day. Note the special effect behind the vertical neon tubing on the outer edges of the marquee, which lighted up only when the current movie was in 3-D. This Columbia Technicolor release was not:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/ladd.jpg

How great is that marquee in '53? I also found the modernized streamlined version pretty wonderful as well and couldn't believe when they destroyed it when it became a United Artists multiplex. Just look at the Funny Girl premiere photo. Also on the marquee for that film were two revolving logos only one of which you can make out in the picture. I remember seeing that marquee a couple of times as a boy walking through Times Square and it seemed to me the epitomy of show biz excitement and color(that whole block along with the Bond neon and the Gordon's Gin display was at night the most beautiful thing you'd ever want to see.)
Too bad I couldn't walk into the outside lobby and go to the reserved seat boxoffice with the grill which was situated on the inside to the left and buy a ticket. Still remember the old man(well to a young teenager) in that box office who sold me my advance ticket to Nick and Alex. He might very well have worked there since 10 Commandments.

Here’s a Souvenir Program from January 1957 at the Criterion:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/petrarch/TheMilleCommandments1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/petrarch/TheMilleCommandments2.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/petrarch/TheMilleCommandments3.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/petrarch/TheMilleCommandments4.jpg

Unlike other souvenir programs from the period, this one for “The Ten Commandments” offered no behind-the-scenes views of production details or film-making logistics. Nor did it present stills from the film. Instead, it offered painterly renderings by an Artiste Détaché depicting key scenes from the movie, with captions drawn from the Books of Books. No matter that the script itself had flagrantly debased that Good Book. De Mille’s intentions were sincere. If he could have filmed “The Thousand Commandments,” he would have. He nearly did.

Besides Scripture, the program incorporated De Mille’s inspirational statement (scanned here last) and a few pages about the major actors. It didn’t take Michael Moore to remind us of Charlton Heston’s addiction to the NRA: this photo reveals a lot. I wonder whether anyone ever mistook Anne Baxter for Nefertiti? And I don’t believe that Yul ever got to direct a feature film, though I know that he did direct a lot of TV spots (that’s how he got the role opposite Gertrude Lawrence as The King).

I saw the film at a 9:30 am Saturday showing at reduced prices. One of my first posts on this site recorded my experience at the theater. To save you the trouble of scrolling back to 7 August ‘04, I’ll repeat it here with modifications:

My visit to “The Ten Commandments” in ’57 left me with wounds still borne today: To accommodate an extra reserved-seat showing, they ran an early-bird 9:30am Saturday screening that suited my teen-age wallet. I purchased the ticket a few days in advance, and then went to see Tyrone Guthrie’s “Oedipus Rex” at the 55th Street Playhouse, which oddly enough I remember today better than the movie in question. On the appointed Saturday, I arrived at 9:29:59 and sprinted past the usher-women to find my seat (knowing where it was, thanks to Stubs). The lights were already down and Mr. DeMille’s prologue had begun. I crashed loudly into an industrial-size trash-can left in the far aisle after the previous night’s showing. A thousand eyes turned to me in the darkness, lit only by light shining from the screen. The can rolled toward the proscenium. Usher-women fanned out down the aisle on a witch-hunt. I darted into my seat, terror-stricken that I’d be ejected for causing a ruckus (not the least for being an unaccompanied 14-y.o.). I survived ejection, but limped for several weeks with what might have been a fractured shin. Shoudda sued ‘em. O, and I thought "The Ten Commandments" looked great on the Criterion’s giant curved VistaVision screen. Who could ever forget the theater's bright red traveler curtain?

So 10 Commandments had a giant curved screen? According to Variety South Pacific had a giant curved Todd AO screen. Any body know if there are any pics of the auditorium with the various screen sizes exposed like there are of the Capitol and the Rivoli?

You might be able to find pix of those screens in the trade magazines of the time, especially the monthly theatre sections of Motion Picture Herald, Boxoffice, and Motion Picture Exhibitor.

Vincent-- I'd bet my last dollar that the Criterion did not change the size or shape of its screen (except for appropriate masking)between 1956 and 1966, the era that encompassed its most remembered road shows. Except for "The Mille Commandments," I saw none of them there. But I did see a few conventional films that played there in the intervals. "Sleeping Beauty" ('59), "Anatomy of a Murder" ('59), and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" ('66) spring to mind. In each case, the screen was exactly the same as it was when Charlton climbed Mount Sinai.

Despite the adjectives I used above, the screen was, in fact, not all that impressive, not nearly as wide or curved as the Rivoli's nor as massive as the Paramount's. Its curvature has the conventional ratio of those as most theaters of the day (12:1, I believe), and its entire compass sat behind the theater's original red traveler curtain (the curtain's fabric was replaced in '56, I recall, but not its tracking). Since the theater's proscenium was wider than most, but not exceptionally so, the screen seemed big alright, but not uncommonly stupendous. "Commandments" used up its entire surface in the classic VistaVision ratio. Masking reduced its height for the SuperTechnirama70 Disney cartoon. And some top and side masking slightly reduced its overall size for both Judge Welch's movie debut and the Taylor-Burton debauch.

I can't imagine that the management installed and re-installed a deeply-curved Rivoli-style ToddAO screen for "South Pacific," "Lawrence of Arabia," and "My Fair Lady," removing it each time between those engagements. It surely replaced the screen's fabric periodically, but without altering its shape as far as I could see. Thanks, Warren, for the names of those useful trade magazines.

Warren thanks but how are those magazines researched today?
And if the it turns out the Criterion did not have an extra large screen for those 70mm roadshows I am going to be very disillusioned.
Like reading here in Cinema Treasures that the Virginia on the boardwalk that I used to walk by as a boy in Atlantic City where the big roadshows would play was in reality a dump with no curtain.
I still refuse to believe its true.

By the time I first came here it was already a twin; then slowly but surely further carved up; the basement was a carnival of lost souls.

I remember the basement as a large white elegant edwardian oval lounge for the rest rooms. Am I correct?

Vincent, if you are in the vicinity of NYC, you can find back issues of Motion Picture Herald, Boxoffice, and Motion Picture Exhibitor at the third floor research section of the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center. I would start by looking at the issues closest to the opening dates of the films at the Criterion.

Getting back to the question of a curved screen install, I may be wrong but I don't it ever happened.
I was in here opening week 0f Dec. 1962 for Lawrence of Arabia.It was the bright red curtain and a flat screen (I took and still have a color slide of the opening title off the Very flat screen) my last time in here before it was upstairs/downstairs split was the Gilda Radner concert film. It was the same old dirty red curtain and flat screen.
Any properly 70mm curved screen installation would normally have
a projection booth installed at a near zero projection angle.
Example in NYC the WARNER (downstairs),the Rivoli ( balcony cut ),
the Loews State (balcony cut in the 1959 remodel for Ben Hur ).
The Criterion booth at the rear of the small balcony could have
had a little too slight of an angle without a keystone problem, at least for a Times Sq. quality install.

Can anybody remember anything else?

Getting back to the question of a curved screen install, I may be wrong but I don't it ever happened.
I was in here opening week 0f Dec. 1962 for Lawrence of Arabia.It was the bright red curtain and a flat screen (I took and still have a color slide of the opening title off the Very flat screen) my last time in here before it was upstairs/downstairs split was the Gilda Radner concert film. It was the same old dirty red curtain and flat screen.
Any properly 70mm curved screen installation would normally have
a projection booth installed at a near zero projection angle.
Example in NYC the WARNER (downstairs),the Rivoli ( balcony cut ),
the Loews State (balcony cut in the 1959 remodel for Ben Hur ).
The Criterion booth at the rear of the small balcony could have
had a little too slight of an angle without a keystone problem, at least for a Times Sq. quality install.

Can anybody remember anything else?

I believe it was only there for South Pacific. Anybody out there see it before it moved to the Rivoli? And as for that why did a big hit film like that move to the Rivoli anyway? What film did they move it for?

A portion of the auditorium that had a wall on 45th Street is now occupied by a large restaurant called Bond's. I don't know how deeply the restaurant extends into the ground floor of the auditorium, but I would guess pretty far.

The restaurant occupies the entire orchestra section of the auditorium. The stage is now Starbucks.

I talked with one of the workers when they were gutting out the theater. Nothing remains, it was cleared right to the brick walls. He did tell me that they found an old abandoned studio in the theater that was used for broadcasting movie premieres over the radio.

Thanks, Bob. I think someone had commented on this page that some small portion of the theater was still visible toward the rear of the 2nd story in Toys 'r' Us. I found this article (from June 2004, so it predates the opening of the Bond 45 Restaurant Warren references above), which contains some history of the so-called Bow Tie building and includes a passage near the very end that refers to the "midnight blue ceiling" and roof trusses of the Criterion still being visible above the huge doll house that is one of the toy store's various "attractions." The description "midnight blue" would seem to suggest an atmospheric design (which we know the Criterion did not have) so I'm not sure I'd lend much credence to the reference. But perhaps this exposes truss work is what might have been alluded to in the earlier comments here on this page.

Here is a link to a late 1980's or early 1990's photo of the UA Criterion Theatre

MikeRa... the ad for the Broadway play "Miss Saigon" visible on the left side of the photo next to the Coca Cola display, places this photo no earlier than 1991 (which is when the show premiered at the Broadway Theater). I can't make out the film titles on the marquee, though the one on the top (with the red lettering) looks like it lists "Bruce Willis" as a star.

The one film title that I can make out on the picture of the UA Criterion is "Free Willy".

After the end of its 17-month reserved-seat run here, "The Ten Commandments" opened for the Easter holidays on April 4th, 1958, at eight "conveniently located theatres throughout Greater New York." There were two performances daily, at 2:30 and 8:00 PM. During the school break, morning performances were also held at 9:30 (except Sundays). "Special popular prices" prevailed: 60 cents for children at all times; 90 cents for adults, all daytime performances, Monday-Friday; $1.50 for adults, all evening performances and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. The theatres were: Loew's 72nd Street and 83rd Street, Manhattan; Paramount, Brooklyn; Loew's Paradise, Bronx; Loew's Valencia, Queens; Paramount, Staten Island; Loew's White Plains, Westchester; Calderone, Hempstead, LI.

Warren, I worked the SI Paramount for that engagement, would you happen to have the newspaper ad?

Vito, please contact me privately at Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com, and I will send you the ad as it appeared in the NYT. You will need Adobe Acrobat to read the file.

Thank you Warren.
Working in the theatres in those times were something very special, when I was assigned to do a shift at the SI Paramount I could not wait to get there. It was one of Fabian's favorite theatres, we got all the new toys to play with : )
The Parampount was the first SI theatre to install CinemaScope, I remember working most of Christmas Eve, much to the horror of my family, while the new screen and sound system were installed for the Christmas day opening.

Oh, I forgot to mention the name of the picture which was of course "The Robe"

On the night "My Fair Lady" premiered at the Criterion, Channel 5 presented a half-hour live special at 7:30, with arriving celebrities greeted by Arthur Godfrey. He kept plugging Audrey Hepburn's upcoming appearance and interview, but her car was delayed in traffic, and she only was seen over closing credits and entered the lobby during the fade to black. This fiasco resulted in the loss of the station's Program Director and thousands of dollars in make-good commercials for the sole sponsor.

Imagine that poor Program Director having been hung out to dry all because of a typical NYC traffic jam! That's like being fired because the sky is blue!

I wish that all those 60's televised premieres would be made available on the DVD's in their entirety. The only ones I know of are the '56 Star is Born and and the abridged newsreel of Grand Hotel.

They were all aired live and unless they were kinescoped or videotaped (which is unlikely,) they are gone forever.

Good idea Vincent, having attended many of the Fox openings at the Roxy and Paramount, I know there were always cameras there, the film must be somewhere.

Newsreel footage probably still exists because it was shot on 35mm or 16mm film. The live TV broadcasts are most likely gone.

Quite right Bob, as I recall, most of the premieres were part of the newsreels in those days. Fox Movietone often included Roxy premieres, movie promotion and premiere coverage all in one.

So how is it the complete televised Star is Born is still around?

It was aired locally on KTLA in Los Angeles live from the Pantages Theater, and somebody at the station made the decision (and spent considerable money) to make a 16mm kinescope. Video tape was not used for recording television programs at that time, it was still in the experimental stage. The kinescope system was a camera filming off a high quality, low contrast monitor.

I'm sorry to say that the filming of this particular premiere broadcast was the exception and not the rule.

I forgot to mention that the only reason the Star is Born footage is so common was because a private collector got hold of a kinescope print, and sold bootleg copies on VHS.

Well would Warner Brothers in their vaults maybe have color newsreels of the Criterion premiere of MFL along with shots of all the exterior displays? You do see some of this on the MFL doc but it is so brief, only a few seconds and in black and white.

If there is footage in the MFL doc then something exists, most likely black and white silent newsreel shots.

Warner Bros. does have footage on many of it's major premieres from both coasts in it's vaults and other storage areas. When I was in their publicity department they had many full sets of stills from the front of house deplays of the theatres. I had their still department and lab reprint hundreds of stills from many of their film openings. And I shot for that department from 1984-94 their film openings in the Los Angeles area.

Above should read front of house displays.

Monster party:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/criterion48.jpg

I see a lot of moaning about the loss of this great theatre but not a single mention of the Criterion this one replaced. I would appear it was demolished in June 1935 (along with the Loews New York)in order to make this Criterion happen. The new one was open by September 1936. How was such a speedy construction of this mammoth building possible?

The old Criterion ran the first western blockbuster, THE COVERED WAGON and Oscar winner WINGS for over a year each. It also had the New York premiere of HELL'S ANGELS. Does anyone have more info on the OLD Criterion so it can get posted?

I contributed a listing for the first Criterion several days ago, but it has yet to be published. I don't know why.

Great to hear that, Warren!

Here is a shot of the still single screen Criterion.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Theatres/Criterion1978.jpg

RobertR--

That's a great photo, with a marvelous feel for the era and superb detail on the Loew's building in the left background.

I just noticed the amount of screens here is still showing 1.

Here are some nice pictures of rare movie material. http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n94/irajoel/
I also have a website, please feel free to visit.
www.cinemagebooks.com
and if you don't care to view them, keep your stupid nasty remarks to yourself.
irajoelirajoel@yahoo.com

Here's a pre-opening ad from September, 1936. The new theatre is described as "intimate," having only 1,700 seats. Some of its competitors were at least twice that size:
www.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/criterionopener.jpg

In May, 1953, the Criterion claimed to be the first theatre in the world to present a 3-D feature on a giant wide screen, with stereophonic sound, and in Color By Technicolor. The movie itself was so bad that it required support from a Three Stooges comedy short, also in 3-D:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/cri52953.jpg

I can't recall the theater, but I saw a Three Stooges 3-D short (probably this very one) along with a Woody Woodpecker animated 3-D short sometime back in the early '80's. I don't think it was the "House of Wax" revival in '82. It might have been at the 8th Street Playhouse and the main feature may have been Andy Warhol's twisted "Flesh for Frankenstein"... but the billing of that film with the Stooges and Woody Woodpecker seems almost too far beyond the pale to believe possible.

This Jimmy Stewart/Sandra Dee comedy opened as a "Premiere Showcase" presentation at a number of area theaters:Take Her She's Mine - Daily News 11/25/63

Here's a clipping from a couple of months earlier featuring a small ad for "Lawrence of Arabia" in the lower right corner - still in it's reserved-seat engagement here:
Daily News 9/21/63

LOA had premiered at the Criterion in December of '62. Was it playing all the way up to the Showcase booking for "Take Her She's Mine"? As the ad indicates, this run was an "Exclusive Greater New York Engagement" even though 70mm prints had been rolled out by this time to Asbury Park, Nanuet and Upper Montclaire, NJ, as well as Huntington, NY, out on Long Island according to the great 70mm in New York web page compiled by Michael Coate and William Kallay.

Ed, I show the Criterion was closed for about three weeks between the two runs.

Ed, I show the Criterion was closed for about three weeks between the two runs.

Thanks Al. I guess LOA finished up before the end of October. "Take Her..." opened 11/13/63 (a Wednesday) per imdb.com. I show LOA hitting the Drive-In circuit by at least May of '64. I suppose it must have gone into a short 35mm nabe run in November of '63, as I have an ad from 11/25/63 advertising LOA's "last two days" at the Loew's Metropolitan in B'klyn, and possibly later runs in the deep suburbs prior to the Drive-In engagements.

"One of the 10 best" of 1977 according to Time Magazine, this film was about two months into its release by the time of this early '78 clipping:
Semi Tough - Daily News 1/25/78

It must have been a pretty fast climb from single screen in 1978 (a photo that RobertR posted on May 21 shows a single screen Criterion as late as August, 1978) to 5 screens as early as December, 1980:
Movie Clock - NY Post 12/11/80

Curious that theater 1 is listed as "closed for repairs". The films playing in the other auditoriums are at least a month or two old with a few late runs dating back to before the summer.

A forgotten roadshow
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/HalfaSixpence.jpg

AlAlvarez, I don't know if you ever noticed, but the first Criterion is now listed as a seperate theatre.

Thanks Bob! I had not noticed.

Loew's Theatres took over the operation of the Criterion from owner B.S. Moss in 1938 in a 50-50 partnership that was to run for 20 years, with an option for an additional 21 years. However, the contract would be terminated in 1949 due to Loew's need to "divest" some of its theatres to comply with the Federal anti-trust action against the company. The first film to open at Loew's Criterion was MGM's "Spring Madness" on November 30, 1938. The last was Eagle Lion's "He Walked By Night," which opened on February 5th, 1949. During that engagement, Loew's returned management of the Criterion to B.S. Moss. The first booking for the singularly named Criterion was Universal's "The Fighting O'Flynn," which opened February 26th, and was followed on March 11th by Universal's "Criss-Cross."

A comment made back on Apr 5, 2004 claimed that the group "Dream Street" performed live at the Criterion in 1999. Well, according to this website, they did. "On December 18th and 19th, 1999, Dream Street had the first live performance at the Criterion Theatre. The 2 concerts sold out and the money went to Variety- The Children's Chariety. They raised about $10,000".

Lost... There was also an off-Broadway sized facility that was part of the Criterion Center complex and was used by the Roundabout Theatre organization. I believe it was in the former International Casino space upstairs. I still wonder if Dream Street performed in that space as opposed to one of the 5 Criterion movie theater auditoriums. I can't recall ever being in the Criterion... was the orchestra level auditorium intact with stage space? Was there ever any stage space?

Just out of curiosity, do you have any C/O info on what kind of capacity each auditorium had after the multiplexing?

This one is a little confusing Ed. A c/o for February of 1984 for a building at 1514 Broadway shows:

Cellar:
Theater#1-156
Theater#2-198
Theater#3-193
Theater#4-248

First floor:
Motion Picture theater-1037 seats.

Second floor:
Motion Picture theater-1041 seats.

Maybe you can sort that out. :) I don't know which part of this theater building the group "Dream Street" performed in. Its possible that they removed some seats and built a temporary stage, but I honestly don't know.

A May of 1997 c/o shows eight theaters at this address.

Cellar:
Theater#1-156
Theater#2-198
Theater#3-193
Theater#4-248

First floor
Theater"A"-400
Theater"B"-400

Second floor
Theater"A"-525
Theater"B"-1041

I'm not sure about the "B" theater on the second floor. Right below the 1041 number is another number of 424. Maybe the seating for the second floor was 525 and 424. I don't see how the seating could increase from 1041 in 1984 to over 1500 in 1997. Maybe the 1041 number was carried over from the old c/o when it was a single theater. I would change the second floor to:

Second floor
Theater"A"-525
Theater"B"-424

The Criterion was built in 1935 and designed solely for movies. It had no stage or facilities for performances. The screen was as close to the back wall as possible to achieve the maximum number of seats. If there was a performance there in 1999, it must have been in an area that was cleared of seats for that purpose.

Were there eight theaters by the time the Criterion was done being carved up in the '80's? I always thought the final number was seven screens at the very end.

Here is an ad from a 1922 Ohio newspaper which mentions the Criterion. Hopefully the scenes of love between the boy and mom were not too graphic:

Direct from its sensational run at the famous Criterion Theater, Times Square, New York, comes the picture beautiful, the picture extraordinary, the picture you'll never forget-"WHERE IS MY WANDER- ING BOY TONIGHT"-the picture that tells in graphic scenes of a mother's love for her boy and a boy's love for his mother. The picture packed with thrills, adventure, romance, tenderest sentiment. The picture of Main Street and Broadway, of soda fountains and swell cabarets, of dance halls and a little church of a mother and her wayward boy, of a country lass and a chorus girl - the picture of smiles, tears, pathos, laughter.

The Picture that packed the famous CRITERION THEATRE, Times Square, N.Y. to capacity for two solid weeks at its world premiere

Ken mc... you forgot to add the link. However, your post is better suited to the Loew's New York theater complex, which was demolished to make way for the new Criterion in 1935. The Criterion theater being discussed on this page was not even in existence in 1922.

ken mc you posted this under the wrong Criterion Theatre. The original Criterion lasted till 1935 when the new one was built.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/16481/

Ed....I think your on to something. The second floor was probably not split and the seating would have remained at 1041 seats as it was in the previous c/o from 1984. You are a genius and a role model to me. My hero! LOL
Okay, lets try this:

Cellar:
Theater#1-156
Theater#2-198
Theater#3-193
Theater#4-248

First floor
Theater"A"-400
Theater"B"-400

Second floor
Theater"A"-1041

The last time I was in the upstairs theatre in 1994 it was a large house still.

I reposted on the correct page. The links from the old newspapers are great but they fail within a day, which I learned after posting a dozen of them. It's too bad as the old theater ads are interesting.

Seems that the upstairs theater at the Criterion must have been a lot bigger than the old balcony was when it was a single screener. I'm guessing that this was because they installed seats on the new floor that was extended to seal off the old balcony from the orchestra section below. Perhaps it was in this largest of auditoriums that the legendary Dream Street performance was held - utilizing some sort of temporary platform stage in front of the screen.

This was one of the few Times Square theaters I never set foot in - at least as far as I can recall. I don't believe I was ever in the National or the Embassy 2,3,4 either.

Also... sorry to mislead you ken mc... William's listing is correct for the old Criterion. I didn't realize that Warren had separately listed the Olympia Music Hall/Loew's New York and the old Lyric/Criterion.

If you can locate a copy of an old "Stubs" guide to theater seating, you'll see that the Criterion's balcony was extremely shallow. ("Stubs" published floor plans of legit theaters for purchasers of reserved seats to check their seating; in the 50s/60s, it included floor-plans of road-show movie-houses for the same purpose; I deeply regret having discarded my copies over the years.)

From my memory of the Criterion, I'd find it inconceivable for the shallow balcony to function as a single theater: its wide screening/playing area would have projected to just a few rows of seats stretching expansively from wall to wall, giving patrons at either end a radically slanted view and wickedly stiff necks.

From what I saw in my last visit to the theatre. It's very much like what EdSolero posted at 7:15 this morning about the balcony. It was a small balcony at one time, but the floor was extended to make a new main floor. That would only show what the floor plan was during that time frame, like the old programs years earlier showed the fire exits floor plans too. But the theatre was remodeled/cut-up later. The Loews Jersey City put two theatres under the balcony area and left the balcony as one in that tri-plexing, Warner Theatre on Hollywood Blvd., put two theatres in the balcony area and left the downstairs area as one. And the old Fox California Theatre in Huntington Park was tri-plexed with two small theatres in the balcony and one large one downstairs. It all depends on what the chain and design team can do with the location. I've seen many different jobs done and some are good and others are just crap.

You would probably have to look no further than the Criterion's neighbor across 45th Street, the Loew's State for a comparable situation. When that theater was twinned and the balcony sealed off from the orchestra level, a number of seating rows were installed on the new extended floor of the upper level in front of the former loge sections with the screen located in the upper niche of the old single screen proscenium. This practice added revenue to the space by virtue of the additional seating and gave the projectionist adequate distance for proper throw. In the case of the State, it also preserved a fair amount of interior ornamentation and atmosphere for patrons to enjoy while attending the upstairs theater.

Many other theaters simply sealed the balcony up and kept the original front row of loge seating as the front row of the new partitioned auditorium, with an expanse of naked flooring between the seating and the screen (the RKO Keith's and Midway Theater in Queens come to mind). The cost to reinforce the new flooring (which otherwise would basically just be the ceiling over the former orchestra section below) so that it could support the added weight of new seating probably had to be factored against the existing seating capacity of the balcony section when that decision was being made.

The first of several different Superman balloons to float in Macy's Thanksgiving Day parades has just passed the entrance to Loew's Criterion in this 1940 view. The Criterion was showing "Too Many Girls" at the time, while the nearby Loew's State had "Arise My Love" and vaudeville. Across Broadway, Charles Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" occupied the Astor Theatre:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/cri40.jpg

Was this the theatre that had VERY VERY small auditoriums in the basement.. VERY small... Or was that the Embassy?

I remember one Times Square theatre having such small rooms in the basement that when someone came in their head would block the projector... and the sound instead of behind the screen was provided by a big speaker in FRONT of the screen.

Was it criterion ir embassy.. or another?

Mike

It was the Criterion.

Spent a lot of time reviewing non-press-screened flicks (almost every Concorde movie from Roger Corman seemed to open there) in the Criterion basement rooms. Seemed amazing they could entice patrons (though usually not many) to pay $7 for the privilege of watching films there.

Here is a photo advertised on eBay. My apologies if it's a duplicate, but there are too many entries to go through for this theater:
http://tinyurl.com/23cels

I don't know if that photo has been displayed here before, but it's one that I see frequently in the NYC souvenir shops in the area of Broadway and Times Square. The photos are always framed and usually have a suggested price of $50, but I don't think that an offer of $25 or even less would be refused. I suspect that many of these photos were originally purchased from the New York Times and then copied infinitum by those who cater to the tourist trade.

This was a progressive ad for 1954
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/CountryGirl.jpg

Here are some images that may or may not have been previously posted on this page...

VJ Day - 1945
Lady from Shanghai - 1948
Chicago Syndicate - 1945

All three of these were scanned from a 1988 edition of the New York Daily News Magazine that was devoted to the past, present and future of Times Square.

For the first time! 3-Dimension with important stars, plus the first Walt Disney cartoon in 3-D (July 22nd, 1953): www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/cri3Dfirst.jpg

This is a 1978 photo. Apologies if it's already here somewhere:
http://tinyurl.com/37yd2e

Here is another photo from 1953. Same disclaimer as above:
http://tinyurl.com/yuzbvd

I wish that people would scan through the previous comments before posting links to photos. I displayed that same 1953 photo on November 9, 2005. It's still there, but I am now removing it because there is no need for duplication. The latest link is to a scrapbook belonging to "Guano," who may have copied it from my photo, perhaps with my permission if "Guano" is the person I'm thinking of.

Criterion in 1997 and the National in the distance:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/NYC-Criterion1997.jpg

Hey Warren. If you're thinking of me, then "guano" is the person you're thinking of! And you were kind enough to allow me to snag that photo for my own collection.

Ken... I can't take credit for the 1978 photo either. I have copied numerous photos I've found here or elsewhere on the web and placed them in my scrapbook for my own personal use. I only post images here on CT that either I have found on the web (on a site other than CT) or that I've photographed myself. I've thought about making my scrapbook private, but I keep it open to all only as a repository for theater images for those who are interested. Particularly since so many of those links here tend to disappear after a while due to space restrictions on other scrapbook accounts.

I suppose if I choose to keep it a "public" scrapbook, I'll have to endeavor to be more diligent in identifying the source of each image.

Sorry about any duplication. As you know, there are hundreds of postings for some of these Manhattan theaters. I didn't have time to go through each one to see if there was a prior post. I will table any further additions for the NY theaters.

Ken: It was still good to see that photo again. Please continue to post any other photos you have. There's room here for all of them, even with the duplication.

NYC Criterion in 1993:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/NYCCriterion1993.jpg

This 1979 image shows Bo Derek standing on the traffic divider between the east and west sides of Broadway: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/derek10.jpg

Above talking about the 'balcony,' it was really a mezz and a balcony separated by an aisle.
During the road show period the mezz had the most expensive seats in the house and was fine. If they had streched it any further out it might have cut off the screen for the back orchestra. Also during this period the front rows of the orchestra had the cheapest seats in the house. I don't think any other house did this.
It was horrible when they cut off the mezz/balcony and instead of simply cutting it off they made the theater a split level destroying it.
Along with the Rivoli my favorite cinema. The Music Hall is sui generis.

They also did that with the Warner(Strand), the State and the National.

That front section of upstairs seating was called "mezzanine" by some theatres, and "loge" by others. Some of the larger cinemas, such as the Times Square Paramount, had a mezzanine with only a few rows of seats, and then a separate balcony on the level above that. RCMH had three mezzanines, though only the first was treated like a real "mezzanine," with higher prices and reserved seats. The second and third mezzanines were priced like the orchestra floor and could be considered as "balconies."

The Capitol called their upstairs front rows "divans". My dad got "2001" tickets for that section in 1968, and before I went I wasn't sure what kind of seats we were going to get. I pictured them to be something like boxes in an opera house. But it was just the front couple of rows in the upstairs, at eye level with the middle part of the Cinerama screen.

As you can see here, the divans were the highest-priced seats ($4.25!)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/2001/2001.jpg

Bill- shouldn't you have posted this up at the Capitol's page?

Sorry. I just wanted to add to the discussion about upstairs seating that was going on here.

Warren, that Bo Derek shot is priceless. Back in her day, I had such a major crush (lust, actually) and a very risquee poster of her on my wall. She was in ORCA: THE KILLER WHALE before she rose to fame with 10.

I was at this theater only once, in 1991. I took a first date to see HOOK. The movie sucked and so did the date. We never went out again.

Here is a link to a really great view of the original Criterion with Ralph Ince's "Civilization" on the attraction board.
http://www.shorpy.com/images/photos/hotel-astor.jpg
Very high resolution of Times Square area.

It was actually Thomas Ince's " Civilization" that was playing.

What a wonderful shot of the city, J.F. Beautiful resolution for an old camera.

CIVILIZATION at the Criterion dates back to the latter half of 1916 so this photo actually belongs on the older Criterion page.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/16481/

A 1972 exterior photo of the Criterion can be seen here. Sorry if this has already been posted somewhere here before.

You can see the that "The Godfather" was playing over at the State Theatre in that shot.

The introduction suggests that the Criterion didn't exist before the era of 70mm roadshows...And the Criterion wasn't demolished. Substantial portions of the building still exist but have been converted into stores and restaurants. It was the original Criterion, part of the Olympia complex, that got demolished in 1935 to make way for new buildings that included this Criterion.

Warren, earlier today I asked for a revision to:
It has since been gutted to become a massive Toys R Us store.

You are correct in that the Intro needs a complete overhaul to describe the history of this Criterion. I might try that sometime in the future. In the meantime, at least the 70mm Roadshows are there.

Warren, you should write a new introduction that highlights the the pre-roadshow era.

Excellent idea. Volunteer Warren to do it.

To JKane's posting from last November 22nd: the Criterion always benefited from its location, especially after the lounge/basement area was carved up into auditorium space. After the Criterion was sub-divided, it was mostly the crowds who made it a fun place to see a film, not the quality of the theatre itself; it MIGHT have survived if it was allowed to double-book with the E-Walk and the Empire 25, but likely not for long...

To Howard, from earlier today: I think someone might have mentioned it in an earlier post, but the Bond 45 restaurant (with its entrance on 45th Street) occupies the section of the former Criterion (the screen and where the front rows were) orchestra auditoriums.

There has always been a slight issue (at least from my perspective) with the status "Closed/Demolished" on this site and when it should be applied. In my mind, a complete gutting of a theater to the bare brick walls (particular when it was not a standalone theatre, but a space within a larger building) is tantamount to demolition. At least with a standalone gut-job, the exterior elements of a theatre might remain (such as the Astoria, Bayside or Forest Hills Theatres in Queens). However, in the case of the Criterion (just as with the Paramount across Times Square) where the office building remains but virtually all vestiges of the theatre itself have been erased, I have no problem with "Demolished."

Perhaps it would be better still if a new category of "Closed/Gutted" could be added to the mix to add a further level of clarification.

70mm in 1959
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/SleepingBeautyattheCriterion.jpg

An aunt of mine died at the Criterion Theatre on Feb 1, 1902 (New York Times article Feb 2, 1902). She was the wife of Sherman W. Knevals who was a law partner of President Chester A. Arthur and was at the bedside of President Arthur when he died. Is there any way to find out what play was performing on stage at the matinee performance at the Criterion on Feb 1, 1902? Thank you,
Susan (Knevals) Yesalonia
Easton Pa.
knit1@rcn.com

Susan, the Criterion you are looking for actually predates this one and can be found at: http://cinematreasures.org/theater/16481/

On February 1, 1902 at 2pm that Criterion was presenting Leslie Carter in his new play "DU BARRY".

The "New" Criterion opened on September 16, 1936 with the film, GIVE ME YOUR HEART" staring Kay Francis. It was a Warner Bros., Cosmopolitan production. Harry Charnas, a brother-in-law of the Warner brothers was vice prseident of the operating company Macon Amusement Company) and manager of the theatre. Charnas had held the position of General manager of the Warner Bros. Broadway Theatres before becoming vice presidet of Macon Amusement Company and manager of the Criterion.

Here is an October 1953 ad from the NYT:
http://tinyurl.com/2lnq9u

I got felt up at this theater once, before it was twinned. I wish I had paid more attention to its architecture, but at the time I was slightly distracted.

Did you ever go back to this theater? ;)

I spent many happy hours in the two upstairs theaters, and many drunken nights in the dank basement theaters, in a fruitless search for my erstwhile molester. Alas and alack, there were to be no repeat performances.

Search no more, Saps. I believe your molester is on this site and has manifested his proclivities into correcting punctuation.

The molester might have lost his memory and could still be wandering around Times Square. Have you searched the remains of Loews State 4 in the bowels of Virgin Music at 1540 Broadway?

Saps....Did the molester have any identifiable "quote marks"?

The 50th anniversary of the world premiere engagement of "South Pacific" in Todd-AO at the Criterion Theatre in March, 1958, seems to have passed unnoticed. I wonder why? Many, including yours truly, hated it for director Joshua Logan's butcheries and the grotesque color photography by Leon Shamroy. The movie was a mockery of one of the greatest of all American stage musicals. Perhaps it's due for a Hollywood remake as a result of the current Broadway revival, which received mostly rave reviews.

Unnoticed?

SOUTH PACIFIC just opened on live at Lincoln Center for the first Broadway production since the 1949 original. Although reviews have been good, another film version would depend on audience reception.

The 50th anniversary of the movie's relase passed unnoticed by me. Can you cite any press coverage that I might have missed? I think that the last DVD release was in 2006. I don't know why they couldn't have waited another two years for a 50th anniversary release, which seems to have become customary for well-known movies, regardless of their merit.

I think that "relase" anniversary has been overshadowed by the real thing.

Stoppit.

(And it'd be hard to dispute that a new DVD release tied into the first Broadway revival could have benefited both.)

Any of you saw SP at the Criterion? Any memories?

I wish I did. I was lucky enough to see two 70mm roadshows at the Criterion: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Nicholas and Alexandra", both extremely impressive. If I was about 10-15 years older than I am, I would've seen "South Pacific" there for sure.

Bill I guess we are about the same age. Did you see the early '71 reissue of My Fair Lady? Though in super Panavision it was continuous perfs with no intermission.
They still had the female usherettes with their black dresses and white collars and the guy in a black tux selling programs.
It was the very end of that era. I got a very brief taste of it.
I also saw Nicholas but skipped Tora as the reviews were so terrible.
After that it the theater immediately went into exploitation with no reprieve. Same with the great Rivoli.
I wonder if it was a change of management and they had no idea what they were doing.
Too bad roadshows were dying at that time if not there would have still been some holdovers in the fall of 70 when I started going into the city but the fall of '69 films just ended after of few months with no hits taking them a full year. The last great roadshow hit was Funny Girl which ended its Criterion run in Jan of '70. Would have loved to have seen it there though seems as though I just missed it.
Loews State continued to thrive with excellent bookings and also the Astor Plaza. Why did they get these films and not the other two when the Criterion and the Rivoli were the great movie theaters and treated as such just a year before?

Those basement shoeboxes were a seedy horror. Anyone else remember seeing a rat run up the screen in one of them?

This was the worst theater I ever went to. It always smelled bad, the popcorn gross. Good riddence.

When criticizing a theatre, you need to be more time/date specific. For much of its life, the Criterion was considered one of the classiest and best-maintained cinemas in midtown. The decline began when it was sub-divided and expecially when the underground "pidgeon cages" were added.

I can remember the Criterion still keeping its classy stature during the "Alien" engagement in 1979. I guess the bad times started not too long after that.

Agreed ... all around. The Criterion of the 1950s and 1960s (and certainly earlier) was a nice house - stimulating to attend, especially if one had a sense of the great movies that had played there.

I was a little put off by the change when I went in their after the first subdivide and saw the sleeper "Taps" in one of the large upstairs auditoriums.

But I never returned after an experience in that filthy downstairs area.

When I attended the adjacent Roundabout Theater, I always wondered if the backstage area was sufficiently sealed off from the unpleasantness of the Criterion's basement in the final years.

I assume the basement theates were built in what was once the very elegant edwardian foyer where the restrooms were located.
My last time there as a single theater was as well when Alien played. Would have prefered a much classier 50's or 60's film.
Went once after the first division and was so disgusted immediately left and never went back.
Watched a bit of MFL the other night on TCM. Sure wish I could see it there again.
Anybody got a color photo of the marquee during the first engagement?
It was terrific.

You can see a 1958 era shot of Times Square and the Criterion Theatre playing "South Pacific" in the film "It Happened to Jane" (1959) from Columbia Pictures.

A day late but yesterday was the 40th year anniversary of the World Premiere of "Funny Girl" at the Criterion.
The last of the great roadshows.

As a kid walked past the marquee a few times with my parents.
Unfortunately started going to the city on my own only a few months after the run had ended and what did I get? "Tora Tora Tora".
So close yet so far.

Only fly in the ointment for the FG engagement across the street they had just torn down the Astor.
Talk about putting a crimp in your evening.

Coming out of a performance and seeing that huge hole where such a great NY building had been for the entire century would have been unpleasant to say the least.
But at that age I had no idea there had ever even been an Astor Hotel.

Was the auditorium of the Criterion perpendicular to the lobby? Did it face the side street?

The auditorium was straight through from the entrance, and had side exit doors on 45th Street. I think that the south wall doors emptied into an alley connecting to 44th Street.

Here is an October 1957 photo from Life Magazine. The Criterion marquee is visible in the background. Apologies if this photo has already been posted.
http://tinyurl.com/6c3le3

Try linking to it this way. Then we will know who the people in the photo are.

On the bottom it says "Back to image details". You can click on that if you want more information about the photo.

Interesting. Thanks.

Here is a 1942 Life photo. The lights were dimmed to save energy during the war:
http://tinyurl.com/57uzn8

Coming up is the Golden Anniversary of this nearly forgotten roadshow engagement of a B&W British import, which opened on the night of December 16, 1958. Performances were held nightly at 8:45 PM, with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays. To avoid confusion with a 1953 Hollywood film on the same subject, advertising stressed "A New Motion Picture Never Before Seen on Screen or Television": http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/criterion1258.jpg

P.S., As the above ad proves, the Criterion used the "re" ending for the "t" word. The spelling in the main entry listing needs to be changed to Criterion Theatre.

I don't care how many Oscars the 1997 Cameron version won or how much money it made: "A Night to Remember" is the best-ever cinematic telling of the story of the Titanic. Even James Cameron knows this is true. Thanks for the ad, Warren - a very distinctive one, too, befitting the movie.

Had no idea that "A Night to Remember" had started in the States as a roadshow attraction -- at the large Criterion no less. It did not do much business in this country. The Rank Organization, which distributed it, cannot have been gratified to find that the U.S. returns did not measure up to the raves. I concur that it's incomparably superior (in all but the epic elements and special effects) to the 1997 version.

In reference to Ken Mc's Nov. 22nd post, I read somewhere that major cities often dimmed the lights during wartime to deter bombers from above.
So that enemy planes if any, couldn't make out the perimeters of the more populated areas. I believe the practice started after the bombing of cities overseas.

Advertised as "The Theatre of Tomorrow," the Criterion first opened on September 16, 1936, with the NYC premiere engagement of this WB sudser. Doors opened at 8AM, with all seats priced at 25 cents until 1PM: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/criopener36.jpg

Good ad. Wish it was larger.

You should be able to enlarge any ad (or image) with the dial on your computer mouse while holding down the control key.

Renewing link.

The Criterion was presenting Walt Disney's live-action "Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue" at the time of this 1954 photo. It was the last Disney production released by RKO prior to formation of his own Buena Vista distributing company: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=neon+source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dneon%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG&imgurl=452c08c4e2a75b4a

1966
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=105&ProductID=30898


http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=105&ProductID=30897

A daytime image here that gives a wider view than the one displayed in the introduction: http://www.americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=criterion&ProductID=30900

The caption suggests 1960s, but Desperate Hours came out in the mid-50s, I think.
http://tinyurl.com/ocz93a

"The Desperate Hours" would have opened at the Criterion in October 1955 and possibly played much/most of November.

There is a 1979 photo on this site:
http://www.bowtiepartners.com/historic_pics.htm

Very good. That's more like it.

The problem with this theater and the remnants of other old theaters in the Times Square area by the 1980's was the smell. I usually chose to see movies on the east side in the newer houses for this reason.

LIFE 1954 shot of the Criterion - http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=e13e0f69e6ca173f&q=new%20york%20broadway%20source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnew%2Byork%2Bbroadway%2Bsource:life%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18

Times Square is a little crowded in this 1956 photo from Life:
http://tinyurl.com/qcl224

That is a gem.

Here's a 1941 view of the Loew's Criterion marquee. The movie's title was really "There's Magic in Music," but reduced to provide more display space. "Alive in the Deep" was only a short subject, but probably had more exploitaiton value than the feature:
http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/73665774.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF1935B3684F2B7A07BEB5B9BCFFC0882EA9C

Here's a rainy premiere night in 1954: http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/3243718.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=DCB332A6E7C66BD32DC24EB5A9E16A74

Can't access either of those links, T.

Star and husband needed a police escort at 1968 premiere: http://www1.dailynewspix.com/sales/largeview.php?name=N1990617.jpg&id=128152&lbx=-1&return_page=searchResults.php&searchDisplay=A&searchAction=advSearch&numFields=1&Button=1&start=-2713888800&end=30689999&dayFrom=1&monthFrom=1&yearFrom=1884&dayTo=21&monthTo=12&yearTo=1970&location_0=allmeta&bool_0=AND&Button=1&page=0

I went to the Criterion several times growing up. I can remember proudly going there to see "Valley of the Dolls" myself, when that film was just released and was a big deal at the time. Later, I saw "Patton,""Tora,Tora,Tora" and "Funny Girl"on reserved-seat at the Criterion.
However what I really remember was going to Manhattan with my mother and father, Xmas season 1962 (or '63.) At the Criterion was "Lawrence of Arabia." On the next street at the Loews State was the Brando "Mutiny on the Bounty." A few blocks away at the Warner/Demille, (I forget which,) was "The Longest Day." And I think (though I am not sure,) that across the street at the Warner/Cinerama was "How the West Was Won." These are some of my favorite films and all were playing on reserved-seat. I like to think that if I could discover a time machine and go back in time, I would return to that time and see all those lavish films again on all those big screens. What a time to be a movie-goer in New York.
I hadn't been to the Criterion in many years but returned in the late '90s to see "The Sixth Sense," which was playing there and fit into my schedule. It was obvious to me that the theater probably wouldn't be around very much longer. And as I sat in that enormous theater one last time, I began to imagine the overture of "Lawrence of Arabia" wafting through this great theater one more time.

GaryC "The Longest Day" was at the Warner Theatre. "How the West Was Won" was at the Loew's Cinerama Theatre (the former Capital Theatre).

Thanks for the information, William.
By the way, would you know where John Wayne's The Alamo played when it was reserved seat on Broadway? On my 10th. (or 11th.) birthday, my father gave me the choice to get reserved seat tickets to see either The Duke's "The Alamo" or Kirk Douglas' "Spartacus" on Broadway. I chose The Alamo. After the film was over, my father said "I think we should have chosen Spartacus." I wish I could remember what theater we saw The Alamo in. Perhaps you would know. (Even though it wasn't the greatest picture, I still have a great deal of affection and nostalgia for Wayne's epic western.)

GaryC,"The Alamo" opened on Broadway at the Rivoli Theatre on Oct. 27th, 1960. The NY premiere was held the night before on Oct. 26th..

Thanks, William. Funny, I went to the Rivoli several times during the '60s. I saw "The Sand Pebbles" there in '66 or '67 and the re-release of "Gone With The Wind" there in '68. The last time I was there was in 1980 or '81 to see the remake of "Cat People." Yet I never realized that I saw "The Alamo" there. Thanks again for your help.

In December, 1954, a star arrives at the Critierion Theatre for the world premiere of her latest movie, which would go on to win her an Academy Award as best actress of that year: http://www1.dailynewspix.com/sales/largeview.php?name=5sd00khy.jpg&id=10300&lbx=-1&return_page=searchResults.php&searchDisplay=A&searchAction=advSearch&numFields=1&Button=1&start=-2713888800&end=-314650801&dayFrom=1&monthFrom=1&yearFrom=1884&dayTo=11&monthTo=1&yearTo=1960&location_0=allmeta&bool_0=AND&Button=1&page=0