Carnegie Hall Cinema

Following is a link to photographs of the interior of the Carnegie Hall Cinema.
http://www.mesbursmith.com/restor1.htm

This was originally a concert space before it was ever turned into a cinema. It fell into disuse and remained vacant until Carnegie Hall leased it for an "art" movie house. When Cineplex Odeon took over, it re-painted the auditorium in a hue that seemed too light for movies. Even with the all the house lights turned off, I always felt like I was sitting outdoors watching a movie.

In the 60's this was an art house but drifted into some very odd neighborhood programming under a company called Cinecom...some Disney double features at Disney's nadir...some Carry On's and some early Wes Craven Last House on the Left...it redeemed itself in the early to mid-70s with $1.00 revivals changing nearly daily...I can remember seeing a Jack Nicholson double feature Five Easy Pieces and Drive He Sais...a D.H. Lawrence double feature Sons and Lovers and Women In Love and the 4 hour French picture The Mother and the Whore here...
Cineplex Odeon did what it could with it but it was never a great location for a theatre...saw the John Lennon documentary Imagine in the big room and a Gerard Depardieu picture Trop Belle Pour Lui in the smaller room in the 88-89

At the Time of Carnige Halls renovations the theatre was being programmed by the couple who opeartated the Bleecker Street Cinema. They had a lease and Carnige wanted them to upgrade the theatre to their specs. A compromise was reached that a second screen would be built that they would operate and the hall would take back the main auditorium, which Cineplex would eventually operate. This co-arrangement went on a few years and then Cineplex took over booking both screens.

The New York premiere run of Alain Resnais' LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, one of the great must-see works of the French new wave, was at the Carnegie Hall Cinema in early 1962 and constituted one of its finest hours. In the late 1980's the new teeny-weeny adjunct Carnegie Hall Screening Room featured a continuing series of new Italian cinema, sponsored by RAI and SACIS under the heading "Cinema Italia Roberto Rossellini." One of the highlights in that series was the N.Y. commercial premiere of the uncut four hour version of Luchino Visconti's LUDWIG.

Cineplex Odeon (CO) assumed operations of the Carnegie Hall Cinemas in 1987. Initially CO operated only the 237 seat larger theatre; ICN operated the 78 seat screening room. In 1990 or 1991, CO assumed operations of both screens. Cineplex Odeon restored the Canegie Hall and reopened it in 1987 with "Withnail and I". There was a bit of controversy with this opening. CO established a $7.00 regular admission at the Carnegie Hall, becoming the first Manhattan cinema to charge $7.00. All other Manhattan cinemas charged $6.00 or less in 1987. Even the Carnegie Hall Screening Room charged $6.00 at the same box office. I saw a televised interview with Cineplex Odeon CEO Garth Drabinsky shortly after the Carnegie Hall reopened. He was asked why this theatre was charging a $7.00 admission. He explained that CO had invested over one million dollars in restoring the Carnegie Hall to its turn of the century appearance and that CO needed the extra fare to pay for the renovations/restoration.

I believe "My Life As A Dog" played for a year in the screening room.

This theatre was a historic gem. I really liked this cinema and was extremely saddened to see it close.

As both a film lover and a music lover, I can assert that both are important.

Located in the bowels of Carnegie Hall, this was built originally for musical concerts and known as the Lyceum. So it seems only right that the space should be returned to what it was intended for.

Cineplex odeon crown jewel first in the chain in the USA to have a cafe.

Was a member. Some movies would have a director to explain them.
Silent movies would have an organist Lee Erwin? playing.

Although I don't believe this theater was the one depicted in the Edward Hopper painting with the usherette by the stairway, whenever I would see this painting I would think of the Carnegie Hall Cinema because of the stairway you used to use to descend to this basement- level auditorium.

I had a very negative -- but also somewhat funny -- moviegoing experience at the Carnegie Hall Cinema in the mid-1980s. It was Easter Sunday, and they were playing "Gone With the Wind" -- which I had never seen. Since the price was right, I decided to go to the first screening that day.

As it turns out, the print was the very worst print of any movie I have ever seen. There were blips and pops and scratches all over the place. I think we even missed the last few seconds of an entire scene at one point when the scene changed too abruptly at one point.

I felt that the entire audience, including me, was sitting there bracing itself and wondering what annoyance we would be subjected to next. But even while sitting there in disbelief at just how awful the print was, I don't think any of us imagined that during the last few moments of the film, Rhett Butler would say to Scarlett, "Frankly, Scarlett, I d . . . [da-dee-da-da, da-dee-da-da . . .]."

As you can well imagine, this provoked a very substantial disbelieving groan from the audience -- and after the movie there was quite a hub bub too. For those who stuck around long enough, which I did, the management ultimately gave out free future passes to the theater. They also posted a sign in the window telling cinema classic.

However, even with the sign, I wonder if the audiences during the rest of the day were prepared for what must be one of the most inopportune film breaks imaginable!

This was an excellent repertory house in the seventies and eighties and tied with Bleecker Street Cinema. Their schedules and notes on the programs were contained in "Thousand Eyes Magazine" printed on newspaper stock.

Carnegie Hall had many entertaining programs. Among them was a Marlon Brando festival. Every film the actor appeared in through the
late seventies was shown including obscure titles like "Night of the Following Day". The copies were all mint with a number of 'studio vault prints' of pictures like "One Eyed Jacks" and "Mutiny on the Bounty" in blazing Technicolor. They also had a Hitchcock festival
and played double bills like "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Technicolor prints of the Bond features were common too.

The screen was fairly large and the theater comfortable. A great rep house. I was sad when it folded.

Saw a movie by a French or Belgian. He was there to explain the movie. One scene showed him shaving. Would anyone remember his name?

Thanks,

T. J. Steenland

Would Carnegie Hall itself make a great cinema?

T.J. Steenland,
Might that have been "Toto the Hero," directed by Jaco van Dormael?

To: Gerald A. DeLuca

The director's name doesn't ring a bell.

Regards,

T. J. Steenland

Here are two pages from the classy "Showbill" program booklet distributed for the Carnegie Hall Cinema's opening attraction in May, 1961: Luchino Visconti's "White Nights," starring Marcello Mastroianni and Maria Schell.
One: cover page
Two: first page of credits
The images can be enlarged.

Thanks, Gerald. I'd forgotten how closely this film opened upon "La dolce vita" (19 April '61, at the Henry Miller's) and "I soliti ignoti" (22 Nov. '60, at the Fine Arts), cementing Marcello Mastroianni's fame on this side of the pond. And I'd forgotten that Jean Marais acted in it, too. I've long since discarded the Showbills for each--a mistake since, as you say, they were classy booklets. Does the May issue have Eugene Archer's report on the Cannes Film Festival for '61? What a year that was for films!

The introduction says "also known as Little Carnegie Hall." Perhaps informally, but I don't think it ever actually operated under that name. There was another movie theatre, but east of Carnegie Hall on 57th Street, that was called the Little Carnegie (and has its own listing here).

Here is a newspaper ad for opening day, May 28, 1961.

BoxOfficeBill, I think I have one for "I soliti ignoti," a.k.a. "Big Deal on Madonna Street" at the Fine Arts. I'll find that and post in on the Fine Arts page. I don't have too many but someone gave me a small batch of Showbills for Italian films, knowing my interest in them.

Hiroshi Inagaki's Chushingura was kind of a big-deal offering here in early 1967. It's a stunning 3½ hour wide-screen epic based on the famous "47 Ronin" story that all Japanese learn about. I saw it here in January, 1967, and went to four other films in Manhattan that day as well.

Hard to believe in 1971 during the height of "porno Chic" even the Carnigee played X
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/SexfreedomInGermany.jpg

It was a lovely theatre. I only went there once, to see "DreamChild" an English film about a grown up elderly Alice of Wonderland fame. Got there early to survey the place being my first time, settled into a great seat and in walks Claus Von Bulow and his mistress. Fresh from being aquitted of trying to kill his wife, that summer, I knew he was going to sit next to me. Well he always gave me the
creeps so I had to move to another part of the cinema but I did end up enjoying the movie.

i saw 'A Touch Of Class' and others.

Correction to previous post. the first NY run of 'A Touch...' wasn't here, but nearby.
I did see 'The Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick' here.

This seems to be the nearest I can get to Carnegie Hall, so I'll post here. During Christmas week of 1933, the legendary concert hall became a daytime cinema with a "Walt Disney Festival" of "Silly Symphonies" and "Mickey Mouse" cartoons. The showings, which were probably about 80 minutes in length, were held at 10AM, 11:30, 1:00 PM, 2:30, and 4:00, from December 27th through 30th. Tickets were priced at 25, 35 and 50 cents. Reserved box seats were available at 50 and 75 cents.

I suppose that, for the sake of proper mapping, the address of this theatre should be listed as 881 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019.

What is the factual basis for the aka "Little Carnegie Hall?" To the best of my knowledge, this theatre was never called that. Someone apparently confused it with the Little Carnegie, a cinema on West 57th Street just east of Carnegie Hall.

This was an odd commercial double bill for the Carnegie to play while on such a wide break.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/TheGetaway.jpg

Around 1992 or 93 this place was being robbed frequently, sometimes twice a week. The NYPD set up an operation where they had several undercover officers in the lobby as customers and another in the managers office. Sure enough, the robbers showed up and this time fired at the undercover "manager" when he refused to open the safe - fire was returned, resulting in one perp assuming room temperature in the lobby and the other was chased down 56th Street and captured at 6th Ave.

I can't recall if it was here or at the Little Carnegie around the corner where I saw the film "Imagine" about John Lennon in 1988 or so.

Here are some photos of the Carnegie Lyceum, snapped long before it was converted into a cinema:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum5.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum3.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum2.jpg

This was a great little "underground" theatre in the 70's. They always had retrospecitves like Laurel & Hardy. Sad that it's closed

I'll say that this is one of the better uses made of space that was formerly a movie theatre. Earlier yesterday I walked down Bleecker Street and saw the Duane Reade getting ready to open where the old Bleecker Street Cinema used to be. Kind of made me sad to see a chain store replacing a funky, independent theatre that I patronized frequently when I lived in the Village in the eigties.

Later in the evening I was at Zankel Hall to hear a jazz concert in the space where the cinemas used to be. It is a beautiful hall and a much better space to hear jazz than the more storied (and larger) auditiorium upstairs.

Does anyone know the wherabouts of the couple running the Bleecker Street Cinema and the Carnegie Hall Cinema in the mid seventies to the mid eighties (jacqueline... and syd....)
In fact syd re-opened the Carnegie Hall Cinema as a classics movie theater in 73 or 74 after its closing for a few year as a porn cinema!
I think syd died in 85 and his wife continued running the Bleecker street for a while. I'd like to know more.
Many thanks

Elwood, all I know is that Jacqueline kept the Carnegie Screening room for several years after Cineplex Odeon took over the larger side. She was eventually bought out when Garth offered her stupid money to pass him the lease. The Screening Room then became Carnegie II.

I was only in this theater three or four times, however my most memorable recollection was discovering the early Martin Scorsese film "Who's That Knocking At My Door?" I may be mistaken but this was in either 1970 or 1971 (Does anyone know when it played there?). I have been a Scorsese admirer ever since. Also remember seeing my only Andy Warhol film, "Lonesome Cowboys" and "The Harrad Experiment". I was spared having to sit through the entire film when technical difficulties in the projection room resulted in a refund when they could not continue running the film.

The Carnegie Hall Cinema had a 2-manual/5-rank "Style 150" Wurlitzer organ, Op. 2095 (1931) which was originally in the Lawler Theatre in Greenfield, MA. After the Lawler closed, it was moved to the Rainbow Roller Rink in South Deerfield, MA; then it was purchased in 1968 by Ben Hall, noted theater historian and film critic, who installed it in his NYC duplex. Hall died in 1971; the Hall Estate gave the organ to the Amer. Theatre Organ Society, who planned to install it in the Harold Lloyd Estate Museum in Hollywood, CA. Those plans fell through, so the organ was shipped back to NYC where the NY Theatre Organ Society installed it in the Carnegie Hall Cinema; it played there for about 10 years until the Carnegie Hall renovation began. The organ was put in storage until it found its current home in the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, NY, where it is featured on a regular basis.

The Carnegie Hall LYCEUM had a 2-manual/20-stop Möller organ, Op. 1706 (1914). Its console can be seen in Warren's image at www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum2.jpg We don't know how long it was there or what happened to it.

Elwood="Does anyone know the wherabouts of the couple running the Bleecker Street Cinema and the Carnegie Hall Cinema in the mid seventies to the mid eighties (jacqueline... and syd....)
In fact syd re-opened the Carnegie Hall Cinema as a classics movie theater in 73 or 74 after its closing for a few year as a porn cinema!I think syd died in 85 and his wife continued running the Bleecker street for a while. I'd like to know more."

Jacqueline Reynal and Sid Geffen. Sid died in a mysterious way, and much of the staff felt Jackie was responsible, but maybe because she was such an unpleasant person. She'd made some film "Hotel New York" loosely based on her NYC experiences...she'd supposedly edited for Renoir, and done some acting. One memorable review called her "a grade Z Rita Hayworth". HNY was quite bad, the rumour went. We had cans and cans of that film stored all over the theatres, the "forever edit"...Anyway, after Sid died she got involved with a rich French doctor. She owner the theatres, but never actually ran them, at least not while I worked for them in the early-mid 80's.

John, WHO'S THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR? premiered at the Carnegie Hall in September of 1969. You most likely saw LONESOME COWBOYS at the nearby 55th St. Playhouse earlier that year.

THE HARRAD EXPERIMENT, best known for a nude Don Johnson, showed in early August of 1973 on subrun.

Jacquie and Sid can both be found on www.imdb.com

Al,

Thanks for the response. Actually, the September 1969 date makes sense to me because I was on leave from the Army prior to going to Vietnam. Still cannot visualize going to the 55th St Playhouse. Is it possible that Lonesome Cowboys played the Carnegie Hall Cinema at a later date?
Does anyone remember a movie called "Lust In the Dust" It was directed by Paul Bartel and starred Tab Hunter and Divine. Can anyone confirm if this film played here.

In the 60s a documentary called CHINA played there.

This was Cineplex Odeons best renovation by far.......every detail so beautiful........Steve C. managed this theater like it was his own...

Steve sadly passed a few years ago.

LUST IN THE DUST (1985) played at the Embassy and New Yorker. The Carnegie Hall was playing very eclectic arthouse repertory at the time.

LUST IN THE DUST (1985) played at the Embassy and New Yorker. The Carnegie Hall was playing very eclectic arthouse repertory at the time.

??? I thought it was Steve C.'s brother who passed away.

i thought Steves brother passed away also .......he wrote the Pumkin Head movies...

i thought Steves brother passed away also .......he wrote the Pumkin Head movies...

Ah I feel bad now I'm confused I have to call someone I hate to think they both passed

This is a 1983 program for the Carnegie Hall Cinema.

robert let my know..last time i saw Steve was several years ago for diner ....he was then working as an auditor .......like RICHEY REPORTS........

I am happy to report that Steve appears to be doing just fine.

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Carducci_Steve_688740394.aspx

Under its original name of Carnegie Lyceum, this theatre showed movies regularly (if not exclusively) from at least as early as 1913, as this ad from January 26th of that year proves. A year later, on May 8th, 1914, the Carnegie Lyceum presented what was probably the first filmization of "David Copperfield":
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/carnegie12613.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/carnegie5814.jpg

I love all the pictures and stuff but my work has blocked Flickr so I can't see anything. This really pisses me off.

"Mike," I don't understand your comment. If you are "blocked" from Flickr, you should still be able to see images with links to other servers, such as Photobucket, which is the one that I use.

I saw only one movie here. I think it was LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE.

Thanks Al for that post on Steve.

Although Warren's link from April 2007 no longer works, CARNEGIE LYCEUM should be listed as a former name.

LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE played here for over a year.

The second little theatre at the Carnegie Hall Cinema, the tiny Carnegie Hall Screening Room, was leased by SACIS of Italy and opened a series of Italian films in the late 1980s under the heading of "Cinema Italia - Roberto Rossellini." In 1987, they played the uncut 4-hour version of Visconti's 1972 Ludwig. Here is the Variety ad announcing that run. Many other fine Italian films, mostly recent first-runs, played here at that time.

Just a white screen again when I click on Variety. Does one need to be a member of Flickr to see these images?

No, Warren. The images work for others. And they worked for me when I went into CT anonymously at the library computer yesterday. I cannot understand the problem you are having. But here is a page link.

Thanks! I linked immediately to the one with "italiangerry" in the code. This marks the first time that I've ever had problems linking to Flickrs scrapbooks, so I don't know the reason(s) for it either.

Here are new links to interior views of the original Carnegie Hall Lyceum:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum2.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum3.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clyceum5.jpg

In October, 1968, vomit bags were handed out to patrons brave enough to attend this "'8 1/2' of the younger set": http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/chc1068.jpg

In the seventies they used to run old Laurel & Hardy and W.C. Fields flicks periodically.

To get to the theatre you had to walk down a long stairwell We used to say we were going to see and "underground" film!

Shouldn't this be listed as OPEN as Zankel Hall?

The underground space was totally gutted and re-built for Zankel Hall, which is a completely new entity. I don't think it can be considered as a continuation of what was originally the Carnegie Hall Lyceum. It just happens to use some of the same ground beneath Carnegie Hall.

That's a gray area. Is the IFC Center really the Waverly, or the American Airlines really the Selwyn?

While I probably went here only several times, I only really remember one visit I made to see a German cinematic version of Ibsen's "The Wild Duck" It was a wonderful production that captured the black humor, the biting irony and the ultimate horror that makes this one of the greatest plays ever written as successfully as I have ever experienced it. The actor, whose name I do not recall, who wonderfully played the hapless "inventor" made a most impressive appearance during the intermission. (The performance was sponsored by the Goethe Foundation.) He also made a major contribution to Syberling's "Our Hitler" film that I had just seen on the upper West Side.

I just hope this terrific space is succeeding as a concert venue.