Palace Theatre
1564 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1564 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 213 comments found
Those are two gorgeous pictures, Brian.
rivoli157, I agree with you. I HATE the way they used the air space above the Palace to build that hotel. All I can say in favor is that at least they didn’t demolish the theater, like they’ve done to the rest of them. I only wish they would have saved the Loew’s Capitol that way.
Photos taken of the Palace on my trip to New York this past week during the day and night
techman, I too enjoyed “Mr. Chips. Hey, I was 13. And although not the best film, I did rather think it interesting the way the songs(not all of them ) were used, as if we were in their minds, thoughts if you will. I do have the say that the London is London number is one of my favorites. Thank you for clarifying the "Ben -Hur” dates, I took and still have) a photo of the marquee then ,but there was no date.
Btw, I hate how the hotel has been built around the theatre , yes, it saved and retained the theatre, but we lost the facade and great marquee! Just waht they did to the Broadway as well.
The film version of “Phantom” was a great musical. Minnie Driver as Carlotta was great. That was the best role she ever played.
They only come out with a “decent” picture every few years. I think the last one before that was “Forest Gump”. I really liked that.
What didn’t get any respect is the other Phantom musical. I’ve only seen it in local productions but found some really good stuff in it. The Carlotta part is a hoot.
saps-I never had must respect for critics of films and that goes double for Vincent Canby. While it’s not the BEST musical ever made, and is no My Fair Lady or Camelot, for what it is, it was a sad but enjoyable musical. Like I said, I happen to like musicals, like the ones they DON’T make anymore. I also loved Phantom of the Opera, and believe it didn’t get the respect it deserved.
Me too Techman707, one of my favourite musicals!
The problem with Mr. Chips is not that it was a musical but that, according to Vincent Canby’s NY Times review, “Everything [except the restrained, affectingly comic performance of Peter O'Toole in the title role] in this British public-school romance is either out of symmetry or out of date…so much of the film [is]so bland…all of which brings me — unfortunately — to the score by Leslie Bricusse.
“The 12 songs haven’t been so much integrated into the book as folded into it. Like unbeaten egg whites in a soufflé, they do nothing for the cause of levitation. The lyrics mostly depend on the numbing repetition of words like "together,” “someday,” and “flowers,” and the tunes are, at best, reminiscent.
“Let me put it another way: When I returned to my seat after intermission, I found myself trailing a gentleman who was humming a song from ‘Camelot.’”
Rivoli157 – The 70mm re-release of Ben-Hur opened at the Palace on June 18, 1969. And, was followed by “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, on November 15th, 1969. Tomorrow will be the 43rd anniversary of “Mr. Chips” premiere. Had Mr. Chips not been booked to open in 70mm, Ben-Hur would have never been shown at the Palace in 70mm, since, Mr. Chips was the reason the Cinemechanica 70mm Victoria VIII’s were installed, not Ben Hur. I remember when I was at the MGM studio in Culver City in January 1969, the big water tower was painted with the wording “THIS IS THE YEAR OF MR. CHIPS”. While the film was a big disappointment to MGM, I happened to like it, but, then again, I like musicals.
The entire “legit” history of the Palace Theatre can be found here: ibdb
ok? ok!
ok Judy Garland played the Palace, 1951, 1956? and 1967. She sold the joint out. I have been in here only to see shows,a revival of OKLAHOMA! in the 70s,a couple of benefits,and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
I do know that in 1969 MGM premiered the musical version of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS starring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark.And I believe somtime around 1968 a re-release of BEN-HUR played an engagement
The current legit tenent at the Palace is PRISCILLA,QUEEN OF THE DESERT,a musical play based on the film of the same title
Sixty-seven years ago today, RKO’s “The Master Race,” a follow-up to the studio’s blockbusting “Hitler’s Children,” started its NYC premiere engagement at the RKO Palace Theatre. On opening day only, Hildegarde Cunow, a young German woman who had managed to escape the Nazi regime, appeared on stage to describe “the abuse she suffered.” The B&W melodrama was advertised with “A Shock Warning To All The World: Beware Of The Germans AFTER THE WAR!”.
Tinseltoes, Unfortunately, you’re never going to see “The Reluctant Dragon” in a “real” theatre again.
Children $.25, now you’re talking.
Seventy years ago today, one of Walt Disney’s most unusual Technicolor features, “The Reluctant Dragon,” opened its NYC premiere engagement at the RKO Palace. Part live-action and part cartoon, the RKO Radio release was a glorified sightseeing tour of the Disney Studio in Burbank, California, with humorist Robert Benchley as the guide. At the core was an animated fairy tale about a pacifistic, tea-sipping dragon and his faint-hearted adversary, Sir Giles. Children’s tickets at the RKO Palace were priced at 25 cents at all times. Performances were continuous from 9:00am until 2:00 the next morning.
Seventy years ago tonight, RKO Radio’s B&W “Citizen Kane” opened its world premiere engagement at the RKO Palace as a reserved-seat, two-a-day roadshow. Ticket prices started at 75 cents for matinees and peaked at $2.20 for evening performances. Needless to say, the feature debut of multi-talented Orson Welles is now regarded as one of the all-time masterworks of world cinema.
Of all the theatres that remain today, the theatres on the west coast, especially in the LA area, are MUCH better than “what’s left” here in the New York area. While there may be some exceptions, overall they have NO RESPECT for old movie palaces.
One of my best friends (now deceased) was a vice president of the Fox Film Company in 1925. Before he passed away in 1982 he gave me pictures of himself and William Fox. One of the pictures was of the “Fox Film Baseball Team of 1925” and everyone, including Mr. Fox, is in a baseball uniform. He used to tell me about some the theatres they operated across the country and how Mr. Fox “insisted” that every theatre be built as opulent as possible. It used to depress me thinking about how I missed that parade.
techman, Every theatre has issues. We were just talking about names. And your right many of the true theatres built for Loew’s and RKO during that time are real movie palaces. I’m a Fox West Coast Theatres person.
When you’re talking MOVIE THEATRES, to even mention a theater like the Palace in the presence with MOVIE PALACES (no pun intended) like the Roxy or Capitol is insulting, especially to the Roxy. While the Palace might be famous, it’s certainly not a good theatre for movies when compared to a “real” movie theatre….especially all the theatres built by Loews and RKO in the years of 1928-29.
I think his meaning is that this was in the US The Palace. Which like the Roxy, Paramount Times Square the ones that legends were made. To many people this was the main Palace no matter what year it was built. So many hundreds of theatres around the country were inspired to be named the Palace.
A phrase in the opening sentence of the introduction, “the one that virtually inspired them all,” doesn’t make sense to me. Does it mean that the NYC Palace started a trend for using that name for theatres, which I don’t think is true. If you go back in history, “Palace” was always a frequent name for theatres, especially the larger and grander ones, in English-speaking countries. You will also find its theatrical equivalent in other languages, such as “Palais” and “Palast.” Yhis particular Palace became the flagship of vaudeville for America, if not the world. It was the dream of every vaudevillian to perform at the Palace. Those that did had reached the pinnacle of success, and the headliners especially were treated like royalty.
Registering.
That 1963 engagement of “55 DAYS AT PEKING” was neither exclusive nor roadshow. It was a four theatre break advertised as filmed in 70mmm but not exhibited that way.
“And how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
posted by saps on Feb 21, 2011 at 7:30pm”
Don’t believe in angels.