Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th Street,
New York,
NY
10023
165 West 65th Street,
New York,
NY
10023
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 62 comments found
Excellent screen, and excellent programming by the Film Society! Saw “MASH” here in 2010 with Elliott Gould in attendance for Q&A. Mr. Gould was great, and I had a five-plus minute conversation with him about conspiracy films of the 1970’s, since I love “Capricorn One” so much! He and Tom Skerritt were great and signed a commermorative 20th Century-Fox 75th Anniversary poster for a number of us.
The auditorium is very nice, a great balance of nice size and excellent projection and sound. I would love to come back and see more films!
Ryan’s Daughter was one of the finest examples of 70mm filmmaking it has ever been my privilege to see and hear. The sound was especially powerful. Whenever I watch this film at home, I always worry about it being too loud for the people downstairs. What a thrill to hear it blasting away in a theater. On the visual side, easily one of the most beautifully photographed films ever made. Thanks to the Walter Reade and the Film Society of Lincoln Center for showing this too-rarely-screened 70mm masterpiece.
Tron is being shown in 70mm as well.
Glad you had a good time, Chas. I’ll be going later today for Ryan’s Daughter. Been waiting 42 years to see that in 70mm. It’s going to be spectacular! Hope the Swedish subtitles aren’t too distracting.
Well, I didn’t get the pristine print I’d hoped for, but after a rough start it was mostly good, and seeing PLAYTIME on the big screen was wonderful.
Anyone see the first showing of PLAYTIME? I’m coming down for that one today, with hopes high for a great print.
They used the curtains for “2001”, maybe because Keir Dullea was in the audience. Unfortunately, they did not use them for Mad Mad World or West Side Story.
Do they open & close a curtain?
Yes, it was. The very best way to see and hear West Side Story.
was the presentation of West Side Story the restored five front channel soundmix?
I’ve seen three of the 70mm shows so far: 2001, Mad Mad World and West Side Story. All were beautiful prints. They looked brand new. Mad Mad World did wind up playing for over three hours because the police calls reel (sound only) was played after the intermission instead of during the intermission, but that was the only flaw in the festival that I could see. And the screen is quite big if you sit down near the front. Looking forward to Ryan’s Daughter on Saturday.
The screen at the Walter Reade Theatre does look awfully small for the showing of 70mm prints of films, but hey….I wish I could be at that late-December 70mm film festival! I’d pick up a ticket for West Side Story and maybe one or two of the other films on the schedule in a heartbeat if I resided in NYC!
Here’s hoping that WSS comes to Boston..and soon!
That photo was taken from a vantage point way in the back of the house with a wide angle lens. I’ve seen 70mm presentations here, the screen is more than adequate for the job.
What length was the film at the Castro?
They updated a few of the pages, it’s going to be a 154 minute print. But the 197 minute claim is still on the main page for the festival. THAT is the one they should worry about changing. I’ve had the opportunity to see this movie in 70mm at the Castro in SF. I’m sure that the WR is a fine venue and I’m happy that actual film , esp 70mm is being celebrated- but the size of the screen might not allow full enjoyment of the film. I’ll pass.
Thanks for that information, Peter, regarding IAMMMMW. I imagine the running time of 197 minutes is also incorrect? Hard to imagine 43 minutes of police radio calls would sufficiently flesh out the general release run-time of 154 minutes. Even with an overture, entr'acte and exit music, 197 minutes seems like a stretch.
It will actually probably be a little smaller when the masking is adjusted for the 70mm presentations. Although many people associate 70mm with really big screens, 70mm can be properly projected onto smaller screens if they are masked to the appropriate aspect ratio. The result will be a really sharp image, but it won’t be the same experience as, say watching a good 70mm print at the Ziegfeld.
That screen looks awful small for 70mm presentaions.
The mother supposedly made the donation in the eighties so apparently she was still alive. The son died in 1973.
Signed by a member of the Reade family, I would expect. Junior’s mother couldn’t still be living. The father was born in 1884, the son in 1916.
It was named after Walter Reade Jr. after a grant from The Walter Reade Foundation in the form of a check signed by his mother.
Is the theatre named for exhibition pioneer Walter Reade, or for his son, Walter Reade, Jr., or for both? Junior also became prominent in distribution before his premature death in a skiing accident.
I saw ‘Lord Jim’ and ‘Khartoum’ earlier this year at the AFI Silver and those 70mm prints were outstanding – the former in particular looked nearly mint. Odd that the ‘West Side Story’ screening doesn’t mention if the soundmix is the original 6-track mix that recently got restored. … and damn CBS Home Video for a flawed hidef transfer/bluray release of ‘My Fair Lady’ – maybe since Warner’s just got back the rights to the film, another proper transfer of the original 65mm elements can be done now.
There is no restored print of Mad Mad World. They are running the same “general release” version that’s been around for years, the only addition is the police “radio calls” audio during the Intermission. They need to correct that listing.
Hmmm. No mention of “restored” or “archival” for either 2001 or West Side Story. Are these the same prints that ran at the Ziegfeld a few years back? Can’t remember now if those were 70mm showings. I’m intrigued by the 197 minute restored IAMMMMW print. Is this the anniversary print that ran at the Dome a few years back, with the outtakes and “corrected” trims inserted to pad the running time?