Comments from vindanpar

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vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on May 9, 2021 at 8:58 am

The Ziegfeld only had one reserved seat film and I don’t believe it played there very long. In fact I don’t even know why Marooned was a reserved seat presentation in the first place. It certainly could have been a continuous run film. Nothing special about it.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Indiana Theatre on May 6, 2021 at 7:52 am

It was probably shown in regular 35 mm. This is the re release from the early 70s.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Loew's State Theatre on May 3, 2021 at 5:00 pm

I always wondered why it didn’t play the Hall. It seemed like a no brainer.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Loew's State Theatre on May 3, 2021 at 9:57 am

I wonder if the Music Hall didn’t want this film after presenting all the other A and R films not finding it up to snuff.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Rivoli Theatre on May 2, 2021 at 6:28 am

This is in response to bigjoe’s comment on the Hollywood Egyptian page concerning D 150 but the response belongs here.

There were only two films produced in D 150-The Bible and Patton at respectively Loew’s State and the Criterion. I did see 2001 here in 1977 presented on the D 150 screen and it was one of the greatest film experiences of my life which I have written about before. I haven’t seen it since because I can’t imagine it on a smaller screen though because it was a very good price I bought the 4k version but I haven’t watched it. The size of the image is such an integral part of the film. I had seen the film as a boy but I had no recollection of it. So when the large curtains started slowly closing in that vast theater at the moment you realized HAL was reading their lips it was a hair raising moment that can never be duplicated again. Especially if you know the film. I had no idea it was coming and it was awesome-a word I rarely use.

I posted a picture of Kubrick with his family at the Capitol 2001 premiere and you see the Winter Garden across the street with Janis Paige in Mame. It was like the world premiere though the film actually had it at the DC Uptown a few days before.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about 1967 photo credit John P. Keating Jr. on May 2, 2021 at 6:16 am

As Mame opened in spring of ‘66 and Lansbury played in it through early '68 I wonder why they were redoing the billboard in'67. Maybe to put in Tony Winner? Looks like Bea Arthur was out at this point.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Rivoli Theatre on May 2, 2021 at 5:39 am

Cleopatra also got a fair amount of lousy reviews and was nowhere the hit it needed to be. I’m sure the Rivoli paid a ton of money for the film and needed a sold out hit for one and a half to two years to make a healthy profit on it. It needed to be a hit on the level of Ben Hur with a lot of Oscars being awarded to it. The fact that none of it happened made it ‘an inferior product.’

I’m a fan of the film myself and do not understand all the negativity surrounding it for decades even if there was all that pre-opening Taylor/Burton nonsense. I would give anything to see the original Mankiewicz 6 hour version which is lost forever. I saw it twice when the restored version was released in theaters in 2013. I had previously seen bits and pieces of it on TV. The 4 hours flew by.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Booth Theatre on Apr 21, 2021 at 8:44 pm

I had no idea the Booth held the initial engagement of Julius Caesar. They were really out for the carriage trade with this one. Though the screen would have had to have been on the small size considering the intimacy of this theater.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about 1964 photo credit Richard Wojcik Collection. on Apr 21, 2021 at 3:12 am

Audrey would soon be duking it out with Julie across the street in My Fair Lady at the Egyptian. Don’t let those Academy Awards pictures fool you.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Cinerama Hollywood on Apr 12, 2021 at 6:12 pm

The Cinerama Dome is closed for good? This is horrible. I was never in it and I’ll most probably never go to California again but I wanted it to always be there.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Loew's State Theatre on Mar 31, 2021 at 5:28 pm

The Rivoli was ‘up’ on 49th Street and still showing The Sound of Music first run. It would have played the film into ‘67 but Fox wanted to get the film into the nabes and wanted the theater for The Sand Pebbles.

It never showed a D-150 movie. I think there were only two. I don’t even think it used its D-150 screen very often.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Dominion Theatre on Mar 18, 2021 at 11:22 am

There is footage of the Royal premiere of Star! on youtube. As both Julie Andrews and Daniel Massey(at least we don’t see him but we see Noel Coward) are not there it doesn’t seem very exciting. And the Duke and Duchess of Kent? This makes it Royal? A wet firecracker. Like the film.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Academy Cinema Oxford Street on Mar 15, 2021 at 9:27 am

I saw this at MOMA many years ago. At the time I had no idea who Annabella was. She was at the presentation and spoke afterwards. A very elegant soignee old woman.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Radio City Music Hall on Mar 13, 2021 at 5:28 pm

The stage show with the cars was a commercial for GM. They were also part of the finale ‘merry maypole romp.’ The ‘ballet’ was the dancers riding bicycles. The Matthau comedy festival would continue with the following feature Plaza Suite.

May was so furious with this cut of the film she demanded Paramount remove her name. They didn’t. If she had had her way the film would not have been the Easter movie. Though I have no idea at the time what they could have replaced it with as family films were no longer being made in this period.

Plaza Suite was not a family film and neither was the big summer film Murphy’s War which was a very depressing though not bad movie and the only time I heard f-ck in a Music Hall movie as I’ve already written about.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Central Park Theatre on Mar 7, 2021 at 11:35 am

This theater housed the original Broadway production of Kiss Me Kate for a year and a half at which point it moved to the Shubert. Why such a big Cole Porter Broadway musical would play here so far uptown mystifies me. It didn’t keep it from being a smash it but still. Nothing else was available?

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Radio City Music Hall on Mar 2, 2021 at 5:56 am

Anthony(Tony) Mordente was in the original cast of WSS, married Chita Rivera, is in the film of WSS and when Robbins was fired staged Peter Gennero’s Dance at the Gym choreography for the movie which I think is the highlight though others might prefer Robbin’s staging of America or Cool.

If you’ve seen the bluray of Hit the Deck that Hallelujah finale must have been mighty impressive on the Music Hall’s vast CinemaScope screen and in stereo.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Gaiety Burlesk on Feb 24, 2021 at 4:17 am

Jeez Louise that was longer than Gone With the Wind. Everything but the bloodhounds nipping at his rear end.

‘and in private exclusive appointments where I was paid handsomely by the hour, never expecting to engage in any activity that endangered me legally, physically, or morally.’ Then what were they paying you for afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches?

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about 4 Star Theatre on Feb 16, 2021 at 2:20 pm

What, no Mascagni? How peculiar.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about 1975 photo credit John P. Keating Jr. on Feb 8, 2021 at 9:59 am

I saw this here. Scraping the bottom of the barrel with anything it could get its hands on. But a very nice picture of the Hall when it was still showing movies.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Syosset Triplex on Jan 25, 2021 at 2:34 pm

This is very late for a roadshow run considering the film opened in Dec ‘65. A year later is very unusual especially that the film was already played out in its first run engagements and going wide in other markets. As you can see from grindhouse’s other ad 6 weeks later it was already showcase. I would have thought the Syosset would have gotten it in spring or early summer of '66 when other suburban hard ticket venues would have had it. Especially that it was shown in Panavision not even taking advantage of the theater’s 70mm capabilities.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Radio City Music Hall on Jan 21, 2021 at 2:06 pm

I do think it’s lousy they didn’t put Natwick in there.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Loew's State Theatre on Jan 15, 2021 at 8:37 pm

Where in the world is Franco Nero?

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Century Drive-In on Jan 12, 2021 at 7:42 am

Well now I’ve seen everything. A Cinerama drive in. Did you have to reserve your parking space in advance? Did they give you seven speakers for your car? How did they afford the three projectionists? And the putting up and dismantling of the screen for flat film must have been expensive and a pain.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Radio City Music Hall on Jan 4, 2021 at 4:03 pm

This stage show was the same that played with the ‘71 Wuthering Heights though the overture might have been different. The Rockettes Bayou Rhythm number was sensational and one of the best I saw them do in the 70s. It’s unfortunate these numbers have been lost and they only do Christmas routines now.

vindanpar
vindanpar commented about Deer Park Theatre on Dec 21, 2020 at 9:33 pm

Though its 70mm 6 track stereo days were over until its revival in the 70s. Unless you wanted to fly to see it at the Dominion in London where it was still on its first run hard ticket engagement.