Radio City Music Hall

1260 6th Avenue,
New York, NY 10020

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Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on May 27, 2005 at 8:39 am

Rob: Were the WB and Universal festivals a big success for Radio City, and do you think there’s any chance of more classic films being shown at the Hall that way? This was talked about many, many posts above but now that you’re here, there’s somebody on the site who actually worked there and can actually answer these questions from the inside. Thanks in advance, and thanks just for being here!

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on May 27, 2005 at 8:23 am

Vito: The contour curtain was raised and lowered by the control board operator who also controlled the traveller (when we had one — it was removed because we needed another line set for the live “Snow White” production we did). That operator also controlled the elevators and the turntable in the middle of the stage. There was also a stage manager on duty at the end of the feature next to the control board position. We would give the stage an 8 minute warning before the end of the film by buzzing them, and they would acknowledge with a return three buzzes. Then a 2 min.– 2 buzz warning, and finally the actual buzz to start the contour in. We would also buzz at the end of the shorts and trailers preceding the feature to close the traveller and reopen it. The traveller was acoustically transparent so it didn’t muffle the sound from the screen, but the three ton contour did as it came in. Screen masking both sides and top was controlled from either the booth or the stage by the original Magnascope system. The guy, and sometimes guys, in the pit actually operated the lighting for the stage show. The board for the lighting was made by G.E. and was the first electronic thyratron controlled system in the city. There was a smaller version in the Rainbow Room at the top of the RCA (now G.E. Building). The controls on the board operated two huge banks of thyratrons, one over the stage in a room that extended from 50th St. to 51st. Street, the other on the shop level one floor below the stage which extended from just a walkway’s thickness behind the proscenium line to the back of the stage. That board also controlled selsyn operated color changers for the “X’s” and “O’s”, huge floods mounted in C cove above the stage. There was also a shutter system for blanking out the lights, since thyratrons have a delay time in dimming, and a “blackout” wasn’t possible. It was pretty impressive to be in the upper reactor room when either the show was on or the house was fully lit. There were hundreds of rectifier tubes glowing blue. In addition, there had to be ghost loads, since if the stage load wasn’t high enough for a given circuit it wouldn’t dim completely out, so there were bunches of large wattage incandescent lamps in the reactor room that could be added to a dimmer circuit so it would fully dim. The system was finally replaced during the last remodeling with a computer controlled system operated from the back of the house, although the original board is still in its position. I only worked in that area once during Julio Iglesias' show. The video projector controls were placed on the board. Since the pit elevator was up, that meant we were literally at the performer’s feet which I found discomforting (particularly with the warm-up comedian who opened the show by juggling axes!) I felt it would be rude to sit there reading in between cues since we were in full view of Julio. I was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, when on the second night he looked right at us and said, “There are men down there!” He then got down on his knees at the edge of the elevator and leaned over and looked at the board and said, “Ooh! There are lots of switches and things. Stand up and show everybody that you really are there.” So the three of us stood up. The audience must have seen three disembodied heads resting on the back console cover which were spotlighted and then popped out of sight! It was my only time in the spotlight at the Hall!

Vito
Vito on May 27, 2005 at 6:42 am

Thanks Rob, appreciate the info, my only regret an operator is that I never had a chance to work RCMH. I actually stole the calling cues idea. In the theatres I worked prior to 1972, all 70mm engagements, roadshow or not, always had two men in the booth, so I always insisted on calling cues.
Perhaps either you or Richie can tell us more about how the stage crew handled the film presentaion. Who would actually raise the curtain and open and close the traveler?. Once again, I copied RCMH by doing a “Delux” between shorts, trailers, etc, and the actual feature, I always closed all curtains and re-opened them as you did.
It put a bit of showmanship into the presentation. I also wondered about that guy in the “pit” who would always be busy flipping switches and turning knobs, what did he actually control?

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on May 26, 2005 at 2:17 pm

Vito: I run all my film emulsion “it”! At the Hall we ran emulsion IN. A year or so ago a reporter from my hometown newspaper in Illinois e-mailed me to do a story about me when she found out that a local man had worked at Radio City. There was a typo in her e-mail which made the headline read, “Local Man Makes Goo!” (I actually kind of liked that.) We had two men on a shift and two shifts per day when I was at the Hall. Prior to my arrival there were three men on a shift. Oddly enough, the union was pushing to eliminate one man and retain the same pay scale to raise the booth rate per man, while the Hall didn’t think that two men could run the show and handle the high-intenstiy spot and film effect cues during the stage shows. When I started the Hall agreed to go to two men per shift. As the Head Projectionist I worked two shifts per week as an operator. Ben Olevsky said that was to insure that if the person in the Head’s position was deemed unsuitable for that job he would still have two shifts per week to gaurantee some income. And yes, we always did call cues. The schedule was equalized in a way only one of the operator’s on the crew really understood, but everyone worked the same number of weekends during the year. There long weeks and short weeks, and those who worked one week on the opening shift would move to the evening shift the next week. I kind of gummed up the works a bit since my boss wanted me free to do other gigs once in a while during the week. Thus I always worked Saturday and Sunday opens, while my predecessors were on a rotating schedule. There were eight men on the crew when I started, and that was later by attrition reduced to seven. The man on the crew who worked out the schedule said someone once tried to do it on a computer and it crashed! After the change in policy in ‘79 the crew size would vary according to the show, but with the exception of one film series we did when the Hall first changed format, Feature presentations always used two men, and three for the tryptich sequence in “Napoleon”. I did do a three screen film effect for the Summer Spectacular one year using the “Napoleon” selsyn rig all by myself, but all of the premieres and the Warner and Universal film retrospectives used two of us in the booth at all times.

Coate
Coate on May 26, 2005 at 2:02 pm

“Did [‘The Happiest Millionaire’] really open Roadshow in other cities?” (RobertR)


Yes.

Vito
Vito on May 26, 2005 at 1:56 pm

Correction, I meant to say the sound track was running along the right side of the screen. well…… at least it wasn’t upside down

Vito
Vito on May 26, 2005 at 1:50 pm

Great story Rob, I always wonderd if RCMH ran reverse wrap, and due to a typo your message it reads emulsion it, I am not sure if you meant in or out. That would have been a good sign to hang in the booth, ATTENTION: ALL PRINTS ARE RUN EMULSION IT.
All kidding aside, I can only imagine what went thru yours and the operators minds when they made that changeover and saw the film backwards with the sound track running along the left side of the screen. Good Grief!
Which brings me to another question, how many operators were on duty for each shift? how did they divide up the work? I remember they would call out the cue marks to one another during a changeover

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on May 26, 2005 at 9:50 am

Indeed I have. I was on the Projection Practice Committee of the SMPTE when Eastman came out with that recommendation (16mm film was always oriented that way). We decided when I went to the Hall that since we wanted to follow SMPTE recommendations when possible, we would change the wrap from emulsion out to emulsion in. (I had tried it in the theatre I worked in in Illinois before going to the Hall, but the Business Agent made me put it back lest it lead to a relief operator threading up wrong.) My boss at the Hall and I warned management that there could be a mistake made, but that it was worth trying. Sure enough — even though we had arrows marked in the magazines, one of the operators at the Hall did thread up wrong and the other operator on the shift didn’t catch it. I was in the house at the time, and got to the booth as quickly as I could after the changeover, and by then the crew was rethreading the reel. No one was fired, and of course the operator who made the error felt terrible about it. That was the only time it happened, and up until the time I left, all film 35 and 70mm was wound emulsion it for projection at the Hall.

Vito
Vito on May 26, 2005 at 9:32 am

Welcome Riche, looking forward to Q&A with you. I have only the utmost respect to all who worked RCMH.
Rob, I remember similar “Breathing” problems in a theatre I worked in with a short throw on to a large curved screen with an arc burning at about 150 amps if I recall. Focus drift was another issue which we resolved with “reverse wrapping” the print, which meant of course running the reels clockwise changing the way the emulsion wrapped on the reel. We had to turn the reel end alarms around and start rewinding “over to over”. We even put large arrows pointing the way to load the reels in the upper magazine for the relief guys who all thought we were nuts, But it helped, Ever hear of or try that?

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on May 26, 2005 at 8:47 am

RichePipes: Good to catch up with you also! Glad you’re around this site. So many people have questions, and there’s so much speculation that I often want to just refer them to the Music Hall staff, but don’t want to create a bother for anyone. At the Hall the tech staff has been there for literally generations, in some cases going all the way back to the opening as with you. Its really possible to go to the “horses mouth” for answers, so I’m glad to see you’re here to definitively answer queries about the Music Hall organ. RobertR: I was still in the Midwest when “Happiest Millionaire” opened in Chicago at either the Michael Todd or Cinestage theatres (they were both owned by Todd and were next to one another). It was roadshow, although not 70mm. I remember it because it was the first non-70mm roadshow they played in the house and in refocussing the carbon arc lamps for 35mm, the heat created a “breathing” problem on the film which was quite noticeable. I don’t think it had a very long run there roadshow before being released in its non roadshow engagements

RobertR
RobertR on May 26, 2005 at 8:26 am

I just bought the new DVD of Disneys “Happiest Millionaire' which advertises special Roadshow Edition on its cover. I remember seeing this film at the Music Hall. Did it really open Roadshow in other cities?

RichiePipes
RichiePipes on May 26, 2005 at 7:46 am

Greetings All… I’m the Curator of the Music Hall Pipe Organ, as my family has been involved with & worked at the Theater since it’s opening in 1932. Bob Enders – so glad to catch up with you Sir! If there are any facts or questions concerning the Pipe Organ or the Music Hall itself that I can help with, please let me know. My great Uncle installed the organ on the Wurlitzer crew, my father came to work with him in 1956, and my Mother was a Rockette ~ then I started working here at the young age of ten – so my family’s history is well entwined within this Majestic building. I look forward to chatting with people within this group!

teecee
teecee on May 19, 2005 at 1:54 pm

Restoration information & photos:
View link

pebrogan
pebrogan on May 16, 2005 at 7:56 am

With all deference to Miss Greer Garson a her crowning as “Queen” of the Music Hall for most weeks played there, I believe that Doris Day’s films have actually brought in more at the box-office. I believe her 13 films have taken in more than 14 million dollars. In fact the last Day film to play the Music Hall in August-September, 1968, “Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?” briefly held the title of biggest opening week gross in history ($ more than
$ 278,000). It lost that title later that when the the Christmas attraction “The Impossible Years” beat it.

frankdev
frankdev on May 5, 2005 at 2:36 am

I spent 10 of the best years of my life at the hall. I went from usher to exec car att to costume dept. I was also a member of the showpeoples committee to save the hall in 78.tThere is not now or has there ever been a place like radio city. I love it!!!!

RobertR
RobertR on April 21, 2005 at 3:05 pm

Scroll down on here, there are some Radio City programs for sale

http://www.the-forum.com/whatsnew.html

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on April 21, 2005 at 9:12 am

One of my big disappointments was that Gance couldn’t make it to New York. Bob Harris had suggested that he would have Gance autograph a “Napoleon” poster for me and that would have certainly been one of the highlights of my career. Bob walked out on stage after the second night’s screening with a phone. Gance’s nurse woke him up so he could hear the applause. It was certainly one of the most memorable moments I had at the Hall.

VincentParisi
VincentParisi on April 21, 2005 at 8:54 am

Gance was alive at the time of this screening and though too ill to attend(that would have been something!) I believe they hooked up a sound system so he could hear it. When he heard the applause at the end he said “It’s too late.”

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on April 21, 2005 at 8:05 am

Michael, “Napoleon” was never done in 70mm at the Hall in the time I was there. There were a lot of press items that were simply wrong because they didn’t understand the process. I saw Larry Shaw of Boston Light & Sound who supplied the interlocking equipment yesterday, and we discussed “Napoleon”. Larry remembered bringing in the three 30' fast folds for the second showing of the film we did. And as I mentioned above, we did one set of screenings with the above mentioned Milan Orchestra on 35mm mag film interlocked to the 35mm print. I talked to Bob Harris about the Cinerama Dome’s presentation, and the triptych could have been in 70mm there. Check with Bob or Larry or Chapin Cutler at B.L. & S. for details, as they did the “Napoleon” screenings in the States and in Italy (the British screenings used a score by Carl Davis and were done somewhat differently with all of the projectors running at “silent” speed). I was Head Projectionist at the Hall for all of the screenings we did of “Napoleon”, and was in the booth for every one of them. It may have run somewhere else in N.Y. with a 70mm triptych at some point that I wasn’t aware of, and again Bob Harris will have the details. I have some great photos that Chapin’s wife took during the second run we did of the film which include a shot of the booth from the orchestra during the triptych with light coming from all three projector ports and another of the picture on the 90' screen. Perhpas some day they can be posted on this site.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on April 21, 2005 at 6:28 am

For me, one especially memorable event at Radio City Music Hall was on July 7, 1983. That night the restored/reconstructed “A Star is Born” (George Cukor, 1954) had its gala first presentation in New York. The place was packed to the rafters. Some celebrities in attendance were Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, James Mason, and Lillian Gish. It was a thrilling class act.

Coate
Coate on April 21, 2005 at 2:16 am

Re my continued effort to sort out the “Napoleon” format question… What follows is a timeline with key (and often contradictory) passages from articles and books, as well as the dates of the Radio City Music Hall engagements of the film (including recently found details for a THIRD engagement at RCMH).

“Tickets have gone on sale at the Radio City Music Hall boxoffice for the Jan. 23-25 screenings of Abel Gance’s ‘Napoleon.’ Final reel of the epic, originally shown in 1927 in a three-screen format, will be shown in 70mm Triptych Polyvision.” (The New York Times; Dec. 10, 1980)

“ ‘Napoleon’ will be shown in 35 millimeter, with the final section in 70 millimeter Triptych Polyvision.” (The New York Times; Jan. 5, 1981)

Radio City Music Hall engagement, Jan. 23-25, 1981.

“As with the London Film Festival presentations last year, final reel was shown using three synchronized 35mm projectors, rather than the transferred-to-70mm version that distributor Images Film Archive reportedly is planning for future exhibition of the film” (Variety; Jan. 28, 1981)

“And the last reel of the 1927 film was presented in 70mm to duplicate the widescreen techniques pioneered by Gance at the time of the Paris premiere.” (Millimeter; Feb. 1981)

“Coppola flew in from Rome yesterday to supervise the recording, which was dubbed onto the film’s six-track Dolby Stereo score last night at Gomillion, a state-of-the-art postproduction house in West Hollywood.” (The Hollywood Reporter; Sep. 29, 1981)

“Premiering a print reportedly tinted and toned to director Abel Gance’s original plans, ‘Napoleon’ will be projected on a new 90 foot screen at Radio City Music Hall during its return engagement Oct. 15-18 and Oct. 22-25. Carmine Coppola will also reprise his role conducting the 60 piece American Symphony through the score he created.” (Variety; Sep. 30, 1981)

Radio City Music Hall engagement #2, Oct. 15-18 & 22-25, 1981.

“Is there a commercial market for a four-hour silent film at firstrun theatres? Universal Pictures thinks so. That’s why it is going ahead with plans to launch Abel Gance’s 1927 epic film, ‘Napoleon’ July 16 at L.A.’s Cinerama Dome, followed by exclusive openings at major houses in N.Y. and 10 other cities in October. What L.A. audiences will see is a 70mm six-track Dolby print of ‘Napoleon,’ one of 10 70mm prints Universal plans to make at a cost of close to $20,000 each. Instead of the live orchestra, this time, ‘Napoleon’ will have a prerecorded score composed by Carmine Coppola, conducting the Milan Philharmonic Orchestra. Universal will also strike about 25 35mm prints for other cities.” (Variety; July 6, 1982)

Radio City Music Hall engagement #3, Oct. 14-17, 1982.

The 70mm Blowup Films; Napoleon: 1981; “Wide Screen Movies: A History And Filmography Of Wide Gauge Filmmaking” (McFarland, 1988)

1982: Napoleon; “Presented in 70mm”; Widescreen Review’s The Ultimate Widescreen DVD Movie Guide (2001)

1981: Napoleon (with notation that author attended 70mm screening at RCMH in ‘81); “The Moviegoing Experience, 1968-2001” (McFarland, 2003)

Vito
Vito on April 20, 2005 at 12:09 pm

Another case of too many cooks spoiling the soup. If they had any sense at all they would simply say to guys like REndres, here’s our movie do your magic and play it the way it should be played.
I remember during the technical rehersal for “Hello Dolly” at the Rivoli, the Fox guys were running around playing with the sound, the lights, even the curtain which closed to late leaving a white sheet, the sound seemed loud enough to be heard across the street from the theatre. Some of us complained, and Rivoli management said, “don’t worry guys let the Fox guys have some fun, after they leave we can set up everything the way we know it should be” Which is what we did.

RobertEndres
RobertEndres on April 20, 2005 at 10:24 am

It’s hard to recogize a Rockette if she’s one part of a 36 segment worm (although the legs are the same). One of the issues with the sound on “Black Cauldron” was that the preceding film “Return to Oz” was mixed with three channels behind the screen, and left and right surround channels. Walter Murch who is one of the top sound designers and editors to this day was the director, and he was very aware of sound issues. “Black Cauldron” was mixed as a standard six channel 70mm print with five channels behind the screen. The problem was that Disney had brought in a sound system for “Oz” that only had three channels behind the screen, so that when the dialogue was panned across the screen there were holes in the coverage where the additional channels would have been between the Left and Right and Center speakers. The speakers on the Choral stairs were actually the Altec A-7’s which were usually used for the house 70mm sound system behind the screen. Disney and Murch set the levels which were loud. The musicians complained about the bass level they had to listen to when they were in the pit waiting to come up for the stage show. (We found that Walter had boosted the bass equalization all the way for “Oz”, and corrected that for “Cauldron”.) If you thought “Cauldron” was depressing, you should have seen “Oz” — a very dark version of an Oz story.

David Wodeyla
David Wodeyla on April 20, 2005 at 9:15 am

I did the Radio City tour this weekend, first time I’ve been inside since about 1977. Was it my imagination or did the giant mural become faded when it was cleaned?
Another question, was the theatre originally built with a sprinkler system or was that installed some time later? The guide didn’t know.

VincentParisi
VincentParisi on April 20, 2005 at 8:32 am

From what I remember the Rockettes had the opening number and were not in any way incorporated into the show. They seemed tagged on at the beginning. I rmember it was a very dreary stage show and The Black Cauldron was very violent. Huge speakers had been placed on the side risers for the earsplitting Dolby. An usher told me parents were complaining about the film. A very depressing evening.