Comments from Al Alvarez

Showing 2,601 - 2,625 of 3,427 comments

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Liberty Theatre on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:37 am

I thought that wall on 41st street was the Empire when I went by. Is that really the old Liberty?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC Empire 25 on Mar 31, 2008 at 9:18 am

I can’t find that listing.

??

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Roxy Theatre on Mar 30, 2008 at 11:41 am

I bought a 1927 Roxy program on ebay.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Mar 28, 2008 at 4:08 pm

The site has been quite inconsistent about this. Witness the Strand and the Nokia.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Paramount Theatre on Mar 28, 2008 at 8:44 am

Thanks Miamiguy. I guess the yearbook may have not caught on to the name change.

Since the Hotel was still there in later years, there must have been another major remodel in the late thirties to the Paramount we knew in the seventies.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Paramount Theatre on Mar 27, 2008 at 7:31 pm

“The Fairfax was renamed the Paramount”

Miamiguy, I am having second thoughts about this comment since my 1924 Film Year Book list both.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Town Theatre on Mar 27, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Sound came in around 1927 but I am not sure when it came to Miami. My 1934 Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures does not list a Miami nor a Town Theatre.

It does list the Rex with 1000 seats.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Miami Theatre on Mar 27, 2008 at 2:03 pm

The Miami opening gala was on April 18, 1947 with the film “Carnival In Costa Rica”.

Interesting item in the photo above is the poster frame heading of “HOY” (or “TODAY”) in Spanish, predating the Cuban influx.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Miami Theatre on Mar 27, 2008 at 1:46 pm

The Roadshow houses in South Florida were mostly in Miami Beach. The Sheridan, Beach, Lincoln, Colony, Carib, and Roosevelt all ran consistent roadshows. The Florida downtown ran Cinerama for a limited time along with the Roosevelt and the Sheridan.

In later years the Bay Harbor, Coral, Sunny Isles Twin, Gateway, Sunrise Twin, Byron and Dadeland Twin all ran some roadshow films.

The Lincoln, Colony, Roosevelt, and Gateway survive in varying forms.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Miami Theatre on Mar 27, 2008 at 10:28 am

Kitty alluded to a third Miami theatre on Bird Road. That was a short lived converted space called the Miami Twin showing films with spanish subtitles.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Town Theatre on Mar 27, 2008 at 10:21 am

The Wometco Miami opened in 1947 but I also was unaware of the Town having ever been the previous location of the old Miami. That map also shows NW 3rd street just east of the Town, which I do not recall.

I have a postcard of an old silent Miami Theatre on East Flagler and 2nd Avenue that I could not previously place. It looks like an older, taller building on the site. (I will post it when I get my photos back on line as my photos site shut down.)

I postcards of the State I have all appear to start at the marquee on the East so I cannot tell if it was on a corner, but Kress is indeed across the street.

The Hippodrome News was also a theatre which I had previously read was on the Olympia site. This map shows it co-existed next to the Rex instead. The Rex was a Publix (Sparks) Theatre on 205 East Flagler Street. It was there in 1933.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Criterion Theatre on Mar 23, 2008 at 11:44 am

Search no more, Saps. I believe your molester is on this site and has manifested his proclivities into correcting punctuation.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Regal to possibly end newspaper listings on Mar 23, 2008 at 9:47 am

In New York the distributors have always paid for the newspaper display ads since media rates are high due to the international reach of papers like the New York Times. In the Times, only the specialty houses run directories and a free movie time clock runs once a week on Fridays.

Today’s NYT (Easter Sunday) has five pages of movie ads where five years ago it ran twelve pages. It has one single full page ad (“Stop-Loss”). There are no pre-opening ads at all for “21” or “Superhero Movie”, both due next Friday. This is further proof that the studios are finding newspapers increasingly insignificant to today’s moviegoers.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Major Theatre on Mar 22, 2008 at 6:35 pm

Operating as Cinema Giglio in 1963.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Sheridan Plaza 12 on Mar 22, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Bruce, I was an assistant manager at the Omni, Kendall Town & Country and South Dade in 1985 so our paths may have crossed. I ended up as GM at the Omni 4.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Cinema 1, 2 & 3 by Angelika on Mar 22, 2008 at 5:11 pm

No. I meant you, your Highness.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Cinema 1, 2 & 3 by Angelika on Mar 22, 2008 at 9:19 am

I just saw the “The Diving Bell and Butterfly” here recently in an effort to avoid the more conveniently located but awfully noisy Lincoln Plaza crowd.

There was an odd glare on the screen and fresh popped corn oil made it hard to breath, but the crown was so silent during the film you could hear a pin drop.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Liberty Theatre on Mar 21, 2008 at 9:47 am

Does anyone know if the Liberty can still be operated? Even if the entrance would be on 41st Street?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Mar 20, 2008 at 3:38 pm

LuisV, do you know who is in control of the Liberty?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Mar 20, 2008 at 2:48 pm

So Walter Reade blamed the union overhead for their inability to keep it open all year round. Cineplex Odeon blamed the Fishers for not letting them twin it and now we blame Clearview for operating it lean and mean to try and make it work.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Mar 20, 2008 at 1:33 pm

I walked by last week as saw no apparent activity.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Empire Cinemas - London Haymarket on Mar 20, 2008 at 1:30 pm

The intro should Live theater and cinema as screens two and three are showing films.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre on Mar 20, 2008 at 1:12 pm

It is just bad information delivered with a bad attitude.

“Gentleman’s Agreement” opened on November 11 for a regular run, not just qualification as that deadline was still two months away and most major markets were showing it by then.

Based a best seller, the film was an immediate hit in major markets, a fact that delayed the neighborhood runs for several months at a time when hits were nurtured for long runs at top prices.

When the film finally won the Oscar nominations in March of 1948 it had already won most major awards and made most of its money with the Oscar creating a slight boost. Even after it won the Oscar, Fox kept the run limited. The wide release into small markets in the summer of 1948 was as expected, weak, and even the New York neighborhood run was a quick one week event at RKO with a second feature.

I have never heard of any exhibitor booking a film due to good reviews. In 1947 exhibitors booked them based on star power, box office potential and distributor affiliation. Exhibitors have always been businessmen first.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about S.V.A. Theatre on Mar 19, 2008 at 9:39 am

I think Clearview was ready to shut it down altogether but IFC took it as a much needed outlet for their smaller films. There was some talk of that whole corner coming down at one point.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about S.V.A. Theatre on Mar 19, 2008 at 9:05 am

Since Cablevision saved my beloved Waverly, albeit in a new mutation, I have some respect for them. Clearview started out with many older theatres they thought they could salvage as specialty houses. Unfortunately, that audience has embraced DVDs even more than others.