Good book and documentary though I don’t remember him talking about those films. But there’s a lot of info and I remember mostly about Steve, Ali and what an ungrateful wretch Ryan was(is.) Who did he blame Great Gatsby on?
Paramount in ‘70 and '71 stayed true to the Music Hall.
But isn’t it interesting that at the very same time Paramount was investing heavily in roadshow movies? Paint Your Wagon, On a Clear Day and Darling Lili. Though the last two because of the tanking of roadshow presentations were severely cut and released on a continuous perf basis. Beaton finally getting to see Clear Day when it opened in London in ‘71 records in his diary his dismay and anger at the waste. His work in the film that one sees is amazing(I don’t think Streisand has looked more beautiful and her singing is at its best) and yet he laments that his best work was cut out!
I’ve already written about him fleeing Paint Your Wagon during intermission at the world premiere at Loew’s State 2. Well I liked it.
I didn’t care about the Ziegfeld but I care about the Paris. A wonderful intimate and yet not too small theater where the screen is beautifully placed head on. If only FF had a theater like this.
Interesting that R and J was originally supposed to be a roadshow. I wondered why it wasn’t after all it was released at the peak of the craze. TOTS was roadshow albeit an eastside roadshow(which in my mind is kind of like well if it’s not in a downtown theater it’s not a real roadshow presentation!) I had read FZ wanted it released continuous perfs because he was going after a younger market. And here I am reading all these years later in reality it was simply because of a poor advance sale. They probably made a lot more money anyway. Anybody know how many months it played exclusively here? I remember my parents going to see it at a suburban art house in the summer of ‘69.
As long as Chinese, Russian and Arab billionaires are buying them up and keeping them empty and thereby destroying the city while enriching politicians and brokers I guess yes we indeed do need another deluxe condo tower.
As admittedly I never saw it from what I’ve read I believe they were used to supplement the ballet company so as the music built to it’s overwhelming crescendo the stage would be filled with more and more dancers so from a company of 28 then with added men(that I’ve seen from pictures) and the additional 36 Rockettes the stage would be a mass of swirling dancers. I’ve also read that men would be beating drums on the choral stairs. Which is why as you noted it was repeated again only months after its initial success. That set is really something and Minnelli might have had a hand in developing it as he was working at the Hall at the time before he moved to Broadway. The use of the reds, oranges and blacks certainly demonstrate his eye for color.
What was the panoramic screen at Radio City? Was it the Magnascope size screen? Was it the size of the screen that would be the Music Hall’s 1.85 ratio screen?
Re the 2 postings of BAF on the photo section:The last time the Undersea Ballet was done. Another stage staple that disappeared early in the 70s and for which the Music Hall was known for its spectacular stage capabilities.
I remember sitting in the 2nd balc because the orch was full and there was a woman with a few children. At the end of it she literally turned her head to me and looked at me with amazement. Nobody remembers these spectacles any more but me. These are what defined the place equally to the Rockettes.
The best was Hawaii which somebody posted then it was taken down. Somebody should post a GIF of Those Magnificent Men which had moving planes, propellers and legs. I remember seeing this as a little boy. They really were Times Square spectaculars.
Of course those of the 20s must have really been mind blowing.
Sorry looks like it was the Colony. I probably got it confused because it looks like the Sheridan was Miami’s major Todd AO house so I assumed SOM played there. What kept it out?
Well before Dolly the Rivoli was playing films like The Trip and the De Sade movie with Keir Dullea. I don’t know if they’re considered B but they seem more like 42nd St grind movies to me.
Also I seem to remember though maybe I’m wrong before Fiddler this theater showing The Stewardesses in 3D. Maybe it was a nightmare.
Hello Dolly in a Todd AO print played the 70mm roadshow house The St James in Asbury Park in the summer of ‘70 with continuous performances. The summer before had reserved seat performances of Funny Girl at the St James and Oliver at the Lyric.
The roadshow presentation of big budget films was ending.
I went to a Sat mat of HD in July. Price for balc was cheaper than loge and orchestra but it was very empty so I moved from my balc seat. to center first row mezz.
Didn’t WSS, Hello Dolly, Fall of the Roman Empire and El Cid go from reserved seats to continuous perfs at their NY hard ticket theaters? Maybe there were others.
There was another book on roadshow film presentations which was pretty horrible. And to add insult to injury the guy never went to a roadshow presentation in his life and he was old enough. Have no idea why he considers himself such an expert. Maybe he spent a year looking at Variety on microfilm in his off hours. And he was looking for tenure at some University so he had to publish something, anything.
Thank you CC. It’s a theater I miss and I was only in it once when I saw a Todd AO print of Hello Dolly in the summer of 70.
A great 70mm roadshow house.I remember an aunt and uncle going to see MFL here and paying the outrageous sum of $4 a ticket. A crazy amount of money to see a movie in ‘65.
If you look at the diagram for the screens at the UA Cinema 150 in Long Island in its photo section you will see that the D150 screen is larger than the Todd AO/70mm screen.
This is the only reason I can figure out why that the first presentation of 2001 was so much more impressive. It might have been on the D150 screen rather than the 70mm screen. Obviously the same screen but as I stated above with different apertures.
Yes. I’ll never forget it. One of my all time great cinema experiences. Just too young to have seen it first run at the Capitol or Warner Cinerama.
I believe it was Columbus Day of ‘77. It played at the Rivoli twice. First time the print said Cinerama at the end. Second time the print said Super Panavision 70. The Cinerama print was so much more spectacular. I know this is confusing and obviously the Rivoli did not play Cinerama films but I’m sure Martin Hart would know why different 70mm prints would have different film process logos on them.
And then somebody once said the Rivoli had two different 70mm screen apertures. Ok I know this sounds crazy but you paid more money for the larger one which was the D150 screen. He said Universal refused to pay for the larger screen so Sweet Charity played on the smaller one. So I’m assuming the first 2001 print played using the larger aperture. Perhaps the difference was slight but I do remember during the second run it was less visually imposing. Or was it that the first impression was so overwhelming the second viewing couldn’t live up to it? Well it was over 40 years ago and the Rivoli is long gone so now who knows.
Which is why I haven’t seen 2001 since I last saw it at the Rivoli decades ago. What’s the point? Love reading about it and watching youtube docs about it though.
I guess you get the experience going to the Cinerama theaters on the west coast but it seems like it will never happen again in NY. I bet the Capitol Cinerama screen was larger than those anyway.
Interesting that the actor who was so brilliant as the voice of HAL Douglas Hain considered the two day recording session a joke and never bothered seeing the film. Huh? At least that’s what I found out on the internet. He died last year.
It is odd considering some of the disappointing films at the Hall in ‘66 it was not chosen. Even in the Times review of the film the critic wondered why it didn’t open there. It should have been a slam-dunk.
Many of the acts are meh. The best thing about this movie is Jack Benny as the interlocutor. He is wonderful.
Yes! I liked them. I thought they were pretty funny. They might be also in the souvenir program which is somewhere…
Good book and documentary though I don’t remember him talking about those films. But there’s a lot of info and I remember mostly about Steve, Ali and what an ungrateful wretch Ryan was(is.) Who did he blame Great Gatsby on?
Paramount in ‘70 and '71 stayed true to the Music Hall.
But isn’t it interesting that at the very same time Paramount was investing heavily in roadshow movies? Paint Your Wagon, On a Clear Day and Darling Lili. Though the last two because of the tanking of roadshow presentations were severely cut and released on a continuous perf basis. Beaton finally getting to see Clear Day when it opened in London in ‘71 records in his diary his dismay and anger at the waste. His work in the film that one sees is amazing(I don’t think Streisand has looked more beautiful and her singing is at its best) and yet he laments that his best work was cut out!
I’ve already written about him fleeing Paint Your Wagon during intermission at the world premiere at Loew’s State 2. Well I liked it.
Sorry, I get lazy. Film Forum. Taming of the Shrew.
In Cactus Flower Hawn and Matthau come here to see Romeo and Juliet.
I didn’t care about the Ziegfeld but I care about the Paris. A wonderful intimate and yet not too small theater where the screen is beautifully placed head on. If only FF had a theater like this.
Interesting that R and J was originally supposed to be a roadshow. I wondered why it wasn’t after all it was released at the peak of the craze. TOTS was roadshow albeit an eastside roadshow(which in my mind is kind of like well if it’s not in a downtown theater it’s not a real roadshow presentation!) I had read FZ wanted it released continuous perfs because he was going after a younger market. And here I am reading all these years later in reality it was simply because of a poor advance sale. They probably made a lot more money anyway. Anybody know how many months it played exclusively here? I remember my parents going to see it at a suburban art house in the summer of ‘69.
As long as Chinese, Russian and Arab billionaires are buying them up and keeping them empty and thereby destroying the city while enriching politicians and brokers I guess yes we indeed do need another deluxe condo tower.
As admittedly I never saw it from what I’ve read I believe they were used to supplement the ballet company so as the music built to it’s overwhelming crescendo the stage would be filled with more and more dancers so from a company of 28 then with added men(that I’ve seen from pictures) and the additional 36 Rockettes the stage would be a mass of swirling dancers. I’ve also read that men would be beating drums on the choral stairs. Which is why as you noted it was repeated again only months after its initial success. That set is really something and Minnelli might have had a hand in developing it as he was working at the Hall at the time before he moved to Broadway. The use of the reds, oranges and blacks certainly demonstrate his eye for color.
What was the panoramic screen at Radio City? Was it the Magnascope size screen? Was it the size of the screen that would be the Music Hall’s 1.85 ratio screen?
When Bolero was on the program the Rockettes did double duty.
Re the 2 postings of BAF on the photo section:The last time the Undersea Ballet was done. Another stage staple that disappeared early in the 70s and for which the Music Hall was known for its spectacular stage capabilities.
I remember sitting in the 2nd balc because the orch was full and there was a woman with a few children. At the end of it she literally turned her head to me and looked at me with amazement. Nobody remembers these spectacles any more but me. These are what defined the place equally to the Rockettes.
I loved that DeMille(my era)wraparound billboard.
The best was Hawaii which somebody posted then it was taken down. Somebody should post a GIF of Those Magnificent Men which had moving planes, propellers and legs. I remember seeing this as a little boy. They really were Times Square spectaculars.
Of course those of the 20s must have really been mind blowing.
Don’t forget Marsha Hunt is still with us.
Interesting that the Sheridan was a Cinerama/Todd AO house.
Khartoum? Khartoum?!! But it didn’t open until the summer of ‘66 and SOM opened at the Colony March 17 '65.
Oh to have known Miami back in the 50s and 60s!
Sorry looks like it was the Colony. I probably got it confused because it looks like the Sheridan was Miami’s major Todd AO house so I assumed SOM played there. What kept it out?
Oh no! Is that true?!!! Nah, you were just pulling my leg. Wasn’t the Sheridan Miami’s The Sound of Music two year reserved seat engagement?
Well before Dolly the Rivoli was playing films like The Trip and the De Sade movie with Keir Dullea. I don’t know if they’re considered B but they seem more like 42nd St grind movies to me. Also I seem to remember though maybe I’m wrong before Fiddler this theater showing The Stewardesses in 3D. Maybe it was a nightmare.
Hello Dolly in a Todd AO print played the 70mm roadshow house The St James in Asbury Park in the summer of ‘70 with continuous performances. The summer before had reserved seat performances of Funny Girl at the St James and Oliver at the Lyric.
The roadshow presentation of big budget films was ending.
I went to a Sat mat of HD in July. Price for balc was cheaper than loge and orchestra but it was very empty so I moved from my balc seat. to center first row mezz.
Didn’t WSS, Hello Dolly, Fall of the Roman Empire and El Cid go from reserved seats to continuous perfs at their NY hard ticket theaters? Maybe there were others.
There was another book on roadshow film presentations which was pretty horrible. And to add insult to injury the guy never went to a roadshow presentation in his life and he was old enough. Have no idea why he considers himself such an expert. Maybe he spent a year looking at Variety on microfilm in his off hours. And he was looking for tenure at some University so he had to publish something, anything.
Thank you CC. It’s a theater I miss and I was only in it once when I saw a Todd AO print of Hello Dolly in the summer of 70.
A great 70mm roadshow house.I remember an aunt and uncle going to see MFL here and paying the outrageous sum of $4 a ticket. A crazy amount of money to see a movie in ‘65.
If you look at the diagram for the screens at the UA Cinema 150 in Long Island in its photo section you will see that the D150 screen is larger than the Todd AO/70mm screen.
This is the only reason I can figure out why that the first presentation of 2001 was so much more impressive. It might have been on the D150 screen rather than the 70mm screen. Obviously the same screen but as I stated above with different apertures.
Terrific film but a strange choice for the Roxy.
Yes. I’ll never forget it. One of my all time great cinema experiences. Just too young to have seen it first run at the Capitol or Warner Cinerama.
I believe it was Columbus Day of ‘77. It played at the Rivoli twice. First time the print said Cinerama at the end. Second time the print said Super Panavision 70. The Cinerama print was so much more spectacular. I know this is confusing and obviously the Rivoli did not play Cinerama films but I’m sure Martin Hart would know why different 70mm prints would have different film process logos on them.
And then somebody once said the Rivoli had two different 70mm screen apertures. Ok I know this sounds crazy but you paid more money for the larger one which was the D150 screen. He said Universal refused to pay for the larger screen so Sweet Charity played on the smaller one. So I’m assuming the first 2001 print played using the larger aperture. Perhaps the difference was slight but I do remember during the second run it was less visually imposing. Or was it that the first impression was so overwhelming the second viewing couldn’t live up to it? Well it was over 40 years ago and the Rivoli is long gone so now who knows.
Which is why I haven’t seen 2001 since I last saw it at the Rivoli decades ago. What’s the point? Love reading about it and watching youtube docs about it though. I guess you get the experience going to the Cinerama theaters on the west coast but it seems like it will never happen again in NY. I bet the Capitol Cinerama screen was larger than those anyway.
Interesting that the actor who was so brilliant as the voice of HAL Douglas Hain considered the two day recording session a joke and never bothered seeing the film. Huh? At least that’s what I found out on the internet. He died last year.
It is odd considering some of the disappointing films at the Hall in ‘66 it was not chosen. Even in the Times review of the film the critic wondered why it didn’t open there. It should have been a slam-dunk.