Sorry I didn’t respond as I should have. Lawrence and 2001 were tweaked shortly after the films opened and were already reviewed at least by the New York press. David Lean recalls talking with David Selznick in NY after Lawrence had just opened at the Criterion and Selznick told him not to cut it. But I guess Lean got scared and did it anyway.
Not a roadshow but I saw At Long Last Love when it first opened at Radio City. I went a few weeks later and it had been cut. I have no idea why. The film had already been reviewed and word of mouth was already out. It was shorter but not better. I was disappointed as I remember at least one good song being cut.
Parade in Funny Girl is a pretty famous example of an adaption of a stand and sing Broadway song to exciting cinematic tour de force. Never heard anybody before complain about its length. It builds really well climaxing with that amazing helicopter shot.
Were all these seats available for reserved seat movies? Seems like too many. Did they make a smaller theater within it like they did with the Rivoli and Warner and Loew’s State in NY? If not how did they get 3 years out of SOM and 4 out of SP? Huge audiences going again and again?
The biggest hit films in the US were not tweaked and only released wide after their road show run. Perhaps they were still road show in other markets. I believe this happened with SOM. They were just shown in 35mm in continuous performances. So instead of two a day you got 3 or 4 a day. Although occasionally there were roadshow films that at holiday times were practically continuous performances with a morning, afternoon, sometimes late afternoon and an evening performance.
Also at a few theaters some roadshow movies after a while would switch at the same theater to continuous popular price performances, even switching the print to 35mm. Not often but it happened.
Great SOM ad posted by NYer.
I was so disappointed that when SOM was brought back it was shown at the National and not the Rivoli. It would have been so great to see it there. But maybe 20th Century Fox saw that the Rivoli had booked La Mancha figuring it would play through Easter and did not want to miss a major midtown opening.
Only a few months and LaMancha was gone with plenty of time to bring in Music. It was a crazy idea to make the film hard ticket in any case. Even if it had been good(and though I’ve never seen it it’s supposed to be better than its reputation) it was not going to be in any circumstances another FOTR.
This was a magnificent theater a very long time ago as one can easily see from a period photo. But with every modification it becomes a further eyesore. That last photo is embarrassing. Why bother if they were not going to precisely duplicate the original theater. From the recent photos you might as well be at a multi plex in New Jersey. Tear it down and put up another skyscraper that will further destroy London. Thank god I was in London decades ago before they started destroying it with all these monstrosities. I was sickened by seeing it in Match Point(a film I liked.)
I wonder if Funny Girl stayed much longer at the Criterion than it was financially feasible to do so. Columbia already had Oliver set to be its wide release'69 Christmas film for the family trade and they were holding off FG because they didn’t want two big musicals competing against each other. And of course Oliver would do much better at that time. I picture FG playing to empty houses in its last months at the Criterion(my favorite roadshow theater as it was the first one I was ever in and it was a very glamourous event like occasion). One could look at Variety but it was notorious for printing inflated grosses admittedly given to them by theaters.
That’s quite a filled to the brim stage show along with a Ustinov/Smith caper comedy on screen . I can’t even begin to imagine. When New York was New York.
No. The only second run I remember seeing was Superman when it moved over from its long first run at the Astor Plaza. Then I saw Aliens which was the last film I saw there before it was twinned.
Looks like the red neon frame on the marquee was still up at this point for Willard before they got rid of the neon and replaced it with silver aluminum. This means I saw it but had forgotten. It looked great surrounded by the Bond’s neon. And with the Gordon’s Gin spectacular above it was the last of the old great Times Square blocks.
Believe it or not I heard two different people in the late 70s/early 80s when I was walking on the opposite side of the street when they saw the decrepit disrepair the site was in say ‘I never thought I’d see that block look like that.’ I myself would have loved to be going to the Criterion during the roadshow era. Just the marquee announcing some big buget epic or musical must have been exciting.
I know they are listing Music Hall bookings but it is amazing there are so many other wonderful Selznick films of the period. Do not underestimate the power of Benzedrine. Though I think those pills ultimately ruined his health they allowed him super human energy.
Was The Robe CinemaScope screen wide enough to stretch beyond the sides of the proscenium or was it the same screen to be used for the CinemaScope films that played along with a stage show and had to be raised into the flies above?
So obviously a big miss with its paper mache sets, very miscast leading lady and cut songs. And right on the heels of the huge unexpected success of Seven Brides which looked even worse but had an ideal cast, much better choreography, a tight book and a sensational director coming into his own.
As the big summer film the Hall knew Seven Brides was the winner.
I never saw a non 70mm film either genuine or blow up at the Rivoli. When showing a Panavision 35mm print like Jaws did they fill the curved Todd AO screen with the image or was it projected with borders making the screen smaller?
Sorry I didn’t respond as I should have. Lawrence and 2001 were tweaked shortly after the films opened and were already reviewed at least by the New York press. David Lean recalls talking with David Selznick in NY after Lawrence had just opened at the Criterion and Selznick told him not to cut it. But I guess Lean got scared and did it anyway.
Not a roadshow but I saw At Long Last Love when it first opened at Radio City. I went a few weeks later and it had been cut. I have no idea why. The film had already been reviewed and word of mouth was already out. It was shorter but not better. I was disappointed as I remember at least one good song being cut.
Parade in Funny Girl is a pretty famous example of an adaption of a stand and sing Broadway song to exciting cinematic tour de force. Never heard anybody before complain about its length. It builds really well climaxing with that amazing helicopter shot.
Nice picture of auditorium posted.
Were all these seats available for reserved seat movies? Seems like too many. Did they make a smaller theater within it like they did with the Rivoli and Warner and Loew’s State in NY? If not how did they get 3 years out of SOM and 4 out of SP? Huge audiences going again and again?
The biggest hit films in the US were not tweaked and only released wide after their road show run. Perhaps they were still road show in other markets. I believe this happened with SOM. They were just shown in 35mm in continuous performances. So instead of two a day you got 3 or 4 a day. Although occasionally there were roadshow films that at holiday times were practically continuous performances with a morning, afternoon, sometimes late afternoon and an evening performance.
Also at a few theaters some roadshow movies after a while would switch at the same theater to continuous popular price performances, even switching the print to 35mm. Not often but it happened.
Great SOM ad posted by NYer. I was so disappointed that when SOM was brought back it was shown at the National and not the Rivoli. It would have been so great to see it there. But maybe 20th Century Fox saw that the Rivoli had booked La Mancha figuring it would play through Easter and did not want to miss a major midtown opening.
Only a few months and LaMancha was gone with plenty of time to bring in Music. It was a crazy idea to make the film hard ticket in any case. Even if it had been good(and though I’ve never seen it it’s supposed to be better than its reputation) it was not going to be in any circumstances another FOTR.
This was a magnificent theater a very long time ago as one can easily see from a period photo. But with every modification it becomes a further eyesore. That last photo is embarrassing. Why bother if they were not going to precisely duplicate the original theater. From the recent photos you might as well be at a multi plex in New Jersey. Tear it down and put up another skyscraper that will further destroy London. Thank god I was in London decades ago before they started destroying it with all these monstrosities. I was sickened by seeing it in Match Point(a film I liked.)
I wonder if Funny Girl stayed much longer at the Criterion than it was financially feasible to do so. Columbia already had Oliver set to be its wide release'69 Christmas film for the family trade and they were holding off FG because they didn’t want two big musicals competing against each other. And of course Oliver would do much better at that time. I picture FG playing to empty houses in its last months at the Criterion(my favorite roadshow theater as it was the first one I was ever in and it was a very glamourous event like occasion). One could look at Variety but it was notorious for printing inflated grosses admittedly given to them by theaters.
Ok so who took that just posted color photo of the Loew’s Jersey because it’s magnificent.
So Poseidon Adventure had its world premiere in LA and the NY premiere opened the National?
That’s quite a filled to the brim stage show along with a Ustinov/Smith caper comedy on screen . I can’t even begin to imagine. When New York was New York.
As per the Nickelodeon ad by Nyer this was to be the Music hall Christmas film but was not ready in time for the Nov opening.
TSATR set for the Easter show was then moved up. Only time I sprung for mezz tickets.
Sorry-Alien.
No. The only second run I remember seeing was Superman when it moved over from its long first run at the Astor Plaza. Then I saw Aliens which was the last film I saw there before it was twinned.
budget
Looks like the red neon frame on the marquee was still up at this point for Willard before they got rid of the neon and replaced it with silver aluminum. This means I saw it but had forgotten. It looked great surrounded by the Bond’s neon. And with the Gordon’s Gin spectacular above it was the last of the old great Times Square blocks.
Believe it or not I heard two different people in the late 70s/early 80s when I was walking on the opposite side of the street when they saw the decrepit disrepair the site was in say ‘I never thought I’d see that block look like that.’ I myself would have loved to be going to the Criterion during the roadshow era. Just the marquee announcing some big buget epic or musical must have been exciting.
I know they are listing Music Hall bookings but it is amazing there are so many other wonderful Selznick films of the period. Do not underestimate the power of Benzedrine. Though I think those pills ultimately ruined his health they allowed him super human energy.
Was The Robe CinemaScope screen wide enough to stretch beyond the sides of the proscenium or was it the same screen to be used for the CinemaScope films that played along with a stage show and had to be raised into the flies above?
Amazingly Makas was still the Hall’s pianist in the 70s at which point the 50s might as well have been the Jurassic era. It certainly was to me.
So obviously a big miss with its paper mache sets, very miscast leading lady and cut songs. And right on the heels of the huge unexpected success of Seven Brides which looked even worse but had an ideal cast, much better choreography, a tight book and a sensational director coming into his own. As the big summer film the Hall knew Seven Brides was the winner.
I never saw a non 70mm film either genuine or blow up at the Rivoli. When showing a Panavision 35mm print like Jaws did they fill the curved Todd AO screen with the image or was it projected with borders making the screen smaller?
If there ever was a Music Hall film Magnificent Ambersons was it. But like Kane Radio City passed because of Rockefeller ties to Hearst?
The above picture seems like the early 70s when the film was re-released yet the artwork is the original.
In New York the re-release used new artwork. So what year was the picture taken?
Warren G. Harris has an impressive list of books on Amazon. Seems to be a major Hollywood golden age historian.
Was the Hawaii billboard picture taken down?
That’s pretty good considering it pretty much died as a roadshow in NY.
It made it to September reserved seats? How long did it last at the Warner in NY?