Roxy Theatre

Gosh warren, makes me wonder what “Blondes” would have grossed had it played at RCMH. Of course as we know, the fox product was generally presented at the Roxy and Paramount with an occassional roadshow going to the Rivoli. I had always wished “Blondes” had been made a bit later allowing it to be filmed in CinemaScope with four track sound. I may be wrong, but I believe the test reel Fox made up to introduce CinemaScope and Stereophonic sound to exibitors had some bits of “Blondes” included in it. We played that test reel at the Paramount in Staten Island on Christmas eve, the night before “The Robe” opened there.

That last postcard image of the Grand Lounge off the rotunda is very interesting. It’s dated 1946 and the description states the room is “newly refurbished” – I imagine the floor-to-ceiling mirror treatment on the walls was entirely new. Were any other parts of the theater refurbished in this manner in the ‘40’s? I know that drapery was installed in the auditorium at some point (I’m guessing with the Cinemascope installation in the '50’s), which obscured some of the proscenium detail work.

I don’t have the Roxy grosses for “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” but I’m reasonably sure, if memory serves, they hovered around the $120,000, 110,000, 100,000 or so for the run. The “Band Wagon” grosses were, as follows: 171,000, 157,000, 159,000, 156,000, 147,000, 133,000, and 117,000 for its 7 week run.

Glad to have helped. I agree, there are some fine sounding instruments on this webpage. It’s a pity the Roxy’s two smaller organs were destroyed. At least the console and a few of the ranks of the 5 manual Kimball were saved.

A correction to the Virtual Radiogram main page address above: www.theatreorgans.com/southerncross/Radiogram/radiogramtitle.htm

Mike, that site listed to hear the various organ doesn’t produce sound for some reason. I have no problem with sound on other sites. Am I not doing something I should? I clicked where indicated and all I got was a blank screen saying “done.” And I was so looking forward to hearing them.

Sorry, that should have been Gae Foster Girls

Gable at the Roxy
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This New York Daily News ad features 1956 Roxy patrons praising “Carousel” and CinemaScope 55. It’s hard to read the names, but you think there are any Cinema Treasures regulars in there? :)

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Here’s a Program from exactly Fifty Years Ago Today:

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“Bus Stop” opened at the Roxy on 31 Aug. ’56. The next day, the ever phlegmatic Bosley Crowther surged in his NYT review: “MM Arrives: Glitters as Floozie,” and went on to gush: “Hold on to your chairs, everybody, and get set for a rattling surprise. MM has finally proved herself an actress in ‘Bus Stop.’ She and the picture are swell!” I immediately phoned my friend, and we hightailed to E. 50 Street on the BMT.

Seeing this picture at the Roxy remains one of the most exhilarating movie-going experiences of my life. Maybe it’s because as a fourteen-year-old I unexpectedly but hormonically enjoyed MM for the very first time, and instantly intuited a lifetime of sexual bliss ahead of me. Maybe it’s because the whole presentation at the Roxy was just terrific, topped off by a stage extravaganza that displayed the incomparable work of the set designers and technical crew. For a detailed description, scroll above to my previous post of 5 January 2006.

Thanks for all the info about Grandeur at the Roxy. I had all along imagined that “The Big Trail” opened on the wonderful MagnaScope screen at the Rivoli. It drove me to the archives for some context. Here’s the opening day ad (NY Times, Friday 24 Oct. ’30) promoting “15 Big Reasons” to crash the Roxy’s gates:

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Apparently the Roxy suspended its stage presentation during this film’s run. There’s no mention of a live show in the copy. Meanwhile, the following Sunday (26 Oct. ’30) the Times included a ad (lower right) for the B’kln Fox announcing a De Luxe stage show with “32 Roxyettes, Courtesy Roxy Theater N.Y,” implying that the sixty-four legs took to the IRT when Grandeur preempted the boards on W. 50th (we hope Russell Markert provided carfare: a nickel could also buy a Depression apple):

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The same page (upper right) touts the Gala Opening of our treasured RKO Mayfair later that week, with Amos ‘n’ Andy in “Check and Double Check.” Patrons of RKO Vaudeville could have enjoyed Ruth Etting, Pat Rooney, William Gaxton, and Morton Downey at the Palace, or, over the river in B’kln again, Lillian Roth at the Albee. The RKO nabes were holding forth with “All Quiet on the Western Front” (mid-right column):

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The stage at the Roxy deserved its brief respite. Just three weeks later, “The Big Trail” reached a disappointing dead end and was replaced by Lois Moran in “The Dancers” The theater’s footlights blazed to life again with 250 artists in a Dance Spectacle titled “Rhythm.” The NY Times’s ad for Friday 14 Nov. ’30 links the Roxy to the B’kln Fox with the same film day-dating there, accompanied by the latter’s own stage show. (Fanchon and Marco, then at the Fox, had been regulars at the Roxy.) This coupling mirrors the pairing of the Times Square and B’kln Paramounts with their day-dating of “Laughter,” accompanied by different stage shows (me, I would’ve subwayed to Rudy Vallee instead of to Block and Sully). The same day, “Morocco” opened at the Rivoli, displacing Eddie Cantor’s early-Technicolor “Whoopee” after its seven-week run there:

All the while, no fewer than five reserved-seat road-shows occupied B’way: “War Nurse” at the Astor; “Kismet” (with Warner Bros.’ own unadvertised VitaScope wide-screen process) at the Hollywood; “Outward Bound” (displacing George Arliss in “Old English” at the Warner Bros).; D.W. Griffiths’s “Lincoln” at the Central (aka on this site Movieland; but also named seriatim Gotham, Holiday, and Forum); and Howard Hughes’s “Hell’s Angels” day-dating at the (old) Criterion and the Gaiety (aka Victoria). Wide-screens, reserved seats, and suspended stage showsâ€"all premonitions of the later 1950s-1960s when H’wood despaired and resorted to gimmicks.

Thanks a lot William.

This, regarding “Song of My Heart” from the first link: <<A strange film as the songs were sung but the dialogue was silent with title cards.>>

Sounds pretty bizarre, but then, that aptly describes “The Jazz Singer” as well – Jolson’s unintentionally recorded ad-lib “You aint seen nothin' yet…” notwithstanding. Of course, you would think that after going through the expense of filming in the new process and it being 1930 already that it would have been an all-talking film!