Thanks Al and William. I guess that claim made in the ad was true, for a while anyway. It’s nice to know that the Music Hall once had the widest screen in the world.
Vito: If I ever get access to an H.G. Wells-type time machine, one of my destinations would be a “West Side Story” showing at the Syosset, run by you. I would also stay to see it twice. I’ve never been there, so there’s no danger of running into an earlier version of myself and disrupting the space-time continuum :)
Vito: Thanks for posting the “Knights” ad. Did the Music Hall really have the world’s largest screen in 1954? I thought Cinerama screens would be larger.
On Saturday night I attended a midnight showing of “2001: A Space Odyssey” here. It was in one of the smaller upstairs auditoriums, and the screen wasn’t as big as I was hoping, but the movie was as spellbinding as ever. It was my 57th theatrical viewing of the film, but I’d never seen it at midnight. It took me back 40 years or so when I’d see ads for midnight shows of “2001” at the Ziegfeld, and how I wished I was old enough to attend such shows. Finally fulfilled that ambition …
Thanks, Tinseltoes. “Pepe” when it premiered was around a half hour longer than the version we’ve seen all these years on TV. I think the original length was 3 hours 15 minutes (!). I wonder which guest stars wound up on the cutting room floor.
hdtv267 and saps: Thanks for posting the stuff about “Mighty Joe Young”. That’s always been a favorite of mine. When I saw it as a kid I actually did gape, gasp and wonder. I still do, actually.
3/5/11: I’m hoping it’s the 50th anniversary of “West Side Story”. And of course there will be a film at Radio City in October: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” with a live orchestra.
Thanks, Bob, for posting that picture of the Glendale. The place where my favorite movie played its longest engagement ever – it’s like a holy shrine to me!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Albert Finney version of “Scrooge” at the Loew’s last week. I even enjoyed it yesterday afternoon on TCM, but that viewing made me even more appreciative to have just seen it 50 feet wide. The Loew’s showing brought me back to 1971 when I first saw it, in a theater with a much smaller screen. Just my own opinion, and no disrespect to Crosby, Kaye and Clooney, but I think “Scrooge” is a much better movie than “White Christmas”.
The organ/vocal concert and sing-along, featuring specially created lyrics with Loew’s Jersey graphics projected on the screen, were wonderful as well. Thanks, Loew’s Jersey staff!
Thanks for posting the article, Vito. A sad one, to be sure.
A little off-topic, but I hope everyone is watching “Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood” on TCM. Tonight at 10 PM: the 1950’s, when the moguls who created Hollywood start dying off one by one. Another sad story. The final episode airs next week.
All right, Vito! Between the two of us, we’ll get West Side Story in 70mm up there on the Ziegfeld screen, even if it’s just an imaginary show. Better than nothing …
I have an old newspaper ad for a revival of “2001” at the Ziegfeld that actually describes the speakers they were using back in 1970. I’ll have to track that down and post it. Maybe I already did? I will look.
Thanks Vito. Maybe it wouldn’t be practical for the original speakers to be used for a 70mm showing of West Side Story but, like you said, anything is possible. I’d even help them hook up the speakers if they’d let me!
“The Sound of Music” was a memorable experience up on the Ziegfeld screen in March 2008, and that was not by any means a new print, so the new print is something to look forward to.
2011 is the 50th anniversary of “West Side Story”, a perfect excuse for the Ziegfeld to show that new 70mm print with the corrected soundtrack which was recently screened in L.A.
Nice to see the curtains in use at last night’s Harry Potter show. There were lots of people in the center section too. VERY nice to see so many people going out of their way to see a show at the Ziegfeld.
Thanks Tinseltoes. I always wondered why I Married a Witch was released by UA, but its credits were filled with the top names at Paramount like Gordon Jennings, whose photographic effects for that film were excellent (as always).
Wow John – it’s terrible how they removed all traces of Saul Bass from the movie. Everything Bass did was memorable, but I have a special fondness for the work he did on West Side Story.
Tinseltoes: About the screen size in 1933 … I’ll bet REndres knows!
Vito: Just a guess here, but I’ll bet “The Rumble” was one of the scenes in West Side Story where you turned up the volume.
Thanks Al and William. I guess that claim made in the ad was true, for a while anyway. It’s nice to know that the Music Hall once had the widest screen in the world.
Vito: If I ever get access to an H.G. Wells-type time machine, one of my destinations would be a “West Side Story” showing at the Syosset, run by you. I would also stay to see it twice. I’ve never been there, so there’s no danger of running into an earlier version of myself and disrupting the space-time continuum :)
Vito: Thanks for posting the “Knights” ad. Did the Music Hall really have the world’s largest screen in 1954? I thought Cinerama screens would be larger.
On Saturday night I attended a midnight showing of “2001: A Space Odyssey” here. It was in one of the smaller upstairs auditoriums, and the screen wasn’t as big as I was hoping, but the movie was as spellbinding as ever. It was my 57th theatrical viewing of the film, but I’d never seen it at midnight. It took me back 40 years or so when I’d see ads for midnight shows of “2001” at the Ziegfeld, and how I wished I was old enough to attend such shows. Finally fulfilled that ambition …
Thanks, Tinseltoes. “Pepe” when it premiered was around a half hour longer than the version we’ve seen all these years on TV. I think the original length was 3 hours 15 minutes (!). I wonder which guest stars wound up on the cutting room floor.
hdtv267 and saps: Thanks for posting the stuff about “Mighty Joe Young”. That’s always been a favorite of mine. When I saw it as a kid I actually did gape, gasp and wonder. I still do, actually.
3/5/11: I’m hoping it’s the 50th anniversary of “West Side Story”. And of course there will be a film at Radio City in October: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” with a live orchestra.
Thanks, Bob, for posting that picture of the Glendale. The place where my favorite movie played its longest engagement ever – it’s like a holy shrine to me!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Albert Finney version of “Scrooge” at the Loew’s last week. I even enjoyed it yesterday afternoon on TCM, but that viewing made me even more appreciative to have just seen it 50 feet wide. The Loew’s showing brought me back to 1971 when I first saw it, in a theater with a much smaller screen. Just my own opinion, and no disrespect to Crosby, Kaye and Clooney, but I think “Scrooge” is a much better movie than “White Christmas”.
The organ/vocal concert and sing-along, featuring specially created lyrics with Loew’s Jersey graphics projected on the screen, were wonderful as well. Thanks, Loew’s Jersey staff!
Thanks for posting the article, Vito. A sad one, to be sure.
A little off-topic, but I hope everyone is watching “Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood” on TCM. Tonight at 10 PM: the 1950’s, when the moguls who created Hollywood start dying off one by one. Another sad story. The final episode airs next week.
RobertR posted the same ad here in August 2005:
View link
All right, Vito! Between the two of us, we’ll get West Side Story in 70mm up there on the Ziegfeld screen, even if it’s just an imaginary show. Better than nothing …
I have an old newspaper ad for a revival of “2001” at the Ziegfeld that actually describes the speakers they were using back in 1970. I’ll have to track that down and post it. Maybe I already did? I will look.
Thanks Vito. Maybe it wouldn’t be practical for the original speakers to be used for a 70mm showing of West Side Story but, like you said, anything is possible. I’d even help them hook up the speakers if they’d let me!
“The Sound of Music” was a memorable experience up on the Ziegfeld screen in March 2008, and that was not by any means a new print, so the new print is something to look forward to.
2011 is the 50th anniversary of “West Side Story”, a perfect excuse for the Ziegfeld to show that new 70mm print with the corrected soundtrack which was recently screened in L.A.
Thanks, Ken. The Dominion was really the home of the super long-runs, much like the Rivoli in NYC. But 4 ½ years is absolutely amazing.
John: Isn’t it true that “South Pacific” played for something like 4 years in its London first run? That must be a world’s record of some kind.
Nice to see the curtains in use at last night’s Harry Potter show. There were lots of people in the center section too. VERY nice to see so many people going out of their way to see a show at the Ziegfeld.
NewYorker64, I’m glad you found your way here. It’s the best website on the Internet.
Thanks robertalex. I was hoping someone would report back to us!
Thanks Tinseltoes. I always wondered why I Married a Witch was released by UA, but its credits were filled with the top names at Paramount like Gordon Jennings, whose photographic effects for that film were excellent (as always).
Wow John – it’s terrible how they removed all traces of Saul Bass from the movie. Everything Bass did was memorable, but I have a special fondness for the work he did on West Side Story.
There was a really wide re-release in late 1968. The ad slogan was, “Unlike other classics, West Side Story grows younger”.
If anyone is going to this show, please post about it here. Thanks!
I only hope this print finds its way to New York City real soon (at the Ziegfeld, of course.)
If anyone is going to see “West Side Story” in 70mm tomorrow night, please post something about the show. Thanks!