Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 4,511 comments
Hello-
to vindanpar and Bill H.- yes I purchased souvenir programs for The Happiest Millionaire, Tom Sawyer and 1776 at RCMH during their exclusive 1st run engagements. souvenir programs are in my blood kind of so if if I didn’t see one when I thought a film would have one I always asked.
as stated when i saw Nicholas and Alexandra there was a person standing at a table selling them. its a rather well done program and you tell they put some thought into it.
also when Coal Miner’s Daughter opened March 1980 the studios will still using 1 maybe 2 theaters for a film’s 1st run engagement. I saw it opening weekend but can’t remember where. wherever I saw it I don’t remember them selling a souvenir program. where did you see it?
Another non-roadshow film that had a souvenir book was Coal Miner’s Daughter. I still have that one.
I bought one for Tom Sawyer at the Music Hall. It was the first time I had ever seen a photo of John Williams. Unfortunately I don’t have it anymore.
I think I said this to you before but I don’t remember Nick and Al having a souvenir book at the Criterion. I know there was one but for some reason the day I went there wasn’t one. It was the first thing I would look for and I should have asked. Even the non roadshow Cabaret had a book at the Ziegfeld. Did you buy the souvenir books for Happiest Millionaire, 1776 and Tom Sawyer at the Music Hall? I know those films had one but I don’t recall them being sold there.
Hello-
as I am sure you will agree our memory can play tricks on us. my point being who’s to say I’d still like if I saw it again today? but I remember rather enjoying it seeing it on this theater’s large screen.
in addition yes the film did have a souvenir program. in fact mine is still in virtually mint condition.
speaking of which I never remember a roadshow engagement film not having a souvenir program. at least every roadshow films I went to had as souvenir program.
Probably. I just remember it as not looking like an especially big budget film worthy of the road show treatment. Did it have a souvenir book?
Hello-
I saw Marooned at this theater during its roadshow engagement. I rather enjoyed it. also films that were released on roadshow engagements i think it had more to do with the production expense of film than how “good” or not it was.
The Ziegfeld only had one reserved seat film and I don’t believe it played there very long. In fact I don’t even know why Marooned was a reserved seat presentation in the first place. It certainly could have been a continuous run film. Nothing special about it.
Hello-
to Al A. thanks for your reply. I was a regular patron at this theater since Marooned opened on a roadshow engagement Dec. 1969. to which I though the concessions stand was always there. so if this theater never had a concession stand the entire time it was a Walter Reade theater than I’m guessing neither did the Coronet or the Baronet?
But not during hard-ticket, reserved-seats performances…
The only theatre that did not sell concessions was the Paris and Cinema 3. Showtimes before 1988 were tight less trailers and you could come in during the middle of the film. Big chains like Loews gave only 10 minutes between showings.
Walter Reade Theatres did not have concession stands, so cleaning time was minimal. The concessions stands were added by later owners.
Hello-
on pg. 5 of the photo section is an ad for Ryan’s Daughter which ran here on a reserved performance engagement. now shows were every 4 hrs. the film was 3hrs. 12mins. so with an intermission a performance was 3 ½ hrs.. this was a large theater so would 30mins. have been sufficient to get the old audience out and the new one in before the next screening started?
The Ridgewood Theater in Queens, NY has 2,852 comments. For a while, it was on track to surpass the Ziegfeld. But a lot of them were from local people reminiscing about the old neighborhood, and not actually talking about the theater, or any theater for that matter.
Glad you liked the photo, Mike. Isn’t all this Ziegfeld activity great? 4,532 comments and counting. I think that’s still the Cinema Treasures record. Radio City Music Hall is probably #2.
Hello-
to ReadeLegacy- my friends and I always referred to the
Ziegfeld’s décor as Victorian Bordello.
also on pg. 2 of the photo section second row is a photo of the marquee for Les Misérables. I saw the film the day after Christmas(Dec.26) 2012 and all the marquee had was
plain block letters spelling out the title. I thought to myself they could have at least had big block letters in the same type face as used in the as. but here we have the marquee with a full panel which was not up the day I saw it. wouldn’t they have put up a full panel before the film opened not after?
Nice photo you just posted, showing “A Walter Reade Theater” right on the front face of the marquee
I just posted a photo of the marquee on the final day. It does indeed say A WALTER READE THEATRE.
Looks like I was wrong about that. I just saw a picture where the marquee said Clearview Cinemas. But didn’t they put Walter Reade back up there after Clearview left? I’m pretty sure that’s what it said on the day of the final shows.
I like how it said A WALTER READE THEATER on the front of the marquee right up until the end.
Wow. Now I REALLY feel bad about not asking to stay over. I could have placed my cot in the huge space between the front row and the screen!
A few special Ziegfeld memories:
A large Christian protest group carrying banners and tapestries descended on the Ziegfeld to oppose the showing of The Last Temptation of Christ on opening day. It looked like the Spanish Inquisition come back to life in 1988.
People frantically hunting for seats before a sold-out showing of Lawrence of Arabia.
Seeing Gandhi on the night of the blizzard of 1983. The theater was surprisingly crowded, but I didn’t think I’d be able to make it home. I was seriously considering asking if I could sleep in the Ziegfeld. Looking back, I regret not having done that.
Seeing Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey and Robert Osborne in an onstage panel after a TCM screening of Cabaret. Also sold out, but not technically since the screening was free.
The one movie I most regret not seeing there: Ryan’s Daughter.
A personal thank you to ReadeLegacy for all those wonderful times at the movies. Thanks for the Coronet and the Baronet too.
I loved the Ziegfeld so much, I kept track of every movie I saw there. The first was West Side Story in 1970, the last was Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. Some of the most memorable in between: That’s Entertainment, Tommy, Barry Lyndon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Hair, Apocalypse Now, Fame, Gandhi, The Last Temptation of Christ, Lawrence of Arabia, Spartacus, Jurassic Park, My Fair Lady, Vertigo, Porgy and Bess, and the one I saw there more times than any other, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Total=150.