Rivoli Theatre

Well considering that the Music Hall is now being used for singing midgets, Barney and the Rugrats it might as well be the world’s largest Cosco for all it contributes to New York’s culteral life. And when you think of the Roxy, Paramount and the Capitol the Beacon is practically a boobie prize.
These theaters could not have paid their own way but does Carnegie Hall or any of the theaters in Lincoln Center? Why couldnt the Rivoli have been used for the Jazz theater that just went up in columbus circle or the Strand been used for a new home for the New York City Opera which they now want to build. What about the stuff that goes on at the Theater at Madison Square Garden couldn’t they have done that at Loew’s State?
I’m sure the old Penn Station was pretty impractical too. All that open space. What a waste!

You know…reading all about these old NY movie houses and stuff got me to thinking a lot about how areas rise and fall and such. It’s been a bit of a learning experience on this site and others as I’m fascinated by old buildings especially theaters. It comes mainly from my parents who grew up in Manhattan during the 1930’s and 40’s. Their recollections of midtown and especially of the glorious theaters instilled an interest in me that exists to this day. They spoke especaily fondly of The Roxy saying that it put Radio City Music Hall to shame.

From this site I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m sure others have long since made: that the decline of the great theaters of the Times Square area were caused by a decline in the movie going audiences and by the radical change in the way films were released. Why would audiences schlep all the way into Manhattan anymore when the same movie would be playing maybe a town or two away in the ‘burbs? So the theater’s audiences declined starting in the mid to late 70’s and really tanked in the 1970’s. There were still property taxes to pay and other expenses so some of the lesser theaters turned to porn. These theater dinosaurs had long since passed their useful lives. Somehow, somone realized that the property that these theaters were sitting on were valuable and could be redeveloped. And that redevelopment, which destroyed so many of these grand theaters, has, whether one likes to admit it or not, revitalized the Times Square area. Is Times Square REALLY as exciting as my parents described it? No, at least I don’t think so. My parents described Times Square in the 40’s as a kind of amusement park where there was everything to do on a Friday night: movies, plays, some vaudeville, some burlesque, novelty acts and nightclubs. Now? It’s kind of sterile, yes, but it sure draws the crowds.

What I think I’m saying (and could’ve said shorter, I apologize) is that while it’s sad that these beautiful movie houses are gone, it had to be done for the area (and NY) to move on. Think about it: let’s say the Roxy, The Capitol and The Rivoli had somehow managed to stay open. What use could be possibly made these days for these theaters? Maybe, just maybe the Roxy could’ve become a Concert hall or something but who knows if the place was built acoustically for this? There simply isn’t the demand for the entertainment venues that would’ve kept these places alive. The only option I’ve ever thought of is why builders couldn’t or didn’t build above or around some of these theaters. BUT…an engineer friend of mine explained it simply that the open areas of these theaters would’ve made this absolutely impossible.

Let’s be thankful that we do still have some of the old, great house still with us like Radio City, Beacon and others.

Sorry for the rant.

Your right about it being on the dark side, so was the downstairs house.

Wow I’m suprised Loews State looked run down, I am not sure the last time I was there but last time I was it still looked regal. What a loss that it’s gone now.

This has to be the Demille, the balcony was very steep and halved down the middle.

CConnolly—
“The China Syndrome” opened at Loews' State 2 on 15 March 1979. That was a bigger theater than the Mayfair/DeMille/Embassy234. But what do you mean by “split down the middle”?

Hmmmmm…RoberR you might be right. The thing that I clearly remember was that the theater was very ornate and (I think) we walked up a flight of stairs. Not totally run down but rough around the edges. We must’ve been in the old balcony section because there was a definate and extremely noticable incline (very, very steep) that would not have been part of the orchestra section. And if this was the balcony, GOD it was HUGE.

So the Embassy 2-3-4 is the existing theater on 7th that is advertising for rent, right? That (ironically) would be the theater that I inquired about on the listing here for the Roxy. It doesn’t seem that big from viewing it outside though. I wish there was a way to go back and look at old theater listings to see. Ah, the things some people (like me) obsess about.

In April or May of 1979, I saw “The China Syndrome” in an old movie house that had been split down the middle. I wish to God I knew what theater it was. I could tell when I saw it that it was a grand old theater but it was in pretty bad shape then. I think it might’ve been the Rivoli but I can’t tell. I know for sure it was in the Times Square area, it was huge and ornate and it was during the spring of 1979. I know this sounds stupid but is there anyway anyone can tell me which theater I was in?

I’m having a hard time picturing where this theater actually was. I work right in the area so was the Rivoli (roughly) where “Carolines” is now? If that’s so, Jesus…that’s a small parcel alright. And yes, the buildings that stand there now are awful.

What is the origin of the name ‘Rivoli’?

Yes, Bryan K— that’s a wonderful bunch of photos from Fall ‘55. The earlier CinemaScope screen dated from December '53, with “King of the Khyber Rifles,” a Tyrone Power TCF film that followed “The Robe” (at the Roxy) and “How to Marry a Millionaire” (at the Globe and Loew’s State) and then “Beneath the Twelve Mile Reef” (at the Roxy) into distribution. The Rivoli installed its MiracleMirror CinemaScope-capable screen in Summer '53, when I saw there Disney’s “Sword and the Rose” (with Glynis Johns as Mary Tudor — Bloody Mary!)in widescreen format. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the Rivoli’s Cylcoramic screen, which antedated the ToddAO magnification by at least three decades. The first time I saw it was in December 1949, for CB DeMille’s “Samson and Delilah.” The film day-dated at the Paramount, which then offered stage-shows-cum-film. The advertising gimmick declared: “See Stage Show at Paramount, See Cycloramic Screen at Rivoli.” At the age of seven, I knew what a stage show was. I prevailed on my parents to take me to the Rivoli to see what a Cycloramic screen might be. The film started at 10:30 am. So far, no difference. I wondered what it was all about. Then, at 12:20 the screen opened to (at least) twice its size for the Destruction of the Temple scene. Wow! Some folks on this site have expressed their indelible memories of what happened when the screen opened at “This is Cinerama.” For me, the event was at the Rivoli when the screen blew up to an unimaginable size. My parents were not fazed: they had seen it before. I pressed their memories. They cited the climactic horse-race scene in “National Velvet” at Radio City. In the next few years, I recall seeing Magnascope at RCMH for the stampede in “King Solomon’s Mines,” the sea storm in “Plymouth Adventure,” and Busby Berkeley’s aquatic number in “Million Dollar Mermaid.” And, of course, “This Is Cinerama.” But nothing in my memory equals the Destruction of the Temple at the Rivoli. I know that Ben Hall et al. write about Magnascope screens in first-run theaters ca. 1920s-50s. But I know of no others on B’way in the 40s-early 50s, other than the Rivoli and RCMH (the Brooklyn Paramount had a Magnascope screen that it used for “Samson and Delilah,” but I know of no other film that the theater used it for at the turn of that decade). Certainly the Roxy did not use Magnascope. (Ask me why?)

Saw Jaws here before the twinning…a packed house great atmosphere at the Midnight show opening weekend…the saddest part of the Rivoli’s last years was that for the final couple of years United Artists took the Rivoli name off of it and called it simply the United Artists Twin 1 and 2…great for the Chuck Norris pictures it seemed to book