Comments from Al Alvarez

Showing 951 - 975 of 3,427 comments

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Jerry Lewis Cinema on Jan 6, 2012 at 7:33 pm

Uploaded a Variety ad for Jerry Lewis Cinemas.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about RKO Jefferson Theatre on Jan 4, 2012 at 6:46 pm

Joe, the ads are New York Times RKO directories and do not include any details about the Vaudeville acts themselves. I am not sure this will help you much.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Cine Lido on Jan 4, 2012 at 5:54 pm

I found an old article that states the landlord was none other than E.M. Loews, who evicted the Latin Quarter due to overdue rent. Does anyone know if E.M. Loews was the actual operator of the Cine Lido and Cine Malibu?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about RKO Jefferson Theatre on Jan 4, 2012 at 4:53 pm

Joe, I found some more. The last mention is Sunday, February 25, 1951. The show included the features “The Glass Menagerie” and “Grounds for Marriage” plus ‘Vaudeville All Day’.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about RKO Jefferson Theatre on Jan 4, 2012 at 2:45 pm

Sorry, I don’t have a link. I have the ads themselves.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about RKO Jefferson Theatre on Jan 4, 2012 at 2:09 pm

Joe, RKO stopped advertising Vaudeville in the NYT here in early 1950.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Broadway Theatre on Jan 2, 2012 at 5:31 pm

“Steamboat Willie” opened at this Colony. The 79th Street was not named Colony until 1937.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Loew's Commodore Theater on Dec 26, 2011 at 5:46 am

A few older posts (2006) on this site refer to the post-Loews brief incarnation of this as the Yiddish Village Theatre as a result of this 1966 photo of Timothy Leary from Ed Solero’s photobucket:

http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Manhattan%20Movie%20Theaters/Loews%20Commodore%20aka%20Fillmore%20East/?action=view&current=LoewsCommodoreLeary.jpg&sort=ascending.

I found an ad for this period hiding in plain sight in the New York Times.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25725093@N07/6574751901/lightbox/

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Bijou Cinema on Dec 24, 2011 at 9:45 am

In March 1964 this was shut down (along with the Gramercy) for showing ‘unlicensed avant-garde films’.

It was then known as the Sans Souci Pocket Theatre

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Todd Haimes Theatre on Dec 18, 2011 at 5:18 am

If you compare it to what Disney did across the street they actually did a pretty half-assed job. The murals are badly faded or covered in dust and many of the wood finishes are damaged or rotting away.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Fort Jay Theatre on Dec 12, 2011 at 6:15 am

Has anyone else noticed that if you choose New York, New York City on the CT search option there are no listings?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Fort Jay Theatre on Dec 10, 2011 at 11:33 am

There are some interior shots at this site:

http://www.avoidingregret.com/2010/09/photo-essay-inside-governors-island_21.html

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC Sunrise 8 on Dec 5, 2011 at 8:30 am

Not me, jcasson12, but I had a similar experience when I was 17 at the Sunny Isles Twin. Some things never change in the industry.

I think the long hours, sleep and food deprivation, and being around a product you enjoy produces a form of unintended brainwashing that creates career theatre employees.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theater on Dec 5, 2011 at 5:49 am

There has never been another Miracle Theatre in South Florida except for this one, Chuck. I went there when it was a single, a twin and also when it was a quad. It was then restored to a single screen for plays.

How could a theatre at 3465 N.W. 2nd Avenue ever have been in Coral Gables?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Rivoli Theatre on Nov 19, 2011 at 4:38 pm

“De Sade” was an American International Release that played mainstream theatres and drive-in nationwide when X was still mild.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Limited patience for limited releases on Nov 18, 2011 at 8:05 pm

As someone who operated art cinemas for years I can tell you what happens.

You get months of letters and emails complaining about not showing a film you showed in a timely manner and no one showed up. So you then show it again, to take advantage of new acclaim, and no one shows up either.

It is then a hit on DVD and you still get blamed for not having shown it.

Sigh!

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Show Palace Theatre on Nov 18, 2011 at 1:15 pm

The comedy club section of Show World is now Times Scare, a year-round haunted house and horror theme bar.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Palladium Times Square on Nov 15, 2011 at 8:35 am

When I first started working in the movie theatre industry in 1974 it was very clear. Legit use was ‘theater’ and cinema use was ‘theatre’, even in cases where the same company owned both types of venues. Whether there was a stage or never a consideration.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about 68th Street Playhouse on Nov 3, 2011 at 11:40 am

Margaret, it is considered a classic novel and film and often shows on TV. The book was required high school reading at my school in the mid-seventies.

The film was often a second feature in later years and had a minor re-release in November 1947 but I can’t find any other dates at the 68th St. Playhouse.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about 68th Street Playhouse on Nov 2, 2011 at 9:18 am

Hi Margaret.

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN was showing from Monday, May 28, 1945 to June 3, 1945.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about AMC Fresh Meadows 7 on Oct 27, 2011 at 4:04 pm

I think this film is in 3D which the Bombay may not have been able to accommodate.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Art East Cinema on Oct 22, 2011 at 8:13 am

New ad in photo section claims 220 seats.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Eastside Cinema on Oct 22, 2011 at 8:09 am

Opening ad now in the photo section.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Federal Drive-In on Oct 19, 2011 at 5:39 pm

I believe this was the Pompano Drive-In from 1953- 1959.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez commented about Swap Shop Drive-In on Oct 19, 2011 at 10:59 am

This place now claims to have 14 screens.

http://www.floridaswapshop.com/swap.html