Comments from bigjoe59

Showing 76 - 100 of 1,248 comments

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Oct 20, 2021 at 10:15 pm

Hello-

to Ed S.- thanks for your reply. it happens ever so often and I have always wondered why it occurs.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Oct 20, 2021 at 9:02 pm

Hello-

to Bill H.-

do you ever get a message in your inbox that says “someone has responded to your comment” but when you click on the link there are no new replies?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Oct 16, 2021 at 3:53 am

Hello-

to vindanpar- I suppose I should have said original theatrical release cut. the cut Mankiewicz showed Zanuck the Fall of 1962 as mentioned in the doc. on the 50th Anni. blu-ray disc was 5hrs. 20mins.. after firing him and taking him back Zanuck and Mankiewicz settled on the 4hr. cut. two scenes in the cut 1hr. 20mins. you get glimpses of in the doc. Cleopatra’s camp outside Alexandria after she was banished by her brother and additional footage of her entrance into Rome.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Oct 15, 2021 at 10:28 pm

Hello-

as always thanks for your reply. why the tweaks to roadshow prints are sometimes saved and other times destroyed who knows why. Kubrick certainly had the clout to not only tweak the film shortly after it opened but to discard the trims. now when Cleopatra played the neighborhood theaters around NYC the film had been tweaked to 3hrs.15mins. and for years that was the only cut of the film people saw. but Dorothy Spencer the film’s editor must have saved the trims because when the film debuted on home video the vhs tapes were the original 4hr. roadshow cut.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Oct 14, 2021 at 10:53 pm

Hello-

if I am not mistaken a few years ago I remember reading a post on the Capitol page that the original 2hr. 40min. cut of 2001 did in fact play there for a very short period.

also I’m intrigued as to how the D-150 screen in Syosset
differed from the Todd-AO screen at this theater.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Oct 14, 2021 at 9:46 pm

Hello-

eventhough I saw 2001 at the Capitol twice I honestly don’t recall exactly what the end credits said but there is a clue. if I am not mistaken the A++ 4K disc of 2001 is a direct restoration of the actual Super Panavision 70MM camera negative. so since the end credits on the 4K disc simply has the Cinerama logo on screen for a second or two I’m guessing that’s what I saw at the Capitol.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Oct 14, 2021 at 8:54 pm

Hello-

to vindanpar-

as always I enjoy our discussions about roadshow films. I saw 2001 twice during its roadshow run “in Cinerama” at the Capitol. the other time is saw it theatrically was a few years later the Ziegfeld showed it 70MM and Six Track Stereophonic Sound. if I might be so bold as to say as on the absolutely spectacular 4K disc the end credits don’t say “filmed in Cinerama” the well known Cinerama logo simply appears on the screen for a second or two.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Market Street Cinema on Oct 10, 2021 at 8:54 pm

Hello-\

to cjwin- thanks for the reply. when I first visited S.F. the Spring of 1980 the St. Francis was showing double bills of studio films after they had exhausted their 1st runs wherever said runs may have been.

being a native New Yorker I find it fascinating that even when the Times Square area was in its as I put it “very colorful” period it didn’t effect the viability of the big 1st run movie theaters. a similar period for Market St. did the exact opposite.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Market Street Cinema on Oct 8, 2021 at 10:31 pm

Hello From NYC-

to cjwin- I thank you for your previous replies. another question about moviegoing in San Francisco. for many many years many of the premiere 1st rum theaters in S.F. were on Market St.. but by my
first visit the Spring of 1980 not so much. my question- would you happen to know the last time one the grand old movie theaters on Market St. hosted the 1st run engagement of a big studio film?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Criterion Theatre on Sep 22, 2021 at 8:39 pm

Hello-

it seems even the 30s had exploitation flicks.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Booth Theatre on Sep 21, 2021 at 10:59 pm

Hello-

I saw the recent Tony Award winning revival of The Boys in the Band twice and can’t imagine how in God’s name they installed even a 1.33.1 aspect ration screen in this theater. if one was in the 1st row you’d have to tilt your head backward to see the screen.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Market Street Cinema on Sep 3, 2021 at 10:21 pm

Hello-

at one time San Francisco had a number of gay porn theaters. this was certainly true over the 25 year period mentioned in my previous post. the most prominent being the Nob Hill Theater. with the recent closing of the Nob Hill are there any gay theaters left in San Francisco?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Market Street Cinema on Aug 28, 2021 at 9:35 pm

Hello from NYC-

I came out to San Francisco every Spring from 1980-2004. in my first trip the Spring of 1980 this was already an adult theater. I was wondering before this theater went adult what was the last studio film to open?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Aug 28, 2021 at 8:59 pm

Hello-

to Bill H.- thanks for your reply. I was just wondering if you’ve ever come across any movie souvenir programs that were hardcover other than the 14 I mentioned.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Aug 26, 2021 at 8:29 pm

Hello-

to Bill H.-

recently we were discussing our movie souvenir program/ brochure collections. in my collection 14 of the souvenir programs/brochures are hardcover- Around the World in 80 Days South Pacific Windjammer Ben-Hur The Alamo Spartacus King of Kings El Cid The Wonderful World pf the Brothers Grimm Mutiny on the Bounty How the West Was Won My Fair lady The Greatest Story Ever Told Hawaii

did you ever come across others that were hardcover?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Westchester Theatre on Aug 14, 2021 at 5:25 pm

Hello-

if 2255 Westchester Ave. which is a really old building was not
in fact the Westchester Theater than I find it fascinating that a building which is quite similar to the Westchester Theater was built at the same tine only a few blocks away.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Avalon Theatre on Aug 14, 2021 at 5:14 pm

Hello-

especially in the Bronx I bet more movie theaters were done in by the introduction of tv into the American home than the neighborhoods changing.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Westchester Theatre on Aug 12, 2021 at 11:05 pm

Hello-

I passed by Westchester Ave. the other day and was stroke by the striking similarity though with a modernized street level front of 2255 Westchester Ave. to the photo above. is it at all possible that 2255 Westchester Ave. is in fact the Westchester Theater and the address of 2319 is wrong? if not then whoever built the Westchester Theater built an almost identical building a few blocks away.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Palace Theatre on Aug 8, 2021 at 10:29 pm

Hello-

they are changing the entrance of the Palace from 7th Ave. between 46th and 47th Sts. to 47th St. between 7th and 6th Aves. the entrance to the Empire(originally the Eltinge) wasn’t changed its still on 42 St. between 7th and 8th Aves.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Palace Theatre on Aug 7, 2021 at 8:20 pm

Hello-

to vindanpar-

I guess great minds think alike. a few years ago when I heard what the Nederlander Org. was going to do all I could think of was the Palace collapsing onto 7th.Ave. I sincerely hope no other theater organizations have similar plans.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Liberty Theatre on Aug 5, 2021 at 7:50 pm

Hello-

the intro at top makes it appear this theater never showed films till 1933. which of course not true. this theater held the exclusive first run engagements of some of the most prominent films of the silent era. The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance and The Thief of Baghdad among them.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Rivoli Theatre on Aug 5, 2021 at 6:22 pm

Hello-

Cleopatra’s roadshow engagement at this theater lasted I believe 63 weeks. now for how much of that 63 week run was the original 4hr. cut used?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about RKO Warner Twin Theatre on Aug 3, 2021 at 11:45 pm

Hello-

to CCMPI- thanks for your reply. I’m sure every film ever made has had cuts of various lengths made during the editing/post production process. but to be referred to as the “original cut” I would say it would have to have been shown theatrically regardless for how short a period of time. for instance the original roadshow cut of 2001 played the Capitol for a week before Kubrick ordered cuts. so why would both IMDB and Wikipedia refer to The Greatest Story Ever Told’s “original cut” for its Cinerama roadshow engagements as being 4hrs. 20mins. when as you state such a cut never existed?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Aug 3, 2021 at 11:23 pm

Hello-

to CCMPI- thanks for your reply. as I mentioned the cut which played neighborhood theaters around NYC was 3hrs. 15mins. but the cut used for its reissue at this theater in 1971 was even shorter based on the screening times mentioned in the ad. why reissue the film in a much shorter cut? the ad is slightly deceiving in that it makes it appear you’ll be seeing the same print that played the Rivoli.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 commented about Ziegfeld Theatre on Aug 3, 2021 at 10:35 pm

Hello-

to vindanpar- you are quite correct. Cleopatra’s roadshow cut at its World Premiere at the Rivoli June 12, 1963 was 4hrs. which is the same cut beautifully restored on the 2013 blu-ray disc set. the point I was making is simple. I had thought the 3hr. 15min. cut which played neighborhood theaters around NYC was the shortest cut of the film that ever played theaters. but the cut used for its 1971 reissue at this theater was even shorter. I wonder if Dorothy Spencer supervised all the various edits of the film?