Thanks, Warren. The supporting short HELPMATES is one of Laurel & Hardy’s very best two-reelers – right up there with their Oscar-winning THE MUSIC BOX. As a young boy growing up in Corona, Queens, I used to swim at the Ederle Public Pool in Flushing Meadows. The pool used the original Ampitheater from the ‘39 Fair that housed the Aquacade. Regrettably, it was allowed to fall into a sad state of disrepair after years of disuse; and despite some efforts to save the crumbling ediface, it finally fell to the wrecker’s ball in the late 1990’s. A freind and I were able to gain entry to the decaying structure a couple of years before it was demolished and managed a couple of photos of the vandalized stands. I have to go dig those out one of these days.
There were plans to relocate the ice-skating rink that occupies part of the old City of New York Pavillion (also from the ‘39 Fair) to the site of the Ampitheatre – on the northern edge of the large, man-made Meadow Lake – but nothing thus far has come of it. And, this has nothing to do with the Valencia, but I hope I’ll be forgiven this minor tangent!
Hey Bob… Do you have a photobucket account? It’d be fun to have you share those photos here! The tight schedules on those promo tours through the local Loew’s or RKO chain always amazed me. Five minutes onstage and then dash off and fight traffic to get to the next appearance in some other neighborhood. I just think of the congestion on some of the borough thoroughfares today and it makes me laugh. I presume that the streets were not nearly as gridlocked back then as they can be these days. Or did the promoters arrange for police escort?
I think an AKA should be added here for Show Follies. The 1993 image I posted back on September 12, 2006, shows that the marquee boasts of “4 Theaters” showing “8 (XXX) Movies.” These may well have been video projections, but they were projections of feature movies nonetheless and would qualify as cinema (albeit in its absolute lowest form). AlAlvarez also posted of a Jocx cinema located at this address and advertised in a 1989 issue of the Village Voice as featuring all-male porn. I presume that these programs were presented in a separate area (perhaps upstairs) from the original Cine 1 & 2 auditoriums during the West Side Cine days. This space was likely re-used when Richard Basciano took over the entire facility and opened up as Show Follies.
I posted an image of the Show Follies from October of 1993 on the Cine 1 & 2 page, but never pushed for the AKA as I wasn’t sure about film screenings. The marquee in the shot does boast of “4 Theaters” and “8 (XXX) Movies” now that I look at it again. I’ll post a comment there suggesting the AKA additions and see what happens.
Just curious about that Tom Cat listing you note from the ‘85 Voice. That address of 1207 West 48th Street would place the theatre somewhere in Union City, NJ, so I presume it’s a typo. Was the Tom Cat around the corner from the old Grand Pussycat Theatre on Broadway and 48th?
I remember Film Charas listings in the NY Times or maybe the Voice as recently as within the last couple of years, Al. I couldn’t find a current listing, but there is a now empty page for the theatre at movietickets.com and this website still lists the venue – though no schedule is available.
The Moulin Rouge Triplex listed in the ‘85 Voice at 777 Eighth Avenue shares the same address as the Hollywood Twin. In the early '80’s, there was a listing for the Night Shift Theatre (later Nightshift 1 and 2) at that same address. The Night Shift operated upstairs over the Hollywood Twin. Perhaps it had morphed into the Moulin Rouge Triplex by 1985.
Show Palace was located across Eighth Avenue from Show World between 42nd and 43rd Streets and both establishments were owned by Richard Basciano – in fact, Show World continues operation to this day, though in a smaller space than in its heyday. Show Follies was in the old Cine 1 & 2 (which is listed on CT) on Seventh Ave – sandwiched between the DeMille and the Doll – and was also owned by Basciano. I thought of adding the two Eighth Ave venues to CT at one point, but I wasn’t able to verify beyond doubt that either of them had ever screened actual films. I believe they were known mostly as “live” peep-show venues with video booths.
Thanks plenum, although you just burst my bubble! I was really looking forward to treating the kids to the organ show moreso than the film. Due to work, there’s no way I’ll make it to the Loew’s on Friday night. Darn the luck! I’ll keep my fingers crossed and check the website for a hopeful update. Otherwise, I might scrap plans alltogether and just hold off my first visit to the Loew’s until better weather returns to the area. Not that the Loew’s isn’t a worthy destination even without the organ show – but that was the dangling carrot that made suffering the journey to Jersey City this weekend (not to mention schlepping the kids) even more worthwhile.
Of course, couldn’t the filmmaker’s have done their own in-camera masking to fill the unused portion of the scope screen with projected blackness – a virtual masking, if you will?
That’s the show I saw, Al. The Caesar’s Palace OMNIMAX dome is gone, but I believe there is a standard IMAX theatre in the Luxor Hotel. I think the difference between IMAX and OMNIMAX was that latter’s curved dome presentation. The films geared towards dome presentation were in more of a fisheye perspective with the viewer’s peripheral vision seeming to extend up and over one’s head as well as below the point where one’s eyes would naturally fix their focus – that is, assuming one was situated among the very few “sweet-spot” seats about 1/3 of the way up the stadium and dead center on the screen’s vertical axis.
Hey… Does anyone know when the organ music starts this Saturday the 15th? The website lists a 6pm showtime for MARY POPPINS – but I’m not sure if this includes the organ sing-along portion of the show. The listing for MIRACLE ON 34th STREET on Friday the 14th specifically states the organ show will begin 30 minutes before the 7:30 screening. I want to bring the kids along on Saturday and would like to make sure to catch the entire program. Thanks!
Do they still include the IMAX introduction at the original tall IMAX facilities (such as the Lincoln Square)? There wasn’t a curtain, but there was an interesting and slowly changing lighting scheme to mask the vast whiteness of the blank screen before a show. As well, just before the feature, a voice would come over the loudspeaker to give a brief overview on the specs of the IMAX screen, film guage and projection process – during backlights would be brought up behind the screen to reveal the massive steel framework on which the screen was hung. After the show, audiences were invariably asked to exit at the rear of the auditorium and would be led around the back of the glass enclosed projection booth where they could glimpse the massive platter and projector on the way out. I’m not sure if this last glimpse behind the curtain was a part of the Lincoln Square show – I might be remembering that particular bit of showmanship from my earlier experiences with the format in Las Vegas and Niagara Falls. In the version I saw in Las Vegas way back in 1980, the format was advertised as “Omnimax” and was presented in a dome at Caesar’s Palace.
Hey… Never mind my last post. I just read the article posted on the CT home page. I just waxed over the fact that this is IMAX digital and NOT the 70mm film prints.
So, it’ll be IMAX shoehorned into a standard multiplex box? What do you mean by “edited” for IMAX – is that due to a difference in the aspect ratio? Or do you refer to different editing choices to maximize the 3-D sequences? Aside from that, isn’t IMAX on a standard multiplex screen basically a 70mm presentation? Or is that too simple a comparison?
Ugh! One of the worst movies I ever saw – but not at the Rivoli (I was suckered out of my money at the Century’s Green Acres in this particular situation). Thanks for jogging the memories just the same, RobertR. Keep those ads coming! Do you have an ad from when George Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD played here in 1979 by chance? I remember walking into the great vastness of the Rivoli for that zombie classic and there was a faint aroma of vomit at the rear of the auditorium. I almost walked out due to the odor, but as we approached our intended destination within the first 10 rows, the air – thankfully – smelled a bit fresher and more tolerable.
Where do they have a space big enough to accommodate an IMAX auditorium? Are they building up our out into an adjacent building? Or are they combining existing auditoriums and reducing the overall number of screens? I’m with Warren on this issue – I think IMAX will draw bigger in Times Square than it does uptown.
Interesting, Love movies. PLANET OF THE APES is one of the earliest movie-going memories I have. I was a mere tot of 3 or 4 and not really old enough to comprehend the film on any major level, but there are images that I can recall having stayed with me as an older child of 9 or 10 when I finally saw the movie again on re-release. I saw CONQUEST and BATTLE (the final two chapters) on their original theatrical release in the early ‘70’s and then finally saw ALL FIVE of the original films during the summer of 1974 when Fox re-released them in the infamous all-day “GO APE” package! What fun that was.
You’re really not missing much as the sequels were quite inferior to the original (with each successive film being more cheaply produced than the last), but there are interesting elements in each film and the “saga” as a whole goes full circle. Anyway, they were great entertainments for kids – certainly not geared towards older, more discerning audiences!
Hey Loves Movies… We agree on the ending of PLANET OF THE APES! That is a great ending… and we continue to hear the sound of the waves crashing on the beach as the credits come up over a black screen. Perfect ending and classic Rod Serling. Tim Burton (who I otherwise greatly admire) really mucked it up with his remake. Not that the newer version is without merit – but that ending is tacked on without any semblance of logic or continuity. Just a feeble attempt to recreate the shock of the original’s final and inspired twist. Also have to say that the musical score by the otherwise dependable Danny Elfman in the Burton film can’t compare to Jerry Goldsmith’s innovative score for the ‘68 film.
All three of those films by my “favorite” director, Roland Emmerich. In his IMDB.COM biography, it is said that his favorite films are the disaster epics of the early ‘70’s (EARTHQUAKE, TOWERING INFERNO, POSEIDON ADVENTURE). That makes sense. Of the lot, I probably enjoyed DAY AFTER TOMORROW the best of all. You may be on to something there, Manwithnoname… That’s the only one of the three that I only saw on TV (albeit on a nice 60 inch in HD). I’ve never revisited GODZILLA on TV, but I did give ID4 another go with a DVD rental and I hated it even more than the first time I saw it on the big screen! I still think he’s a hack. STARGATE wasn’t horrible, but that’s faint praise. I think his most effective bit of filmmaking is the sequence in THE PATRIOT (which I think was actually CUT from the movie and seen only as an extra on the DVD) where Mel Gibson’s child stands by the river behind their house and watches in silent horror as the bodies of the dead soldiers from the battle upstream start to float past her.
He’s got a remake of FANTASTIC VOYAGE in the works for 2010.
Hopefully, if the Empire State Building gets it in this flick, it won’t be depicted as being situated in the MIDDLE of Fifth Avenune like it was in INDEPENDENCE DAY (more Emmerich schlock that I hated)! Smith does have a good track record in the genre. As much as I hated ID4, it was a hugely popular film. I greatly enjoyed the lighthearted MIB flicks and think that I ROBOT was a very satisfying sci-fi actioner. Very much looking forward to this version of I AM LEGEND.
I guess we have different tastes, Loves movies. I actually enjoyed BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and was quite terrified by much of it!
The 1998 GODZILLA was a really bad movie, primarily (IMHO) because I think its director Roland Emmerich is a hack. I have a bit more hope for CLOVERFIELD. I am a fan of monster/sci-fi flicks that are well done (as opposed to the ‘overdone’ approach taken by Emmerich) and so far I’ve enjoyed JJ Abrams work on “Lost” and MI3 – even though he is not the director here, but a producer. This is a movie I’ll probably try to catch on the big screen – provided it isn’t universally panned as completely inept.
Loves movies… I think you’re being overly sensitive. I’m a NYC native (born, raised and still living in the area) and I see this as just another monster movie. Have you seen the trailer for the film which shows the head of the Statue of Liberty being hurled like a bowling ball down a Manhattan street? Maybe I’m just overly INsensitive, but I’m actually intriqued by the movie and look forward to seeing it. There has been much discussion and speculation on boards all over the net as to the nature of this particular film – albeit mostly from the film-geek perspective of trying to figure out what the “monster” is and how much of it will producer JJ Abrams (of “Lost” fame) show us in the final cut.
You bring up an interesting and fair point, but from my perspective, I see nothing offensive. Monster movies and terror films always seem to reflect something about the collective psychology of the times. When Godzilla rampaged around Tokyo back in the ‘50’s, the citizens of Japan were not that much further removed from the devestating nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Often, films like this provide a catharsis of sorts for folks reeling from disaster or dealing with deep-rooted fears in the aftermath of real life horror such as that perpetrated on 9/11. Let’s see how the rest of the country (and NYC in particular) responds at the box office.
I think the Post is probably your best bet out of all the dailies – though the Daily News still ran the ads and kept XXX theatres in the movie-clock into the early ‘80’s as well. Forget the Times or Newsday completely.
By the mid 1980’s (I have old papers from ‘85 and '86) the porn ads in either the Post or News were pushed off the main movie-ad pages and were very few in number – you might find one or two postage stamp-sized ads placed by a couple of XXX cinemas mixed in with the ads for strip clubs and hourly-rate motels. And the XXX houses were bumped from the movie clocks completely – even in the Post. A few porno houses still advertised in the News’ “Movie Directory” or the Post’s “Neighborhood Movie Guide” – features that lasted in both papers even into the early ‘90’s.
If it did, Al, it would have only been temporarily so – as the theatre was operating as the Avon 7 well into the 1980’s (and perhaps later than that). Several mini-cinemas existed in the area of Seventh and W. 48th Street for which not a whole lot of history is available. I wonder if the Park-Miller relocation is a part of the elusive history of either the Frisco Theatre or the New Mini Cinema, both of which may or may not have been the same theatre operating under different names. Even closer to 48th Street, there was an Ellwest Stereo Theatre adjacent to the Metropole Cafe that opened around 1973. There’s also the Doll Theatre and Cine 1 & 2 to consider due to their proximity to 48th and Seventh.
Al… while you’re pondering all that, would you happen to recall a small storefront “World Theatre” that operated on the south side of 49th Street on the short block between B'way and Seventh Ave adjacent to the RKO Warner Video Store – probably opening up AFTER the original World Theatre had become the Embassy 49th Street in the 1980’s. I posted an image of the new World’s marquee on the old World/Punch & Judy page. Thanks for any info you might have on that one!
Thanks, Warren. The supporting short HELPMATES is one of Laurel & Hardy’s very best two-reelers – right up there with their Oscar-winning THE MUSIC BOX. As a young boy growing up in Corona, Queens, I used to swim at the Ederle Public Pool in Flushing Meadows. The pool used the original Ampitheater from the ‘39 Fair that housed the Aquacade. Regrettably, it was allowed to fall into a sad state of disrepair after years of disuse; and despite some efforts to save the crumbling ediface, it finally fell to the wrecker’s ball in the late 1990’s. A freind and I were able to gain entry to the decaying structure a couple of years before it was demolished and managed a couple of photos of the vandalized stands. I have to go dig those out one of these days.
There were plans to relocate the ice-skating rink that occupies part of the old City of New York Pavillion (also from the ‘39 Fair) to the site of the Ampitheatre – on the northern edge of the large, man-made Meadow Lake – but nothing thus far has come of it. And, this has nothing to do with the Valencia, but I hope I’ll be forgiven this minor tangent!
Hey Bob… Do you have a photobucket account? It’d be fun to have you share those photos here! The tight schedules on those promo tours through the local Loew’s or RKO chain always amazed me. Five minutes onstage and then dash off and fight traffic to get to the next appearance in some other neighborhood. I just think of the congestion on some of the borough thoroughfares today and it makes me laugh. I presume that the streets were not nearly as gridlocked back then as they can be these days. Or did the promoters arrange for police escort?
I think an AKA should be added here for Show Follies. The 1993 image I posted back on September 12, 2006, shows that the marquee boasts of “4 Theaters” showing “8 (XXX) Movies.” These may well have been video projections, but they were projections of feature movies nonetheless and would qualify as cinema (albeit in its absolute lowest form). AlAlvarez also posted of a Jocx cinema located at this address and advertised in a 1989 issue of the Village Voice as featuring all-male porn. I presume that these programs were presented in a separate area (perhaps upstairs) from the original Cine 1 & 2 auditoriums during the West Side Cine days. This space was likely re-used when Richard Basciano took over the entire facility and opened up as Show Follies.
I posted an image of the Show Follies from October of 1993 on the Cine 1 & 2 page, but never pushed for the AKA as I wasn’t sure about film screenings. The marquee in the shot does boast of “4 Theaters” and “8 (XXX) Movies” now that I look at it again. I’ll post a comment there suggesting the AKA additions and see what happens.
Just curious about that Tom Cat listing you note from the ‘85 Voice. That address of 1207 West 48th Street would place the theatre somewhere in Union City, NJ, so I presume it’s a typo. Was the Tom Cat around the corner from the old Grand Pussycat Theatre on Broadway and 48th?
I remember Film Charas listings in the NY Times or maybe the Voice as recently as within the last couple of years, Al. I couldn’t find a current listing, but there is a now empty page for the theatre at movietickets.com and this website still lists the venue – though no schedule is available.
Here’s a 1994 NY Times article that mentions the Film Charas at 360 East 10th Street.
The Moulin Rouge Triplex listed in the ‘85 Voice at 777 Eighth Avenue shares the same address as the Hollywood Twin. In the early '80’s, there was a listing for the Night Shift Theatre (later Nightshift 1 and 2) at that same address. The Night Shift operated upstairs over the Hollywood Twin. Perhaps it had morphed into the Moulin Rouge Triplex by 1985.
Show Palace was located across Eighth Avenue from Show World between 42nd and 43rd Streets and both establishments were owned by Richard Basciano – in fact, Show World continues operation to this day, though in a smaller space than in its heyday. Show Follies was in the old Cine 1 & 2 (which is listed on CT) on Seventh Ave – sandwiched between the DeMille and the Doll – and was also owned by Basciano. I thought of adding the two Eighth Ave venues to CT at one point, but I wasn’t able to verify beyond doubt that either of them had ever screened actual films. I believe they were known mostly as “live” peep-show venues with video booths.
Thanks plenum, although you just burst my bubble! I was really looking forward to treating the kids to the organ show moreso than the film. Due to work, there’s no way I’ll make it to the Loew’s on Friday night. Darn the luck! I’ll keep my fingers crossed and check the website for a hopeful update. Otherwise, I might scrap plans alltogether and just hold off my first visit to the Loew’s until better weather returns to the area. Not that the Loew’s isn’t a worthy destination even without the organ show – but that was the dangling carrot that made suffering the journey to Jersey City this weekend (not to mention schlepping the kids) even more worthwhile.
Of course, couldn’t the filmmaker’s have done their own in-camera masking to fill the unused portion of the scope screen with projected blackness – a virtual masking, if you will?
That’s the show I saw, Al. The Caesar’s Palace OMNIMAX dome is gone, but I believe there is a standard IMAX theatre in the Luxor Hotel. I think the difference between IMAX and OMNIMAX was that latter’s curved dome presentation. The films geared towards dome presentation were in more of a fisheye perspective with the viewer’s peripheral vision seeming to extend up and over one’s head as well as below the point where one’s eyes would naturally fix their focus – that is, assuming one was situated among the very few “sweet-spot” seats about 1/3 of the way up the stadium and dead center on the screen’s vertical axis.
Hey… Does anyone know when the organ music starts this Saturday the 15th? The website lists a 6pm showtime for MARY POPPINS – but I’m not sure if this includes the organ sing-along portion of the show. The listing for MIRACLE ON 34th STREET on Friday the 14th specifically states the organ show will begin 30 minutes before the 7:30 screening. I want to bring the kids along on Saturday and would like to make sure to catch the entire program. Thanks!
Do they still include the IMAX introduction at the original tall IMAX facilities (such as the Lincoln Square)? There wasn’t a curtain, but there was an interesting and slowly changing lighting scheme to mask the vast whiteness of the blank screen before a show. As well, just before the feature, a voice would come over the loudspeaker to give a brief overview on the specs of the IMAX screen, film guage and projection process – during backlights would be brought up behind the screen to reveal the massive steel framework on which the screen was hung. After the show, audiences were invariably asked to exit at the rear of the auditorium and would be led around the back of the glass enclosed projection booth where they could glimpse the massive platter and projector on the way out. I’m not sure if this last glimpse behind the curtain was a part of the Lincoln Square show – I might be remembering that particular bit of showmanship from my earlier experiences with the format in Las Vegas and Niagara Falls. In the version I saw in Las Vegas way back in 1980, the format was advertised as “Omnimax” and was presented in a dome at Caesar’s Palace.
Hey… Never mind my last post. I just read the article posted on the CT home page. I just waxed over the fact that this is IMAX digital and NOT the 70mm film prints.
So, it’ll be IMAX shoehorned into a standard multiplex box? What do you mean by “edited” for IMAX – is that due to a difference in the aspect ratio? Or do you refer to different editing choices to maximize the 3-D sequences? Aside from that, isn’t IMAX on a standard multiplex screen basically a 70mm presentation? Or is that too simple a comparison?
I imagine that the atmosphere along Sixth Avenue was a lot different back when the El was still in service.
Ugh! One of the worst movies I ever saw – but not at the Rivoli (I was suckered out of my money at the Century’s Green Acres in this particular situation). Thanks for jogging the memories just the same, RobertR. Keep those ads coming! Do you have an ad from when George Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD played here in 1979 by chance? I remember walking into the great vastness of the Rivoli for that zombie classic and there was a faint aroma of vomit at the rear of the auditorium. I almost walked out due to the odor, but as we approached our intended destination within the first 10 rows, the air – thankfully – smelled a bit fresher and more tolerable.
Where do they have a space big enough to accommodate an IMAX auditorium? Are they building up our out into an adjacent building? Or are they combining existing auditoriums and reducing the overall number of screens? I’m with Warren on this issue – I think IMAX will draw bigger in Times Square than it does uptown.
Interesting, Love movies. PLANET OF THE APES is one of the earliest movie-going memories I have. I was a mere tot of 3 or 4 and not really old enough to comprehend the film on any major level, but there are images that I can recall having stayed with me as an older child of 9 or 10 when I finally saw the movie again on re-release. I saw CONQUEST and BATTLE (the final two chapters) on their original theatrical release in the early ‘70’s and then finally saw ALL FIVE of the original films during the summer of 1974 when Fox re-released them in the infamous all-day “GO APE” package! What fun that was.
You’re really not missing much as the sequels were quite inferior to the original (with each successive film being more cheaply produced than the last), but there are interesting elements in each film and the “saga” as a whole goes full circle. Anyway, they were great entertainments for kids – certainly not geared towards older, more discerning audiences!
Hey Loves Movies… We agree on the ending of PLANET OF THE APES! That is a great ending… and we continue to hear the sound of the waves crashing on the beach as the credits come up over a black screen. Perfect ending and classic Rod Serling. Tim Burton (who I otherwise greatly admire) really mucked it up with his remake. Not that the newer version is without merit – but that ending is tacked on without any semblance of logic or continuity. Just a feeble attempt to recreate the shock of the original’s final and inspired twist. Also have to say that the musical score by the otherwise dependable Danny Elfman in the Burton film can’t compare to Jerry Goldsmith’s innovative score for the ‘68 film.
All three of those films by my “favorite” director, Roland Emmerich. In his IMDB.COM biography, it is said that his favorite films are the disaster epics of the early ‘70’s (EARTHQUAKE, TOWERING INFERNO, POSEIDON ADVENTURE). That makes sense. Of the lot, I probably enjoyed DAY AFTER TOMORROW the best of all. You may be on to something there, Manwithnoname… That’s the only one of the three that I only saw on TV (albeit on a nice 60 inch in HD). I’ve never revisited GODZILLA on TV, but I did give ID4 another go with a DVD rental and I hated it even more than the first time I saw it on the big screen! I still think he’s a hack. STARGATE wasn’t horrible, but that’s faint praise. I think his most effective bit of filmmaking is the sequence in THE PATRIOT (which I think was actually CUT from the movie and seen only as an extra on the DVD) where Mel Gibson’s child stands by the river behind their house and watches in silent horror as the bodies of the dead soldiers from the battle upstream start to float past her.
He’s got a remake of FANTASTIC VOYAGE in the works for 2010.
Hopefully, if the Empire State Building gets it in this flick, it won’t be depicted as being situated in the MIDDLE of Fifth Avenune like it was in INDEPENDENCE DAY (more Emmerich schlock that I hated)! Smith does have a good track record in the genre. As much as I hated ID4, it was a hugely popular film. I greatly enjoyed the lighthearted MIB flicks and think that I ROBOT was a very satisfying sci-fi actioner. Very much looking forward to this version of I AM LEGEND.
That’s exactly how I feel, Manwithnoname. And then ONLY if the crap about me was completely false!
I guess we have different tastes, Loves movies. I actually enjoyed BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and was quite terrified by much of it!
The 1998 GODZILLA was a really bad movie, primarily (IMHO) because I think its director Roland Emmerich is a hack. I have a bit more hope for CLOVERFIELD. I am a fan of monster/sci-fi flicks that are well done (as opposed to the ‘overdone’ approach taken by Emmerich) and so far I’ve enjoyed JJ Abrams work on “Lost” and MI3 – even though he is not the director here, but a producer. This is a movie I’ll probably try to catch on the big screen – provided it isn’t universally panned as completely inept.
That’s right… Apparently in this version of the venerable tale, the Government blows up the bridges in order to quarantine an infected population.
Here’s a link to the I AM LEGEND poster.
And this link is to the CLOVERFIELD ad.
Loves movies… I think you’re being overly sensitive. I’m a NYC native (born, raised and still living in the area) and I see this as just another monster movie. Have you seen the trailer for the film which shows the head of the Statue of Liberty being hurled like a bowling ball down a Manhattan street? Maybe I’m just overly INsensitive, but I’m actually intriqued by the movie and look forward to seeing it. There has been much discussion and speculation on boards all over the net as to the nature of this particular film – albeit mostly from the film-geek perspective of trying to figure out what the “monster” is and how much of it will producer JJ Abrams (of “Lost” fame) show us in the final cut.
You bring up an interesting and fair point, but from my perspective, I see nothing offensive. Monster movies and terror films always seem to reflect something about the collective psychology of the times. When Godzilla rampaged around Tokyo back in the ‘50’s, the citizens of Japan were not that much further removed from the devestating nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Often, films like this provide a catharsis of sorts for folks reeling from disaster or dealing with deep-rooted fears in the aftermath of real life horror such as that perpetrated on 9/11. Let’s see how the rest of the country (and NYC in particular) responds at the box office.
I think the Post is probably your best bet out of all the dailies – though the Daily News still ran the ads and kept XXX theatres in the movie-clock into the early ‘80’s as well. Forget the Times or Newsday completely.
Here’s 1982 ad for the Avon 7 from the March 8th edition of the Post.
And here’s the following day’s ad offering a new program.
By the mid 1980’s (I have old papers from ‘85 and '86) the porn ads in either the Post or News were pushed off the main movie-ad pages and were very few in number – you might find one or two postage stamp-sized ads placed by a couple of XXX cinemas mixed in with the ads for strip clubs and hourly-rate motels. And the XXX houses were bumped from the movie clocks completely – even in the Post. A few porno houses still advertised in the News’ “Movie Directory” or the Post’s “Neighborhood Movie Guide” – features that lasted in both papers even into the early ‘90’s.
If it did, Al, it would have only been temporarily so – as the theatre was operating as the Avon 7 well into the 1980’s (and perhaps later than that). Several mini-cinemas existed in the area of Seventh and W. 48th Street for which not a whole lot of history is available. I wonder if the Park-Miller relocation is a part of the elusive history of either the Frisco Theatre or the New Mini Cinema, both of which may or may not have been the same theatre operating under different names. Even closer to 48th Street, there was an Ellwest Stereo Theatre adjacent to the Metropole Cafe that opened around 1973. There’s also the Doll Theatre and Cine 1 & 2 to consider due to their proximity to 48th and Seventh.
Al… while you’re pondering all that, would you happen to recall a small storefront “World Theatre” that operated on the south side of 49th Street on the short block between B'way and Seventh Ave adjacent to the RKO Warner Video Store – probably opening up AFTER the original World Theatre had become the Embassy 49th Street in the 1980’s. I posted an image of the new World’s marquee on the old World/Punch & Judy page. Thanks for any info you might have on that one!