According to the information on this page from the February 19, 1916 edition of Motion Picture World the theater was operating as of that date and was going to be expanded to seat 400.
Apparently the ALDINE vertical was removed in 1936 or thereabouts.
It is interesting that the building that is above and to the right of the theater’s marquee in both photos (essentially surrounding the theater’s entrance) is gone in the photo posted by lostmemory on October 29, 2005, and that a vertical sign reading NIXON was installed on the beveled face of the building across the street (to which was also attached the left end of the later alley-spanning marquee).
There are some photos posted within some earlier comments of the building that has the vertical NIXON sign on it indicating that that building was the theater, but the theater was really across the alley.
bigjoe59: See the Pacific’s entry here on CT here. It has been used as a church and for some industry events, but it needs serious repair and renovations.
I agree, EdSolero; add to that the fact that recitification, in the view of many, did not help all that much, which may be why it was not used on 70mm Cinerama films shot in Super Panavision 70 or Technirama 70. I remember seeing “Mad World” at the Palace in Cleveland on its deeply curved Cinerama screen and there was still some splaying at the extreme edges. ‘Bulge" looked better at the Great Northern, but the screen had a shallower curve.
I can’t recall where I read it years ago, but Stanley Kramer was not totally happy with the way the initial presentations of “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” looked at some of the roadshow venues as screen sizes, throw, and other factors caused varying amounts of distortion even with the rectified print.
I’m not sure why you made the comment on this theater’s page, dickneeds, but perhaps you might like to see this interior picture of Loew’s Teck showing the Cinerama screen. It’s not the widest one I have ever seen and I doubt that patrons at the extreme left and right sides got the full effect, but I would think that center section folks were probably suitably impressed.
I could be wrong, but I doubt that any prints of “Ben-Hur” were given the rectification treatment for curved screen presentation based on Martin Hart’s information on the Wide Screen Cinema Museum site. My impression is that the only films for which specially rectified prints were ever produced that were those shot in Ultra Panavision 70 from 1963 on that were specifically intended for initial roadshow presentation “in Cinerama”. This was not the case with “Ben-Hur” which came out in 1959.
This would appear to limit the list of films for which rectified prints were made to “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Khartoum,” “The Hallelujah Trail,” and “Battle of the Bulge.” It does not appear that just because a film was originally lensed in Ultra Pan 70/Camera 65 that recitified prints were automatically made. I suppose that a rectified print of “Ben-Hur” could still be made, but I doubt that anyone would go to the bother and expense.
Here is an old postcard view of what is apparently the Proctor’s Theatre in Elizabeth, NJ. The signage also reads “Bijou Dream” but as the comments for the RKO Proctor’s Twenty-Third Street Theatre, “Bijou Dream” appeared for awhile on a number of theaters.
There is a very old picture of the RKO Palace as the Broadstreet Theatre on this webpage. It is below the pictures of the Majestic and will enlarge if clicked upon.
According to the information on this page from the February 19, 1916 edition of Motion Picture World the theater was operating as of that date and was going to be expanded to seat 400.
Screen tower and marquee: View link.
There are additional photos on its gallery page at Drive-ins.com.
A picture of the entrance to the theater can be seen on this webpage.
An article about the takeover of the theater by Paragon is here.
An article about the closing of the theater is here.
Click here to see Broan’s pictures.
A picture of this now closed theater as of 2011: View link
Chuck, I think the link was mis-typed; this is probably what you intended: View link
There is an exterior picture of the theater on this webpage.
Here are two pictures of the the theater as the Aldine in 1935/1937:
View link
View link
Apparently the ALDINE vertical was removed in 1936 or thereabouts.
It is interesting that the building that is above and to the right of the theater’s marquee in both photos (essentially surrounding the theater’s entrance) is gone in the photo posted by lostmemory on October 29, 2005, and that a vertical sign reading NIXON was installed on the beveled face of the building across the street (to which was also attached the left end of the later alley-spanning marquee).
There are some photos posted within some earlier comments of the building that has the vertical NIXON sign on it indicating that that building was the theater, but the theater was really across the alley.
After being used for firefighter training, the venerable Detroit Theater will soon be demolished to make away for a McDonald’s restaurant. View link
bigjoe59: See the Pacific’s entry here on CT here. It has been used as a church and for some industry events, but it needs serious repair and renovations.
There are some before and after renovation pictures on the theater’s official website.
I agree, EdSolero; add to that the fact that recitification, in the view of many, did not help all that much, which may be why it was not used on 70mm Cinerama films shot in Super Panavision 70 or Technirama 70. I remember seeing “Mad World” at the Palace in Cleveland on its deeply curved Cinerama screen and there was still some splaying at the extreme edges. ‘Bulge" looked better at the Great Northern, but the screen had a shallower curve.
I can’t recall where I read it years ago, but Stanley Kramer was not totally happy with the way the initial presentations of “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” looked at some of the roadshow venues as screen sizes, throw, and other factors caused varying amounts of distortion even with the rectified print.
I’m not sure why you made the comment on this theater’s page, dickneeds, but perhaps you might like to see this interior picture of Loew’s Teck showing the Cinerama screen. It’s not the widest one I have ever seen and I doubt that patrons at the extreme left and right sides got the full effect, but I would think that center section folks were probably suitably impressed.
I could be wrong, but I doubt that any prints of “Ben-Hur” were given the rectification treatment for curved screen presentation based on Martin Hart’s information on the Wide Screen Cinema Museum site. My impression is that the only films for which specially rectified prints were ever produced that were those shot in Ultra Panavision 70 from 1963 on that were specifically intended for initial roadshow presentation “in Cinerama”. This was not the case with “Ben-Hur” which came out in 1959.
This would appear to limit the list of films for which rectified prints were made to “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Khartoum,” “The Hallelujah Trail,” and “Battle of the Bulge.” It does not appear that just because a film was originally lensed in Ultra Pan 70/Camera 65 that recitified prints were automatically made. I suppose that a rectified print of “Ben-Hur” could still be made, but I doubt that anyone would go to the bother and expense.
Exterior photo: View link
Here is an old postcard view of what is apparently the Proctor’s Theatre in Elizabeth, NJ. The signage also reads “Bijou Dream” but as the comments for the RKO Proctor’s Twenty-Third Street Theatre, “Bijou Dream” appeared for awhile on a number of theaters.
An archival drawing of the theater’s facade can be seen here: View link
An old picture of the Havelock Picture House can be seen here.
A picture of the former theater is on this webpage.
There is a very old picture of the RKO Palace as the Broadstreet Theatre on this webpage. It is below the pictures of the Majestic and will enlarge if clicked upon.
An archival drawing of the the theater as the Broad Street/Grand Theater: View link
Here is a picture of the building in 2011.
According to the caption accompanying this photo, the cinema was later known as the Studio after the stalls became a bingo hall.