In all fairness to Clearview, neither presentation conscious Walter Reade nor money wasting Cineplex Odeon were willing to spend cash on a presentation element that showed no sign that it helped sell tickets. On non-exclusive runs the Ziegfeld had some of the smallest grosses in Manhattan, consistently outgrossed by curtainless boxes like the Baronet/Coronet, Metro Twin and Chelsea 9. Today it is still outgrossed by the megaplexes on 42nd street.
It is a simple matter of economics over esthetics and public apathy.
When I worked there we had a full time stagehand as well as an IATSE 306 projectionist. Both were useless incompetents but the curtain issue was not their fault.
After about a week’s use the curtain wrapped itself around the coil drum and stopped working until repairs were made. The repair company was costly and took time to get there. This cycle dated back to the opening of the theatre in 1969. Replacing the whole works was not an option because the Ziegfeld was a marginal operation at best.
Many times we considered removing it altogether but mostly it was tied back and not operated when big films opened for fear of losing the whole weekend’s business every time it failed to open.
It could not be manually operated because it was too heavy.
It makes sense in markets like Manhattan where there is only one first-run real IMAX and “AVATAR” was pulled prematurely for “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” from several key 3D runs.
I have worked Times Square theatres. We never denied kids admission during the day and the police had no power to cite the theatres as long as the movie was not considered obscene, which, of course, was almost impossible to determine. We DID have licensed matrons but did not enforce the seating sections as some other city theatres did.
The signs that said ‘unaccompanied children would not be admitted’ were there so we could use them as an excuse to refuse admission to notorious trouble makers. They meant nothing otherwise.
“Swooping down upon the Paramount Theatre in Times Square Wednesday morning, a squad of sixteen Board of Education truant officers, accompanied by several regular policemen, caught and surprised a lot of ninety-six boys and girls playing ‘hookey’ from hot, dull classrooms…parents were summoned and duly warned.”
The article further states that more than 1000 children skip class every day and attend the movies.
Although there was a New York law about admitting children during school hours, no theatre ever enforced it until after the classification system was instituted in 1968 and even then, Walter Reade Theatres (DeMille, Victoria, Astor) refused to acknowledge the rating system.
Adults had to accompany children only to evening performances in Times Square. Children attending alone in the daytime had to sit in the matron’s section where “playing hookey from school” was a problem dating back to at least 1940.
AMC and Regal didn’t put small theaters out of business. Audiences embracing big stadium seating noisy multiplexes did.
If people bought tickets to quaint, small, classic theatres AMC and Regal would have bought, built or remodeled one on every block in America.
You should also note that specialty theatre audiences practically disappeared when the DVD player and VOD arrived.
Shame on filthy wealthy Palm Beach.
They should know better.
So it is IndieHouse, not Indiehouse.
Opened July 16.
http://www.producersclub.com/
Congratulations Josh. All the best!
That re-release of “A Farewell to Arms” was in July 1938.
Could this have been the open-air Miami Beach Strand?
View link
This location may have been part of the New York Theatre and Roof Annex.
/theaters/15178/
In all fairness to Clearview, neither presentation conscious Walter Reade nor money wasting Cineplex Odeon were willing to spend cash on a presentation element that showed no sign that it helped sell tickets. On non-exclusive runs the Ziegfeld had some of the smallest grosses in Manhattan, consistently outgrossed by curtainless boxes like the Baronet/Coronet, Metro Twin and Chelsea 9. Today it is still outgrossed by the megaplexes on 42nd street.
It is a simple matter of economics over esthetics and public apathy.
When I worked there we had a full time stagehand as well as an IATSE 306 projectionist. Both were useless incompetents but the curtain issue was not their fault.
After about a week’s use the curtain wrapped itself around the coil drum and stopped working until repairs were made. The repair company was costly and took time to get there. This cycle dated back to the opening of the theatre in 1969. Replacing the whole works was not an option because the Ziegfeld was a marginal operation at best.
Many times we considered removing it altogether but mostly it was tied back and not operated when big films opened for fear of losing the whole weekend’s business every time it failed to open.
It could not be manually operated because it was too heavy.
British cinemas have been running digital live opera for years, way before AMC installed digital projectors. This is live theatre.
It makes sense in markets like Manhattan where there is only one first-run real IMAX and “AVATAR” was pulled prematurely for “ALICE IN WONDERLAND” from several key 3D runs.
The Miami Drive-In opened in 1938 and was advertised as the largest drive-in in the country. It closed in 1977.
As a legitimate theatre this was called the Upstage.
The term used was “unmarried print”. It was not uncommon at preview screenings nationwide in the eighties.
It’s an aquarium pet shop.
http://www.reefzonecorals.com/
This location is already listed as the Art Towne.
/theaters/12462/
I have worked Times Square theatres. We never denied kids admission during the day and the police had no power to cite the theatres as long as the movie was not considered obscene, which, of course, was almost impossible to determine. We DID have licensed matrons but did not enforce the seating sections as some other city theatres did.
The signs that said ‘unaccompanied children would not be admitted’ were there so we could use them as an excuse to refuse admission to notorious trouble makers. They meant nothing otherwise.
Ad for the newsreel theatre in April 1942, after America entered the war.
View link
From the New York Times, June 7, 1940.
“Swooping down upon the Paramount Theatre in Times Square Wednesday morning, a squad of sixteen Board of Education truant officers, accompanied by several regular policemen, caught and surprised a lot of ninety-six boys and girls playing ‘hookey’ from hot, dull classrooms…parents were summoned and duly warned.”
The article further states that more than 1000 children skip class every day and attend the movies.
Although there was a New York law about admitting children during school hours, no theatre ever enforced it until after the classification system was instituted in 1968 and even then, Walter Reade Theatres (DeMille, Victoria, Astor) refused to acknowledge the rating system.
Adults had to accompany children only to evening performances in Times Square. Children attending alone in the daytime had to sit in the matron’s section where “playing hookey from school” was a problem dating back to at least 1940.
“Fantasia”, longest run in the history of talking pictures:
View link
World’s Wonder News theatre:
View link
By the time the Rockefeller Center subway station opened this site was already doing ice shows.
View link
Jerry Lewis made a personal appearance here on opening week, March 30, 1970 to help launch the site.
View link