Hardbop is right – I would have bought some candy for sure if “Ben-Hur” had an intermission, but like I said before they had very little time to get the audience turned over for the next show.
The manager who told us there would be no intermission also said the Ziegfeld will be showing classics whenever there was a downtime in their schedule for new releases. I think she mentioned September and October. I figure the classics will outgross most of the new releases anyway, even at the reduced admission price.
Having attended the Ziegfeld four times in two weeks reminds me of something Carly Simon sang: These ARE the good old days.
It would’ve been nice to have the intermission at “Ben-Hur” today, but at least a theater manager spoke to the audience about it before the show started so it wasn’t an abrupt shock. It must have been removed to make sure the 4:30 showing of “Braveheart” started on time, but starting “Ben-Hur” at 12 noon instead of 12:30 would’ve solved that problem.
Anyway, that and the curtains being open during the overture were the only disappointments in the whole show. The color was beautiful, no frames were missing, and the sound and score were especially powerful. The sea battle and chariot race were seen and heard to maximum effect in a theater like the Ziegfeld, but the big screen also lent a special dimension to the quieter moments. Ben-Hur’s reunion with his mother and sister in the leper’s cave was never more moving to me than it was today.
Thanks for the Mad World posts, Ed. I like the way they tried to fool the public about single-lens Cinerama being a vast improvement over the 3-strip version, which of course it wasn’t. I too used to make audio tapes of entire movies and play them over and over. I think the one I played the most was Psycho.
Saps: the schedule for the first week of the extension is now posted on the website (Doctor Zhivago, Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest).
Ed: I saw “Mad Mad World” at the Cinerama Dome in 2003. It was a spectacular new 70mm print. The running time of the actual movie was 154 minutes, but it had the opening title song, the police calls intermission (which played over the speakers in the men’s room) and the exit music. I think I read somewhere that Karen Sharpe Kramer, Stanley’s widow, said he always considered the 154-minute version to be his final director’s cut. She was a guest speaker at the Dome that night.
Al: at that same sold-out 1974 show, the people in our row were passing around a large bottle of cough syrup with codeine and taking swigs from it. I and my 11-year-old brother passed on that. Hey, you don’t need any help from substances to get high from “2001”.
A fond Ziegfeld memory: in October 1974 a Sunday night showing of “2001” sold out, and a whole bunch of people wound up sitting on the large expanse of carpeting between the front row and the screen. At a different show later in that engagement I tried it myself, getting down on the floor for the climactic Jupiter sequence. It wasn’t really the best angle to see the screen from, but it’s still a fun memory.
Bob: I think nostalgia has a lot to do with it, in my case anyway. I’d only been to the Loew’s Jersey once before it was closed and re-opened, for “Ben-Hur” in 1961. And I’d never been to or even heard of the Lafayette until the Big Screen Classics series started. But the Ziegfeld was like a home to me. I must have seen “2001” there more than 20 times. Also “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Spartacus”, “Vertigo” – all in 70mm and multiple repeat viewings. Having the classics playing successfully there now makes me feel like the Ziegfeld has come back from the dead.
Craig: Thanks for the beautiful print of “West Side Story”, and thanks in advance for what I’m sure will be a fantastic 70mm print of “Lawrence of Arabia”. If the Ziegfeld were alive, it would be proud at being put to the best possible use.
Ed: Maybe I goofed on the date. All I know for sure is, I saw “Battle” in the Go Ape Festival for the first time. I’ve goofed on dates before – I could’ve sworn my first trip to the Ziegfeld was in 1972 for “West Side Story”. Al Alvarez posted the list of all Ziegfeld engagements, and it was really 1970.
Did you go to the Ziegfeld last night for “West Side Story”? If you did, I’m sure you were most impressed.
It was the 8:15 show last night (2/14). A very good choice for Valentine’s Day, except for all the tragedy at the end. I only wish there was another show after work today or tomorrow – I’d go again. If I were old enough to go to New York alone in 1961-62, I’d probably be going to see it at the Rivoli about once every two weeks.
Since it’s been so successful, maybe Clearview will bring it back to the Ziegfeld once a year?
Another great “West Side Story” show at the Ziegfeld, with an even bigger crowd. It was so big, I had to change my seat during the opening sequence to get away from people talking! It looks like classic movies might be here to stay at the Ziegfeld. I was talking to one of the employees and she said they haven’t had crowds like this for months, not even for the exclusive showing of “The Producers”. She said “Tristan & Isolde” often played to an empty house.
Ed: I saw the 5th film for the first time that day. It was its initial release. I think the whole GO APE thing was a marketing ploy to get people to see #5. One good thing about the out-of-order showings: the best film in the series wasn’t gotten out of the way right off the bat. I think #3 was the best of the sequels, so the day also ended on a high note.
David: I know what you mean about the atmosphere at the Ziegfeld. It seemed to me like I was attending a show in the ‘70’s for some reason. Maybe it was because the first movie I ever saw at the Ziegfeld was “West Side Story” 36 years ago, but I was noticing things I hadn’t seen in years, like the engraved plaque in the lobby directing patrons to the numbered seats (odd and even). I’m going back tonight.
Theaterat: I did GO APE in 1973, at the Central Theater in Passaic NJ. For some reason they showed them in this order: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3. But it was still a great day, like you said. It was a really big crowd too. I remember people gasping in shock when Heston was stripped bare in the courtroom scene.
Irv: I’m 51, and I grew up with the Beatles, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, “West Side Story”, and many more people and things that have no equivalent in the 21st century. I wouldn’t trade being young in the ‘60’s with being young today for anything.
Thanks CC for that verification. Didn’t mean to sound like a Kael basher earlier – I always enjoyed reading her reviews, even when I disagreed with her. It’s just that she seemed to miss the boat by a mile when it came to some of my all-time favorites, not just “West Side Story” but “Doctor Zhivago”, “Star Wars”, etc. She called “2001” a “monumentally unimaginative movie” – huh? On the other hand, she said “Last Tango in Paris” has “changed the face of an art form”. Does anybody else still think that? Did anyone except her EVER think it? I guess the fact that I still remember the adjectives and phrases she used to put down the movies I loved the most proves that I’m a Kael fan.
CC: Wasn’t “Gee, Officer Krupke” placed AFTER the rumble in the play as well? That makes no sense at all. I think the reversals of that song and “Cool” were the work of the late great screenwriter Ernest Lehman.
I think Kael’s daughter was being sarcastic. If she didn’t like the music, then having to sit through it for two and a half hours would be like a punishment to her, an eternity. Because of Pauline’s job, they most likely saw it on opening week or even opening night, so the soundtrack album wouldn’t have been overplayed yet.
Andreco is right about the drawing power of Cinerama. I’ve gone to see it in Los Angeles twice, and Dayton, OH once. It sure would be nice to get on the subway and see it right here on 54th St., in the city where it was born.
I remember Kael making fun of the “blast of stereophonic music” when the overture started. Seems to me like she’d already made up her mind not to like the movie in the first 30 seconds. Another story about her and WSS: on her way out of the theater after seeing it with her daughter, they overheard someone saying, “I could listen to that music forever.” Kael’s daughter shot back, “We HAVE been listening to it forever!” That remark must have made her mother very proud. There really is no accounting for taste, especially somebody else’s.
Vincent: West Side Story at the Ziegfeld was the next best thing to seeing it at the Rivoli. Wait till you hear the soundtrack. The print is 35mm, not 70mm, but not one frame is missing from it. An excellent show all around – you will love it.
I thought the Ziegfeld did have reel to reel capability (REndres' post on 1/18/06). Maybe this is why they got the 70mm print of “Lawrence of Arabia”.
Hardbop is right – I would have bought some candy for sure if “Ben-Hur” had an intermission, but like I said before they had very little time to get the audience turned over for the next show.
The manager who told us there would be no intermission also said the Ziegfeld will be showing classics whenever there was a downtime in their schedule for new releases. I think she mentioned September and October. I figure the classics will outgross most of the new releases anyway, even at the reduced admission price.
Having attended the Ziegfeld four times in two weeks reminds me of something Carly Simon sang: These ARE the good old days.
It would’ve been nice to have the intermission at “Ben-Hur” today, but at least a theater manager spoke to the audience about it before the show started so it wasn’t an abrupt shock. It must have been removed to make sure the 4:30 showing of “Braveheart” started on time, but starting “Ben-Hur” at 12 noon instead of 12:30 would’ve solved that problem.
Anyway, that and the curtains being open during the overture were the only disappointments in the whole show. The color was beautiful, no frames were missing, and the sound and score were especially powerful. The sea battle and chariot race were seen and heard to maximum effect in a theater like the Ziegfeld, but the big screen also lent a special dimension to the quieter moments. Ben-Hur’s reunion with his mother and sister in the leper’s cave was never more moving to me than it was today.
Thanks for the Mad World posts, Ed. I like the way they tried to fool the public about single-lens Cinerama being a vast improvement over the 3-strip version, which of course it wasn’t. I too used to make audio tapes of entire movies and play them over and over. I think the one I played the most was Psycho.
Saps: the schedule for the first week of the extension is now posted on the website (Doctor Zhivago, Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest).
I may have gotten the idea about Kramer and the shorter cut from this article:
http://povonline.com/notes/Notes110203.htm
It says Kramer was sometimes quoted as saying he preferred the 154-minute version.
Ed: I saw “Mad Mad World” at the Cinerama Dome in 2003. It was a spectacular new 70mm print. The running time of the actual movie was 154 minutes, but it had the opening title song, the police calls intermission (which played over the speakers in the men’s room) and the exit music. I think I read somewhere that Karen Sharpe Kramer, Stanley’s widow, said he always considered the 154-minute version to be his final director’s cut. She was a guest speaker at the Dome that night.
Al: at that same sold-out 1974 show, the people in our row were passing around a large bottle of cough syrup with codeine and taking swigs from it. I and my 11-year-old brother passed on that. Hey, you don’t need any help from substances to get high from “2001”.
A fond Ziegfeld memory: in October 1974 a Sunday night showing of “2001” sold out, and a whole bunch of people wound up sitting on the large expanse of carpeting between the front row and the screen. At a different show later in that engagement I tried it myself, getting down on the floor for the climactic Jupiter sequence. It wasn’t really the best angle to see the screen from, but it’s still a fun memory.
Craig: You’ve outdone yourself. I’ll be going to ALL of them – some of them more than once. Thanks!
Bob: I think nostalgia has a lot to do with it, in my case anyway. I’d only been to the Loew’s Jersey once before it was closed and re-opened, for “Ben-Hur” in 1961. And I’d never been to or even heard of the Lafayette until the Big Screen Classics series started. But the Ziegfeld was like a home to me. I must have seen “2001” there more than 20 times. Also “Lawrence of Arabia”, “Spartacus”, “Vertigo” – all in 70mm and multiple repeat viewings. Having the classics playing successfully there now makes me feel like the Ziegfeld has come back from the dead.
Craig: Thanks for the beautiful print of “West Side Story”, and thanks in advance for what I’m sure will be a fantastic 70mm print of “Lawrence of Arabia”. If the Ziegfeld were alive, it would be proud at being put to the best possible use.
Ed: Maybe I goofed on the date. All I know for sure is, I saw “Battle” in the Go Ape Festival for the first time. I’ve goofed on dates before – I could’ve sworn my first trip to the Ziegfeld was in 1972 for “West Side Story”. Al Alvarez posted the list of all Ziegfeld engagements, and it was really 1970.
Did you go to the Ziegfeld last night for “West Side Story”? If you did, I’m sure you were most impressed.
It was the 8:15 show last night (2/14). A very good choice for Valentine’s Day, except for all the tragedy at the end. I only wish there was another show after work today or tomorrow – I’d go again. If I were old enough to go to New York alone in 1961-62, I’d probably be going to see it at the Rivoli about once every two weeks.
Since it’s been so successful, maybe Clearview will bring it back to the Ziegfeld once a year?
Another great “West Side Story” show at the Ziegfeld, with an even bigger crowd. It was so big, I had to change my seat during the opening sequence to get away from people talking! It looks like classic movies might be here to stay at the Ziegfeld. I was talking to one of the employees and she said they haven’t had crowds like this for months, not even for the exclusive showing of “The Producers”. She said “Tristan & Isolde” often played to an empty house.
Looking forward to “Ben-Hur” next week.
Ed: I saw the 5th film for the first time that day. It was its initial release. I think the whole GO APE thing was a marketing ploy to get people to see #5. One good thing about the out-of-order showings: the best film in the series wasn’t gotten out of the way right off the bat. I think #3 was the best of the sequels, so the day also ended on a high note.
David: I know what you mean about the atmosphere at the Ziegfeld. It seemed to me like I was attending a show in the ‘70’s for some reason. Maybe it was because the first movie I ever saw at the Ziegfeld was “West Side Story” 36 years ago, but I was noticing things I hadn’t seen in years, like the engraved plaque in the lobby directing patrons to the numbered seats (odd and even). I’m going back tonight.
Theaterat: I did GO APE in 1973, at the Central Theater in Passaic NJ. For some reason they showed them in this order: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3. But it was still a great day, like you said. It was a really big crowd too. I remember people gasping in shock when Heston was stripped bare in the courtroom scene.
Theaterat: Add PLANET OF THE APES and you could spend the entire day with Charlton Heston’s three greatest films.
Irv: I’m 51, and I grew up with the Beatles, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, “West Side Story”, and many more people and things that have no equivalent in the 21st century. I wouldn’t trade being young in the ‘60’s with being young today for anything.
Thanks CC for that verification. Didn’t mean to sound like a Kael basher earlier – I always enjoyed reading her reviews, even when I disagreed with her. It’s just that she seemed to miss the boat by a mile when it came to some of my all-time favorites, not just “West Side Story” but “Doctor Zhivago”, “Star Wars”, etc. She called “2001” a “monumentally unimaginative movie” – huh? On the other hand, she said “Last Tango in Paris” has “changed the face of an art form”. Does anybody else still think that? Did anyone except her EVER think it? I guess the fact that I still remember the adjectives and phrases she used to put down the movies I loved the most proves that I’m a Kael fan.
CC: Wasn’t “Gee, Officer Krupke” placed AFTER the rumble in the play as well? That makes no sense at all. I think the reversals of that song and “Cool” were the work of the late great screenwriter Ernest Lehman.
I think Kael’s daughter was being sarcastic. If she didn’t like the music, then having to sit through it for two and a half hours would be like a punishment to her, an eternity. Because of Pauline’s job, they most likely saw it on opening week or even opening night, so the soundtrack album wouldn’t have been overplayed yet.
Andreco is right about the drawing power of Cinerama. I’ve gone to see it in Los Angeles twice, and Dayton, OH once. It sure would be nice to get on the subway and see it right here on 54th St., in the city where it was born.
I remember Kael making fun of the “blast of stereophonic music” when the overture started. Seems to me like she’d already made up her mind not to like the movie in the first 30 seconds. Another story about her and WSS: on her way out of the theater after seeing it with her daughter, they overheard someone saying, “I could listen to that music forever.” Kael’s daughter shot back, “We HAVE been listening to it forever!” That remark must have made her mother very proud. There really is no accounting for taste, especially somebody else’s.
Vincent: West Side Story at the Ziegfeld was the next best thing to seeing it at the Rivoli. Wait till you hear the soundtrack. The print is 35mm, not 70mm, but not one frame is missing from it. An excellent show all around – you will love it.
Did anyone attend “The Misfits” on Saturday and, if so, how was it? Big crowd, etc.? “West Side Story” at the Ziegfeld took priority for me.