While walking uptown from the Port Authority after taking the bus in from Weehawken, NJ, I made believe it was a snowy night in 1961 and I was going to the Rivoli to see “West Side Story”. I passed the Caroline’s Comedy Club where the Rivoli once stood, then headed over to the Ziegfeld. It turned out to be a good omen. My one-word capsule review of “West Side Story” at the Ziegfeld: WOW.
I sat in the front row, center seat. The print was in beautiful condition and the sound was perfect, with lots of deep bass tones. There were several hundred people there, who came out in a blizzard. The audience broke into applause about 5 times during the actual movie, and several more times during the credits. And, for the first time in over 40 years (and thanks to my front row seat and the size of the Ziegfeld’s screen), I finally got to read the title of the book in Gladhand/John Astin’s pocket at the dance: “Existentialism”.
All the people who are complaining about the “My Fair Lady” shows should try not to miss “West Side Story”. It will restore their faith in the Ziegfeld.
Here’s an excerpt from the Robert Wise memo Vito talked about. It was reprinted in the book which came with the “West Side Story” DVD. I am so looking forward to seeing it tonight at the Ziegfeld, even though a blizzard is approaching New York.
It was from a newspaper, but I cut out the picture and didn’t keep the article. It was some years ago, but I seem to remember that the article was about the photographer who took this picture, and not the theater or the diner.
Saps has a good point. In going down the list, my choices for the best movies to play the Ziegfeld in the 90’s are “Spartacus”, “My Fair Lady”, “Vertigo” and the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
“Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?” had an intermission at the Park Lane Theater in Palisades Park, NJ in 1969. It was definitely put in to increase concession sales like Vito said – the movie only ran 1 hour and 41 minutes.
And thanks again Al, for the 90’s at the Ziegfeld.
There’s a Rite Aid around the corner on Kennedy Blvd. near Tonnele Ave. And with Boulevard Drinks, the White Castle and the V.I.P. Diner all a short walk away, I’m completely satisfied. Of course that’s only one man’s opinion – I know plenty of people who would never set foot in a White Castle.
Ed: I will list “Mad Mad World” also, along with “Apocalypse Now”, “Close Encounters” and “Spartacus” – all three of which were previously shown at the Ziegfeld in a most spectacular way. This also applies to the two films I listed on Sunday, “2001” and the Ziegfeld’s long-run record holder, “Ryan’s Daughter”.
Ed: “Reds” had a real intermission and so did “Gandhi” a year later. After that, the only first-runs I can think of that had intermissions were the Ted Turner 4-hour Civil War epics, “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals”.
“Doctor Zhivago”’s intermission is right after the red train carrying Strelnikov speeds past the big train carrying Zhivago and the others, which has been sidelined. It does come out of nowhere but it’s intentional – a direct cut to the Intermission title card – no fadeout or dissolve – accompanied by a big crash of cymbals. It’s very effective, I think.
Catherine: Thanks so much for your efforts to save the DeMille from destruction. Is there a way to preserve the large-screen main theater intact, and construct the other three smaller independent film theaters around it? I believe this is how Arclight Cinemas saved the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. The DeMille could potentially become to New York what the Egyptian Theater is to Los Angeles.
I always thought “The Godfather Part II” was planned with an intermission in mind, but they changed their minds about it before release. There’s a long fadeout and a great Nino Rota musical crescendo right after the Little Italy stoop scene (“Michael, your father loves you very much”) which follows the killing of Don Fanucci. When I saw the film in 1975 I was all set to get up and use the men’s room at this point, a bathroom break I needed badly. Then, a few seconds later, we faded back in to Al Pacino as Michael coming home to his snowy Lake Tahoe house, and I stuck it out for another hour or so. A movie like that is too good to walk out on, unless it’s the most serious emergency. But that’s one more reason why intermissions are a good thing.
When I saw “Schindler’s List” in Italy in 1994 it had an intermission after the ghetto purge sequence, with a title card in the same font as the film’s credits saying “Intervallo”. There was no intermission for the film’s US release, though. It ran about 3 hours 20 minutes, same as “Godfather II”.
Just got back from “The Godfather Part II”. The print was in very good condition. Some scenes were very dark, but I’m sure that’s the way it was supposed to look. And the sound was great – when Pacino screamed at Michael V. Gazzo, “In my HOME!”, it shook the Ziegfeld to its core.
It wasn’t a full house by any means, but it was a good-sized crowd considering it was Super Bowl Sunday. Here’s something that gave me hope for more classic movies at the Ziegfeld: all patrons were given a card where they could list what classics they’d most like to see at the theater in the future. I asked for “2001” and “Ryan’s Daughter”.
The website says “Check Local Newspaper Listings”. Maybe Thursday or Friday?
This reminds me of when “2001: A Space Odyssey” played the Loew’s Astor Plaza in December 2001. The New York Times ad in the Friday paper was so small it could easily be overlooked, and no other papers ran any ads at all. Hundreds of people still managed to find out about it and showed up for the Friday night show.
In November 1962, the opening day of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” at the Stanley broke the all-time attendance record for Jersey City (see the Stanley ad and also the caption under the picture of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford):
Here’s an ad for the Rialto from the Jersey Journal, December 1942. If anyone tried to make a movie like that in 1952 instead of 1942, they’d be hanged for high treason:
In another ad for the same film, try to read the small print on the right-hand side. Even after expanding the image, it might be hard to decipher, but it talks about having your admission “sneerfully refunded” if you’re too cowardly to see the end of the picture. That’s showmanship! :
Al: Wow – another one of your fantastic lists. Thanks for it. I’d like to make two additions, though. In 1978, between REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER and THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL, I saw GREASE at the Ziegfeld. And in 1986 I saw a Kirk Douglas/Burt Lancaster double feature of LUST FOR LIFE and THE PROFESSIONALS. LUST FOR LIFE had turned completely pink, but it was still in CinemaScope on the big Ziegfeld screen.
While walking uptown from the Port Authority after taking the bus in from Weehawken, NJ, I made believe it was a snowy night in 1961 and I was going to the Rivoli to see “West Side Story”. I passed the Caroline’s Comedy Club where the Rivoli once stood, then headed over to the Ziegfeld. It turned out to be a good omen. My one-word capsule review of “West Side Story” at the Ziegfeld: WOW.
I sat in the front row, center seat. The print was in beautiful condition and the sound was perfect, with lots of deep bass tones. There were several hundred people there, who came out in a blizzard. The audience broke into applause about 5 times during the actual movie, and several more times during the credits. And, for the first time in over 40 years (and thanks to my front row seat and the size of the Ziegfeld’s screen), I finally got to read the title of the book in Gladhand/John Astin’s pocket at the dance: “Existentialism”.
All the people who are complaining about the “My Fair Lady” shows should try not to miss “West Side Story”. It will restore their faith in the Ziegfeld.
Here’s an excerpt from the Robert Wise memo Vito talked about. It was reprinted in the book which came with the “West Side Story” DVD. I am so looking forward to seeing it tonight at the Ziegfeld, even though a blizzard is approaching New York.
View link
It was from a newspaper, but I cut out the picture and didn’t keep the article. It was some years ago, but I seem to remember that the article was about the photographer who took this picture, and not the theater or the diner.
View link
This is a picture of the diner I posted back in July 2005.
Saps has a good point. In going down the list, my choices for the best movies to play the Ziegfeld in the 90’s are “Spartacus”, “My Fair Lady”, “Vertigo” and the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
“Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?” had an intermission at the Park Lane Theater in Palisades Park, NJ in 1969. It was definitely put in to increase concession sales like Vito said – the movie only ran 1 hour and 41 minutes.
And thanks again Al, for the 90’s at the Ziegfeld.
BobT: Did a big groan go up from the audience when that “Towering Inferno” intermission came on? That was worse than a network TV commercial break.
There’s a Rite Aid around the corner on Kennedy Blvd. near Tonnele Ave. And with Boulevard Drinks, the White Castle and the V.I.P. Diner all a short walk away, I’m completely satisfied. Of course that’s only one man’s opinion – I know plenty of people who would never set foot in a White Castle.
Ed: I will list “Mad Mad World” also, along with “Apocalypse Now”, “Close Encounters” and “Spartacus” – all three of which were previously shown at the Ziegfeld in a most spectacular way. This also applies to the two films I listed on Sunday, “2001” and the Ziegfeld’s long-run record holder, “Ryan’s Daughter”.
Ed: “Reds” had a real intermission and so did “Gandhi” a year later. After that, the only first-runs I can think of that had intermissions were the Ted Turner 4-hour Civil War epics, “Gettysburg” and “Gods and Generals”.
“Doctor Zhivago”’s intermission is right after the red train carrying Strelnikov speeds past the big train carrying Zhivago and the others, which has been sidelined. It does come out of nowhere but it’s intentional – a direct cut to the Intermission title card – no fadeout or dissolve – accompanied by a big crash of cymbals. It’s very effective, I think.
Catherine: Thanks so much for your efforts to save the DeMille from destruction. Is there a way to preserve the large-screen main theater intact, and construct the other three smaller independent film theaters around it? I believe this is how Arclight Cinemas saved the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. The DeMille could potentially become to New York what the Egyptian Theater is to Los Angeles.
I always thought “The Godfather Part II” was planned with an intermission in mind, but they changed their minds about it before release. There’s a long fadeout and a great Nino Rota musical crescendo right after the Little Italy stoop scene (“Michael, your father loves you very much”) which follows the killing of Don Fanucci. When I saw the film in 1975 I was all set to get up and use the men’s room at this point, a bathroom break I needed badly. Then, a few seconds later, we faded back in to Al Pacino as Michael coming home to his snowy Lake Tahoe house, and I stuck it out for another hour or so. A movie like that is too good to walk out on, unless it’s the most serious emergency. But that’s one more reason why intermissions are a good thing.
When I saw “Schindler’s List” in Italy in 1994 it had an intermission after the ghetto purge sequence, with a title card in the same font as the film’s credits saying “Intervallo”. There was no intermission for the film’s US release, though. It ran about 3 hours 20 minutes, same as “Godfather II”.
Howard is right – it felt great to walk in and see the curtain closed, just like the old days.
Just got back from “The Godfather Part II”. The print was in very good condition. Some scenes were very dark, but I’m sure that’s the way it was supposed to look. And the sound was great – when Pacino screamed at Michael V. Gazzo, “In my HOME!”, it shook the Ziegfeld to its core.
It wasn’t a full house by any means, but it was a good-sized crowd considering it was Super Bowl Sunday. Here’s something that gave me hope for more classic movies at the Ziegfeld: all patrons were given a card where they could list what classics they’d most like to see at the theater in the future. I asked for “2001” and “Ryan’s Daughter”.
The website says “Check Local Newspaper Listings”. Maybe Thursday or Friday?
This reminds me of when “2001: A Space Odyssey” played the Loew’s Astor Plaza in December 2001. The New York Times ad in the Friday paper was so small it could easily be overlooked, and no other papers ran any ads at all. Hundreds of people still managed to find out about it and showed up for the Friday night show.
In November 1962, the opening day of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” at the Stanley broke the all-time attendance record for Jersey City (see the Stanley ad and also the caption under the picture of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford):
View link
This ad from September 20, 1960 made a huge impression on me when I was 5 years old:
View link
Here’s an ad for the Rialto from the Jersey Journal, December 1942. If anyone tried to make a movie like that in 1952 instead of 1942, they’d be hanged for high treason:
View link
Here are some more old Stanley ads from the Jersey Journal, courtesy of the microfilm collection at the Jersey City Public Library.
1942 – Special Reduced Prices for Men and Women in the Armed Forces:
View link
In this ad from July 1961, the director of the Stanley’s attraction threatens to kill you:
View link
In another ad for the same film, try to read the small print on the right-hand side. Even after expanding the image, it might be hard to decipher, but it talks about having your admission “sneerfully refunded” if you’re too cowardly to see the end of the picture. That’s showmanship! :
View link
Here are some more old Loew’s ads from the Jersey Journal, courtesy of the microfilm collection at the Jersey City Public Library.
December 1942:
View link
March 4, 1943:
View link
July 25, 1961:
View link
GREASE was a moveover from either the Loew’s Astor Plaza or the Loew’s State where it originally opened. But of course it was better at the Ziegfeld.
Just about a week before its DVD release, I’d like to salute David Lean’s RYAN’S DAUGHTER for being the long-run champ of the Ziegfeld.
Al: Wow – another one of your fantastic lists. Thanks for it. I’d like to make two additions, though. In 1978, between REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER and THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL, I saw GREASE at the Ziegfeld. And in 1986 I saw a Kirk Douglas/Burt Lancaster double feature of LUST FOR LIFE and THE PROFESSIONALS. LUST FOR LIFE had turned completely pink, but it was still in CinemaScope on the big Ziegfeld screen.
We’ll probably see something in the Movies sections of this Sunday’s New York papers.