Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
favorited this theater
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saps
Well taken, I hadn’t looked, but just remembered him saying that the acting is “fair”; I should have looked at the rest. His subsequent Sunday piece was much more enthusiastic.
Here is today’s NYT review of “Shine A Light”—compare this to the Time Out and then come to the Ziegfeld and judge for yourself (the best critic).
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While Crowther’s review of Psycho probably belongs on the DeMille page, he didn’t exactly pan it in his review of 6/16/60, per this excerpt:
“That’s the way it is with Mr. Hitchcock’s picture — slow buildups to sudden shocks that are old-fashioned melodramatics, however effective and sure, until a couple of people have been gruesomely punctured and the mystery of the haunted house has been revealed. Then it may be a matter of question whether Mr. Hitchcock’s points of psychology, the sort highly favored by Krafft-Ebing, are as reliable as his melodramatic stunts."
I think a good movie transcends its time.
I saw “2001” when I was a kid and my impression was “I don’t have any idea what that was about, but it sure was fun to watch!”
I am still not old enough to fully understand “2001” (nor “Barbarella”), but I still think they are great films.
Ah “Blade Runner”
Can you really beat dialogue like this:
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
I didn’t like “Blade Runner” when I first saw it in 1982, but it grew on me over the years.
I always found this hard to believe, but Pauline Kael reportedly never saw a movie more than once. So when she hated “2001” in 1968, she hated it till the day she died.
Bill:
I have to admit that at age 17, when I first saw “2001.” and used to traditional Holloywood narrative fare, my reaction was the same as when I saw my first Antonioni film the following year, i.e., “What the hell was that?”
I didn’t make that line up. Several years ago, my friend went to a screening of David Lynch’s “Lost Highway” with David Lynch present at the screening. The first question to Lynch during Q and A was “Mr. Lynch, what the hell was that?” Lynch simply replied,“ That was ‘Lost Highway’.”
I still don’t know what “The Piano” is all about. I’ve been told I have to be a woman to really get it. But I bought the DVD and am going to give it another try.
The point of all this is: I don’t see how any critic can draw conclusions with only one viewing of any film.
Bosley Crowther, to his credit, after panning “Psycho,” saw it again and revised his review.
People always bring their own baggage to any film. Take a look at this review of “Shine A Light” opening tomorrow and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
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FYI, the Roling stones movie will be shown not only in IMAX, but in digital as well as 35mm in theaters nationwide, including my theater in Rockaway. It will make some money for a month before Iron Man makes some cash and then Indiana Jones will probably run for several months at the Ziegfeld and unlike Iron Man, will be shown in good old 35mm the way the director intended it to be. It will make money and will run well into the new year.
Renata Adler only seemed to like obscure French or Eastern European movies. If it came from Hollywood, she automatically trashed it. She dismissed “Planet of the Apes” in about 3 small paragraphs. She referred to “Oliver!” as “a cast-iron pastry”. She was my all-time least favorite Times movie critic. Too bad my favorite movie, “2001”, got stuck with her and her condescending style.
The Ziegfeld has had at least two, maybe three major remodels since 1969. The original theatre’s burgundy wall coverings were called “New Orleans Whorehouse decor” when it first opened and then again when it was all redone to spec by Cineplex Odeon in the late eighties. It has since faded into a more acceptable color once again.
The original auditorium floor was fully carpeted, a fact that any theatre operator can tell you is not sustainable if you sell soft drinks. That sour smelling carpet was removed and cup holders added, probably by Clearview.
Kathleen Carroll was the second-string movie critic at the News that year. The first-string critic, Wanda Hale, called “2001” a “grand spectacle” in a World Almanac article on the movies of 1968. Carroll is still around – just last month she appeared at a symposium on Women in Film in Rutherford NJ, near where I live. I should’ve attended that – I would’ve asked her if she ever came to appreciate “2001”, as many critics who panned it at first eventually did. She did compare “Star Wars” favorably to “2001” in her ***½ “Star Wars” review in 1977.
The worst reviewer at that time was Renata Adler at The New York Times. She gave bad reviews to nearly every film she saw, many of which are now regarded as classics, and she only lasted a year at the Times. She’s still alive too.
Besides just being very, very, very, very wrong about 2001, the Daily News review is lazy.
Sure, Kathleen Carroll (anybody know anything about her and her shame?) didn’t like 2001. But it’s not even a good review of a bad film. She doesn’t even summon up the energy to write anything of substance. It’s like a review written by a bored 12 year old of a school production of Hamlet the kid didn’t like. She just glosses over it to the point where I wonder if she even saw it, or maybe someone who didn’t like 2001 gave Kathleen her 20 second review. Not saying everyone has to love 2001 (even if they should), but at least make some points in your review, say something. Just horrible.
Gary, I saw it there too, on June 15, 1968. I watched it last night to commemmorate the 40th anniversary. I better get lost before someone complains about all this Capitol talk on the Ziegfeld page – but the theaters do have “2001” and now “Planet of the Apes” in common.
Hi Bill;
I am happy to say that I did see “2001” at the Capitol. The year before-“In the Heat of The Night,” the first movie I ever paid $3.00 to see. How times have changed or as John Travolta’s father says in “Saturday Night Fever,” “ A $3 raise? $3 won’t even buy $2,” or something like that.
This is also the day “2001: A Space Odyssey” had its big New York premiere at the Capitol, which a lot of people walked out on before it was over. That movie was truly ahead of its time. Here is Kathleen Carroll’s ** ½ review in the New York Daily News:
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“Planet of the Apes” and “2001” were the last two movies to play the Capitol before it was torn down.
No, I already knew there wouldn’t be showings on Sunday and Wednesday. Today, April 3rd, is the last day for APES at the Ziegfeld — and it is in fact the 40th anniversary of the day in 1968 that PLANET opened wide in the NYC area and across the country. I got copies of ads from The New York Times someplace. MLK was assassinated on this day too. 1968 was some year!
Rory, glad you had a good time and you felt the trip was worth it. I was afraid you’d gone to the theater on one of the days when the shows were cancelled.
OK, I’ve been to the “Planet of the Apes” at the Ziegfeld and come back, here’s my comments… First thing, I went on a rainy Monday night to the 8PM showing. Disappointed the lobby didn’t have a poster from the movie. The title wasn’t even on the marquee. That’s not right.
The audience for the show eventually numbered around fifty, give or take, which really wasn’t bad for a rainy Monday night at a theatre showing a forty-year-old movie. They were a subdued audience, but still laughed at this and that, and applauded when Taylor finally spoke again.
About the Ziegfeld…. it dates from 1969 and looks not to have been remodeled since then, but it’s been well maintained. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be (I’ve been in bigger theatres with bigger screens), and I thought it could use upgraded seating, but other than that, you could sit in there and imagine you were seeing the movie back in the late sixties, which is good.
About the print… It was not a restored print as I’d hoped, but it was a new print. However, it was probably printed from an interpositive copy made in either the late eighties or early nineties. There was a lot of dirt during the main titles, for example. The image was darker than what you see on the DVDs, with blocked up shadows, and it was no where near as sharp as what you can get on your monitor at home. I thought the color was generally good throughout the entire film. That never bothered me at all, but the overall “murky” quality of the print disappointed, however I thought there was actually more image around all the edges than you can see on the DVDs and that was appreciated. After the film, a friend and I agreed that although the print we just saw was too dark, we now think the image on the 35th Anniversary DVD is too bright. The interiors of the lab, Dr. Zaius' office at night, the night escape (shot “day for night”), and the interior of the cave, all had greater atmosphere in the print at the Ziegfeld than they do “opened up” on the DVD.
One thing that did not disappoint was the sound. It was stereo and fully dynamic, with details that are either not there or hard to hear on the DVDs. It was was only front speaker stereo from behind the screen, but that’s probably all it ever was.
Now, if I had known what the quality of the print was going to be would I have still traveled to NYC at great expense? The truthful answer is… NO! However, I’m glad I got to see “Planet” in a theatre again with an audience, and that I can now say the last time I saw it was in a huge screen theatre in the middle of Manhattan, and not in a little mutiplex shoebox in 1974 with a tattered print old print (as had been the case with me until last Monday night). And I also enjoyed walking through Times Square again after not having been to NYC in nearly thirty years. I love Manhattan and I wish I could have spent more time there. I even love the subways!
So that’s it from me. Was it worth it? Yeah, it was worth it.
The complete schedule for Planet of the Apes has been on the Ziegfeld website for about two weeks now, including that there were no screenings on Sunday or Wednesday.
I was going to make a Cablevision/Dolan comment, but chose not to. Thanks, Movie534, for saying it anyway.
Sorry for the double entry. My mouse was accidentally hit by a spoon.
There is NO common sense in the land of Jimmy Dolan.
There is NO common sense in the land of Jimmy Dolan.
I agree with Al. The Ziegfeld does make significant money from premieres, and needs the income, HOWEVER, that is no excuse for not informing the public in advance. A Studio doesn’t call The Ziefeld on Friday night and say that they need the theater for a premiere on Saturday.
That said, how difficult can it be to update the phone message and website to let the loyal theatergoers know how to plan to see a movie at their favorite theater?
It’s just common sense. Like using the curtains! If they are there use them! :–)
The Ziegfeld has movie premieres as often as possible. It’s what keep it profitable.