Radio City Music Hall
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
1260 6th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10020
116 people
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It was wonderful to see the ad for “Ginger” starring Jane Withers. It only played a week at the Hall July 18 – 24 in 1935. It’s gross of $59,000 for the week was one of the lowest of the year, but it actually beat the following one-weeker “She” starring Helen Gahagan by $1,000. 1935 was an historical year for the Hall as it premiered the first Technicolor film “Becky Sharp” earlier that summer (June 13 – 26). But more importantly “Top Hat” opened in September and grossed $134,800, breaking the house gross and attendance record and playing 3 weeks. It held that record well into the 1940s. A Shirley Temple film “Curly Top” followed “She” and also only played one week grossing a fairly sizable $82,000. Temple’s “Littlest Rebel” played 11 days over Christmas.
Check out this short film about television. There is a quick shot of a sold out Music Hall audience.
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Hi there theatre geeks.. I think someone above posted they would like this.. so here is a list of Rockettes:
1940 Daily News Rockettes Exponents of Precision Dancing
(two page photo spread)
Left to Right
Ann Hastings, Meadville, PA
Virginia Wallace, Auburn, Me
Mary Marchetti, Cambridge, MA
Ann Kalman, Cleveland, OH
Peggy Todd, Kearny, NJ
Kay Birk, St. Louis, Mo
Iris Harris, Norfolk, Va
Helene Dernell, Albany, NY
Miriam Morgan, Atlanta, Ga
Olga Burke, Newark, NJ
Marie Graham, Queens, NY
Joan Mann, Winchester, Ky
Eleanor Bellman, New York City
Pat O’Neill, St. Louis, Mo
Muriel LeCount, Brooklyn, NY
Margo Linder, Cisco, Tx
Betty Sasscier, Brooklyn, NY
Terry Adams, Lousiville, Ky
Dean Myles, Hollywood, Ca
Bonnie Bradley, Youngstown, Oh
Marjorie Gaye, Dallas, Tx
Jane Stribling, St. Louis Mo
Helen Fried, Astoria, Queens
Virginia Vollmer, St. Louis, Mo
Louise Newman, Brooklyn, NY
Betty Collette, Glendale, Queens
Jeanette Dix, Hallwood, Va
Isobel Block, New York City
Georgina Yaeger, New York City
Judy Sammons, Toronto, Canada
Florence Malle, New York City
Jane Everett, Kansas City, Mo
Mitzi Perry, Niagara Falls, NY
Frances Peterson, Chicago
Dorothy Laxson, Minneapolis, MN
Lee Marshall, Lincoln Neb
1942 Daily News Rockettes Artists of Precision Dancing
(two page photo spread)
Left to Right:
Ann Hastings, Meadville, PA
Virginia Wallace, Auburn, Me
Vini Likely, Haverhill, Mass
Kay Birk, St. Louis, Mo
Bettie Vincent, Chester, Pa
Miriam Morgan, Atlanta, Ga
Muriel LeCount, New York City
Kathryn Harkin, Philadelpia, PA
Ruth Bannon, Newark, NJ
Dorothea Frank, Newark, NJ
Marion Block, Columbus, OH
Betty Colette, Glendale, Queens
Louise Newman, Brooklyn, NY
Jeanne Phillips, Jersey City, NJ
Jane Everett, Kansas City, MO
Florence Mallee, New York City
Mitzie Perry, Niagara Falls, NY
Dorothy Laxson, Minneapolis, MN
Gene Martin, Naugatuck, CT
Judy Sammons, Toronto, Ont
Mary Ann Crawford, Columbus, OH
Jeanette Dix, Hallwood, VA
Virginia Volmer, St. Louis, MO
Marjorie Gaye, Dallas TX
Helen Fried, Astoria, Queens
Virginia Henry, Newburyport, Mass
Eleanor Bellman, New York City
Iris Harris, Norfolk, Va
Pat O’Neill, St. Louis, Mo
Marie Graham, Winfield, Queens
Olga Burke, Newark, NJ
Helen Dernell, Albany, NY
Muriel Kilduff, Chicago
Mary Woods, Mount Royal, NJ
Suzanne Graves, Kansas City, Mo
I believe the queue was for the ‘61 film if I’m not mistaken which would have been Babes in Toyland which started late in the month. I wonder why Flower Drum Song wasn’t the Christmas film that year. From what I’ve heard Babes is pretty bad.
In the 70’s I don’t remember the lines ever being that long. The longest I remember is it winding around 3 times.
Does anybody remember it filling up the plaza then going down to Fifth Av then going back up 51st St?
Yeah, I knew what you were talking about Warren… I just didn’t read the caption in my souvenir booklet correctly. As Bill corrected, the caption also referred to Cary Grant the star not the movie itself. My error. I remember standing in line for “Mame” and other shows, but then, I mostly attended the Hall during holiday shows (though I can also remember at least one non-holiday show that featured Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”). I’m sure there were times we just marched right in, but the queue depicted in that photo is how I tend to remember waiting to get into the Hall. And we always sat somewhere in the orchestra – perhaps because we’d get there early enough to ensure those seats.
I remember when I was eight waiting on line with my parents for three hours to see the 1958 Christmas show which was “Auntie Mame”. Can still visualize seeing it on the huge screen and the stage show after. That was the first of many trips and long lines to both the Christmas and Easter shows. Still have many of the Showplaces which bring back memories of what a wonderful place it was.
For both “Mink” and “The Odd Couple” we walked right in, went up to the 3rd mezzanine and found seats. The movie had probably already started, but that was a common practice back then – to stay and see what you missed, then get up and leave at the point where you came in.
The only time I was stuck in a really bad line was for “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”, the 1969 Christmas show. The line filled Rockefeller Plaza in a Disney World-like zigzag, as seen in the final picture in Ed Solero’s Feb. 20th post. It took hours – can’t remember how many, but we got on the line around noon and it had gotten dark by the time we entered the Hall.
Bill I’m very curious about hit films like Mink and Odd Couple which played for months.As I have mentioned before I was told back in 76 by an old manager that Couple had as many people on the last day as on the first.
Were there continual lines for these films? Or did you just walk up to the box office buy a ticket and then go in? Was it crowded or were you able to sit where you wanted to quite easily?
I have this impression that from 68 and before when the Hall had a hit film you always had to wait on line and the theater was always crowded especially during the summer. Did you find this was the case?
By the 70’s the only time you had to wait on line was for the holiday show and that was only during the weekends and the holiday week. And even this only lasted until Mame in 74. A film that not only damaged Ball’s reputation but the Music Hall’s as well.
Ed: I think that caption is referring to Cary Grant, and not the movie, as the Music Hall’s all-time box-office champ, which Warren pointed out right above your post. I always thought “The Odd Couple” was the biggest-grossing movie to play there. I was lucky enough to see both “That Touch of Mink” and “The Odd Couple” at the Hall.
Wouldn’t they have done so much better with Walk Don’t Run rather than Kaleidascope which I have the impression did rather poorly?
Did Touch of Mink really do better than Odd Couple with a 10 week run?
And while I like glossy starry 60’s comedies Mink is pretty bad.
Warren… the Grant & Doris Day comedy “That Touch of Mink” is listed in my souvenir booklet as RCMH’s all time box office champ:
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And note that “The Odd Couple”, which played 6 years after “Mink”, had a record breaking 14-week run at the Hall – though apparently not well enough attended to top the business that “Mink” brought in.
B.O.Bill… Unfortunately, I do not still have the Showplace Program for “Crossed Swords”.
Ed— Many thanks— I have a bunch of such booklets from the early ‘50s, along with programs from RCHM of that vintage, which I’ll post on these pages when I return later in the Spring. I’d love to see the Showplace Program for “Crossed Swords” if you still have it.
BoxOfficeBill… this was a souvenir booklet about the movie itslef – with cast and credits and production stills – not a program in the sense of the old Playbill-types that the RCMH used to distribute for free. I paid for this booklet at the candy counter. Many films used to sell these kinds of books at the concession stands (I still have a great deal of them – “Star Wars”, “Rocky II”, “Moonraker”, “Reds”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, etc.) even at the neighborhood theaters. I just posted a couple of vintage booklets for “How the West Was Won” (on the Capitol Theater page) and “Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” (on the Strand Theater page).
EdSolero— Was the program for “Crossed Swords” a booklet for the film only, or did it include a list of the stage acts such as the “Showplace Program” presented in earlier years? The colorful cover bears no resemblance to the older monochrome programs. The stucker about “final attraction” is sad—a perverse parody of the “next attraction” announcements that graced the former programs.
Thank you EdSolero for that wonderful post, it was kind of you to take the time to do that. I for one always get great pleasure in those trips down memory lane.
Hey Ron, Charles Francisco’s book The Radio City Music Hall lists all the films that played from 1933 – 1978. There are some errors and omissions but for the most part a very valuable reference. The calendar years are not always in synch with the films of that year. For instance, a film that actually opened in January might be listed as opening in the previous December, but that’s rare. As for the weeks played, that’s a wonderful game to play if you know the business. You can always check with the New York Times on microfilm and also weekly Variety. I’ve done it with the grosses.
Would anyone have a list of all the films that played the Hall and how many weeks each one played? I’m sure thousands of people would be interested. Would one have to go the NY Times or some other journal to find out? Someone, somewhere must have a list.
I found my souvenir booklets from the last time I saw a movie presentation at RCMH, back in 1978. The film was “Crossed Swords” and it was advertised as the Hall’s “final attraction”, although regular movie and stage show programming remained for another year or so after this engagement. Here’s the cover to the “Crossed Swords” souvenir program (with a red “Final Attraction” sticker)as well as a number of images from the booklet I purchased about the Hall itself:
Crossed Swords – “Final Attraction”
RCMH Souvenir Cover
Ushers and managers
Glory of Easter
Nativity
Kol Nidre
Rockettes rehearsal
Rehearsal page detail
Orchestra
Orchestra detail 1
Orchestra detail 2
Grand Organ – Ray Bohr
Movies at the Hall
Movies at the Hall cont’d
Lucille Ball
Special Events
Executives
Set design
The Great Stage
Great Stage diagram
REndres!!!
Maintenance
The queue!
I know a few RCMH veterans post here, so I hope this stirs a few memories and sparks more conversation on this page.
I had the pleasure of attending the New York Theatre Organ Society’s annual Organ Concert on February 4. What a joy is was to be in the Music Hall in such an informal setting. The music was as spectacular as anything I’ve ever seen on stage. Congratulations to the NYTOS and to the organists. I hope the Music Hall management will get involved and create more programs like this.
Vincent— Perhaps “Serenade” had a whiff of both terrible and unsuitable about it. David Thompson, a great fan of the director Anthony Mann, thought it “intolerable,” even if Mann’s wife Sarita Montiel was a co-star. The plot had its lurid moments and seemed inappropriate for family fare, but was wholly ripe for wisecracks from teenage boys. Yes, the films you mention were variously off-key, too; but other hoilday films included “Kim,” “Royal Wedding,” “Singin' in the Rain,” “Funny Face,” “Auntie Mame,” “The Sundowners,” “Charade” (even if some complained), and “How To Succeed in Business,” no mean bundles of celluloid.
By the way the nadir of the 60’s holiday films was A Boy Named Charlie Brown or was it The Impossible Years(or That Darn Cat or Father Goose or Moon Pilot or The Singing Nun or …)
BOB,
Was Serenade a terrible movie or was it just unsuitable for the Easter show? In the program photo Lanza’s face looks very puffy despite the fact that he might have been in his mid 30’s.
The Music Hall seems to have had at this point a run of bad Easter films starting with Rose Marie. I assume Green Mansions was the nadir of the 50’s holiday shows Christmas and Easter(July 4th, Thanksgiving…)
Here’s a Program from April, 1956:
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Mario Lanza’s “Serenade†might rank among RCMH’s worst holiday film selections, but it points to the tremendous purchase that “the singing Clark Gable†held on the American public. It certainly drew a trio of teenagers to W. 50 Street, largely to flaunt their cruel boyish talents for mocking grand opera. As our elders threatened to call upon ushers to eject us, we simply kept changing seats. At one time or another that day, we had occupied just about every section in the orchestra and third balcony.
During the stage show, we greeted “The Glory of Easter†with at least some pretense of decorum, but the act that seized our sincere and undivided attention was Larry Griswold’s gymnastic turn. One of the inventors of the trampoline, Griswold impersonated a rubber-limbed drunk who climbed atop a high-diving-board and swing precariously from its edges, only to plunge into and bounce back from a spring-netted “swimming pool.†The shtick, widely performed on t.v. variety shows at the time, invariably brought the house down, and it thrilled us to see the real thing live On The Great Stage.
Less could be said for the musical finale that featured the pop song “No, Not Much.†The previous summerâ€"the summer of ‘55â€"Bill Haley seared our imaginations with “Rock Around the Clock,†and after that we could no longer tolerate any tunes from earlier decades. RCMH did not allow R&R to degrade its sound system until much later that Spring (see above, 5 Jan.). Meanwhile, its management had to have conceded that Lanza was washed up and that hooligans like me portended the future of ticket sales. At least in those days, the Showplace of the Nation knew how to adapt.
“Serenade†and the Easter show drew such a diverse clientele only a few weeks short of fifty years ago. As I look through my collected programs, I’m surprised to find that I have none from the mighty year that preceded it. In 1955 I had turned thirteen and had fallen in with a bad crowd. For a while, I feigned great indifference to the Rockettes and preferred to hang out with my friends in barrooms and back alleys, or at least at Loew’s Alpine where we smoked Kool cigarettes and watched Martin and Lewis movies. Fathers warned one other, “Lock up yer daughters; Box Office Billy’s a hormone-raging teenager now.†By the time I finally snapped out of that phase, I had lost a great deal. But I still have a clutch of programs from 1954 and earlier, and I’ll share them eventually on this site. Under the crunch of upcoming work, I’ll be running for the next couple of months with no access to a scanner. Till that’s over, this seems a good time to pause.
Ed: I too used to watch the scrambled WHT picture with the DJ guy. I remember once watching the entire scrambled version of “The Spy Who Loved Me”. Thanks for the reminder!