Radio City Music Hall

Ron, I have been reluctant to take up so much space but here are the thirties. Surely someone will let me know of a better way to share these…

Opening dates are within five days:
33/01/15 Bitter Tea of General Yen, The (1933)
33/01/15 Sign of the Cross, The (1932)
33/01/22 King’s Vacation, The (1933)
33/01/29 State Fair (1933)
33/02/05 Sign of the Cross, The (1932)
33/02/12 Topaze (1933)
33/02/19 GREAT JASPER, THE
33/02/26 Our Betters (1933)
33/03/05 King Kong (1933)
33/03/12 Christopher Strong (1933)
33/03/19 Sailor’s Luck (1933)
33/03/26 Sweepings (1933)
33/04/02 YOUNG KING, THE
33/04/09 Cavalcade (1933)
33/04/23 Working Man, The (1933)
33/04/30 Zoo in Budapest (1933)
33/05/07 Silver Cord, The (1933)
33/05/14 WARRIOR’S HUSBAND, THE
33/05/21 ADORABLE
33/05/28 Elmer the Great (1933)
33/06/04 COCKTAIL HOUR
33/06/11 ANN CARVER’S PROFESSION
33/06/18 I LOVED YOU WEDNESDAY
33/06/25 Melody Cruise (1933)
33/07/02 Bed of Roses (1933)
33/07/09 PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62
33/07/16 Professional Sweetheart (1933)
33/07/23 DOUBLE HARNESS
33/07/30 Devil’s in Love, The (1933)
33/08/06 NO MARRIAGE TIES
33/08/13 Pilgramage
33/08/20 Morning Glory (1933)
33/08/27 PADDY, THE NEXT BEST THING
33/09/03 ONE MAN’S JOURNEY
33/09/10 Lady for a Day (1933)
33/09/10 Power and the Glory, The
33/09/24 MY WEAKNESS
33/10/01 Ann Vickers (1933)
33/10/08 Dr. Bull (1933)
33/10/15 Private Life of Henry VIII, The (1933)
33/10/22 AGGIE APPLEBY, MAKER OF MEN
33/10/29 Berkeley Square
33/11/05 AFTER TONIGHT
33/11/12 Only Yesterday (1933)
33/11/19 Little Women (1933)
33/12/10 Counsellor-at-Law (1933)
33/12/17 RIGHT TO ROMANCE, THE
33/12/24 Flying Down to Rio (1933)
34/01/07 If I Were Free (1933)
34/01/14 MAN OF TWO WORLDS
34/01/21 I AM SUZANNE
34/01/28 AS HUSBANDS GO
34/02/04 Nana (1934)
34/02/18 CAROLINA
34/02/25 It Happened One Night (1934)
34/03/04 David Harum (1934)
34/03/11 Spitfire (1934)
34/03/18 George White’s Scandals (1934)
34/03/25 BOTTOMS UP
34/04/01 WILD CARGO
34/04/15 This Man Is Mine (1934)
34/04/22 Stand Up and Cheer (1934)
34/05/06 Twentieth Century (1934)
34/05/13 CHANGE OF HEART
34/05/20 STINGAREE
34/05/27 WHERE SINNERS MEET
34/06/03 Little Man, What Now? (1934)
34/06/10 SISTERS UNDER THE SKIN
34/06/17 Life of Vergie Winters, The (1934)
34/06/24 LET’S TRY AGAIN
34/07/01 Of Human Bondage (1934)
34/07/15 WHOM THE GODS DESTROY
34/07/22 GRAND CANARY
34/07/29 HAT, COAT AND GLOVE
34/08/05 World Moves On, The
34/08/12 One More River (1934)
34/08/19 Cat’s Paw, The (1934)
34/09/02 Fountain, The (1934)
34/09/09 One Night of Love (1934)
34/09/23 Richest Girl in the World, The (1934)
34/09/30 Caravan (1934)
34/10/07 POWER (1934)
34/10/14 Judge Priest (1934)
34/10/21 Age of Innocence, The (1934)
34/10/28 PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, THE
34/11/04 We Live Again (1934)
34/11/18 Gay Divorcee, The (1934)
34/12/02 Broadway Bill (1934)
34/12/16 Music in the Air (1934)
34/12/23 Bright Eyes (1934)
34/12/30 Little Minister, The (1934)
35/01/13 Evergreen (1934)
35/01/20 Romance in Manhattan (1934)
35/01/27 Iron Duke, The (1935)
35/02/03 Good Fairy, The (1935)
35/02/10 Scarlet Pimpernel, The (1935)
35/02/24 ONE MORE SPRING
35/03/03 Whole Town’s Talking, The (1935)
35/03/10 Roberta (1935)
35/03/24 Little Colonel, The (1935)
35/04/07 Life Begins at Forty (1935)
35/04/14 Star of Midnight (1935)
35/04/21 Cardinal Richelieu (1935)
35/05/05 Scoundrel, The (1935)
35/05/12 Informer, The (1935)
35/05/19 Break of Hearts (1935)
35/05/26 ESCAPE ME NEVER
35/06/02 UNDER THE PAMPAS MOON
35/06/09 Our Little Girl (1935)
35/06/16 Becky Sharp (1935)
35/06/30 Love Me Forever (1935)
35/07/21 GINGER
35/07/28 She (1935)
35/08/04 Curly Top (1935)
35/08/11 Farmer Takes a Wife, The (1935)
35/08/18 Alice Adams (1935)
35/09/01 Top Hat (1935)
35/09/22 Steamboat ‘Round the Bend (1935)
35/09/29 She Married Her Boss (1935)
35/10/06 Return of Peter Grimm, The (1935)
35/10/13 Gay Deception, The (1935)
35/10/20 Metropolitan (1935)
35/10/27 FEATHER IN HER HAT, A
35/11/03 Three Musketeers, The (1935)
35/11/10 Peter Ibbetson (1935)
35/11/17 Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, The (1935)
35/11/24 Crime and …Punishment (1935)
35/12/01 I Dream Too Much (1935)
35/12/15 In Person (1935)
35/12/22 Littlest Rebel, The (1935)
35/12/29 Magnificent Obsession (1935)
36/01/12 Sylvia Scarlett (1935)
36/01/19 Strike Me Pink (1936)
36/02/02 Next Time We Love (1936)
36/02/09 Petrified Forest, The (1936)
36/02/23 Follow the Fleet (1936)
36/03/15 COUNTRY DOCTOR, THE
36/03/29 Sutter’s Gold (1936)
36/04/05 Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
36/04/19 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
36/05/03 Under Two Flags (1936)
36/05/17 Show Boat (1936)
36/05/31 King Steps Out, The (1936)
36/06/14 Private Number (1936)
36/06/21 SINS OF MAN
36/06/28 Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)
36/07/12 Bride Walks Out, The (1936)
36/07/19 Green Pastures, The (1936)
36/08/02 Mary of Scotland (1936)
36/08/23 MY AMERICAN WIFE
36/08/30 Swing Time (1936)
36/09/20 My Man Godfrey (1936)
36/10/04 Craig’s Wife (1936)
36/10/11 Gay Desperado, The (1936)
36/10/25 Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
36/11/01 Woman Rebels, A (1936)
36/11/08 As You Like It (1936)
36/11/15 Theodora Goes Wild (1936)
36/11/22 Garden of Allah, The (1936)
36/12/06 Winterset (1936)
36/12/13 More Than a Secretary (1936)
36/12/20 RAINBOW ON THE RIVER
37/01/03 That Girl from Paris (1936)
37/01/10 Lloyds of London (1936)
37/01/31 Plough and the Stars, The (1936)
37/02/07 On the Avenue (1937)
37/02/21 When You’re in Love (1937)
37/03/07 Fire Over England (1937)
37/03/14 Wings of the Morning (1937)
37/03/21 When’s Your Birthday? (1937)
37/03/28 Seventh Heaven (1937)
37/04/11 Quality Street (1937)
37/04/18 WOMAN I LOVE, THE
37/04/25 Star Is Born, A (1937)
37/05/16 Shall We Dance (1937)
37/05/30 This Is My Affair (1937)
37/06/13 Woman Chases Man (1937)
37/06/20 Another Dawn (1937)
37/06/27 Ever Since Eve (1937)
37/07/04 New Faces of 1937 (1937)
37/07/11 Knight Without Armour (1937)
37/07/25 Toast of New York, The (1937)
37/08/08 Stella Dallas (1937)
37/08/22 Vogues of 1938 (1937)
37/09/05 Prisoner of Zenda, The (1937)
37/09/26 Lost Horizon (1937)
37/10/10 Stage Door (1937)
37/10/31 Victoria the Great (1937)
37/11/07 Awful Truth, The (1937)
37/11/21 Stand-In (1937)
37/11/28 Nothing Sacred (1937)
37/12/19 I’ll Take Romance (1937)
38/01/02 Tovarich (1937)
38/01/16 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
38/02/20 Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The (1938)
38/03/06 Bringing Up Baby (1938)
38/03/13 Jezebel (1938)
38/03/27 Fools for Scandal (1938)
38/04/03 Divorce of Lady X, The (1938)
38/04/10 Adventures of Marco Polo, The (1938)
38/05/01 There’s Always a Woman (1938)
38/05/08 Joy of Living (1938)
38/05/15 Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938)
38/06/05 Vivacious Lady (1938)
38/06/19 Blockade (1938)
38/06/26 Holiday (1938)
38/07/10 Having Wonderful Time (1938)
38/07/17 Algiers (1938)
38/08/07 Mother Carey’s Chickens (1938)
38/08/14 Four’s a Crowd (1938)
38/08/21 Four Daughters (1938)
38/09/04 You Can’t Take It With You (1938)
38/09/25 Carefree (1938)
38/10/02 Drums (1938)
38/10/16 There Goes My Heart (1938)
38/10/23 Mad Miss Manton, The (1938)
38/10/30 Young Dr. Kildare (1938)
38/11/06 Young in Heart, The (1938)
38/11/20 Sixty Glorious Years (1938)
38/11/27 Cowboy and the Lady, The (1938)
38/12/11 Dramatic School (1938)
38/12/18 Duke of West Point, The (1938)
38/12/25 Christmas Carol, A (1938)
39/01/01 Topper Takes a Trip (1939)
39/01/08 THERE’S THAT WOMAN AGAIN
39/01/15 Trade Winds (1938)
39/01/22 Great Man Votes, The (1939)
39/01/29 Gunga Din (1939)
39/02/19 Made For Each Other (1939)
39/03/05 Stagecoach (1939)
39/03/19 Love Affair (1939)
39/04/02 Story of Vernon & Irene Castle, The (1939)
39/04/23 Dark Victory (1939)
39/05/07 East Side of Heaven (1939)
39/05/14 Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
39/05/28 Captain Fury (1939)
39/06/11 Sun Never Sets, The (1939)
39/06/18 CLOUDS OVER EUROPE
39/06/25 Good Girls Go to Paris (1939)
39/07/02 Bachelor Mother (1939)
39/07/16 Man in the Iron Mask, The (1939)
39/07/30 Winter Carnival (1939)
39/08/06 In Name Only (1939)
39/08/27 5th Ave. Girl (1939)
39/09/10 Golden Boy (1939)
39/09/24 Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)
39/10/08 Intermezzo (1939)
39/10/22 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
39/11/12 Ninotchka (1939)
39/12/03 We Are Not Alone (1939)
39/12/17 Balalaika (1939)
39/12/31 Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939)

My first experience with RCMH was back in the early or mid 60’s, whenever “Come Blow Your Horn” played there! My parents took a trip to NY City and took me along, saw all the regular tourist attractions but my fondest memory was that night at the Music Hall, it also began my life-long love affair with pipe organs. I’m pretty sure it was the first time I ever heard a theatre organ, (I was about 11 or 12) and in the years that followed I made it a point to always visit the Hall when I was in town. Over the years I met several of the staff organists, Ashley Miller & Jack Ward, who were kind enough to give me a personal tour of some of the pipe chambers and also gave me a short personal “concert” and best yet, LET ME PLAY THE THING! Unfortunately, these days, the organ isn’t heard all that often, at least in a concert setting, my understanding is that the cost to use the hall for an organ concert rivals the cost of a NASA space launch. That’s really too bad, it’s a wonderful treasure as part of a great historic theatre, maybe one day the hall management will figure that out.

The 1970 article mentions “the sanctum” of Gus Eyssell, President of Rockefeller Inc., as the source, citing the rising costs of live shows and the lack of popular G and GP films. It also states that RCMH needs to sell 6 million tickets a year in order to stay to in business but had been operating at just over 5 million.

I wonder what that configuration would have looked like! A left/right split with some rows up front removed? Or some kind of up/down segregation (hard to imagine with the multiple balconies, though they may have planned on ripping them out altogether as part of the conversion). Thankfully, whatever the plans might have been, they are left only to supposition.

The radio show started in ‘33 or '34. I don’t know when they ended the series, but it was quite popular and selections from them were available on 78s for a while.

Erno Rapee was the Hall’s first conductor, and had finished previously working as head of the Rivoli, Capitol and Roxy. He died in 1945.

Check out this short film about television. There is a quick shot of a sold out Music Hall audience.
View link

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?

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.

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.

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.

B.O.Bill… Unfortunately, I do not still have the Showplace Program for “Crossed Swords”.

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).