Warren, how are you able to access so much of the NY Times? Do you do it online, or at the library, or do you have another way? Movie and entertainment ads are my favorite part of old newspapers.
I actually enjoy classic movies much more than modern ones (I’m watching Howard Hughes' Hell’s Angels on DVD right now) and I’m sure I would enjoy Westward the Women if I ever see it…I had never even heard of it until just now. My point was to remark on nondescript forgotten movies and how they may have kept people at home watching the newfangled television. I can imagine the echoes in grand houses like the Capitol as the little box sounded their death knell.
I saw Casablanca at that film series, and I remember that the picture seemed out of focus and the sound was terrible! If I didn’t already know most of Casablanca’s dialog by heart, I would have wondered what all the fuss was about.
On the other hand, I saw the restored “A Star is Born” here and only remember how fantastic it was, if a bit long.
Sounds lovely, with the recessed dome and Austrian curtain…Barry Lyndon and Amadeus must have looked smashing. The theater is so different now, but at least they haven’t changed the lousy plumbing in the restrooms!
Posted from another site. The question was, where was the most unusual place you ever made love? When I read this response, I had to post it here! (I cleaned it up a little)
I would have to say in a car, at drive-in show. In the back of the lot, while we were in the front seat, a worker from the drive-in walked up to the speaker post to turn off the other speaker that was not being used. I can say he had a surprised look on his face. I think he was expecting to to see some chick with a guy but instead saw two dudes. This was about 1977 at the Jolly Roger Drive In – Taylor MI – near Detroit. Butch
>>I wonder how long a lease the church has on the Mark Hellinger?
Answer, from Hollywood Thearer page:
By 1989, the Nederlander Organization, the current owners, leased the theater to a church group. Three years later, the building was sold for $17 million and became the home for the Times Square Church.
I recently had the opportunity to meet the projectionist here, a great guy called Meredith Rhule. He took me to all four (!) projection booths (one for the two orchestra theaters, one for the two balcony theaters, one on the former stage and the last in a former commercial space off the lobby) where I watched him run a grade-A show. We talked a lot about the deplorable state of modern movie presentation and had a few laughs at the expense of the dopes at Regal/UA for some of their arcane practices. Meredith was cool enough to show me around the place as well; we poked around the old backstage dressing rooms and downstairs I got a look at the orchestra pit, which really is a pit nowadays. We searched a bit for any signs of the former ornamentation, but little is left. It was a real treat to shoot the breeze with a true union professional, a man with a sense of history (he also worked the Chinese Theater and at private Hollywood screening rooms for many years before moving east). This guy takes pride in his work and it shows, a precious commodity in a world where the high-school usher often runs the show.
I was moved by the narration at the end and felt it was in keeping with the nativity scene. But I seem to remember it even back in the 1970s when I saw my first movie at the Hall, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.” So my question is, when exactly was this text added to the Christms Show?
I remember those blue sidewalks! Except when I saw them, they were the floor of a souvenir shop. By the time I got to Times Square the Astor was closed, although I knew that the shop had once been a theater, or at least its lobby. I wish I had the wherewithal to try to get a peek inside, but I didn’t.
I saw The Graduate here for the first time, during a revival run. I left the theater wanting to tell everyone about this great movie that I’d just seen, but of course the picture was already decades old and there was no one to tell.
I don’t know, from what I’ve read here and experienced at the Hall, a small screen and bad sound don’t add up to much of a movie-going experience. But I still love the place!
>>For the first time in many years The bright red letters spelling Loew’s Paradise Theatre have been illuminated with red neon light.
Do you mean the letters on the facade or the ones on the roof?
Warren, how are you able to access so much of the NY Times? Do you do it online, or at the library, or do you have another way? Movie and entertainment ads are my favorite part of old newspapers.
If you have a Yahoo password, it works.
Beautiful!
I actually enjoy classic movies much more than modern ones (I’m watching Howard Hughes' Hell’s Angels on DVD right now) and I’m sure I would enjoy Westward the Women if I ever see it…I had never even heard of it until just now. My point was to remark on nondescript forgotten movies and how they may have kept people at home watching the newfangled television. I can imagine the echoes in grand houses like the Capitol as the little box sounded their death knell.
It’s amazing how many of the pictures mentioned here are long forgotten. Westward the Women? Ugh, I’m staying home and watching “I Love Lucy.”
I saw Casablanca at that film series, and I remember that the picture seemed out of focus and the sound was terrible! If I didn’t already know most of Casablanca’s dialog by heart, I would have wondered what all the fuss was about.
On the other hand, I saw the restored “A Star is Born” here and only remember how fantastic it was, if a bit long.
Sounds lovely, with the recessed dome and Austrian curtain…Barry Lyndon and Amadeus must have looked smashing. The theater is so different now, but at least they haven’t changed the lousy plumbing in the restrooms!
I’d also like to see the date the entry was posted, or the date it was updated.
Posted from another site. The question was, where was the most unusual place you ever made love? When I read this response, I had to post it here! (I cleaned it up a little)
I would have to say in a car, at drive-in show. In the back of the lot, while we were in the front seat, a worker from the drive-in walked up to the speaker post to turn off the other speaker that was not being used. I can say he had a surprised look on his face. I think he was expecting to to see some chick with a guy but instead saw two dudes. This was about 1977 at the Jolly Roger Drive In – Taylor MI – near Detroit. Butch
wow!
>>I wonder how long a lease the church has on the Mark Hellinger?
Answer, from Hollywood Thearer page:
By 1989, the Nederlander Organization, the current owners, leased the theater to a church group. Three years later, the building was sold for $17 million and became the home for the Times Square Church.
I couldn’t open that link from woody, so I just joined the Cinema group at this link instead. Instant membership, no waiting.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cta-uk
Wouldn’t [that] be Loverly?
http://www.epinions.com/content_86937210500
I recently had the opportunity to meet the projectionist here, a great guy called Meredith Rhule. He took me to all four (!) projection booths (one for the two orchestra theaters, one for the two balcony theaters, one on the former stage and the last in a former commercial space off the lobby) where I watched him run a grade-A show. We talked a lot about the deplorable state of modern movie presentation and had a few laughs at the expense of the dopes at Regal/UA for some of their arcane practices. Meredith was cool enough to show me around the place as well; we poked around the old backstage dressing rooms and downstairs I got a look at the orchestra pit, which really is a pit nowadays. We searched a bit for any signs of the former ornamentation, but little is left. It was a real treat to shoot the breeze with a true union professional, a man with a sense of history (he also worked the Chinese Theater and at private Hollywood screening rooms for many years before moving east). This guy takes pride in his work and it shows, a precious commodity in a world where the high-school usher often runs the show.
I was moved by the narration at the end and felt it was in keeping with the nativity scene. But I seem to remember it even back in the 1970s when I saw my first movie at the Hall, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.” So my question is, when exactly was this text added to the Christms Show?
Damn you Brian! I just wasted half the morning reading through that Widescreen Museum site. So I guess I really mean thank you, Brian.
I remember those blue sidewalks! Except when I saw them, they were the floor of a souvenir shop. By the time I got to Times Square the Astor was closed, although I knew that the shop had once been a theater, or at least its lobby. I wish I had the wherewithal to try to get a peek inside, but I didn’t.
I saw The Graduate here for the first time, during a revival run. I left the theater wanting to tell everyone about this great movie that I’d just seen, but of course the picture was already decades old and there was no one to tell.
I saw in “Times Square Style” that it was a Publix Theater. I didn’t know they had any houses in New York.
Today’s Times article, on page B3, also has several photographs of the theater’s interior and exterior.
I don’t know, from what I’ve read here and experienced at the Hall, a small screen and bad sound don’t add up to much of a movie-going experience. But I still love the place!
When did this house reopen?
>>They can’t use the RCMH due to the heavy bookings of shows well in advance.
It seems this house (RCMH) is dark most of the time.
By the time I got here in the mid to late 1970’s it seemed like a big box with not much charm.