It is not without some precedent here on CT – see, for example, the Hoff Cinema: /theaters/30102/ I think a case can be made for the inclusion of an operation like this if the films are open to the public and are regularly shown and advertised as such, and the environment is a dedicated theater, not just a lecture hall. Think something like this is comparable to a military base cinema and there are some of those on CT.
I don’t think though that just any college or university auditorium should be included. I saw probably hundreds of films at various sites at Michigan State University when I was a student there, and I would not think of adding of them to CT.
Although there some occasional exceptions, the general practice here on CT is that a theater’s entry name is that which it has currently or that which it had when last used as a theater of any kind, even if it is/was no longer used to show movies.
A picture when this was the King in 1973, according to the caption: View link
Well, it would be probably more accurate to say that there were more in the eastern half of the United States than the western, but there were JLCs, for example, in California, Utah, and Washington. One websource says there were, at the peak of their operation, about 170 nationwide, many of which are not listed here or on any other cinema website, probably due to the fact that many had very short existences. A quick web search turned up a JLC in the Texas cities of McKinney, Lubbock, Houston, and Monahans. I would say this theater Wichita Falls may have been one as well; your indication that it was popular in the 1970s might be a clue.
Martin Winkler, in his book about “Spartacus,” quotes Mann and Kubrick with regard to the film and provides some information about Mann’s contributions that survive in the film; there is an excerpt here: http://tinyurl.com/24stabt
I too love the Film’s score and also that terrific title sequence designed by Saul Bass. My favorite fun fact about the film is that most of the leading Roman characters were played by Brits while most of the slaves were played by Americans.
There are many stories told about this film and its production, some of which are no doubt apocryphal, but there is no doubt that Kubrick was contracted to direct this film after the first director, Anthony Mann, was let go. Kirk Douglas was clearly the driving force behind this film, and, at the time Kubrick was still a young director. Though he had attracted considerable attention, he would not have had the clout in 1959 to have the kind of total control he would have in later decades. I am great fan of Kubrick too, but I also think his ego sometimes got in the way of some of his films, such as “Barry Lyndon” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” which are visually magnificent but weak in many other ways.
This article focuses upon the Westwood’s history and includes an old picture; according to this article, the theater opened in 1919 and ceased functioning as a movie theater in 1943: View link
I am sorry for the confusion; I was referring to the Harris and Selwyn in Chicago, not New York. The New Yorker I was referring to was in Toronto. See my comment of September 15. I was giving examples of theaters whose facades remain but have entirely new theaters behind them. Thanks for bringing up the Lyric and Apollo; they two are good examples.
AlAlvarez: what you say is certainly true, but in the case of those multiplexes, at least the outer shell or much of it remains as well, perhaps, as the facade, and there have been many other cases where a theater’s interior has been gutted to the walls and a new theater interior built. But in the case of the Miller, the Harris, the Selwyn, and the New Yorker, all that remains of them are their front walls (albeit some very magnificent front walls), which I do not think is enough to say that that the new theaters built behind them are rebuilds or renovations. If all that is needed to preserve a theater is the survival of a wall, then there is at least a possibility perhaps one day we will have a Paramount theater back at Times Square. (Well, we can dream can’t we?)
Well, there were some fairly serious plans at one time to save the Harris and the Selwyn (Michael Todd/Cinestage) to create a mini-Broadway like theatre district on Randolph, but all that got built was a new parking garage across from these two. Later, as you probably know, the facades, but only the facades, were incorporated into the new Goodman complex. Thank God for Broadway shows; were it not for them, we would have lost the Palace and the Oriental, and probably the Chicago as well.
According to this page, “Windjammer” played for fifteen weeks at the Civic Opera House itself, not the much smaller Civic Theatre (which is now a rehearsal hall for Chicago’s Lyric Opera and not in public use): View link After that run, it moved over to the McVickers, according to comments on the McVicker’s page.
According to the website below (which has some contradictory information), the Burwood opened in 1906, became the Gayety in 1908 and was later known as a burlesque house up until it was closed in 1928. There is an old postcard picture on the website, but no clear indication that it was used to show films. The address was 1514 Harney St. View link
I found an New York Times article that indicates that the Shuberts were booking acts into the theater in 1909.
It is not without some precedent here on CT – see, for example, the Hoff Cinema: /theaters/30102/ I think a case can be made for the inclusion of an operation like this if the films are open to the public and are regularly shown and advertised as such, and the environment is a dedicated theater, not just a lecture hall. Think something like this is comparable to a military base cinema and there are some of those on CT.
I don’t think though that just any college or university auditorium should be included. I saw probably hundreds of films at various sites at Michigan State University when I was a student there, and I would not think of adding of them to CT.
Why is this “comment” here?
There is a small photo of the Granada Mansfield on this Beatle-fan website; scroll down about one-third to see it: http://www.harveystevens.com/BeatlesGigs1963.html
A recent update about the Prado: View link
A picture from 1942 that I do not think has been previously posted: View link
We will never see anything quite like this again; a photo taken on opening day in 1915: View link
Another view of concession stand with mural behind it: View link
Demolition photo from 1992: View link
As the Palomar in 1969:
View link
Although there some occasional exceptions, the general practice here on CT is that a theater’s entry name is that which it has currently or that which it had when last used as a theater of any kind, even if it is/was no longer used to show movies.
A picture when this was the King in 1973, according to the caption: View link
Architect’s drawing of the theater: View link
Well, it would be probably more accurate to say that there were more in the eastern half of the United States than the western, but there were JLCs, for example, in California, Utah, and Washington. One websource says there were, at the peak of their operation, about 170 nationwide, many of which are not listed here or on any other cinema website, probably due to the fact that many had very short existences. A quick web search turned up a JLC in the Texas cities of McKinney, Lubbock, Houston, and Monahans. I would say this theater Wichita Falls may have been one as well; your indication that it was popular in the 1970s might be a clue.
Martin Winkler, in his book about “Spartacus,” quotes Mann and Kubrick with regard to the film and provides some information about Mann’s contributions that survive in the film; there is an excerpt here: http://tinyurl.com/24stabt
I too love the Film’s score and also that terrific title sequence designed by Saul Bass. My favorite fun fact about the film is that most of the leading Roman characters were played by Brits while most of the slaves were played by Americans.
Was it possibly a Jerry Lewis cinema?
There are many stories told about this film and its production, some of which are no doubt apocryphal, but there is no doubt that Kubrick was contracted to direct this film after the first director, Anthony Mann, was let go. Kirk Douglas was clearly the driving force behind this film, and, at the time Kubrick was still a young director. Though he had attracted considerable attention, he would not have had the clout in 1959 to have the kind of total control he would have in later decades. I am great fan of Kubrick too, but I also think his ego sometimes got in the way of some of his films, such as “Barry Lyndon” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” which are visually magnificent but weak in many other ways.
A follow-up article; the opening attraction will be “Red”: View link
This article focuses upon the Westwood’s history and includes an old picture; according to this article, the theater opened in 1919 and ceased functioning as a movie theater in 1943: View link
Argah; I meant too, not two.
I am sorry for the confusion; I was referring to the Harris and Selwyn in Chicago, not New York. The New Yorker I was referring to was in Toronto. See my comment of September 15. I was giving examples of theaters whose facades remain but have entirely new theaters behind them. Thanks for bringing up the Lyric and Apollo; they two are good examples.
There is one on the webpage posted by TC (see above) on February 17, 2005.
AlAlvarez: what you say is certainly true, but in the case of those multiplexes, at least the outer shell or much of it remains as well, perhaps, as the facade, and there have been many other cases where a theater’s interior has been gutted to the walls and a new theater interior built. But in the case of the Miller, the Harris, the Selwyn, and the New Yorker, all that remains of them are their front walls (albeit some very magnificent front walls), which I do not think is enough to say that that the new theaters built behind them are rebuilds or renovations. If all that is needed to preserve a theater is the survival of a wall, then there is at least a possibility perhaps one day we will have a Paramount theater back at Times Square. (Well, we can dream can’t we?)
There are several pictures of this theater on its CinemaTour page here: http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/26003.html and and an article about the opening of the movie lounge, with a picture, here: View link
Well, there were some fairly serious plans at one time to save the Harris and the Selwyn (Michael Todd/Cinestage) to create a mini-Broadway like theatre district on Randolph, but all that got built was a new parking garage across from these two. Later, as you probably know, the facades, but only the facades, were incorporated into the new Goodman complex. Thank God for Broadway shows; were it not for them, we would have lost the Palace and the Oriental, and probably the Chicago as well.
According to this page, “Windjammer” played for fifteen weeks at the Civic Opera House itself, not the much smaller Civic Theatre (which is now a rehearsal hall for Chicago’s Lyric Opera and not in public use): View link After that run, it moved over to the McVickers, according to comments on the McVicker’s page.
According to the website below (which has some contradictory information), the Burwood opened in 1906, became the Gayety in 1908 and was later known as a burlesque house up until it was closed in 1928. There is an old postcard picture on the website, but no clear indication that it was used to show films. The address was 1514 Harney St. View link
I found an New York Times article that indicates that the Shuberts were booking acts into the theater in 1909.
A picture of the now-closed theater is here: View link