Not to mention that, as far as I know, CT “management” is not reaping a single dime from the site. On the contrary, they are probably incurring a great deal of expenditure to make this very large database available – at no charge, mind you – to its members. They created this great cyber playground and have handed it over to the members to do with as they please. Some might say that amounts to anarchy rather than democracy, but I don’t feel that Ross or Patrick owe us anything. And I think there’s plenty of room for the more academically inclined among us as well as the more sentimental and long winded!
Having said that, we sure could use a chat area to dilute the tangential conversations that occur on pages like the Ridgewood. I don’t think it’s too far off the mark to provide some local color and flavor by referencing a neighborhood memory here or there – but we must do so judiciously. When the conversation becomes a catch-up session or “do you remember so-and-so”, well… even I’d have to agree that is too far of a stretch and should be picked up in an email chat.
As for a comment clean-up… That was done here once before when the site was much smaller than it is now. I think back around 2003 or so. During that time a lot of multiple entries were consolidated and many comments that had been made on specific theaters had been rolled into the theater descriptions (I can see a bit of one of my old comments, for instance, rolled into the description for the 42nd Street Apollo Theater). Some of those entries are distinguished by listing multiple members or the more generic “Cinema Treasures” in the “Contributed by” line. I seem to recall the site was down for quite a while during that particular cleanup. Such an undertaking now would require considerable man-hours. Unless Patrick and Ross are willing to trust a team of volunteers from the membership ranks, it would also cost a considerable amount of money.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never seen “Casablanca” or “Gone with the Wind” on a big screen before. I am really looking forward to “Casablanca” – one of my top 10 favorite films of all time – on the big screen. I only hope that the print will be crisp and the presentation done with proper plates and matting for Academy ratio.
And these are but 8 titles out of a likely 15 (if they stick to a 5 week schedule). Let’s see what else Craig is able to book. It would be tremendous if somehow Craig could get behind the idea of going back to a dual projector change over process for these festivals. I really would like to see more 70mm presentation in this house – assuming there are decent prints to be had. New York deserves a World class forum for celebration and proper exhibition of classic 70mm films. The Ziegfeld is an ideal choice given the equipment already on site, the size of the room and its proximity to Times Square, where so many of those spectacular roadshows had their premiere engagements.
This discussion should probably be moved to the Strand page, but I imagine much of whatever remained of the original decor was hidden behind drapery, as happened to the Rivoli and Capitol during the roadshow era. I’d be interested in any recollections longislandmovies had on the old place.
As for the Embassy chain’s presence in the Times Square area, let’s not forget the Embassy 49th Street theater that lasted into the 80’s.
Mike. Have patience. Bryan Krefft (CT’s administrative ace in the hole) has to review the submission for acceptability (making sure nothing naughty or offensive gets through) before it will post to the live site. Give it a couple of days and you should see it.
Back in the late fall of 1963 on the day before Thanksgiving, the unlikely pairing of Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen held court at the Palace while day and dating at the Paris on 58th and the RKO Albee in B'klyn.
This ad – with Hedda Hopper’s endorsement – appeared a few days earlier in the 11/25/63 edition of the NY Daily News: A Soldier in the Rain
Apparently, it didn’t take all that long for the Elvis impersonators to crawl out of the woodwork… Here’s a winter 1978 ad for one such review that had been booked into the Palace Theater a mere 5 months after The King’s passing in August of 1977: The Legend Lives – Daily News 1/25/78
My mistake in that last post. The ad for “The Cardinal” was to announce its upcoming engagement at the Demille on December 12, 1963. As the following clipping from the same edition of the News indicates, this Paul Newman-Joanne Woodward comedy was day and dating at the Demille and Coronet Theaters: A New Kind of Love 11/25/63
Of course, the big news of the day had been the previous day’s assassination of President Kennedy and the capture of suspect Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theater in Dallas. By that Monday, the late President was being laid to rest and a day of National mourning had been declared. The show did go on however for “IAMMMMW” and the other B'way attractions as evidenced in the ad in that day’s paper annoucing the week’s Thanksgiving holiday performance schedule:
Note how the title of Stanley Kramer’s epic had already seeped into the popular lexicon as evidenced by the critic’s quote used to praise the play “Never Too Late” in the Theater Directory just below the Rivoli ad.
Super Panavision 70. Sigh… Even though the non SFX footage was blown-up to 70mm from 35mm. You might have noticed that the Stanley Warner in Paramus also advertised 70mm in this run.
Meanwhile, good news for September. I’m actually looking forward to “Casablanca”. Craig, will those aperture plates be properly cut for Academy ratio on those pre 1953 films?
Here’s a clip from the day of JFK’s funeral in November of ‘63, while “The Cardinal” was in its reserved seat engagement at the DeMille: Daily News 11/25/63
“It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” had only just recently opened at the Warner Cinerama (former Strand) across the Square and up the block on B'way.
No, Bill. I have an actual full edition of the paper. My grandfather had decided to hold on to a number of newspapers around the time of the Kennedy assassination and when he passed, I was given custody. They’re very fragile so I try not to take them out of their storage to handle them too often, but I wanted to capture some vintage movie ads to post on CT. I took a whole slew of images (and there’s more yet to come from this period as well as 1978 and 1985-86) and posted them in my photobucket album. I’ll link to them where appropriate on CT as I’m able.
I will have a full review of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” that I’ll post on the Strand Theater aka Warner Cinerama (where the film opened just before the assassination) page when I get around to digitizing it.
According to a lot of the ads I found in those papers, big department stores and retailers (Macy’s, Sterns, Brentano’s, Horn and Hardart, Best & Company, etc) were closed that day and it appears that many movie theaters were either closed or did not open their doors until 6pm that evening.
Here’s a clipping from the News in November of 1963 just after the assassination of JFK: Daily News 11/25/63
“Cleopatra” was 5 months into its run at the Rivoli, while “How the West Was Won” had already been playing 9 months at the former Capitol on a reserved seat basis.
Here’s a an ad from November of 1963 just days after the assassination of JFK, by which time “HTWWW” had been running for some 9 months at the former Capitol: Daily News 11/25/63
“Cleopatra” – also seen in this clipping – had been running some 5 months down the block at the Rivoli.
I have another “HTWWW” ad from the same week with a quote from one critic saying “It deserves to run forever!”… I’ve been digitizing a number of newspapers from a several different eras (‘60’s, '70’s and '80’s) and have a lot of ads to post. When I come across that one, I’ll include it here.
This stock market farce starring James Garner and Lee Remick (in Hudson/Day mode) was into its 2nd week at the Hall when JFK was assassinated: NY Daily News 11/25/63
There’s a small notice in the corner of the ad advising of the theater’s closing on Monday (the day that ad was published, actually) in memory of JFK. The other newspapers I have from this time (from my late grandfather’s collection) feature similar notices from various theaters and chains (not to mention department stores and big retailers). I was about 14 months from coming into this world, so I can only assume that 11/25/63 had been declared a national day of mourning by LBJ.
OK… to continue this rapidly developing conversation with myself, here’s an ad for the film “Streetwalkin'” from the Daily News that lists the Cinema Center in the Bronx at 490 E. 138th Street so it was definitely a part of the Forum complex:
I’m trying to track down the theater listed in the El Diario movie guide as “Cinema Center 2”. The listing provides an address of 138th Street and Brook Avenue in the Bronx, which is the same intersection given for the Forum/Puerto Rico. By 1985 could this have been part of that split balcony? Perhaps the Spanish language films played in the auditroium known as the Puerto Rico and the English language films played the Cinema Center? But then, why Cinema Center 2 and what about Cinema Center 1? I assume that in 1985 the owners were still trying to make a go at the live performance space in the main auditorium. Or are these two seperate buildings? Anyone able to clear up this confusion?
This thread was dead almost two years to the day before I posted these ads… I wonder if anyone is out there who is even interested??? Helooooooooo???
Did this theater show Spanish language films continuously from the 1970’s through the ‘80’s? Or did it switch back and forth between mainstream and Spanish language before going porno for its last few years?
There is another Bronx theater listed here (originally the Boulevard on Southern Blvd) that has an aka “Puerto Rico” that is being disputed. RobertR posted a 1973 ad for the Pam Grier film “Coffee” on the Boulevard’s site that lists “Brandt’s Puerto Rico” as one of the Bronx theaters playing the movie. Was the Forum ever run by Brandt during its Puerto Rico days?
The paper also ran a neighborhood movie guide catering to its Spanish language and bilingual readers: Cartelera Cinematografica 9/20/85
Interesting history (from the limited information posted) for this theater. From a struggling 2300 seat vaudeville house to large nabe to wrestling arena to performance center/twin cinema and now in partial use as a church. Quite a busy little biography.
Here is a tiny 1985 ad from the Spanish language publication El Diaro: New Delancy 9/20/85
El Diario also ran a neighborhood movie guide similar to that in the Post and News that listed Spanish language cinemas as well as English language grinds in or near Latino neighborhoods: Cartelera Cinematografica 9/20/85
I misspelled that last link… it should obviously be “Cartelera” (translates as “Billboard”) and I hit send before I could comment that this listing seems to include not only Spanish language theaters, but theaters in or near Latino neighborhoods.
Not to mention that, as far as I know, CT “management” is not reaping a single dime from the site. On the contrary, they are probably incurring a great deal of expenditure to make this very large database available – at no charge, mind you – to its members. They created this great cyber playground and have handed it over to the members to do with as they please. Some might say that amounts to anarchy rather than democracy, but I don’t feel that Ross or Patrick owe us anything. And I think there’s plenty of room for the more academically inclined among us as well as the more sentimental and long winded!
Having said that, we sure could use a chat area to dilute the tangential conversations that occur on pages like the Ridgewood. I don’t think it’s too far off the mark to provide some local color and flavor by referencing a neighborhood memory here or there – but we must do so judiciously. When the conversation becomes a catch-up session or “do you remember so-and-so”, well… even I’d have to agree that is too far of a stretch and should be picked up in an email chat.
As for a comment clean-up… That was done here once before when the site was much smaller than it is now. I think back around 2003 or so. During that time a lot of multiple entries were consolidated and many comments that had been made on specific theaters had been rolled into the theater descriptions (I can see a bit of one of my old comments, for instance, rolled into the description for the 42nd Street Apollo Theater). Some of those entries are distinguished by listing multiple members or the more generic “Cinema Treasures” in the “Contributed by” line. I seem to recall the site was down for quite a while during that particular cleanup. Such an undertaking now would require considerable man-hours. Unless Patrick and Ross are willing to trust a team of volunteers from the membership ranks, it would also cost a considerable amount of money.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never seen “Casablanca” or “Gone with the Wind” on a big screen before. I am really looking forward to “Casablanca” – one of my top 10 favorite films of all time – on the big screen. I only hope that the print will be crisp and the presentation done with proper plates and matting for Academy ratio.
And these are but 8 titles out of a likely 15 (if they stick to a 5 week schedule). Let’s see what else Craig is able to book. It would be tremendous if somehow Craig could get behind the idea of going back to a dual projector change over process for these festivals. I really would like to see more 70mm presentation in this house – assuming there are decent prints to be had. New York deserves a World class forum for celebration and proper exhibition of classic 70mm films. The Ziegfeld is an ideal choice given the equipment already on site, the size of the room and its proximity to Times Square, where so many of those spectacular roadshows had their premiere engagements.
This discussion should probably be moved to the Strand page, but I imagine much of whatever remained of the original decor was hidden behind drapery, as happened to the Rivoli and Capitol during the roadshow era. I’d be interested in any recollections longislandmovies had on the old place.
As for the Embassy chain’s presence in the Times Square area, let’s not forget the Embassy 49th Street theater that lasted into the 80’s.
Mike. Have patience. Bryan Krefft (CT’s administrative ace in the hole) has to review the submission for acceptability (making sure nothing naughty or offensive gets through) before it will post to the live site. Give it a couple of days and you should see it.
Back in the late fall of 1963 on the day before Thanksgiving, the unlikely pairing of Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen held court at the Palace while day and dating at the Paris on 58th and the RKO Albee in B'klyn.
This ad – with Hedda Hopper’s endorsement – appeared a few days earlier in the 11/25/63 edition of the NY Daily News:
A Soldier in the Rain
Apparently, it didn’t take all that long for the Elvis impersonators to crawl out of the woodwork… Here’s a winter 1978 ad for one such review that had been booked into the Palace Theater a mere 5 months after The King’s passing in August of 1977:
The Legend Lives – Daily News 1/25/78
My mistake in that last post. The ad for “The Cardinal” was to announce its upcoming engagement at the Demille on December 12, 1963. As the following clipping from the same edition of the News indicates, this Paul Newman-Joanne Woodward comedy was day and dating at the Demille and Coronet Theaters:
A New Kind of Love 11/25/63
Here is a cluster of 3 big roadshow epics playing within a couple of blocks of each other on B'way in the late fall of 1963:
NY Daily News 11/23/63
Of course, the big news of the day had been the previous day’s assassination of President Kennedy and the capture of suspect Lee Harvey Oswald at the Texas Theater in Dallas. By that Monday, the late President was being laid to rest and a day of National mourning had been declared. The show did go on however for “IAMMMMW” and the other B'way attractions as evidenced in the ad in that day’s paper annoucing the week’s Thanksgiving holiday performance schedule:
NY Daily News 11/25/63
Note how the title of Stanley Kramer’s epic had already seeped into the popular lexicon as evidenced by the critic’s quote used to praise the play “Never Too Late” in the Theater Directory just below the Rivoli ad.
The way it used to be and OUGHT to be:
We are not alone – Daily News 1/25/78
Super Panavision 70. Sigh… Even though the non SFX footage was blown-up to 70mm from 35mm. You might have noticed that the Stanley Warner in Paramus also advertised 70mm in this run.
Meanwhile, good news for September. I’m actually looking forward to “Casablanca”. Craig, will those aperture plates be properly cut for Academy ratio on those pre 1953 films?
Here’s a clip from the day of JFK’s funeral in November of ‘63, while “The Cardinal” was in its reserved seat engagement at the DeMille:
Daily News 11/25/63
“It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” had only just recently opened at the Warner Cinerama (former Strand) across the Square and up the block on B'way.
No, Bill. I have an actual full edition of the paper. My grandfather had decided to hold on to a number of newspapers around the time of the Kennedy assassination and when he passed, I was given custody. They’re very fragile so I try not to take them out of their storage to handle them too often, but I wanted to capture some vintage movie ads to post on CT. I took a whole slew of images (and there’s more yet to come from this period as well as 1978 and 1985-86) and posted them in my photobucket album. I’ll link to them where appropriate on CT as I’m able.
I will have a full review of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” that I’ll post on the Strand Theater aka Warner Cinerama (where the film opened just before the assassination) page when I get around to digitizing it.
According to a lot of the ads I found in those papers, big department stores and retailers (Macy’s, Sterns, Brentano’s, Horn and Hardart, Best & Company, etc) were closed that day and it appears that many movie theaters were either closed or did not open their doors until 6pm that evening.
Here’s a clipping from the News in November of 1963 just after the assassination of JFK:
Daily News 11/25/63
“Cleopatra” was 5 months into its run at the Rivoli, while “How the West Was Won” had already been playing 9 months at the former Capitol on a reserved seat basis.
Here’s a an ad from November of 1963 just days after the assassination of JFK, by which time “HTWWW” had been running for some 9 months at the former Capitol:
Daily News 11/25/63
“Cleopatra” – also seen in this clipping – had been running some 5 months down the block at the Rivoli.
I have another “HTWWW” ad from the same week with a quote from one critic saying “It deserves to run forever!”… I’ve been digitizing a number of newspapers from a several different eras (‘60’s, '70’s and '80’s) and have a lot of ads to post. When I come across that one, I’ll include it here.
Let’s get back to RCMH history.
This stock market farce starring James Garner and Lee Remick (in Hudson/Day mode) was into its 2nd week at the Hall when JFK was assassinated:
NY Daily News 11/25/63
There’s a small notice in the corner of the ad advising of the theater’s closing on Monday (the day that ad was published, actually) in memory of JFK. The other newspapers I have from this time (from my late grandfather’s collection) feature similar notices from various theaters and chains (not to mention department stores and big retailers). I was about 14 months from coming into this world, so I can only assume that 11/25/63 had been declared a national day of mourning by LBJ.
OK… to continue this rapidly developing conversation with myself, here’s an ad for the film “Streetwalkin'” from the Daily News that lists the Cinema Center in the Bronx at 490 E. 138th Street so it was definitely a part of the Forum complex:
Streetwalkin' 9/23/85
I’m trying to track down the theater listed in the El Diario movie guide as “Cinema Center 2”. The listing provides an address of 138th Street and Brook Avenue in the Bronx, which is the same intersection given for the Forum/Puerto Rico. By 1985 could this have been part of that split balcony? Perhaps the Spanish language films played in the auditroium known as the Puerto Rico and the English language films played the Cinema Center? But then, why Cinema Center 2 and what about Cinema Center 1? I assume that in 1985 the owners were still trying to make a go at the live performance space in the main auditorium. Or are these two seperate buildings? Anyone able to clear up this confusion?
This thread was dead almost two years to the day before I posted these ads… I wonder if anyone is out there who is even interested??? Helooooooooo???
Here are two 1985 ads from the Spanish language publication El Diario:
El Carro de la Muerte 9/20/85
Peliculas en Ingles con titulos en Espanol 9/20/85
Here’s a neighborhood movie guide from El Diario, geared towards its Spanish speaking and bilingual readers:
Carteleras Cinematografica 9/20/85
Here are a pair of ads from 1985 in the Spanish language publication El Diario evidencing Spanish language programming in both auditoriums:
El Carro de la Muerte 9/20/85
La Hija sin Padre 9/20/85
For good measure, here is El Diario’s neighborhood movie guide, catering to its Spanish speaking and bilingual readers:
Cartelera Cinematografica 9/20/85
Did this theater show Spanish language films continuously from the 1970’s through the ‘80’s? Or did it switch back and forth between mainstream and Spanish language before going porno for its last few years?
There is another Bronx theater listed here (originally the Boulevard on Southern Blvd) that has an aka “Puerto Rico” that is being disputed. RobertR posted a 1973 ad for the Pam Grier film “Coffee” on the Boulevard’s site that lists “Brandt’s Puerto Rico” as one of the Bronx theaters playing the movie. Was the Forum ever run by Brandt during its Puerto Rico days?
Here is a 1985 ad from the Spanish language publication El Diario:
El Carro de la Muerte 9/20/85
The paper also ran a neighborhood movie guide catering to its Spanish language and bilingual readers:
Cartelera Cinematografica 9/20/85
Interesting history (from the limited information posted) for this theater. From a struggling 2300 seat vaudeville house to large nabe to wrestling arena to performance center/twin cinema and now in partial use as a church. Quite a busy little biography.
Here’s a 1985 ad from the Spanish language publication El Diario:
El Carro de la Muerte 9/20/85
The paper also ran a neighborhood movie guide catered to its Spanish speaking and bilingual readers:
Cartelera Cinematografica 9/20/85
Both clippings list the theater as “Nuevo Edison”.
Here is a tiny 1985 ad from the Spanish language publication El Diaro:
New Delancy 9/20/85
El Diario also ran a neighborhood movie guide similar to that in the Post and News that listed Spanish language cinemas as well as English language grinds in or near Latino neighborhoods:
Cartelera Cinematografica 9/20/85
I misspelled that last link… it should obviously be “Cartelera” (translates as “Billboard”) and I hit send before I could comment that this listing seems to include not only Spanish language theaters, but theaters in or near Latino neighborhoods.
Here’s a 1985 ad from the Spanish publication El Diario:
Astral 9/20/85
The paper also published a small neighborhood movie guide similar to that which ran in the Post and News listing Spanish language cinemas around town:
Carelera Cinematografica 9/20/85