Regency I & II

According to at least two Inquirer stories in 1966-67, this theater was going to be called the Ambassador. I didn’t find an explanation of why the name was changed before the opening.

One of those articles contains a tantalizing mention of a proposed Philly theater that was never built: a 600-seat first run house at Front and Delancey, to be called either the Mariner or the Society Hill and operated by “Walter Reade-Sterling”. The same piece reports the imminent openings of Theatre 1812 and the Eric-Rittenhouse, as well as a rumored reopening of the Viking (which did come back, as Cinema 19). Busy times!

Blog with 1983 photo http://willceau.com/news/2016/03/12/never-say-never-again/

Vince Young informs me that Love Story, which bigger box office grosser that opened in 1970, opened here in Philadelphia on Christmas Day 1970.

Apparently American Classic Images which had tons of wonderful theater pictures is out os business. When you click on any of the links it says domain for sale. :(

That stupid street lamp ruined a great looking marquee,something you don’t see anymore at these 20plexes , so many of you seem to love.Ken mc thanks for the picture of a great theatre and McQueen Flick.

Here is a June 1967 photo from Temple U:
http://tinyurl.com/ykqvch6

Yes, Mike, I did have Cinerama on the brain when I wrote that post about the Midtown. Sorry.

“Pablo mentioned that ‘[the Midtown] was once a Todd-AO house.’ This was, in fact, the 5th Todd-AO installation on the planet.” (veyoung, Nov 25, 2004)

The fifth Todd-AO installation? Are you sure? My research would suggest the Midtown was around the 20th or 21st. Check out the following list and note that Philadelphia is quite a ways down the list.

View link

My thoughts on Budco. I saw all the presentations that were previously mentioned, including Altered States, Apolgolis Now The Goldman had rockin seats and rockin rows, but the balcony was good). But think PORN Budco showed a porn @ the Orleans. And who could forget this wondeful double feature @ the Olde City… the advance showing of E.T. with The Story of O!!!!

Re Midtown: Interesting that the theatre that was the 5th theatre on the planet to install 70mm (Todd-AO) process no longer has 70mm capability, and presumably doesn’t care. But it has video, rah!, rah!, rah!. No one seems to mention that its lack of wide-gauge projection lost it a high-class booking as it reopened. A travelling Philip Glass opera with 3-D 70mm projection had been scheduled to open at the Prince, but had to be moved to a more suitable location, a portable exhibition at an auditorium on the U. of Pennsylvania campus. I can talk for days about the Midtown, but don’t intend to mention the Prince while sober ever again.

Why is there no listing here for the Midtown? Is it listed under another name?

Rg, I certain respect your opinion. Let me just state that I am talking here solely as an Audience Member. I am not a projectionist, or lab technician, or sound engineer, or directory of photographer…simply a revenue-producing audience member. And as such I can certainly relate to cost factors, but at the same time, I felt at many operations, but most particularly with the Budco people, a complete disdain, a total non-caring attitude towards people like me….the audience. To have utterly no concern whatsoever for the public’s intelligence, and to take the stand, “well, they don’t know what they’re talking about, they don’t care.” During the “Apoc. Now” commotion, I recall reading a statement from a Budco spokesperson who proudly claimed that the Goldman had the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment available. Huh? Woefully incorrect aspect ratio for ‘scope….no magnetic soundheads….no optical Dolby. They might as well have run machinery built in 1930! This, to me, is the ultimate insult to the audience…to state, presumably with a straight face, that this particular theatre was second-to-none in terms of technology is a crime punishable by banishment out of the exhibition industry. OK, so maybe they didn’t have the money to achieve a better screen/masking ratio, or to install Dolby, or just to upgrade everything. This, however, doesn’t explain the laughable lapses in just plain taste which was a hallmark of Budco indoor theatres. To pick on the Goldman again, please explain then during the twinning why on earth take a perfectly decent and pleasant-looking lobby, and paint The Whole Damn Thing Black!!! Has anybody ever experienced a totally black lobby? It’s horrifying! I’ve been in dingy subway entrances which were more inviting. I understand fully that, particularly with family-run enterprises, the personality of the owner (or a close family member) impacts to a large degree the look, the feel of business. I understand that Mrs. Shapiro, wife of the SamErich chain head, was responsible for that chain’s interior decorations. So, she must have liked pale pastel, non-dramatic colors, and she had a thing for statues of greyhounds. But she never painted a lobby jet black! Rg, I am certainly glad you’re not taking this personally, but, there is no power or principality on Heaven or Earth that will change my absolute and utter immovable Disdain for All Things Budco. On the other hand, Budco probably did more to convert Delaware Valley folks to VCRs and cable television in the 1970s than any amount of advertising or promotions from RCA, Magnavox, and Zenith. OK, rant over. Phew!

Rg, do you remember the “Apocalypse Now” disaster at the split Goldman?Had you seen the Midtown BEFORE the twinning? Did you experience “Alternate States” in 70mm with “baby boom” Dolby at the Regency? How about the advertised “snuff” film booked at a downtown Budco before the police confiscated the prints? Not to say that you, personally, were (are still) not an excellent manager and district manager, but in terms of indoor projection and sound, not to mention showmanship, they were worse than abysmal. The “Apocalypse Now” disaster I refer to concerns a lawsuit that Budco tried to bring against Philadelphia film reviewers who were outraged that that particular United Artists jewel was being booked into a theatre that was not only plug-ugly, but could barely show “scope”, and was not equipped for either 70mm, or 35mm Dolby stereo, or 4-channel magnetic. The critics prevailed, and audiences stayed away from the Goldman in droves, as Samuel Goldwyn would have said. Sorry, rg, but as a friend of mine told me at the time, “I wouldn’t set foot into the Goldman if it was the last building on earth with oxygen!”