Anybody have a good picture of the proscenium? The one scanned looks poor. It’s always the most beautiful theaters that get torn down. The few remaining are nice but not this breathtaking. And the Paradise looks like it had been the greatest of them all.
Indeed. I think the Orleans used the actual stage, wings and dressing rooms of the Strand as well. Lots of space went unused from the time those theaters stopped being presentation houses.
But I believe though it used the Criterion name it actually was in the space of the very large Bonds clothing store which was next to the movie theater(I am of course not 100% sure.) All the movie theaters were in the actual Criterion space. After the main theater was split horizontally in two I could never go back though I did go to the Roundabout. The elegant oval lounge space in the basement…it’s unfortunate to think of it cut up into black shoebox spaces.
Twice walking on the opposite side of Broadway in the 80s I heard people saying something to the effect ‘I never thought that block would look like that.’ It really had gotten so cheap and tawdry looking after all those years of Bond/The Criterion/Woolworth.
If RobertEndres is still following this I wonder if he remembers if Mame and At Long Last Love were presented in stereo at the Hall. I seem to remember that they were but I am not 100% sure.
I ask this because the blurays are in mono. Of course the lps are in stereo. Were the film stereo tracks lost or were the films always in mono?
I saw Bryant and then the most apparent marquee and erroneously put the two together. Thank you for the year. By ‘64 the 60s had most definitely begun especially after the death of Kennedy. And was about to reach its apotheosis with the 64-65 NY World’s Fair. At least for a boy.
But is the Bryant that unreadable marquee across the street half hidden by a truck?
It would be interesting to know when Rocco played at the Bryant because it looks like the woman and the cars are out of the 50s. Maybe the photo is ‘60 or'61? It looks like the 50s had yet to turn into the 60s.
It was very famously so shortly after its Criterion American premiere. David Selznick tried to talk Lean out of it. I don’t know why Lean did it. Maybe the grosses were less than he had hoped?
Is there a comprehensive history of the film, its cuts, lengths, what cannot be found and opinions as to the quality in terms of the different versions? Even when I first saw it when it was brought back in the 70s it had its longueurs.
I understand what you’re saying about it looking awkward but I think it’s preferable to what’s on the Egyptian marquee. It could have been designed more professionally. The split logo looks awfully good on the Criterion marquee.
The Criterion also had the spinning logos on the top corners.
I hate when they get the theaters wrong like Annie having Camille at Radio City.
Words and Music at least gets it right with Camille playing at the Capitol. The problem there is that there is a stage show where Richard Rodgers hears his music. At this point there were no longer stage shows at the Capitol and Camille played without one. And why didn’t Camille open at the Astor on hard ticket?
In the old souvenir book there is a photo of the clown finale and it indeed looks terrific. I wish I could find an excellent source of the professionally done Impact photos of the stage shows. Scanned from old books doesn’t do them justice. Maybe they no longer exist.
No soloist is mentioned for Rhapsody in Blue. Anthony Makas was in advertisements for its presentation in the 60s and 70s. This featured a large silver disc on the revolving stage which when the music speeds up towards the end of the piece started spinning. Florence Rogge knew how to choreograph a spectacle. She was also responsible for the Music Hall’s Bolero and others as well.
I once said that Sunflower was the only film that was dubbed into english to have played at the Hall. I may be wrong. It seems that The Brain which was the ‘69 Thanksgiving film was filmed in french and dubbed into english except for Niven who I assume spoke in english throughout. Anybody have further details about this?
I remember Tanya quite well. Today it would not fly.
On page 8 that is a very impressive screen. What years did that exist in the theater?
Meanwhile it was playing continuous perfs at the Music Hall. From 4 to 6 performances a day.
Anybody have a good picture of the proscenium? The one scanned looks poor. It’s always the most beautiful theaters that get torn down. The few remaining are nice but not this breathtaking. And the Paradise looks like it had been the greatest of them all.
Indeed. I think the Orleans used the actual stage, wings and dressing rooms of the Strand as well. Lots of space went unused from the time those theaters stopped being presentation houses.
But I believe though it used the Criterion name it actually was in the space of the very large Bonds clothing store which was next to the movie theater(I am of course not 100% sure.) All the movie theaters were in the actual Criterion space. After the main theater was split horizontally in two I could never go back though I did go to the Roundabout. The elegant oval lounge space in the basement…it’s unfortunate to think of it cut up into black shoebox spaces.
Twice walking on the opposite side of Broadway in the 80s I heard people saying something to the effect ‘I never thought that block would look like that.’ It really had gotten so cheap and tawdry looking after all those years of Bond/The Criterion/Woolworth.
‘And the streetlamp light fills the gutter with gold.’
These old color Times Square at night photos are always so beautiful when they’re taken after rain.
If RobertEndres is still following this I wonder if he remembers if Mame and At Long Last Love were presented in stereo at the Hall. I seem to remember that they were but I am not 100% sure.
I ask this because the blurays are in mono. Of course the lps are in stereo. Were the film stereo tracks lost or were the films always in mono?
I saw Bryant and then the most apparent marquee and erroneously put the two together. Thank you for the year. By ‘64 the 60s had most definitely begun especially after the death of Kennedy. And was about to reach its apotheosis with the 64-65 NY World’s Fair. At least for a boy.
But is the Bryant that unreadable marquee across the street half hidden by a truck?
It would be interesting to know when Rocco played at the Bryant because it looks like the woman and the cars are out of the 50s. Maybe the photo is ‘60 or'61? It looks like the 50s had yet to turn into the 60s.
It was very famously so shortly after its Criterion American premiere. David Selznick tried to talk Lean out of it. I don’t know why Lean did it. Maybe the grosses were less than he had hoped?
So Mad World, 2001, Lawrence. Any others?
Is there a comprehensive history of the film, its cuts, lengths, what cannot be found and opinions as to the quality in terms of the different versions? Even when I first saw it when it was brought back in the 70s it had its longueurs.
I understand what you’re saying about it looking awkward but I think it’s preferable to what’s on the Egyptian marquee. It could have been designed more professionally. The split logo looks awfully good on the Criterion marquee. The Criterion also had the spinning logos on the top corners.
The font of the title at the Egyptian is pretty amateurish. Looks like it was done by a local high school. Very odd they didn’t use original art work.
I hate when they get the theaters wrong like Annie having Camille at Radio City.
Words and Music at least gets it right with Camille playing at the Capitol. The problem there is that there is a stage show where Richard Rodgers hears his music. At this point there were no longer stage shows at the Capitol and Camille played without one. And why didn’t Camille open at the Astor on hard ticket?
So Funny Girl(which was a Panavision film. 70mm blowup?)was shown on the 75ft screen or the 90ft? Or was the 90ft installed for Marooned?
In the old souvenir book there is a photo of the clown finale and it indeed looks terrific. I wish I could find an excellent source of the professionally done Impact photos of the stage shows. Scanned from old books doesn’t do them justice. Maybe they no longer exist.
Another great Strand booking.
No discussion on all the major plans just announced for this theater?
The Rockettes as dancing Zulu warriors. I would have liked to have seen that.
No soloist is mentioned for Rhapsody in Blue. Anthony Makas was in advertisements for its presentation in the 60s and 70s. This featured a large silver disc on the revolving stage which when the music speeds up towards the end of the piece started spinning. Florence Rogge knew how to choreograph a spectacle. She was also responsible for the Music Hall’s Bolero and others as well.
I once said that Sunflower was the only film that was dubbed into english to have played at the Hall. I may be wrong. It seems that The Brain which was the ‘69 Thanksgiving film was filmed in french and dubbed into english except for Niven who I assume spoke in english throughout. Anybody have further details about this?
Surprisingly for Hirschfeld that’s a terrible insulting caricature of Alexander. Out of context I wouldn’t know who that was.
No dividers. It was a different time.