I wonder if “H.M.Pulham,Esq” was a disappointment which is why they didn’t hold it through the New Year. The New York Times calls it a dull film but says the Christmas stage show is quite spectacular. Babes on Broadway should have been the Christmas film and would have definitely played through the holidays.
The finale is one of the best things Berkeley and Garland ever did but will never receive the recognition it deserves or possibly even a bluray because it is in blackface.
Well if she did there is no record of it. She’s never mentioned it despite talking about going for the first time to the Hall to see The Jolson Story and her excitement at BBB opening there and seeing herself on the screen. I saw her live show there. She also I believe did a TV special including the Rockettes.
Alex Baldwin representing PETA is calling for the elimination of all animals from The Nativity. Not that I care because it’s not Leonidoff’s. It’s a pale cheap imitation looking like it belongs in the midwest somewhere. I saw it once and that was enough. Where I always looked forward to it during its stage show/film period, beautiful. I remember the delight of the audience of the Magi on the horse and the camel.
Breaking a cycle of movie musicals for the Christmas Music Hall show returning the following Christmas which would continue until ‘55 after which musicals would not return until '61 and then play on and off.
How many months did it even last at Loew’s State 2? Definitely not 8. But I loved these roadshow pictures when they tried to turn them into an event. I saw it at the drive in the summer of ‘69 and boy was it boring. Tried watching it on TV and it was pretty bad. Maybe I got 30 minutes into it if that long. It might have past muster at the Music Hall as the Christmas film replacing what Leonard Maltin called the dirtiest G rated movie ever The Impossible Years which is very smutty. But because it had David Niven presiding over a family they considered it a family film. Even as a boy I would have been embarrassed seeing it with my family. Darling Lili is another film where you wonder if the studio bought the G rating.
There have been I believe a few postings of Kong at the Music Hall but I included this one because in the upper left hand corner you can see a listing for the Broadway production of The Gay Divorce with Fred Astaire at the Shubert Theater on W44th St when he introduced the song Night and Day. Reduced prices to keep the show running. At the end of the year his first film with Ginger Rogers and the first Christmas film at the Music Hall would be Flying Down to Rio. When did he get the time to make it? They made films fast. He would never return to Broadway.
The Gay Divorce with the less offensive title The Gay Divorcee would of course eventually play at the Hall as well.
Can you imagine a time in New York when you could go to an early matinee of Kong at the Music Hall with a stage show and then in the evening see Fred Astaire on Broadway in a Cole Porter musical. Incredible.
I remember this double bill as a little boy in our local medium sized movie palace which still exists as 5 shoe box theaters. It probably was the first time I went to the movies. I wonder if Almost Angels was ever released on home video.
Random Harvest opened as the ‘42 Christmas show. You can see the holiday garlands have been taken down. The film was such a success it played until March of ‘43 Even though it is past the holiday season there is still a long line and crowds outside the Hall. The director Mervyn LeRoy in his autobio claims the Music Hall manager told him it could have played for many more weeks. But the Music Hall had other films lined up waiting to get in and MGM probably wanted to get it into the nabes. It could have played as the Easter Show as well. Coleman and Garson are one of the most attractive couples to appear in a movie.
The film that followed was a Goldwyn Hope/Lamour comedy. In his autobio I think he says Cancel My Reservation was the only one of his films to play at the Hall. I guess he forgot about this one.
I saw this last good Christmas stage show because it was the last with the ballet company.
I thought the film was ok but it is now considered a Disney animated classic. Well it does have Monica Evans, Carole Shelley and Brian Bedford doing some of the voices and major others as you can see.
El was in process of being torn down. Christmas at the Hall so movie most likely was Balalaika. Maybe there was another movie for New Years and decorations were kept up.
Would love to know what year this is. Notice the center of the reserved seat mezz is somewhat empty waiting for its patrons for the next show. Mezz looks sold out as the extreme side seats are filled.
This is one of those(good)melodramas that the Music Hall would strangely choose as a holiday film. Despite its happy ending these films were incredibly sad. MGM doesn’t get enough credit for its dramas filled with failure and tragedy. Not everything was Nancy Goes to Rio. In an interview on youtube Dean Stockwell says he never saw it. But then he doesn’t seem to have liked working for MGM very much.
The quad? I would seriously doubt it. Even when I was going to see 70MM revivals in the ‘70s and the theater was still a single screen the screen was flat. Great theater before it was split up. I envy those who saw Sound of Music there.
On youtube in a fairly good print. Well worth seeing. The very beautiful Crain who also had the good fortune to be a very good actress is very wonderful and perfectly syncs It Might as Well Be Spring one of my favorite R and H songs.
Was that because of the box office or were they contractually required to hold it that long by the distributor no matter how empty the reduced Cinemiracle seating?
How would anyone have gotten to the entrance of the Criterion in the evening if the crowds are anything like they are today.
There used to be a plaque in the lobby of the theater commemorated this momentous event but it was taken down.
I wonder if “H.M.Pulham,Esq” was a disappointment which is why they didn’t hold it through the New Year. The New York Times calls it a dull film but says the Christmas stage show is quite spectacular. Babes on Broadway should have been the Christmas film and would have definitely played through the holidays.
The finale is one of the best things Berkeley and Garland ever did but will never receive the recognition it deserves or possibly even a bluray because it is in blackface.
They superimposed a photo of Namath in ‘69 over a 1965 picture of Times Square which is understandable as it was a more glamorous brightly lit area.
Well if she did there is no record of it. She’s never mentioned it despite talking about going for the first time to the Hall to see The Jolson Story and her excitement at BBB opening there and seeing herself on the screen. I saw her live show there. She also I believe did a TV special including the Rockettes.
Alex Baldwin representing PETA is calling for the elimination of all animals from The Nativity. Not that I care because it’s not Leonidoff’s. It’s a pale cheap imitation looking like it belongs in the midwest somewhere. I saw it once and that was enough. Where I always looked forward to it during its stage show/film period, beautiful. I remember the delight of the audience of the Magi on the horse and the camel.
Breaking a cycle of movie musicals for the Christmas Music Hall show returning the following Christmas which would continue until ‘55 after which musicals would not return until '61 and then play on and off.
How many months did it even last at Loew’s State 2? Definitely not 8. But I loved these roadshow pictures when they tried to turn them into an event. I saw it at the drive in the summer of ‘69 and boy was it boring. Tried watching it on TV and it was pretty bad. Maybe I got 30 minutes into it if that long. It might have past muster at the Music Hall as the Christmas film replacing what Leonard Maltin called the dirtiest G rated movie ever The Impossible Years which is very smutty. But because it had David Niven presiding over a family they considered it a family film. Even as a boy I would have been embarrassed seeing it with my family. Darling Lili is another film where you wonder if the studio bought the G rating.
Is like in Chinatown? ‘She’s my sister! She’s my daughter!’
There have been I believe a few postings of Kong at the Music Hall but I included this one because in the upper left hand corner you can see a listing for the Broadway production of The Gay Divorce with Fred Astaire at the Shubert Theater on W44th St when he introduced the song Night and Day. Reduced prices to keep the show running. At the end of the year his first film with Ginger Rogers and the first Christmas film at the Music Hall would be Flying Down to Rio. When did he get the time to make it? They made films fast. He would never return to Broadway.
The Gay Divorce with the less offensive title The Gay Divorcee would of course eventually play at the Hall as well.
Can you imagine a time in New York when you could go to an early matinee of Kong at the Music Hall with a stage show and then in the evening see Fred Astaire on Broadway in a Cole Porter musical. Incredible.
This looks like the most beautiful of surviving movie palaces. Happy to know it still shows movies.
I remember this double bill as a little boy in our local medium sized movie palace which still exists as 5 shoe box theaters. It probably was the first time I went to the movies. I wonder if Almost Angels was ever released on home video.
Looks more like a film the Music Hall would play in the summer rather than at Christmas.
Random Harvest opened as the ‘42 Christmas show. You can see the holiday garlands have been taken down. The film was such a success it played until March of ‘43 Even though it is past the holiday season there is still a long line and crowds outside the Hall. The director Mervyn LeRoy in his autobio claims the Music Hall manager told him it could have played for many more weeks. But the Music Hall had other films lined up waiting to get in and MGM probably wanted to get it into the nabes. It could have played as the Easter Show as well. Coleman and Garson are one of the most attractive couples to appear in a movie.
The film that followed was a Goldwyn Hope/Lamour comedy. In his autobio I think he says Cancel My Reservation was the only one of his films to play at the Hall. I guess he forgot about this one.
It needs a bluray! But I doubt it’s on the top of Warner’s archive list.
5 stage shows. The cast a crew must have been wiped out.
I saw this last good Christmas stage show because it was the last with the ballet company.
I thought the film was ok but it is now considered a Disney animated classic. Well it does have Monica Evans, Carole Shelley and Brian Bedford doing some of the voices and major others as you can see.
El was in process of being torn down. Christmas at the Hall so movie most likely was Balalaika. Maybe there was another movie for New Years and decorations were kept up.
Would love to know what year this is. Notice the center of the reserved seat mezz is somewhat empty waiting for its patrons for the next show. Mezz looks sold out as the extreme side seats are filled.
What a beautiful theater and massive wide screen! A tragedy that towns don’t take pride in such buildings.
Amazing how many films the Music Hall played that I never heard of. Never even heard of Lilian Harvey. Nice supporting cast.
Emilia Sherman was to become the choreographer for the Rockettes.
This is one of those(good)melodramas that the Music Hall would strangely choose as a holiday film. Despite its happy ending these films were incredibly sad. MGM doesn’t get enough credit for its dramas filled with failure and tragedy. Not everything was Nancy Goes to Rio. In an interview on youtube Dean Stockwell says he never saw it. But then he doesn’t seem to have liked working for MGM very much.
The quad? I would seriously doubt it. Even when I was going to see 70MM revivals in the ‘70s and the theater was still a single screen the screen was flat. Great theater before it was split up. I envy those who saw Sound of Music there.
I’s like to know what stars like Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald made for these engagements.
On youtube in a fairly good print. Well worth seeing. The very beautiful Crain who also had the good fortune to be a very good actress is very wonderful and perfectly syncs It Might as Well Be Spring one of my favorite R and H songs.
Was that because of the box office or were they contractually required to hold it that long by the distributor no matter how empty the reduced Cinemiracle seating?