Mark movies will never die just the film we used to project them.
rcdtrrb you made my day with that comment please please keep us informed on what is going on. Did you ever put that 5th projector back removed for the digital effect projector?
Very good point Stanley well said.
Of course those of us who go way back miss the movies at the Hall but it’s just not possible anymore.
When I think of those projectors all covered in plastic it can be sad to accept. But the Music Hall lives and that is the important thing
NYer I appreciate what you wrote I need to accept change and be happy we still have the “Grande Dame”, as you wrote we almost lost her. I just like the Hall to stay as it was and seeing it now I get nervous we will loose the charm of the original but since this is only temporary In will try and be more accepting. Thanks again for your response to my rant I guess I needed that.
Last nights “America’s Got Talent” was televised from RCMH; not a fan of the show but I wanted to see the Hall so tuned in. What I saw was a set that completely covered the proscenium and the gold curtain. I was not amused.
It is my understanding that although The Ziegfeld will not be acquired by Bow Tie the company will manage the Theatre on Cablevision’s behalf. If that is correct why do so many of you feel the theatre will close or am I missing something?
I watched the Tony Award nominations this morning and was happy to hear that after two years at the Beacon the award ceremony will return to Radio City this year.
Thanks Robert I knew you would be the one to answer that trailers question. I recall loving the days when a new fresh box of snipes arrived from Filmack.
Mike that “Curtain Raiser” term comes from the company that supplies many of the personalised trailers used today. But yes policy trailers are what they basically are.
Oh yes Robert I remember fondly those Filmack strips we all used them all thru the 50s and before my time as well. They were as you wrote cheaply made but they always had wonderful musical accompaniment lovely little march like bounce your head to the music sort of thing. Most common use was to insert before the trailers things like “Previews of our coming attractions”, “Coming Soon” or specific dates like “Starts Wednesday”. The trailers would end with be “also selected short subjects” Now a days they use highly produced what are called “Curtain Raisers” with Welcome to the show please don’t smoke or use your phone and visit the concession stand that sort of thing. Not to sound like the grumpy old “In my day” guy but the ones use today don’t have the charm of those old fashion Snips Many of you may recall seeing one of the old concession snipes in the movie “Grease” where the hot dog jumps into the bun. Yup that was real we actually showed that one which was so darn cute.In addition, we would show small advertisements from the local merchants in town, just a still shot with once again that wonderful music, and we would splice three or four of those together to show prior to the trailers. Theatre advertisements are nothing new we did it back then and no one seemed to mind and it brought us a little extra revenue form the local diner or hardware store. Ah the neighborhood theatre who could ever forget those.
I would imagine our resident RCMH expert REndres has the answer to the trailer question. In addition to the trailers the Music Hall also made up their own news reel; rather than just show one from a major studio they would take bits and pieces from many of the news reels from Paramount, MGM and Fox and make up a special RCMH newsreel.
I suppose one might say the answer as to why they did those things would be, hey, we are Radio City Music Hall and we are very special in everything we do :)
Michael you are correct, this season on “Smash” they are using a NY city theatre and not the St George as they did last year. I was disapointed cause seeing the ole girl last season was fun.
Yes Stan “Fiddler” played with a 70mm blow up print at the Rivoli. I was workong on Long Island at the time and we played the picture day and date at both the Syosset and Five Towns theates in 35mm. The Syosset ran a 35mm print with a magnetic four track print and the Five Towns ran a 35mm print with an optical/mono print. Sorry for the confussion.
Al As a matter of fact it was the roadshow engagement of “Fiddler On The Roof” in the early 70s which was shown in 35mm that ended the pratice. Theatre owners balked at having 2 men for a 35mm prersenation which resulted in ending roadshow premiums altogether. Interestingly “Fiddler” marked the beginning of the end of Roadshows as we knew them.
And Yes Bill sometimes the running time would dictate an 830 show instead of 8 following a mid afternoon matinee
Bill, that was common practice in the roadshow days. There were many variations but often M-F we would have two a day at 2 and 8 then depending on the run time of the picture on Sat and Sun 3 shows at approximately 2-5-8
Those roadshow engagements were a kick to do not only because they were a heck of a lot of fun but the hours wee magnificent. Weekdays we would go to work at 7 and be done by 11, on top of that we got a premium pay rate. So yup, good times.
Ah Bill if only we could turn back time. As a Universal picture it could easy have played as a roadshow reserved engagement at the Rivoli in 70mm 6 track mag stereo. Overture intermission and exit music and would that have been grand. Also the curtain wold have worked, Sorry, I could not resist throwing that in.
The original name for the theatre was to be the Ilikai Marina Twin but when it was discovered that the name had been reserved by the Ilikai Marina condominium the name became Royal Marina. The projection rooms where each equipped with two 35mm projectors which handled 6K reels running automated in change over reel to reel style. In addition, a platter was installed which enabled presentation of movies shown in both auditoriums simultaneously which is the way the premiere attraction of “Chinatown” was presented. Later the theatre was the first on Oahu to install Dolby stereo in one of the auditoriums, a four track magnetic Dolby stereo system was installed along with the optical stereo. The 4 track mag sound was used for “King Kong” and in a move over run from the Consolidated Waikiki# 3 of “A Star Is Born”. Along the way the second auditorium had Dolby installed for the showing of Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon”. At the time the Marina had one of the best sound systems on the island second only to the Cinerama.
Yes Al of course having worked many a NY theatre I am very aware of the policies regarding stagehands. The fact that no one can fix this problem is just incomprehensible to me.
Al, I understand others have tried and failed but perhaps they could call the stagehands union and ask to borrow the folks responsible for keeping the curtains at RCMH humming along so well. Somehow I think they would be up to the challenge to fix the problem once and for all.
Good one Bill I bet you would make a good one. That was actually my first job in the biz, I was curtain puller/reel boy at the Paramount on Staten island.
Sorry Al I am not buying into that, maintaining curtains just simply is not all that hard. In all of my years in this biz I have worked many a theatre with just about every size and shape of curtain it is only recently, as Mark pointed out, have the industry lost the art of presenting movies and no one cares anymore about showmanship. In my day curtains rarely broke down and if they did it was repaired immediately because it was considered a sin to have a bare screen exposed in the theatre. And we used the curtains as a part of the show almost always presenting the movie with a Delux presentation opening and closing them between pre feature film and the feature. Heck we would not even allow the audience to see the masking moving between a flat presentation and a scope one the curtains were used to hide that. Perhaps the folks at the Ziegfeld should go over to Radio City Music Hall and find out just how to properly maintain the curtains. During the days of movies at RCMH have you ever gone into and found the curtain not working? That answer would be NO, and the Music Hall curtains are far more elaborate than the ones at the Ziegfeld and yet they manage to keep them working.
So cut the crap Clearview and get this problem resolved you are embarrassing yourself with the excuses that us ole timers aren’t buying
Mark movies will never die just the film we used to project them.
rcdtrrb you made my day with that comment please please keep us informed on what is going on. Did you ever put that 5th projector back removed for the digital effect projector?
Very good point Stanley well said. Of course those of us who go way back miss the movies at the Hall but it’s just not possible anymore. When I think of those projectors all covered in plastic it can be sad to accept. But the Music Hall lives and that is the important thing
NYer I appreciate what you wrote I need to accept change and be happy we still have the “Grande Dame”, as you wrote we almost lost her. I just like the Hall to stay as it was and seeing it now I get nervous we will loose the charm of the original but since this is only temporary In will try and be more accepting. Thanks again for your response to my rant I guess I needed that.
Last nights “America’s Got Talent” was televised from RCMH; not a fan of the show but I wanted to see the Hall so tuned in. What I saw was a set that completely covered the proscenium and the gold curtain. I was not amused.
Anyone know if the movies wil be shown in 35mm or will it be some sort of Digital presentation?
Indeed, sadly the Roxy was dust by the time MFL opened. Still it’s nice to reference the great lines from the movie here and there.
Oh Mike, that’s cute you can never go wrong with a “My Fair Lady” reference :)
It is my understanding that although The Ziegfeld will not be acquired by Bow Tie the company will manage the Theatre on Cablevision’s behalf. If that is correct why do so many of you feel the theatre will close or am I missing something?
I watched the Tony Award nominations this morning and was happy to hear that after two years at the Beacon the award ceremony will return to Radio City this year.
With four projectors in the booth no 3-D reel change intermission was necessary at the Paramount
Thanks Robert I knew you would be the one to answer that trailers question. I recall loving the days when a new fresh box of snipes arrived from Filmack. Mike that “Curtain Raiser” term comes from the company that supplies many of the personalised trailers used today. But yes policy trailers are what they basically are.
Aww, that’s nice to hear Bill, thanks
Oh yes Robert I remember fondly those Filmack strips we all used them all thru the 50s and before my time as well. They were as you wrote cheaply made but they always had wonderful musical accompaniment lovely little march like bounce your head to the music sort of thing. Most common use was to insert before the trailers things like “Previews of our coming attractions”, “Coming Soon” or specific dates like “Starts Wednesday”. The trailers would end with be “also selected short subjects” Now a days they use highly produced what are called “Curtain Raisers” with Welcome to the show please don’t smoke or use your phone and visit the concession stand that sort of thing. Not to sound like the grumpy old “In my day” guy but the ones use today don’t have the charm of those old fashion Snips Many of you may recall seeing one of the old concession snipes in the movie “Grease” where the hot dog jumps into the bun. Yup that was real we actually showed that one which was so darn cute.In addition, we would show small advertisements from the local merchants in town, just a still shot with once again that wonderful music, and we would splice three or four of those together to show prior to the trailers. Theatre advertisements are nothing new we did it back then and no one seemed to mind and it brought us a little extra revenue form the local diner or hardware store. Ah the neighborhood theatre who could ever forget those.
I would imagine our resident RCMH expert REndres has the answer to the trailer question. In addition to the trailers the Music Hall also made up their own news reel; rather than just show one from a major studio they would take bits and pieces from many of the news reels from Paramount, MGM and Fox and make up a special RCMH newsreel.
I suppose one might say the answer as to why they did those things would be, hey, we are Radio City Music Hall and we are very special in everything we do :)
Michael you are correct, this season on “Smash” they are using a NY city theatre and not the St George as they did last year. I was disapointed cause seeing the ole girl last season was fun.
Yes Stan “Fiddler” played with a 70mm blow up print at the Rivoli. I was workong on Long Island at the time and we played the picture day and date at both the Syosset and Five Towns theates in 35mm. The Syosset ran a 35mm print with a magnetic four track print and the Five Towns ran a 35mm print with an optical/mono print. Sorry for the confussion.
Al As a matter of fact it was the roadshow engagement of “Fiddler On The Roof” in the early 70s which was shown in 35mm that ended the pratice. Theatre owners balked at having 2 men for a 35mm prersenation which resulted in ending roadshow premiums altogether. Interestingly “Fiddler” marked the beginning of the end of Roadshows as we knew them. And Yes Bill sometimes the running time would dictate an 830 show instead of 8 following a mid afternoon matinee
Bill, that was common practice in the roadshow days. There were many variations but often M-F we would have two a day at 2 and 8 then depending on the run time of the picture on Sat and Sun 3 shows at approximately 2-5-8 Those roadshow engagements were a kick to do not only because they were a heck of a lot of fun but the hours wee magnificent. Weekdays we would go to work at 7 and be done by 11, on top of that we got a premium pay rate. So yup, good times.
Ah Bill if only we could turn back time. As a Universal picture it could easy have played as a roadshow reserved engagement at the Rivoli in 70mm 6 track mag stereo. Overture intermission and exit music and would that have been grand. Also the curtain wold have worked, Sorry, I could not resist throwing that in.
The original name for the theatre was to be the Ilikai Marina Twin but when it was discovered that the name had been reserved by the Ilikai Marina condominium the name became Royal Marina. The projection rooms where each equipped with two 35mm projectors which handled 6K reels running automated in change over reel to reel style. In addition, a platter was installed which enabled presentation of movies shown in both auditoriums simultaneously which is the way the premiere attraction of “Chinatown” was presented. Later the theatre was the first on Oahu to install Dolby stereo in one of the auditoriums, a four track magnetic Dolby stereo system was installed along with the optical stereo. The 4 track mag sound was used for “King Kong” and in a move over run from the Consolidated Waikiki# 3 of “A Star Is Born”. Along the way the second auditorium had Dolby installed for the showing of Disney’s “Pete’s Dragon”. At the time the Marina had one of the best sound systems on the island second only to the Cinerama.
Both auditriums had 70mm capability and occassionally used for Roadshow reserved seat attractions such as “Tora Tora Tora”
Yes Al of course having worked many a NY theatre I am very aware of the policies regarding stagehands. The fact that no one can fix this problem is just incomprehensible to me.
Al, I understand others have tried and failed but perhaps they could call the stagehands union and ask to borrow the folks responsible for keeping the curtains at RCMH humming along so well. Somehow I think they would be up to the challenge to fix the problem once and for all.
Good one Bill I bet you would make a good one. That was actually my first job in the biz, I was curtain puller/reel boy at the Paramount on Staten island.
Sorry Al I am not buying into that, maintaining curtains just simply is not all that hard. In all of my years in this biz I have worked many a theatre with just about every size and shape of curtain it is only recently, as Mark pointed out, have the industry lost the art of presenting movies and no one cares anymore about showmanship. In my day curtains rarely broke down and if they did it was repaired immediately because it was considered a sin to have a bare screen exposed in the theatre. And we used the curtains as a part of the show almost always presenting the movie with a Delux presentation opening and closing them between pre feature film and the feature. Heck we would not even allow the audience to see the masking moving between a flat presentation and a scope one the curtains were used to hide that. Perhaps the folks at the Ziegfeld should go over to Radio City Music Hall and find out just how to properly maintain the curtains. During the days of movies at RCMH have you ever gone into and found the curtain not working? That answer would be NO, and the Music Hall curtains are far more elaborate than the ones at the Ziegfeld and yet they manage to keep them working.
So cut the crap Clearview and get this problem resolved you are embarrassing yourself with the excuses that us ole timers aren’t buying