My friend Orlando was just at the Loew’s 46th Street. He spoke with the owner and the building is currently being gutted inside, the outside will be preserved and used for retail on the bottom parts and apartments on the top. Most of the items like the chairs that were inside are already thrown inside the dumpster and have been hauled off unfortunately. Well at least the exterior will be preserved in some sort of form.
When Interstellar played the 70mm was shown at the Ziegfeld, City Cinemas 1-2-3 and Lincoln Square IMAX, I don’t seem to ee Star Wars TFA as a 70mm release unfortunately. I will have to ask the manager who we know if they still have the 70mm projectors here.
Just saw the IMAX list for Star Wars TFA, the nearest 15/70 IMAX Theatres for us is Philadelphia & Washington D.C. otherwise it’s just the plain 2K IMAX Digital here as they won’t have the laser system installed until next year. I wonder if Dolby Vision & Dolby Atmos at the Empire 25 will be better in the Prime auditorium for this film.
It’s a shame that Alamo Drafthouse could not make it work as a movie theatre. Well at least the exterior has landmark status, so that can’t change it, thankfully.
There has been talk in the local publications that the City Of NY should use the laws of eminent domain to take this theatre away from it’s current owner Jasmine Bullard, because the building if basically just an eyesore that is rotting away. I was here last night and the front of the theatre now is an encampment for the homeless who are seeking shelter under the scaffolding that’s in place around the front. I hope something will be done soon before it’s too late and it gets condemned.
Until the church took it over, that was a very nice intricate one that had to really stand our against the elevated train that used to run there. Isn’t the one on the 175th St. the original one, albeit with the Loew’s letters removed? It’s really a shame that most of the verticals, were removed because it was said they would unfortunately compromise the structural integrity of the buildings facade over time, they were really something special & you could see them from blocks away as their calling card to beckon it’s patrons. The Ewalk & Boston Commons attempted to sort of replicate the old style Loew’s verticals as sort of a homage to the originals.
robboehm, yes both the vertical and regular marquee were replaced by Loew’s in the late 30’s or early 40’s. The second vertical was made by Artkraft Strauss. I wish there were more pictures around of both types.
There is a photo with the film “Divorce American Style” listed on the marquee with the vertical in place which would put that in 1967. Meanwhile in the photo on top “Ice Station Zebra” is playing with the vertical gone, which would put us in 1968. So my guess would be sometime between 67-68 was when they scrapped it. The Shore theatre in Coney lsland had the exact same type and style vertical sign until Sandy ripped it apart in Oct 2012.
If the Loew’s Oriental opened in October 1927 the photo, must have been taken shortly after opening. The Buster Keaton Silent Film “College” opened on September 27th. Also notice the retail stores to the left and right of the theatre have not been rented out yet.
Yes the place is crumbling away, here is some info from the NYC Department Of Buildings Site:
1) FIRE STARTED TO HEAT PIPES CAUSED PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF INT WA LLS, NO APPROVED PLANS ON SITE. STOP ALL WORK, ENTIRE SITE
2)TIE BACK ON METAL LATH & PLASTER WALL ROTTED CAUSING WALL TO BECOME UNSTABLE W/ THE POTENTIAL OF COLLAPSE.
Unless the owner does something soon, the inside will rot and fall away to nothing, like what happened to the Loew’s Pitkin.
Mintaka, thank you for sharing your memories of the Stillwell. In response to DJM78’s post, this United Skates also closed sometime in the early eighties as well, sometime shortly after the roller skating craze started to die out. I remember Genoveese Drug Store opened in the Fall of 1983, Consumers came in about 1 or 2 years later. The star logo was on the top of the theatre for many, many years after it was gone from the building, it probably was too expensive for the owner at that time to remove.
markp, yes I got to see it at the Imax in Lincoln Square, the picture was nothing short of amazing. Besides the Ziegfeld & Lincoln Square the only other theatre in the city that had it in 70mm was the Cinema 1,2,3 on Third Avenue. I hope the people at the Loew’s Jersey get the 70mm set up and running one day, but they have more pressing matters to attend to. In the meantime I continue to seek out the special films I want to see in a theatre again, whether it’s a Traditional Film, DCP, DVD or Blu-Ray as long as you have an enjoyable experience and well done presentation by staff that cares it makes for a great time at the movies for the guests.
markp, your welcome! I think the director Chris Nolan insisted that Interstellar be issued on film, even though Paramount had said “Wolf of Wall Street” would be an all digital format title. At least some theatres here in NYC have 35mm capability for repertory showings and places like BAM & Alamo Drafthouse let you know if it’s a 35mm or DCP. Not sure what the Chelsea uses, but I did see them wheeling a player with a DVD of the film they were showing, they must also use a video scaler or such, since a 480i image projected would look pretty bad on a movie theatre screen.
markp, we need more projectionists like you that are still around, dedicated to making sure the picture, sound and total presentation quality is as perfect as it can be for the guests attending film showings.
Was here last night for the classic movie “Dead Ringer” with Hedda Lettuce last night. As usual the ending of the movie was totally ruined by the automation system kicking in and causing the screen to go blank right before the movie ended and the Screenvision advertising to kick in,I swear this has happened the last 5 out of 6 times I have been here. It’s a real shame, because everything else about this theatre is usually top notch.
Guess you have to have the right connections to get to special studio vault prints. I guess it’s hit or miss with the condition of the prints that the Jersey will get. On a side note: Warner Brothers thru their acquisition of Turner Entertainment controls all Pre-May 1986 Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) releases for repertory theatres.
If it’s the Bowtie over there it must have been a DCP. Was this supposed to be the restored version?
My friend Orlando was just at the Loew’s 46th Street. He spoke with the owner and the building is currently being gutted inside, the outside will be preserved and used for retail on the bottom parts and apartments on the top. Most of the items like the chairs that were inside are already thrown inside the dumpster and have been hauled off unfortunately. Well at least the exterior will be preserved in some sort of form.
When Interstellar played the 70mm was shown at the Ziegfeld, City Cinemas 1-2-3 and Lincoln Square IMAX, I don’t seem to ee Star Wars TFA as a 70mm release unfortunately. I will have to ask the manager who we know if they still have the 70mm projectors here.
Thanks Brianhs, they are also doing the Bay Terrace renovations at the same time. I wonder if the Orpheum will get a redo as well?
Just saw the IMAX list for Star Wars TFA, the nearest 15/70 IMAX Theatres for us is Philadelphia & Washington D.C. otherwise it’s just the plain 2K IMAX Digital here as they won’t have the laser system installed until next year. I wonder if Dolby Vision & Dolby Atmos at the Empire 25 will be better in the Prime auditorium for this film.
Plus, isn’t the native resolution of motion picture film something like in the 6K range?
It’s a shame that Alamo Drafthouse could not make it work as a movie theatre. Well at least the exterior has landmark status, so that can’t change it, thankfully.
Does the original exist under the church one? I hope so.
Yes unfortunately, and it has been for many, many years.
There has been talk in the local publications that the City Of NY should use the laws of eminent domain to take this theatre away from it’s current owner Jasmine Bullard, because the building if basically just an eyesore that is rotting away. I was here last night and the front of the theatre now is an encampment for the homeless who are seeking shelter under the scaffolding that’s in place around the front. I hope something will be done soon before it’s too late and it gets condemned.
Until the church took it over, that was a very nice intricate one that had to really stand our against the elevated train that used to run there. Isn’t the one on the 175th St. the original one, albeit with the Loew’s letters removed? It’s really a shame that most of the verticals, were removed because it was said they would unfortunately compromise the structural integrity of the buildings facade over time, they were really something special & you could see them from blocks away as their calling card to beckon it’s patrons. The Ewalk & Boston Commons attempted to sort of replicate the old style Loew’s verticals as sort of a homage to the originals.
robboehm, yes both the vertical and regular marquee were replaced by Loew’s in the late 30’s or early 40’s. The second vertical was made by Artkraft Strauss. I wish there were more pictures around of both types.
There is a photo with the film “Divorce American Style” listed on the marquee with the vertical in place which would put that in 1967. Meanwhile in the photo on top “Ice Station Zebra” is playing with the vertical gone, which would put us in 1968. So my guess would be sometime between 67-68 was when they scrapped it. The Shore theatre in Coney lsland had the exact same type and style vertical sign until Sandy ripped it apart in Oct 2012.
David, yes that’s what it looked like to me as well, thank you for posting the photo.
If the Loew’s Oriental opened in October 1927 the photo, must have been taken shortly after opening. The Buster Keaton Silent Film “College” opened on September 27th. Also notice the retail stores to the left and right of the theatre have not been rented out yet.
In the 1969 photo, does anybody know what the bundles were that were in front of the box office could have been?
And it was never twined, triplexed or quaded by RKO Stanley Warner.
Yes the place is crumbling away, here is some info from the NYC Department Of Buildings Site:
1) FIRE STARTED TO HEAT PIPES CAUSED PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF INT WA LLS, NO APPROVED PLANS ON SITE. STOP ALL WORK, ENTIRE SITE 2)TIE BACK ON METAL LATH & PLASTER WALL ROTTED CAUSING WALL TO BECOME UNSTABLE W/ THE POTENTIAL OF COLLAPSE.
Unless the owner does something soon, the inside will rot and fall away to nothing, like what happened to the Loew’s Pitkin.
So, basically United Artists Theatres closed the State Quad approx four Years after Loews Theatres closed the Jersey Triplex back in August of 1986.
Mintaka, thank you for sharing your memories of the Stillwell. In response to DJM78’s post, this United Skates also closed sometime in the early eighties as well, sometime shortly after the roller skating craze started to die out. I remember Genoveese Drug Store opened in the Fall of 1983, Consumers came in about 1 or 2 years later. The star logo was on the top of the theatre for many, many years after it was gone from the building, it probably was too expensive for the owner at that time to remove.
markp, yes I got to see it at the Imax in Lincoln Square, the picture was nothing short of amazing. Besides the Ziegfeld & Lincoln Square the only other theatre in the city that had it in 70mm was the Cinema 1,2,3 on Third Avenue. I hope the people at the Loew’s Jersey get the 70mm set up and running one day, but they have more pressing matters to attend to. In the meantime I continue to seek out the special films I want to see in a theatre again, whether it’s a Traditional Film, DCP, DVD or Blu-Ray as long as you have an enjoyable experience and well done presentation by staff that cares it makes for a great time at the movies for the guests.
markp, your welcome! I think the director Chris Nolan insisted that Interstellar be issued on film, even though Paramount had said “Wolf of Wall Street” would be an all digital format title. At least some theatres here in NYC have 35mm capability for repertory showings and places like BAM & Alamo Drafthouse let you know if it’s a 35mm or DCP. Not sure what the Chelsea uses, but I did see them wheeling a player with a DVD of the film they were showing, they must also use a video scaler or such, since a 480i image projected would look pretty bad on a movie theatre screen.
markp, we need more projectionists like you that are still around, dedicated to making sure the picture, sound and total presentation quality is as perfect as it can be for the guests attending film showings.
Was here last night for the classic movie “Dead Ringer” with Hedda Lettuce last night. As usual the ending of the movie was totally ruined by the automation system kicking in and causing the screen to go blank right before the movie ended and the Screenvision advertising to kick in,I swear this has happened the last 5 out of 6 times I have been here. It’s a real shame, because everything else about this theatre is usually top notch.
Guess you have to have the right connections to get to special studio vault prints. I guess it’s hit or miss with the condition of the prints that the Jersey will get. On a side note: Warner Brothers thru their acquisition of Turner Entertainment controls all Pre-May 1986 Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) releases for repertory theatres.