Ambassador Theatre

Another article about the collapse.

https://kaloramahistory.blogspot.com/2014/09/knickbocker-theater-death-trap-of-1922.html?fbclid=IwAR3qTJNFFKa7CgfctUy2q25CyqGLmMi1oESSSfcYvd_SFl1yqPek-5dHepk

I uploaded the 1-29-22 roof collapse photo from the below Shorpy link.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/16914

FYI. The Shorpy Higginbotham Facebook page and website has a detailed photo that will enlarge, of the aftermath of the collapse.

The Ambassador was one of two theaters in Washington to play Alfred Hitchcock’s DIAL M FOR MURDER in 2-D, without glasses. I’ve posted an ad for opening day, May 27, 1954.

More information can be found in this article: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/dial-m-blu-ray-review

Are you sure?

http://dckaleidoscope.wordpress.com/tag/theaters/

Scroll about 20% down.

While the Ambassador played BECAUSE THEY’RE YOUNG between June 15-June 24 of 1961, the Metropolitan played THE RAT RACE.

The Metropolitan was closed between September 6 and October 4 of 1961. The Ambassador played COME SEPTEMBER.

While the Ambassador played WEST SIDE STORY between June 12-July 2 of 1963, the Metropolitan played THE WONDERUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM.

While the Ambassador played a series of second-run features between May 20-July 7 of 1964, the Metropolitan played the first run of WHAT A WAY TO GO.

While the Ambassador played a series of second-run features between November 18-December 22 of 1964, the Metropolitan played the first run of GOODBYE CHARLIE.

While the Ambassador played the first run of JOHN GOLDFARB, PLEASE COME HOMEY between April 14-May 11 of 1963, the played the Metropolitan played the first run of CHEYENNE AUTUMN.

Opening view of the Knickerbocker on 13 October 1917:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/5701?size=_original

Check all the major newspapers of January 29, 1922 and the not so major ones. They all ran headline stories about the crash that occured the day before. NOAA, other weather information websites, and some eyewitness accounts on the web also have the correct date. Only the Army Quartermaster’s website is incorect.

I have not been on this site lately and am pleased that there are some relatives of survivors of the Knickerbocker disaster. My grandfather (Oreste Natiello) was in the orchestra (french horn). His brother was the conductor: Ernesto Natiello. If you have not already contacted Debbie Chambers, do so. She is writing a book about the disaster and has many resources to share. She can be found on Ancestry.com or Genealogy.com. Just search for her postings or for information on the Knickerbocker Theater. She lined me up with a Canadian Company that did a documentory on the Knickerbocker. You can get a copy of it from Disasters of the
Twentieth Century website. Go to their store. The documentary is good and I enjoyed being in it but some of the information is not
true, even some of what I said. I had no opportunity to review
questions ahead of time or to edit what I said. I was probably
nervous or my memory was not that good that day. I was surprised at some of what I said. I never knew my grandfather but have done a
lot of reading on the theater – mostly old newspapers and some
websites. Debbie sent me picures.

“Mary Poppins” played first-run at the Ontario Theater, located in the same neighborhood as the Ambassador. The film opened there in October 1964 and played until the next spring when “The Sound of Music” replaced it.

There is a lot of information on Harry Crandall in the book:

Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington, D.C.: An Illustrated History of Parlors, Palaces, and Multiplexes in the Metropolitan Area, 1894-1997

The author is Robert K. Headley
Published in 1999 by McFarland & Company, Inc.
Jefferson, NC & London

I was able to purchase it at Barnes & Noble.

Most of the bibliographical info is on pages 151 through 155, althouh he is mentioned throughout the book. It does NOT give his wife’s name, although she is mentioned twice as “his widow.” He had a daughter who married a man named John Payette, who also was involved in the movie theater business.