Fellow Independent and foreign language film lovers and Boardman’s Art Theatre supporters…
What good is being on an email newsletter list, if you don’t hear the news there first?
Many of you know that I was investigating reopening the Rialto Theatre (directly across from the Art Theatre) because my lease ends at the Art on December 30, 2009.
While I would have loved the challenge and I love large, old, single-screen theatres, unfortunately, the owners of the Rialto Theatre did not feel the time was right for them.
Other locations were explored, but none would have been ready in a timely manner.
I have sold my equipment and furnishings to a new operator, Sanford Hess, who has secured a lease with the owner of the Art Theatre, David Kraft.
It is my understanding that the new operator will be using a professional film booker to secure films.
My hope and belief is the Art Theatre will continue to provide CU with quality Independent and foreign language films.
I am proud to have taken the Art Theatre from its closed and run down condition in 1993 to the best theatre in CU today.
The lobby/concession area remodel, the picture and (especially) the sound presentation, is my design.
I have booked every film shown since reopening in June of 2003. I worked with the U of I to bring French, Latin American, and Asian film festivals to the Art Theatre.
I would like to thank all of you for your interest in quality films, your attendance, and your film suggestions.
Without your support, CU would suffer with only the multiplex offerings from the corporate giants in town.
They thought we would fail. They hoped we would fail. They did what they could to bring our failure about. But in the end, Boardman’s Art Theatre performed better than the multiplexes in some head-to-head battles.
And they don’t even come close to our attendance when they attempt to show films that truly belong at the Art.
Your support for our presentation of quality Independent films now has many film distributors calling me to see if they can book their films into the Art Theatre.
We should all be proud of that.
In addition to your support, Boardman’s Art Theatre could also not have been successful without the help of talented, honest and dedicated managers and staff over the years.
And none has been better to rely on than Yvonne Green, my present manager, and her staff.
Finally, I will miss all of the above and hearing from you. I wish that I could have been at the theatre more often, to discuss with you the many fine films you have enjoyed.
I hope you continue to support the Art Theatre. Yvonne will be staying on for some time, helping with the transition.
Smart Cards will continue to be operational into the new year.
I will send out a few more newsletters before my lease is up.
PS. I wanted to show “A Serious Man” from the Coen brothers before my lease ran out, but “An Education” may take us into “Precious."
The Coen brothers' films are some of my favorites.
Anyone interested in seeing “The Blood on Satan’s Claw” would do well to catch it at one of the neighborhood houses where the double bill opens today. At the Harris yesterday, the projection was faulty, the audience restless, and the auditorium so brightly lit that the night scenes became light blue blurs.
Excerpt from a NY Times review of October 19, 1971:
“Also on the bill with "Bunny O'Hare,” currently at neighborhood theaters, is “The Velvet Vampire,” which is almost as funny as “Bunny O'Hare,” though I doubt that it means to be. It has to do with a beautiful, 125-year-old woman, the mistress of a remote ranch in the southwest who stocks her own blood bank with tourists dumb enough to spend the night.
“It is to be recommended only if you can see it at the New Amsterdam on 42d Street, where audiences loudly, freely and obscenely associate with the action on the screen.”
This theater was shown in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I just saw “The Facts of Life” and was tickled to see this drive-in featured there. Lucille Ball and Bob Hope go there to cheat on their spouses and get in a little necking but they are spotted by their dry-cleaning man. Hilarity ensues when the horn gets stuck and the speaker is still attached to the car as they try to duck out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
In this case the theater had burned down and I don’t think it ever re-opened as a theater.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I believe this theater was shown in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I believe this theater was shown in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I believe this theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I’m watching Silent Movie (1976) right now and the marquee and auditorium look pretty shabby, and I wonder how they fit 1900 seats into it. But the lobby looks good.
Excerpt from a NY Times review of “Horror House” dated 12/10/70:
“Customers at the New Amsterdam on West 42d Street weren’t spared after The End. In a pell-mell rush came three successive previews of coming attractions, retaining the spirit. First we saw a sailor quartering crewmen with an axe. Next was a peek at a goody about the transplanting of living human heads.
“In the third tantalizer, mother was a vampire, bidding her son farewell with a tender chomp on the neck. Deck the halls and run.”
Here is an eye-popping, two-sided handbill for the Lido Theatre circa 1937. The Hurricane was playing. One side is in full color. I think this item is for sale on ebay. View link It’s really cool.
I only went to this theater once. I was with an elementary school friend and his mother and we went to see “Dr. Zhivago,” which I remember really enjoying.
But I did have one question for my friend’s mom — if the woman (Lara?) wasn’t married, then how did she have a baby?
Latest news from Greg Boardman:
Fellow Independent and foreign language film lovers and Boardman’s Art Theatre supporters…
What good is being on an email newsletter list, if you don’t hear the news there first?
Many of you know that I was investigating reopening the Rialto Theatre (directly across from the Art Theatre) because my lease ends at the Art on December 30, 2009.
While I would have loved the challenge and I love large, old, single-screen theatres, unfortunately, the owners of the Rialto Theatre did not feel the time was right for them.
Other locations were explored, but none would have been ready in a timely manner.
I have sold my equipment and furnishings to a new operator, Sanford Hess, who has secured a lease with the owner of the Art Theatre, David Kraft.
It is my understanding that the new operator will be using a professional film booker to secure films.
My hope and belief is the Art Theatre will continue to provide CU with quality Independent and foreign language films.
I am proud to have taken the Art Theatre from its closed and run down condition in 1993 to the best theatre in CU today.
The lobby/concession area remodel, the picture and (especially) the sound presentation, is my design.
I have booked every film shown since reopening in June of 2003. I worked with the U of I to bring French, Latin American, and Asian film festivals to the Art Theatre.
I would like to thank all of you for your interest in quality films, your attendance, and your film suggestions.
Without your support, CU would suffer with only the multiplex offerings from the corporate giants in town.
They thought we would fail. They hoped we would fail. They did what they could to bring our failure about. But in the end, Boardman’s Art Theatre performed better than the multiplexes in some head-to-head battles.
And they don’t even come close to our attendance when they attempt to show films that truly belong at the Art.
Your support for our presentation of quality Independent films now has many film distributors calling me to see if they can book their films into the Art Theatre.
We should all be proud of that.
In addition to your support, Boardman’s Art Theatre could also not have been successful without the help of talented, honest and dedicated managers and staff over the years.
And none has been better to rely on than Yvonne Green, my present manager, and her staff.
Finally, I will miss all of the above and hearing from you. I wish that I could have been at the theatre more often, to discuss with you the many fine films you have enjoyed.
I hope you continue to support the Art Theatre. Yvonne will be staying on for some time, helping with the transition.
Smart Cards will continue to be operational into the new year.
I will send out a few more newsletters before my lease is up.
PS. I wanted to show “A Serious Man” from the Coen brothers before my lease ran out, but “An Education” may take us into “Precious."
The Coen brothers' films are some of my favorites.
Sincerely,
Greg Boardman
Excerpt from a NY Times review of April 15, 1971:
Anyone interested in seeing “The Blood on Satan’s Claw” would do well to catch it at one of the neighborhood houses where the double bill opens today. At the Harris yesterday, the projection was faulty, the audience restless, and the auditorium so brightly lit that the night scenes became light blue blurs.
Excerpt from a NY Times review of October 19, 1971:
“Also on the bill with "Bunny O'Hare,” currently at neighborhood theaters, is “The Velvet Vampire,” which is almost as funny as “Bunny O'Hare,” though I doubt that it means to be. It has to do with a beautiful, 125-year-old woman, the mistress of a remote ranch in the southwest who stocks her own blood bank with tourists dumb enough to spend the night.
“It is to be recommended only if you can see it at the New Amsterdam on 42d Street, where audiences loudly, freely and obscenely associate with the action on the screen.”
I was in the restored church the other day, and it is stunning. Even though it’s not a movie theater, there’s still a show going on.
And I believe the theater was twinned – and then quadded — by Loew’s years before Cineplex Odeon took over.
Nice close-up.
>>most moviegoers prefer CGI cartoons.
And you know this how…?
This theater was shown in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I just saw “The Facts of Life” and was tickled to see this drive-in featured there. Lucille Ball and Bob Hope go there to cheat on their spouses and get in a little necking but they are spotted by their dry-cleaning man. Hilarity ensues when the horn gets stuck and the speaker is still attached to the car as they try to duck out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
In this case the theater had burned down and I don’t think it ever re-opened as a theater.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I believe this theater was shown in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I believe this theater was shown in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I believe this theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
This theater was featured in a 1953 theater owners' documentary about the financial devastation wrought by the 20% federal tax, plus other encroachments on the box office, such as television.
The doc is called “The Case Against the 20% Federal Admission Tax on Motion Picture Theaters” and is a treasure trove of theaters operating but in imminent trouble, including long looks at their still-open theaters, marquees, etc., and interviews with the owners.
There are also plenty of shots of already-closed theaters; the writing was really on the wall already.
TCM ran this movie on 11/1/09 at about 6am and I stumbled upon it by accident; I don’t know when it will screen again but it is well worth seeking out.
I’m watching Silent Movie (1976) right now and the marquee and auditorium look pretty shabby, and I wonder how they fit 1900 seats into it. But the lobby looks good.
Excerpt from a NY Times review of “Horror House” dated 12/10/70:
“Customers at the New Amsterdam on West 42d Street weren’t spared after The End. In a pell-mell rush came three successive previews of coming attractions, retaining the spirit. First we saw a sailor quartering crewmen with an axe. Next was a peek at a goody about the transplanting of living human heads.
“In the third tantalizer, mother was a vampire, bidding her son farewell with a tender chomp on the neck. Deck the halls and run.”
Wish I could have been there!
I buy tickets to theaters, not movies. Bring on the razzmatazz. The bigger the better. And don’t forget the free dishes.
-Old Timey Moviegoer.
Howard was irascible but never erasable — he surely left an indelible mark.
Here is an eye-popping, two-sided handbill for the Lido Theatre circa 1937. The Hurricane was playing. One side is in full color. I think this item is for sale on ebay. View link It’s really cool.
But where the hell is the Warren Harris Theater, I’d like to know.
I always wanted to go to this gem; now’s a good reason.
(As yahoo maps would say, go to Route 25, make a left, 826 miles, theater is on your right…)
I only went to this theater once. I was with an elementary school friend and his mother and we went to see “Dr. Zhivago,” which I remember really enjoying.
But I did have one question for my friend’s mom — if the woman (Lara?) wasn’t married, then how did she have a baby?
She told be I’d better ask my parents about that.
I always like seeing a classic movie here, even though I haven’t been in a while.