posted 01-19-2007 12:26 AM                    

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January 8, 2007

Monroe Theater had glory days

Question: What can you tell me about the history of the Monroe Theater — before it turned into a place showing X-rated movies?

— J.C., Rochester

Answer: A who's who of Rochester turned out when the racing movie Grand Prix opened at the Monroe Theater in February 1967. The 600 attendees included Gilbert McCurdy, Jim Wegman and Police Chief William Lombard, reported Art Griffiths in the Times-Union. However, if it hadn't been for some hurried, last-minute preparations, they might not have seen a movie that night at 585 Monroe Ave. The Cinerama lenses that were used to show the movie, it was discovered, would not fit properly into the projection booth porthole, Griffiths reported. "The limitation cut about 10 feet of movie off the screen. Four workmen worked nearly all day until just before showtime to widen the porthole."

"'It worked,' sighed (theater manager Frank) Bassett between waves to familiar faces among the first nighters."

Those were the days. For nearly 40 years, the Monroe had shown some of the best movies that Hollywood had to offer, and thrived. But by 1967, those days were about to end. In a few more years, no police chief in his right mind would be caught coming to the theater where Sound of Music once had a record-breaking run. Instead, he would be sending in undercover officers to confiscate X-rated movies.

Monroe opened in 1928

The Monroe, designed by Carl Ade, opened as a neighborhood movie house on Jan. 5, 1928, according to information on file at the Rochester Public Library and in a profile by Lloyd Klos of the Rochester Theater Organ Society. The first film it showed was The Magic Flame, starring Samuel Goldwyn's "hottest" screen team at that time, Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky.

That was the era of silent movies, and the Monroe featured a $35,000 three-manual Kohl organ that eventually went to a church in Connecticut and then to Miami's Andre Hall, according to Klos' profile.

Eventually, the theater was equipped with a wide screen, Cinerama and full, six-track Todd-AO Cinemascope to keep pace with innovations.

In 1957, for example, "the sounds of workmen's hammers issuing from inside the Monroe Theater" were "significant heralds of a new era in local motion picture entertainment," the Times-Union reported. The theater was installing a new projector and a bigger, wider screen to accommodate Todd-AO system movies. This would "bring our town into the major leagues of the screen world," the newspaper reported, starting with the local premiere of Around the World in 80 Days. It also would give the 1,000-seat Monroe an edge in competing for similar first-run movies requiring "special handling."

Bassett was all smiles in April 1966, when Sound of Music was still playing at the Monroe after 51 weeks — and after grossing $500,000. Both numbers set new records for local movie theaters, the Times-Union reported. So careful were the projectionists that they were still showing the original 70 mm print they had received at the start of the run. There had been only three breaks in the film during 593 showings.

"The year's run has been bolstered by a great number of theater parties, particularly from area towns where groups rent a school bus, come to the city for dinner and then take in the show," the newspaper noted. Two years later, a re-release of Gone with The Wind completed a 26-week run at the Monroe. In 1969, Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand ran for 48 weeks.

Those, indeed, were the days.

By the mid-1970s, more and more people were flocking to multiscreen movie theaters in the suburbs. "During the past 25 years, about 20 theaters were closed or razed within the city and replaced by newer theaters in suburban shopping centers," Bob Minzesheimer reported in the Democrat and Chronicle in 1976. Of the 11 city theaters left at that point, three were showing X-rated movies.

Bill Benet, former Monroe County legislator, remembers Monroe's better days, when he saw Around the World in 80 Days. He remembers the theater's "nice domed ceiling with a lot of architectural detail to it. It might not have been on the grand scale of the RKO Palace, but it was certainly on that next level."

"There are those of us who still believe that it would be a great renovation project, and that it is still feasible," he added. "Difficult, expensive ... probably. But very feasible."

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posted 01-23-2007 02:44 AM                    

quote: Will Kutler

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I purposely refrained from discussing that incident to keep from putting some good people on the spot. But our F-T member who worked the Cine Capri was not responsible for the damage.

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As I said, our FT member was NOT the responsible individual!

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posted 01-26-2007 03:10 AM                    

quote: Phil Hill

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You seem to have a hardon for arguing with Will

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posted 01-26-2007 03:53 AM                    

quote: Will Kutler

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The print was run on JJ's and the projectionist threaded and ran the reel in the 35mm configuration, making new sprocket holes down the middle of the print.

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