Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Ziegfeld

This is topic The Ziegfeld in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Daniel Boisson (Member # 1027) on 02-08-2002, 12:32 PM:

Has anyone been there? I'm hoping to go down to NYC and visit it during spring break..

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3% Body Fat. 1% Brain Activity.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-08-2002, 01:46 PM:

The Ziegfield Theatre is on 54th Street just off Avenue of the Americas toward Seventh Avenue. The theatre was originally built by Walter Reade and opened just before his fatal skiing accident. The Walter Reade Organization ran it for a few years and then the theatres were sold to RKO, at that time. It has gone through several ownerships and was owned by Cineplex Odeon at the time that Loew's took them over. This was one of the theatres that Loews had to sell in order to comply with the directive of the federal government. The theatre was sold to Clearview Cinemas and is presently operated by them.

It is a 1500 seat theatre with a racked floor in the bottom half of the auditorium toward the screen. The back ao the auditorium is a stadium seating area. I believe the screen is the second largest in the city, first is the Loews Astor Plaza, which has 1644 seats.

Radio City Music Hall when they show film, has 5000 seats, as does the Paramount theatre located at Madison Square Garden, normally used for live shows but they have had some world Premieres in this auditorium.

Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 02-08-2002, 01:48 PM:

Yes, about 3 years ago when the last "Star Wars :EP1" was screening there.

It was a nice Theatre, it was a shame however, the screen curtains were not used and the white Theatre Auditorium lighting was something to be desired!.

Nice Theatre, shame about the presentation!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-09-2002, 08:53 PM:

I thought the Ziegfeld had only 1,100 seats. The Loew's Astor Plaza has the most seats of any commercial cinema in NYC with 1,500. Those are seat counts I've seen listed in Variety Magazine on NYC box office totals.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-10-2002, 09:03 AM:

Bobby, I can not swear to the number of seats in the Ziegfield but I was told 1500. The Astor plaza had a seating chart for use witrh Roadshows and was listed at 1644.

I wouldn't trust the seat counts listed in Variety, I know that the theatres I operated the counts were never correct.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-10-2002, 01:33 PM:

The Ziegfeld, at least how I remember it from the late 1980's and early 1990's, is a great premiere-class theater regardless of seat count. For any movie theater, there is just a kind of large impact in walking into an auditorium with more than 1,000 seats.

When I visited the place during my years as a School of Visual Arts student, the operators there usually tried as best they could for providing a "road show" experience. This is a place that actually has curtains. You never see a white, blank screen. Sometimes that means seeing the very beginnings of previews being projected on the layers of curtains as they open (The Ziegfeld had a two layer setup with one thick set of burgundy curtains and another curtain layer that was translucent like brides veil).

I'm pretty sure I watched more shows in 70mm at this particular theater than any other. "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Abyss," "Spartacus," "Backdraft," "The Bear" and "Born of the Fourth of July" were among the better shows I've seen there.

If film distribution companies can be persuaded to strike some 70mm DTS blow up prints of certain movies, I think some of these 1000+ seat auditoriums can make a comeback. If I were going to build a "destination theater complex" I would have at least one auditorium in the complex built with over 1000 seats, a more relaxed stadium seated angle (not quite as sharp an incline), a large 2.4:1 screen with 70mm projection capability --and the screen would have curtains!

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-10-2002, 01:54 PM:

Sad to say that the last time I was in the Ziegfield, about two years ago, the curtains were not being used. The entire theatre looked like it needed refreshment.

It is a wonderful design, Designed by John McNamara, before his retirement. The theatre is a stand alone construction surrounded by the Burlington Mills building about 60 Stories and the building housing Warner Brothers, 1325 Avenue Of The Americas with the entrance on 54th and 55th Street. Also 50 stories in height.

The Walter Reade Organization was one of the Premiere Motion Picture Exhibitors.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 02-10-2002, 05:58 PM:

I wa at the Ziegfeld on opening night for both Apocalypse Now and Close Encounters, and I don't think I've ever heard a better sounding theater.

Of course I admit, that was a time when it was very expensive to have great sound. Today you can have 90% of that quality for a much cheaper price.

Bob, I know you're not a CE3K fan, but you have to admit it was pretty cool when the spaceship zaps the truck and all those subwoofers blasted away!

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-10-2002, 09:06 PM:

Yes John, I must admit that was extreemly effective.