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{{Short description|American businessman}} |
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{{Infobox person |
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{{Split|Walter Reade Sr.|Walter Reade Jr.|date=May 2022}} |
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| image = [[File:WalterReade.jpg|thumb]] |
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'''Walter Reade Sr.''' and '''Walter Reade Jr.''' were an [[United States|American]] father and son who had extensive careers in the United States motion picture industry. |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1883|4|28}} |
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| birth_place = [[Selma, Alabama]] |
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| death_date = {{death date and age|1952|2|5|1883|4|28}} |
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| death_place = [[Manhattan]], New York |
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| occupation = [[Businessman]], [[movie theater | movie theater owner]] |
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| spouse = Gertrude Blumberg |
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| children = [[Walter Reade, Jr.]]<br>Suzanne Reade Gage |
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| relatives = [[Oscar Hammerstein I]] <small>(uncle)</small><br>[[Willie Hammerstein]] <small>(cousin)</small><br>[[Arthur Hammerstein]] <small>(cousin)</small><br>[[Oscar Hammerstein II]] <small>(cousin)</small><br>[[Elaine Hammerstein]] <small>(cousin)</small><br>[[Stella Hammerstein]] <small>(cousin)</small>}} |
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'''Walter Reade''' (1883 – 1952) was a businessman, theatre impresario, and cinema magnate, and a member of the prominent [[Oscar Hammerstein I|Hammerstein family]] of American theatre. After managing several of his uncle [[Oscar Hammerstein I|Oscar]]'s vaudeville houses in New York, he pioneered the construction of movie theaters throughout New York and New Jersey. He also played an influential role, both economically and politically, in the transition of [[Asbury Park, New Jersey]] from a Methodist temperance resort to a secular amusement resort. |
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[[File:Reade-Walter-Sr-Theatre-Owner.jpg|thumb|Walter Reade, Sr. in a 1927 publicity photo for Reade Theatre Enterprises.]]'''Walter Reade, Sr.''' (1884–1952) was the man behind a chain of theatres which grew from a single theatre in [[Asbury Park]], [[New Jersey]] to a chain of forty theatres and drive-ins in New Jersey, New York and neighboring states that lasted into the mid seventies. Known as the “Showman of The Shore,” his name was associated with big, beautifully kept single movie theatres of Hollywood’s golden age. He lived in [[Deal, New Jersey]], and considered Asbury Park the home base of his organization. He had six theatres there: The Mayfair, St. James, Lyric, Ocean, Paramount and Savoy. He soon became embroiled in fighting the corruption in Asbury Park from 1946 onward after he started a newspaper that had some unfavorable things to say about his adversaries.<ref>''New York Times: Feb 5, 1952. p. 29'</ref> |
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==Walter Reade Jr.== |
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Walter Reade was born Walter Rosenberg on April 28, 1883 in Selma, Alabama.<ref>{{cite news | title = Walter Reade, Pioneer Theatre Operator, Dies | publisher =[[Asbury Park Press]] | date =February 5, 1952}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> His father, Henry Rosenberg, immigrated to the United States from Westphalia, Germany in 1866.<ref>http://www.brighteningglance.org/entertainment.html</ref> Henry operated a saddlery in Selma.<ref>{{cite web | author = Hardy, John | title = Selma: Her Institutions and Her Men | publisher = Times Book & Job Office | date = 1879 | url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7gq76b4v&view=1up&seq=62}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> Reade’s mother, Anna Hammerstein Rosenberg, immigrated to the United States from [[Szczecin]], [[Pomerania]] in what was then Germany in the late 1860s. Anna’s brother, [[Oscar Hammerstein I]], had already immigrated to New York and would soon be responsible for transforming [[Times Square]] into the epicenter of the American theatre industry. The Rosenbergs moved to New York in 1890, and Henry went to work for his brother-in-law, managing several theatres, including the Columbus, the Metropolis,<ref>{{cite news | title = The Metropolis Theatre Leased | publisher = [[New York Times]] | date =September 9, 1898}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> and the [[Harlem Opera House]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Theatrical Managers At Odds | publisher = [[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]] | date = November 24, 1894}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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'''Walter Reade, Jr.''' (1916–1973) was the President and Board Chairman of the Walter Reade Organization, which owned and operated theatres in [[Manhattan]], [[New Jersey]], [[Boston]] and upstate [[New York (state)|New York]]. As the son of the company founder, Walter Reade Jr. served as an executive in the company. When his father died in the early 1950s, he assumed control of the company, and continued in that position until his death. In addition to its movie theatre operations, the Walter Reade Organization owned and operated television station [[WRTV (New Jersey)|WRTV]] in [[Asbury Park, New Jersey]], between 1954 and 1955. |
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After he finished high school, Walter Rosenberg worked briefly as a traveling necktie salesman, and later as a leather goods wholesaler. With $350, he opened a roller-skating rink in a [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] armory in [[Manhattan]]. He convinced the landlord to forgo the rent for the first three weeks of operation, and he convinced a contractor to install a $7000 hardwood floor by promising to pay him after the business started. The rink was an instant success, and Rosenberg took in $1000 a day for the first two years. Within a year, he was operating 15 rinks throughout the New York City area, earning $500,000 by 1901.<ref>{{cite news | title = Empire That Reade Built Collapses | publisher = [[Asbury Park Press]] | date =January 9, 1977}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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==The Walter Reade Organization== |
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===First Motion Picture Ventures=== |
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Reade Jr. started '''Continental Film Distributors''' in 1954 to distribute foreign films in the USA. |
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Rosenberg sold off several of his rinks in 1901 and used the revenue to lease Fehrs’ Opera House in [[Port Chester, New York]]. Convinced of the profitability of the then-new motion-picture industry, he began showing movies there. He followed up by leasing Hoyt’s Opera House in [[Norwalk, Connecticut]] and Homans’ Mount Vernon Theatre in [[Mount Vernon, New York]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Walter Reade, Theater Head, Dies After a Long Illness | publisher = [[Courier News | The Courier News]] | date =February 5, 1952}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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In 1961, Walter Reade acquired Sterling Television, renaming it to Reade-Sterling and then as the Walter Reade Organization in 1966. The company posted a major financial loss in 1964, due to the failure of its foreign film releases with the American public (the company had been responsible for issuing most of the films of [[Jacques Tati]], and for also releasing the Canadian film ''[[The Luck of Ginger Coffey (film)|The Luck of Ginger Coffey]]''). |
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In December 1909, Rosenberg negotiated a five-year lease with [[Klaw & Erlanger]] for the right to show motion pictures on the roof of the [[Olympia Theatre (New York City)|New York Theatre]] (built by his uncle Oscar in 1895 as the Olympia Theatre) except during the summer.<ref>{{cite news | title = Pictures on New York Roof | publisher = [[New York Times]] | date =December 16, 1909}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = New York Theatre Roof, Leased For Motion Picture Show, To Open Soon | publisher = [[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]] | date = December 16, 1909}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> The initial season was a success, and Rosenberg presumed the lease would be extended to the following winter. Klaw & Erlanger, however, cancelled the contract because Rosenberg had violated it by showing vaudeville acts a well as movies.<ref>{{cite news | title = Battle on Theatre Roof | publisher = [[New York Times]] | date =September 16, 1909}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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'''The Walter Reade Organization''' also distributed and sometimes financed foreign films for showing in American theatres and sold packages of dubbed foreign films for American television. The company financed ''[[Ulysses (1967 film)|Ulysses]]'' (1967). Reade was described by [[Joseph Strick]], the director of that film, as "a big, bluff man who wore a fresh carnation every day".<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oFCshLKnLvIC |title = Ulysses|isbn = 9781859182932|last1 = Norris|first1 = Margot|year = 2004| publisher=Cork University Press }}</ref> |
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In 1910, he leased the Savoy Theatre on 34th Street from Frank McKee and showed motion pictures. .<ref>{{cite web | author = Dimmick, Ruth Crosby | title = Our Theatres To-Day and Yesterday | publisher = H.K. Fly Company | date = 1913 | url = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t6g164x43&view=1up&seq=87}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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Reade declared "You can't take major awards to the bank" and began a program of more commercial releases such as a [[double feature]] of the British ''[[Hot Enough for June]]'' retitled ''Agent {{frac|8|3|4}}'' to make it sound more like a [[James Bond]] spoof and the Japanese ''[[Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster]]'' in 1965.<ref>p.208 Heffernan, Kevin ''Ghouls Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business'' 2004 Duke University Press</ref> Reade also presented ''Behind the Great Wall'', in "AromaRama", at the DeMille Theater in New York. The theater's air conditioning system was used to circulate various scents to provide an olfactory experience in addition to the sights and sounds. By three weeks, AromaRama beat a competing system, ''[[Scent of Mystery]]'' (1960), in [[Smell-O-Vision]].<ref>Avery N. Gilbert, ''What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life'' (Crown Publishers, 2008), pp159-162</ref> Reade's biggest success was releasing and exploiting ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' (1968). |
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In 1928, Reade purchased the [[Columbia Theatre (New York City) | Columbia Theatre]], a burlesque house on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street in Times Square. He continued to operate it as a burlesque house until 1930, when he hired [[Thomas W. Lamb | Thomas Lamb]] to convert it into a 2,300-seat movie theater, renamed The Mayfair. R.K.O. signed a 20-year lease to operate the Mayfair, but broke the lease in 1933. Reade took over management of the theatre, and featured, among other films, the only United States screening of the anti-Nazi ''[[Hitler's Reign of Terror]]''. |
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==Walter Reade cinemas== |
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==Asbury Park== |
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In 1904, theater impresario James B. Delcher suggested Rosenberg invest in the burgeoning resort town of [[Asbury Park, New Jersey]]. In 1907, Rosenberg signed a three-year lease to operate a vaudeville theatre inside the Casino on the boardwalk.<ref>{{cite news | title = Again Rosenberg Gets Theatre Contract | publisher =[[Asbury Park Press]] | date =December 12, 1907}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref>As the end of Rosenberg’s lease neared, the town’s beach commission proposed converting the Casino into a convention hall. In response, Rosenberg proposed building a pier immediately south of the casino and over the ocean on which he would have built a 2,200-seat theatre. <ref>{{cite news | title = May Construct Beach Theater | publisher =[[Asbury Park Press]] | date =July 29, 1909}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> Before the commission could vote on the idea, Rosenberg withdrew his proposal and announced that he would instead build a new theatre on a downtown plot owned by Dr. Hugh S. Kinmonth. |
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The firm also owned the Charles Cinema in [[Boston]], which opened in April 1967 and closed in December 1976. Major engagements included ''[[Easy Rider]]'' (1969) and ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977). The space was later operated by other exhibitors, but finally closed in 1994.<ref name="Boston Globe">Michael Blowen, ''Boston Globe'', "Charles to Close: Curtains for Hub's Last Big Screen", October 6, 1994, Living Section, p69</ref> In 1969, the company's flagship [[Ziegfeld Theatre (1969)|Ziegfeld Theatre]] in New York City opened.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=December 17, 1969|title=Reade Does Ziegfeld Proud in Décor and Memorabilia; Unique House Opens|page=26}}</ref> |
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In July of 1910, Rosenberg purposely violated Asbury Park’s prohibition against showing movies on Sunday. He told the trade paper [[Variety (magazine) | Variety]] that as long as the city’s Beach Commission sponsored band concerts on Sunday, he should have the right to show movies.<ref>{{cite news | title = Beat ‘Em To It | publisher =[[Variety]] | date =July 2, 1910}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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At its peak in the mid- to late-1960s, the Walter Reade Organization also operated two flagship foreign film movie theaters in [[Beverly Hills]], California. The Beverly Hills Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard was the exclusive exhibitor in the region of the 1969 Russian production of ''[[War and Peace (film series)|War and Peace]]''. The six-hour epic, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, was treated as a prestige product, shown in two parts on two separate days, requiring "hard ticket" [[Roadshow theatrical release|roadshow]] treatment and separate management handling the advance reservations. All the motion picture industry elites turned out for the several months of that engagement, including [[Katharine Hepburn]], [[Warren Beatty]] and [[Julie Christie]], [[Mike Nichols]], [[Joanne Woodward]], and scores of others. Theater staffers were required to wear Russian tunics for this engagement, and the doormen wore full-length Cossack coats, fur hats and accessories. The second Walter Reade cinema in Beverly Hills was the Beverly Canon, which also exhibited the company's licensed foreign films and was the site of world premiere screenings that included [[Peter Bogdanovich]]'s ''[[Targets]]''. |
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===Name change=== |
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In October 1919, both Rosenberg and his wife legally changed their shared surname from Rosenberg to Reade.<ref>{{cite news | title = Rosenberg Now Walter Reade| publisher = [[Asbury Park Press]] | date =October 30, 1919}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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Sheldon Gunsberg later took over the company from Reade when he was killed in a skiing accident in Switzerland<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E5D6113CF936A15755C0A96E958260 "Sheldon Gunsberg, 78, Film Producer Who Headed Theater Chain", ''New York Times''<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ([[St. Moritz]]<ref>[[Gene Gutowski]]: ''Od Holocaustu do Hollywood'', Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, 2004, p. 198, {{ISBN|83-08-03549-3}}.</ref>). The company filed for bankruptcy in 1977, emerging four years later. [[Columbia Pictures]] purchased 81% of the organization in 1981, buying the company completely in 1985, but later sold it to the [[Cineplex Odeon Corporation]] on June 26, 1987.<ref>Dick, Bernard F. (1992) "Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio" (p. 38). [[The University Press of Kentucky]]. {{ISBN|0-8131-1769-0}}. Retrieved on March 23, 2011.</ref> |
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===Monte Carlo Pool=== |
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In January 1942, Reade announced plans to build an enormous swimming-pool complex on the oceanfront in Asbury Park, across the street from the boardwalk.<ref>{{cite news | title = Reade To Begin Work on Beachfront Pool| publisher = [[Asbury Park Press]] | date =January 3, 1942}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> The Monte Carlo swimming pool and recreation center opened June 28, 1942. Its main pool measured 240 feet by 175 feet and held 1.3 million gallons of saltwater pumped in from the ocean. It was 5 inches at its shallowest point and 5 feet 8 inches at its deepest. On the north end of the complex was a 60X30, 9-foot deep diving pool. The complex also contained a 16-inch deep children’s wading pool.<ref>{{cite news | title = Thousands Attend Pool Dedication Ceremony | publisher =[[Asbury Park Press]] | date =June 29, 1942}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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==Personal Life== |
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Walter Rosenberg married 20-year-old Gertrude Blumberg at New York’s [[New York Biltmore Hotel|Biltmore Hotel]] on February 10, 1916. <ref>{{cite web | title = Miss Blumberg Weds Walter Rosenberg | publisher =''[[Asbury Park Press]]'' | date =February 10, 1916}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> The couple had a daughter, Suzanne, and a son, Walter, Jr. Both followed their father into the family business, and Walter Reade, Jr. took over management of the Walter Reade Organization after his father’s death. |
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[[Oscar Hammerstein I]] was Reade’s maternal grandfather. Theatrical managers [[Arthur Hammerstein]] and [[William Hammerstein]] were two of Reade’s uncles, and William Hammerstein’s son, the librettist [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], was one of Reade’s cousins. Along with [[B.F. Keith Circuit|Andrew Paul Keith]], [[E.F. Albee]], [[Marcus Loew]], and [[William Morris]], Reade served as a pallbearer at William Hammerstein’s funeral in June 1914. |
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Reade kept apartments in both Asbury Park and New York. In 1936, he purchased Bel-Aire Farm, an estate in the Oakhurst section of [[Ocean Township, New Jersey]]. He renamed the estate’s house “Mayfair” and used it as his family’s primary summer home. After Reade’s death in 1952, his son converted the house into the primary offices of the Walter Reade Organization. The Reade family sold the house in 1978 to the Synagogue of West Deal, who converted it into a house of worship. It was demolished and replaced with a new synagogue in 1991. At the end of his life, Reade lived with his wife in an apartment adjoining the Park Avenue Theatre. |
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==Philanthropy== |
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In the 1920s, Reade created a charity funded by a percentage of his theaters’ ticket sales. Beneficiaries included the Asbury Park Hospital, the [[Monmouth Medical Center | Monmouth Memorial Hospital]], the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropies, the Child Welfare Association, the [[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks | Elks]], the [[Jersey Shore University Medical Center | Ann May Hospital]], and the Monmouth County Organization for Social Service.<ref>{{cite news | title = Big Charity Fund of Reade Theatres | publisher = [[Asbury Park Press]] | date =September 14, 1927}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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==Reputation== |
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Reade had a reputation as a gambler and philanderer. He was known to be a client of infamous madam [[Polly Adler]], at whose brothel he celebrated after winning $70,000 from the [[Jack Dempsey]]-[[Jack Sharkey]] fight at [[Yankee Stadium (1923) | Yankee Stadium]] in July 1927. <ref>{{cite web | title = ''Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age'' | author = Debby Applegate | publisher = Knopff Doubleday | date = 2021} </ref> |
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, |
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Reade also developed a reputation for pugnaciousness, which he readily played up in the press. In 1909, when Klaw & Erlanger cancelled their contract with Reade (then still Walter Rosenberg) to show movies on the roof of the New York Theatre, he responded by gathering some 20 men and occupying the roof garden by force. Klaw & Erlanger sent a group of their own men, including a young [[Tim Mara]], to remove them, and a melee ensued. Mara and Leonard Bergman, treasurer of the [[Liberty Theatre]], were both charged with assault. .<ref>{{cite news | title = Battle on Theatre Roof | publisher = [[New York Times]] | date =September 16, 1909}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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In 1932, advertising executive Herbert Paul Field filed a $250,000 lawsuit accusing Reade of luring away Field’s wife, Helen. Field hired a private investigator named Nathan Hirsh to dig up dirt on Reade’s relationship with Mrs. Field. Reade claimed in court that he went to Frances, the Manhattan clothing store Helen Field managed, and encountered Hirsh, who demanded $250 to divulge the information he found. Reade testified that he replied, “I won’t pay you $250, but I’ll pay you this” before punching Hirsh and dragging him to the East 51st Street police station to bring extortion charges (but with no evidence, he never did). <ref>{{cite web | title = Wife’s Suit Trumps Queen of Bridge Expert Field | publisher =''[[New York Daily News]]'' | date =December 13, 1932}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> Field’s suit was eventually dismissed. <ref>{{cite web | title = Bridge Expert Is Set In 4 Minutes by Jury | publisher =''[[New York Daily News]]'' | date =January 10, 1933}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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In July 1933, [[Deal, New Jersey|Deal]] mayor Aaron Bach threatened to arrest Reade and his son for sitting on the beach without tops (which was not illegal). Reade angrily cursed at Bach, who charged Reade with using obscene language. In court, Reade apologized to Bach, who in turn dropped the charges. <ref>{{cite web | title = Theater Man Apologizes For Swearing At Mayor | publisher =''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' | date = July 30, 1933}} Retrieved June 23, 2007</ref> |
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==External links== |
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*[https://www.imdb.com/company/co0197188 Continental Distributing at IMDB] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reade, Walter}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reade, Walter}} |
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[[Category:1884 births]] |
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[[Category:1952 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in New York (state)]] |
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[[Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in New Jersey]] |
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[[Category:Film distributors (people)]] |
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[[Category:Film exhibitors]] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reade, Walter}} |
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[[Category:1884 births]] |
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[[Category:1952 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in New York (state)]] |
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[[Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in New York (state)]] |
[[Category:Cinemas and movie theaters in New York (state)]] |
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[[Category:Film distributors (people)]] |
[[Category:Film distributors (people)]] |
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[[Category:American film producers]] |
[[Category:American film producers]] |
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[[Category:Film exhibitors]] |
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[[Category:Storm King School alumni]] |
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Latest revision as of 08:10, 12 November 2024
 | It has been suggested that this article be split into articles titled Walter Reade Sr. and Walter Reade Jr.. (discuss) (May 2022) |
Walter Reade Sr. and Walter Reade Jr. were an American father and son who had extensive careers in the United States motion picture industry.
Walter Reade Sr.
[edit]
Walter Reade, Sr. (1884–1952) was the man behind a chain of theatres which grew from a single theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey to a chain of forty theatres and drive-ins in New Jersey, New York and neighboring states that lasted into the mid seventies. Known as the “Showman of The Shore,” his name was associated with big, beautifully kept single movie theatres of Hollywood’s golden age. He lived in Deal, New Jersey, and considered Asbury Park the home base of his organization. He had six theatres there: The Mayfair, St. James, Lyric, Ocean, Paramount and Savoy. He soon became embroiled in fighting the corruption in Asbury Park from 1946 onward after he started a newspaper that had some unfavorable things to say about his adversaries.[1]
Walter Reade Jr.
[edit]Walter Reade, Jr. (1916–1973) was the President and Board Chairman of the Walter Reade Organization, which owned and operated theatres in Manhattan, New Jersey, Boston and upstate New York. As the son of the company founder, Walter Reade Jr. served as an executive in the company. When his father died in the early 1950s, he assumed control of the company, and continued in that position until his death. In addition to its movie theatre operations, the Walter Reade Organization owned and operated television station WRTV in Asbury Park, New Jersey, between 1954 and 1955.
The Walter Reade Organization
[edit]Reade Jr. started Continental Film Distributors in 1954 to distribute foreign films in the USA.
In 1961, Walter Reade acquired Sterling Television, renaming it to Reade-Sterling and then as the Walter Reade Organization in 1966. The company posted a major financial loss in 1964, due to the failure of its foreign film releases with the American public (the company had been responsible for issuing most of the films of Jacques Tati, and for also releasing the Canadian film The Luck of Ginger Coffey).
The Walter Reade Organization also distributed and sometimes financed foreign films for showing in American theatres and sold packages of dubbed foreign films for American television. The company financed Ulysses (1967). Reade was described by Joseph Strick, the director of that film, as "a big, bluff man who wore a fresh carnation every day".[2]
Reade declared "You can't take major awards to the bank" and began a program of more commercial releases such as a double feature of the British Hot Enough for June retitled Agent 8+3⁄4 to make it sound more like a James Bond spoof and the Japanese Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster in 1965.[3] Reade also presented Behind the Great Wall, in "AromaRama", at the DeMille Theater in New York. The theater's air conditioning system was used to circulate various scents to provide an olfactory experience in addition to the sights and sounds. By three weeks, AromaRama beat a competing system, Scent of Mystery (1960), in Smell-O-Vision.[4] Reade's biggest success was releasing and exploiting Night of the Living Dead (1968).
Walter Reade cinemas
[edit]The firm also owned the Charles Cinema in Boston, which opened in April 1967 and closed in December 1976. Major engagements included Easy Rider (1969) and Star Wars (1977). The space was later operated by other exhibitors, but finally closed in 1994.[5] In 1969, the company's flagship Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City opened.[6]
At its peak in the mid- to late-1960s, the Walter Reade Organization also operated two flagship foreign film movie theaters in Beverly Hills, California. The Beverly Hills Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard was the exclusive exhibitor in the region of the 1969 Russian production of War and Peace. The six-hour epic, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, was treated as a prestige product, shown in two parts on two separate days, requiring "hard ticket" roadshow treatment and separate management handling the advance reservations. All the motion picture industry elites turned out for the several months of that engagement, including Katharine Hepburn, Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, Mike Nichols, Joanne Woodward, and scores of others. Theater staffers were required to wear Russian tunics for this engagement, and the doormen wore full-length Cossack coats, fur hats and accessories. The second Walter Reade cinema in Beverly Hills was the Beverly Canon, which also exhibited the company's licensed foreign films and was the site of world premiere screenings that included Peter Bogdanovich's Targets.
Sheldon Gunsberg later took over the company from Reade when he was killed in a skiing accident in Switzerland[7] (St. Moritz[8]). The company filed for bankruptcy in 1977, emerging four years later. Columbia Pictures purchased 81% of the organization in 1981, buying the company completely in 1985, but later sold it to the Cineplex Odeon Corporation on June 26, 1987.[9]
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ New York Times: Feb 5, 1952. p. 29'
- ^ Norris, Margot (2004). Ulysses. Cork University Press. ISBN 9781859182932.
- ^ p.208 Heffernan, Kevin Ghouls Gimmicks and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business 2004 Duke University Press
- ^ Avery N. Gilbert, What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life (Crown Publishers, 2008), pp159-162
- ^ Michael Blowen, Boston Globe, "Charles to Close: Curtains for Hub's Last Big Screen", October 6, 1994, Living Section, p69
- ^ "Reade Does Ziegfeld Proud in Décor and Memorabilia; Unique House Opens". Variety. December 17, 1969. p. 26.
- ^ "Sheldon Gunsberg, 78, Film Producer Who Headed Theater Chain", New York Times
- ^ Gene Gutowski: Od Holocaustu do Hollywood, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, 2004, p. 198, ISBN 83-08-03549-3.
- ^ Dick, Bernard F. (1992) "Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio" (p. 38). The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1769-0. Retrieved on March 23, 2011.