The Capitol Theater in New York City, 1968. (Photo: Rory Monteith collection)

RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES

Cinema Retro subscriber Rory Monteith kindly sent us this vintage photo from the New York engagement of 2001 - along with an original newspaper advertisement. Rory fills us in on the details:

That's the Capitol Theatre, which was a huge movie palace on Broadway & 51st Street, built in 1919. In the 30s and 40s it was the flagship movie palace for MGM. Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz opened
there among many others (you already have a photo on your site of when The Dirty Dozen was there). I think it originally sat some five thousand people. In 1959 it was converted to a Cinerma showplace
(known as "Loew's Capitol") with a screen that was 90' wide and over 30' high, but unfortunately that necessitated the reduction in the number of seats to a little over 1500 so everyone would have a good
view of the screen. Planet of the Apes had its world premiere there on February 8, 1968 and 2001 followed on April 3. (The theatre was demolished in September 1968. A real crime.)

New York newspaper ad for advance ticket sales. (Photo: Rory Monteith collection)

Here's a link to a short piece showing Kubrick at the premiere:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bdKHuyhhyuM

Here's an interesting article on Kubrick on the night of the premiere:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2203079,00.html

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President Reagan used his comedic abilities to often disarm even his political foes.

If Ronald Reagan hadn't become President, he could always have successfully resumed his career in show business. We've had some witty presidents before, including the current commander-in-chief. However, no President ever had the comedic ability of Ronald Reagan. In between serving as governor of California and his election to the Oval Office, The Gipper often appeared on Dean Martin's celebrity roasts. Click here to view the future President roasting George Burns - with a few funny insults aimed in the direction of Dino himself. These were more genteel times when a politician didn't have to worry about such clips being used out of context in opponent's political ads!

John Williams represents a vanishing trend in motion pictures: the era in which the composer was regarded as an integral part of the creative team. Williams is still going strong, composing scores for major films. Over the decades he has built up an enthusiastic base of followers and admirers. They can satiate their quest for knowledge of all things pertaining to the Oscar winner by visiting the John Williams Fan Network. Click here for access