On This Date 1955: Harpo Marx in Leonard Lyons syndicated column 29 Aug 1955.
Leonard Lyons 1955
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Algonquin Hotel Gut Renovation Moves Bar, Reconfigures LobbyAlgonquin Hotel Gut Renovation Moves Bar, Reconfigures Lobby
Former location of the Blue Bar and Oak Room.
In the most extensive renovation in many decades, the Algonquin Hotel is underway with a major overhaul that has removed the bar, restaurant, front desk, and ceiling. The Round Table is gone, and so is the perch that Hamlet had in the window on Forty-fourth Street.
East side of hotel, where front desk was located.
The hotel, opened in 1902, has removed the Blue Bar completely. Visible from the sidewalk, the ceilings are open and the floors are down to bare concrete. On the east side of the building, the front desk and the areas around it are wide open. The Round Table Room, at the back of the property, is under wraps. Little is visible from the street of the details.
It is currently not open to the public; the owners are using the pandemic to overhaul the property. In April the Algonquin was housing healthcare professionals.
The Algonquin was last renovated in 2012, in an overhaul that saw the Blue Bar expanded and the Oak Room reduced in size. That work maintained the distinctive qualities that dated to the 1998 renovation overseen by Alexandra Champalimaud. That had followed the $20 million mechanical renovation in 1991 ($38 million today) by the Aoki Corporation; that was when the tiny Blue Bar moved across the lobby.
Front entrance, closed to public.
I have reached out to Marriott to inquire about a visit and look at the plans. An update could be coming soon.
These photos were taken on August 21, 2020. For the history of the Algonquin Hotel, buy the book.
West side of Blue Bar and Oak Room.
5 Things You Don’t Know About Herman J. Mankiewicz5 Things You Don’t Know About Herman J. Mankiewicz
The trailer has been released for the new David Fincher-directed film Mank, about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. The movie will come out in theaters in November and on Netflix in December. Mank is only the second biographical film about a member of the Algonquin Round Table; Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994) was the first.
Mankiewicz was one of the great screenwriters and producers of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is one of the 30 members of the Vicious Circle whom I wrote about in my book The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide. There are many facts about his incredible life (for example, he produced the three best Marx Brothers movies); and most probably will not make it into this film, sadly, but I’ll share them here.
1. He was born in New York City in 1897 but as a child grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where his father was a teacher. As a boy his beloved bicycle was stolen. That was the inspiration for Rosebud in Citizen Kane.
2. He was incredibly gifted and entered Columbia when he was just 15, graduating three years later and then onto graduate school. He was a voracious reader, and it’s said that his book collection in Hollywood was among the greatest private libraries in the city.
3. Mankiewicz enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in World War I. Because he spoke fluent German, this helped him in post-war Germany, where he worked for the Red Cross and as a newspaper correspondent.
4. He did not join the Round Table until he moved to New York in 1922, brought there by George S. Kaufman. Mankiewicz worked at the World, where he met Franklin P. Adams and Heywood Broun. He then transferred to the Times. All of these newspaper experiences are in Citizen Kane.
5. Mank was hired by Harold Ross and Jane Grant as one of the first writers for The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott called him “the funniest man in New York,” and Robert E. Sherwood said he was “the truest wit of all.”
He quit journalism and went to Hollywood in 1926, right when silents transitioned to talkies. He famously sent a telegram back to New York to Ben Hecht: “Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots. Don’t let this get around.”
For fans of the Algonquin Round Table, it looks like the cast has other characters with names familiar to the group and The New Yorker. There are roles in the film for George S. Kaufman, Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht, and S.J. Perelman. The always-great Gary Oldman plays Mankiewicz.
The trailer and the photos from the film look amazing. Fincher of course is a meticulous auteur, and if the film is anything like his previous work such as The Social Network or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, this movie will do justice to the tragic life and brilliant career of Herman Mankiewicz.
Bedtime with the Algonquin Round TableBedtime with the Algonquin Round Table
The Algonquin Round Table by Natalie Ascencious.
For those trapped indoors now there is relief coming from 1920: Weekly “Bedtime with the Algonquin Round Table” to be held on live video conference via Zoom, hosted by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, author of The Algonquin Round Table New York: A Historical Guide and A Journey into Dorothy Parker’s New York.
The schedule will be 9:00 p.m. Eastern; check your time zone to watch live via the World Clock. The schedule is April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22, and April 29. The stream is free to watch but you must watch via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting Here
Meeting ID: 481 153 606
Password: 1920
Bedtime With The Algonquin Round Table
Each week you can get clues about who we will be hearing about via Instagram on the Dorothy Parker Society Instagram account here.
April is also National Poetry Month, so we will talk a lot about the poets and writers of the group. If you have any questions, contact us or post it on Facebook or Instagram.