Roxy Theatre
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
83 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 1,213 comments
Oh yes! That was the Manhattan my parents knew going to movies and plays. I think I’ve written this before but my mother said if the line was too long at Radio City you would go to the Roxy. I guess you didn’t care all that much what movie was playing, you just went to see the show.
Coincidentally just yesterday I was talking with friends and we were musing if we could go back for a day, what era would we pick, and I said post-WW2 Times Square so I could visit all the Broadway movie theaters that I missed.
And this morning, here’s a thread on that very topic.
(Sad face.)
I was as well a small child. If my parents cared about such things as we lived close to Manhattan, I could have seen the Roxy, The Paramount, the Capitol, the old Met and Pennsylvania station. Nobody but me seems to know that the destruction of all these magnificent NY building precipitated the fall of midtown by 1970 which was to get considerably worse during the 70s and 80s. And then Koch, Giuliani and Disney came along to make it 100 times worse.
I wish the Roxy could have held out just a little bit longer. I was only six when they called it quits, and at that point, nobody had thought to bring me downtown to check it out.
For the record, The Roxy Theatre’s main auditorium W.W. Kimball Co. organ had a total of 34 ranks of pipes. Thirty-one were installed in chambers under the stage (which, because of the orchestra pit’s lift, hampered tonal egress); the remaining three (Trumpet Fanfare, Military Bugle and Fife) were indeed installed in the Fanfare Division, centered above the proscenium. A link at the bottom of these comments provide a definitive and well-written story about all Kimball three organs in the Roxy and their sad fate. With the exception of some choice ranks of Kimball pipes from the main organ and its five-manual console, the rest of the organs went down with the building when it was demolished in 1960. The destruction of these fine instruments was common in the 1950’s and 1960’s, resulting in very few theatre pipes organ to be found in their original installation.
https://journals.shareok.org/theatreorgan/issue/download/55/Theatre%20Organ%2C%20October%201970%2C%20Volume%2012%2C%20Number%205
Was that because of the box office or were they contractually required to hold it that long by the distributor no matter how empty the reduced Cinemiracle seating?
Added ads, articles and pictures to https://incinerama.com/roxyny.htm. Windjammer played for 24 weeks at the Roxy. Longer than the Robe 13 weeks, and Giant 9 weeks.
Part of the ground site of the Roxy’s 6,000-seat auditorium is now occupied by Urban Hawker, an authentic Singapore street food center with main entrance at 135 West 50th Street. Official website with photographs can be viewed here
Hello-
while it is sad I never got to enjoy the Roxy people have to realize that HUGE theaters like the Roxy were living on borrowed time the split micro nano second t.v. became commonplace in the American home.
Giant has just come out on 4k. From reviews some of it looks great and some of it not so great. The movie is 3 hours and 20 minutes. And it played the Roxy with a stage show which is amazing. A very long running time for a show that had continuous performances.
Reminder from The James Dean Museum via Facebook: October 10, 1956 On this day, “Giant” premiered at the Roxy Theatre in New York City with the local DuMont station, WABD, televising the arrival of the cast and crew. Image from the gallery posted in 2011.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/556
There was no grace of any kind in how the Rockefellers dealt with the future of RCMH. They wanted it torn down…all the way to a court battle/decision. For all the facts, you must read “Saving Radio City Music Hall” by Rosemary Novellino-Mearns. You will see how powerful and inspirational a small group of people can be to save something beautiful and cherished.
And when the Roxy was torn down the Music Hall was still successful getting first run films that people wanted to see and a popular NY destination must. By the end of the 60s that was over because of the cultural shift in filmmaking and film distribution and urban decay. It only held on well into the 70s by the grace of the Rockefellers.
The roadshow presentation of Windjammer was a desperate but failed measure to keep the Roxy a destination ever since the late 1950s when this grand movie palace with 5900 seats was no longer able to get exclusive runs on first-run films. The tragedy is that the beauty of the theater could not be either maintained or retained if it were to be cutup into a multiplex. The large staff necessary for keeping it going was also an expense not supported by drastically declining grosses. The miracle was that its step-sister the Radio City Music Hall (also the work of Roxy)was only saved by the efforts of a small and passionately dedicated group of insiders.
I believe much of the theater was curtained off like when the Capitol became a roadshow house to appreciable reduce capacity. Though there it was done in a more permanent way unlike the Roxy where everything was removed so it could go back to being a presentation house. The same permanent thing happened with the Strand, Rivoli and Loew’s State. I believe the Criterion was left alone. Not sure about the DeMille.
Hello- as stated in Joseph’s Aug.1st post how was the roadshow engagement of Windjammer “disastrous”? was it the Cinemiracle projection or no one came? I would think using a HUGE theater like the Roxy for a roadshow engagement not a good idea.
Hello-
to Joseph thanks for the info. of the ones you mention the only souvenir program I have as stated was for The Robe. its interesting I’ve never come across the others you mention either in memorabilia shops or online.
Te souvenir programs, roxy sold many over the years including: Wilson,RAZORS EDGE, ROBE, ALL ABOUT EVE, CAROUSEL, LING AND I, EGYPTIAN. A FAREWELL TO ARMS, LIL ABNER, KING AND I, BIG CIRUS. A,THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESSES, all come to mind
Hello0
speaking of the late but great Roxy. the only souvenir program I have from a film that debuted at the Roxy is for The Robe. I found it in a memorabilia shop say 20 years ago. does anyone know of any other films which debuted here which had souvenir programs? thanks in advance.
I scanned from my copy of Ben M Hall’s book The Best Remaining Seats and uploaded to Photos the Roxy’s final day ad for The Wind Cannot Read.
The Roxy deserves to be returned to its rightful place in the “Famous Movie Theaters” feature on the main PHOTOS page. For whatever reason, the Roxy was removed to make way for the former Loew’s Kings when rejuvenated for performing arts.
I’ve always wanted to see this movie simply because it closed the Roxy. did the people in the audience know it was the last night of the Roxy or did it close without being announced? I wonder how many people were there.
You have to use html code. That’s why cutting and pasting links gives you a link you can’t open unless you cut and paste it. A hassle, but a little searching will show how. I’d show you here,but they wouldn’t show up:-). There are about a dozen keystrokes to make a working link, and only a half dozen to italicize. Hope this helps.
Also a little off topic, LOL, how does one italicize or bold a word or comment? I have looked for instructions on the site, to no avail.
The full movie is also free on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLbgta6CgO8