Cine 42
216 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
216 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 65 comments
Opened July 24th as a Florin theatre with “The Sting”
Good stunt scene outside this theater in the 1980’s NYPD film “Shakedown” Scene, if I recall, is a cop jumping off the marquee on to a motorcycle…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfTVQp4CeRg
Great pics! Of course, having never been in the Roxy, I know nothing about the geography of the place, but seems to me the Roxy was a separate establishment from the peep place. And I think the grocery store is where the Frisco Gay Cinema/Tomcat/Rick Nelson had once operated. All part of that same building. Amazing how fluid and transient these storefront occupants were over the years. Just 4 or 5 years before or after these shots and the signage over each entrance might have been completely different.
And this; http://timessquareblue.tumblr.com/image/119030752029
Ed, check out this wide entrance; http://timessquareblue.tumblr.com/image/155180126589
This is very true. I think it is the same building. If you look at Ken Roe’s pic, there is a shallow architectural ledge above the signage and below the 2nd floor. Seems to me that it runs the length of the entire building, encompassing all of those storefronts. I could be wrong. I seem to recall one of those video peep show emporiums around that spot, and/or maybe a pizzeria or Greek fast food joint east of the Roxy and New Am. Would have been right about where the subway entrance came up.
Glad to have you back also, Ed. Although the Frisco/Tomcat entrance is further east, my suspicion is that the Roxy used both the Frisco and the two bookstores at ground level and then upper floors as well, since it had three screens. I think they are two different buildings, but odder things have happened on this block.
Yes, Al. I remember seeing that Tomcat/Rick Nelson listing and even commented on it a few years ago. But I didn’t believe it was the site of the Roxy. There is a pic of the Frisco Gay Cinema in the photo section on that page and it appears to show the entrance too far east of the New Amsterdam – indeed they are separated by several storefronts. When Ken Roe added the photo, he offered that the Keystone Bookstore that operated out of a storefront right up against the New Amsterdam was to later become the Roxy. The photo is dated 1978. I seem to recall trying to leverage that information into a possible avenue of research on the Roxy, but it turned out to be a dead end at the time.
And thank you, Mike. It’s been a long while. Went to Europe last summer on vacation and then went through the sale and purchase of old and new residences shortly thereafter. Still not done unpacking – and haven’t set up my computer yet! Moved all of 6 blocks, but might as well have been 600 miles!
Ed, I don’t know understand why photos from the area after the theatres started closing are so rare. At least we know that the Roxy near the Empire was already there in 1971 and still there after the Anco closed in 1988. I suspect the Roxy next to the New Amsterdam became the Tomcat/Rick Nelson in 1985, in which case it is already listed on CT.
Ed, happy to see you back on the Deuce…!
Al, one of the great many unfinished research items I wanted complete for this site was to trace down the history of that particular Roxy, located just one door east of the New Amsterdam. I don’t think I got very far in that endeavor.
The 3 times I went to this theater all films were shown in 2.35 aspect ratio even if they were in 1.85 like TGIF and Midnight Express. Can anyone explain this?
Folks, check out this Roxy, EAST of the New Amsterdam. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/30/photos/6838
NYer, while pictures often moved between theaters, they generally stuck to the same chain, that is the Brandt theaters moved their films among the Lyric, Selwyn, Times Square, Apollo, Liberty, Empire and Victory; the Cinema Circuit (?) moved their pictures among the New Amsterdam, Harris and Anco.
Thus, it is unlikely that a current release moved from the Selwyn to the New Amsterdam…
The new HBO series “THE DEUCE” recreates the sleaziest era starting with 1971.
Thank you Ed. I added the photo to the Movie-Plex 42’s page. I will delete it from this page.
The pic DavidZornig posted is of the Roxy Burlesk that operated between the Empire and the Anco in the 1970’s. I believe this location would later become the short lived Movie-Plex 42 that is listed elsewhere on Cinema Treasures. The marquee with Riot is the Empire’s.
I think it was a double feature of “UPTIGHT” and “RIOT”, August 11, 1971. The problem is that the Roxy Burlesk advertised as being at 212 West 42nd street putting on the others side of the New Amsterdam. If you look at the featured photo above on this page you will see a sign for “4 features” on the east side of the New Amsterdam. Could there have been two locations for the Roxy Burlesk at different times, one on the east and another on the west at Cine 42?
I checked the Selwyn and it has no arch over the marquee as the one in the photo has. It might be the Lyric too. I added it to the Cine 42’s Photos Section temporarily. If it is wrong I will delete it. Reply here if it can be identified, and I will add it where it should be.
Is it possible the Cine 42 was previously the Roxy Burlsek/Joy 42nd Street Theatre? I have a 1969 photo with what appears to be the same marquee underside as the Cine 42, and possibly the Amsterdam next to it. But I don’t see the Amsterdam blade sign. The 1969 film “Riot” with Jim Brown and Gene Hackman is on the neighboring, possibly Amsterdam marquee. Can’t seem to narrow down which theatres they are.
I attended many screenings at this theater in the late 1980s. RAGE plus MONSTER SHARK was one memorable double feature. UNSANE plus THE KINDRED, CAGED WOMEN plus WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE, AGENT ON ICE and IN THE SHADOW OF KILIMANJARO, and so many more!
It is astounding the poor access to booths, especially when there was a twinning, etc. You can tell that whoever designed some of them never had to haul film cases up to the booth! A catwalk from one booth to the other, just wonder what OSHA would have to say about that today.
I worked here as relief projectionist for a couple of weeks before it was twinned in 1978. It was kind of unusual in that the theatre started on the 2nd floor of the building with the screen at the south end and the booth at the 42nd St. end. They had probably cut the 3rd floor in half crosswise to make a balcony which was ramped up to the top at 42nd St. The booth occupied the space just behind the last rows. There was a ladder going up the wall in the booth to the roof, and I remember one snowy winter evening climbing the ladder and opening the roof hatch to see how much snow was falling as I wouldn’t be getting out until 2 A.M. or so.
The aisle went up to the back wall and actually split the booth structure into two sections. One was the booth itself and across the aisle was the room containing the rectifiers for the xenon lamps.
There were three machines in the booth, the third crammed almost against the west wall. It was added after the theatre opened to give it the redundancy the other theatres on 42nd St. had. It was so close to the wall there was no viewing port, and the controls were on the other side of the projector near the controls for the #2 machine. As I recall there was a small seat and the only other seat was the toilet itself which fortunately had a seat with a lid!
So much pot was smoked that the regular projectionist had sealed the ports up with masking tape around the edges to avoid getting a contact high. I don’t believe it was a Norman Adie theatre, but was owned by a man named Clark. Later when they added the 2nd screen in the building next door, I heard they knocked a hole in the wall next to the #3 machine and the operator had to walk on a catwalk that extended outside and into the booth next door. It was an “interesting” operation.
“New plastic-molded seats” at the Cine 42. Wow! My backside is aching just at the memory of them.