Forgot to add that on the far right edge of that photo – if you open it up as large as you can – you can barely make out the base edge of the black marquee for the short-lived Movieplex 42 which was still being converted from the former Roxy Twin porno to the right of the Empire. I had another roll of film that I shot that day that took me further to the west and across the street for shots of the Movieplex, Harem and the Anco building (which housed retail by then) and then back up 42nd for more detail shots along the way and then the rest of Times Square, including the Big Apple Theater, the National and the Criterion. Unfortunately, all that survived of that part of the day are a few prints of the Embassy theaters and a view of the Nathan’s on 43rd and Broadway. The negatives are nowhere to be found, darn the luck!
Here’s a photo I snapped in 1993 while wandering around the Duece and Times Square with my old Canon EOS. At the time, most of the grind houses (save the Harris) were closed and their facades stripped of billboard signage while some sort of public poetry project was displayed on their marquees. I also posted shots of the Empire, Harris, Times Square and Apollo from this group of photos and plan on adding to the other Duece theater pages here as well as the Embassy/Newsreel and Demille/Mayfair/Embassy2,3,4 pages as well.
Below are two 1993 photos I took that feature the Harris Theater while it was still in operation. The main feature on the marquee is being changed over from the Bruce Willis feature “Striking Distance” to the McCauley Culkin flick “The Good Son”. What I can’t figure out is if the co-feature was being changed from the original “Warlock” film (1989) to the sequel “Warlock: The Armeggedon” or if the maintenance guys were just lazy on the one side of the marquee:
Note the sign in the top photo annoucning the comming of the Movieplex 42 in the former Roxy Twin location down the block. Also compare this to the current view of the former Harris entrance I posted May 6th… the arched window above had certainly seen better days by 1993, eh?
Here are a couple of shots I purloined from the Harris' page on the ibdb.com site showing the original auditorium, balcony staircase and long marble foyer:
In the 1st photo, you’ll see that the last tenant in the former Apollo foyer space was the “Apollo Karate Academy” (a name that features two of the theater’s former appellations). That must have been one long and narrow dojo. In the 2nd photo, you’ll see the marquee for the Harris Theater at far left. The Harris was the last of the Duece grind houses still in operation at the time, though it did seem to be near the end with an advertisement for the soon-to-be-opened Movieplex 42 up the block.
Anyway… speaking of the Apollo foyer… here is a vintage shot of that space that I found on the theater’s page on ibdb.com:
I scanned in some photos I took of the mostly closed Duece theaters in October 1993 and uploaded them to my photobucket account. Here are the shots for the Times Square:
In the second photo above, notice the sign for the “Apollo Karate Academy” over the former Apollo Theater entrance. Did they practice their arts in the old foyer?!? In the first photo you can see the marquee for the Harris Theater, which was still in operation at the time. A sign was hung under the canopy announcing the coming of Movieplex 42 in the former Roxy Twin location down the block. I’ll posted a shot of the Harris marquee on its CT page.
Meanwhile… here’s a scan of a 2002 photo I shot of the Times Square facade from one of the upper level windows at Madam Toussaud’s Wax Museum:
Scrounging around the web, I came across these two shots below. Neither one focuses on the Rialto Building and the theater constructed in 1935, but the Rialto marquees sort of figure prominently.
The best image I’ve seen of the ‘35 Rialto Building (albeit at the bitter end of its existence) is from the nyc-architecture site I posted back on January 12th. Here’s the shot again:
You can see the wrap around awning signage on the corner of the building evidencing the original Broadway lobby’s use as a “Visitors and Travel Information” center during the time.
I’ve added a few shots I took in 1993 of the Empire to my photbucket album. At the time, all of the Duece grind houses (except the Harris) were closed and stripped of their signage. Their bare marquees were being used for some sort of public poetry project. The Empire still had the set dressings on its exterior left there by the makers of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film “The Last Action Hero”. The Empire was featured in that flick as “Arcade’s Pandora Theater” and a pair of ornamental cartouches on the lower facade (at either side of the marquee) as well some intricately carved shields on the theaters doors were added and left in place by the set decorators:
That sign in the 3rd picture is interesting, albeit a bit hard to read in the print due to the glare in the display case glass. Here’s what it reads, as best as I can determine (guesses on illegible words in parentheses):
“We are in the middle of an experiment to find out how to control an element that we don’t like. Maybe this element that we are all so frightened about will ultimately, when social realities change, participate in finding new places to go. We can’t plan this whole thing (wondering) about whether or not these people are going to continue to stand (on the corner) or not. It’s self defeating in my opinion. We have to take 42nd Street and assume with the proper control those people will go away. 42nd Street Focus Group.”
Here’s a 1993 look at the marquee and facade of the former Valencia that I snapped on my old Canon EOS. I finally scanned the print (as well as a number of others I took that fall in Queens and on 42nd Street) and uploaded the image to my Photobucket account.
Back in the fall of 1993 I snapped this photo of the former Cort/Carlton while it was still operating as the Regency Catering Hall. Actually, now that I think about it, I can’t say for sure it was still in operation, but the signage was still there.
I was driving around taking photos of old movie theaters that day (also got the Queens, Community Twin, Mayfair, Valencia and Flushing Kieth’s and will post images soon) and saw the Regency on Jamaica Ave between the Valencia and Community. At the time, I didn’t know for sure if it was a former theater, but it had that look about it. It wasn’t until I started poking around this site in the past 3 years that I learned of its history.
PKoch… I think this occurs with Ridgewood because I believe that once upon a time the neighborhood was in fact located in Brooklyn before the county border was officially changed. This occured sometime in the 20th century, so maybe this was a nod to some residual association of Ridgewood with Kings County.
Check out Orlando’s comments from March 4th, 2004, way at the top of this page for an early reference to the use of the phrase as a marketing tool by Loew’s.
I’ve heard that the term “Wonder Theater” was used with varying degrees of specificity by Loew’s during this period. Interesting, however, that Loew’s would advertise the Pitkin as one of the “big 5 Wonder Theaters”, particularly in that 3rd ad Warren posted that heralds the “new wonder” of the 175th Street which was the last of the Wonders to be built. Did they merely decide to drop reference to the Jersey (already opened the previous year) to target New York audiences?
What about the Playpen (former Cameo Theater) on 8th Avenue in Manhattan? Are they not doing the porn-video projection thing on thier main screen?
While the Fair is still a porn theater – since the adult fare in their private viewing booths and the small converted-from-retail-space screening rooms is what drives their business – Warren is accurate to point out that there is no longer any porn being projected on the theater’s “big screen”. Another bit of journalistic laziness on the part of the Voice writer.
Thanks for clearing that up, Alto. DimitriosOtis, I guess I shouldn’t be so assuming as to a major publication’s journalistic integrity. If you ask me, it would have been even more interesting had the article played up the fact that the theater had stopped projecting film long ago and was using “tired old VHS equiment” as Alto refers to it. I find the implication that there was a projector (and that the projectors were over 50 years old) to be the result of journalistic laziness.
Unfortunately, it’s a tiny shot. I think this is the same subway.org shot that PeterK posted back on Aug. 11 2004. I’m sure the original opened much larger, but if you go to Peter’s post, you’ll see that the linked image has been replaced.
But I see no reason to doubt the Voice’s accounting of the condition of the theater’s facilities. (should have finished the thought before hitting the “Submit” button)
Great article, Warren. Thanks for posting it. The couple of times I went there to take photos, it was the cat-lady Sharon, and not the transsexual Paola, who was manning (no pun intended) the booth. I guess there must have been a platter system on those ancient projectors, eh? I didn’t get the feeling that there was a projectionist on duty from the discussion in the article.
I was about to suggest that “Sleeper” is family freindly, but then it occured to me that explaining the “orgasmatron” to the kiddies might be a bit problematic! Of course, when I was 8 years old and saw this one in the theaters the joke went completely over my head and my parents just told me it was “something that made you feel tingly”! That satisfied me and didn’t corrupt my innocence.
Thanks Lost… Guess I got confused as to the location of a couple of those smaller theaters. Theaters 4 and 9 are at the far end of their respective halls and not near center lobby (as 1 and 12 are). In any event, those 195-seat rooms are definitely on the small side – particularly in comparison with the other auditoriums. However, because of the great spacing between each row and the comfortably wide seats, I’d have to say that these seating figures make each room seem much smaller than it actually is.
If I might offer a kind word or two about this multiplex… When I get out to see a new release, this is usually the place I wind up. It’s convenient to my house and I find it to be very clean with generally crisp and great sounding presentation. As with most multiplexes, there are issues of over-projection where a small slice of image can be seen leaking off the screen and onto the dark masking material on either side. Another negative is the painfully slow service at the candy counter. They recently installed a seperate concession stand run by Nathan’s Famous and Sbarro’s pizza. The pizza is horrible (I’m not a fan of the Sbarro’s chain), but I won’t complain about those Nathan’s cheese fries!
The theater was built in a large two story building that also houses a Toys ‘R’ Us outlet. One enters a spacious ticket lobby with a twin set of box-office counters on either side of the escalators leading to the 2nd level. The escalators lead to a very spacious center hall lobby that runs the depth of the building. Ticket holder lines (when necessary) form along the railing that overlooks the escalators while in the other direction one will find twin concession stands on either side of the wall. At either end of the lobby are sets of cocktail tables and chairs and a large window wall looking out to either the East or West.
From the center of the lobby, a hallway runs off in either direction with 6 auditoriums along each path. There is a supplemental concession stand in each hall (opened only during peak times) as well as mulitple restrooms. Most of the auditoriums are spacious (I’m guessing in the 450-500 seat range) with very large wall to wall and slightly curved screens and high cielings. All the rooms are stadium style with lots of leg-room and comfortable high-back rocking chairs. No padding on the arm rest is a minor complaint. The 4 smaller auditoriums (probably half the size of the others) are the ones that are closest to the lobby… they are theaters 1, 6, 7 and 12. These are my least favorite rooms and the ones I try to avoid if it can be helped. I would put the total combined seating capacity at around 3600.
Also important to note is that I have found management here to be very responsive to complaints regarding presentation or climate-control issues within the auditorium.
P.S. One can see the roof of the old RKO Keith’s from the parking lot (the Toys ‘R’ Us side) as well as from the east-facing lobby windows.
The series of photos I posted back in February are now located at this Hollywood Theater album, now that I’ve reorganized my photobucket account. The old links no longer work.
Forgot to add that on the far right edge of that photo – if you open it up as large as you can – you can barely make out the base edge of the black marquee for the short-lived Movieplex 42 which was still being converted from the former Roxy Twin porno to the right of the Empire. I had another roll of film that I shot that day that took me further to the west and across the street for shots of the Movieplex, Harem and the Anco building (which housed retail by then) and then back up 42nd for more detail shots along the way and then the rest of Times Square, including the Big Apple Theater, the National and the Criterion. Unfortunately, all that survived of that part of the day are a few prints of the Embassy theaters and a view of the Nathan’s on 43rd and Broadway. The negatives are nowhere to be found, darn the luck!
Here’s a photo I snapped in 1993 while wandering around the Duece and Times Square with my old Canon EOS. At the time, most of the grind houses (save the Harris) were closed and their facades stripped of billboard signage while some sort of public poetry project was displayed on their marquees. I also posted shots of the Empire, Harris, Times Square and Apollo from this group of photos and plan on adding to the other Duece theater pages here as well as the Embassy/Newsreel and Demille/Mayfair/Embassy2,3,4 pages as well.
1993 Lyric and Empire
Below are two 1993 photos I took that feature the Harris Theater while it was still in operation. The main feature on the marquee is being changed over from the Bruce Willis feature “Striking Distance” to the McCauley Culkin flick “The Good Son”. What I can’t figure out is if the co-feature was being changed from the original “Warlock” film (1989) to the sequel “Warlock: The Armeggedon” or if the maintenance guys were just lazy on the one side of the marquee:
1993 Marquee change
1993 Harris Marquee and Times Sq Theater
Note the sign in the top photo annoucning the comming of the Movieplex 42 in the former Roxy Twin location down the block. Also compare this to the current view of the former Harris entrance I posted May 6th… the arched window above had certainly seen better days by 1993, eh?
Here are a couple of shots I purloined from the Harris' page on the ibdb.com site showing the original auditorium, balcony staircase and long marble foyer:
Candler Theater Auditorium
Candler staicase
Candler foyer
Below are two scanned shots I snapped of the Apollo/Times Square facade in 1993 and another from 2002:
1993 Apollo Karate Academy
1993 long shot
2002 nuetered facade
In the 1st photo, you’ll see that the last tenant in the former Apollo foyer space was the “Apollo Karate Academy” (a name that features two of the theater’s former appellations). That must have been one long and narrow dojo. In the 2nd photo, you’ll see the marquee for the Harris Theater at far left. The Harris was the last of the Duece grind houses still in operation at the time, though it did seem to be near the end with an advertisement for the soon-to-be-opened Movieplex 42 up the block.
Anyway… speaking of the Apollo foyer… here is a vintage shot of that space that I found on the theater’s page on ibdb.com:
Vintage foyer and lobby doors
I thought it might be interesting to compare the the recent photo I took of the restored foyer in my May 6th post.
I scanned in some photos I took of the mostly closed Duece theaters in October 1993 and uploaded them to my photobucket account. Here are the shots for the Times Square:
1993 Times Square long shot
1993 Times Square facade
In the second photo above, notice the sign for the “Apollo Karate Academy” over the former Apollo Theater entrance. Did they practice their arts in the old foyer?!? In the first photo you can see the marquee for the Harris Theater, which was still in operation at the time. A sign was hung under the canopy announcing the coming of Movieplex 42 in the former Roxy Twin location down the block. I’ll posted a shot of the Harris marquee on its CT page.
Meanwhile… here’s a scan of a 2002 photo I shot of the Times Square facade from one of the upper level windows at Madam Toussaud’s Wax Museum:
2002 Times Square
Scrounging around the web, I came across these two shots below. Neither one focuses on the Rialto Building and the theater constructed in 1935, but the Rialto marquees sort of figure prominently.
1967 View
1975 View
The best image I’ve seen of the ‘35 Rialto Building (albeit at the bitter end of its existence) is from the nyc-architecture site I posted back on January 12th. Here’s the shot again:
Early 90’s Rialto Bldg
You can see the wrap around awning signage on the corner of the building evidencing the original Broadway lobby’s use as a “Visitors and Travel Information” center during the time.
I’ve added a few shots I took in 1993 of the Empire to my photbucket album. At the time, all of the Duece grind houses (except the Harris) were closed and stripped of their signage. Their bare marquees were being used for some sort of public poetry project. The Empire still had the set dressings on its exterior left there by the makers of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film “The Last Action Hero”. The Empire was featured in that flick as “Arcade’s Pandora Theater” and a pair of ornamental cartouches on the lower facade (at either side of the marquee) as well some intricately carved shields on the theaters doors were added and left in place by the set decorators:
Empire facade
Faux “Pandora” cartouche
42nd Street Focus Group sign
“Pandora” door shield
That sign in the 3rd picture is interesting, albeit a bit hard to read in the print due to the glare in the display case glass. Here’s what it reads, as best as I can determine (guesses on illegible words in parentheses):
“We are in the middle of an experiment to find out how to control an element that we don’t like. Maybe this element that we are all so frightened about will ultimately, when social realities change, participate in finding new places to go. We can’t plan this whole thing (wondering) about whether or not these people are going to continue to stand (on the corner) or not. It’s self defeating in my opinion. We have to take 42nd Street and assume with the proper control those people will go away. 42nd Street Focus Group.”
Here’s a 1993 look at the marquee and facade of the former Valencia that I snapped on my old Canon EOS. I finally scanned the print (as well as a number of others I took that fall in Queens and on 42nd Street) and uploaded the image to my Photobucket account.
Tabernacle of Prayer
Back in the fall of 1993 I snapped this photo of the former Cort/Carlton while it was still operating as the Regency Catering Hall. Actually, now that I think about it, I can’t say for sure it was still in operation, but the signage was still there.
Regency Catering Hall 1993
I was driving around taking photos of old movie theaters that day (also got the Queens, Community Twin, Mayfair, Valencia and Flushing Kieth’s and will post images soon) and saw the Regency on Jamaica Ave between the Valencia and Community. At the time, I didn’t know for sure if it was a former theater, but it had that look about it. It wasn’t until I started poking around this site in the past 3 years that I learned of its history.
PKoch… I think this occurs with Ridgewood because I believe that once upon a time the neighborhood was in fact located in Brooklyn before the county border was officially changed. This occured sometime in the 20th century, so maybe this was a nod to some residual association of Ridgewood with Kings County.
Check out Orlando’s comments from March 4th, 2004, way at the top of this page for an early reference to the use of the phrase as a marketing tool by Loew’s.
I’ve heard that the term “Wonder Theater” was used with varying degrees of specificity by Loew’s during this period. Interesting, however, that Loew’s would advertise the Pitkin as one of the “big 5 Wonder Theaters”, particularly in that 3rd ad Warren posted that heralds the “new wonder” of the 175th Street which was the last of the Wonders to be built. Did they merely decide to drop reference to the Jersey (already opened the previous year) to target New York audiences?
What about the Playpen (former Cameo Theater) on 8th Avenue in Manhattan? Are they not doing the porn-video projection thing on thier main screen?
While the Fair is still a porn theater – since the adult fare in their private viewing booths and the small converted-from-retail-space screening rooms is what drives their business – Warren is accurate to point out that there is no longer any porn being projected on the theater’s “big screen”. Another bit of journalistic laziness on the part of the Voice writer.
Thanks for clearing that up, Alto. DimitriosOtis, I guess I shouldn’t be so assuming as to a major publication’s journalistic integrity. If you ask me, it would have been even more interesting had the article played up the fact that the theater had stopped projecting film long ago and was using “tired old VHS equiment” as Alto refers to it. I find the implication that there was a projector (and that the projectors were over 50 years old) to be the result of journalistic laziness.
Here’s a shot of the Prospect (with a trolley in the way) from 1948 that I think might have been previously posted here:
Prospect 1948
Unfortunately, it’s a tiny shot. I think this is the same subway.org shot that PeterK posted back on Aug. 11 2004. I’m sure the original opened much larger, but if you go to Peter’s post, you’ll see that the linked image has been replaced.
But I see no reason to doubt the Voice’s accounting of the condition of the theater’s facilities. (should have finished the thought before hitting the “Submit” button)
I’ll bet Alto can answer that question.
Great article, Warren. Thanks for posting it. The couple of times I went there to take photos, it was the cat-lady Sharon, and not the transsexual Paola, who was manning (no pun intended) the booth. I guess there must have been a platter system on those ancient projectors, eh? I didn’t get the feeling that there was a projectionist on duty from the discussion in the article.
I was about to suggest that “Sleeper” is family freindly, but then it occured to me that explaining the “orgasmatron” to the kiddies might be a bit problematic! Of course, when I was 8 years old and saw this one in the theaters the joke went completely over my head and my parents just told me it was “something that made you feel tingly”! That satisfied me and didn’t corrupt my innocence.
Ha… OK, Lost! I’ll try not to be too conspicuous.
Pay no attention to the man in the corner with the pencil and scratch pad!
Thanks Lost… Guess I got confused as to the location of a couple of those smaller theaters. Theaters 4 and 9 are at the far end of their respective halls and not near center lobby (as 1 and 12 are). In any event, those 195-seat rooms are definitely on the small side – particularly in comparison with the other auditoriums. However, because of the great spacing between each row and the comfortably wide seats, I’d have to say that these seating figures make each room seem much smaller than it actually is.
If I might offer a kind word or two about this multiplex… When I get out to see a new release, this is usually the place I wind up. It’s convenient to my house and I find it to be very clean with generally crisp and great sounding presentation. As with most multiplexes, there are issues of over-projection where a small slice of image can be seen leaking off the screen and onto the dark masking material on either side. Another negative is the painfully slow service at the candy counter. They recently installed a seperate concession stand run by Nathan’s Famous and Sbarro’s pizza. The pizza is horrible (I’m not a fan of the Sbarro’s chain), but I won’t complain about those Nathan’s cheese fries!
The theater was built in a large two story building that also houses a Toys ‘R’ Us outlet. One enters a spacious ticket lobby with a twin set of box-office counters on either side of the escalators leading to the 2nd level. The escalators lead to a very spacious center hall lobby that runs the depth of the building. Ticket holder lines (when necessary) form along the railing that overlooks the escalators while in the other direction one will find twin concession stands on either side of the wall. At either end of the lobby are sets of cocktail tables and chairs and a large window wall looking out to either the East or West.
From the center of the lobby, a hallway runs off in either direction with 6 auditoriums along each path. There is a supplemental concession stand in each hall (opened only during peak times) as well as mulitple restrooms. Most of the auditoriums are spacious (I’m guessing in the 450-500 seat range) with very large wall to wall and slightly curved screens and high cielings. All the rooms are stadium style with lots of leg-room and comfortable high-back rocking chairs. No padding on the arm rest is a minor complaint. The 4 smaller auditoriums (probably half the size of the others) are the ones that are closest to the lobby… they are theaters 1, 6, 7 and 12. These are my least favorite rooms and the ones I try to avoid if it can be helped. I would put the total combined seating capacity at around 3600.
Also important to note is that I have found management here to be very responsive to complaints regarding presentation or climate-control issues within the auditorium.
P.S. One can see the roof of the old RKO Keith’s from the parking lot (the Toys ‘R’ Us side) as well as from the east-facing lobby windows.
The photos I posted in January are now located in this Broadway Theater album, now that I’ve reorganized my photobucket album.
The photos I posted above are now located in this Winter Garden album, now that I’ve reorganized my photobucket account. The old links no longer work.
The series of photos I posted back in February are now located at this Hollywood Theater album, now that I’ve reorganized my photobucket account. The old links no longer work.