A total of 10,000,000 people paid an estimated $5,000,000 to see motion pictures last year in 10 theatres on one block in New York City. The 10 theatres are located on 42nd street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, a street frequently condemned because of its ‘carnival’ atmosphere.
Surrounded by pizza parlors, hot dog stands, shooting galleries, pokerino palaces, and novelty stores, the theatres, the theatres are nevertheless well maintained policed, and managed. This is no skid row.
The theatres â€" seven of which are operated by Brandt Theatres and three by Cinema Circuit â€" offer perhaps the most varied programming that can be obtained in any concentrated area in the world. The type of product available on the street in any one day â€" offers a choice to all tastes â€" from the discriminating intellectual to the uneducated laborer.
Although it is not generally known, each of the 10 theatres on the block follows a specific programming policy. For example, the Brandt’s Lyric and Cinema’s New Amsterdam are first subsequent run houses, playing pictures immediately after their Broadway runs and simultaneously with the key Loew’s and RK theatres. Pictures are booked at these houses for a week’s run. Brandt’s Apollo is an art house which offers the outstanding foreign language imports at popular prices after the films complete their first-run engagements. The bookings are exclusive for the area and the films are played for two to four weeks depending on the draw at the box office.
Brandt’s Times Square is a western and action outlet and the same circuit’s Victory concentrates on exploitation and horror films. The Selwyn (Brandt) and Harris (Cinema) are moveover houses. Brandt’s Liberty and Empire and Cinema’s Anco are strictly reissue outlets. The action and reissue outlets change bills twice a week.
Admission prices are moderate, the first sub-runs charge 40c.– 95c.; the art house ditto; the current product moveovers 30c.– 85c.; and the action and reissue houses 25c. â€" 65c. The theatres operate on an amazing schedule. The majority open at 8 a.m. and run to 3 a.m. the following morning, with several closing at 4 a.m. To maintain this operational schedule, the theatres employ three shifts of employees.
Contrary to general belief, the atmosphere of 42nd St. has not provided the managements wit undue problems of coping with juvenile delinquents and undesirables. According to Martin Levine, general manager of the Brandt houses, the 42nd St. theatres have no more problems than other theatres. As a matter of fact, he maintained, the juves make up only a small portion of the patronage. He noted, for example, that two recent pictures especially aimed at teenagers â€" ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’ â€" fared poorly at the box office.
The theatres, however, have taken precautionary measures against young hoodlums and other undesirables. A crew of uniformed Burns guards make frequent tours of the theatres. The Brandt Theatres has long followed the policy of notifying parents when a juvenile is involved in a disturbance.
The 42nd St. patronage comes from all walks of life. Midnight workers are on hand for the 8 a.m. show. Salesmen, shoppers and others with several hours to kill dominate the afternoon audiences. Dater, married couple, and groups of young people make up the evening trade. Show people and other stay-up-laters are among the late film-goers.
The 42nd St. houses offer patrons a chance to catch up on missed pictures, a wide choice of pictures which enables groups to break up and meet later, and prices within the range of the general public. According to the belief of the 42nd St. operators, when a person comes to 42nd St. it’s not with the thought of seeing a specific film. However, after the potential customers looks over the wide selection, he then makes his choice.
19 Years as an Artie
Perhaps the most unique of the 42nd St. operations is the Apollo which has been running continuously for 19 years on an art house policy. Even during the war years when it was difficult to obtain foreign films, the house operated successfully by replaying over and over again the available imports. The house has a steady clientele and for each change of bills it send out 25,000 mailing pieces. The theatre is also a popular place with language students and many times whole classes from various New York high schools and colleges attend afternoon performances to absorb French or Italian, Shakespeare films also draw a large student audience and the management provides special reduced tickets for school groups.
Foreign films with English titles also draw a large audience of deaf and dumb individuals. Many of these people as well as their special schools are on the mailing list.
From a profit and cents standpoint, the 42nd St. houses have managed to buck the general sluggish trend that has hit theatre business throughout the country. For the most part, however, the new, better Hollywood films and the foreign imports do the better business. The theatres have ‘their hands full’ in maintaining a profitable operation at the houses which show the secondary films and the reissues.
The theatre operators have no desire to see the complexion of the street changed. They feel the carnival atmosphere of 32nd St., the pizza parlors, and the other carny attractions are just the things that draw crowds to the street.
This from Variety, November 14, 1956. Kids today!!!
“Wealthy” Tenafly, N.J., Kids Called Monsters
“Malicious mischief committed by disorderly teenagers in the Bergen Theatre, Tenafly, N. J., has reached the point where operator Ray Rhone has barred the teenagers unless accompanied by adults. Among nuisances perpetrated, he said, were ripping seats, stripping tiles from lavatory walls and throwing eggs and other objects.
Particularly on Friday nights, Rhone asserted, the noise and general disorder were so bad that patrons could neither concentrate on what was on the screen nor hear the sound. In his opinion the ill behavior of the teenagers stems from lack of proper parental supervision. Tenafly area, incidentally, is a wealthy suburban district near New York with the price of homes ranging from $20,000 to $60,000."
This from Variety, November 7, 1956 about a Baytown theatre. Does anyone from Baytown remember what started it?
Massed Assault on Theatre!
“Some 500 teenagers, bent on revenge for a "raw deal”, ran amok here last Wednesday night (310, egg-and-feathering a theatre, barricading a city street and beating a policemen with a club.
The yelling gang – both boys and girls – commandeered a city dump truck, roused the town with a garbage can “tom-tom” dance, let air out of tires and damaged two city patrol cars.
The horde showed up at the Bay Theatre where the manager, H.E. Brunson, had frequently called police for aid against rowdy-ism, and threw dozens of eggs at the theatre front. Then the gang smeared feathers in the “omlet”."
Vito, many Manhattan houses are now part time union or non-union. In many cases union projectionists do maintenance and repairs and other staff build up prints and run the show. The Ziegfeld was one of the last Cineplex Odeon theatres to install platters since it was single screen and often ran 70mm. Platters were considered more of a multiplex necessity. One of the projectionists filed a grievance demanding platters, which were eventually negotiated.
The BACKDRAFT incident was one of many less publicised screw-ups from an incompetent projectionist who allegedly had a substance abuse problem. The Old Waverly had a similar problem and this may be the reason it chose to reopened non-union.
If you check the 306 website you will find they are concentrating more on business conference presentations as a growth market as the actual number of theatres dwindle, albeit with more screens.
Just to clear up two items, the platters were not installed due to the BACKDRAFT debacle. They were installed much later due to grievance from a 306 projectionist with a bad back who had trouble lifting the reels. Running reel to reel may now actually be a contract violation.
MY FAIR LADY did fairly well on its opening weekend then died after exhausting its obviously finite audience. When you consider the cost of restoring the print, that run not only failed but stopped other planned restorations from taking place.
Although many Manhattan theatres are no longer union, the ratio of good/bad projectionists appears to be the same as before.
I can confirm that the ad for HIM posted above ran in the New York Times on March 29, 1974. Later ads included review quotes from Al Goldstein, The Village Voice, Gay Scene, Michael’s Thing, Variety, and Where it’s at.
It would appear it was not only a real movie but that it ran for around two months at the 55th St. Playhouse.
The review above is re-print from allmovie.com and not an actual NYT review, so a theatre is not mentioned. Wakefiled Poole’s filmography does not list HIM although he did film a bible epic released as IN THE BEGINNING in New York.
That 1994 re-release of MY FAIR LADY was a box office disaster. Meryl Streep’s THE RIVER WILD was rushed in to cover (it was supposed to open at the National). It sold the place out.
“Biz is holding up so well for "Marty” at the arty Sutton Theatre that film rental on this United Artists release may be sufficient to pay off the $325,000 estimated negative cost.
Albert Greene who ran the Avenue U decided it would be a good idea to chrome plate 36,000 pennies to hand out as change to his patrons. The patrons were then asked drop one into a “Wagner bottle†in order to drive home his protest against the 5% admission tax imposed on theatres.
After a visit from the Treasury Men, Greene was warned that adding weight to coins was illegal and he should desist immediately a turn over all the altered pennies, of which 12,000 remeined. In an effort to undo the damage he offered two copper pennies for each chrome one returned.
Unfortunately neighborhood kids with chemistry sets caught on to the deal and “fake†chrome pennies started turning up in massive numbers.
Greene responded by running a trailer addressed to the “fathers of Junior Counterfeitersâ€
“We beg you to assert your parental authority on the chemistry genius in your family. Pul-e-e-ze tell your boys to stop producing synthetic chrome plated pennies. This is against the law, besides being of great annoyance to us. Show mom how firm you can be.â€
Once enough pennies had been returned, Greene decided to “strip†them of the chrome instead of turning them in and again ran afoul of the Treasury Department for tampering with the currency.
Once the stunt hit the news, neighborhood merchants started pitching in, helping to round up renegade chrome pennies, 1400 of which had ended up at the CBS “It’s News to me” show.
Ed, regarding your post of January 13, when I ran the Meadows the maskings had to moved manually. We used to set them up every Thursday night for the coming show. It is a shame that no one even bothers now.
Paramount theatre, Brooklyn, was focal point in a gruesome joke last Saturday when a man committed suicide by jumping out of a window and landing on the sidewalk in front of the house.
A little insight into better times from Variety, August 8, 1951
RIVALRY MOUNTS FOR B’WAY PIX: DEMANDS SOARING WITH HOT BIDDING
Product jams at a couple of spots and intensifying rivalry within the ranks of both distributors and exhibitors are resulting in sweeping departures from traditional booking practices in N.Y.’s showcase sector.
There’s a rift between United Paramount Theatres’ flagship house, the Paramount, and Paramount Pictures. UPT refused to go along on Par’s terms on “Rhubarb†and consequently the pic has been booked for Harry Brandt’s nearby Globe. Par’s “A Place in the Sun†is set for the Capitol marking the first time the Loews house will serve as a first-run outlet for Par.
Columbia and City Investing Co., operator of the Astor and Victoria, disclosed a deal yesterday (Tues.) for a continuing tieup. This is designed to guarantee the two theatres a constant source of supply and, of course, provides Col with important showcase outlets.
The long runs of Metro’s “The Great Caruso†and the current “Show Boat†are forcing three films, which normally would play the Hall, elsewhere, including “Place in the Sunâ€. Other two are Par’s “Here Comes the Groom†and Warners’ “Streetcar Named Desireâ€.
WB’S “Capt. Horatio Hornblowerâ€, which follows “Show Boat†at the Hall, also is expected to hold for a long run and this will further aggravate the booking jam Conditions… (article continues)
From Variety January 30, 1957
42nd St. Grind’s $5-mil Gross
10 Film Parlors Carefully Run
A total of 10,000,000 people paid an estimated $5,000,000 to see motion pictures last year in 10 theatres on one block in New York City. The 10 theatres are located on 42nd street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, a street frequently condemned because of its ‘carnival’ atmosphere.
Surrounded by pizza parlors, hot dog stands, shooting galleries, pokerino palaces, and novelty stores, the theatres, the theatres are nevertheless well maintained policed, and managed. This is no skid row.
The theatres â€" seven of which are operated by Brandt Theatres and three by Cinema Circuit â€" offer perhaps the most varied programming that can be obtained in any concentrated area in the world. The type of product available on the street in any one day â€" offers a choice to all tastes â€" from the discriminating intellectual to the uneducated laborer.
Although it is not generally known, each of the 10 theatres on the block follows a specific programming policy. For example, the Brandt’s Lyric and Cinema’s New Amsterdam are first subsequent run houses, playing pictures immediately after their Broadway runs and simultaneously with the key Loew’s and RK theatres. Pictures are booked at these houses for a week’s run. Brandt’s Apollo is an art house which offers the outstanding foreign language imports at popular prices after the films complete their first-run engagements. The bookings are exclusive for the area and the films are played for two to four weeks depending on the draw at the box office.
Brandt’s Times Square is a western and action outlet and the same circuit’s Victory concentrates on exploitation and horror films. The Selwyn (Brandt) and Harris (Cinema) are moveover houses. Brandt’s Liberty and Empire and Cinema’s Anco are strictly reissue outlets. The action and reissue outlets change bills twice a week.
Admission prices are moderate, the first sub-runs charge 40c.– 95c.; the art house ditto; the current product moveovers 30c.– 85c.; and the action and reissue houses 25c. â€" 65c. The theatres operate on an amazing schedule. The majority open at 8 a.m. and run to 3 a.m. the following morning, with several closing at 4 a.m. To maintain this operational schedule, the theatres employ three shifts of employees.
Contrary to general belief, the atmosphere of 42nd St. has not provided the managements wit undue problems of coping with juvenile delinquents and undesirables. According to Martin Levine, general manager of the Brandt houses, the 42nd St. theatres have no more problems than other theatres. As a matter of fact, he maintained, the juves make up only a small portion of the patronage. He noted, for example, that two recent pictures especially aimed at teenagers â€" ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’ â€" fared poorly at the box office.
The theatres, however, have taken precautionary measures against young hoodlums and other undesirables. A crew of uniformed Burns guards make frequent tours of the theatres. The Brandt Theatres has long followed the policy of notifying parents when a juvenile is involved in a disturbance.
The 42nd St. patronage comes from all walks of life. Midnight workers are on hand for the 8 a.m. show. Salesmen, shoppers and others with several hours to kill dominate the afternoon audiences. Dater, married couple, and groups of young people make up the evening trade. Show people and other stay-up-laters are among the late film-goers.
The 42nd St. houses offer patrons a chance to catch up on missed pictures, a wide choice of pictures which enables groups to break up and meet later, and prices within the range of the general public. According to the belief of the 42nd St. operators, when a person comes to 42nd St. it’s not with the thought of seeing a specific film. However, after the potential customers looks over the wide selection, he then makes his choice.
19 Years as an Artie
Perhaps the most unique of the 42nd St. operations is the Apollo which has been running continuously for 19 years on an art house policy. Even during the war years when it was difficult to obtain foreign films, the house operated successfully by replaying over and over again the available imports. The house has a steady clientele and for each change of bills it send out 25,000 mailing pieces. The theatre is also a popular place with language students and many times whole classes from various New York high schools and colleges attend afternoon performances to absorb French or Italian, Shakespeare films also draw a large student audience and the management provides special reduced tickets for school groups.
Foreign films with English titles also draw a large audience of deaf and dumb individuals. Many of these people as well as their special schools are on the mailing list.
From a profit and cents standpoint, the 42nd St. houses have managed to buck the general sluggish trend that has hit theatre business throughout the country. For the most part, however, the new, better Hollywood films and the foreign imports do the better business. The theatres have ‘their hands full’ in maintaining a profitable operation at the houses which show the secondary films and the reissues.
The theatre operators have no desire to see the complexion of the street changed. They feel the carnival atmosphere of 32nd St., the pizza parlors, and the other carny attractions are just the things that draw crowds to the street.
This from Variety, November 14, 1956. Kids today!!!
“Wealthy” Tenafly, N.J., Kids Called Monsters
“Malicious mischief committed by disorderly teenagers in the Bergen Theatre, Tenafly, N. J., has reached the point where operator Ray Rhone has barred the teenagers unless accompanied by adults. Among nuisances perpetrated, he said, were ripping seats, stripping tiles from lavatory walls and throwing eggs and other objects.
Particularly on Friday nights, Rhone asserted, the noise and general disorder were so bad that patrons could neither concentrate on what was on the screen nor hear the sound. In his opinion the ill behavior of the teenagers stems from lack of proper parental supervision. Tenafly area, incidentally, is a wealthy suburban district near New York with the price of homes ranging from $20,000 to $60,000."
This from Variety, November 7, 1956 about a Baytown theatre. Does anyone from Baytown remember what started it?
Massed Assault on Theatre!
“Some 500 teenagers, bent on revenge for a "raw deal”, ran amok here last Wednesday night (310, egg-and-feathering a theatre, barricading a city street and beating a policemen with a club.
The yelling gang – both boys and girls – commandeered a city dump truck, roused the town with a garbage can “tom-tom” dance, let air out of tires and damaged two city patrol cars.
The horde showed up at the Bay Theatre where the manager, H.E. Brunson, had frequently called police for aid against rowdy-ism, and threw dozens of eggs at the theatre front. Then the gang smeared feathers in the “omlet”."
Vito, many Manhattan houses are now part time union or non-union. In many cases union projectionists do maintenance and repairs and other staff build up prints and run the show. The Ziegfeld was one of the last Cineplex Odeon theatres to install platters since it was single screen and often ran 70mm. Platters were considered more of a multiplex necessity. One of the projectionists filed a grievance demanding platters, which were eventually negotiated.
The BACKDRAFT incident was one of many less publicised screw-ups from an incompetent projectionist who allegedly had a substance abuse problem. The Old Waverly had a similar problem and this may be the reason it chose to reopened non-union.
If you check the 306 website you will find they are concentrating more on business conference presentations as a growth market as the actual number of theatres dwindle, albeit with more screens.
Just to clear up two items, the platters were not installed due to the BACKDRAFT debacle. They were installed much later due to grievance from a 306 projectionist with a bad back who had trouble lifting the reels. Running reel to reel may now actually be a contract violation.
MY FAIR LADY did fairly well on its opening weekend then died after exhausting its obviously finite audience. When you consider the cost of restoring the print, that run not only failed but stopped other planned restorations from taking place.
Although many Manhattan theatres are no longer union, the ratio of good/bad projectionists appears to be the same as before.
LOL. Good ‘ole Wikipedia!
Michael Medved’s book addresses the 1974 film and even quotes the ad copy.
I can confirm that the ad for HIM posted above ran in the New York Times on March 29, 1974. Later ads included review quotes from Al Goldstein, The Village Voice, Gay Scene, Michael’s Thing, Variety, and Where it’s at.
It would appear it was not only a real movie but that it ran for around two months at the 55th St. Playhouse.
The review above is re-print from allmovie.com and not an actual NYT review, so a theatre is not mentioned. Wakefiled Poole’s filmography does not list HIM although he did film a bible epic released as IN THE BEGINNING in New York.
Historical reality check.
That 1994 re-release of MY FAIR LADY was a box office disaster. Meryl Streep’s THE RIVER WILD was rushed in to cover (it was supposed to open at the National). It sold the place out.
Ken, the Madonna is the Roxy and is listed here, somewhere.
Sorry to read about the Lincoln being closed. Anything announced as coming up there?
Here is a NY Times review for a 1984 film by director Wiktor Grodecki called HIM.
View link
A “Harrison” theatre advertised in 1994 as being on 89th and Broadway. Does anyone know what venue that may have been?
A “Harrison” theatre advertised in 1994 as being on 89th and Broadway. Does anyone know what venue that may have been?
That’s the one! Thanks guys, I will figure it out some day.
A British newspaper covers midgnight movies and EL TOPO at the Elgin.
View link
My previous post appears to be missing, but anyway, the Tapia name I was enquiring about appears in ads in the early seventies.
Warren, thanks for posting those porn ads on the Cinemart page. I guess you were being funny after all!
Variety June 22, 1955
“Biz is holding up so well for "Marty” at the arty Sutton Theatre that film rental on this United Artists release may be sufficient to pay off the $325,000 estimated negative cost.
According to a July 1928, 1954 Variety story:
(CHROMED PENNIES DRAW T-MEN TO B'KLYN THEATRE)
Albert Greene who ran the Avenue U decided it would be a good idea to chrome plate 36,000 pennies to hand out as change to his patrons. The patrons were then asked drop one into a “Wagner bottle†in order to drive home his protest against the 5% admission tax imposed on theatres.
After a visit from the Treasury Men, Greene was warned that adding weight to coins was illegal and he should desist immediately a turn over all the altered pennies, of which 12,000 remeined. In an effort to undo the damage he offered two copper pennies for each chrome one returned.
Unfortunately neighborhood kids with chemistry sets caught on to the deal and “fake†chrome pennies started turning up in massive numbers.
Greene responded by running a trailer addressed to the “fathers of Junior Counterfeitersâ€
“We beg you to assert your parental authority on the chemistry genius in your family. Pul-e-e-ze tell your boys to stop producing synthetic chrome plated pennies. This is against the law, besides being of great annoyance to us. Show mom how firm you can be.â€
Once enough pennies had been returned, Greene decided to “strip†them of the chrome instead of turning them in and again ran afoul of the Treasury Department for tampering with the currency.
Once the stunt hit the news, neighborhood merchants started pitching in, helping to round up renegade chrome pennies, 1400 of which had ended up at the CBS “It’s News to me” show.
Ed, regarding your post of January 13, when I ran the Meadows the maskings had to moved manually. We used to set them up every Thursday night for the coming show. It is a shame that no one even bothers now.
From Variety May 5, 1950
GRIM TRAILER
Paramount theatre, Brooklyn, was focal point in a gruesome joke last Saturday when a man committed suicide by jumping out of a window and landing on the sidewalk in front of the house.
Picture at the theatre was D.O.A.
A little insight into better times from Variety, August 8, 1951
RIVALRY MOUNTS FOR B’WAY PIX: DEMANDS SOARING WITH HOT BIDDING
Product jams at a couple of spots and intensifying rivalry within the ranks of both distributors and exhibitors are resulting in sweeping departures from traditional booking practices in N.Y.’s showcase sector.
There’s a rift between United Paramount Theatres’ flagship house, the Paramount, and Paramount Pictures. UPT refused to go along on Par’s terms on “Rhubarb†and consequently the pic has been booked for Harry Brandt’s nearby Globe. Par’s “A Place in the Sun†is set for the Capitol marking the first time the Loews house will serve as a first-run outlet for Par.
Columbia and City Investing Co., operator of the Astor and Victoria, disclosed a deal yesterday (Tues.) for a continuing tieup. This is designed to guarantee the two theatres a constant source of supply and, of course, provides Col with important showcase outlets.
The long runs of Metro’s “The Great Caruso†and the current “Show Boat†are forcing three films, which normally would play the Hall, elsewhere, including “Place in the Sunâ€. Other two are Par’s “Here Comes the Groom†and Warners’ “Streetcar Named Desireâ€.
WB’S “Capt. Horatio Hornblowerâ€, which follows “Show Boat†at the Hall, also is expected to hold for a long run and this will further aggravate the booking jam Conditions… (article continues)
I went to the Paris recently to see BREAKING AND ENTERING and the place was immaculate. It looked like a theatre that had just opened.
After the war, did anybody really care what was playing as long as the Rockettes were kicking up their heels?
Where were you when the lights went out?