Criterion Theatre
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
28 people
favorited this theater
Showing 351 - 375 of 615 comments
An aunt of mine died at the Criterion Theatre on Feb 1, 1902 (New York Times article Feb 2, 1902). She was the wife of Sherman W. Knevals who was a law partner of President Chester A. Arthur and was at the bedside of President Arthur when he died. Is there any way to find out what play was performing on stage at the matinee performance at the Criterion on Feb 1, 1902? Thank you,
Susan (Knevals) Yesalonia
Easton Pa.
70mm in 1959
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There has always been a slight issue (at least from my perspective) with the status “Closed/Demolished” on this site and when it should be applied. In my mind, a complete gutting of a theater to the bare brick walls (particular when it was not a standalone theatre, but a space within a larger building) is tantamount to demolition. At least with a standalone gut-job, the exterior elements of a theatre might remain (such as the Astoria, Bayside or Forest Hills Theatres in Queens). However, in the case of the Criterion (just as with the Paramount across Times Square) where the office building remains but virtually all vestiges of the theatre itself have been erased, I have no problem with “Demolished.”
Perhaps it would be better still if a new category of “Closed/Gutted” could be added to the mix to add a further level of clarification.
To JKane’s posting from last November 22nd: the Criterion always benefited from its location, especially after the lounge/basement area was carved up into auditorium space. After the Criterion was sub-divided, it was mostly the crowds who made it a fun place to see a film, not the quality of the theatre itself; it MIGHT have survived if it was allowed to double-book with the E-Walk and the Empire 25, but likely not for long…
To Howard, from earlier today: I think someone might have mentioned it in an earlier post, but the Bond 45 restaurant (with its entrance on 45th Street) occupies the section of the former Criterion (the screen and where the front rows were) orchestra auditoriums.
Excellent idea. Volunteer Warren to do it.
Warren, you should write a new introduction that highlights the the pre-roadshow era.
Warren, earlier today I asked for a revision to:
It has since been gutted to become a massive Toys R Us store.
You are correct in that the Intro needs a complete overhaul to describe the history of this Criterion. I might try that sometime in the future. In the meantime, at least the 70mm Roadshows are there.
You can see the that “The Godfather” was playing over at the State Theatre in that shot.
What a wonderful shot of the city, J.F. Beautiful resolution for an old camera.
CIVILIZATION at the Criterion dates back to the latter half of 1916 so this photo actually belongs on the older Criterion page.
/theaters/16481/
It was actually Thomas Ince’s “ Civilization” that was playing.
Here is a link to a really great view of the original Criterion with Ralph Ince’s “Civilization” on the attraction board.
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Very high resolution of Times Square area.
Warren, that Bo Derek shot is priceless. Back in her day, I had such a major crush (lust, actually) and a very risquee poster of her on my wall. She was in ORCA: THE KILLER WHALE before she rose to fame with 10.
I was at this theater only once, in 1991. I took a first date to see HOOK. The movie sucked and so did the date. We never went out again.
Sorry. I just wanted to add to the discussion about upstairs seating that was going on here.
As you can see here, the divans were the highest-priced seats ($4.25!)
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The Capitol called their upstairs front rows “divans”. My dad got “2001” tickets for that section in 1968, and before I went I wasn’t sure what kind of seats we were going to get. I pictured them to be something like boxes in an opera house. But it was just the front couple of rows in the upstairs, at eye level with the middle part of the Cinerama screen.
They also did that with the Warner(Strand), the State and the National.
Above talking about the ‘balcony,’ it was really a mezz and a balcony separated by an aisle.
During the road show period the mezz had the most expensive seats in the house and was fine. If they had streched it any further out it might have cut off the screen for the back orchestra. Also during this period the front rows of the orchestra had the cheapest seats in the house. I don’t think any other house did this.
It was horrible when they cut off the mezz/balcony and instead of simply cutting it off they made the theater a split level destroying it.
Along with the Rivoli my favorite cinema. The Music Hall is sui generis.
Ken: It was still good to see that photo again. Please continue to post any other photos you have. There’s room here for all of them, even with the duplication.
Sorry about any duplication. As you know, there are hundreds of postings for some of these Manhattan theaters. I didn’t have time to go through each one to see if there was a prior post. I will table any further additions for the NY theaters.
Hey Warren. If you’re thinking of me, then “guano” is the person you’re thinking of! And you were kind enough to allow me to snag that photo for my own collection.
Ken… I can’t take credit for the 1978 photo either. I have copied numerous photos I’ve found here or elsewhere on the web and placed them in my scrapbook for my own personal use. I only post images here on CT that either I have found on the web (on a site other than CT) or that I’ve photographed myself. I’ve thought about making my scrapbook private, but I keep it open to all only as a repository for theater images for those who are interested. Particularly since so many of those links here tend to disappear after a while due to space restrictions on other scrapbook accounts.
I suppose if I choose to keep it a “public” scrapbook, I’ll have to endeavor to be more diligent in identifying the source of each image.
Here is another photo from 1953. Same disclaimer as above:
http://tinyurl.com/yuzbvd
This is a 1978 photo. Apologies if it’s already here somewhere:
http://tinyurl.com/37yd2e
Here are some images that may or may not have been previously posted on this page…
VJ Day – 1945
Lady from Shanghai – 1948
Chicago Syndicate – 1945
All three of these were scanned from a 1988 edition of the New York Daily News Magazine that was devoted to the past, present and future of Times Square.
This was a progressive ad for 1954
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Here is a photo advertised on eBay. My apologies if it’s a duplicate, but there are too many entries to go through for this theater:
http://tinyurl.com/23cels