Loew's Orpheum Twin Theatre

Sorry, I thought they were the same theatre but a different creation.

Yes, the seven screen theatre is not listed.

The seven-screen incarnation opened on November 22nd, 1991 with The Addams Family (on two screens), Curly Sue, Prospero’s Books, Little Man Tate, The Fisher King, All I Want For Christmas (matinees only) and The Butcher’s Wife (evenings only).

There was also a great Automat on 86th Street, along with Barney Google, Lorelei, Kleine Konditorei, Cafe Geiger, and Jager House around the corner, etc. The Museum of the City of New York on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street has along an exhibit on old toys, a mural painted by a guy who had grown up in the area, showing many of the old sites including the old Loews 72nd Street which was really unique. They also have an Automat exhibit.

This theater had its screens professionally cleaned by 1570 Cinema Services 10/15/07 (www.1570cinemaservices.com). We have the address as 1538 Third Street.

this is a great thread. Two questions: 1) wasn’t there another theater on the south side of 86th across from RKO? If so, what was it’s name? 2) (ok maybe this counts as 3)…anyway, I thought RKO stood for Radio Keith Orpheum. Is that Orpheum any relation to the Orpheum or Loew’s Orpheum fame? Thanks, Randolph Dad Uncle Randy

According to a NYT June 9, 1969 article, a grenade was thrown at the Loews Orpheum the day before at 4:00am. Slight injuries were cause to three person passing by in a taxicab by shattered glass from six large windows.

Although the police could not prove the link, the LOEWS CINE side of the complex was showing the controversial Jack Palance film about Che Guevara, CHE!.

Cuban Nationalists had denounced the film earlier in the week and demonstrations against the film had taken place at the Penthouse Theatre in Times Square.

The name LOEWS CINE should be listed here as a previous name for twin two.

The theatre is still open as a sevenplex. The old theatre was torn down and rebult. AMC operates the theatre which Loews made a sevenplex. Theatres 1-3 are on street level and 4 thur 7 are on the basement. The best screen is Theatre 7. Loews did a bad job with 1 thru 6 because it has walkway going directly down the center aisle.

Which closed in November of 1989, and the new one which you went to opened around 1994.

Why is this theatre listed as “closed/demolished?” I was at the AMC/Loews Orpheum 7, as listed in the “Times.” The theatre is on the West Side of Third Avenue, between 86th & 87th Streets. The Papaya King is on the corner.

I went to this theatre for the first time in nearly a decade last night to attend an advanced screening of BEETHOVEN’S COPYIST. It was only the second time in 25 years I’ve seen a movie in this theatre or in or around 86th Street. I was in a basement, or sub-basement two flights down, theatre to see the screening. It is so deep if anyone threatens to nuke us, I think I’d head over to this theatre.

The films screening weren’t drawing because as we were filing in, no one, not a soul, was in line to buy tickets for the other offerings, some of which were starting at the same time as the free screening.

I haven’t been to many free screenings in recent years, but security was ultra tight. I felt I was getting on a plane as two security guards searched everyone going in, waving a wand over us. They didn’t want anyone recording the proceedings. And during the middle of the film a security guard stood next to the screen and looked over the crowd using what looked like night vision goggles.

Shouldn’t LOEWS CINE be added to the former names here even though it only referred to part of the building?

My Dad took me here (the only time I’ve been) in June of ‘77 to see “Star Wars” during its initial run. I remember we were shut out of one screening and purchased tickets for the following show a couple of hours later. To kill time, we went across the street to a diner/restaurant which had big windows that looked directly across to the theater marquee. I can’t recall the details too vividly. I think the marquee was on 3rd Ave and I recall after eating that my dad and I rushed back across the street to get a decent spot on the rapidly growing ticket-holder’s line.

As there was so much time before they would start letting us in, my Dad agreed to let me take a stroll around the neighborhood while he held our place on line – I was 12 years old and this was the first time I would be taking a stroll in the City all by myself. So, I headed east on 86th Street with a goal of making it all the way to the East River. Ultimately, I found a park stood in my way of getting to the water’s edge (Carl Schurz Park where the mayor’s residence at Gracie Mansion is located, I would later learn) and had to make a retreat back towards the theater. When I got back to 3rd Ave and could see the line was moving into the theater, I got a bit nervous. When I made my way to the entrance, I found my Dad waiting there and a bit peeved that he had to let a lot of people in ahead of him as he waited for me. I remember accepting his anger and being thankful that he was more upset that I mosied around oblivious to time then he was nervously wondering whether I had gone missing somewhere in the big bad City (he may well have fretted over that prospect, but if so, he certainly didn’t let on to me about it).

Once inside, I recall the theater was quite large with a center orchestra section and two narrower sections on either side. I don’t recall the decor, but the hues were dark and I seem to recall a red curtain in front of the screen. The seats were plush and we wound up sitting on the right aisle in the center section about ¾ of the way back. There may have been a break in the sections with a cross-aisle closer to the screen, but I can’t recall exactly as we sat more to the rear. I thought there was a balcony, but I realize now this might have just been the lower ceiling former by the former loge/mezzanine that had been converted to the separate Loew’s Cine auditorium.

Anyway… it was nice to stroll down memory lane here. Thanks for the indulgence.

I saw all the original “Star Wars” movies here back in the 70s and 80s, as well as “The Omega Man,” “The Man Who Would Be King,” and “The Prisoner of Second Avenue.” Also saw some Indiana Jones movies here. To my recollection, the very last movie I saw here was “Young Sherlock Holmes” around 1985 or ‘86. Saw other stuff here too over many years, as I grew up in the area. I remember the 86th street entrance, the big marquee and the flashing light bulbs underneath. The entrance on Third Avenue was less flashy, and there was a high escalator taking patrons up to the second floor, where the auditorium was, or at least where the balcony was…for many years there was a somewhat dated and tacky 1960s mural in this Third Avenue lobby, consisting of simple graphic images and symbols mounted on a lot of square boards that were supposed to resemble film frames (I think). The only image I remember clearly is Mickey Mouse…My dad, upon taking me to see The Omega Man here, saw this mural and said Mickey was The Omega Mouse.
For a while on 86th street after the demolition, the new space that was built in the space that used to be the long lobby entrance for the Orpheum, was a Coconuts store, but that is now gone too I think.