Loew's State Theatre

1540 Broadway,
New York, NY 10036

Unfavorite 39 people favorited this theater

Showing 51 - 75 of 536 comments

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on April 10, 2017 at 9:39 pm

Do you really think that a generation of kids leaving the museum thinking that the leaping figures were running from KING KONG is a good idea? Really?

vindanpar
vindanpar on April 10, 2017 at 9:16 pm

When King Kong opened at the State in ‘76 the poster artwork illustration of Kong on the twin towers was painted on the north side of the building as was done for most of the attractions there which I’m sure many of us old enough do remember. And the image in the opening advertisement is included here in the photo section.

I was recently at the 9/11 memorial museum where a section is devoted to movie posters where the WTC is an iconic feature. To me the Kong illustration is definitely the most memorable.

It is not included. OK, understandable. Yet photos of people leaping from the building are. Inexplicable.

WilliamMcQuade
WilliamMcQuade on March 27, 2017 at 8:49 am

To Mark. Palaces all over the country were torn down. Google San Francisco Fox. Most gorgeous theater ever and it went down .

markp
markp on March 27, 2017 at 8:34 am

Mikeoaklandpark, I remember also getting the NY papers to see the ads and showtimes of all the theatres. That’s something that’s missing these days. And its sad how many of the grand old palaces in NY and Philly as well as NJ have all been demolished.

WilliamMcQuade
WilliamMcQuade on March 26, 2017 at 4:59 pm

For many years,I was really involved with the architecture of these theaters. Look on this site for the Mastbaum in Philly. Over 4,000 seats and unbelievably ornate. Sad to say,I was never in it.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on March 26, 2017 at 4:40 pm

Mark P. I was living in Phila and spent summers in Atlantic City and got the NY Times once or twice a week because all the NYC movie theaters were so exciting to me. I also remember that summer was the last time the Palace showed films before the Neederlanders reopened it as a legit house with Lauren Bacall in Applause. I remember being upset not knowing what happened to the State. I knew the Palace was going legit by the theater directory. I moved to NYC in 76 and went to the State many times both upstairs and down. We had many grand movie palaces like that in Phila which like most places are now demolished.

markp
markp on March 24, 2017 at 2:42 pm

Mikeoaklandpark, I remember we were sitting up in the balcony. It was quite awesome for a little boy in the third grade. Of course my father enjoyed it too, since he was a projectionist in many central New Jersey theatres

WilliamMcQuade
WilliamMcQuade on March 24, 2017 at 12:43 pm

Around the corner was the Ben Hur bar in the old USO space I believe . No pictures that I know of exist. When the Roxy came down it signaled open season on all on the picture palaces . Times Square used to be an oasis . Quite soon,it became a barren desert

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on March 24, 2017 at 12:33 pm

Mark P Doctor Dolittle was the last film to play there as a single screen theater.

robboehm
robboehm on March 22, 2017 at 10:23 pm

Mark an alternative would have been to rewrite your comment with the additional information and delete the old one.

markp
markp on March 22, 2017 at 7:34 pm

I should add to the above comment, he wrote Loews State Theatre New York.

markp
markp on March 22, 2017 at 3:10 pm

Recently when cleaning out my childhood home, I came across a souvenier book from the movie “Doctor Doolittle.” My father wrote the date March 18, 1968 on the inside cover. I remember going there as part of a class trip. It was still a huge single screen then.

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on November 1, 2016 at 5:04 pm

B&W newsreel coverage of the world premiere of William Wyler’s “Ben-Hur” at Loew’s State in 1959 can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cluritreTfI

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 20, 2016 at 8:28 am

Wow, nice catch, Vindanpar…!

A Schubert show at a Shubert house…

I bow to my new lord and master!

vindanpar
vindanpar on July 20, 2016 at 6:22 am

I was simply confused because the original Blossom Time was one of my fondest theatrical memories.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 20, 2016 at 1:02 am

Al, I’ve loved your posts and insights over these years, but grammar refers to the way words are used, classified, and structured together to form coherent written or spoken communication.

Spelling is forming of words with letters in an accepted order.

With a nod to George and Ira, let me add:

Things have come to a pretty pass

Our romance is growing flat,

For you like this and the other

While I go for this and that…

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 20, 2016 at 12:07 am

Theatre, Theater, they are not.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 19, 2016 at 11:03 pm

Grammar and spelling are different things, Al…

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 19, 2016 at 10:55 pm

vindanpar there is no Schubert. There is a Shubert (and for a while there, a Little Shubert). Franz and his grammar nazis are simply playing with you.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 19, 2016 at 10:55 pm

I was just teasing, and I will soon delete… :)

vindanpar
vindanpar on July 19, 2016 at 10:18 pm

Sorry!

Lost in memories…

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 19, 2016 at 7:30 pm

There is no Schubert theater on Broadway

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 19, 2016 at 6:29 pm

The Shubert family of New York City was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district as the hub of the theatre industry in the United States.

Franz Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers of the late Classical and early Romantic eras and is one of the most frequently performed composers of the early nineteenth century. But he never played Broadway…

vindanpar
vindanpar on July 19, 2016 at 4:43 pm

Saw Chinatown here at a late morning show.

Afterwards went to a matinee of The Andrew Sisters in the musical Over Here at the Schubert in which I remember a very young Travolta, Ann Reinking and Treat Williams.

Boy I liked NY back then.

jordanlage
jordanlage on June 20, 2016 at 9:16 am

For what it’s worth, Polanski’s CHINATOWN premiered at Loew’s State 1 on this date, June 20th, in 1974, not June 19th. Just checked the ad in Times Machine. Don’t recall seeing too many films at the State, though I was here in NYC for 6 years before it closed. My recollection is that I saw Ragtime in State 1. Bit of a letdown after having 1st read the terrific Doctorow novel.