Playpen Theatre

It is like another world in there. I remember the first Adonis on 50th and 8th. That was hughe. Did anyone hear the story about the man who was found beaten to death in a seedy motel in the Bronx? Turns out he was a big shot for a big tenant at the World Wide Plaza complex that was built on the site of the old Madison Square Garden. The man demanded that the developers of WWP buy the building that housed the Adonis and close it. He said his firm would not lease the space in their building if they didn’t do it. He felt that The Adonis was not appropriate for his employer. It later came out that the same man enjoyed sex with men and liked it rough. Many times, his former co-workers, recall him coming to work bruised about the face and he claimed it was due to being mugging. Everything comes out.

I’ll be visiting NYC for the first time next June and want to see this old theater.

Native… have you seen this interior shot that CT member “woody” snapped in a fit of courage? I linked to it a number of posts back. It shows some of the ornamentation along the auditoriums upper walls still intact.

Even though I’m not a fan of its current use, I must say that this is one of the most appealing (and probably the only) theaters on this stretch of 8th Ave. The pink, green, & gold color scheme is great! It is a rare survivor that deserves landmarking. Any thoughts?

I also should have surmised something was up, since I think Chelly had already taken over and renamed this the Cameo by 1964 when the first couple of “Olga” flicks made their NY (if not world) premiere here.

Ha. Thanks for finding that one, Lost. I have a Times Select account, so I was able to open up the full article, which includes a grainy photocopy-quality image depicting the last few rows of the orchestra and the damaged underside of the balcony. According to the report, 19 people were slightly injured while the plater rained down on the last 7 rows. There were 120 patrons in attendance, with 40 of them in the balcony – which held firm. The article is indeed dated 2/14/46, but I think that is an error on the part of the Times online archivist based on the movie that was reported as playing at the time:

“At a tense moment in the shocker, ‘Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors,’ the plaster started coming away with a tearing noise. Most of the patrons up front barely heard it, or assumed it was part of the weird sound effects.”

As per imdb.com, that British horror flick was released in the U.S. on February 25, 1965. I find no other matching titles in the database. Assuming the incident took place in early 1965, this would be towards the end of the Squire’s existence as just another nabe. Not too long afterward, the theater would come under the ownership of Chelly Wilson, who would re-christen it as the Cameo and make the changeover to the sort of fetishistic-fringe sexploitation films (such as the “Olga” series) that would evolve into the hardcore pornography that was a staple on Eighth Avenue in the following decade. By 1967, Wilson owned the Cameo and the Tivoli (later Adonis) further up Eighth Ave and by 1970 would open the Capri, Eros and Eros II (later Venus) on the block of Eighth between 45th and 46th Streets) – all hardcore XXX grind houses.

Warren, your link doesn’t work.

I was watching a video of a film called “Thursday’s Child” this weekend. It was made in the early-to-mid 1970s and I’m not sure if it was a made-for-tv film or if it had a theatrical release. (There is no listing in the Maltin Guide for the film).

In any event, much of the film was shot on location in NYC and there is one scene set in front of the Cameo Theatre. I had never heard of the cameo and had no idea where it was when I caught it in the film.

NYC has changed quite a bit in the last 30 plus years.

Here is a 1943 ad saying “Grand Opening Newly Renovated”, with a grind house double bill.
View link

In November, 1938 the Russian film Professor Mamlock premiered here. The movie dealt with the plight of Jews in Germany through the story of a German-Jewish doctor whose professional skills and war record were no defense against the grave sin of not being an Aryan. Proudly displaying the word “Jude” across his surgeon’s robe and proclaiming his faith in a better Germany, he is machine-gunned. The film was not without its share of heavy-handed Communist propaganda, but it touched a subject avoided by Hollywood at the time. The movie met with some oppposition and was banned in some cities in the U.S.

Exactly, that’s what I was trying to say.

It looks like it was a pretty theater at one time. Too bad it had to recieve the ultimate humiliation a theater must endure, porn. And from what I have read above, it got all the kinkiest types possible.

Is that interior photo historic, or is that after it was playing porn? I am assuming it’s once it alreadt was playing porn, as going by the marquee of the exterior photo, it appears to be port on the marquee.

Thanks, Warren. That’s a great idea. I will definitely check the collection out, and who knows what else I might come across!