Times Square Theatre
217 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
217 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
27 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 204 comments
And still no word on the progress on the Ecko Unlimited store that has been in the works for this site since sometime in 2004! What on earth is going on here? It probably took less aggregate time to build all of the original theaters on the block from the ground up!
The movie “Sunrise” is playing on the Fox Movie Channel. According the New York Times review of the picture at the time, it opened at this theater on September 23, 1927. “Sunrise” won several awards at the first Academy Awards, including “Unique and Artistic Picture.”
Thanks, Jerry. My time on the Duece came just after the period when this film was released. I would have loved to have experienced the cleaner and safer 42nd Street of the 50’s and early 60’s, but I’m happy to have been able to enjoy those latter years despite all the grime and crime. It seemed fine in the early ‘80’s – my friends and I hardly gave a second thought to any danger. It grew old very fast, however. By 1984-5 we started to give up on many of the Duece grind houses because they started smelling like urinals… and the western end of the strip was terribly foreboding. We always made sure to get down there early so that we could catch our double of triple bill and head back to the subway before nightfall. That was a tricky feat in the winter months!
I still have great deal of nostalgia even for that era of rock-bottom decay.
The film was one of those “R” rated softcores. The Times Square was one of my favorite theaters in the 50s, since it was nothing but westerns. Sorry it came to this.
Here’s the poster.
Check out the film advertised at the bottom of this 1978 clipping from the Daily News:
Female Fever – NY Daily News 1/28/78
The ad was run amidst a cluster of porn ads and it sure does look like a typical XXX flick from the period, but I’m guessing this was more of the soft “X” variety that one found in abundance on the Duece in the late ‘60’s and early '70’s – hence the “Adults Only” warning instead of a circled X in the ad. The fact that it is also playing a suburban drive-in would lead me to believe it wasn’t a true XXX.
I could find no reference on imdb about the film (I didn’t think I would) but I did see that its distributor – Downtown Distribution Corp – was listed as being responsible for at least a pair of mid ‘70’s Godzilla imports and a martial arts flick.
Here’s an ad from the 12/12/80 edition of the Daily News that advertises a film that seems to have been booked into the Times Square exclusively for Manhattan (while playing nabes all over the boroughs and burbs):
Cheerleader’s Wild Weekend
The really interesting thing is that this seems to be a re-release of a 1979 film originally entitled “The Great American Girl Robbery” that, according to IMDB.COM, did not involve Leon Isaac Kennedy (who is featured prominently in the advertising) in any capacity whatsoever!!! What a set on the guys at Aquarius Releasing for pulling that stunt, huh? Shamelessly trying to make a buck off the popularity of Kennedy’s exploitation circuit hit “Penitentiary”!
I scanned in some photos I took of the mostly closed Duece theaters in October 1993 and uploaded them to my photobucket account. Here are the shots for the Times Square:
1993 Times Square long shot
1993 Times Square facade
In the second photo above, notice the sign for the “Apollo Karate Academy” over the former Apollo Theater entrance. Did they practice their arts in the old foyer?!? In the first photo you can see the marquee for the Harris Theater, which was still in operation at the time. A sign was hung under the canopy announcing the coming of Movieplex 42 in the former Roxy Twin location down the block. I’ll posted a shot of the Harris marquee on its CT page.
Meanwhile… here’s a scan of a 2002 photo I shot of the Times Square facade from one of the upper level windows at Madam Toussaud’s Wax Museum:
2002 Times Square
Was on the block last night at the New Victory with the kids. The theater is still covered in scaffolding on which is hung a large blue banner the entire width of the building (referenced in a post by William back on December 8th, 2004) announcing the alleged Ecko Unlimited retail outlet “coming in 2006”. I took a couple of photos of the place but, unfortunately, the one long shot of the hidden facade was deleted in the transfer to my computer! Anyway… I did manage to take a couple of angled shots peaking up at the facade behind the scaffolding from in front of the old Apollo entrance (now part of the Hilton Theater complex).
Facade over Apollo entrace
Another peak behind the scaffolding
I wonder when this site will open already!
LM,
Looks like 1947, the year that CRY WOLF with Stanwyck & Flynn came out. jerry
Ha! Glad to be a part of that synchronicity, BobT… I should probably post this on the Rialto site, but the marquee in that photo in my link advertising “That Woman” would seem to be one of the Rialto marquees. Note the decorations above the marquee and the boasting that this is “New York’s Newest Movie Theater”… would that be a result of the “twinning” of the Rialto by opening a 2nd theater in the basement space? There was another identical marquee to the right of that one for the Rialto’s other auditorium – which was the original from 1935 when the theater opened on the very site of a previous and larger Rialto.
Work is happening, but it’s still closed.
Here’s an excellent but dated web page that features a 2004 NY Times article about the (then) newly announced plans for Ecko to take over the Times Square Theater plus a number of great photos of the north side of 42nd Street from various years – most notably a few shots from the mid ‘90’s that more or less document a chronology (albeit one that is out of sequence on the page) of the block.
I’m still wondering if Ecko has opened yet. Can’t find anything about it yet on the web – even on Ecko’s own site. Anyone walk by here on a routine basis?
Is anyone aware of any progress on renovations and conversion work here? Ecko was slated to open by the start of 2006… and here we are!
I would always marvel at the beauty of all those magnificent marquees, the people who changed them week after week were true artists,the lettering was always perfectly spaced and centered.
Truly a lost art form.
You can see a beautiful color interior photo of the unrestored auditorium of this theatre shot by Andrew Moore in the Vol. 6, No. 2 issue of 2wice magazine.
In addition, there are 2 interior photos of the Selwyn (Seats and Dressing Room) in a decayed state.
You can view these photos on line at www.2wice.org
Just click on the Glow issue, then Havana/New York.
They also sell back issues of this magazine.
In addition, you can view a color photgraph of the balcony of the Times Square theatre, shot by Moore, on page 58 of the March, 1997 issue of Harper’s Magazine.
Check out the photographers website at: www.andrew-moore.info
to see a total of 11 photos of unrestored 42nd street theatres
including 1 from the Liberty, 2 from the New Amsterdam, 4 from the Selwyn and 2 from the Times Square.
There is also 1 exterior of the Lyric as well as the Diner next door to the Selwyn.
He also has 4 recent exterior photos of 42nd Street.
When you go to the site, click on Times Square 1995-2005 to bring up the theatre photographs.
Enjoy!
Some great shots of the marquee and some of Times Square from 1979,in the movie TIMES SQUARE. and one quick off to the side shot of the WORLD TRADE CENTER Towers.
The Times Square and Apollo in 1935
View link
This shot of the Times Square sandwiched between the Apollo & Lyric in 1967 will give you some idea of the programming for the Times Square which boasted ALWAYS TWO ACTION HITS.
In November 1969, the bookings for the week went like this:
SAT…..Prehistoric Women & War Wagon
SUN…..Goliath and the Vampire & California
Mon & Tues…Sons of Katie Elder & King’s Pirate
Wed & Thurs…Cyborg 2087 & Tall Women
Fri & Sat….Hellfighters & Bandolero
3 different John Wayne bookings in one week.
View link
Warren, there is a beautiful shot of the Times Theater at the link above. Thanks again, Bryan. These are real beauties.
Warren,
What type of programming did the theater have and when did it close? Thanks. Jerry
Two Jennifer Jones pictures on 42nd Street!
Great shot of the Apollo, TImes Square & Lyric around 1950 can be seen here:
View link
I just found a beautiful color clip of the Times Square and entire north side of 42nd Street from 1956 on the gettyimages.com website. The Selwyn is showing (3 Coins in the Fountain & Love is a Many Splendid Thing), Apollo (Naked Night & Divided Heart), Times Square (always westerns…..Best of the Badmen & Badman’s Territory – note the creative title programming, not unusual for 42nd St in the 50s), Lyric (Man in the Grey Flannel Suit & Magnificent Roughnecks), Victory (Purple Heart & Guadalcanal Diary). Here’s the link View link
Jerry 42nd Street Memories
i saw this the other day on bike. if you really notice it, behind each billboard you can see the facades underneath of the theaters, esp near the roxy liquor store. what a shame all that bs commercialism and fake sunlight has to hide some beautiful architecture.
Oh the Cine 42 was indeed a theatre space. It is hidden behind giant disney/lion king billboards which actually cover every single square inch of its facade. I believe its address is 218 W 42nd. This was a theatre which had a marquee the size of any other on the block and was their for quite some time. Yet it seems to go under the radar.