RKO Warner Twin Theatre
1579 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1579 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
41 people
favorited this theater
Showing 176 - 200 of 378 comments
Recently the Ridgewood Theater was closed in Ridgewood Queens. It was mentioned that the Ridgewood Theater was modeled after the Strand Theater, and also designed by Thomas Lamb. Does anyone know if this is what the Ridgewood Theater looked like inside before it was multiplexed? Much of the Ridgewood’s plaster survives, even though multiplexed.
This doesn’t look anything like the Cinerama Theatre I used to go to. I know the balcony became the Penthouse Theatre and the backstage became the Orleans Theatre.
Here is a September 1969 ad from the NYT:
http://tinyurl.com/2uuddn
Link, please.
“When it was announced that the Cinerama was going to be demolished and an office building put in its place, it was also stated there would be a new multiplex theatre in the basement, similar to what happened with the Loews State. However, once the old theatre was down, the developer stated that plans changed and there would be no new theatre in the building at all. I doubt there was ever a plan for a new theatre, and it was a BS story on the part of the developer just to get the theatre down without a lot of noise from the public. The old theatres closing came at the same time as RKOs takeover by the Canadians (who were scrambling to get office space set up at 126 E. 56th St 20th flr. The RKO offices had been upstairs of the Cinerama Theatre). When the announcement came that there would be no new theatre, there was no fuss made about it by the Canadians in the trades.
posted by dave-bronx on Oct 15, 2004 at 1:05pm
Although the “demolish and replace†deal was signed with RKO, Cineplex Odeon was the beneficiary of the settlement when the developer failed to build the basement multiplex. C was happy to accept the settlement as they had already sigedn the World Wide site.
“Although no x-rated movies played at the Strand/Warner, they certainly played at the Cine Orleans, built on the old Strand stage with its entrance on 47th Street. I remember the Cine’s facade was elaborate grillwork in the New Orleans style, but I never went inside.
posted by saps on Mar 2, 2005 at 4:28pmâ€
As the CINERAMA TWIN this site played many x-rated films including edited version of hard-core films such as BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR.
The stock market crash in October of ‘29 and the ensuing Depression helped save a number of older Times Square theatres – particularly those on 42nd Street. With the advent of talkies having a tremendously adverse affect on the fortunes of legitimate theatrical productions (and with the newer and more comfortable houses built between 44th and 46th Street offering stiff competition for a dwindling audience), plans to redevelop several theatre sites on the block were underway before the crash wiped out any hopes to see those projects come to fruition.
Thanks, Warren. I surmised that might have been the case after posting the question.
The address on the ticket form is listed as 1585 Broadway (which is the address of the building that now stands on the site). The address listed above for the Strand is 1579 Broadway. Can anyone confirm if both addresses are valid? Was 1579 the actual theatre entrance address with 1585 serving as an alternative box-office address for mail-in purposes?
Here’s a vitage ad: The Warners' Theatre Now Accepting “Exodus” Reservations by Mail:
View link
If you scroll above, you’ll find that Warren has provided many such titles in past posts, memorably on 4 Jan ‘06 among others.
I can point to some of my own posts, too, on 29 Nov ‘05, 20 Oct '05, 28 Aug '05, 26 Aug '05, 23 Aug '05, and 26 March '05.
I thought I had also posted an account of my earliest visit to the Strand (4 Feb ‘49) on the opening day of “John Loves Mary,” with a guest appearance on stage of one of its leads, Jack Carson; another of its leads, Ronald Reagan, did not show up. The live review featured singer Marion Hutton, Robert Alda (known for his singing talent as well), the Emerald Sisters, Chris Cross and his Orchestra, George Mann, Beb Sweeney, and Dave (Tugwell) Willock.
From the center balcony, the performers seemed small and distracted to me, and the quality of the show not at all up to the pizzazz of the Paramount, the snaz of the Roxy, the showmanship of the Capitol, the splendor of Radio City Music Hall, or even the snap of Loew’s State in those days. Or perhaps it was me, at the age of seven, who was small and distracted.
Warren, please lighten up!
I was more specific:
“World premieres of famous 35 mm films at the Strand”
Sure, there might have been several hundred films showing on an exclusive basis at the Strand, for their 1st run. Not all had their World Premieres there. And, not as many are famous, still recalled and watched with great fondness today. A list could be edited down to 20 or 30 such films for the introduction. If there is such a list for the Strand, I’m willing to edit it down myself (though you and others have the real expertise).
People like on this website to recall where they first saw movies. For example, “Porgy and Bess” recently played again at the Ziegfeld. It was originally at this theater. Often, there’s too many comments for people to read them all, so people new or old to this site can quickly find some highlights in the Intro.
In providing the revision, I didn’t see the seating capacity of Cine Orleans.
Though there’s a website which lists 70mm films that played in New York, there isn’t one for 35mm films. World Premieres of famous 35mm films at the Strand would be interesting to add to the introduction.
For the record,the last 4 paragraphs in the Introduction above replaced this:
Again dropping stage shows in 1951, the Strand was renamed the Warner Theatre, and a few years later, when Cinerama films moved from the Broadway Theatre to the Warner, renamed the Warner Cinerama. During the 60s, the Warner was twinned, the Cinerama theater occupying the main floor, and the former balcony becoming the Penthouse Theatre. A third theater, built in the old Strand’s stagehouse, was also opened, called the Cine Orleans, which had its own entrance on 47th Street. In the early 80s, the Cinerama and Penthouse were remodeled and renamed the Warner Twin.
Unfortunately, in 1987, after a long and eventful life, one of the greatest movie palaces of New York City was demolished.
Included with the new Fox DVD of Irwin Allen’s dreadful version of “The Lost World” is a short Fox Movietone News segment showing the premiere of the movie at the Warner (AKA Strand) Theatre on July 13, 1960. It looks like an afternoon matinee attended mostly by kids and their moms. One of the film’s stars, David Hedison, is shown signing autographs. Only the outside of the theatre is shown in the newsreel, but you see a lot of what it looked like decked out for the premiere. If you were one of the kids there that day in 1960, you might want to get the DVD of “The Lost World” and try to spot yourself.
Here’s a vidcap from that Orleans commercial I posted about on September 4th.
Roloff, nice update on your Flickr photo.
Here’s a view of the Warner showing THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD in 1965, on a postcard plugging the new Cue sign on the top of the building: View link
There is also a quick shot of the Orleans Theatre with opening feature “For Love of Ivy” in the X Rated (at the time) “Fuego”.
This video on youtube is a collection of filmed advertisements (were these ever on TV?) for some “leisure spas” popular in NYC in the 1970’s. The last of these is for the Orleans Theater – which was the XXX pornhouse created out of the old backstage space of the Strand Theater. The ad plays up the Orleans' inexpensive (for porn) $2.49 price policy for its triple-bill fare.
An excerpt from Bosley Crowther’s New York Times' review of “Porgy and Bess,” which opened here on June 24, 1959 in a road show engagement:
“Considering the obvious essentials of colorfulness and vitality first, it is notable that Mr. Goldwyn has given this picture the strongest benefits of color photography and wide screen. The panel suffused with the action and the pungent atmosphere of the teeming quarters in old Charleston is the wide one of Todd-AO, a system that is almost as expansive and pictorially pervasive as that of Cinerama, which recently occupied this theatre’s screen. And the whole mise en scène of the production, designed by Oliver Smith, has a richness and subtlety of color that are a powerful dynamic in this ‘Porgy and Bess.’”
You have a point, Warren. They do look similar once the bridge was altered. If we can tie the New Strand to the Florence (Sun Sing in 1922) then we have confirmation that they were all one and the same.
I had been to both the upstairs and downstairs here several times in its last years. (I preferred the upstairs…so expansively raked and comfortable.) I wish I’d had enough sense to appreciate where I was, and that it wouldn’t last forever.
This NEW STRAND was open in 1924 under the Manhattan Bridge (78 East Broadway). Does anyone have any more info so they can list it on CT?
View link
The Strand was closed for 6 weeks in late 1934-early 1935 due to a fire. It re-opened on January 23, 1935.
Here’s the New York Times account:
1,000 at Reopening Ceremony.
The reopening of the Strand Theatre, closed since a fire six weeks ago, went off according to schedule at 9:30 o'clock yesterday morning. A crowd of about 1,000 persons waited outside until Aldermanic President Bernard S. Deutsch appeared, with a pair of shears and a few well-chosen remarks, to cut the tape across the theatre’s front and to pronounce it officially open.
Before the ceremony, Mr. Deutsch had been conducted through the remodeled theatre, invited to test its new orchestra and balcony seats and to inspect the improved sound and ventilating system. After cutting the tape, however, he was obliged to hurry off to the Municipal Building and was unable to wait for the picture. One of the theatre’s officials urged him to take the scissors along and use them on the city budget. Mr. Deutsch left without them.
Response to:
when i was at RKO Genieve R was manager of the main floor and Nick G. The penthouse….Nick told me the 2 of them were managers there for 4o years…..Nick g was also the manager of the orlean at the end of the theaterslife… I was ast mgr for them before going on to manager and then dm …
RKO took over Stanley Warner in the 1960’s. The completely renovated the Stanley Warner and made it into three theatres..Cinerama, Penthouse and Orleans. When RKO took them over, they brought me from the RKO Fordham where I was Asst. Mgr. and made me the Manager of the Cinerama. Nick C was the Manager of the old RKO 59th. St. and took him down to the Penthouse as the Manager. Genevieve R was the Assistant Manager when it was Stanley Warner and when we took them over Genevieve stayed on as my Assistant Manager. Sal P was brought in from another RKO and made the Manager of the Orleans. Mike Edelstein was the Division Manager. The Polon’s were running the company at that time.
I left RKO in the 70’s and Genevieve took my position and became the Manager of the Cinerama.
But RKO didn’t take over the Stanley Warner’s until the 1960’s.
You probably came into the picture later on.