Re: Gustavelifting: Thank you very much. I think I`ll be there by 2006. In the meantime, I hope not a single one more movie theater will be closed!
The Glunch minimovie is touching. Great drawings!
Ken; it’s my pleasure. My english is so-so at best, but I’ll try hard to post comments as clear and readable as is possible. Besides, I have some photos, only I don’t know how to post them. I’m currently living in Guadalajara, Jalisco (out of Mexico City for now), and here there are some great movie theaters too, unfortunately all of them closed. I’ll keep posting.
Alfa-Omega is a rather unremarkable theatre that has been closed for more than 10 years because of a strike.
A very plain motif adorns the slightly concave façade, consisting in vertical concrete strips, wider to the sides, narrower to the center. Below this, a flat marquee divided in two served to announce the films: familiar in the Alfa, adult in the Omega.
The building appears to be sound as of 2005, if very weathered.
Rather than being catalogued either as an art moderne or art deco building, the outside was rendered in some sort of neocolonial styling, tiles and all, while the interior was rather “neo-rococo”, if such a thing exists. Large gold flourishes circled the screen and covered the walls and the ceiling in the auditorium. This was in one level: no balcony here.
The lobby area was treated to the same kind of decoration.
All this was discarded when in the late 70’s a remodelation left the auditorium bereft of visual interest, painted white with some vertical wood strips adorning the walls. The lobby was transformed into a very theatrical place, lined with large mirrors and posters of the famous. The name was changed to “Bella Epoca”.
The Lido/Bella Epoca closed in the early nineties, and remained abandoned until very recently, when it has been converted to a library, so the building is alive and well.
Hey, in México city there is another Chinese: the ‘Palacio Chino’, but it looks very different indeed.
Let’s continue with descriptions of the Orfeon’s look. The façade was broad and tall, its main feature being a big two-storie bellows-shaped window, slightly swelled in the middle. Below this, a rather unadorned marquee with dark background and white lighted letters announced the films. Above the window stood the theater’s name, in big Art Deco letters. The rest of this façade was rather bereft of decoration, with a row of small rectangular windows at the top, and vertical recessed strips at each side, containing round windows. These were intended to give illumination to the emergency stairs. All in all, a very pure Art Deco façade.
The interior was highlighted by a design in a pattern of superimposed arches, lighted at the edges. The smaller arch framed the screen, while the biggest reached the middle of the orchestra level. This design was not unlike the one found in the Radio City
Music Hall interior, but it was applied only around the screen area.
The rest of the spacious auditorium was adorned by means of a series of lighted columns, angled at the top as they touched the roof.
There were three levels in the cavernous interior. In México, the orchestra or lower level was known as ‘lunetario’, the seats named ‘lunetas’. The first balcony was named ‘anfiteatro’, while the second balcony was named ‘galeria’. A series of boxes sprouted from the first balcony, all the way toward the screen arches.
Incidentally, there was a separated entry for the galeria, with cheaper tickets, but people in the galeria were not allowed to enjoy the vestibule or foyer facilities.
Re: Gustavelifting: Thank you very much. I think I`ll be there by 2006. In the meantime, I hope not a single one more movie theater will be closed!
The Glunch minimovie is touching. Great drawings!
Ken; it’s my pleasure. My english is so-so at best, but I’ll try hard to post comments as clear and readable as is possible. Besides, I have some photos, only I don’t know how to post them. I’m currently living in Guadalajara, Jalisco (out of Mexico City for now), and here there are some great movie theaters too, unfortunately all of them closed. I’ll keep posting.
The above statements are absolutely correct. From the outside, the Metropolitan presents one of the biggest movie theatre façades found in México, if very plain and unadorned. The façade’s big size is due to the fact the building was constructed parallel to the street, thus having one of the longest marquees, this one adorned with the then important buildings in México City. Because of this, a fairly long queue was protected from the elements while waiting to enter. Once inside, one was stunned with the grand decoration. To the right of an spacious lobby, there is a big marble mantel adorned with a clock. Above it a big painting is hung. To each side of the mantel begins a paired staircase, reaches certain height and then curves around to reach the foyer. This area is lined with mirrors, and fine furniture is placed here and there: chairs and tables, the last adorned with bronze statues. All is lighted by means of elegant chandeliers; marble balustrades abound inside.
The auditorium has two levels, and both orchestra and balcony were slightly modified in order to maintain excellent views as the stage was enlarged. The renovation respected the Mendoza decoration, wich consists of a quartet of ornate columns to each side, framing white statues depicting nimphs. A very ornate plasterwork adorns emergency doors to each side of the auditorium. The style is neoclassic, done in subdued browns and gold.
Alfa-Omega is a rather unremarkable theatre that has been closed for more than 10 years because of a strike.
A very plain motif adorns the slightly concave façade, consisting in vertical concrete strips, wider to the sides, narrower to the center. Below this, a flat marquee divided in two served to announce the films: familiar in the Alfa, adult in the Omega.
The building appears to be sound as of 2005, if very weathered.
Since the showing of “Beauty and the Beast”, the Orfeon has been, apparently, abandoned again. It’s strange, because a lot of money was spent in the OCESA restoration. Perhaps is the fear of a structure failure, because the Orfeon is in a place where earthquakes have left their toll. The Orfeon was a very heavy building (it had three levels when opened, now has only two, and the roof was lowered many years ago); so heavy, in fact, that is actually sunk in the ground: the Luis Moya street shows a noticeable dip as it crosses in front of this building. Anyway it is not used any more (the theater, I mean). Next to this movie theater is another one, also closed: Alfa-Omega, previously known as “Pathé”.
Re: GabeDF. Speaking about size in theaters(a rather delicate issue, and not intending to be too chauvinistic about)here in México we had two or three buildings actually larger than the Maximo: The Colonial had more than 5000 seats, the Orfeon opened with more than 6000 seats, and then there was the Florida, the largest one with 7500(some more than the Radio City Music Hall) The Florida was rather narrow but very long: probably more than 300 feet. I realize that wasn’t actually a “Movie Palace” (it’s difficult to compare mexican movie theaters to the great american ones), but was a very imposing building in its own right. Unfortunately the Florida was demolished many years ago after a fire.
And now, about the Stanley, it’s impossible to open the above posted links.
Speaking about the Stanley, it’s impossible to open the above link.
I doubt if I’m the only one person in Mexico actually posting in Cinema Treasures; it seems that nobody else is writing. In any case, seems to me that either nobody reads in english, or nobody knows how to write, so the theater fans in México (they should exist, aren’t they?) are out of this excellent site. That’s a pity, anyway.
Regarding Teatro Roble, I remember seeing such jewels as Fellini’s “Amarcord”, Polansky’s “The Tenant”, Visconti’s “Ludwig”, and many more great movies in the “Muestra”. There were one hour queues prior to entering, sometimes in the rain.
The very recent tragedy of the Beekman closure, in NY, reminds me of the ever present threat to old movie houses still extant, the few they are. In México one of the recurrent reasons to close movie theaters are the earthquakes. In 1985 alone (the worst earthquake in years), there was enough damage done to these buildings so as to have the real need to demolish: Eden, Alameda, Trans Lux Prado, Regis, Internacional, Morelia. The Regis actually fell down and caught fire. The Roble was damaged in an earlier earthquake: the actual damage was that both the theatre and the office building collided together (although they were side by side, they were constructed as different buildings).
Authentic Disaster. It’s probably 20 years now that I last visited New york, and never went to the Beekman. But here in Guadalajara, México, there are theater “deaths” as unfortunate as this, one each year. Recently one rather smallish and not too ineresting building was razed: named “Reforma”, a parking lot is in its place. In México City, another landmark by the name of “Arcadia” (incidentally had more or less the same age as the Beekman)has been recently demolished.
I realize that your Beekman was both interesting as a building, historically relevant, and a good place to watch excellent movies, unlike other poor movie houses doing porno in order to survive.
The big Teatro Roble was constructed behind a tall (by México standards) office building, known by the same name. This building was moderne in styling, whereas the cinema interior was rendered in neo-classical style, chock-full of balustrades and columns and chandeliers. There were hughe plaster statues of Mars, the war god, and Diana, the huntress, to each side of the auditorium. The decoration was painted light grey and white, with burgundy stalls and curtain. There were three levels, that is, two balconies in the spacious interior.
The Roble was home to the “Muestra Internacional de Cine”, year to year, until the 1979 earthquake damaged it badly. It stood abandoned for some five years, and was finally demolished.
Incidentally the “Muestra” moved then to the Internacional Cinema, also a very big one-level theatre, seating more than 4000 patrons.
Then, the devastating 1985 earthquake also destroyed the Internacional, so the Muestra moved once more.
Rather than being catalogued either as an art moderne or art deco building, the outside was rendered in some sort of neocolonial styling, tiles and all, while the interior was rather “neo-rococo”, if such a thing exists. Large gold flourishes circled the screen and covered the walls and the ceiling in the auditorium. This was in one level: no balcony here.
The lobby area was treated to the same kind of decoration.
All this was discarded when in the late 70’s a remodelation left the auditorium bereft of visual interest, painted white with some vertical wood strips adorning the walls. The lobby was transformed into a very theatrical place, lined with large mirrors and posters of the famous. The name was changed to “Bella Epoca”.
The Lido/Bella Epoca closed in the early nineties, and remained abandoned until very recently, when it has been converted to a library, so the building is alive and well.