Although not a part of the urban renewal that led to the construction of Lincoln Center (West 60 to West 66 Streets), it was a popular local theater when I was growing up on West 65 Street in the 1940s and 1950s. It was only a two-block walk to Broadway and 67 Street and always showed older films (never first-fun in those days). In the 1970s I recall being delighted when my daughter, then a student at Parsons School of Design, rediscovered the movie house of my childhood.
I remember the A&P, I think it was on the far side (what would have been Columbus Avenue). My mother and I used to walk there to do our grocery shopping. And,PKoch, your girlfriend had good taste. That coffee is still sold in supermarkets.
Thanks for the picture of the Regency. Of course, when I was growing up (before Lincoln Center) this moviehouse was called the Alden, and never showed first-run films, it always featured old movies, which I loved, still do!
Every December 8th (a Catholic holiday and my children had no school), I would take my young son and daughter to the Music Hall, stand on line in the often freezing weather, to give them the experience of a lifetime, the Christmas show. I did this throughout the 1960s and to this day my children share those memories with their children.
The movie theaters of yesteryear were truly glorious palaces, as important to us as the great palaces across the seas.
John Keating, your post brings back memories. I also saw Love Me or Leave Me at the Music Hall in May of 1953. The stage show was Ravel’s Bolero. I remember the it as if it were yesterday. Thanks for the memory!
Before and during WWII, the Studio was called, the Arcade. (I grew up on West 65th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway.) The theater burned down and was rebuilt as the Studio. (The theater was between 65th and 64th Streets on Broadway.)
Talk about movie memories, who can forget Gale Sondergaard as the one, the only, Spider Woman …
Old moviehouses like the Alden/Regency were major focal points of old neighborhoods. That’s one of the reasons I’m so happy to have found this wonderful Web site.
I must confess … (remember, I was very young) I was a major Abbot and Costello fan. To redeem myself, it was at the Alden that I first saw Casablanca and fell in love with love and Bogie. Just about every movie that you see on Turner Classic Movie, I saw at the Alden. I became a lifelong fan of Nick and Nora Charles at the Alden, and, in fact, watch and rewatch their movies with as much enjoyment as the first time I watched Nick mix his morning martini.
The West Side of the mid-1940s was quite different from the West Side of the mid-1950s, when I became a teenager. In the earlier decade, life was less complicated, doors were unlocked, Central Park (two blocks from our apartment) was my playground. The neighborhood of my childhood was nothing like West Side Story. In the late-1950s, however, there were many changes. Many of our neighbors left the city neighborhoods for the suburbs. G.I.loans made it easier for low-income families to buy their own homes (many for the first time). With the coming of Lincoln Center, families were forced out, leaving the neighborhood with less of a family orientation. Crime became a way of life for too many West Siders and led to the demise of the neighorhood of my childhood. But the city is always evolving and each generation finds itself part of a love affair with the sounds and sights of this great city.
I grew up on West 65 Street and often went to the Regency (it was called the Alden then). It wasn’t a first-run theater at that time (the 1940s and 1950s) and I learned to love the films of earlier eras on the screen of this wonderful neighborhood moviehouse.
Although not a part of the urban renewal that led to the construction of Lincoln Center (West 60 to West 66 Streets), it was a popular local theater when I was growing up on West 65 Street in the 1940s and 1950s. It was only a two-block walk to Broadway and 67 Street and always showed older films (never first-fun in those days). In the 1970s I recall being delighted when my daughter, then a student at Parsons School of Design, rediscovered the movie house of my childhood.
I remember the A&P, I think it was on the far side (what would have been Columbus Avenue). My mother and I used to walk there to do our grocery shopping. And,PKoch, your girlfriend had good taste. That coffee is still sold in supermarkets.
Thanks for the picture of the Regency. Of course, when I was growing up (before Lincoln Center) this moviehouse was called the Alden, and never showed first-run films, it always featured old movies, which I loved, still do!
Every December 8th (a Catholic holiday and my children had no school), I would take my young son and daughter to the Music Hall, stand on line in the often freezing weather, to give them the experience of a lifetime, the Christmas show. I did this throughout the 1960s and to this day my children share those memories with their children.
The movie theaters of yesteryear were truly glorious palaces, as important to us as the great palaces across the seas.
oops, sorry, John, my husband (who was my date back then) reminds me that the year was 1955.
John Keating, your post brings back memories. I also saw Love Me or Leave Me at the Music Hall in May of 1953. The stage show was Ravel’s Bolero. I remember the it as if it were yesterday. Thanks for the memory!
Before and during WWII, the Studio was called, the Arcade. (I grew up on West 65th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway.) The theater burned down and was rebuilt as the Studio. (The theater was between 65th and 64th Streets on Broadway.)
Talk about movie memories, who can forget Gale Sondergaard as the one, the only, Spider Woman …
Old moviehouses like the Alden/Regency were major focal points of old neighborhoods. That’s one of the reasons I’m so happy to have found this wonderful Web site.
You’re absolutely right! That’s a favorite of mine, as well. I like the innocent, sweetness of Lou Costello’s character.
Good one, Peter.
I must confess … (remember, I was very young) I was a major Abbot and Costello fan. To redeem myself, it was at the Alden that I first saw Casablanca and fell in love with love and Bogie. Just about every movie that you see on Turner Classic Movie, I saw at the Alden. I became a lifelong fan of Nick and Nora Charles at the Alden, and, in fact, watch and rewatch their movies with as much enjoyment as the first time I watched Nick mix his morning martini.
The West Side of the mid-1940s was quite different from the West Side of the mid-1950s, when I became a teenager. In the earlier decade, life was less complicated, doors were unlocked, Central Park (two blocks from our apartment) was my playground. The neighborhood of my childhood was nothing like West Side Story. In the late-1950s, however, there were many changes. Many of our neighbors left the city neighborhoods for the suburbs. G.I.loans made it easier for low-income families to buy their own homes (many for the first time). With the coming of Lincoln Center, families were forced out, leaving the neighborhood with less of a family orientation. Crime became a way of life for too many West Siders and led to the demise of the neighorhood of my childhood. But the city is always evolving and each generation finds itself part of a love affair with the sounds and sights of this great city.
I grew up on West 65 Street and often went to the Regency (it was called the Alden then). It wasn’t a first-run theater at that time (the 1940s and 1950s) and I learned to love the films of earlier eras on the screen of this wonderful neighborhood moviehouse.