Guild 50th Street Theater

33 W. 50th Street,
New York, NY 10020

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Showing 1 - 25 of 102 comments

Chelsearicky
Chelsearicky on March 9, 2024 at 9:02 pm

I loved this theater. When “My Fair Lady” ended its run at the Criterion it moved to the Guild for several more months. It was the first film I saw there and I remember being impressed with the sound.

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on August 30, 2023 at 6:16 pm

Please correct, theatre closed September 26, 1999, see article in photos section

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on July 4, 2021 at 5:20 pm

Theatre closed on September 30, 1999 with Runaway Bride. A few different ads in photos section.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on August 29, 2019 at 2:49 am

It was the sweetest sh!thouse in town…

robboehm
robboehm on August 29, 2019 at 2:40 am

Probably because it was part of Rockefeller Center.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on August 28, 2019 at 11:33 pm

Hello-

it certainly had one of the classiest most well appointed men’s rooms.

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on August 26, 2017 at 2:09 am

What sound systems did this theater use?

dged
dged on January 17, 2016 at 5:28 pm

The Guild premiered the now-classic Japanese film “Gate of Hell" in the 1950s. It played there for quite a long run, and its rich color photography was exhibited in full display on the Guild’s screen. It was also the theater where the Peter Sellers film “The Mouse that Roared” premiered. The Guild was a classic movie theater in the heart of Manhattan, which, like the Sutton, is now lost to time.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 30, 2014 at 5:05 am

I don’t see a link in any of the earlier comments to the January 7, 1939, Boxoffice article by Helen Kent about Rockefeller Centers then-new Newsreel Theatre.

Page one has photos of the exterior and the auditorium.

Page twohas photos of the lounge and Lobby.

gregj63
gregj63 on August 31, 2014 at 3:02 am

Good footage from 1989 of outside & inside this theater from Late Show with David Letterman. http://youtu.be/P8OnsEeZA-M

Mediatwin
Mediatwin on March 17, 2013 at 10:51 pm

Ah, the Guild 50th. My first trip to New York was in March 1993. And the first film I ever saw in the US was at the Guild – a showing of Disney’s Aladdin, still some 8 months before it opened in the UK.

KtheeA
KtheeA on November 15, 2012 at 11:21 pm

Does anyone happen to know or remember whether or not there were attendants in the restrooms of this theatre in the late 1960s?

Mark_L
Mark_L on September 5, 2012 at 7:14 pm

According to IMDB (and my memory) Brenda Starr opened at the Guild in April, 1992.

I was visiting NYC at the time, and saw BEAUTY AND THE BEAST on Saturday morning, the day before Easter. I recall that BRENDA STARR opened at the Guild on Easter Sunday, with the 70mm print of BATB moving to one of the Embassy 2-3-4 houses.

The NY Times review for BRENDA STARR was in the 4/18/92 edition and confirms it was running at the Guild.

That was a great NYC Theatre day for me…70mm Beauty And the Beast in the morning, 5 Guys Named Moe Broadway show matinee, and finished up with the Easter Show at Radio City…not a day I will ever forget.

SeaBassTian
SeaBassTian on September 5, 2012 at 5:24 am

I completely forgot about this venue. For some reason, I only came to this area when it was freezing cold? The last film I caught here was the infamous Brenda Starr in ‘89. Great marquee, at least they kept that intact.

Dolbysrd
Dolbysrd on August 3, 2012 at 5:28 am

Does anyone know anything about the old “News Reel Theater ” emblems which were round bronze colored spheres of the globe with a camera on a tripod overlayed on it? These were on the outside of the Guide theater and were rescued from the trash when the theater was closing.

Dolbysrd
Dolbysrd on August 3, 2012 at 5:24 am

My father worked there in the 70’s when they were running super simplex’s with magnarcs and had an old huge early b&w vidoe projector inbetween the projectors The theater had an awesome gold curtain with a screen wash and a very nice rake for the time. I remember cutting my projection teeth there showing films like Sounder and Harry and Tonto when I was just a kid.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on April 23, 2012 at 6:46 pm

I think the confusion comes from this NYT article.

[In 1949, Norman Elson, who was then the president of the competing Trans-Lux chain, took over the Newsreel theaters.

‘'That was just the beginning of TV,’‘ Peter Elson recalled, ’‘and he saw that newsreels were not much longer for the world.’‘ Norman Elson remodeled the theater and reopened it as the Guild.]

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on April 23, 2012 at 6:17 pm

The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists the Embassy (Rockerfeller Plaza) as being operated by The Newsreel Theaters, Inc.

robboehm
robboehm on November 8, 2011 at 1:27 pm

On those rare occasions when the Radio City Music Hall, largely unknown, subway box office was closed spent time on line by the Guild to go in thru the main entrance.

Gooper
Gooper on April 17, 2011 at 4:06 am

Under its original Newsreel name, the house is profiled in ‘The Exhibitor Catalogue 1940’, and features pictures of a doorman standing in front of the stainless steel doors, an ad showing ‘before and after’ pix of the marquee comparing its makeover, and in the auditorium, the most memorable feature was the carpeting, which had ‘unwinding reels’ in a Radio City Art Deco-type pattern. The lounges featured original bentwood furniture by the renowned Finnish architect/designer Alvar Aalto. All in all, a pretty restrained but elegant house, completely uniform with Rock Center.

Tom Brennan
Tom Brennan on June 28, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Does anyone have pictures of the interior of the Guild? I never had the chance to see a film there, but I was always curious as to what it might be like inside.

gd14lawn
gd14lawn on June 13, 2010 at 6:04 am

I attended this theater once when I was living in Queens. Couldn’t even tell you what I saw because I fell in love with the theater. What I rememeber most is that the auditorium opened into the concession area and they closed curtains at the back of the auditorium as the presentation started.

Kieranx
Kieranx on May 29, 2010 at 12:26 am

I went once when I first moved to the city, in 1988, to see a late run screening of “She’s Having a Baby,” on a Thursday night, last show. Between the empty theater and the desolate streets, it was like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and kind of scary for someone young and new to the city.

GaryCohen
GaryCohen on December 26, 2009 at 9:44 pm

I remember passing this theater often when one left Radio City or when we would go each Xmas season to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. It seemed that every holiday season they had a Disney film playing. After many years I got to go to this theater in about 1983 to see a Gene Hackman flick “Uncommon Valor.” The theater was much bigger than I expected. Now when I pass down this street each holiday season, I’m kind of saddened that its not there anymore showing the latest Disney animated film.

RCMH
RCMH on October 30, 2009 at 12:30 am

While Columbia University owned the land, their midtown campus was actually further east on Madison Avenue. Leasing the land to Rockefeller, Jr was a way to finally start making some money off property that was never developed to its full potential.