Ritz Theatre
1014 E. 180th Street,
Bronx,
NY
10460
1014 E. 180th Street,
Bronx,
NY
10460
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The Theatre Historical Society says that the Ritz Theatre had a 2 manual, 5 rank Wurlizter organ, opus 606, installed in November, 1922. The announcement of the theater’s impending construction had been made a year earlier, with plans being prepared by the firm of Margon & Glaser. The Ritz closed on December 3, 1950.
As of 1948 it showed third run or lower double features and gave away dishes on Tuesdays(?) and had 18cent matinees with 10 cartoons and 3 serials or shorts and two movies. It had a children’s section with a matron, and kids as young as 8 could go unescorted. A valuable side effect of the theatres low status – unaffiliated with RKO or Loews or any chain – was that it showed older movies that had been out of circulation for a few years… for example, in the late 40s it played Destry Rides Again and Stairway to Heaven. So all, unknowing, we got introduced to some classics there.