PFS East
127 Sansom Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19106
127 Sansom Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19106
11 people
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Has anyone been recently? Does anyone know how they assigned theater numbers here? . Is the theater to the right as you walk in,the theater with raised,tiered,semi stadium seating theater 1 or 2? Thank you.
What wonderful news.
According to the PFS Philadelphia Film Festival 2022 website, PFS has acquired the former Ritz East.
This really was imo the best of the Ritz’s. Stadium seating,the theater on the right as you entered, was perfect . Was never in the theater to the left when it was Ritz East.
Perhaps the Philadelphia Film Society will take over the lease.
Also,the phone # is no longer in service. What a shame,this was nicest of the Ritz theaters.
It’s no longer listed on the Landmark site. Only the Ritz Five is listed.
After reopening Sept 10, 2021 from the March 2020 Covid shutdown, the Ritz East closed again October 10, 2021, its fate uncertain!
Am I crazy or confused…but is the screen larger in the smaller auditorium #2 ?
The best theater of the Philadelphia Landmark theaters, the staff are great and some of them remember you. The screens and the sound are top notch and on occasion, the manager will greet you before the film starts. I go out of my way to attend a film there *****
June 26th, 1981 grand opening ad as Olde City Cinema 1 & 2 in the photo section.
ALPS: Any idea what type of digital projection was installed? Hope it was 4K…
Sept 8th, Ritz East manager told the moviegoers at “Moonrise Kingdom”, that this was the last week for 35mm projection at their theaters. She said she regrets the change but their projectors were very old. Paul Thomas Anderson “The Master”, will be shown in 70mm in NYC. The Ritz 5 will show it here.
The Ritz Bourse reopened after being closed for a few weeks for installation of new air conditioning system.
The best of the Ritz Theaters in Philadelphia. I love the digital projection, the consessions. the location. The Ritz 5 needs to close down and remodel, it is the worse of there muliplexes. According to the recent issue of Film Comment, Landmark, their owner, had done very well profitwise.
The auditorium to the right is larger. Irvin Glazer’s hardback book “Philadelphia Theatres A-Z” states each auditorium had 450 seats each. That might have been then true for the auditorium to the right.
I began attending in April 1988, and my notes indicate 421 seats for the larger auditorium, the one on the right.
An article on 12-14-1998 stated that the AMC Old City 2 had closed, one year ahead of its lease term, but would reopen in the spring as
the Ritz East, and had a total of 750 seats.
In 2001, I estimated 300 seats for the Ritz East auditorium on the right, which was then stadium seated, and a 30 to 35 feet wide scope screen.
And more importantly, or at least I feel, is that it will be the FIRST — yes, you read that right, FIRST — time any movie theaters directly IN Philadelphia will have digital projection. Or at least this according to the Philadelphia Inquirer for Sat., March 31, 2007: View link
And let’s hope the Philadelphia Inquirer is telling it straight this time. For if it is true I compare this to the Berlin Wall finally coming down or something. Yet Landmark is saying — at least according to that article — that at least two of the Ritz Theatre auditoriums will get digital projection.
And if so, can democracy be very far behind?
As of 3/30/2007, the Ritz Theatres in Center City Philadelphia (Ritz 5, Ritz Bourse, and Ritz East) are now offically owned by Landmark Theatres
This and the two other Center City Philadelphia Ritz Theatres are being acquired by indy chain Landmark Theatres, but not the one in Voorhees, New Jersey. The full story can be read at the following Philadelphia Inquirer link:
View link
Have many fond (and many not so fond) memories of working at the East in 2001. We didn’t get much foot traffic, being off on our on at the middle of the block, but we held our own. Ritz did a nice job remodeling, but didn’t replace the glass front doors. Looked at in the right light, the AMC logo was still visible. First show I saw there was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and worked there for about 9 months in 2002. Can remember every film I saw at each of the four theatres. I’ve since moved from the city and miss picking up my Filmbill every month!
More information about the Ritz Theatre chain (the three in Phila. and the one NJ location) can be found at http://www.ritzfilmbill.com