Regun Theater
60 W. 116th Street,
New York,
NY
10026
60 W. 116th Street,
New York,
NY
10026
2 people
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This may have been operating as the LENOX in 1968 advertised for “Coogan’s Bluff” in the NYT.
The Regun appears in a December 1922 ad for TESS OF THE STORM COUNTRY so it was no longer the Imperial by then.
Love those mnemonic devices they used for phone exchanges years ago. That sort of charm has been lost to antiquity. Thanks ken mc. Might not be necessary, but a fun tidbit nonetheless. Warren, please re-post a new link to the photo you originally posted on Feb 8th.
Listed in the 1960 Manhattan yellow pages. Phone number was Enrght 9-9878.
It could be Loews Broadway, but I have no way to check. You may be right on the porn theater. It could be a new aka for some older house in Brooklyn. Probably not one of the storefront porno places if it was part of a chain.
It’s a team effort.
I added the Sunset at the 125th Street address.
Sure thing, Rodney. “I told my wife I wanted her to talk to me during sex. She said OK. Next night, she called me from a motel”. Ba dum bum.
Thanks. I see that you mentioned the San Juan aka back in April 2005, but it wasn’t added as an aka. You also mentioned the Beverly Hills as an aka for the Audubon.
It seems like we have an exhaustive list of theaters in NYC and Brooklyn. However, I looked for the other four theaters in the Harris chain on CT and didn’t see any of them under their current or former names. I saw a Sunset Theater in Brooklyn but not NYC. There was also the Loew’s Broadway in NYC, but I wasn’t sure if that was the one that Harris was running in 1967. I’m not familiar with NY theaters, so if someone could fill me in I would appreciate it.
My 1967 FDY has the following listing:
Harris Theaters (Agent)
251 W. 86th Street, NYC
Harry A. Harris, General Manager
Theaters (5): New York – Regun, San Juan, Sunset. Brooklyn – Amor, Broadway. If this is accurate, the Regun was still open as late as 1967.
Hilarious, Lost. Thanks for the laugh!
Sorry, here is the correct link to the above:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/532355979/
A photograph I took of the former (much altered) Regun Theatre building in July 2003:
http://flckr.com/photos/kencta/532355979/
The 1914-1915 edition of American Motion Picture Directory has a Grant Theatre, 11 W. 116th Street. The 1926 edition of Film Daily Yearbook has the 800 seat Jewel Theatre listed at #11. By 1930 the seating capacity is listed as 751 and by 1941 seating is listed as 700. Then back up to 751 seats between 1943 and 1950. The Jewel Theatre has gone from listings by 1957.
Nothing is listed for 9 W. 116th Street so the ‘Grand’ you found must be the ‘Grant’ of 1914-1915 vintage (although that could be a mis-print).
Incidently, checking the 1914-1915 A.M.P.D. more closely I notice that the Imperial Theatre is also listed as the Regan Theatre(their spelling) at this same address, so that must have been the period of name change.
The building located at 60-62 West 116th Street that houses the Regun Theater still stands today – albeit completely gutted and altered for retail space – and is listed with a build-date of 1913.
Here is a local.live.com view of the block, looking towards the north side of the street. The building is on the south side just to the left of that structure with the rainbow colored roof. You can’t really get a good image of the 116th Street facade because the mid-rise apartment building across the street blocks the view.
The NYC Buildings Dept site has a C of O issued July 25, 1917, that lists an “existing theater” on the 1st floor and mezzanine and a “roof garden” with occupancy not to exceed 950 persons “at one time in the entire building.” The building’s owners are listed as Jacob Feuchtwanger and Jesse Ehrich of 31 Liberty Street.
There are numerous alterations noted (but not available for view) throughout the 1910’s and into the 1940’s as well as a number of “unsafe building” reports over the decades. The next available C of O is from 1986 for a Retail Store on the 1st floor with an accessory office in the mezzanine. In 1998, the retail store was carved up into three commercial units – it seems multiplexing caught up with the Regun after all those years anyway! The building today cuts all the way through the block, with frontage on 115th Street. Not sure if that’s the original configuration or if the building was extended over time. That sure would have made for a long and narrow auditorium!
The Imperial Theater is listed as operating in the 1914-1915 edition of American Motion Picture Directory. By the time the 1926 edition of Film Daily Yearbook was published it had been re-named Regun Theater, with a seating capacity given as 1,000.
Still listed as open in 1950 (with 867 seats), it has gone from listings in 1957.