Cinema 3
2 W. 59th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
2 W. 59th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 32 comments
opening article:
ridethectrain, the opening film was “PROVIDENCE” on January 25, 1977 and the opening ad is in the photo section in two parts.
Went to the theatre near the end of it run in 1992, saw Ruby and it did sell refreshments, the sad part this theatre was not equipped with Dolby Stereo. The sound system was MONO
“Heaven’s Gate” played for 7 days, then was replaced by “Apocalypse Now” as a re-release. This must of left the management scurrying to find a holiday replacement for one of the premiere theaters on the East Side.
Thank you both very much. It did not occur to me to look in the Open Theaters listings. Never considered that a possibility. At the time I was managing a theater in Atlanta and Heavens Gate was to be our big Christmas attraction. We finally did run the short version in the Spring. I found the Bach book much more entertaining than the movie, either version. Thanks again for those prompt replies.
“Heaven’s Gate” had it’s World Premiere at the CINEMA I. Now can be found under City Cinemas Cinema 1, 2 & 3.
Al and Ed: You two seem to be the go to members for questions regarding NYC theaters so I have a question for you. In his book “Final Cut” Steven Bach describes the World Premiere of Heavens Gate and mentions that it was held at Cinema 1. Or maybe Cinema 2. I can not find a listing for this theater on CT which means that it is probably listed under a different name.
Can either of you help me out with this question?
It closed in 1997.
I think this was in operation until the late 90s?
Wasn’t this way ahead of its time with the new breed of luxury seating reduced capacity theatres…all that was missing was at seat drink service
It was a unique kind of movie theatre. One film I remember seeing there was Prizzi’s Honor in 1985. Not many theaters like this one around in 2015
Saw A Wedding, Broadcast News, Moonlighting, Field of Dreams here A good old school upscale film going experience
NYC had this for 10-15 years while London had the Minema for nearly 30 in front of the Berkeley Hotel
The one fIlm I recall seeing here is ALL THAT JAZZ in 1979 or early 1980.
Hey! What happened to DEFG? I just noticed that all his photos are gone from the Photo directory and now it seems that his entire profile and all comments posted have completely vanished? That is a crying shame!
I was in this house more than once but can’t remember how many seats?
My father was a projectionist for this theater. I remember walking down the stairs leading a curved left and wandering inside the ticket booth to help out as a child or to take tickets. The place was very outdated, and had potato sack kind of seats in the waiting area. The theater itself was big and was amazed it was a hidden gem under the plaza. I miss climbing into the projection room, it was neat watching dad rewind the film and making splices when needed. I used to even help put in the film reels and start the movies. Those were the days. I remember when we got a concession stand finally I accidentally rang this guy up once as giving me 2000 dollars or was it the popcorn that cost that much, been years but that was funny. Or stuffing the pre-popped popcorn in the closet. The one thing that offed me was that we played tourist flicks, not like a regular cinema, I guess it was to maybe compete against the still open Paris. It’s a shame I really didn’t take much photos then, though I think I still have some tickets. Gotta find them and scan them in if the ink hasn’t faded yet but it was on those non-glossy tickets. I think I’m done going down memory lane. >_<
I only caught a few movies in this very nice setting. The one I do remember was seeing “Prizzi’s Honor” here over the President’s Day weekend – a few weeks before it was robbed of the Best Picture Oscar by the dreadful “Out of Africa” ……. Contrary to a comment posted above, I do not remember any problems with the theater’s sight lines. It seemed to be a fine place to take in a flick.
Thanks so much, DEFG. And thank you for all the great images you’ve been posting!
I would love to see a list of movies that played here, particularly in the ‘80’s. I know I saw at least a couple. Also, seems that enough verification has been provided over the years to correct the name to Cinema 3 (as opposed to Cinema III).
Closed in May 1997 after a run of “Waiting For Guffman”.
Get rid of the Roman numerals
The Cinema 3 opens:
View link
I saw Alain Resnais' ‘Providence’ here.
Cineplex Odeon did eventually put a small concession stand in here near the end but it was the only in the circuit without postmix soft drinks. The popcorn was popped at the Plaza and brought over. Donald Trump wanted to use the area as a club and would not renew the lease.
The Cinema 3 was a primary outlet for German films for a while but that didn’t last. Cineplex Odeon booked it as a last run move-over house.
Can you imagine showing The Jetsons with no concession stand, a lot of unhappy kids.
Never sold concessions as it was in there lease