Directors Guild of America Theater
110 W. 57th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
110 W. 57th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
15 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 84 comments
Hello-
if I am not mistaken after The Sound of Music finished its record 80? week roadshow engagement at the Rivoli didn’t it move here and on a continuous performance basis ran another 6 months?
Please update, City Cinemas closed the theaatre on May 4, 1995 with Exotica before the DGA eventually took it over.
When I lived in NYC it was a first run house. Films I saw there were Dressed To Kill, La Cage Au Folles 2.
if i am not mistaken this was always a 1st run theater. to which what was the last film to play here before the Directors Guild too kit over?
PDF of Jackie O and a photographer she knocked down while leaving the Rendezvous in 1969.
http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/White%20Assassination%20Clippings%20Folders/Kennedy%20Family%20Folders/Kennedy%20Jacqueline%20Bouvier/JBK-103.pdf
This was before its tv premiere.
I remember when “The Wizard of Oz” was shown in re-issue here in June of 1955. Theater was known as the Trans Lux Normandie then.
I saw the Talking Heads music film Stop Making Sense at this theatre when it was called 57th Street Playhouse
I don’t think the Festival was ever the Playboy. A December, 1975 NY Times Arts section shows “Jaws” playing at the Playboy (but no address given) and “The Magic Flute” playing at the Festival. Unless there was another Playboy theatre.
Ed Miller; There is a page for the New Century Theatre as the Central Park Theatre #7049. We would love you to post your photo on that page.
What a shame that there’s only one post per year here, recently. I came here, when I read it was being “renovated,” thinking that there would be some activity on the message boards, because I have a dilemma. I recently came across a photo of a Manhattan theater known as the New Century, located at 932 7th Avenue, between 58th and 59th. There’s no listing for it here on Cinema Treasures at all, and I’m mystified. I wanted to post the 1937 vintage photo that I found, but the theater doesn’t exist on this site.
Do they ever have screenings here open to the public?
Has the theater reopened?
I am currently reading the novel The Pawnbroker; the film adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Rod Steiger opened here at the Cinema Rendezvous (and at the Beekman and the RKO 23rd Street) on April 20, 1965.
Cinema Rendezvous Theater also screened Colossus: The Forbin Project on May 4th, 1970.
Oddly enough, the New York Times initially listed it as an Italian film with subtitles!
Sorry, A_Mclean, but the only Gimbels store I remember (besides the one near Herald Square) was the one in Green Acres Shopping Mall, in Valley Stream.
The place looks great
Here is an updated and working version of the DGA link I previously posted on April 25, 2011. From that page, one may now also take a 360 degree virtual tour of the auditorium as well as the projection booth.
A few mouse-clicks down into the DGA’s website is this photo gallery, which features excellent views of the theatre’s current interior. It appears that the first few rows from each orchestra section were removed in order to bring the screen wall forward (allowing for a wider sheet) and add a small platform stage. Apart from that, the layout of the theatre looks much as it does in the vintage photos Warren posted on May 22, 2008. Not sure when the red drapery was added.
I’m positive this is where I saw a brilliant new (at the time) 35mm print of Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove” in the mid 1980’s. The DGA’s page also includes information regarding the technical facilities, along with a diagram of the theatre. Click on the images to enlarge them.
Sadly, it appears that the 70mm projector’s have been removed. The technical specs skew towards all manner of digital presentation with only a passing mention of “35mm composite” capabilities. The DGA’s Los Angeles facilities (which appear to have been purpose-built) include both 35mm and 70mm capabilities.
In 1964 the Little Carnegie and the Cinema Rendezvous showed these two related films at a single price under the title “ANATOMY OF A MARRIAGE”. The experiment was not a success.
View link
The premiere attraction for the 1952 opening was Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, a film that has been drawing a lot of attention lately.
As some of the comments above have said, this theater was designed by architect William I. Hohauser. An article about the new Normandie, with three small photos, appeared in the March 8, 1952, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.
I have the DVD set of I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW) and (BLUE). They are really incredible timecapsules of the sixties.
View link
Cinema Rendezvous in 1969, courtesy of Warren
Renewing link.
On March 26, Swann Auction Galleries will be offering the original 1971 signage design for Playboy Theatre iteration of this house. An image can be seen at View link