Embassy 72nd Street Twin 1 and 2
2089 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10023
2089 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10023
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 28 comments
no.
Was this the paradise twin from Seinfeld it is close to amc’s 84th street sixplex which was used in the film
Please update, became a twin on February 6, 1981 with Embassy 1 with 315 seats and Embassy 2 with 288 seats. Closed August 28, 1988 with Big and Bull Durham
I remember this place being something of a pit, but it was very close to where I used to work at Tower Records, so I would see films here from time to time. The only two I can recall were Bull Durham and Big Business. I’d much rather go to the 84th street sixplex.
Pre-twin photo can be seen halfway down this scroll of photos.
http://www.vintag.es/2015/02/50-amazing-color-photographs-of-new.html
I remember coming here every Friday afternoon with my mother in the early 50’s to watch newsreels and WB cartoons (my favorite).
Renewing link.
As a twin.
View link
Renewing link.
Oh, and this theater tended to play Henry Jaglom’s films.
Not a fancy theater in its twinned era, but I remember the popcorn being fresher and better than at many other sites.
No. I was wondering whether there was considered to be a best general site for info on something going on with a number of movie houses at one time, or if movie houses don’t appear to the untutored eye to have their own movie house site at CT, where is the preferred site to share for every readers' best interest. Meantime, I did post on specific theater sites after all. Some ad content was more historically interesting than others but one never knows what is going to be interesting to the reader (the Stanley was the most informative in content to me). Some of the movie houses mentioned above I did not find on the CT index, but may be listed under another name, don’t know. For example, I did not find all, or even probably the main Embassys, then the Roxy, Brandt’s Apollo, and I think, World were movie houses I did not find in the CT index.
I have a copy of the NYC edition of the Daily Worker of May 10, 1946. In it are some movie ads, evidently for theaters that would advertise in the NYC Communist Party paper at that time.
One of the ads is for Embassy Newsreel Theatres. The feature newsreels were “Alcatraz Riot” (which riot indeed occurred from the end of ‘45 well into '46) and “Kentucky Derby.” It lists several addresses for multiple Embassy Newsreel Theatres: 42nd St. & Park Ave. (Airlines Terminal), 46th St. & Broadway – 72nd St. & B'way, 50th St. – Radio City – Broad St., Newark (That is the way it is typeset – in one line.)
To Warren (who seems to be a pretty knowledgeable person related to movie theaters and publications on them (I think of them as churches of a sort), or anyone else:
Wondering if there are any quick clues of other sites at CT at which to share the following movie theater ads with their features (I am not knowledgeable enough about NYC to know):
Irving Place at East 14th St., Stanley (7th Ave. bet 42 and 41 Sts) Roxy (7th Ave. & 50th St.), Academy of Music (128 E. 14), Brandt’s Apollo 42 St., Paramount Times Square, World 49th St., RKO Jefferson, 14 St. & 3rd Ave. and the Brooklyn Paramount.
I have not yet checked out all of these theaters in the CT index; just wondering if anyone would recommend shortcut best place(s)? (There are some plays advertised too) Thanks.
This theater had a one-size fits-all screen. CinemaScope films were shown unsqueezed rather than cropped. I remember seeing Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole at their most emaciated in “How To Steal A Million.”
Yup, the entrance was on the west side of Bway btwn 72 & 73 Sts.
I lived in NYC from 76-83 and do not remember this theater. Was it right on 72 and broadway?
I remember seeing Yellow Submarine there on a double bill with 10 Rillington Place. Saw Summer of ‘42 there as well and remember leaving in a trance. Just before the theater closed I took my video camera and shot the outside, inside and downstairs. Still have the video.
I believe that “Fifty Years Before Your Eyes” was released in summer, 1950. It was a wonderful compilation that constituted as much a history of the movies as of the first half of the now-completed century. I remember seeing it on a double-bill with Jacques Tourneur’s (and Burt Lancaster’s) equally wonderful “Flame and the Arrow” when visiting one of my aunts in Boston at the time. Both of those films pumped me up to such an extent that I drove my family crazy for the rest of the visit. Did “Fifty Years” open in NYC at the Embassy-72? My vague memory summons up images of the Globe in the NY newspapers.
I saw Bill Sherwood’s sole film, the gay-themed Parting Glances, here in February of 1986. He died of AIDS in 1990.
I remember patronizing the Embassy in the 1980s and seeing a film called “The First Time” there as well as that film Robert Altman directed that starred Philip Baker Hall as Nixon. It was a one-person show. I think it was called “Secret Honor.” I remember art house fare screening there.
The Cinema Studio is on this site, Erik, but not under the name you’d expect; it’s listed as Studio Cinemas – see /theaters/6498/
Peter Elson has instituted a discount admission system at the Metro Twin as well, with the Metro Pass, in denominations of $60 for 10 admissions or $100 for 20 admissions. I imagine, given the high cost of moviegoing (and everything else) in this city, they’re selling at a good pace.
One of the above posts mentions the Cinema Studio twin, which was a major art house presence on the Upper West Side during the 70s and 80s. Surprising that the Cinema Studio isn’t listed on this site yet. I would add it as an entry, but don’t know too many specifics about the theater, other than it was torn down in the late 80s/early 90s for the condo building at Broadway and 67th that has a Barnes & Noble (among other stores) on the ground floor.
…and lets not forget the turnstile at the lobby entrance, adding to the subway atmosphere….
dave-bronx
You are so right, I was shocked when I entered this theatre. For such a great area Elson never spent a dime on it. Was anyone ever in it as a Trans-Lux house?