Globe Theater
640 Pelham Parkway S,
Bronx,
NY
10462
640 Pelham Parkway S,
Bronx,
NY
10462
4 people
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The space is occupied once again, this time by a different supermarket.
I passed by today and saw that the former theatre is available for lease. The furniture store is no longer there.
Though I was very young, I remember the excitement I felt when this theater was being built and opened. I seem to recall that the first film screened at the Globe was The Spiral Staircase. Is this correct?
I think your grandmother might be thinking about the Pelham theater—-which was actually on White Plains Road, about a block and a half from the Globe.
JerryinSCT (& RobertEndres & markp) – I’m so happy to see your comments. I am trying to find a location that is dear to my family — my grandparents started an ice cream store in 1946 “on White Plains Road,” and sold cones for one year before moving back to Buffalo (the business is still running!). Unfortunately, my dear grandmother only remembers that there was a cinema next door…and White Plains is a pretty large thoroughfare. Does a Swedish-run ice cream store sound familiar to your memory of working at this theater?
Thank you for your help!
RobertEndres and markp,
Are either of you based in Pelham Parkway today? I’m a journalism doing a story on the Globe and would love the chance to speak with both/either of you. I write for Filmmaker Magazine and am currently a Graduate student at the Columbia School of Journalism. If you are interested, please email me at .
RobertEndres,
Was your projectionist local the branch based out of Mount Vernon and operated Bobby Dente back then?? That local controlled Westchester County, NY. Still cannot believe it was somehow dissolved during the advent of multiplexes.
RobertEndres, I worked for the same owner of this theatre when it was an adult theatre. I worked for the Sayrewoods Theatre in Old Bridge NJ, which had Century projectors and Peerless arc lamps, till we went xenon in 1985. We too were always paid cash, and I remember getting a lot of my prints from the Globe after they ran them. Always covered with oil. I worked part time for 12 years in my theatre, from 1978 till 1990 when it was demolished for a highway project
I clicked on the picture of the Globe this morning and realized I had worked there as a relief projectionist for a week or two in it’s porno days. The business agent of our local needed someone to work and actually picked me up off a picket line (in front of another porno theatre in Manhattan) and drove me to the Globe. I was hesitant to take the job since I had never officially worked in the Bronx, but was assured it “was a nice Jewish neighborhood.” It was, but getting there on the subway through the South Bronx was like going through Dresden after the firebombing during WWII. As with most porno theatres I was paid cash when I started. The booth still had carbon arc lamps and was equipped as were most neighborhood theatres in those days with Simplex X-Ls and Peerless lamps. I did go down to the auditorium one day when I arrived early and it was being cleaned. The exit doors were open admitting light and the auditorium was typical of the “nabes” of it’s time. I’d almost forgotten I worked there until I saw the picture above.
Here is another one…the Globe Theater, Pelham Parkway, the Bronx, NY….was a porno theatre at the end of its run.
There is a photo of the theater as furniture store here:
http://tinyurl.com/6hp947
In the late 40’s, i believe the Globe was part of the BRANDT THEATER’s group, which owned a string of “second-run” movie houses around the city.
In 1970, the Globe was part of a small chain called the Endicott Circuit, which had theaters in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Dobbs Ferry, Yonkers and Hastings-on-Hudson. Endicott’s headquarters was 289 9th Street, Brooklyn. President was William Namenson.
In 1946 I inherited Richard’s job of Marquee Changer, 3x/week. It paid $1/night + wkend passes for my parents (the best part!). The following yr I became an usher. Mgnt sent me to a uniform co in Times Sq to outfit me as an usher; + an overcoat making me the “Barker”.
Back then theaters played double features and people would come & go in the middle of a film. On Sat nite & Sundays, when it was busy, I’d be outside working the lines and announce the wait time for seats, the time & length of each movie, etc. After the rush period, I would thaw out & work with the other ushers. After seeing Jolson Story many times, after punching out,we ushers would change out of uniform, hang out in the proj booth and pantomine along with Jolson onscreen.
Furniture store here got a new owner and took the “GLOBE” lettering off the marquee. Damn shame. Interior is still the same as far as I can tell.
The first ushers at the Globe were Normie, Arnie, Jerry and myself…it was a fun job! In 1946 we showed The Jolson Story to standing room only audiences…growing up in the Bronx and working at the Globe was a gift!
Richard
The first ushers were Normie, Arnie, Jerry and Richard…we were 16 years old in 1946 when we worked there…It was a fun job…and here it is 60 years later but the memories are still there for all of us.
We showed the Jolson Story 1n 1946…to standing room only audiences…Movies were popular then and growing up in the Bronx was a gift!!
Richard
Joe Masher is right the theater never had a balcony. The theater is now a furniture store and still looks very much the same. The lobby wall with small guard rail is still intact. The walls haven’t changed much and the old stage has furniture on it. Everything is painted white and all lit up (it was a real treat for me because I have never seen it this way) The store owner said the downstairs is storage and I was unable to see it, This is where the bathrooms were and a small screening room (it’s original perpose is unknown to me) All the above info is right of course the old projection room could have been a “small” balcony in it hay days. Dose anybody have any pictures of the globe theater as it was before it turned into a porn theater. Those of us who know the place would love to see them. Thanks, Toes.
I dont know what they did on the inside, but when they re-opened the outside looked like hell. You can see it in the above photo’s.
One of the salesman told me himself that the balcony area is used for storage. Of course it is possible that he was referring to the original projection room.
The Globe Bronx Theater is listed as having 600 seats in 1950.
This theatre never had a balcony….
The theatre is now a furniture store. Although the interior has been renovated, a few hints of its past remain. The exhibition cases in the lobby remain are in tact. The floor in the auditorium is still sloped and fabric still lines a few walls. The stage area still has a few art deco embellishments, but the balcony has been sealed off.
The auditorium could probably accomodate over 400 and could again present films or small stage shows with proper seating installed.
A new leaseholder took over the Globe in 2001 after it had sat empty for a while, renovated the property a bit, and tried a first-run policy. That, however, failed to catch on (perhaps due to the Globe’s previously well-established reputation as a porn house) and the Globe was soon again closed which, to my knowledge, it has remained since.