Guild 50th Street Theater

33 W. 50th Street,
New York, NY 10020

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Newsreel Theaters Inc., Trans-Lux Movies Corp.

Architects: John Adolph Emil Eberson

Functions: Retail

Styles: Art Deco

Previous Names: Newsreel Theater, Embassy Newsreel Theater

Nearby Theaters

Guild Ticket Booth

The Guild Theater opened on December 2, 1938 as a newsreel house, with an entrance on the south side of Radio City Music Hall in the Associated Press Building. Furniture was designed by Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, and aisle carpeting had a motif of ‘unwinding movie reels’ in an Art Deco style.

The Rockefeller Center landmark was later taken over by the Trans-Lux circuit in 1949. Operating under successive 25 year leases, when the most recent term expired in 1999, the Guild 50th Street Theatre was closed on September 26, 1999 with Julia Roberts in “Runaway Bride” and it was gutted.

After first becoming a Nautica retail store, it is now occupied by the clothing chain Anthropologie, which is primed for the millions of tourists who pass by the area.

The marquee of the Guild 50th Theater remains, though little other evidence exists that a theater once entertained moviegoers.

Contributed by Ross Melnick

Recent comments (view all 102 comments)

gregj63
gregj63 on August 30, 2014 at 7:02 pm

Good footage from 1989 of outside & inside this theater from Late Show with David Letterman. http://youtu.be/P8OnsEeZA-M

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 29, 2014 at 9:05 pm

I don’t see a link in any of the earlier comments to the January 7, 1939, Boxoffice article by Helen Kent about Rockefeller Centers then-new Newsreel Theatre.

Page one has photos of the exterior and the auditorium.

Page twohas photos of the lounge and Lobby.

dged
dged on January 17, 2016 at 9:28 am

The Guild premiered the now-classic Japanese film “Gate of Hell" in the 1950s. It played there for quite a long run, and its rich color photography was exhibited in full display on the Guild’s screen. It was also the theater where the Peter Sellers film “The Mouse that Roared” premiered. The Guild was a classic movie theater in the heart of Manhattan, which, like the Sutton, is now lost to time.

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on August 25, 2017 at 6:09 pm

What sound systems did this theater use?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on August 28, 2019 at 3:33 pm

Hello-

it certainly had one of the classiest most well appointed men’s rooms.

robboehm
robboehm on August 28, 2019 at 6:40 pm

Probably because it was part of Rockefeller Center.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on August 28, 2019 at 6:49 pm

It was the sweetest sh!thouse in town…

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on July 4, 2021 at 9:20 am

Theatre closed on September 30, 1999 with Runaway Bride. A few different ads in photos section.

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on August 30, 2023 at 10:16 am

Please correct, theatre closed September 26, 1999, see article in photos section

Chelsearicky
Chelsearicky on March 9, 2024 at 1:02 pm

I loved this theater. When “My Fair Lady” ended its run at the Criterion it moved to the Guild for several more months. It was the first film I saw there and I remember being impressed with the sound.

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