Palladium Times Square

theatrefan on August 10, 2004 at 12:10 pm

Hi Mikeoaklandpark,
Yes the original Loew’s Orpheum was knocked down to make way for an apartment bulding with modern cinemas uderneath. The 3rd Avenue entrance to the theatre is gone. Since this theatre has opened they have redone the lobby, because the ticket booth area used to be outside. The inside of this theatre is like the other Loews of this era ala the 84th St, Village 7, and 19th Street East. The one unique feature is the marquee is sort of a throwback to the old fashioned ones of yesterday, it had a curved hump in the front.
Unfortunately like all other theatres the land they were sitting on had much more value than the actual building.

theatrefan on August 10, 2004 at 11:35 am

There is a magazine called “Scene” being give out at Loews theatres to celebrate the chain’s centenial 1904-2004. As soon as you open the front cover there is a picture of the Astor Plaza hosting the premiere for Funny Lady from 1975. I got my issue at the Loews Orpheum yesterday, you might want to check for it at your local Loews theatre. It also contains an interesting article and photos that chronicle the last 100 years of the Loews Theatre Chain.

William on August 5, 2004 at 12:31 pm

That would be placed under Special Venue type theatres. Even if they show 35mm film sometimes.

mhvbear on August 5, 2004 at 11:43 am

The two largest auditoriums at the AMC Empire 25 are Theatres 1 & 6. I was told by the manager that the screens were the same size but not the size of them.

theatrefan on August 5, 2004 at 8:08 am

No, it was when the Astor Plaza closed. The largest is the Loews auditorium in Loews Lincoln Square at 62.5' The second biggest are all 62' and are as follows: Loews Kips Bay Auditorium 10, Loews Ewalk, Auditoriums 12 & 13. The Ziegfeld was the sixth largest at 52'. The magazine I am getting this info from does not say which ones are 3 & 4, but one of them has to be in the AMC Empire 25 and falls between 61' & 62'

Keep in mind that the Lincoln Square opened in 1994, Kips Bay & Ewalk in 1999 and the Empire in 2000, so before all these theatres were around the Astor Plaza was the biggest in NY.

theatrefan on August 5, 2004 at 6:31 am

The Loews Astor Plaza movie screen at 61' was the fifth biggest in New York City.

SethLewis on August 3, 2004 at 1:41 pm

Now that the Astor Plaza is sadly no more, can someone at Cinema Treasures please edit this page – separating out the true comments about the theatre…and the memories…shifting the gossip and the asides about 70mm to another page…This theatre deserves a concise updated history – key pictures opening here, long runs, and links to relevant news articles (maybe even some NY Times bits from the trouble pre-history as the Reade and then the opening as the Astor Plaza.

Thanks

theatrefan on August 3, 2004 at 12:15 pm

Can’t wait to see this place in Sept. I’m sure it will be nothing short of spectacular.

YMike on August 3, 2004 at 10:51 am

I have heard about this theatre. Is there anyway to get there using public transportation?

YMike on August 2, 2004 at 2:00 pm

You would think they could have booked something special if they were only going to be open for the weekend. Or at least announce that they were closing on Sunday. I had planned to go on Thursday even know I did not really want to see the “Village.” Lets hope the Ziegfeld stays open but I always felt the Astor was a better theatre.

Bill Huelbig on August 2, 2004 at 12:45 pm

The Loew’s Jersey City shows classic movies about one weekend a month starting in September and ending in May (it has no air conditioning so it’s not open in summer). This year is their 75th anniversary, so I’m sure they’ll have something special planned when they reopen in the fall.

http://www.loewsjersey.org/

Thanks, Shade, for posting every detail (sad though they were) of the final night of the Astor Plaza. We can only hope that someday there will be a big single-screen theater in Times Square once again.

Shade on August 2, 2004 at 12:04 pm

Sorry, those who didn’t know, I had posted this statement “I’ll be there Sunday, for the last show of The Village at 10:15 pm” on the 30th, but I guess that wasn’t enough time for it to be read.

I had heard August 5th from the theater itself, then when I went online I saw that they were closing on the 1st.

I also wanted to get there a little earlier to take some pictures. I did get a few, but didn’t do the ‘four corners’ thing I wanted to do showing the vast space and many seats.

We arrived via 44th so we could walk up to the large marquee one last time, bought our tickets, were given the coupon sheet for a free entry to 34th Street and a free upgrade to Reserved Seating at the 34th. This was ‘Loews’ gift' for 30 years of service.

The guy taking tickets was cool. He was talking with one of the people from the Cinemaniacs documentary and laughing and said, This is it! The last night!

Got some popcorn and a final hot dog, said hi to staff worker Noble who I had been talking to since I learned of the end, he mentioned he was moving over to the Loews State, and I went to sit down. There were a 150 people maybe. Took one pic and someone noticed my Cinerama shirt and it turned out to be some guy who works at Film Forum.

Watch the movie, and it was really dull. Completely boggles my mind that Loew’s would not only book a big opening film for only three days, have the studio make up brand-new marquee image tiles that will only fit this one marquee for three days, but that if they knew they were closing and didn’t want to just end the run with Spider-Man 2 (which really would’ve been a much more wonderful note to go out with), then why not rent some print like Titanic or some big event movie that people might actually clap at and let us have a go? They obviously knew people were upset enough to print up these coupons, even though they really just want us to completely bypass the 42nd Street Loews and head to 34th, which is bland bland bland bland. Nice, but bland.

Top of the screen had the same old projection problem they’ve had for years (just slightly fuzzy at the top and not completely full). I’ve been going to the Astor Plaza for 12 years and it’s always had that. A couple of times I actually went to other theaters just because I needed the better projection. Still, glad I saw Lord of the Rings 3 there on opening day, Christmas Day 2003, as it was completely and entirely sold out. So much fun!

So the Village is ending, I grab my video camera and go all the way to the last row in the center, just over that back exit, to shoot the final closing curtain. I almost wondered if they were going to do it. There were some workmen looking at the black masking cloth. The curtain closes, one guy up front stands up and claps and I do the same. There were only 12 people in the theater at this point. A few were walking around looking at the various vantage points, much as I’d been doing since I learned of the imminent demise of the space.

I saw each film here since I learned the news: Van Helsing, Shrek 2, Harry Potter 3, Spider-Man 2, the Village. I kinda wanted to catch Spider-Man 2 again on the big screen, but the week got busy.

The end was pretty awful. After the screen closed I panned the camera around, and they were reopening it. Then these burly gristly guys who drink beer started pulling at the black curtains. Then a guy was walking around with a flashlight. Then ladders and other tools and ropes came in. I asked one of the guys, Is it possible this space might be used for movies again? He said, Well, we’re taking the speakers now, so those will be gone. I’m cutting the screen open to get to the speakers in back. The projectors are going, so they’d have to replace those. So I don’t think they’re going to show movies here again.

I wanted to get a nice shot standing in front of the Broadway bulb overhead as you entered, and I did, but the guys are in the background on their ladder, already taking the place apart moments after the credits were over.

The theater staff just wanted us gone. As we were taking pics they kept telling us the theater was closing. I took a couple pics of the mammoth stairs, one of the eternally closed back exit where the theater manager had a little open-air ‘office,’ opened up the video camera for one last ride up that long escalator to the street, and exited out the front.

Had to walk down the long corridor hallway that also has the entrance for the Minskoff, just because it was always so fun to walk down that hallway to catch a flick in the Square.

And that’s it for the Astor Plaza, the last witness to Times Square’s over-the-top motion picture swelling. There’s one mute witness, waiting for a renter, but at one million a year it seems unlikely. The Loews State is a very dim memory, having a hey day for a few short years until the two megaplexes opened on 42nd. Once that dim light is extinguished, there will be nothing but memories of what movie-going was like in Times Square. Or that Times Square even had movie theaters.