Astor Theatre

Check out the neon on the Astor and Victoria, you will never see the likes of it again.

View link

When “Gone With the Wind” had its first NYC public showings at the Astor & Capitol on December 20, 1939, this was some of the midtown competition: “Balalaika” and Christmas stage show, at Radio City Music Hall; “Everything Happens at Night” and stage show, Roxy; “Gulliver’s Travels” and stage show, Paramount; “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” and stage show, Strand; “Destry Rides Again,” Rivoli; “The Cat and The Canary” (second-run ) and vaudeville, Loew’s State; “Nick Carter, Private Detective” (last day) and advance showings of the next day’s opener, “Reno,” Loew’s Criterion; the second-run “Roaring Twenties” & “The Honeymoon’s Over,” RKO Palace. That night, the New Belmont Theatre on West 48th Street hosted the American premiere of the French import, “Last Desire” (Raimu, Jacqueline Delubac). Other first-run “foreign” films were “Citadel of Silence” (with Annabella) at the Pix, and the Soviet puppet feature, “The Golden Key,” at the Cameo, both on West 42nd Street. The World 49th Street was in its ninth week with “Harvest.”

So how did a Goldwyn/Wyler film like Wuthering Heights miss the Music Hall and what was Powell at her height as an MGM star doing headlining a vaudeville bill for a second run feature at the State?

Caption:
“Advertising for a filmed stage show, MGM’s "Hollywood Revue”, included live chorus girls on the massive theater marquee of the Astor Theater in New York City in August 1929".

Photo:
View link

Warren— whew! that’s quite a tale of the thuggish ‘30s. I remember the '37-'59 decor of the Astor as being curtained-over with pale blue draperies. The entire proscenium was covered by them, and they extended over the tapered area where box-seats had been (the boxes had been removed). There are photos of the pre-'37 Astor in Nicholas von Hoogstraden’s book about theater architecture, no? The wide screen that the Astor installed in '53 was much too big for the theater— so big that an annoying shutter flicker spoiled every film I saw there from then until “On the Beach.” (A few weeks ago I vowed not to name films on this page, but now that I’ve broken my own rule I’ll mention Rita Hayworth in “Separate Tables” and Katherine Hepburn in “The Rainmaker."among thosepresentations.) Thanks for this incursion into the Astor’s history.

I don’t know when pioneer exhibitor Walter Reade became owner of the Astor, but he lost it in May, 1935, when he defaulted on his mortgage payments and the theatre became the property of City Investing Company, which went on to own it for many decades but leased it to various operators. Within hours of Reade vacating the premises, the Astor’s interior was invaded by vandals who caused $50,000 in damages, ripping all the seats from the floors, destroying the screen, spraying all the walls with the theatre’s fire extinguishers, etcetera. Walter Reade was arrested for allegedly masterminding the attack, but he was released on $5,000 bail and was eventually acquited of the charge. City Investing repaired the damage and leased the Astor to a syndicate headed by Joseph Plunkett, which re-opened the theatre on August 21, 1935, with the premiere engagement of DeMille’s “The Crusades.” In October, 1937, a new management company (reportedly jointly owned by the Loew’s and United Artists circuits) took over the lease, closed the Astor for a month of refurbishing, and re-opened on November 9 with Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Hurricane.” This version of the Astor apparently remained until 1959, when it underwent a total renovation at the cost of $800,000 under the supervision of architect John J. McNamara, who had done the recent modernization of Loew’s State just across Broadway from the Astor. The costs were shared 50-50 by City Investing, which still owned the theatre, and United Artists Corporation, which ran it. The revamped Astor opened December 17th, 1959, with Stanley Kramer’s “On the Beach.” Among its most striking features was a blue terrazo sidewalk, which started at the curb with Broadway and extended through the entrance doors and became the floor of the first lobby. The sidewalls of the new auditiorium were graced by two huge abstract murals by Buffie Johnson entitled “New York Summer Nights,” which the artist painted in her studio in 224 sections and then assembled in the theatre.

The ballroom at the Astor Hotel was world-famous, but management at the Marquis in 1985 didn’t want to name one of the rooms after another hotel, even if that hotel was no longer there. The same reson there is not a room named after the Piccadilly Hotel that stood between the Music Box & the Morosco. They equated Times Square with theaters, not other hotels.

The Astor Plaza Building was already named for the hotel. The powers that be at the time decided to name the ballroom after the theatre.

Warren & Mikeoaklandpark â€" Thank you for taking the time to actually read my inquiry. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I will have a base as to where to look up the information that I am interested in. Mike, you certainly went out of your way to include a list, which is most appreciated, but you didn’t really have to do that. I am more than willing to do the research myself.

I am brainstorming with some other associates, who also have an interest in the history of Times Square, on ways to enhance the character of the building, which is finishing up a major renovation. The meeting rooms are named for Broadway theaters, playwrights and various areas of the city. The Astor Ballroom is the only one named for an old Broadway movie theatre. (After it did time as a legit house.) This is an in-house project that Marriott International (there is no Marriott Corporation), is not involved in. (Much the same as in-house projects I did when was managing for General Cinema.)

FYI, the loss of the Astor, Victoria, Helen Hayes, Morosco & Bijou Theaters is attributed to John Portman & Associates, not Marriott. Portman developed, designed and built the hotel and hired Marriott to manage the building. (The Nederlanders operate the Marquis Theater.) Host Marriott later bought the hotel from Portman, at which time it started, with The New York Times and others, the Times Square Business Improvement District. (Now know as the Times Square Alliance.)

By the way BoxOfficeBill, everyone on this site should know that Deborah Kerr, who had to wait until 1993 to get a Life Achievement Award from the Academy, was the star of BLACK NARCISSUS.

Right, Vincent. I’ve earlier mentioned from memory titles of films played at the lamented Astor and Victoria but, until Marriott pays blood money, shall refrain silently from doing so again, except perhaps in code designed for readers who already know a lot about movies. For example, if I mentioned “the film that played at the Victoria and won an academy award for color cinematography in 1947,” you’d know that it was the picture in which a true-blue six-time unrewarded AA nominee played a nun in the Himalayas, right? I’m not being, um, Narcissistic here. I may be BO Bill, but old-time Popeye fans will think of Marriott as BO Plenty.

Right—from the late ‘40s through the '60s, neither the Astor nor the Victoria were wedded to any particular studios, but both played prestigious products from all of them. If you scan through a list of films nominated for Academy Awards in those years, an at least perceived if not real barometer of quality, you’ll find that most of these films played at the Astor, Victoria, or Rivoli.

Mikeoaklandpark— Those are accurate data, and others could supplement them with dozens more. But why give Marriott the fruit of your labors scott-free?