RKO Proctor's 58th Street Theatre
154 E. 58th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
154 E. 58th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 71 comments
Here is one I never heard before:
From the New York Times 1928 regarding the New Proctor 58th St.
“The new playhouse will have…an "animal room” where, it is announced, patrons may check their pets while attending performances."
Glad to help out Warren.
By the way, I always enjoy the bits of information that you share, especially since you’re getting the info from documented, original source materials. Fascinating info! Thank you for all the hard work, it is very much appreciated.
That can’t be 1954. The same ad mentions South Pacific, Rio Bravo and Alias Jesse James. It might be from 1959.
Does anybody know the history of the theatre’s organ? The console of the organ in the Stoneham, Mass., Town Hall, is marked on the inside for Proctor’s 58th St. It was delivered with the town hall organ by Wurlitzer in 1930. The console has the kind of leather in it that Wurlitzer stopped using in 1926, so it must have been built at least 2 years before Proctor’s was built. Was Proctor’s organ actually delivered; and, if so, with what console?
Reposts but still interesting images! Scanned from “Marquee.”
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A view of the proscenium:
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Notes for the RKO Proctor’s 58thStreet Theatre in “Marquee” included:
“The asbestos curtain is a copy of the original curtain of the old Proctor’s Pleasure Palace, which stood on the same site.”
BILLY Ed Sol? Think I have a song or two of yours on the old Ero label. I’m Brook Lin Gim Yung. My pappy was a Chinese railroad builder and my mama from the coal mines of Wheeling, West Virginia. She, too, was a Billy Ed Sol fan. Small world. Dang me!
[“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” – John Bright]
My name is actualy Ed Sol Ero.
How would you know if my last name was movies fella? Would you have a problem with my last name being movies? How do we know that you are Warren G Harris himself? Perhaps you are using the name of Warren G Harris but your real name is John Smith or perhaps even art theatre. There is no realistic way to prove anyone’s identity on a website. Most intelligent people already understand that.
Very appropo EdSolero. This fella has no problem with pseudonyms when they serve his purpose to create chaos. Perhaps he uses other pseudonyms that we are not yet aware of.
Art… I mean, Warren… Are you accusing mike of not really being named mike? After all, in his moniker he has given us just as much information about his name as you have in yours. Anyway, I use my real name here… too bad decorum doesn’t allow me to express my real thoughts about the tenor of your postings on this site.
Try to make some sense in your comments fella. Perhaps more people will take you seriously if you do so. There are many writers who do not use their true names. Feel free to research me to your hearts content. I have never claimed to be a theatre historian. If you consider yourself to be a theatre historian perhaps a new occupation is in order. Making unsubstantiated claims and barking at people who may question those claims is not the sign of a true historian. Get over yourself.
I can confirm Warren’s date. The old one closed in March 1928 and the new one opened for Christmas with TAXI 13.
Since when are you concerned with accuracy fella? How do we know that your opening date is correct? Take your problems and questions to the New York Times.
Very cool lostmemory. Thanx.
Warren:
Regarding your April 4, 2005 question concerning the Phantom trapped in quicksand: The Phantom’s trusted dog(name?)appeared,saw the sinking phantom, the dog got a large vine in his jaws, the dog tossed the vine to the Phantom,and the Phantom pulled himself to safety.
Claudette Colbert
Was Karl Malden matched up with Connie Stevens or Claudette Colbert?
a steamy double bill
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After my beloved RKO 23rd Street closed in 1960, we had to go to the 58th St. RKO for this Christmas show. 3 movies (my hero Audie & Francis!!!)& cartoons, the day after Christmas 1960. WOW. jerry
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One of the features that followed “The Robe” on the RKO circuit was “Beat the Devil.” I remember seeing coming attraction for it in black and white on the reduced conventional 1:1.33 screen, diminished so as to heighten the impact of CinemaScope’s size and color.
Can you imagine ANY “star” today hitting 27 theaters in 2 days?
Be that as it may, Warren, audiences lucky enough to be in attendance received a level of attention that is scarcely (if ever) paid to today’s moviegoing crowds.
Indeed, like the grand theaters, an era that we will never see again. I have many photos from this tour. I’ll see if I can get some of them scanned and posted on the individual theater pages.
You can see that Jerry was having a great time. Murray the K was with him and, at one point, they got off the tour bus to play stickball with some kids on the street. You can see the kids were thrilled by the astonished looks on their faces!
I think we all appreciate the postings, Bob. Thanks. The fact that there were so many tours like that by big stars like Lewis (and Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, etc) has always fascinated me. More evidence of an era of showmanship that is, sadly, long gone.
Thanks Jerry. I wasn’t trying to flood the forum with repetitive posts, but I thought fans of those individual theaters would find it interesting. Lewis wound up visiting 27 RKO theaters over the course of two days. What a schedule! He did this several times in his career, including the New York Loew’s tour for “The Bellboy” in 1960.
After the tour, Jerry wrote a letter to RKO thanking them, but also commenting on the overall run-down condition of the backstage areas. These were pretty old theaters, and those stages were no longer in active use.
It was interesting to follow his itinerary on these pages to see what happened to all these great showplaces. I don’t think anyone could do that tour today…