Loew's State Theatre
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
39 people
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Wow! facinating description William. I didn’t Know the upstairs theatre screen and auditorium was larger than the downstairs. I only saw like three films there and that was in the last weeks I thought the downstairs auditorium was draped in sky blue curtains maybe the changed it to that prior to closing where did you get your info it’s facinating thanks william.
When the Loew’s State was twinned designer Ben Mayer featured two different designs to the twins. A Modern Regency for State 1 and the Highly Theatrical character of yesterday’s theatre in State 2.
The twin uses restrained forms and colors to create a new and modern look in State 1 and flamboyant color schemes to create the “yesterday’s theatre” decor in State 2. The decor for State 1 incorporates modern material, vinyls and vertical wood accents.
State 2, which is on the upper floor and reached by a high speed escalator, features a “Capitol Corner” a small area of the lobby devoted to nostalgia. Mementos from the old Capitol Theatre include
an ancient Carrara marble Roman well head, a French rock crystal chandelier, a bronze railing, a grandfather’s clock. State 2 occupies what once was the balcony of the original Loew’s State.
To visually connect the two lobbies, Muralist Patrick Casey painted 10 huge oval portraits of famous film stars, most of whom appeared at one time or another at Loew’s State. The paintings were in sepia monotones. The screen in State 1 was 20 feet high by 48 feet wide. In State 2 it is 22 feet high by 50 feet wide.
State 1’s seats were in an orange fabric, State 2’s seats were in a purple fabric. The pushback seats were by Griggs. In the State 1 a giant traveler curtain extends from floor to the ceiling. The curtain is striped and carries the orange, pumkin and gold from the wall decorations. State 2 has a giant Austrian curtain made of gold diamondette a metallic drapery fabric. The curtains were by I. Weiss and Sons. Projection equipment in State 1 were Norelco AA-II 70/35mm projectors and in State 2 Century JJ 70/35mm projectors.
The seating capacity after the twinning was State 1 (1,172 patrons) and State 2 (1,214 patrons)
Did you know that the Loews State theater was in a building owned by Loews, and that the building was occupied by the president of Loews (at my time Nick Schenk) and at that time owners of MGM? The publicity office was on the second floor and Mr. Schenk, CC Moskowitz etc. were on the 7th floor. The Penthouse had a private screening room and a large resturant complete with 3 chefs, where visiting stars got to dine with the pres. And in 1949 I deposited Mr. Schenks weekly checks $7,000. from Loews and $7,000. for MGM. Although most people think that all movie making decisions were made in Hollywood I can tell you that the telegraph lines were allways busy and that NY made many of the decisions, and there was allways conflict between Mr.Mayer and Mr. S.
If I am remembering correctly, when they twinned the state cinema 1 was all of the area below the balcony. Cinema 2 was the whole balcony with the screen in the original place. I remember the upstairs theatre was still a true movie palace. I am not proud to admit it but saw “Friday The 13th #-D” there in addition to many first rate films.
Yes the Alpine is a Loews Cineplex theatre, albeit with that upside down Cineplex Odeon logo on the Marquee, didn’t any one notice when that sign was installed it was wrong! I miss the old sunburst style Loew’s marquee the Alpine originally had, I wonder if its underneath the new one?
And the Alpine, which I’ve been to many times, is the only one still flying the Loew’s banner.
I guess, the State, Orpheum & 72nd St. are just replacements in name only for the former Loew’s theatres that used to occupy the same site.
Warren the M-G-M Book states the following from 1959:
MGM-Loew’s,last of the holdouts against the government’s anti-trust action finally divided itself in March into two unconnected companies:Loew’s Theatres and Metro-Goldywn-Mayer.Six months later the latter announced its profit,$7,698,951,the highest since 1951’s total for the old company.I know Loew’s-MGM was the last major studio to comply with the consent decree due to the complicated relationship of Loew’s-MGM.brucec
Of those 51 theatres in the Metro NY area, I wonder how many are still around today operating as motion picture theaters? I’m sure quite a few have been demolished, converted to retail or, are being used as houses of worship.
During the ‘40s and ‘50s a family friend worked in the Loews’ business office above the lobby, and she provided us with passes for everything at the State and the Capitol as well as for all the MGM debuts on B’way. She was a very prim, church-going spinster lady, and she voiced a particular antipathy for the fleshy vulgarity of Marilyn Monroe. When “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes†played at the Roxy, she proudly declared, “I’m glad I don’t work there!†and “I’m glad the State is showing a decent Jimmy Stewart picture [Thunder Bay] instead.†Barely two years later, the State played “Seven Year Itch,†with its famous billboard of MM in her wind-blown skirt covering the building’s tall façade. Our friend’s office window was just below the panties. She peremptorily took off for a three-week vacation during the film’s run.
The very last hard ticket film as far as I know was Little Dorrit(I don’t remember the year) at the 57th St playhouse
The reserved seat box office windows at the State 1 and 2 and the Criterion remained closed from their last reserved seat films in ‘70 and '72 respectively until they were torn down . The reserved seat box office for the Rivoli was often used as the main box office after La Mancha closed there. You would see behind the ticket seller all the small cubby holes that used to hold advance tickets.
So Paint Your Wagon Was already gone by early February of '70. Only 3 months! Probably the last reserved seat movie I liked(though I didn’t see it until it played the Warner in '78.)
Young Winston and Godspell played at the UA Columbia as Advanced Ticket exclusives…The Great Gatsby was reserved seat at the Paramount daydating with Loews State, Tower East and possibly the Murray Hill
I believe that the very last film to be shown in a roadshow “Reserved Seat” manner was “Last Tango in Paris” beginning in April 1973.
I think the only films after that were Marooned at the Ziegfeld,Hello Dolly at the Rivoli,Man of LA Mancha and Fiddler On The Roof. I am not sure where the last two played.
All 3 of thse films were roadshow films with reserved seats. After 1969 there were only a few more films shown that way, most of which played in New York City at the Criterion, Rivoli, or Warner.
I remember seeing some movies and stage shows at Loew’s State when I was very young. The theatre was very handsome and comfortable.
Does anybody know if Olive, Paint Your Wagon and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were shown reserved seat engagement?
The STate Theatre had two booths. One in the upper balcony and one in the front of the balcony like the Roxy Theatre. The front of balcony booth was put in during the later 50’s when they modernized for 70MM.
I saw a photograph of the lobby in an old issue of “Theatre Magazine”. The article was about the (then) new Loew’s State theatre. The lobby had an elliptical, or curved, I don’t remember which, opening looking down from the mezzanine promenade. It was surrounded by a marble balustrade, and above the lobby wall was a large mural which seemed to cover the length of the room. It was a very classical and elegant room.
The Loew’s State closed on or sometime around February 28, 1987. One of the final two features to be shown at the State was the Richard Pryor vehicle, ‘Critical Condition’.
Meanwhile, I’m curious to know if the Loew’s State (or the Rivoli or Warner Twin/Strand, for that matter) were ever modernized or if they, save for their twinnings, mostly retained their original architectural design. The only view I’ve ever caught of any part of the interior of Loew’s State was a brief (but unrevealing) glance of of a section of its lobby in the Robert Evans documentary ‘The Kid Stays in the Picture’.
I lived in NYC from 1985-1990 and from 1995-1997. The only time I got to see a film in Loew’s State was in the fall of 1986. The film was “Star Trek IV.” I think the theater closed soon afterwards.
What’s historic about this is seeing the nice long runs good audience pictures would get…The Chinatowns and Longest Yards…Pictures had legs then
There were still some good bookings into the late 70s – I was there for an odd double feature in the early 80s..When did the State Twin actually close and what was the last attraction?
Listed below are the first-run films and their opening dates which played Loew’s State 1 & 2 after it was “twinned” in 1968 up through December 1975. Research is from microfilms of The New York Times and Variety. Dates listed are the Wednesday of the week that the film first opened.
State 1
01/01/69 Oliver!
12/17/69 Gaily, Gaily
01/07/70 Without A Stitch
03/18/70 The Boys in the Band
06/17/70 On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
08/26/70 The People Next Door
09/16/70 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute)
11/11/70 Threesome
12/02/70 The Student Nurses/The Love Doctors
12/16/70 Love Story
06/23/71 Le Mans
07/28/71 Billy Jack
08/11/71 The Omega Man
09/29/71 The Skin Game
10/20/71 T. R. Baskin
11/24/71 Man in the Wilderness
12/15/71 $
01/19/72 Straw Dogs
03/15/72 The Godfather
06/14/72 The Burglars
06/28/72 Prime Cut
08/02/72 The New Centurions
10/18/72 Lady Sings the Blues
11/01/72 The Valachi Papers
12/20/72 The Getaway
03/14/73 Lost Horizon
05/23/73 Let the Good Times Roll
07/04/73 Oklahoma Crude
07/25/73 Badge 373
08/01/73 Maurie
08/15/73 Enter the Dragon
10/17/73 The Way We Were
12/12/73 Papillon
03/27/74 The Great Gatsby
06/19/74 Chinatown
08/21/74 The Longest Yard
10/16/74 The Odessa File
12/11/74 The Godfather II
03/12/75 Funny Lady
08/13/75 Farewell, My Lovely
10/15/75 Rooster Cogburn
12/24/75 The Hindenburg
State 2
01/01/69 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
05/07/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/28/69 Once Upon a Time in the West
06/18/69 Mackenna’s Gold
07/23/69 Castle Keep
10/01/69 Change of Mind
10/15/69 Paint Your Wagon
02/04/70 The Looking Glass War
03/18/70 The Liberation of L. B. Jones
04/22/70 Hi, Mom!
05/27/70 Beneath the Planet of the Apes
06/24/70 Kelly’s Heroes
07/22/70 You Can’t Win ‘Em All
08/12/70 Lovers and Other Strangers
10/07/70 Monte Walsh
10/28/70 The Owl and the Pussycat
02/03/71 Doctors’ Wives
03/10/71 THX 1138
03/31/71 Flight of the Doves
04/14/71 My Secret Life
05/12/71 10 Rillington Place
06/16/71 The Anderson Tapes
08/04/71 The Love Machine
09/15/71 The Steagle
10/06/71 The French Connection
12/22/71 Dirty Harry
01/26/72 X Y and Zee
03/15/72 The Godfather
08/02/72 Super Fly
12/20/72 Up the Sandbox
01/31/73 Shamus
02/28/73 The Thief Who Came to Dinner
03/21/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/16/73 The Day of the Jackal
07/25/73 The Mackintosh Man
08/16/72 Enter the Dragon
09/19/73 Hit!
10/17/73 Charley Varrick
11/21/73 Ash Wednesday
12/19/73 The Sting
02/13/74 Crazy Joe
02/27/74 Man on a Swing
03/27/74 The Great Gatsby
06/19/74 The Terminal Man
07/18/74 My Name is Nobody
10/16/74 Airport 1975
12/11/74 The Godfather II
02/12/75 The Stepford Wives
03/19/75 The Four Musketeers
04/16/75 Capone
05/21/75 Lepke
06/11/75 Night Moves
06/25/75 The Drowning Pool
07/23/75 W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings
08/07/75 The Devil’s Rain
09/17/75 Bang
10/01/75 Framed
10/08/75 Mahogany
12/25/75 Hustle
Unfortunately, I do not yet have a week-to-week listing for New York City for these years—only the first-run films with theaters and opening dates. The films listed above are only first-run bookings for State 1 & 2—they do not include reissues and what is probably many cases, moveovers from one auditorium to another. Even after being twinned, Loew’s State continued to get the Times Square booking for many big pictures, until 1975 when Loew’s opened its new Astor Plaza around the corner on 45th Street.
Does anyone know of an online source to see the old seating layout or floorplans for Loew’s State, or any of the other famous Times Square theaters? Can one of the great members who give so much incerdible info to this site describe the lobby layouts and so forth of the State? I have seen pictures, but can’t put them together to make a cohesive idea of what it was like.
Listed below are the films which played Loew’s State from 12/16/59 to 12/31/68 when the theater opened up in it’s new “twin format.” Research is from microfilms of Variety and The New York Times. The dates listed are the Wednesdays of the film’s opening week, as most films in that era opened on that day, unlike the Friday openings that occur now.
12/16/59 Ben-Hur (6th week – eventually played 74 weeks!)
04/26/61 Gone With the Wind
08/23/61 The Honeymoon Machine
10/04/61 DARK
10/11/61 King of Kings
03/07/62 The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse
04/11/62 All Fall Down
05/09/62 The Horizontal Lieutenant
06/13/62 Lolita
09/26/62 A Very Private Affair
10/31/62 DARK
11/07/62 Mutiny on the Bounty
07/31/63 DARK
08/07/63 Jason and the Argonauts
08/28/63 Wives and Lovers
10/02/63 The Running Man
10/23/63 Lawrence of Arabia (pop prices)
11/20/63 Under the Yum Yum Tree
12/25/63 Love With the Proper Stranger
03/11/64 Becket
09/23/64 Of Human Bondage
10/07/64 Fail-Safe
10/28/64 The Americanization of Emily
12/23/64 The Pleasure Seekers
01/13/65 Baby, the Rain Must Fall
01/27/65 Dear Brigitte
02/10/65 Sylvia
02/24/65 Lord Jim
06/23/65 Von Ryan’s Express
08/25/65 Morituri
10/06/65 The Agony and the Ecstasy
03/02/66 The Oscar
05/18/66 Lady L
06/22/66 Born Free
07/27/66 Assault on a Queen
08/24/66 Walk, Don’t Run
09/07/66 Fantastic Voyage
09/28/66 The Bible
11/01/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Doctor Dolittle
08/21/68 The Legend of Lylah Clare
/ /68 CLOSED FOR TWINNING
12/11/68 Oliver -State I
12/18/68 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – State II
During this time the State exclusively played many of the various “roadshow” pictures that were released, with regular first-run releases sandwiched in between. In the early 60s, theaters which played big roadshow presentations would often go “DARK” for a week before the premiere for cleaning and installation of new projection equipment.