Astor Theatre
1531 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1531 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
13 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 320 comments
What a history.What a great story.Only in America.
Here’s a 1931 aerial view of the massive Astor Hotel, with the Astor Theatre on the corner of the next northerly block, The caption should read 44th Street, not 43rd Street. The hotel fronted on Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets: View link
Here is an interesting ad from Boxoffice in September 1951:
http://tinyurl.com/y9ss5zz
Here’s the 1938 spectacular for a 20th-Fox blockbuster: http://www.howardfrank.com/Street_02.html
Great photos and history on this site,C.T. is great.
Thank You for the lead…I will do just that. I will update my findings with a comment here –
There’s a vintage auditorium view here. with a photo credit to William Morrison. You might try contacting Morrison c/o of that website, where I think he does most of the theatre listings. He is also author of the book, “Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture”: http://www.ibdb.com/venueimages.php?id=1049
I received the glass as a gift from a former New Yorker who’s brother was on the police force the day the wrecking ball was to raise the theatre. I was told his brother helped himself with it’s removal. I was also told that this glass was back lit with a blue lite bulb. I am wondering if perhaps their were 3 of these…the Nina, Pinta and Santa maria??
The Astor was a rather plain “legit” theatre originally, so I doubt there was much use of stained glass. Do you have a certificate proving that your piece actually came from the Astor? It could have come from any building, anywhere, for that matter. If you posted a photo, that might help in identification. Does it seem to be a piece that would have been used inside the theatre, or on the exterior?
I have recently acquired a piece of stained glass from the Astor theatre. It is of a sailing ship with a cross on the front billowing sail. It appears to be made entirely of white “slag” glass. Are there any books where I might find a picture fo my ship??
Dennis Stock, the celebrity photographer probably best remembered for his 1955 image of James Dean walking in Times Square. died yesterday of colon cancer at 81. Some classic examples of Stock’s work, starting with the shot of James Dean with the Astor Theatre in left background, can be seen here:
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I seem to recall that my favorite Bond film, “You Only Live Twice,” played at the Astor and Victoria at the same time. I know that I saw it at one of those two theaters. I also recall that enormous sign on the building above the theaters, several stories high, for this Bond film with that great Robert McGuiness artwork. It was quite incredible, I’m only sorry I didn’t take a picture of it. I also remember seeing two of my favorite war films at one of these two theaters, (I can’t remember which one,) Burton and Eastwood in “Where Eagles Dare” and William Holden in “The Devils Brigade.”
Here’s a December, 1965 view of the Astor’s marquee. Bardot’s participation marked her first visit to the USA. After the Astor premiere night, the film ran simultaneously at the Plaza Theatre on East 58th Street: View link
This January, 1954 view looking north shows “The Bigamist” at the Astor, “Forever Female” at the Victoria, and “How To Marry a Milionaire” at the Globe:
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Aw, come on. That’s almost as bad as having a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas eve which we do in my church.
Here’s a link to a great photo by Ruth Orkin that shows Times Square at the time of the 1939 New York World’s Fair. To assist tourists, MGM had set up an information booth on a traffic island in front of Loew’s Inc. headquarters at 1540 Broadway. I can’t make out the attractions at Loew’s State, but the Astor had “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” which would later win an ‘Oscar’ for Robert Donat as best actor of that year:
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Another color view courtesy of LIFE –
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Okay, that’s the why. How about the where. So many of the New York dailies are gone – World, Telegram, Sun, Herald, Tribune, Brooklyn Eagle, LI Press/Star Journal, Mirror, etc.
Where on earth did you find a 1925 ad and why were you looking for it in the first place.
another fine photo, this one dated 1944,
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Here is an undated color photo from Life:
http://tinyurl.com/nofahs
Nice 1946 color night shot from LIFE Archives,
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This 1944 photo comes courtesy of LIFE …
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Above photo of opening night at the Astor of GWTW from 19 December 1939.
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Opening night for GWTW. Warren reports “A reserved-seat roadshow at the Astor Theatre, simultaneous with continuous performances at the Capitol Theatre”