The newer, 5-auditorium/off-hour classroom Nickelodeon shut down in February of 2001 as a part of Loews Cineplex' bankruptcy reorganization – in advance of property owner Boston University’s plan to not renew the lease upon its forthcoming expiration – and was demolished in the spring of 2003.
The Harris Theatre’s days as a moviehouse ended in June of 1994, with the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock action opus, “Speed”, as one of its final two offerings. The day after the Harris closed – and following several delays – the ultimately short-lived (June 1994-March 1996), 5-screen Movieplex 42, which was located a few doors down from the Harris, heading towards 8th Avenue, opened for business.
The Cinema 57 shut down in May of 1996; its final two offerings were “The Great White Hype” and “Original Gangstas”. The property currently houses, in addition to the Stuart Street Playhouse, as noted above by Gerald, an indoor golf driving range in one of the former cinema auditoriums.
I’m surprised the city hasn’t boarded up the entire entrance; I’d have to think that would serve as a stronger deterrent instead of simply sealing up… and sealing up again… and sealing up YET AGAIN one vandalized doorway.
I suppose the greatest irony of all is that the Uniondale Mini Cinema apparently became, of all things, a church. There used to be a venue similar to the UMC, the Off-the-Wall Cinema, in the Central Square section of Cambridge, Ma. I only went there once, as a 10-year-old for a two-part Warner Bros. cartoon festival in May of 1986, but I remember the programming was highly eclectic – filmed concerts from the 1950s through the ‘70s, 16mm prints of foreign flicks along the lines of '8 ½’ and the original ‘Breathless’, and old classroom instructional films, among other offerings – and the atmosphere was more akin to that of an underground coffeehouse than anything traditionally resembling a movie theatre. Much like apparently the UMC, the Off-the-Wall space is now used for something that couldn’t be farther removed from its exciting, rebellious heyday: a senior citizens' center, of all things.
My Astor Plaza memories are limited to having seen only two films there – ‘Runaway Bride’ and ‘Signs’. Both were disappointments; I hoofed it out after 20 minutes of ‘Bride’, to the gasps of what had to have been an auditorium full of tourists who, by dint of their bellylaughing at some of the lamest ‘humor’ ever committed to film AND some of their murmurings of, ‘Oh! He’s walking out!’, I’m convinced to this day got SERIOUSLY lost on their way to Branson and a Wayne Newton ‘extravaganza’, and ‘Signs’ was a bit too heavy-handed for my tastes. The theatre itself, though, was a singular experience – that curved screen, those seemingly endless rows of seats… wow! I feared from the time the double-booking of the Astor Plaza and 42nd Street E-Walk begain in the spring of 2002 that the Astor’s days were numbered and, sure enough, those fears have now been realized. You (and the Ziegfeld) are the closest things to a movie palace this 28-year-old film buff has ever had the privilege of experiencing and I’ll miss you terribly…
I’d guess that the Fine Arts actually closed its doors in 2000, as ‘Red Planet’ was released in theatres that fall. From anyone who’s in the know, what condition does the Fine Arts appear to be in at present?
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’.
No word on any special event send-off screenings, but the final, wide-release booking for the Astor Plaza is official: M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Village’ is opening there next Friday, the 30th. It’s also, to absolutely no surprise, opening at the 42nd Street E-Walk and, to something of a surprise, the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, among other Manhattan locales.
The shooting noted in John and Jamal’s initial description occurred when a member from one gang sat in a seat previously occupied by a member from a rival gang and was shot to death for doing so prior to a 10 pm, opening night screening of ‘Life’. According to an ABC-7 Eyewitness News report the next day, Loews decided to immediately walk away from the property instead of, as originally planned, holding on until their lease ran out at the end of the year.
What a remarkable set of photographs; thanks for posting those! After the Film Guild Cinema years, the 8th Street Playhouse was an independent for several more decades, until B.S. Moss took over. Sometime in the late 1980s/very early 90s, B.S. Moss sold the leases to their theatrical properties to two chains which would operate each of those venues until their respective bitter ends – United Artists (Movieland 8th Street Triplex and the Criterion Center) and City Cinemas, in the case of the 8th Street Playhouse. The Quad, contrary to what Robert initially wrote, was never run by City Cinemas; to my knowledge, it’s been independently run at least since Golden pulled out around ‘88.
Actually, there are currently three operating theatres in downtown Chicago – the 900 N. Michigan Cinemas, the AMC River East 21, and, of course, the Esquire.
That’s a pleasant – and mildly shocking – bit of news. Did all or only part of the redevelopment project which would have resulted in the demolition of the Tiffany fall through?
After the Regency switched to a first-run policy in 1987 – after much hue-and-cry from several classic film lovers including, if I recall correctly, Leonard Maltin and Tony Randall, among others – its first offering was ‘Barfly’, with Mickey Roarke and Faye Dunaway. The final film booked into what was my favorite theatre in Manhattan – even after just one visit, to see ‘The Celebration’, from a vantage point in the balcony on a snowy night in January of 1999 – was ‘Elizabeth’. Some six weeks later, on February 28th, the run of ‘Elizabeth’ – and of the Alden/Regency – came to an end. By mid-April, the entire structure was sheathed in scaffolding and, within three months' time, it was completely demolished.
The Columbia Spectator only ran the article about the demolition of the Olympia which was linked on that web site as a campus matter-of-interest piece. As the article notes, the non-Columbia affiliated Clarett Group owns the property on which the Olympia stood.
Within the link below is both a brief article – and a photo – of the clearing of the building which formerly housed the Columbia Cinema, among other tenants, and within that link is a link to a Columbia Spectator article, discussing the university’s plans for the site and some of the concerns of neighborhood residents.
An apartment building occupies the former Manhattan 1 and 2 site.
The newer, 5-auditorium/off-hour classroom Nickelodeon shut down in February of 2001 as a part of Loews Cineplex' bankruptcy reorganization – in advance of property owner Boston University’s plan to not renew the lease upon its forthcoming expiration – and was demolished in the spring of 2003.
The Harris Theatre’s days as a moviehouse ended in June of 1994, with the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock action opus, “Speed”, as one of its final two offerings. The day after the Harris closed – and following several delays – the ultimately short-lived (June 1994-March 1996), 5-screen Movieplex 42, which was located a few doors down from the Harris, heading towards 8th Avenue, opened for business.
The Cinema 57 shut down in May of 1996; its final two offerings were “The Great White Hype” and “Original Gangstas”. The property currently houses, in addition to the Stuart Street Playhouse, as noted above by Gerald, an indoor golf driving range in one of the former cinema auditoriums.
I’m surprised the city hasn’t boarded up the entire entrance; I’d have to think that would serve as a stronger deterrent instead of simply sealing up… and sealing up again… and sealing up YET AGAIN one vandalized doorway.
I suppose the greatest irony of all is that the Uniondale Mini Cinema apparently became, of all things, a church. There used to be a venue similar to the UMC, the Off-the-Wall Cinema, in the Central Square section of Cambridge, Ma. I only went there once, as a 10-year-old for a two-part Warner Bros. cartoon festival in May of 1986, but I remember the programming was highly eclectic – filmed concerts from the 1950s through the ‘70s, 16mm prints of foreign flicks along the lines of '8 ½’ and the original ‘Breathless’, and old classroom instructional films, among other offerings – and the atmosphere was more akin to that of an underground coffeehouse than anything traditionally resembling a movie theatre. Much like apparently the UMC, the Off-the-Wall space is now used for something that couldn’t be farther removed from its exciting, rebellious heyday: a senior citizens' center, of all things.
I guess those plans fell through; blame it on the economy, perhaps…
A few years back, Loews attempted to sublease the Tower East/72nd Street East, but, thankfully, those efforts failed.
My Astor Plaza memories are limited to having seen only two films there – ‘Runaway Bride’ and ‘Signs’. Both were disappointments; I hoofed it out after 20 minutes of ‘Bride’, to the gasps of what had to have been an auditorium full of tourists who, by dint of their bellylaughing at some of the lamest ‘humor’ ever committed to film AND some of their murmurings of, ‘Oh! He’s walking out!’, I’m convinced to this day got SERIOUSLY lost on their way to Branson and a Wayne Newton ‘extravaganza’, and ‘Signs’ was a bit too heavy-handed for my tastes. The theatre itself, though, was a singular experience – that curved screen, those seemingly endless rows of seats… wow! I feared from the time the double-booking of the Astor Plaza and 42nd Street E-Walk begain in the spring of 2002 that the Astor’s days were numbered and, sure enough, those fears have now been realized. You (and the Ziegfeld) are the closest things to a movie palace this 28-year-old film buff has ever had the privilege of experiencing and I’ll miss you terribly…
I’d guess that the Fine Arts actually closed its doors in 2000, as ‘Red Planet’ was released in theatres that fall. From anyone who’s in the know, what condition does the Fine Arts appear to be in at present?
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’.
AMC Theatres purchased what was then the 66-theatre, 621-screen General Cinemas chain during bankruptcy court proceedings in 2002.
No word on any special event send-off screenings, but the final, wide-release booking for the Astor Plaza is official: M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Village’ is opening there next Friday, the 30th. It’s also, to absolutely no surprise, opening at the 42nd Street E-Walk and, to something of a surprise, the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, among other Manhattan locales.
The original auditorium wasn’t demolished; it serves as the lobby for the megaplex that surrounds it.
The Olympia is gone; it was torn down during spring, 2003.
The shooting noted in John and Jamal’s initial description occurred when a member from one gang sat in a seat previously occupied by a member from a rival gang and was shot to death for doing so prior to a 10 pm, opening night screening of ‘Life’. According to an ABC-7 Eyewitness News report the next day, Loews decided to immediately walk away from the property instead of, as originally planned, holding on until their lease ran out at the end of the year.
What a remarkable set of photographs; thanks for posting those! After the Film Guild Cinema years, the 8th Street Playhouse was an independent for several more decades, until B.S. Moss took over. Sometime in the late 1980s/very early 90s, B.S. Moss sold the leases to their theatrical properties to two chains which would operate each of those venues until their respective bitter ends – United Artists (Movieland 8th Street Triplex and the Criterion Center) and City Cinemas, in the case of the 8th Street Playhouse. The Quad, contrary to what Robert initially wrote, was never run by City Cinemas; to my knowledge, it’s been independently run at least since Golden pulled out around ‘88.
Right – the 600 N. Michigan; it’s been a LONG day…
Actually, there are currently three operating theatres in downtown Chicago – the 900 N. Michigan Cinemas, the AMC River East 21, and, of course, the Esquire.
That’s a pleasant – and mildly shocking – bit of news. Did all or only part of the redevelopment project which would have resulted in the demolition of the Tiffany fall through?
Mann Theatres is currently headquartered in Colorado. I believe the chain is 50-50 owned by Paramount and Warner Bros., although I could be wrong…
The 13-story outpatient NYU Clinical Cancer Center is scheduled to open on the site of the former Murray Hill Cinemas sometime later this summer.
After the Regency switched to a first-run policy in 1987 – after much hue-and-cry from several classic film lovers including, if I recall correctly, Leonard Maltin and Tony Randall, among others – its first offering was ‘Barfly’, with Mickey Roarke and Faye Dunaway. The final film booked into what was my favorite theatre in Manhattan – even after just one visit, to see ‘The Celebration’, from a vantage point in the balcony on a snowy night in January of 1999 – was ‘Elizabeth’. Some six weeks later, on February 28th, the run of ‘Elizabeth’ – and of the Alden/Regency – came to an end. By mid-April, the entire structure was sheathed in scaffolding and, within three months' time, it was completely demolished.
The Columbia Spectator only ran the article about the demolition of the Olympia which was linked on that web site as a campus matter-of-interest piece. As the article notes, the non-Columbia affiliated Clarett Group owns the property on which the Olympia stood.
Within the link below is both a brief article – and a photo – of the clearing of the building which formerly housed the Columbia Cinema, among other tenants, and within that link is a link to a Columbia Spectator article, discussing the university’s plans for the site and some of the concerns of neighborhood residents.
http://home.earthlink.net/~aemedwedew/westside/