New Victory Theatre
209 West 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
209 West 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
17 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 126 comments found
Some shots from 1966:
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An old photo of the Republic Theater can be seen here:
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1971 porno on a showcase run
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Restoration information & photos:
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I wish the management would better publicize the films shown at the New Victory, no matter how seldom the screenings are. I’ve never been inclined to attend any of the family-geared productions presented there (to my loss, I suppose, based on what I’ve heard and read about them) but would feel differently about catching a flick, knowing what I do about the theatre.
They occasionally show movies here. I haven’t been in recent years, but do remember attending films here as part of some film festivals. One of them Reginald Hudlin, the filmmaker, was involved with.
I can attest to the beauty of this theatre. In ‘96 I caught Kurosawa’s “Red Beard” here and “Sugar Cane Alley” as part of the same fest. I haven’t been back since.
Here is a 1966 shot of the Victory and a partial view of some of the other theaters on The Deuce. Nice program of two 42nd St favorites of the time UA’s Satan Bug & AIP’s Time Travelers. I won the item on ebay and will be loaded it on to my website soon. Here’s the temporary link:
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Note the cameraman on the neon sign above the marquee. At night, the display was animated with the camerman cranking the projector.
For those interested, the films showing are:
HARPER & SWINGER’S PARADISE (Lyric), OUT OF THE PAST & TENSION AT TABLE ROCK (Times Square), TROUBLE WITH ANGELS & MYSTERY OF THUG ISLAND (Selwyn), WEEKEND AT DUNKIRK & THAT MAN IN ISTANBUL (New Amsterdam); Apollo appears to have a Gina Lollobrigida film.
photo of 1902 rebuilding:
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The cherubs and the ornimental work remind me of the St James Theatre in Wellington, New Zealand. The St James Theatre was built in 1912 and it’s desginer was Henry Eli White here is it’s website http://www.stjames.co.nz/ it’s a lovely theatre. I think the New Victory is lovely too.
Here)+@field(COLLID+fsa))) is a 1942-dated photo of the Victory’s marquee displaying a double feature of B-movies.
I just found a beautiful color clip of the Victory and entire north side of 42nd Street from 1956 on the gettyimages.com website. The Selwyn is showing (3 Coins in the Fountain & Love is a Many Splendid Thing), Apollo (Naked Night & Divided Heart), Times Square (Best of the Badmen & Badman’s Territory), Lyric (Man in the Grey Flannel Suit & Magnificent Roughnecks), Victory (Purple Heart & Guadalcanal Diary, usually an action house, and since the Times Square was 100% westerns, Victory usually had war and adventure films in the 50s). Here’s the link View link
Jerry 42nd Street Memories
Who was it who handled the booking of the occasional concerts, plays, etc., which were presented in some of the old 42nd Street theatres (specifically the Victory, Lyric, Liberty, and Selwyn come to mind as such venues) between the time they stopped screening films on a regular basis and their renovations and/or conversions into other uses? The city, I know, came to eventually own all the Deuce moviehouses, but did they assume control of each of them as soon as each individual theatre closed for regular business?
Bryan, another great shot. Where did you get this one?
I put the image at 1970, the year that Chisum (Selwyn) and The Losers (Lyric) opened. I can also make out War Lord & Firecreek at the Times Square. Did I miss any? Jerry 42nd Street Memories
A great late 60s view of the Victory’s marquee at night (along with its neighboring movie houses) can be seen here.
Is there any way to retrieve the bookings information on the 42nd Street Theaters, back in the 50s-60s, especially the Empire, Anco, Times Sqaure, Victory, Liberty? I went through the NY Times microfiche at the library and found some mention of the more mainstream New Amsterdam, Lyric, Harris, Selwyn but nothing on the others. Thanks for any info. Jerry 42nd Street Memories
Most of the old 42nd St movie theaters can currently be seen on a Travel Channel show focusing on Times Square. The clips of the Deuce are during the mid-70s and current timeframes. It was shown on December 26. So it should be still in its rotation. The old (xxx rated) Victory and new Victory can be seen.
Jerry 42nd Street Memories
Going off-topic, does anyone know the name of the theatre that is show in the background during the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever?
When it first opened as Theatre Republic on September 27, 1900, the seating capacity was 982, according to William Morrison’s “Broadway Theatres.” The same was reported in the 1954 Film Daily Year Book.
The Film Daily Yearbook 1950 gives a seating capacity of 982 for the Victory Theatre. Later this was reduced to 769 with the closure of the 2nd balcony during its latter days as a grind & porn house.
Two views of the New Victory’s interior can be seen here.
The seating capacity may have been reduced from the original. I believe that New York stage theatres with fewer than 500 seats operate under less expensive union rules than bigger houses do, thus the 499 figure.
Is it really only 499 seats?
What a nice grand theater, this type of architecture I hope to design after I go to college. A stunning restoration. Great job to the people who make this happen. I hope I cna visit it one day.
The Victory of the 50s & 60s, pre-porn, had some of the most fun programming on the Deuce. They did show a lot of re-released Republic action films, especially the John Wayne ones (Sands of Iwo Jima, Wake of the Red Witch. I do recall a Bowery Boys double feature with a 3 Stooges short (unfortunately during the Joe Besser era.)One of the premier action film houses of the time. Jerry the K
This was not Broadway’s first burlesque theatre. The Columbia Burlesque Theatre opened in 1910 at Broadway & 47th Street, and presented burlesque shows well into the 1920s.