Loew's State Theatre

1540 Broadway,
New York, NY 10036

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Showing 176 - 200 of 535 comments

Vito
Vito on November 10, 2010 at 5:20 am

I was thinking the same thing Bill,talk about gross exaggeration

Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on November 10, 2010 at 4:35 am

Thanks, Vito. After viewing this ad, do you think people felt cheated when they saw the actual screen? That looks more like Cinerama to me.

Vito
Vito on November 10, 2010 at 4:28 am

Nov 10th, On this date in 1953 the second picture releaesd in CinemaScope opened simultaneouly at the State and Globe.
I belive HTMAM was actually the first movie filmed in Scope but Zanuck in his wisdom decided to release “The Robe” first to introduce the miracle you see without glasses.

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TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on October 20, 2010 at 12:14 pm

Thanks Tinseltoes.

ediemer
ediemer on August 2, 2010 at 9:05 pm

From “Motion Picture Herald” 4/20/57, p.31

“Rumor along Broadway is that Loew’s State, now a ‘problem theatre’ because of its size, will convert to a policy similar to the Astor or the Victoria, with the coming of ‘Raintree County’-before long. To appreciate this change, you must understand that Loew’s State has 3,450 seats while the Astor has only 1,300 and the Victoria but 1,060. So, when the sweeping change comes in policy, it will be necessary to ‘block off’ about half the seats at Loew’s State-probably most of the huge balcony, to reduce the capacity to something like 1,500 and with that number, a picture can be held for a run of eight weeks or more, on the best Broadway corner. It seems gruesome, but that is just about what will happen. Loew’s State was built for a policy of vaudeville and pictures with weekly changes, and opened in 1921 to rival Keith’s Palace theatre, in the next block. Now, vaudeville is gone, except for a trace; and weekly changes are gone too, and it’s hard to get long runs in a house with too many seats to keep filled.”

Astyanax
Astyanax on July 29, 2010 at 11:26 am

Terrific view of what appears to have been the original marquee; quite elegant. Also liked the summer straw hats!

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on July 29, 2010 at 9:40 am

Thanks Tinseltoes,the link worked today,great photo.

William
William on July 28, 2010 at 4:11 pm

Earlier today it worked, it was a nice shot.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on July 28, 2010 at 4:02 pm

Your photo link does not work Tinseltoes,sounds like a great photo.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 25, 2010 at 7:47 am

That Boxoffice article states that “Tomorrow Is Too Late” was the first foreign film to open in a large Broadway house. Although by 1952 the upper east side art houses played most foreign titles, “Tomorrow is Too late” was hardly the first to open in a large Broadway theatre. In fact, most foreign titles opened there before the art house (sure-seater)explosion.

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on June 23, 2010 at 5:15 am

Boxoffice piece on Italian film (Tomorrow is too Late) playing Loew’s State in 1952. Issue of April 5, 1952:
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Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 13, 2010 at 3:27 pm

I doubt it, daphx. It was most likely the State Theatre in Ithica, New York.

daphx
daphx on June 13, 2010 at 2:12 pm

Was this theater used for concerts in the early 70’s? I recall a concert featuring Yes, Poco Harem and King Crimson. I was wondering if it was in this theater. According to a Poco Harem site there as a concert on 11/1/72 at the Lowe’s State Theater. Anyone know?

William
William on May 17, 2010 at 11:43 am

It’s listed here as Loews State Theatre 4. That thetare closed around Jan. 2006 and has since been gutted. Virgin MegaStore has also gutted for new retail. (Forever 21, Disney).

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on May 17, 2010 at 10:49 am

Does anyone know what happened to the new Lowes State. I think Vrgin Megstore is also cloosed so I wasn’t sure what happened to the theater do9n below. What htye need to do is take that whole building and make a major theater outof it.

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on May 17, 2010 at 10:47 am

Nice 1985 photo Tinseltoes.

William
William on May 6, 2010 at 9:19 am

They also advertised “Superman: The Movie” 1978 there too.

Brad Smith
Brad Smith on April 25, 2010 at 1:40 pm

> Did they continue to perform as “singles” after the break-up?

I don’t believe Dewey Barto did, but his daughter Nancy Walker, who traveled with them on the road, became a stage and movie actress. On television, she played Rhoda’s mother, McMilllan and Wife’s housekeeper and a waitress promoting Bounty paper towels. George got bit parts in several movies, but nothing to equal the success he had with Dewey Barto in vaudeville. He did have a fun gig toward the end of his life as the image on the box and character actor for the breakfast cereal, King Vitaman.

Brad Smith
Brad Smith on April 25, 2010 at 11:50 am

> I gather that you have some personal connection with Barto & Mann.

George Mann is my father. He and my mother were divorced not long after I was born in 1941. We were re-connected and became close friends when my mother and stepfather were divorced in 1955. George died in 1977 leaving an amazing collection of photographs he had shot while performing in vaudeville. My wife, a commercial photographer, has gone through the collection and selected about 1,000 photographs to place with akg-images.

> For how long was the team active?

For a little over 15 years. Dewey Barto and George Mann worked in the same Fanchon & Marco productions in early 1926 and joined together as a comedy dance team in September 1926. They were an immediate hit on the west coast and traveled east to play the Palace Theatre on March 14, 1927 to the following revue in Zit’s Theatrical Newspaper, “Ten minutes before they went on at the Palace last Monday afternoon nobody thought very much about Barto & Mann; ten minutes after they came off stage, the whole Broadway world was talking about them…. Acts like these only come along once in a while.” In October 1927, “The Jazz Singer” opened at the Warners’ Theatre, which was the beginning of the end for vaudeville. Barto & Mann were headliners throughout the late ‘20s and ‘30s, increasingly sharing their performances with motion pictures. As vaudeville wound down in the ‘30s, they were fortunate to join the Broadway show, “Hellzapoppin” from 1938 to 1942. They broke up as a team in December 1943.

Brad Smith
Brad Smith on April 24, 2010 at 2:27 pm

Thanks for your good words, Tinseltoes. Did you happen to notice that Barto & Mann were also on stage in the 1935 photographs from the New York Public Library Digital Library you posted last month?

Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on April 24, 2010 at 12:04 pm

Tyne: I’m a huge fan of Kubrick, but I gotta admit my favorite part of “Killer’s Kiss” is seeing all those dear departed movie marquees in Times Square.

Brad Smith
Brad Smith on April 24, 2010 at 11:03 am

Click on the year for photographs of Loew’s State Theatre taken in 1930, 1938, and another photograph in 1938 by George Mann of the comedy dance team, Barto & Mann.

jeffdonaldson
jeffdonaldson on April 1, 2010 at 3:14 pm

Parson me if this has been mentioned before, but I just watched Stanley Kubrick’s “Killer’s Kiss” and it includes some marvelous nighttime footage of Times Square circa 1954. The amusing part of this is the scenes in Times Square were shot at different times though in the film it all takes place on one night over a period of just a few minutes. The star of the film is walking around where we can clearly see the Victoria is playing “The Man Between.” Loew’s State is playing “How to Marry a Millionaire.” The Globe also has “How to Marry a Millionaire” on its marquee. These films are 1953. At the same time, the Astor is playing “The Queen of Sheba.” The film cuts away to other action then quickly returns to our hero in the street where the Victoria is now playing “Casanova’s Big Night” and the Astor has switched to “Elephant Walk.” The Globe is now running “Beachhead” with Tony Curtis and over at Loew’s State they are now showing “Flame and the Flesh.” These films are from 1954. Don’t know if these scenes had to be reshot months later or if Kubrick just needed additional scenes, but it was pretty funny to see. I always thought it would have been pretty exciting to be in Times Square in those days. Of course, I never realized the theatres changed their programs every five minutes.

Vito
Vito on February 20, 2010 at 10:14 am

In February 1953 “Bwana Devil” the first full length motion Picture in Natural Vision 3-D had its NYC premiere at Loew’s State.
The picture had its NYC premiere engagement simultaneously at TWO theatres— Loew’s State in Times Square and the Fox in downtown Brooklyn. Newspaper reviews mentioned only Loew’s State.
The Fox had about 900 seats more than the State. Variety reported a first week gross of $87,000 for the State, nearly breaking its all-time record set in 1949 by “Jolson Sings Again.” The State had a sliding price scale of 55 cents to $1.50. Variety gave no figure for the Fox, but said business was “socko.”

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