ImaginAsian Theatre

This theatre was originally called the "DW Griffith"

Unless I'm sorely mistaken the theater was originally the Cine Malibu in the early 70s showing a mix of soft and hard core porn (I was there for a softish session). It then became the DW Griffith launched with a season of Griffith films (I was there for Birth of a Nation with a live organ player)...showing a mix of art and second run quality pictures (I had a date my senior year in high school for a double feature of A Touch of Class and Paper Moon so figure 1973/74)...It then folded into the Rugoff/Cinema 5 chain and later was relaunched by the Cineplex Odeon group in 1989 with Field of Dreams as its first feature as the 59th St Playhouse or Cinema...now mostly a second or third run house with Clearview but a miraculous survivor since the nearby Manhattan Twins (theres another story), Gotham and Coronet are all gone

In the 1970's, my grandfather took me to see the original 1933 King Kong at the DW Griffith (as it was known at the time). This was a newly reconstructed version of the movie that had restored several minutes (Kong stripping Fay Wray on his mountain perch, Kong trampling and chewing on several humans, etc) that had been cut from the film for its post-Hayes Office theatrical re-release. The film ran at this theater for a number of weeks. Admission for the first week or so was 10 cents, in honor of 1933 ticket prices. It is located on East 59th between 2nd and 3rd Aves.

Located on East 59th between 2nd and 3rd Avenues... This was known for some time as the DW Griffith Theater. When the fully restored version of the 1933 King Kong was put back together in the mid '70's, it played here for a number of weeks at the 1933 price of 10 cents!!! My grandfather took me along with a friend to see this great flick when I was perhaps 11 or 12 (after years of seeing the edited version only on the Million Dollar Movie on local TV channel 9 WOR -- memories anyone?) A cozy little theater, as I recall. Haven't been there since.

The theater is closed and the building is for lease. I'm not sure when (or if) it was the Cine Malibu, but in any case it was also the Pacific East at one time.

As of February 24th, 2004, this theatre is still closed and advertised for lease on the marquee.

Except for cinema 1-2-3 and the sutton the eastside has no theatres

I dont think this was the Pacific East, I am trying to rememeber which eastside house that was. As far as I remember it opned as Cinema Malibu, then the DW Griffith for the longert time, and finally The 59 St East. I was the manager here for a year with the DW Griffith name. The marquee was very classy at the time, the front had an outline of Griffith's face. Also the post above about the few theatres left on the eastside, there is also City Cinemas Eastside Playhouse.

Eastside playhouse is also closed down

We assume that this whole block will be torn down eventually...

I did not realize that, I guess it was recent because i saw a film there last year. It is unreal how many theatres the Eastside had and one by one they are going. Did anyone ever find out the real story about why the Sutton Facade was defaced?

In June of 1977, when it was the D.W. Griffith, I saw the first commercial showing (to my knowledge) in the U.S. of Luchino Visconti's legendary first film OSSESSIONE, made in Fascist Italy in 1942. It had previously been shown at the New York Film Festival in 1976 and in some non-theatrical settings. The film had been closeted here because it was based illegally on the James Cain novel THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE.

I saw "When a Man Loves a Woman" at this theater with my girlfriend (now my wife) in 1994. The movie had been out for quite some time by then so we were the only ones in the theater. They were nice enough to show the movie for just us two rather than throw us out and refund our money.

For a rare chance to see the inside of this 299-seat neighborhood theater, the Asian American Independent Film Festival is running its festival in July, 2004, and using the 59th Street as one of its screening facilities.

When I walked by the 59th Street last week the pre-lobby area had a bunch of cardboard boxes scattered around behind the safety gate, and one of the glass doors was left open. I'm looking forward to walking into this neighborhood landmark again. The mini marqee alone will be great to see lit up again. The theater is right around the corner from the skytram to Roosevelt Island.

IMHO, a trip to see the interior of the 59th Street East would be a waste of time. It wasn't built as a theatre, and was just a conversion of longtime retail space into a plain auditorium with the screen flat up against the back wall. It has as much "charm" as an old theatre converted into a Duane Reade drug store!

The theatre is re-opening July 16, 2004, as the ImaginAsian Theatre. The first offerings will be part of the 27th Asian American International Film Festival, but after July 24th, the theatre will continue as a showcase for films from the Asian world, according to a story in the July 9 issue of the NY Daily News. In late July, it will present a five-day retrospective of films by Japanese director Miike Takashi, followed in August by the New York Korean Film Festival. A popular "perk" of movie theatres in Asia-- a cell-phone charging service-- will be available at ImaginAsian. In addition to popcorn, the snack bar will serve bubble teas and Japanese pastries.

There's a half-page full color ad (or is it add?) in Time Out New York #458 July 8-15, 2004, announcing the grand opening. The ad mentions the films above, but they are also opening "Harold & Kumar go to White Castle,' a mainstream release, on July 30. Here is the web address: www.theimaginasian.com

I hope they've added some charm!

The cell-phone charging service seems ominous. Will patrons also be permitted to use their cell-phones during performances?

Hopefully, the new management won't convert the restrooms to the Asian style, which are often no more than holes in the floor.

re: "no more than holes in the floor"
Not so the Japanese hi-tech ones which do all the work for you via selectable levels of rotation spray.

Less facetiously, I saw a good number of films here when it was the D. W. Griffith in the 1970s. I mentioned "Ossessione" earlier. Luchino Visconti's "Conversation Piece" opened here in its first Italian-language showings in New York in a complete print. It had been booed at the New York Film Festival in its English-tracked shorter version.

Victor Erice's magnificent Spanish film "Spirit of the Beehive," with little Ana Torrent of the haunting eyes, also opened here in late 1976. The place may not have had a stunningly beautiful interior but the programming was top-notch then.

"Harold & Kumar" apparently got booked there only because both of the characters are Asian or of Asian heritage.

With the shuttering of the Sutton earlier this week, the ImaginAsian is now the southernmost theatre in Midtown East. (Since 1996, the neighborhood has lost the Plaza, the 68th Street Playhouse, the Manhattan Twin, the Gotham, the Baronet/Coronet, the Eastside Playhouse, and the Sutton to various forms of real estate redevelopment; Midtown West film venue shutterings during that time include the Carnegie Hall Cinemas, the Angelika 57, the Festival, the Cinema 3, the Loews Columbus Circle, and the Regency, while the former 57th Street Playhouse lives on to this day as the DGA Theatre.)

This block of 59th St was a regular porn alley at one time - this theatre, the Cine Malibu, plus the theatre that would later become the Manhattan Twin, and the Lido East which was on the north side of the street closer to 3rd Ave. were all porno joints. They were the reason that the local community board had the area re-zoned to prohibit any more theatres from being built, and the existing theatres could not add any more square-footage. And I think it also prohibited an existing theatre heavily damaged by some catastrophe from being re-built. They were trying to prevent the area from becoming another 42nd St/8th Ave. I'm not positive but I think that zoning restriction is still in effect.

There also was (and is) a theatre at 1105 First Avenue & 60th Street. It is the long-time home of the Chicago City Limits comedy troupe. The theatre has a marquee and for about a minute in the late 80s/early 90s it was opened as a theatre. I remember the film "Jacquot" by Agnes Varda played there (I didn't see that film there; I never went) but remember walking by and the theatre had closed. Anyone have the skinny on this theatre?

It has a page here on the site - http://cinematreasures.org/theater/9502/

I don't think Imaginasian has a bright future. I was there a couple of weeks ago on a weekday afternoon and -- counting me -- there were three people in the theatre.

And in the thousands of times I've gone to the movies I had a first at Imaginasian on Friday night. I was the only person in the theatre. That doesn't bode well because it was the opening night of "Judgement," a film that received a very good review in the Times the very day. It was a late screening, 10:40 p.m. and it was raining, but in a city of 8 million people to only have one person show up, hmmm. I bet the employees -- or employee -- who was left wasn't too happy to see me.

One complaint about ImaginAsian is the sloppy way they project their films. The films are good, though.

The time is right for this theatre to back to first run. With Cinema 1-2-3 going next, they will be able to get decent product again.

I think I saw the reissues of the Hitchcock pictures that played in in 1993/84: Rear Window, Vertigo, Man Who Knew Too Much, Trouble with Harry, and Rope. I remember the theater being a little smaller than I expected, but the presentation at that time was nice.

njmoviefan you are correct. The Hitchock pictures did play there. I believe it was called the DW Griffith at that time. Remember seeing Rear Window and Trouble With Harry. Also, saw Herzog's "Nosferatu", however it may have been under a different name by then. I used to have a photo of the ticket booth of the theater at the time they were showing Jaws 2. The booth was covered by a large head of the shark with the mouth wide open, which was where you paid for your ticket.

"I used to have a photo of the ticket booth of the theater at the time they were showing Jaws 2. The booth was covered by a large head of the shark with the mouth wide open, which was where you paid for your ticket.
posted by JohnG409 on Jun 16, 2005 at 8:25am"

One point about that ticket booth is that it is all closed up. The ImaginAsian folks don't use the ticket booth. You have to enter the theatre and buy your ticket at the concession stand.

I was here a week ago for a couple of the Subway Cinema offerings. I had to stand in a standby list for one film and they turned people away (not me fortunately). And I attended a second screening that, while not sold out, was well attended.

It is nice to see people in this theatre; the previous time I was there I was the only one there!

Kind of sad, though, to walk abound this area and see how bereft of theatres it now is. Cinema 1-2-3 is the only other theatre still open and that is reportedly scheduled to close. I remember when ImaginAsian was the 59th Street Playhouse and you had the Manhattan Twin on that block. On third Ave. you had the 1-2-3, Baronet/Coronet, Gotham and Pier/East Side Playhouse and the Sutton on 57th near Third.

this theatre showed a famous adult film in the '70s.
Was it called 'Sensations'?
I know 'Norma Rae' played here for quite some time.

I wonder what kind of shelf life this place is going to have. I no longer see any display ads of any sort. To find out what is playing you have to turn to the listings in the Times or Voice.

"Joe" day and dated here in 1970 with the Rivoli. At the time it was the Cine Malibu.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/572384a1.jpg

I remember this as the D.W. Griffith. Saw "Sasquatch," "Singing in the Rain," and "The Wizard of Oz" here in the 1970s when I lived on Roosevelt Island. This theatre was very convenient for us tramway riders. When this was the Griffith, it was a nice little space though plain, decorated in soft warm colors, modern, utilitarian, etc. On one moviegoing occasion (I do not remember what the film was, it was in the early 80s), a woman and a young boy stood in front of me at the small concession stand, and when she found out how expensive the candy was she said "FORGET IT!!!" I too remember finding the prices for candy and refreshments significantly higher than in the bigger theatres nearby.

I was hired as an assistant projectionist at Imaginasian when they first opened June 2004. The theater was/is a pet project of AItv- the first all asian network tv station. The people who were appointed to open it had never had anything to do with running a theater before. We opened with two film festivals back to back - Miike and another one I forget. we were working with one platter projector, one trailer sized split reel, and about 30 prints which arrived on cores.
They were one of the first theaters to use an electronic ticketing scanner at the door, instead of a real live ticket taker.
I was always interested in the theater's history as the Cine Malibu, but nobody else there seemed to know anything about it.

In 1970 when it was Cine Malibu
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/HoneymoonKillers.jpg

The Honeymoon Killers, which I recently re-saw on DVD, really is a great, if queasy-making, film. It is absolutely not trash as one could easily assume. French director François Truffaut called it his favorite American movie ever. The DVD features fascinating extras including an interview with one-time director Leonard Kastle, who was a serious composer, including of opera. The use of Gustav Mahler's symnphonic music as background in the film is both eerie and inspired. Performers Shirley Stoler and a sleazy-issimo Tony Lo Bianco are perfection. If you've never seen this movie, rent it or buy it. You'll never forget it.

Those great re-releases in the 1980's of the unseen Hitchcock's opened in all 3 of these theatres. A few of them did so well, mainly Rear Window and Vertigo that they were moved to other theatres because the new fim was already scheduled.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/vertigo.jpg

I wonder how this cinema is doing? I went here quite a bit when it first opened, but haven't been there in quite awhile and you don't seem to hear much about it.

I drive by this theater with a fair degree of frequency - whenever I take the 59th Street Bridge home. I never see a crowd lined up outside, but the marquee is always lit. Last time I passed by about a week or so ago, they were playing the "Dragonball Z" movie, which - if you have pre-teen kids - is a very popular Japanese Anime cartoon show on TV. I assume they play it in the original Japanese, unlike the dubbed show my kids watch on TV.

The former Cine Malibu re-opened as the D.W. Griffith on February 20th, 1975, under the management of Ralph Donnelly's Creative Film Services and with Fabiano Canosa as film booker. The two were responsible for the success of the First Avenue Screening Room, according to a newspaper report. The opening week at the D.W. Griffith was a tribute to its namesake, with performances of such masterworks as "Birth of a Nation," "Intolerance," "Judith of Bethulia," "Orphans of the Storm," "Broken Blossoms," etcetera. There were two shows daily, at 2:30 and 8:30 PM. Evening performances had "live" organ accompaniment by Lee Erwin.

Hardbop... You might find this article about the Imaginasian from the Arts & Leisure section of this week's Sunday NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/movies/23vana.html

There is absolutely zero mention of this theater's history as either the Cine Mailbu or the D.W. Griffith, by the way.

Thanx. I did see the article. I hope this theatre makes it. There aren't too many single-screen theatres left in Manhattan and this theatre has a certain charm.

Fabiano Canosa is still around. He's involved with the Thalia/Symphony Space theatre and teaches a course/screens a film every Saturday there. I think he also programs the Thalia/Symphony Space theatre as well. Fabiano was also affiliated with the Public Theatre and, briefly, with Anthology Film Archives.

I think I finally figured this street out:

239 East 59th Street
1969 - Cine Malibu
1976 - D.W. Griffith
1989 - 59th Street East
2004 - ImaginAsian

220 East 59th Street
1969 - Avco Embassy/Pacific East
1970 - 59th St Twin-1/59th Street Twin-2
1977 - EastWorld/ 59th Street East
1979 - Manhattan-1/ Manhattan-2

211 East 59th Street
1970 - Lido East

I had seen a few films here over the years, always remember it as the D.W.Griffith. I'm greatful that it has found a new life as the ImaginAsian.

AlAlvarez - I believe the 59th Street Twin (220 E 59th) was an RKO theater for a period in the 1970's

It was indeed, John. RKO opened it as such in the late '60's to replace the razed RKO Proctor's on 58th. It's all on the Manhattan 1 and 2 page via the comments. The introduction for that theater needs some cleaning up as it still has Avco Embassy/Pacific East as the opening day name.

Thanks Ed!

Ed, John, that WAS the opening day name for the Manhattan Twin. It became the RKO 59th Street Twin later.

My apologies, then, John. Al... we should move this over to the Manhattan 1 and 2 page, but I'm curious as to the dates. Wally Maletta was the manager of the RKO Twin on 59th and he sent me a couple of photos taken just before the theater opened. I thought he told me that RKO opened this one up themselves. I'll try to reach out to him and see if he can clarify or verify his facts. I'll comment there when I do.

From the opening ads it looks like RKO took the two existing theatres and remodeled the lobby to a common box office when they launched the twins. The previous theatres were primarily used by Avco Embassy and National General film distributors, respectively so they could guarantee themselves a lucrative east side run when the Baronet/Coronet and Cinema 1 & 2 were tied up with long runs.

Anyone interested, let's continue this here at the Manhattan 1 and 2 page.

As the Arista Cine Malibu:

http://preview.aalvarez733.photosite.com/album2/Arista.html

They are opening on of these in LA, on the site of the old Linda Lea theater.

Here is the newspaper ad for Luchino Visconti's 1943 Ossessione when it made its belated commercial American premiere at the D. W. Griffith in June 1977.

The DW Griffith marquee is just visible at the right side of this January 20, 1981 photo. Bronco Billy is playing.

Is this theater doing any business?

Renewing link.

Kiss of the Spider Woman
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=117&ProductID=30967

Here is a nice photo of the ImaginAsian. The zip code should be changed to 10022 so Google will map the address correctly.

Confirming it was the Cine Malibu as early as March 1970, as per this NY Times review of a French movie (rated GP, the equivalent at the time of PG)

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=2&res=9C0DE6D9173EE034BC4F52DFB566838B669EDE

And by May of that year, the Cine Malibu was showing the art porn film "I Am Curious (Blue)", per this NY Magazine listing

http://books.google.com/books?id=8OICAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=Cine+Malibu+E.+59&source=bl&ots=vspzmFsMJg&sig=3SaOUMiFdNSzEtB7Gr3I4dfa1vI&hl=en&ei=NSm5SpOvDYrZlAfaxcHQDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=Cine%20Malibu%20E.%2059&f=false

And here is the whole history. It opened as the DW Griffith in 1962, was the Cine Malibu from 1969-1977, and more

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17692763/Manhattan-movie-theatres

Interesting file but not correct. This opened as the Cine Malibu in 1969.

The 1962 D.W Griffith was actually the Bijou in Times Square, not this one.