Apollo Theatre

The Apollo 42nd Street was much more than a "grind run" house. Perhaps the term "grind run art house" would be more accurate. For decades it ran double bills of recent and older foreign-language films. Sometimes movies that didn't get an opening in an art house "of class" found their way here. Films shelved by distributors occasionally got aired here. The premiere of Franco Rossi's wonderful THE WOMAN IN THE PAINTING ("Friends for Life") took place here in 1959 and was reviewed by the New York Times. I remember walking by the theatre in the 60s and noticing a revival double bill was playing of Rossellini's WOMAN along with Vittorio Gassman in SHAMED. I am a lover of Italian films, but I had to leave the city and could not stay to see this program of revived Italian rarities. WOMAN was really "Desiderio"; SHAMED was "Preludio d'amore." I have since seen DESIDERIO, but never PRELUDIO D'AMORE. Damn! But, the point is, the Apollo 42nd Street showed stuff like this and much more...and they were open about 20 hours per day.

Does anyone know the significance of the women in the top corners of the facade? I was recently in the city and noticed that the facade is extremely similar to the Garden Theatre in Charleston, SC. They are obviously both Beaux arts/neo-classical style-but what's the background on the women?

The Lyric and the New Amsterdam were the two leaders of West 42nd Street "grind" movie houses, followed by the Apollo, which specialized in foreign imports. The Lyric and New Amsterdam had the first 42nd Street engagments of the double bills that played Loew's or RKO houses in other parts of town. After they played the Lyric and New Amsterdam, the programs moved to the lesser 42nd Street houses. I'm talking about the period prior to 1962, when the "Premiere Showcase" concept was introduced and began to change distribution patterns.

After the introduction of "Premiere Showcase," some of the 42nd Street theatres played the same movies as theatres on Broadway, but weren't included in newspaper advertising because they charged considerably lower admission prices. I remember seeing "Last of the Mohicans" at the National, and then taking a stroll down 42nd Street and finding it for $4 less at the Selwyn. But at the 42nd Street houses, you usually had to contend with poor projection, broken seats, and napping street people.

The 1,197-seat Apollo had Eugene DeRosa as architect and first opened in November 1920 as a "legit" playhouse. In 1933, it briefly became a movie house before being taken over for Minsky's Burlesque, which got shut down by Mayor LaGuardia in 1937. Movies resumed under Brandt Circuit management and continued until the 42nd Street "clean-up" in the late 1970s. After re-births as the New Apollo and Academy, it was demolished in 1996, though some of its original interior was re-created for the auditorium of the Ford Center.

Is this the same Lyric Theater that Deniro's character takes Cybil Sheppard into to see the porn film in the Movie 'Taxi Driver'?

Yes, that's the same Lyric Theatre, Todd.

This is a recently built theatre that has yet to present anything but stage plays. Why is it listed among "Cinema Treasures?" I know that it replaced two "legit" houses that once showed movies, but those, the Apollo and Lyric, should have their own listings, if they don't already.

What is the quote that is written downstairs by the ladies' bathroom?
It is written by Ford and I don't remember it, can somebody help me?

This will undergo a name change to the Hilton Theatre when the stage version of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" opens there next March. The theatre's new sponsor operates the Hilton Hotel directly across the street. Presumably, the present name will remain until the current "42nd Street" closes in January. Further details may be found at www.ChittytheMusical.com

I know this corporate sponsor naming brings in some much needed cash, but It's vulgar. At least calmer heads prevailed and the Winter Garden was able to keep it's original name with Cadillac tacked in the front. The city has now announced it wants to sell corporate naming of subway stops like Xerox 18th Street and Summers Eve Delancy Street.

I remember visiting the Lyric quite frequently in the 50s/60s. As Warren stated, it did have the 1st 42nd St showings after a film had a Broadway run, as did the New Amsterdam on the south side. The Lyric, being an old legit theater had 3 levels and seeing a movie from the top level was a trip. You were looking down on the screen through the haze of the rising cigarette smoke. Last week, the Travel Channel was showing a hour program on Times Square. It included shots of the Lyric & Apollo from the 70s. If anyone knows where I can see photos, images, etc of the 42nd Street Theaters in the 50s-60s, please let me know. Jerry 42nd Street Memories

Nice shot of the Apollo & Lyric from the 40s at http://www.audiencemag.com/LIBRARY/30c/30cSchool.html Jerry 42nd Street Memories

Good article, too.

If i'm not mistaken I think as the Academy theatre the Apolla used to be the venue H.B.O. used to tape "Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam" with Martin Lawrence. I was in attendence during one taping the theatre looked much smaller than it did on television but I remember that domed ceiling and all the mouldings in the auditorium. When they tape when you are in the audience unless you are a V.I.P. you sat in the balcony section. Members of the production team, friends and family of either Russel Simmons, the comics that appeared on stage or Martin Lawrence, as well as the D.J. were seated in the orchestra section.

I just found a beautiful color clip of the Apollo 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 - Note the marquee reads NOT FOR THE JUNIORS, an omen of what was to come), Times Square (Best of the Badmen & Badman's Territory), Lyric (Man in the Grey Flannel Suit & Magnificent Roughnecks), Victory (Purple Heart & Guadalcanal Diary). Here's the link http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/Film/filmresultsmain.aspx?source=general&masterID=561-55&brandID=14&detailView=1

Jerry 42nd Street Memories

Great shot of the Apollo, TImes Square & Lyric around 1950 can be seen here:

http://creative.gettyimages.com/source/classes/FrameSet.aspx?&UQR=imurpj&pk=4&source=front&lightboxView=1&txtSearch=42nd%20street&chkLicensed=on&chkRoyaltyFree=on&selImageType=1

Here is a 1966 shot of the The Deuce. Note the billboard over the Apollo.....HOME OF DISTINGUISHED FOREIGN FILMS. 55 CENTS WEEKDAYS....8AM TO ????

I won the item on ebay and will be loaded it on to my website soon. Here's the temporary link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6166608315


For those interested, the films partially obscured 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.

I started going to the Apollo in the mid 50s to enjoy Foreign films.......It was a big theater compared to those in my Brooklyn neighborhood; but then every Move House on 42nd st. was a fairly good size.........Some of the films i saw if my memory serves me right were, Abel Gance's "Lucrezia Borgia" from 1934, Martine Carol's re-make of Lucrezia Borgia....and many Italian films such as Cronaca Di Una Amore with Lucia Bose', Jolanda La Figlia del Corsaro Nero among others.....What a block that was......Each Movie House showed different variety or Genre of films....The Laff-Movie House with many Vintage shorts, the one House on the Corner of 8th Ave and 42nd st that showed 'Cult" trash films......Then the late 60s came & all of the sleaze.......I have many fond memories of enjoying Movies on that row of Theaters, but my favorite there was the Apollo.........If I recall in the mid-50s, you could get in for $35 cents......Joe From Florida sasheegm

Joe, I agree with your enthusiasm for the Apollo in its heyday. They aften got foreign films that were shelved, barely distributed, etc., in addition to major releases. In short, they had fascinating never-know-what-to-expect programming. (See my posting above, the very first on this page!) I read somewhere that the Apollo got a lot of patronage from deaf or hearing-impaired persons, because they almost always showed foreign language films with subtitles, enabling non-hearers to follow the dialog.

I took many dates to the Apollo and introduced then to Italian films......Even WOR-TV in NY could not stop me from going there when they showed Italian movies once a week---in the 1950s----Sponsor was Hormel Meats......The Willoughby Movie House in my old neighborhood of Brooklyn showed Italian films, and all I had to do was walk 3 blocks to the Wagner to see German films.....Now I collect them on dvd and video---A mutual friend, Brian Simmons told me to contact you last September, but Hurricane Frances demolished my house, and it took 5 months for me to get back in----Hope to talk to more about Italian Cinema Gerry---Great to hear from you....Joe From Florida---sasheegm---

Joe from Florida you seem to have the same memories I have.I
remember the Laff Movie house.I wonder why it hasn't been placed on
Cinema Treasures?I haven't found anything on it so far except for
this post.'ve been trying to research the internet for any item,
but none found at this time.By the way I won a prize at the old
Willoughby Theater as a kid.It was chinese checkers.They had a
race with midget cars and I had a winning ticket.I also come
from your neighborhood and you can visit my site if you'd like.
http://www.phototouch.net - Good old days.

Joe S, the Laffmovie is in fact on the site, it's now the AMC Empire 25.

Thanks Bryan, I couldn't find it.Tried doing vaarious searches on
here and figured I'd ask.

JoeS: Go to your website and read my message, Paisan!---have to shut down for a while because of my damn disability---Nerve damage to my spinal chord---cannot sit or stand too long----One reason it took so long to respond to you...Ciao, Joe From Florida---sasheegm---P.S. Sashee is our cat, gm is short for Gramps and Grandma---my wife and I----Grandkids picked out the weird moniker 4 years ago, when they got me off of the sofa----

Hi Joe, I just wrote you.Again thanks for the great memories.I'm
pretty certain our paths must have crossed in life.

I wonder if anyone knows of a photo on the Internet that shows Bickford's cafe, next to the Apollo.

Ken

Let's not fool ourselves. The Apollo took the best of the then current crop of foreign of European film and turned them into sexploitation material. They did not revive films unless they had sex value.

I am not devualing the Apollo. I love sexploitation. But let's not play stupid history games. The Apollo was the grandad of porn.

Many early foreign films tackled subjects and depicted things that weren't possible in Hollywood movies. And it was a natural progession that many "art" theatres devolved from racy foreign films to soft core domestic nudist films and slowly but surely to hard core; there are many examples of this across the nation, including the Cameo and Tivoli in New York and the Park in Champaign, Ill., to name just a few. But when the hard core market exploded, it wasn't at the Apollo, which eventually swiched to mainstream shows.

The Apollo also showed many imported genre films, from policiers to British comedies, to adventure films, to human dramas of various kinds. And while they certainly did not shy away from saucier imports, they also showed many films that had no such "sexploitable" angles.

Since I moved from Brooklyn to Long Island in 1959, and had not gone to the Apollo after that time period, I can only say what I rememberd.......Outstanding Foreign Films with substance by Directors such as DeSica, Rossellini, Gance, Eisenstein....and actors we did not normally see on Tv or the neighborhood Theaters, Like Girotti, Vallone, Manfreddi, DelRio, Armendariz, Cervi, Trenker, Albers, Servais, and Gabin------In fact, I saw Rififi there for the first time on a double bill for about 35 cents.......So for the time period I attended the Apollo, it was a showplace for many Foreign Countries Greatest Directors and performers.......Yes there was Nudity in some, and sexuality in some; but it was neccesary for the plot-outline----It was not to titilate or exploit.......and those films gave me a greater appreciation of the different Cultures in other Countries.....especially the Italian films, which so often portrayed historical events, and the neo-realism that was part of Italy after WW2......Bravo to the owners of the Apollo of that time frame, for all the enjoyable hours I spent, learning the art of film-making at its best----BTW; I believe Martin Scorsese also went there around the same time as we did Gerry......Joe From Florida.....sasheegm

Joe, good comment about the true nature of the Apollo. Unlike a recent comment writer, I would not refer to the Apollo as the "granddad of porn"...a ridiculous term. Willy-nilly, it was closer to being the granddad of the Walter Reade or the Film Forum. I'm certain too that Scorsese saw many movies there, given his voracious appetite.

We were born the same year, by the way, and seem to have shared the same tastes, judging by his great documentary on the Italian cinema "My Voyage to Italy." No doubt all of the films he discusses in his movie played the Apollo at one time or another. Many of the virtually lost foreign films he was instrumental in having re-issued (I think of "The Proud and the Beautiful") had played there in second run, as with the Thalia on 95th Street which the Apollo most closely resembled.

Almost every foreign film that had opened elsewhere in New York played there, regardless of previous performance or subject matter. Some, like Germi's "Un maledetto imbroglio" ("The Facts of Murder"), Rossi's "Amici per la pelle" ("The Woman in the Painting") and the omnibus film "The Witches," with episodes by Pasolini, De Sica and others, actually premiered here and were reviewed by the New York Times after their Apollo opening. They showed many minor shelved films that could not even get into the major houses and that their distributors wanted to realize some revenue from before issuing to the non-theatrical 16mm market.

From "Devil in the Flesh" to "The Divided Heart", across the spectrum of subject matter, the Apollo was one of America's greatest, if not the THE greatest, showcases for international cinema! To have seen everything they showed would be to be cinematically enriched beyond measure.

Bravo to those who remember the Apollo as she truly was, the theatre that brought foreign film to the masses at reasonable prices. Yes, the Apollo 42nd Street, as it was known in order to differentiate from the Apollo 125th Street, was a grind house, but it was foreign, art, or upscale domestic film that glowed on that silver screen. At least that was true during the 1950’s, 60’s and early 70’s. The Apollo, like all 42nd Street theatres, changed prices several times a day. Prices ranged from $.35 from 8 to 10 in the morning up to $1.25 weeknights or $1.50 weekend evenings. Broadway theatres were charging several dollars more while both 42nd Street and Broadway played day and date.

In later years, as more and more art houses opened, the Apollo 42nd Street played only English language films, but still on the more upscale side. Eventually, the 42nd street entrance was closed and turned into a storefront, while the 43rd Street entrance, directly across from the New York Times Building, and the theatre itself were refurbished. The theatre was renamed the New Apollo, and went on to host such legitimate bills as THE FIFTHH OF JULY, BENT and ON GOLDEN POND.

In truth, most of the 42nd street theatres never played porn. Each theatre actually had a genre of film in which it usually specialized. The Victory Theatre was indeed a porn house, playing a film called THE PINK PUSSYCAT for more than a year. However, the Lyric, New Amsterdam, Selwyn and Harris played first run, day and date with Broadway. The Times Square played westerns during the week and gladiator type films on Sundays. The western bills would change three times a week, with a new show every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Liberty and Anco theatres were mainly used as move over houses. A show (two features, a cartoon and a short) would, for instance, play one week in the Lyric and then move over for a second and possibly subsequent weeks to the Liberty. THE FISH THAT SAVED PITTSBURGH actually played the Liberty for several months.

The Laff Movie, a.k.a. the Empire, was moved several feet down the block towards 8th Avenue to become the entrance to the new AMC Empire. The Empire played mostly kung fu triple bills toward the end of the 80’s and into the 90’s. There were several storefronts that were turned into small porno houses for a period of time. But generally speaking the bulk of the historic theatres that were and in many cases still are 42nd Street played the same titles that were playing right around the corner on Broadway for many times the price.

I was the head film buyer for the Lyric, Apollo 42nd Street, Selwyn, Liberty, Times Square, Empire and Victory Theatres for more than twenty years.

Jack D: It was great reading your recollections of old 42nd st and its Movie Houses.......I dont know if you were the booking agent back in the 50s when I went there, but if you were, a heart felt Thank You, for all the memories you supplied for me & many others at the Apollo and the other houses on that strip........Joe From Florida---sasheegm

Here are some samples of Apollo ad copy from the early 1948 New York Times.

CHILDREN OF PARADISE
“Exudes sex appeal!”

OPEN CITY
“Violence and plain sexiness!”

PASSIONELLE
“ A tale of illicit love”

TORMENT
“A study of sex and sadism”

FURIA
“Strips down to the bare facts”

Each one was accompanied by a drawing of a young lady in a low cut blouse. Yes, that MUST HAVE BEEN art the Apollo was selling!

To AlAlvarez: Much of that phraseology was contained in the distributor press books! So what? It is a big damn leap from that to saying the Apollo was the granddad of porn. I have the original press book and newpaper ads for "The Bicycle Thief" put out by distributor Mayer-Burstyn, emphasizing the shapely leg of Antonio's wife on a bicycle, which hardly reflects the nature of the film at all. Does that make "The Bicycle Thief" the granddad of porno movies?

And whether this kind of promotion was offered by the distributor publicity departments or the exhibitors themselves, sex, sexiness, sex appeal are widely used to promote entertainment, not to mention toothpaste. Sex sells, the hint of the illicit sells! But it's not necessarily a rehearsal for pornography. When Colgate markets a toothpaste showing a sexy woman smiling provocatively at you, is that a preparation for their new line of porno-paste?

It's a big leap that you are making. It is far-fetched. You are truly way off on this. Does that mean the Apollo could never have become a porn theatre??? Of course it could have, but it did not. It might have become one too if if had previously been showing only "The Sound of Music," "Mary Poppins" and "Pinocchio." On the other hand many Jerry Lewis cinemas, built for family entertainment, became porno houses less than a decade after they were built to entertain families. There is one in my town.

What I am telling you is that there is no connection between a theatre saying "Children of Paradise" exudes sex appeal and the ultimate programming of hard core. "Deep Throat," incidentally, opened at New York's World Theatre, which had made a reputation showing neo-realist classics and other worthy films in the postwar years. In conclusion, what you assert makes no sense at all. None at all. And nothing can detract from the historical fact that the Apollo was a fabulous place to catch some great international cinema.

What town is that, Gerald? Maybe I'd like to check out that Jerry Lewis cinema.

Saps, it's Johnston, RI. It is no longer a porno cinema, just a porno shop. It is listed on Cinema Treasures as Johnston Cinema. Click here.

Gerald, my point is that the Apollo, unlike any other New York arthouse, ALWAYS stressed the sex angle of its films even when there was none. Only the Apollo sold a war drama like BEFORE HIM ALL ROME TREMBLED as "earthy sexuality in great abundance". It is common knowledge that foreign film distributors often used sex angles to entice American audiences to see them but these quotes rarely used on first-run and the Apollo used them weekly.

Forty second street theatres had a tradition of making promises of sex in films that did not deliver. My point is that the Apollo was the first to blatantly do this and probably invented the concept.

THE BICYCLE THIEF indeed was censored by the city of New York (trouble with the scene of the boy urinating in the street)and had many problems at the World 49th. BITTER RICE, OPEN CITY and THE IMMORAL MR. TEAS also had censorship probelms at the World 49. It is because of this that DEEP THROAT gained credibility as something to be protected by the first amendment. New Yorkers knew that the World 49 had faced this nonsense before.

The Apollo was eclipsed by more blatant sex films in later years but for proof that arthouse lead to porn you need look no further than the booking history of the World 49th and, of course, the selling of the films of Brigitte Bardot. The World 49 had nowhere to go after hard core.

Jerry Lewis Cinemas certainly helped spread porn to middle America. The franchise owners were losing their shirts with family films and switched to porn usually with DEEP THROAT. I do not deny the Apollo was a great house (I was never lucky enough to see it) but I think it should be duly noted, along with the World 49, for its important place in the history of film sexploitation marketing. I can assure you CHILDREN OF PARADISE, a fine film no doubt, did not exude sex appeal before or after its Apollo run.

AlAlvarez,

I have an ad from the 50s when the Apollo was showing NANA with Charles Boyer. The distributor's ad reads "spicy adult cinema package". As Gerald mentions. "sex sells"....that's Marketing 101.

But "grandad of porn", "stupid history games"???? That ad, like most, was prepared by the film's distributor. And if the Apollo is to be signaled out....'respectable' theaters such as the Beekman, Art, Gramercy, Symphony can also be attibuted to the parenting of porno. They are listed in the ad, as well.

If you were there, you know that the Apollo had some of the most respectable programming on the street. As far removed from porno as the Times Square's action fare.

JACK D.....please contact me at 42ndst@tampabay.rr.com I would like to discuss the programming on 42nd during the 50s - 60s. Thanks.

Jerry

I agree, Jerry Kovar. Racy ads for art films does not automatically predestine a theatre for eventual pornship. And the redoubtable Paris Theatre showed Brigitte Bardot in "And God Created Woman" for over a year by peddling her breasts and butt outline, and it should be singled out as well as the "grandma of porn." I walked by there yesterday. They are showing "Ladies in Lavender."

I'd like to resign from the topic since the issue is so self-evident to me that it is becoming tedious. However, if AlAlvarez or anyone else has an extended listing of what was shown at the Apollo over their "great years" (e.g.: dates, lists of double bills) I would like to have access to that. I understand enough about their programming and went to enough films there to have a pretty good idea of what they did. Still, it is sketchy. I'm: italiangerry@cox.net

In his recent autobiography "The Good, the Bad, and Me," actor Eli Wallach recalls his days as an aspiring Broadway actor in the 1940s. On days of casting rejections he would wander, he says, on 42nd Street where, for a quarter, he would watch the movies of great French actors Harry Baur, Jean Gabin, Louis Jouvet, Jean-Louis Barrault, Raimu. He writes on page 93: "'God, that was brilliant acting,' I would think, and try to find something in their performances to take as my own." Wallach does not mention the Apollo by name, but it is certain that this is the theatre where French movies with those actors aften played and that he undoubtedly visited before taking the subway back to his home in Brooklyn.

Hi Gerry: Eli Wallach was a Customer of mine, when I worked for Sears Auto Center as asst. Mgr back in the mid 60s in Hicksville,L.I.--------He and wife Ann Jackson lived close on L.I., and every once in a while, he would pop in to look over some of the items we had in our racks, since we had 60 bays, which at the time, was the largest Auto service Station in the Country.........He was a regular guy who almost felt embarresed by all the attention folks would give him........and I think for him to go to Europe and become one of the biggest names in World Cinema in the 60s, might have given him pleasure to be talked about with the likes of all the greats of European Cinema you mentioned........I have alot of info On Mr. Wallach, who I feel is one(still with us) of the finest character actors ever to grace a Movie Theaters screen.....will try to e-mail you privatly later on more.......and I am sure many young and old Actors & Actresses who graced the Bway Stage for so many years, would take in a show at the Apollo............Too bad we could not have a time machine for about 3hours, just to return to those magical days......Ciao, Joe From Florida----sasheegm

Sadly I was only able to experience the Apollo Theatre as its final incarnation of The Academy and fortunate enough to even make it into the backstage area and into a few of the afterparties...it was a great place to see shows.

In order to get into the venue, you would enter through the 239 West 43rd Side. ..in reality that must have been the emergency exit for this venue during its earlier days.

The main West 42nd Street entrance and lobby became the makeshift storage area for roadcases (boxes that would transport the equipment)
and whatever else needed to be stored away from the eyes of the concert-goers...garbage dumpsters etc.

The bathrooms were reached by descending down a flight of stairs into the basement. They were poorly kept (well atleast the mens room was).Grafitti and urine were prevalent everywhere.

Next to the bathroom stairs was the merchandise stand...I picked up some
nice stuff here (that doesnt fit anymore- as alot happens in 10 years)

The stage that acts used was a temporary stage- it wasn't an original stage. The stage was made of plywood platforms, which were painted black and set upon construction grade steel scaffolding.They hung a black tarp along the bottom of the stage surface, which touched the floor.I made note of all of this walking backstage, where I was able to catch a side-view of the stages skeleton.

The backstage area was reached by a set of stairs. Each dressing room was a tiny 8x8 (in comparison Roseland on W.52nd St. has huge basement dressing rooms) There were about 1 or 2 dressing rooms per level, I imagine there were about 5 levels.

Whenever they had an afterparty it was usually in the balcony section bar.
The baclony was reached from the main level (orchestra) by a set of stairs on each side.

I began going there in 1994,I met a few of the big names in metal- Pantera, Crowbar, Biohazard, Suicidal Tendencies, Down.The parties were always ill-maintained and if you made it upstairs before the security started locking the place down for the invittaion-only afterparty.You were set.

There was a suicide here during a March 26th 1996 Black 47 performance, an off duty cop shot himself in the heqd and the bullet, went through another 2 people (some Kennedy magic bullet action)

That might have been the last time I was there March 26th 1996

Sounds terrible to an old timer like me Greenpoint.........It's a shame that so many of these beautiful Theaters have suffered such a fate........Incidently Greenpoint, I worked for Domino Sugar from 1959 until 1961 on Kent Ave, just on the edge of Greenpoint-Williamsburg border-line..........Every year, I try to catch he NY Marathon on TV to see anything familiar.........and the only thing that is familiar is the Verazano Bridge & Central Park now-------Years back, when they first started to televise it, I would see Bakeries and Butcher shops----No more!------Times change........Joe From Florida---sasheegm user name

Here is 42 St. after all the movie theatres closed
http://www.dere-street.com/photography/new_york/manhattan/42nd_street_theatres_1.php
http://www.dere-street.com/photography/new_york/manhattan/42nd_street_theatres_2.php

Another pic
http://www.14to42.net/42street.html

Thanks RobertR for taking the time to post them.......Joe From Florida......

Robert, those are two sad pictures posted at 2:32pm above; the theaters had already closed and their marquees were being used as a poetry art project. It really was a ghost town during that period.

On the other hand, I very fondly remember that "cooped-up?" sign on the side of the Selwyn Building, and others like it. For years I would say to people "Get more out of life! See a movie" which was another sign on the block.

I love that expression, I sometimes used it at the end of the showtime tapes when I was a theatre manager.

Here is the Apollo during better times....1967 j

http://photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=42apollotimessquare1967QuillerM.jpg

Great photo Jerry....even though by then, I was living on LI, had a 4 year old daughter, and another on the way........If you find any shots from the 1950s, that was the decade I frequented those Movie Palaces.....and I remember seeing one hell of a doble bill at the Lyric I believe; "Each Dawn I Die" with Raft and Cagney plus "The Roaring Twenties" with Cagney and Bogart-----the first time I had ever seen them......Great twin bill.........Regards & Thanks, Joe From Florida----sasheegm user name

Joe,
I just posted a 50s shot of the Empire.
Here it is:
http://photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=42Empire1958Liz-Eddie-Debbie.jpg

42nd had all of the Warner Bros re-releases in the mid-late 50s. I know that I too saw The Roaring 20s there, maybe the same day as you. Also remember seeing: Black Legion, Capt Blood, Sea Hawk, Oklahoma Kid, Desperate Journey. I've been trying to recreate the double/triple features that I saw on 42nd in the 50s-60s. Got a long way to go. j

That's some task Jerry.......So many films were seen there, but certain ones stick out in my mind, especially those two, that I saw for the first time.....Now I have both on video........I also remember going to the sneak previews that they used to have on the Bway theaters........I saw "East of Eden"...I believe at the Astor(not quite sure of the theater) but anyway, they had a sneak preview afterwards, and it was a "Bowery Boys" film......what a combination-----Could not tell you what Bowery Boys, as I remember leaving before most of it got started--------They used to give you preview cards to fill out------Not for me, as i left early-------I saw the film I paid to see......Well its past my sack time-----Funny when your younger you could go to a midnight show and think nothing of it........Now I cannot keep my eyes open after 11pm......Keep up the great posting and memories Jerry......Joe From Florida

When "My Fair Lady" was re-released in 70mm in 1971 at the Criterion, it then went on to a wider run in 35mm.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Ladywidere-issue.jpg

Robert: Speaking of the Criterion......I used to write the sports & Movie reviews for my High School Newspaper, and in 1956 i went to the Criterion to see and review what has become my favorite Ford/Wayne film, "The Searchers".........Magnificent......and I probably have seen it at least 20 times since then.........and a treat for me and my wife was becoming friends with the late Henry Brandon who played Chief Scar in the film.......When he tested for the film for John Ford and got the part, Henry asked Ford,,"But Mr.Ford I have blue eyes and Indians do not have blue eyes"-----Ford looked at Henry and said, "Believe me, Nobody will be looking at your eyes"-----Henry had those striking features that enabled him to be around Hollywood for 6 decades.....He shared many memories with us.......Just thinking of the Criteron after your post here at the Apollo.........I am lucky in that i had a chance to attend many of the great Theaters in Manhattan, plus see Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider & Dimaggio in his last year as a Yankee....and attend all three Ball parks-----Yankee stadium, Ebbetts Field & the Old decrepid Polo Grounds.......

Joe
Thanks for those memories, you saw a lot of a NY that is totally gone now along with the Copa, the Automat and Penn Station.

OK, Joe & Gerry....by request. The Apollo in 1950 & 1961. j

http://photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=421950.jpg

http://photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=42SelwynApollo1961.jpg

Wow! Apollonian? Perhaps closer to Dionysian. Thanks.

Beautiful Jerry & Gerry: I wish I had that car.......Looks like an old, or new! Kaiser/Frazier.......look at all that glitter.....wonderful......Joe From Florida

Here are the Apollo and Times Square in 1935
http://photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/?action=view¤t=TS.jpg

Bardot at the Apollo
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/DeerParkTheatre.jpg

this was considered a art or foreign film house . i saw many fine films there such as "and god created women",riffifi,no sun in venice with the music of the modern jazz quanartet.also the virgin spring.and such fine actors as fernandel jaque t'haiti,raf vallone'vitorrio gasman and the stunning maria felix also the equally stunning francois arnal and of course brigitte bardot and silvano mangano

Day-and-date (1947): www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/dd.jpg

In 1969 the Apollo Played "If" on it's wide break
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/If.jpg

Just posted this on the old Lyric Theater site and thought it made sense here as well:

Came across a pair of old Playbills from Broadway shows I had seen when I was a teenager (one from November of 1978, the other from May of '81). Interesting article in the '78 Playbill about the theatrical community's efforts to work with the Mayor (Koch during his first administration at the time) to clean up the Times Square area. There's mention of the League of New York Theaters and Producers working with the "Mayor's Midtown Action Office and Midtown Enforcement Project" to permanently close area peep shows, massage parlors and "other sex-related businesses." Sound familiar? Perhaps the Giuliani's administration circa 1994?

It's funny how the article takes a sunny outlook on the situation, referring to a time "a few years back" when "the Times Square area was in many people's minds a composit of Dante's Ninth Circle and the outer space, spaced-out bar in 'Star Wars.' The Great White Way was splattered with sleaze. Actresses and actors went on talk shows and made jokes about muggers." Meanwhile, any true clean-up of the area was more than a decade in the future and at the cost of some of our greatest cinematic and theatrical palaces (not to mention any trace of Times Square's once-unique character and atmosphere).

The article also mentions a "recent announcement" by the Brandt Organization to restore the Lyric and the Apollo on 42nd Street to legitimate theaters. I don't think anything ever came of that plan for the Lyric, but I do know that attempts were made to use the Apollo as a legitimate stage in the early '80's. In fact, the '81 Playbill I found lists Richard Thomas appearing at the Apollo in "Fifth of July" under the "How many of these shows have you seen?" section in the back of the magazine. In any event, the plans did come to fruition eventually, albeit with the destruction of the orignal Lyric and Apollo interiors and the creation of the new Ford Center for the Performing Arts (now Hilton Theater) which, as described in comments above, incorporates architectural elements from both old houses into its design.

The listing for this theater in that 1981 Playbill for the play "Fifth of July" is for the "New Apollo Theatre" using 234 W. 43rd Street as its address. I assume the Duece wasn't cleaned up quite enough at the time to have made for an inviting entrance for theatergoers. During the creation of the Ford Center, it appears that the original Apollo entrance hall on 42nd Street was restored, even though the formal entrance to the new theater is down the block through the former lobby space of the Lyric. Can anyone confirm if the Apollo entrance foyer is original or was this space also gutted and merely made to look vintage? I had never seen a film here, but I did attend a Santana concert while it was The Academy in the mid 1990's, entering from the 43rd street side.

Just a quick note on ticket prices... top dollar for "Fifth of July" was $25 on a Saturday evening performance. Seats in the upper balcony could be had for as little as $12.50 for a Wednesday matinee. "A Chorus Line" commanded top dollar on the rialto then, with top Saturday evening tickets going for $30. Looking back on the 1978 Playbill, "A Chorus Line" was selling its top Saturday night tickets for $20!!! Imagine that - a 33% hike in prices over the course of less than 3 years. Today we have $100 seats representing a 500% increase over 27 years. And that's not taking into account these premium seating policies at some productions ("The Producers" started this trend in 2001) where choice seats are sold for $480 - that's WITHOUT a ticket broker! By comparison, movie theater tickets (which were probably $3-$4 in Manhattan around 1980 and are now $10.75) remain a genuine bargain, having only gone up about 40% over the same time period of time.

Ugh. My math is faulty. Obviously that's more like a 300-350% increase for movie tickets.

I think that the 42nd Steet entrance to the "Hilton" (ugh) is the lobby/entrance of the Lyric. There is another entrance further west that used to be the Apollo entrance, but that is not presently used as an entrance; perhaps it is still used as an exit.

Yes, saps, theatergoers enter the Hilton through the former Lyric entrance on 42nd Street. The 42nd Street facade of the Lyric was beautifully restored, but I'm not entirely sure that the entry lobby is the original or if it - like the rest of the theater - was designed with a nod to the past. I've only seen one show at the Hilton (the musical "42nd Street" aptly enough) and I can't recollect the details of the lobby space clearly enough. I seem to retain the impression that it has a more modern feel to it, albeit with vintage elements - like the theater itself.

The Apollo's 42nd Street facade was basically non-existent, as the theater entrance was incorporated into the neo-classical facade of the adjacent Times Square Theater (which the Hilton now wraps around). But, from what I can see peering through the glass doors on 42nd Street, the old entry foyer does appear to be restored to original specifications.

My only memories of this venue are from its days as Academy:

- waiting nearly 2 hrs in cold rain to be up front for Duran (which was totally worth it)
- going deaf and taking refuge in the balcony during Ramones (and wondering about the history of the place, as I noticed some of the painted-over details)
- seeing Jesus & Mazzy Chain with my husband of then only ten hours (now 11 years)
- deciding last minute to see Concrete Blonde, finding out the show was sold out and running down the street to the tranny bar next to the Carter (Sally's?)

It hurts to know that it's truly gone - the last time I was in the area Academy was still operating - but just as much to know what was lost before that. And dammit, I LIKED the sleaze on the other side, I spent most of my free time between the ages of 18 and 21 there. I mean, where else could one find hamburgers for a dollar, then go down the street and get a fake id for 10?

Cheebs... I had the the same experience waiting outside to see Santana at the Academy as you did with Duran. It came down cats and dogs. Lining up early paid off, however, as my friend and I were right at the lip of the stage for the show and Vernon Reid showed up to jam w/ Carlos. That was probably '94? That was the last General Admission concert I ever attended. Standing in the rain all that time and then having to stand for the concert in a soaking wet shirt did not exactly do wonders for my back. Nowadays, in my dotage, I prefer the more genteel arrangement of reserved seating!

I miss the honky tonk of 42nd as well. The Grand Luncheonette under the Selwyn marquee. The phony ID hawkers and pot dealers tucked into every other door way. The billboards and display cases filled with stills advertising the lurid fare in each of the grindhouses outer vestibules. Those were the good ole bad ole days...

Here's a flyer that apparently was mailed to advertise all of the Brandt theaters on the Deuce. This one for the Apollo in 1952. Anyone know during what period this was done and where I can find more? jerry

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=Apolloflyer2.jpg

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=Apolloflyer1952.jpg

These seem to be weekly programmes that were mailed to a subscription list. You could get on the list by signing up in the lobby. Many of the Brandt-operated theatres had them. When I was a kid, my parents put my name on the lists for the Colony Theatre in Jackson Heights and the Drake in Rego Park (both in Queens). It was the first mail that I ever received...Many of the Brandt mailers can be found at the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library's theatre research second, but they're filed helter-skelter. Some may turn up, for example, in a clipings file on a Brandt theatre, or they might be in the clippings file for one of the movies listed.

Great find, Jerry. I love it! You might want to check out the local papers and bulletin boards for antique books and ephemera shows. They usually set up for a two-day weekend at a local school or church rec hall. There was one in nearby Garden City last weekend and someone was negotiating with one of the booksellers for a vintage program from the George M. Cohan Theater circa 1919. The program had been neatly stapled through the center binding and taped along the spine as well as having been hole-punched for inclusion in some two-ring binder at some point. It sounds worse than it was, for the pages themselves were in excellent shape. The seller wanted $35. I had to move on before their haggling was concluded.

Jerry, my head just exploded in delight when I saw that flyer advertising Brandt's 42nd Street theaters. I'd been to all those theaters from about 1974 until they closed. What lost treasures, and what a delight to see them so well promoted.

Here's a photo I snapped through the closed glass doors into the Apollo's former entrance foyer, which was cleaned up and refurbished during the creation of the Ford Center (now Hilton Theater) complex. I took this this past Thursday night while on the Duece for a show at the New Victory:

Apollo 42nd Street entrance foyer

As far as I know, this foyer is no longer used... the main entrance to the Hilton is on the other side of the Times Square Theater through the former Lyric Theater entrance.

Below are two scanned shots I snapped of the Apollo/Times Square facade in 1993 and another from 2002:

1993 Apollo Karate Academy
1993 long shot
2002 nuetered facade

In the 1st photo, you'll see that the last tenant in the former Apollo foyer space was the "Apollo Karate Academy" (a name that features two of the theater's former appellations). That must have been one long and narrow dojo. In the 2nd photo, you'll see the marquee for the Harris Theater at far left. The Harris was the last of the Duece grind houses still in operation at the time, though it did seem to be near the end with an advertisement for the soon-to-be-opened Movieplex 42 up the block.

Anyway... speaking of the Apollo foyer... here is a vintage shot of that space that I found on the theater's page on ibdb.com:

Vintage foyer and lobby doors

I thought it might be interesting to compare the the recent photo I took of the restored foyer in my May 6th post.

I remember Ed....Thanks from Joe From Florida

Hookers & Eskimos (1948):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/apollo1248.jpg

Great Warren: Out of the titles shown, I have Nanook of the North on dvd, and Imitation of Life------Thanks for the memories Warren and keep them coming----wish somebody had one on the old Rogers on Bway in Brooklyn.......Between you and all the other regulars, you make this site worthwhile coming to in addition to NYC Subway website------Yesterday I caught a glimpse of the old Loews Valencia there at the 168th station with BMT Standard waiting to embark to Broad St.......That station is now demolished....and there was an older theater across from the Valencia, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it---On Jamiaca Ave and 167th st............If you know the name let me know Warren and thanks again---Joe From Florida

Joe, directly opposite Loew's Valencia was the RKO Alden, which started out as the Shubert Jamaica with stage plays and opened only a few months before the Valencia. More info about the Alden can be found at its listing on this website.

The only hookers in STREET OF SHADOWS (a wartime spy thriller) are in this ad. That lampost and hooker were recycled by the Apollo for many of its releases and were not part of this film's ad campaign which consisted of a male headshot and a fully covered frilly dressed female dancer.

For the record, Street of Shadows was actually Salonique, nid d'espions, also called Mademoiselle Docteur, 1937, a French film by the acclaimed German director Georg Wilhelm Pabst. HERE'S THE FRENCH POSTER.

A pair of art films in 1958
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/FarewelltoArmsRKOwiderun.jpg

1977 Godzilla flicks are still playing the street.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/GodzillaVSCosmicMonster.jpg

Yes. Probably a very rare occurrence where a G-rated film played The Duece in the '70's! I wonder what else was on the bill... and what the MPAA rating was for the supporting feature(s).

When did the Apollo, of all places, switch from "art house" flics to Godzilla fare. My last CUE ends in 1970 and it was still booking foreign films.

Well... technically speaking, the Godzilla films were foreign! Har har. Given what was being featured on the rest of the strip during the '70's, I imagine the Apollo eventually followed suit before having a go at theatrical presentations in the very late '70's.

You got me, Ed. And the imagery of Sophia Loren in a rubber suit wrecking havoc is not a bad one.

From the NYT, February 1, 1954

PASTOR CONDEMNS TIMES SQUARE "NUDITY" IN "SHOCKING" MOVIE ADS AND BOOK SHOPS

"The tarnished tinsel and the false glamour of Times Square were condemned yesterday by Msgr. Joseph A. McCaffrey, pastor of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church...the monsignor looked at the "crossroads of the world" and found it a hotbed of "lurid signs" and flea circuses...He was especially critical of the theatres along forty-second Street that glorify "nudity and near-nudity" and hawk their wares by "indecent, obscene, salacious and shocking" marquee advertisements...Msgr. McCaffrey criticized the Rialto, Apollo, the Squire and the Times Movie theatres."

Where were the Squire and Times theaters? I thought he meant the Times Square theater but that was tame action flix in the 50s-60s. Jerry K

The Squire was the Cameo-Adonis 693 W. 8th Ave and the Times was at (302 W. 42nd St).Both are on CT.

Hmmm... those "indecent, obscene, salacious and shocking" marquee advertisements are precisely what kept me coming back to the Duece throughout my teens and into my early twenties! And the lax age-proofing policies of those theaters was also quite appealing.

The Sunday real estate section of The New York Times of November 23rd, 1997 had a remarkable full page of color photographs showing the demolition of the Apollo and Lyric and the construction of their replacement. Apparently taken from the top of NYT headquarters on West 43rd Street, the nine photos by Ruby Washington covered a period from November 1996 through November 1997, when the new theatre was getting ready to open. I don't think this article is available through the NYT website, but it can be seen (with the color photos in B&W) via ProQuest and/or NYT microfilm.

From Variety January 30, 1957

42nd St. Grind’s $5-mil Gross

10 Film Parlors Carefully Run

A total of 10,000,000 people paid an estimated $5,000,000 to see motion pictures last year in 10 theatres on one block in New York City. The 10 theatres are located on 42nd street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, a street frequently condemned because of its ‘carnival’ atmosphere.

Surrounded by pizza parlors, hot dog stands, shooting galleries, pokerino palaces, and novelty stores, the theatres, the theatres are nevertheless well maintained policed, and managed. This is no skid row.

The theatres – seven of which are operated by Brandt Theatres and three by Cinema Circuit – offer perhaps the most varied programming that can be obtained in any concentrated area in the world. The type of product available on the street in any one day – offers a choice to all tastes – from the discriminating intellectual to the uneducated laborer.

Although it is not generally known, each of the 10 theatres on the block follows a specific programming policy. For example, the Brandt’s Lyric and Cinema’s New Amsterdam are first subsequent run houses, playing pictures immediately after their Broadway runs and simultaneously with the key Loew’s and RK theatres. Pictures are booked at these houses for a week’s run. Brandt’s Apollo is an art house which offers the outstanding foreign language imports at popular prices after the films complete their first-run engagements. The bookings are exclusive for the area and the films are played for two to four weeks depending on the draw at the box office.

Brandt’s Times Square is a western and action outlet and the same circuit’s Victory concentrates on exploitation and horror films. The Selwyn (Brandt) and Harris (Cinema) are moveover houses. Brandt’s Liberty and Empire and Cinema’s Anco are strictly reissue outlets. The action and reissue outlets change bills twice a week.

Admission prices are moderate, the first sub-runs charge 40c.- 95c.; the art house ditto; the current product moveovers 30c.- 85c.; and the action and reissue houses 25c. – 65c. The theatres operate on an amazing schedule. The majority open at 8 a.m. and run to 3 a.m. the following morning, with several closing at 4 a.m. To maintain this operational schedule, the theatres employ three shifts of employees.

Contrary to general belief, the atmosphere of 42nd St. has not provided the managements wit undue problems of coping with juvenile delinquents and undesirables. According to Martin Levine, general manager of the Brandt houses, the 42nd St. theatres have no more problems than other theatres. As a matter of fact, he maintained, the juves make up only a small portion of the patronage. He noted, for example, that two recent pictures especially aimed at teenagers – ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’ – fared poorly at the box office.

The theatres, however, have taken precautionary measures against young hoodlums and other undesirables. A crew of uniformed Burns guards make frequent tours of the theatres. The Brandt Theatres has long followed the policy of notifying parents when a juvenile is involved in a disturbance.

The 42nd St. patronage comes from all walks of life. Midnight workers are on hand for the 8 a.m. show. Salesmen, shoppers and others with several hours to kill dominate the afternoon audiences. Dater, married couple, and groups of young people make up the evening trade. Show people and other stay-up-laters are among the late film-goers.

The 42nd St. houses offer patrons a chance to catch up on missed pictures, a wide choice of pictures which enables groups to break up and meet later, and prices within the range of the general public. According to the belief of the 42nd St. operators, when a person comes to 42nd St. it’s not with the thought of seeing a specific film. However, after the potential customers looks over the wide selection, he then makes his choice.

19 Years as an Artie

Perhaps the most unique of the 42nd St. operations is the Apollo which has been running continuously for 19 years on an art house policy. Even during the war years when it was difficult to obtain foreign films, the house operated successfully by replaying over and over again the available imports. The house has a steady clientele and for each change of bills it send out 25,000 mailing pieces. The theatre is also a popular place with language students and many times whole classes from various New York high schools and colleges attend afternoon performances to absorb French or Italian, Shakespeare films also draw a large student audience and the management provides special reduced tickets for school groups.

Foreign films with English titles also draw a large audience of deaf and dumb individuals. Many of these people as well as their special schools are on the mailing list.

From a profit and cents standpoint, the 42nd St. houses have managed to buck the general sluggish trend that has hit theatre business throughout the country. For the most part, however, the new, better Hollywood films and the foreign imports do the better business. The theatres have ‘their hands full’ in maintaining a profitable operation at the houses which show the secondary films and the reissues.

The theatre operators have no desire to see the complexion of the street changed. They feel the carnival atmosphere of 32nd St., the pizza parlors, and the other carny attractions are just the things that draw crowds to the street.

Nice article Al..........I was one of those Patrons way back then and appreciate you sharing the Variety Article with us----Thanks For The Memories----Joe From Florida

Joe, although my first visit to the deuce (from Florida) was in the mean and nasty mid-seventies, the larger than life movie displays and energy of the street was a life changing experience.

Today, it is still quite exciting but something is missing. It certainly isn't tacky movies, thugs, drugs, hookers and hustlers as they are still there, if you care to look close enough.

I think it may be the symphony of a street that wasn't hiding, like it is today and was instead promoting it with a carnival barker's glee. The decadence was oddly liberating.

I have read that the street has never been wholesome and that the more decadent years started during the second war but the nadir (apex anyone?) had to be the eighties.

Certainly the arrival of a new Ripley's will bring it down a notch or two and put that she-wolf frisky minx MARY POPPINS back in her place.

I think it always had a reputation----Example from the Classic Musical "42nd. Street" which in the lyrics called it "Naughty & Bawdy"----of course Burlesque was big at that time in that area and on that street; but I remember it exactly as the Variety Article described it-------I was a Messenger at Grand Central station after school in the 1950s, plus I took two years of French & German, so I would go to the Apollo frequently-----and i must say that I saw somw very fine films there and not just in German or French-------When times were slow in the package or deliveries, I would either go to the NYC Public Library or look down 42nd st. to see what was playing at the various themed theaters-----One great double feature I saw at one of them was a James Cagney Double header-----"The Roaring Twenties" & "Each Dawn I Die"....also I would review films and was the Sports Reporter for my High School, so I saw many First Run films as well-----I saw "Rebel Without A Cause" in 1955 at the Astor I think, but am not certain-----and in those days, they would have Previews where a Theater would show a film before its general release and give folks in the audience cards to fill out to let the Distributors know what they thought of it----I'm trying to recall if it was after this film, East of Eden or another Major films that the Preview was a Bowery Boys film-----Most of the patrons left without filling out the cards---lol---joe From Florida

I agree, Joe. The article captures my memory of 42nd in the mid 50s to early 60s. The only thing risque that I recall was the Brandt theaters showing Coming Attractions of nudist films during a Audie Murphy double feature. My dad put his fedora over my eyes. The nudist film was probably playing in one of the theaters east of Broadway since the Victory was still showing action and even Bowery Boys double features in the early 60s.

Funny that you mention Cagney. 42nd had all of the old WB films when Dominant Pictures did a mass re-release in 1956-57 timeframe. I remember "The Roaring 20s" with "Black Legion". And "Capt. Blood" with "Desparate Journey".

And I would never had walked out on a Bowery Boys epic which they never played my local RKO or Loews.

Great stuff. jerry k

Thanks Jerry K........Only one theater on the corner of 8th Ave & 42nd Street used to show sleeze shows, as they were called--------It seemed to be all alone as there were no other theaters on that block.....but in thinking back, my favorite still had to be the Apollo since they showed films you would never see in your own neighborhood-------and that is where I received my appreciation of Foreign films--------Subtitles helped alot since i tried to see all types of films there------It is where I first saw Rossellini's Paisan, and many other great Foreign films------Joe From Florida

Hope you haven't seen this one before. This is a vintage photo of the Apollo, Times Square, and Lyric Theaters.

Great photos, memories and info on this page.

This website claims that the Apollo Theater was built in 1920.

This opened in 1910 as the Bryant Theatre, presenting vaudeville and movies. In 1920, the Selwyn brothers took over and re-modelled it into a "legit" house called the Apollo, which shared a common facade with the Selwyns' new Times Square Theatre. Eugene DeRosa, who designed the Times Square Theatre, also did the transformation of the Bryant into the Apollo.

Are there any images of the original 42nd Street entrance utilized by the Bryant Theatre?

Here's an illustration used on the weekly programmes mailed to patrons of Brandt's Apollo in 1948. When unfolded, this one contained ads for the current and next double feature programs in the "Apollo Parade of Hits"-- Marcel Pagnol's "Fanny" (direct from its American premiere) & "Schoolgirl Diary," to be followed by "Furia" & "Symphonie Fantastique": www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/apollo48.jpg

Curiously, the sketches within the programme illustration are all references to Paris, France, though the "home of the world's finest foreign films" also presented product from England, Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, Scandinavia, and Japan. But I guess that for most "intelligent and discriminating" New Yorkers, "French" and "foreign" were synonymous.

Here is a circa 1940 photo from skyscrapercity.com:
http://tinyurl.com/6jybrx

I eagerly await "Lost Memory"'s fine-tuning of that "circa 1940" date. He's got four release dates to cope with, including one for a foreign import.

You'll have a long wait if your waiting for me to do it. I'm a little busy right now so I'll let you put the date on those movie titles. I'm sure that everyone here will appreciate it.

Just go to IMDB.com and enter each title-----It will give you all the information on each title showing at that time------Joe From Florida

Joe....A number of people on this site have said that the release dates on IMDB are not accurate.

They can always double check them as I do at Allmovie.com-------and much information at IMDB is wrong since they go by Studio Notes----an perfect example is Ida Lupino's birthyear, which I, Maltin, Neil Doyle and many others have asked IMDB to correct as they have it down as 1914 which is what Paramount was told when she came to them from the UK-----It is actually 1918-----So when she made her romantic debut with Paramount apposite Buster Crabbe in "Search For Beauty"--1934, when she was 15 going on 16, rather then 20 years old.................plus there are so many others now-----all you have to do is login a title in Google Search and you will get alot of info on that title, or even more if you login the stars name-----Joe From Florida

"Of Human Bondage" at the Apollo Theatre is obviously a reissue, since the movie was originally released in 1934. Based on release dates of the other three movies, I would guess that the photo was taken circa March/April 1940. It might even have been taken at the same time as a photo posted today by "ken mc" at the listing for the Embassy newsreel theatre, which must have been snapped in April, 1940 because of events headlined on the marquee.

I did a google search and found the latest film to be 1940. I figured the others were reissues. Not too scientific, but that's how I got the approximate date.

There you go.............Now you know how to do a complete search-----I have Knights of the Range along with many other Paramount Zane Grey titles in my collection=====Joe from Florida

If you ever get to Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, the tour guide will take you past Zane Grey's house.

Before someone "scolds" you, this theater is not in Los Angeles.

Well To All: I am disabled and housebound so that's why I have a large collection of classic films-----so I don't think I will ver get there-----The Apollo was on 42nd st------Grey had a couple of homes, but Catalina was his main abode since he loved the sea as well as the wild west-----Joe From Florida

Always loved this theater -- as a run-down cinema, as a playhouse, as a lovely, post-playhouse cinema (it was funny to see something like "Beat Street" here, with chandeliers and red velvet trimmings!) and as a rock concert venue. Broke my heart when they tore it down.

This is a Life Magazine photo taken in Harlem in 1958. I believe the Apollo is in the foreground, with Loew's Victoria in the background. Neither theater is identified.
http://tinyurl.com/6auxaf

Wrong Apollo page.

This 1922 image of the Apollo is incorrectly identified at the New York Public Library website as the 125th Street Apollo. But it actually shows the 42nd Street Apollo at a time when William Fox had taken a sublease for movies: http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=1041947&imageID=1558366&word=theatre&s=1¬word=&d=hh&c=&f=&k=4&lWord=&lField=&sScope=Library%20Division&sLevel=&sLabel=Irma%20and%20Paul%20Milstein%20Division%20of%20United%20States%20History%2C%20Local%20History%20and%20Genealogy&total=60&num=0&imgs=20&pNum=&pos=8

Near the end
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=108&ProductID=30917

Robert, that photo shows the Anco Theatre, not the Apollo Theatre, which was on the north side of 42nd Street.

A full page movie ad in the New York Times, rare for 1922.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25725093@N07/3643197449/sizes/l/