Sutton Theater
205 E. 57th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
205 E. 57th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
26 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Rank Organisation, Rugoff & Becker
Architects: Benjamin Schlanger
Previous Names: Sutton 1 & 2
Nearby Theaters
-
Crown Gotham Theatre
-
Big Show
-
Proctor's 58th Street Theatre
-
RKO Proctor's 58th Street T...
-
Eastside Cinema
News About This Theater
- Jan 6, 2005 — Cinema 1, 2, 3 Also Set To Close
- Feb 11, 2004 — Today's Newsreel
The building, in New York’s posh Sutton Place neighborhood, was originally an intimate ‘legit’ playhouse called the Bandbox Theater. In 1917, it was converted into a bank. When the bank failed early in the Depression, the structure was re-built as a single screen, modern cinema, with Benjamin Schlanger as architect. In April, 1934 the Department of Buildings issued a Certificate of Occupancy for a 570 seat motion picture theatre.
In the summer of 1957 the Sutton Theater was leased to the British owned Rank Organisation, where they play their release “Reach For the Sky” starring Kenneth Moore, which ran for just under five weeks. On June 15, 1990 the theater was twinned and the balcony was turned into a separate theater. This particular conversion was especially unfortunate, as the Sutton’s balcony was too small to yield proper sight lines. The result was an auditorium that placed the audience far too close to the screen. Seating was provided for 250 & 350.
The Sutton Theater was closed on September 10, 2004, and demolished in January 2005, replaced by a condominium tower.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 175 comments)
25 years ago today the nightmare before Xmas made its new york city debut here before expanding wide.
Hello-
the last several years of the theater’s life it ran as a twin. to which- what was the last film to play it as a single screen theater?
Hello-
to NYer thanks for the info.
also the Sutton wasn’t the only East Side “art house”
to host a roadshow engagement. the Coronet had The Taming
of the Shrew and the Fine Arts has three-A Man for All
Seasons, The Charge of the Light Brigade and The Trojan
Women.
This is from Irwin Winkler’s book “A Life in Movies” (2019):
We opened in New York on November 13, 1980, at The Sutton on Fifty-Seventh Street. Marty and I stood in the back of the theater and were dismayed by the bad sound. I complained to the manager, who angrily informed me that he had bought six new speakers at $49 each at Radio Shack just for “Raging Bull.” We, of course, had spent about a million dollars to get the sound right.
Didn’t Young Winston play reserved seats at the Columbia twin? Or was it reserved performances?
“The Last Remake of Beau Geste” (7-1-77) “High Anxiety” (1-4-78)
Vindanpar, “YOUNG WINSTON” was real classic Roadshow reserved seats at the Columbia.
“THE BLUE MAX” in the photo section.
Please update, became a twin on June 15, 1990 Sutton 1 250 seats and Sutton 2 350 seats Theatre closed September 10, 2004 Grand Opening ad as twin in photos section
bigjoe59 - Good call with the arthouse roadshow engagements. One trivial point: My memory is that Taming of the Shrew at the Coronet was ‘Reserved Performance’ (rather than Reserved Seat). But I guess that still qualifies as a ‘roadshow.’ And at the Trans-Lux East: Marat/Sade (reserved performance) and Last Tango in Paris (Reserved Seat)