Hollywood Twin Cinemas

This twin theatre was designed by architect Irving Kudroff and occupied former retail stores and part of the residential tenement above them. It first opened as a XXX venue in November, 1971, but I'm not sure that it was then called the Hollywood Twin Cinemas. That name might have come in 1981, when it started showing double bills of old Hollywood movies in both cinemas. That policy ended in 1986, after which XXX films returned until the Times Square area "cleanup" of porno theatres and retailers.

I believe it was always the Hollywood, becaue it's in the Robert Deniro film "Taxi Driver" (on the 1 sheet also I think) and there a XXX titles on the marquee and the name Hollywood.

It's funny, one time in the '80's I saw Taxi Driver there at the Twin, and everybody started laughing when Travis walked by the theater.

A Burger King occupies the basement space of the former Hollywood Twin Cinemas building.

I have a listing for an Eros I Cinema operating gay male porn in 1976.

Its street address is 732 8th Avenue, near 46th Street. Could this be one of the Hollywood Twin Cinemas?

No, the Hollywood Twins were further north than that, and on the west side of Eighth Avenue. I think that the "theatre" at 732 Eighth Avenue was on the east side of the street. It was converted from retail space and had varying names over the years.

Saw a great double bill here of Breaker Morant and Gallipoli here in the summer of 82

Thanks Warren,
I will give the Eros I a new page listing of its own.

The Hollywood Twin was the worst of the repertory cinemas. Unlike
Bleecker Street, Carnegie Hall and the Regency, they used platters rather than reel to reel projection. Whenever a film played there, it got scratched or damaged before it was sent to the next venue. I recall watching a near mint Technicolor print of "Thunderball" get torn up while I was there. The audience laughed but I cringed realizing that this would ruin it for the other rep houses. Whenever I saw a classic booked there I knew I would not see it in good condition again.

The theater itself was like one of those muliplexes with the bowling alley style and small screen. It had none of the character of other small screen rep houses like The Thalia. I guess it was certainly better than operating as a porn house but I didn't like the impact it had on the limited number of classic prints that were in the field.

On the other hand, I did a great double bill there of two Technicolor classics, "West Side Story" and "Bell, Book and Candle".
I don't know what kind of condition they left the theater but the prints were mint when I saw them. Another time they played a completely faded print of "Ben Hur" in Metrocolor and wouldn't give me my money back. I knew there was a good Technicolor print floating around because it played the 8th Street Playhouse previously. They also played a totally faded print of "Pit and the Pendulum" and the same thing happened. No refund. Once again I argued that a new print had been struck on this title for the Corman festival at the Joseph Papp theater and they shouldn't charge admission for junk copies. It was real hit and miss there. Sometimes they had great prints, other times total garbage. I don't think they had the contacts or knowledge of people like Frank Rowley (Regency, Biograph), Bruce Goldstein (Film Forum) or Charles Zlatkin (Elgin Cinema) to know how to secure the best surviving release prints from the exchange. For example, I did get free passes from Rowley when MGM accidently sent them a red Eastmancolor print of "King Solomon's Mines" instead of a Technicolor copy. If you saw a bad print at The Hollywood Twin, you were out of luck.

The Hollywood Twin was the worst of the repertory cinemas. Unlike
Bleecker Street, Carnegie Hall and the Regency, they used platters rather than reel to reel projection. Whenever a film played there, it got scratched or damaged before it was sent to the next venue. I recall watching a near mint Technicolor print of "Thunderball" get torn up while I was there. The audience laughed but I cringed realizing that this would ruin it for the other rep houses. Whenever I saw a classic booked there I knew I would not see it in good condition again.

The theater itself was like one of those muliplexes with the bowling alley style and small screen. It had none of the character of other small screen rep houses like The Thalia. I guess it was certainly better than operating as a porn house but I didn't like the impact it had on the limited number of classic prints that were in the field.

On the other hand, I did a great double bill there of two Technicolor classics, "West Side Story" and "Bell, Book and Candle".
I don't know what kind of condition they left the theater but the prints were mint when I saw them. Another time they played a completely faded print of "Ben Hur" in Metrocolor and wouldn't give me my money back. I knew there was a good Technicolor print floating around because it played the 8th Street Playhouse previously. They also played a totally faded print of "Pit and the Pendulum" and the same thing happened. No refund. Once again I argued that a new print had been struck on this title for the Corman festival at the Joseph Papp theater and they shouldn't charge admission for junk copies. It was real hit and miss there. Sometimes they had great prints, other times total garbage. I don't think they had the contacts or knowledge of people like Frank Rowley (Regency, Biograph), Bruce Goldstein (Film Forum) or Charles Zlatkin (Elgin Cinema) to know how to secure the best surviving release prints from the exchange. For example, I did get free passes from Rowley when MGM accidently sent them a red Eastmancolor print of "King Solomon's Mines" instead of a Technicolor copy. If you saw a bad print at The Hollywood Twin, you were out of luck.

Does anyone know who ran the Hollywood Twin as a rep house? That seems like a curious business choice to have made, especially considering just how 'lively' that stretch of 8th Avenue - and the Times Square area in general - was during that time.

One of the original owners were Richie Cortez and then later on Nick Marino. Depsite the neighborhood they did very good grosses at one time. There were however many internal problems between the partners. I remember Nick Marino produced a film called Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers that premiered at the Egyptian.

One of the original owners were Richie Cortez and then later on Nick Marino. Depsite the neighborhood they did very good grosses at one time. There were however many internal problems between the partners. I remember Nick Marino produced a film called Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers that premiered at the Egyptian.

Damn. Does this bring back memories! I remember braving all the "action" on Eighth Avenue. The Hollywood Twin Cinema was a trip! I remember seeing a double-bill of "Local Hero" and "Tender Mercies" there. I caught "Fame" there for the first time.

I think after it stopped screening revival films it at one time was screening Spanish language prints or screening films for a Spanish speaking audience.

This theatre was located at 777 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10036.

I have to dig around and see if I still have some of the seasonal flyers the Hollywood used to publish and distribute with its upcoming film schedules. This was a real dingy place to see a movie. As Richard Haine posts above, this had to be the worst of NYC's repertory cinemas. I seem to recall that you entered the theater into a very tiny "lobby" where a ticket taker (usually a very tall and pale bald fellow) was stationed in between the two doors that led to either theater. I think there was a small candy counter tucked around the corner to the right. The theaters themselves were long and narrow with a center aisle and no matter where you sat, you could hear the sound of the 35 mm projecter clacking away behind you!

Prints varied wildly in quality, as Richard also points out, but the programming kept me coming back... very eclectic. Classic noir (a twin bill of Double Indemnity and Murder My Sweet sticks out in my memory), kitschy horror (The Hills Have Eyes, The House of Dark Shadows), imports (Antonioni's Blow Up on the same bill as his The Passenger) and even a John Belushi triple feature (Animal House, 1941 and The Blues Brothers) one particularly long afternoon. I also saw The Wild Bunch on the big screen (well... bigger than a TV anyway) for the first time here.

I remember when the Hollywood twin went "revival' in 1981 after showing gay porn for a long time. Though a small theater with a small screen, you just had to give the new management an A for effort.Though NOT the place to see a big screen epic like "Ben Hur" or "Docvtor Zhivago",this film buff`s paradise always managed to have interesting programming, and generally the prints being screened were of a good quality.The last show- of many that I saw here was a double feature of "Gallipoli" and "Breaker Morant" in the early summer of 1984. Shortly after that, I purchased my first VCR, and sadly enough, I stopped going to film revivals.There STILL is nothing like seeingb one on a big screen as a communal experience. This I will always miss.

When the Hollywood was a gay housein the late 70s early 80s, the crusing areas had different environmental motifs. I remember there was a park setting -- sort of an indoor version of the Central Park Ramble -- and a cowboy bunkhouse.

I may be mistaken, but I think that in this period both sides were gay porn, and that the gay/straight divide came later in the 80s.

I found the following block ad in an old copy of the Post I saved from the time of John Belushi's death. The Hollywood Twin was in operation at this point as a revival house (as many of us have discussed above) but apparently there was an all-male twin adult cinema named the Night Shift that occupied the floors above the Hollywood and shared the same address:

Night Shift NY Post 3/8/82

I used to attend revivals at the Hollywood quite frequently during this period and, frankly, I just don't specifically remember anything about the Night Shift. Here's a full shot of that very same page including the Post's Movie Clock that reveals the Hollywood Twin featuring the Richard Lester double bill "How I Won the War" & "Bed Sitting Room" in one auditorium and in the other a pairing of two 1970 films, "Boys in the Band" and "Something for Everyone":

Post Movie Clock 3/8/82

Here's a question for anyone reading this... You guys know anything about the porn theater called Frisco that is listed in the Movie Clock? I couldn't find a listing for it on CT.

I just noticed in that Night Shift ad... "Free continental breakfast Sat & Sun"!!! I can't make out the times.

Ed, I found a December 9, 1972 NY Times articles announcing a raid on the San Francisco Adult Movies at the basement of 1531 Broadway, between 45th and 46th, former premises of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Could this have been the Frisco again in 1982?

I think this is the former Hollywood Twin Cinemas. Today it is a tourist center where the city tours buses pull up. The facade is painted in the colors of Burger King. Lovely. Sorry but I think this is an eyesore:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b254/davebazooka/EighthAve.jpg

Yes that's the old Hollywood, the stripes on the facade when it was a theatre were blue and white.

Davebazooka... We never said it was an actual "treasure"! It was a pretty abysmal theater, aside from the excellent programming. Two rectangular boxes with a single center aisle, low ceilings and small screens. You could hear the projector clacking away from even the first few rows of the auditorium!

I used to work at the H'wood Twin when Nick Marino ran it. Whatta nuthouse...programming was done by Nick and a guy named Gary Grann. The theatre was turned over by Nick to his half-brother Robert at the request of Robert's father, Nick's stepfather. The place closed soon after. Moved on to the Carnegie Hall, then the Bleecker Street; they were owned by real eastate maven Sid Geffen and his filmmaker wife Jackie Reynal. That was an odd time for rep houses. VCRs were just becoming popular, and so movies you could only see in rep houses became more widely available and viewable in your own home...

I remember when Cineplex Odeon ran the Carnegie Hall and Jackie Reynal booked and ran the Carnegie Screening Room. They shared the same box office but charged different prices. Cineplex eventually bought out her lease and renamed the second screen Carnegie Hall 2.

Here is another modern photo of the former Hollywood Twin Cinemas building.

I remember going to several double bills when this was a revival theatre but it was always kind of a dump. I remember some nutty lady spitting on the floor during a showing of PERFORMANCE and I'll never forget a double bill of MAN OF LA MANCHA and GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS when the heat went off and most of us were sitting with our coats pulled around us trying to keep warm. Glad they tried this kind of programming back in the days when revival theatres were more common place (and who else would have shown THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT?), but it still had the ambiance of a porno theatre to me.

The Marquees were immortalized on the style B ones sheet for "Taxi Driver"

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067IY0U/becomecom-20/ref=nosim

I remember similar experiences here, Barry M, and I couldn't agree more with your take on the place. I'm still fishing around my stuff as I get a chance to see if I can find some of the schedule flyers I have for this theater. I think they used to print them up (on different colored paper stock) every 4-6 weeks, if I recall correctly.

Quote: Here is another modern photo of the former Hollywood Twin Cinemas building.

posted by Lost Memory on Dec 12, 2006 at 1:23pm

That's actually the building next door to the old Hollywood Twin (which is the bigger building to the right). This corner building in the last quarter century or so has been an Argentinian restaurant, an Arby's, B. Smith's restaurant, a steak house and a Houlihans. It is now -- of course, sigh -- a Duane Reade.

DamienB, are sure it was a Houihans? Because the last tenant before Duane Reade moved in was a Benagan's Grill & Tavern restaurant. The tenant before them was a long time bar/restaurant. (don't remember the name, but not Houlihans) Benagan's only last around a year there before they crashed and burned. (food and service went down hill, rent on that site was around $50,000 a month)

DamienB....Did I specify which building was the former Hollywood Twin? Then why does your comment read "That's actually the building next door to the old Hollywood Twin". Your implying that I identified the wrong building in the photo. I did not specify which building in the photo is the former theater. Where in the quote that you posted does it specify a particular building? Most people on this website can determine which building is the theater building in a photo or in this case, a former theater building. You might have assumed that it was the corner building, but don't assume that others would mistake that building for the former theater building next to it. And don't read something into a comment that isn't there. Thanks for pointing out the obvious.

Sorry, Lost Memory, my computer screen kept freezing yesterday and all I could see was the corner building. Now I see that the theatre is also in the picture.

William, you're right, it was a Benagan's -- i guess subconsciously the two are interchangeable.

Here's a streetview of this theater....

Click here to view

According to a NY Times article from October of 1995, the Hollywood Twin was shut-down permanently by NYC Health Officials in August of that year after undercover inspectors witnessed "more than 70 incidents of patrons engaging in high-risk sex." At the time, the Hollywood was one of several porn establishments owned by "the undisputed king of Times Square porn" Richard Basciano - who to this day still operates the "Show World" emporium on Eighth Avenue, just north of 42nd Street.

It was a dump, but I sure enjoyed reading and saving the schedules of the film classics and studying the combinations in which they were booked. I remember seeing "Salo" here. It seemed to appear regularly.

Anyone know where I could get ahold of copies of schedules from revival houses like the Hollywood Twin, the Regency & the Thalia. I was a frequent patron of these establishments in the eighties. I know that people have posted jazz label discographies on line. Is there a place where someone has scanned the calendars and posted them?

I'm sure someone collects them and sells them on eBay.... you can find just about anything there.

The Moulin Rouge porn triple operated from this address in 1985. Does that jog any memories?

I believe it was in this theater where I saw a double bill of The Blackboard Jungle (1955) and "Class of 1984".

Renewing link.

As the Twin.

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=new+york&catpageindex=26&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31026

here is a photo i took around 1992 when it was still the Hollywood Twin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/61017158/sizes/l/

Do they only use the lobby as the information area? If so, what is the rest of the theater used for?

curious, back in the late 70's was the immediate blockfront where the hollywood sat(47-48th) a big prostitution and drug sales block? i ask because back then when i was a teen the few times i would walk thru there i didn't see any activity (kind of quiet) but i do recall one afternoon seeing a bunch of people who were so creepy looking (as well as a transexual hooker out with their pimp) it made me wonder, were the upper 40's along 8th any better, worse, or as bad as the famous corner of 42nd and 8th. i vividly recall the block across the avenue by the firehouse(old Biltmore property) had a run down and abandoned area with these decrepit brownstones and in subsequent years whenever i would pass there people would always be hanging out who looked really down and out. there was always something going on on that corner (now a Starbucks) not sure if this was what 8th was like all over

how far up did the prostitution and drug sales go before it stopped? was the old parking lot (where Worldwide Plz sits) that replaced the old MSG also a problem block?

fill me in, curious about this section

I also wonder how the motor lodge at 790 (48-49th) did business on 8th Avenue and was pretty successful when guests would step outside and see what i saw, i would imagine that based on what i saw in my post above this was an area with lots of characters wandering around, particularly at night?

Eighth Avenue, from 42nd to 50th, was known as the Minnesota Strip. The name was derived from the myth that good girls from Minnesota, with intentions of Broadway stardom, became local hookers instead.

In the seventies it was wall to wall hookers for several blocks although by the eighties they were a little more discreet.

The nadir of the neighborhood was reportedly the block across from this theatre, where the Platinum luxury condominium now stands.

al, that 1979 pic of the Hollywood you posted is fabulous. In fact, that was right around the time that I was there and mentioned it in my post above . notice all the trash in the street. i notice an orange looking structure just before the pic cuts off, adjoining the theater, right near 47th, does anyone know what that structure was?

you are saying the block between 770-782 was a well-known problem block?

Yes, that west side block is the one where you supposedly crossed the street to avoid the pimp and drug drama. I am not sure what the orange building was but the marquee notice for "NIGHT SHIFT Coming Soon" was not for a movie. It was for this theatre:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/20841/

what was worse say in 1979, the Deuce (42 between 7-8th) or the Minnesota Strip (8th bet 42-50)?

i remember seeing the Hollywood's revival on the news in 1981 (it was around February) with the newscaster talking about how the old theater showed Debbie Does Dallas and other XXX's but the new one showed Casablanca, etc.

I don't think I mentioned that we crossed the street but you're right we sure hurried away from that scene quickly onto 47th toward the civility of Broadway. I'm sure it probably was a common thing for people to cross the street on 8th

And today that block is soo bland--the firehouse, jeans superstores, medical office, Starbucks

The firehouse at 782 opened in 1974, 3 years after the Hollywood opened. I wonder what was there
in it's place before it was built

I think the Deuce had more transient visitors looking for a movie or bite to eat where the Minnesota Strip was more decisively nasty but both could erupt into violence at a moment's notice.

If you were not looking to do business on the strip you were most likely a lost tourist looking for your hotel, and therefore an even bigger target.

This site has some street by street history of the city.

http://www.nysonglines.com/8av.htm#42st

http://glennkenny.premiere.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/24/travis_on_8th.jpg

go to this link you will see the Hollywood in 1976, check out the corner bldg which looks like it's falling apart

that's supposedly Robert De Niro as Travis walking down 8th in 1976 around the time Taxi Driver came out

was there prostitution and drugs spillover along the more legit and otherwise fairly decent sidestreets in the theater area and by the legit hotels like the Edison, President, Belvedere, by Schubert Alley and Mama Leone's, or did that pretty much stay confined to 8th?

It was almost everywhere but if you didn't show a key, the hotel security would not let you past the front door after dark. There were small porn theatres and seedy bars down most side streets next to places like Sardi's and the Edison.

when you crossed 7th avenue over by Duffy Sq by Tad's was it any better or safer since you were getting closer to the "domino" skyscrapers along 6th avenue?

i had read an article that sometime around 1972 the cops had put up police barriers along 8th between 45th and 48th streets due to intolerable street conditions and that the owner of the old Acropolis restaurant had lost a significant chunk of it's business because of the street conditions.

was it the closing of the old MSG in 1968 that caused this area's decline?

It was always better on 7th Avenue.

The area declined rapidly after the US entry to WW II when the soldiers boosted the local street prostitution and gay cruising trade, but this was indeed the border of Hell's Kitchen, a crime ridden Irish slum during the best of times. The Deuce started declining during the depression when the theatres all switched over to film and burlesque.

Although hard-core porn theatres like the Hollywood were a seventies invention, skin flicks and brothels were always around at some area locations.

since the last XXX theater on 8th was the Adonis at 50th, was this the reason why there was no more Minnesota Strip north of 50th? I have actually seen things that said the MS went from 34th street to 59th street but 8th in the 50's to me was just bland and dull, and i have never seen any action in the 50's. '

In other words, when the porn disappears, so does the riff- raff?

I think the riff-raff and the porn followed the anonymity made possible by the massive subway exchanges of Times Square. As you moved away from the Deuce it all dissipated.

Would you say the hotel at 790 between 48th-49th (a Loews Motor Inn in the 60's, a Ramada Inn up to 1994, a Days Inn up to 2005, and currently a Hilton Garden Inn) had security and safety problems plaguing the hotel because of it's location back in the days as a Ramada Inn? or did the bad guys tend to stay away from the tourist/traveller hotels that technically were not fleabags?