Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theatre

This was known as the Trans-Lux 52nd Street and located at 586 Lexington Avenue. The 539-seat theatre was originally a newsreel house and converted to first-run features in the 1950s. MGM's "Lili" had a long and successful run there. It's most famous for the sidewalk in front of the theatre, where Marilyn Monroe filmed the scene in "The Seven Year Itch" where her skirt blows up from a gust of wind from a subway grate.

My Father managed the theater for several years in the 50's and I had been there many times as a child.

Status is listed as "open". What is currently there?

The Beatles on a holiday re-issue
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/HardDaysNight.jpg

La Strada, 1956.

This theatre closed quite a few years ago. It was either demolished (which seems likely) or converted to retail space. Unfortunately, NYC Property Search is closed for weekend repairs, so I can't do a check of the address.

Seeing "La strada" at the T-L 52 (along with seeing "Seven Samurai" at the Guild a few months later) provided one of those unforgettable compass points in my movie-going life. As a h.s. kid who'd just discovered the thrill of converting my lunch money into subway tokens and box-office tickets, I found that those fims (and "Rififi" at the Fine Arts and "Ladykillers" at the Sutton and "The Lady Vanishes" at MoMA, all in the same short season) expanded my horizons past the point of no return. They taught me that there is a world beyond my shores and a past full of wit and wisdom beyond my ken. As a cynical college kid a few years later, I renounced "La strada" as too sappy and sentimental when measured against the likes of "La dolce vita" and "8 1/2." Now I'd reverse the judgment.

D'accordo! For me the best Fellini films are Le notti di Cabiria, La strada, I vitelloni... and I bow to his somewhat later film Amarcord.

Proprio quello che intendo anch'io.

When it finished its run here, "La Strada" played the Loew's neighborhood circuit, but in an English-dubbed version. The second feature was UA's "Trooper Hook," a B&W western with Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck. After the Loew's break, "La Strada" played NYC "arties" in the original Italian version with English sub-titles, and usually as a single feature.

Of course the "original Italian version" has Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart dubbed in Italian. You hear their own voices in the English version.

A C/O was issued to a new building at this address on June 5, 1940. On that date there is a 554 seat motion picture theater located here. 404 seats on the main floor and a 150 seat balcony. In February of 1966 there is a C/O issued for a parking lot with attendant at this same address.

There is a small ad here for "The Shaggy Dog" day and dating with the Odeon.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/TheThirdSex.jpg

There is a 1955 ad here:
http://tinyurl.com/mxm5dt

I'm pretty sure this theater is demolished, not just closed. There is a modern office building in it's place. I don't thing I have ever even seen a photo of this theater. Has anybody?

The Trans-Lux at 52nd and Lexington was a Thomas Lamb design. A picture of its streamline moderne auditorium was featured in an ad for Anemostat air diffusers that appeared in Boxoffice, January 5, 1946.