New York Theatre

As the Globe, this was a porn house for most of my memory until it twinned with one near exception - the first run of Terry Southern's Candy - one of those 70s fiascos with Peter Sellers, Marlon Brando and Ringo Starr

This must have been the theatre on the east side of Seventh Avenue/Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets. I never went in here due to its porno/Spanish language booking policy. The Conde Naste building now stands on this corner.

Update needed. The alternate names Globe and Cine 1 & 2 should be added to make searching easier. I remember it only as the Globe.

I remember walking by this many times, I had forgotten all about it until reading this post.

In the early seventies they briefly played regular films at this theatre. I remember seeing "The Magic Christian" there.

I'm trying to place this theatre - wasn't this known as the Big Apple during its later years and a few doors down (to the right, on Broadway) from the former Nathan's Famous restaurant?

Some of the information that I provided in the introduction, which came from a news report about the theatre's closing in Marquee (the quarterly journal of Theatre Historical Society of America) now appears to be incorrect. According to an undated news clipping from The New York Times that I found recently in files at the NYPL, the theatre first opened during Easter Week of 1940 and had the firm of Walker & Gillette as architects. It was part of a project built and financed by the New York Life Insurance Company on the site of the demolished George M. Cohan Theatre. This project also included a large corner restaurant at 43 Street & Broadway operated by Toffenetti's. The theatre was named in honor of an earlier New York Theatre that had been part of the Olympia complex (Broadway between 45th & 44th Streets) that was demolished in 1935 and partially replaced by a new Criterion Theatre. The new New York Theatre was leased for 21 years to Consolidated Amusement Enterprises, which had been operating since 1905 and had several other theatres in midtown, including the Arena, Times, and Tivoli, all on Eighth Avenue. The 600-seat New York had no balcony, but there was a spacious lounge on its second floor. Its most notable feature was a large-scale mural depicting the history and development of NYC from Dutch colonialism up to the present. Figures of Mayor LaGuardia and other current leaders were super-imposed on the canvas...Brandt Theatres eventually operated the New York, but apparently took it over when Consolidated went out of business.

A B&W photo of the marquee when the theatre was known as the Globe can be seen at www.gettyimages.com The photo is numbered 50538958. This site also has quite a few photos of other 42nd Street area houses, which can be found by searching "theaters" (without quotation marks).

On December 25, 1945, Brandt's New York opened a "Gala Holiday Show" consisting of the first NYC showings of Roy Rogers in "Along the Navajo Trail" (Republic) plus Sidney Toler (as Charlie Chan) in "The Red Dragon" (Monogram).

On page 6-7 of "VE Day in Photographs" by Sean McKnight, there is a nice picture of Times Square taken on May 7, 1945. You can clearly see the marquee of the New York Theatre, which reads:
CARY GRANT LARAINE DAY
in MR. LUCKY
RAY MILLAND PAULETTE GODDARD
in THE LADY HAS PLANS

Here it is when it was called the Big Apple
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/BigAppleTheatre.jpg

Here's the V-E Day photo mentioned in TC's post of 7/24/05. "Mr. Lucky" was by then two years old, and "The Lady Has Plans" three years old: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/nyork.jpg

This listing should be updated to include Big Apple Theater as a previous name. I had beent hinking about creating a new listing because I couldn't find "Big Apple" with the advanced search feature until I was drawn to read the "recent comment" by Warren.

Does anyone know anything about the Loews New York (Bdwy & 45th St)? It was showing movies full time by 1916 and apparently burned down the year this one opened. It had a roof garden advertised as the "New York Annex" that showed staggered showings of the film below, making it, in my book, the first twin theatre.

I was getting ready to post a listing for the New York Theatre & Roof Garden but haven't been able to find the time. It was part of the so-called Olympia Complex which occupied the entire block front of Broadway (east side) between 44th and 45th Streets. Marcus Loew took over the theatre and roof garden in 1915, and converted them exlusively to movies, with the same programs shown in both venues on staggered schedules. During silent days, each theatre had its own orchestra to accompany the films. Bargain prices prevailed, with a complete change of program daily. During the Depression, the policy switched to double features. Due to the failing economy, the Roof Garden theatre eventually closed but the main theatre continued until June 7, 1935, when it closed forever so that demolition could begin on the site, on which would be built the New Criterion Theatre and surrounding stores. With the closing of the New York, Loew's switched the New York's film policy of daily changes of sub-run double features to the Mayfair, which it leased from Walter Reade, who had been running it since RKO withdrew.

I look forward to it, Warren. I think it may be a true lost treasure and the kind of place this site truly was meant for. I do have an article somewhere about a fatal fire at the New York Theatre but perhaps it was a different location. I will try to dig it up.

Something is not right here. The Globe was on 46th street, the Big Apple on 42nd and CANDY premiered at the Astor.

I see there are two Globes here (is the other one listed?). The one on 46th street went legit in 1957 after showing A FACE IN THE CROWD possibly prompting the PALACE decision to drop Vaudeville and play better films.

This one opened Russ Meyers VIXEN and THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN and may have been the FULTON for a while in the late 40's. Can anyone confirm or correct me?

The original Globe became the legit Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1958 with the opening of that acting couple's production of "The Visit." The name Globe was later revived and used for the New York Theatre, a movie grind houe on the east side of Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets. The Fulton was the second name for a legit theatre that opened as the Folies-Bergere. In 1955, the Fulton was re-named the Helen Hayes, which remained until it was finally demolished in 1982. To the best of my knwledge, the Folies-Bergere/Fulton/Helen Hayes never carried the name of Globe.

What ever happened to Steve Wiener from CO??

I work with Steve in London. He is the CEO of Cineworld Cinemas, a British chain he started from scratch in 1996 that built 34 multiplexes in ten years. In 2004 Cineworld bought UGC Cinemas and is now 79 theatres strong. www.cineworld.co.uk

A 1950 view of the exterior. Toffenetti's opened on the corner after scoring a big success at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. In the 1960s, the restaurant was replaced by a branch of Nathan's Coney Island and attracted lines around the block until the novelty wore off: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/ny1950.jpg

wow good for him , glad he is doing well..

The New York showing mild dramas with ramped up marketing, 1957

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/42ndStreetMemories/?action=view¤t=NewYorktheater1957.jpg

Here are two great late 1980's shots by photographer Matt Weber (urbanphotos.com) depicting some of our boys from the military cruising Times Square looking for the fun in Fun City's good old bad old days:

Three Gobs
The Unknown Soldier

Both shots feature the former New York theater's turnstile entrance & outer vestibule as a back drop. This is when the theater was known as the Big Apple. If you look just above the "Best Porn in N.Y.C." sign in the 2nd photo, you can just make out the sign "Sweetheart's Big Apple Theater". It seems "Sweetheart" also ran the 42nd Street Anco, according to another couple of Matt's photos that I posted on the Anco's page. It also seems like the word "Cine" is still stenciled on one of the theater's glass doors (the one furthest right past the turnstile).

Thanks to Matt Weber for allowing me to share these photos with the CT community.

Interesting...the box office sign says "open 24 hours"...yet the box office opens at 9:45am. What do you do if you arrive for your porn fix at, say, 8am?

Excellent point, Don! I didn't catch that. This is a stretch, but perhaps that meant the box office itself did close for a brief period of time in the wee hours, but that patrons who were already inside for the "late show" were allowed to stay until the last of the "4 big adult hits" was completely over.

Did you also notice that the third of the four glass entrance doors must have been shattered or broken (shot at?) sometime prior to this photo? It's somewhat obscured by the figure of the "unknown soldier" in the 2nd photo, but you can make out more clearly in the first image the the door is completely encased in a plastic covering. That must have made for an interesting story.

Here's a shot of the Big Apple marquee that was probably taken some time in the late '80's, judging from the $2.99 price. It's impossible to date this photo from the titles on the marquee.

This page features an image of the former Toffenetti's building during a snow storm in 1996, after Nathan's and the New York/Big Apple had been shuttered. The entrance to the theater would have been towards the right edge of the building in the storefront that appears to be open to the elements.

The six boarded up doors under the Nathan's signage were set catty-corner to the intersection, at a 45 degree angle to both Broadway and 43rd Street. Keep that in mind when comparing the shot to this 1950 image that Warren had posted back on April 2, 2006.

By the time of Election Night, 1960, the theatre had been re-named the Globe and specialized in rough-and-tough exploitation movies like this combo released by Joseph Brenner Associates:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/globe1160.jpg

I could be wrong, but I believe this theatre was never known as the Cine 1 & 2. That was the theatre next to the old DeMille Theatre at 7th Ave & 47th St. This theatre died as the Big Apple. I have a photo shortly before demolition.

Don Rosen... Check out the "Unkown Soldier" photo I posted a few comments back... You can clearly make out "CINE 2" either on or through the right-most glass doorway into the theater. At first, I thought it was stenciled on the glass door... but I think now that it's actually above the auditorium entrance which I think you can make out in the distance beyond the glass doors. There are two possibilities that come to mind: A) the theater was in fact once known as Cine 1 & Cine 2; or B) The word "Cine" only ever was employed inside the theater doors to distinquish the two auditoriums,

I don't ever remember this being anything other than the Big Apple Theater in the '80's and right up to its demolition. Additionally, I do know that the old Show Palace porn emporium next to the DeMille on 7th and 47th was known as Cine 1 & 2 and did show Spanish-language films just as Warren describes in the introduction for THIS theater. It's possible that Warren was thinking of that other theater when composing the introduction for this one, but that "Unknow Soldier" photo sure does corroborate an association somehow with the name "Cine."

For awhile, the Cine 1 & 2 at 7th & 47th showed first run mainstream films. I've got the photos. The Rookie w? Clint Eastwood; Hard To Kill w/ Steven Segal.

My mistake, by the way... the Richard Basciano porn palace on 7th near 47th adjacent to the DeMille and known at one time as Cine 1 and 2 was called "Show Follies" in the late '80's into the '90's, not Show Palace.

HARD TO KILL and THE ROOKIE played first run at the City Cinema West Side (aka Agee, Cine, Show Follies).

Al... my fellow Times Square veteran and enthusiast... If you would be so kind, can you tell us if this theater was ever known as Cine 1 and 2 before it's time as the Big Apple Theater? If not, could you offer a possible explanation for the words "Cine 1" seen either on or through the glass doors in the "Unknown Soldier" photo I posted above on July 5th, 2006?

Ed, I can't find any proof that this sight was ever operating as that although it may very well have done so as a porn site.

It is also quite possible that the Big Apple named the screens Cine-1 and Cine-2 once you went inside. This was not rare in the mini cinema era.

Thanks, Al. I think the latter is most likely the case. Warren's description as to how Cine 1 and 2 operated here sounds too much like the history of the Agee/Cine/Show Palace that was between the DeMille and the Doll a few blocks up Seventh Ave to be coincidence. Unless he can clear this up, my guess is that he got his facts crossed up a bit between the two sites when posting this submission.

I apparently wrote the introduction about three years ago, and have no recall except that some of the information came from the theatre's clippings file at the Lincoln Center Library. However, the first comment after the introduction, by Seth Lewis, seems to confirm that this was operating as two screens at the end. When I am next at the library, I will request the file again to see what I can find that will either prove or disprove the existence of Cine 1 and 2 at this location.

I think we're confusing two different theaters.

The theater on Broadway near Nathan's was at one time known as the Cine 43 when it was running kung fu movies in the early '80s, then switched to Spanish language movies before changing its name to the Big Apple and finishing off its existence as a porn theater.

The Cine 1 and 2 was further uptown on 7th Avenue, and it did run mainstream stuff for a while, after doing the Spanish language programming, then porn, then doing the Giuliani 60/40 video grindhouse thing.

As the Big Apple in the late 1970's:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/NYCBigAppleTheater1970s.jpg
As the Big Apple in the early 1990's:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/NYCBigAppleTheater1990s.jpg

Damn you, Hollywood!
Now I'm craving Nathan's hot dog and I am nowhere near New York.

Hey Hollywood - what happened to your photos?

I saw something here once...The Opening of Misty Beethoven, I think. I wish I had appreciated the theater more at the time, and paid less attention to what was on the screen.

In early television (late 40s and 50s) The New York theater's marquee was always prominent in the coverage of New Year Eve's celebration in Times Square. As a Midwesterner I was always surprised each year to see that the New York with such a great location was always showing a second-run film.

Here is an October 1975 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/5wsvlb

The link doesn't work. This might be one of those times where you should put the photo in your Photobucket.

That's odd, as they come up on my computer. I will try PB.

Here it is again:
http://tinyurl.com/59vldh

That works. Thanks.

Here is an undated photo from skyscrapercity.com:
http://tinyurl.com/3gamyc

D.O.A. opened at the Criterion in early May 1950.

Here is a 1971 photo from Life Magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/6h6ama

Here are two photos from 1986.

Photo1

Photo2

Here is a March 1951 photo from the NY Daily News:
http://tinyurl.com/n3hodq

Why isn't the photo on the Daily News website?

Here is a 1943 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/n43xlf

The New York's marquee can be seen at left in this late-night view of the Times Square area in the 1950s: http://www.iphotocentral.com/search/full_image.php/41/0/1900/1969/0/83/marquee/0/CS11016/3/CS11016.jpg