Playpen Theater

Cameo was a late and possibly last name for this theatre, which should not be confused with the B.S. Moss Cameo Theatre on W. 42nd Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. That Cameo eventually became the Bryant. I will go through old Film Daily Year Books to find previous names for this Cameo on Eighth Avenue. I believe that one was the Squire.

I was in there just the other day, looking around. Despite its present use as an adult bookstore and peepshow, there is still plenty to see of the old theatre.

For many years this theater was a showcase for Russian-language films imported by the Russian distribution service, Artkino.

The 1954 Film Daily Year Book has no listing for a Cameo Theatre in Manhattan. But it does have a listing for the Squire Theatre, which I believe is the same theatre. The Squire was situated at 693 Eighth Avenue and had 550 seats.

In the 1970's, it went from "adults only" fare to XXX fare.

After 1990 the Squire/Cameo went under the name of the Adonis and showed all male XXX films. The name change and programming was a moveover when the Adonis/Tivoli further up 8th Avenue at 50th Street was closed and then demolished.

I may be totally clueless, but what are "Olga" movies???

The Cameo was the Squire in the 1950's.

Erwin, I'm not sure what "Olga" movies are either...I was thinking of the "Ilsa" movies of the 70s when I first read Gena's description.

I thought I was just being "clueless". Although since it sounds like it was near 42nd St, my first thought was that it meant "porn" movies in a polite way (although maybe I just have a dirt mind....)

This is listed as the Ideal Theatre in the 1927 Film Daily Year Book, with a seating capacity of 550. I think that may have been its original name, which was a popular one for early cinemas.

The "Olga" movies were one of the first series of films called "roughies", which basically were films that focused on deviate sexual activities such as bondage. (When the first Olga movie called "White Slaves in Chinatown" came out in 1963, many "adults only" movies of the period were either "nudist camp" films or light comedies with nudity in them (ex: The Immoral Mr Teas, Not Tonite Henry, Tonight For Sure)) Audiences for "adults only" fare in the period were clamoring for bolder product. (And this was pre-hardcore porn).

The book "The Ghastly Ones" by Jimmy McDonough has a couple of good chapters dealing with NYC "adults only" movie producers and owners like the Brandts, Chelly Wilson, and Lew Miskin.

Thanks "scottfavarelle" for the detailed explanation of the "Olga" movies. Now, I don't feel clueless anymore.

Yeah, me too.
Although it's even worse than my "dirty mind" even thought it meant! Poor theater!
What is in the building now? I know that since ex-mayor Guiliani expelled all the port out of Times Square and the 42nd St area, much of it moved to 8th Ave (although even that's cleaned up now). There is still a theater or two on 8th Ave that has porn in them, although I don't know what their original names were to be able to look them up for history on the site (although maybe one of them may be the Cameo). What was the cross-street for the Cameo?
Does anyone know the names of the other theaters on 8th that are somewhere between 34th St and 42nd St?

This is now a porno emporium called the Playpen, but there is a lot of theatrical detail left, both downstairs and upstairs, it you look toward the ceiling and not on the floor!

Oh, that is the Playpen. I walked by there so many times wondering what the history was behind that theater. I looked so sad on the exterior with the marquee with the blinking porn "XXX", etc on it.

Chelly also owned The Eros besides a few others that I cant recall the names of in the same area. I worked for someone a long time ago who was partners with her in some of these places. I worked on the legitimate end managing a few double bill neighborhood houses that gave the company a respectable front. I have not seen anyone mention The Metropolitan porno house that used to be on 14th Street. I never was inside but have enough stories about that place that would make us realize why the 70's was the most sordid decade ever.

In 1955, the theatre was renovated and re-opened as the New Cameo, advertised as "New York's newest art theatre." The premiere attraction was the Russian-made "Boris Godunov," filmed in glorious MagiColor.

Warren.
You are correct in your statement that the Cameo Theater first opened as the Ideal Theater. This was in 1916 and it was designed by the Architectural Firm; Eisendrath and Horwitz.

I actually miss the sleaze that was Times Square. However, I am glad to see that many of the old theaters, or at least some, survived. Anyone remember the Selwyn? That theater 'mysteriously' collapsed while Times Square was undergoing redevelopment.
I wanted so much to jump the velvet rope that stood between me and the auditorium. Before the theater 'collapsed' the lobby was opened for people to see. It was very small. I believe that the Public Theater was going to take over old theater but after the 'collapse' a new building went up in its place. The Public Theater got a new home out of the deal.

The Film Daily Yearbook, 1930 gives a seating capacity for the Ideal Theatre as 598.

The Function of this theatre (now the Playpen) should be 'Adult fare'

What new theatre did the Public get after the collapse of the Selwyn? The present operator and, if I'm not mistaken, owner of the American Airlines Theater built on the site of the Selwyn is the Roundabout Theater Company. Also, did at least part of the Selwyn's interior survive the collapse? Seeing a play there a couple of years ago, I spotted at least a few architectural elements within the auditorium which seemed something less than modern. Were those merely removed, preserved, and reinstalled in the rebuild/new construction or was every original element lost?

The lobby of the Selwyn collaped, but the auditorium, currently known as American Airlines Theater, was unharmed.

That's what I imagined; thanks for the confirmation, saps.

I made a mistake in my post. It wasn't the Public Theater that is now located on the site of the old Selwyn but the Roundabout as br91975 pointed out.

When the Adonis was forced out of the old Tivoli it ended up a few blocks down from 50th street. It was not alone as there was about 3 small theaters that were showing gay porn. These theaters are now restaurants.

I was trying to remember those theatres so i could post them on here. One was called The Eros but I can't remember the others. There was also a porno theatre on 7th Avenue called the Doll, but it must have had another name. And what about the big XXX house on 42nd St but on the part between 6th and 7th. It was torn down before the rest of the area got cleaned up. It had to have been a regular theatre at one time because it was very large with a big old marquee.

I have just found a 'Where It's At' gay guide for New York, November 1976 (my first visit to the USA). It lists the following 'skin flicks';
Adonis Cinema, The Big Top, David Cinema, Eros 1, 55th St Playhouse, Gaiety Burlesk, Kings Cinema, another Kings Cinema, Metropolitan Theater, Jewel, Ramrod.

I have the full addresses and will search on Cinema Treasures and post up new listings for those that don't have one on the site.

Robert R, that was the Bryant Theater on 42nd Street between 6th and 7th, where in the late 1970's I saw my first and only live sex show. Oh, brother.

Can't remember. Is this the 8th Avenue theater that for years advertised "New Projector" on its marquee?

The Playpen, the former Ideal, Cameo, Adonis, et al, can be seen here.

Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night...enjoy!

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/cta-uk/lst?.dir=/42nd+street+New+York+Cinemas&.src=gr&.order=&.view=t&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm

I am considering writing an article on the Cameo/Ideal Theater. Does anyone happen to have any ideas for sources (libraries, catalogues, etc.) where I could investigate its history? Any ideas would be most appreciated!

You should try the theatre research collection at the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City. It has extensive files of clippings on NYC theatres, arranged by theatre names (usually the last used). You should also look under topic files, such as "porno theatres."

Thanks, Warren. That’s a great idea. I will definitely check the collection out, and who knows what else I might come across!

At Lincoln Center, you should also check the clippings file for the theatre on 42nd Street that was originally known as the Cameo and later became the Bryant. Clippings for the Cameo/Ideal might have been accidentally mixed in.

This building was sold in 2003:

693 8th Avenue, Hells Kitchen, New York 10036

Property type Theatre, Art Type Less Than 400 Seats (J1)
Sold by 693 Associates F/k/a Bresnick, Brussel And Isenber
Bought by Forty Fourth Street Development Llc
Date sale recorded Jul 18, 2003
Sale Price $6,090,000

A Google address search shows:

Big Apple Gift Shop
693 8TH Ave
New York, NY 10036-7107
(212) 957-0050

posted by lostmemory on Jun 13, 2005 at 8:20pm

Here are two views. Though the auditorium is much smaller than the Tivoli's, it appears to have been better maintained:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/133-3369_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/133-3373_IMG.jpg

It looks like it was a pretty theater at one time. Too bad it had to recieve the ultimate humiliation a theater must endure, porn. And from what I have read above, it got all the kinkiest types possible.

Is that interior photo historic, or is that after it was playing porn? I am assuming it's once it alreadt was playing porn, as going by the marquee of the exterior photo, it appears to be port on the marquee.

Warren
When was this interior shot taken? It looks too good to be during the porno days.

Exactly, that's what I was trying to say.

Hi

We are an English couple visiting New York in October and are looking to find an adult cinema where we can “play” and be watched. Would this be possible in this movie theater and is it clean and safe?

Can anyone recommend any adult movie theaters in Manhattan?

Our email is nytrip69@hotmail.com

I believe that the interior and exterior photos were taken on the same day, probably in the 1980s. Unfortunately, I don't have access to release dates for XXX movies, so I can't be more specific than that.

In November, 1938 the Russian film Professor Mamlock premiered here. The movie dealt with the plight of Jews in Germany through the story of a German-Jewish doctor whose professional skills and war record were no defense against the grave sin of not being an Aryan. Proudly displaying the word "Jude" across his surgeon's robe and proclaiming his faith in a better Germany, he is machine-gunned. The film was not without its share of heavy-handed Communist propaganda, but it touched a subject avoided by Hollywood at the time. The movie met with some oppposition and was banned in some cities in the U.S.

This website has a 1970 photo of the Cameo Theater.

Wow, looks much more "presentable" than the "Playpen" marquee it has now flashing on and off....

After the original Ideal, the theatre was re-named Esquire. In October, 1937, the name was shortened by one letter to Squire, starting with the NYC premiere of "Green Fields," according to a news item in the New York State Exhibitor.

Here is a 1943 ad saying "Grand Opening Newly Renovated", with a grind house double bill.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Squire8thAvenue.jpg

In Amsterdam Video v. The City of New York, 146 F.3d 99; 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 11593 (2nd Cir., 1998, cert denied. the defendants are RACHEL HICKERSON, DEREK JONES, TY MCCONNELL, and ELLIOT STAMLER, Plaintiffs-Appellants, AMSTERDAM VIDEO INC., A & X ENTERTAINMENT INC. A and X ENTERTAINMENT is listed as the operator of the Playpen. RACHEL HICKERSON is also the Executive Director of Feminists for Free Expression, who had challenged New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's draconian anti-pornography ordinance, which seeks to zone "adult entertainment" out of existence. Other venues operated are ADULT VIDEO, INC., ASCOT SPACE AMUSEMENT, INC., d/b/a Ascot Theatre, BIG APPLE CINEMAS INC., d/b/a Show Follies Theater, BRETT DISTRIBUTORS, INC., d/b/a Media Distributors, CAPRI CINEMA INC., CAPWELL ENTERTAINMENT, INC., d/b/a Legz Diamond's Playhouse, CHURCH STREET CAFE INC., d/b/a Baby Doll Lounge, COLLEGE PT. REST. CORP., d/b/a Gallagher's II, CRAZY FANTASY VIDEO, INC., CUPID'S TREASURES, INC., d/b/a Banana Video and Unicorn, DARA DISTRIBUTORS INC., d/b/a Love Shack, DESIRE VIDEO INC., E & A BOOKS, INC., E & A VIDEO AND MAGAZINE INC., ED-MART BAR & GRILL INC., d/b/a Penny Whistle, FOR THE PEOPLE THEATRES OF N.Y., INC., d/b/a Fair Theatre, FOUR KEYS ENTERPRISES, INC., d/b/a Hollywood Peepshows, FOURTEENTH ST. ENTERPRISES INC., d/b/a All Male Adult Video, FUN CITY VIDEO CORP., G & D MERCHANDISE CORP., d/b/a Peepland, GOTHAM EXHIBITOR INC., d/b/a Peep O Rama,

As the Squire in August, 1948:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/squire848.jpg

I was watching a video of a film called "Thursday's Child" this weekend. It was made in the early-to-mid 1970s and I'm not sure if it was a made-for-tv film or if it had a theatrical release. (There is no listing in the Maltin Guide for the film).

In any event, much of the film was shot on location in NYC and there is one scene set in front of the Cameo Theatre. I had never heard of the cameo and had no idea where it was when I caught it in the film.

NYC has changed quite a bit in the last 30 plus years.

Also known as the Cinecitta in 1939-1940 (NY times Sept 23, 1939) and the Cameo Art in the early seventies.

Grand opening as the completely renovated Squire Theatre (November 27th, 1943):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/squire43.jpg

Warren, your link doesn't work.

My blog only has room for 500 images at a time, so some have to be removed in order to make way for new ones. Ads are usually the first to go, as I think photos of theatres are more important. Sorry!

P.S. I would be happy to send anyone copies of images that are no longer displayed on my blog. Just contact me privately at the e-mail address on my membership listing.

Photo of the Cameo turned ADONIS turned Playpen circa 1989:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/adonistheater.jpg

Another photo of the Cameo turned ADONIS turned Playpen, but with less traffic:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/adonistheater002.jpg

CT member Woody has a number of old and recent photos on his flickr account, and I've been plastering links to many of those images all over this site!

Here is a recent image of the Playpen's exterior and here is a 1992 shot from its days as the Adonis. What's more, Woody actually ventured inside the Playpen to snap this fleeing interior shot, capturing an ornamental detail on the former auditorium wall.

You may enlarge the photos by clicking on the "all sizes" icon just above the top left corner of each image.

NY Times Feb 14, 1946

"Plaster in a Movie House Showers Down As a Horror Film Unfolds on the Screen; THE CEILING CAME DOWN IN A THEATRE HERE YESTERDAY:

Nineteen persons were slightly injured just before 5 P.M. yesterday when a section of plaster on the underside of the balcony in the Squire, a motion-picture theatre on Eighth Avenue near Forty-fourth Street, fell into rear orchestra seats".

Ha. Thanks for finding that one, Lost. I have a Times Select account, so I was able to open up the full article, which includes a grainy photocopy-quality image depicting the last few rows of the orchestra and the damaged underside of the balcony. According to the report, 19 people were slightly injured while the plater rained down on the last 7 rows. There were 120 patrons in attendance, with 40 of them in the balcony - which held firm. The article is indeed dated 2/14/46, but I think that is an error on the part of the Times online archivist based on the movie that was reported as playing at the time:

"At a tense moment in the shocker, 'Dr. Terror's House of Horrors,' the plaster started coming away with a tearing noise. Most of the patrons up front barely heard it, or assumed it was part of the weird sound effects."

As per imdb.com, that British horror flick was released in the U.S. on February 25, 1965. I find no other matching titles in the database. Assuming the incident took place in early 1965, this would be towards the end of the Squire's existence as just another nabe. Not too long afterward, the theater would come under the ownership of Chelly Wilson, who would re-christen it as the Cameo and make the changeover to the sort of fetishistic-fringe sexploitation films (such as the "Olga" series) that would evolve into the hardcore pornography that was a staple on Eighth Avenue in the following decade. By 1967, Wilson owned the Cameo and the Tivoli (later Adonis) further up Eighth Ave and by 1970 would open the Capri, Eros and Eros II (later Venus) on the block of Eighth between 45th and 46th Streets) - all hardcore XXX grind houses.

Ed....The article is dated 1946. There was another "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" in 1943.
Here is the Imdb link to the 1943 version.

Hmph! How'd I miss that one? And who'd have thunk there were two films with that exact title?!? Oh well. My Chelly Wilson info is irrelavant to the story, but I hope you found it informative and germain to this theater anyway! LOL. If you'd like a copy of the full article in Adobe PDF format, just drop me an email through my profile.

I also should have surmised something was up, since I think Chelly had already taken over and renamed this the Cameo by 1964 when the first couple of "Olga" flicks made their NY (if not world) premiere here.

The Chelly Wilson story was very informative. Will that be coming out in hardcover or paperback? I'd prefer the paperback version so I can save on the shipping cost. Your movie listing challenged and I'm theater listing challenged so we make a great team. LOL

Well... I need to embellish it a bit before publication. It's not quite as wordy as my epic introduction to the Bay Terrace Sixplex - which is being serialized in Harper's Bazaar, by the way. Thanks for the laugh, as usual, Lost.

Here is a photo of the Playpen.

Even though I'm not a fan of its current use, I must say that this is one of the most appealing (and probably the only) theaters on this stretch of 8th Ave. The pink, green, & gold color scheme is great! It is a rare survivor that deserves landmarking. Any thoughts?

I agree, it's not so nice that it has this humiliation as it's current use, but porn has saved many a theater from the wrecking ball or gutting. At least there is a chance one day that it can return to being a "real" theater again, as it is somewhat intact.

Native... have you seen this interior shot that CT member "woody" snapped in a fit of courage? I linked to it a number of posts back. It shows some of the ornamentation along the auditoriums upper walls still intact.

Thank you for your contributions, Bway & Ed! What a unique photo! I haven't seen it previously.

The Cameo when it operated as the ADONIS at night:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/ADONISatnight.jpg

I'll be visiting NYC for the first time next June and want to see this old theater.

You can walk right in, it's a porn shop/theater now. It's pretty freaky in the back though, as there are just naked and half dressed women just standing around towards the front of the old theater. I only went in once to check the theater out, got freaked out, and left, it's so weird inside.... But if you can get past that, it's pretty interesting.

It is like another world in there. I remember the first Adonis on 50th and 8th. That was hughe. Did anyone hear the story about the man who was found beaten to death in a seedy motel in the Bronx? Turns out he was a big shot for a big tenant at the World Wide Plaza complex that was built on the site of the old Madison Square Garden. The man demanded that the developers of WWP buy the building that housed the Adonis and close it. He said his firm would not lease the space in their building if they didn't do it. He felt that The Adonis was not appropriate for his employer. It later came out that the same man enjoyed sex with men and liked it rough. Many times, his former co-workers, recall him coming to work bruised about the face and he claimed it was due to being mugging. Everything comes out.

Oh daddy, beat me, demean me, make me feel cheap!
Just joking.
Acutally, if the backroom has only women, naked or dressed, then think I'll just mosey along past this one.

I haven't a clue if it's only women. Don't take my word, I was only in that place that one time.

This is recent view of the Playpen marquee.

The days might be numbered for this former theatre. Most of the retail stores near by have all closed or moved. They have removed all the video stuff from inside.

I heard the whole block will be torn down.

Disheartening news for the relatively intact theater in particular! Who did you hear it from?

There was an article in the NY Times a couple of weekends ago that focused on the adjacent novelty shop, The Funny Store. The story had to do with the store having to pack up and move to another location due to the sale of the building to developers. Here's a passage:

<<The business, now at 44th Street and Eighth Avenue, has been part of the Times Square scene since 1957, changing owners and locations several times but always sticking to the same few blocks and staying ahead of rising rents, new zoning laws and new construction.

Now, it will have to move again. Mr. Martin's landlord is selling the building, at 693 Eighth Avenue, to a developer, and he has to vacate the store by the end of the month to make way for condominiums. And retail rents in Times Square are now so high that he cannot afford to stay>>

The article makes a passing reference to the adjacent Playpen in this passage:

<<The Funny Store had an agreement with the Playpen, a shop selling sexually explicit materials next door that provided an entrance through the magic shop. The arrangement was drawn up after a 1995 antipornography law limited the amount and display of such materials sold in parts of the city to 40 percent of a store's inventory or floor space.

That agreement ended last year, and now a wall has replaced the curtain.>>

Bottom line - Looks like the Times Square area gets another high rise condo and yet another of the neighborhood's old cinemas bites the dust.

Hi Ed, I was just about to post the same info and saw that you beat me to it. The gentrification of Times Square goes on! I believe that almpst the entire block is coming down with the exception of the Southern corner.

Hello everyone,

Great to read all the interesting posts about the Cameo.

I am involved with a non-profit organisation called Place Matters. Which aims to collect information on places of interest, within the 5 boroughs, in order to keep them alive. This seems appropriate for the Cameo / Paypen. Once buildings are nominated some will be further reseached, and there seems a wealth of information here to start that process.

Place Matters conducts a citywide survey called the Census of Places that Matter to discover places that evoke associations with history, memory, and tradition. Hundreds of New Yorkers have nominated places to the Census. Amounting to a new knowledge bank, the Census identifies places of public significance and helps us understand how and why "place" is meaningful to people. Please check out the website.

http://www.placematters.net/flash/home.htm

As many of you appear to have information about the Playpen, and even some wonderful photos. I thought that you may be interested to nominate it on the website. Feel free to include photos and your experience. Or even nominate something else. I hope this is of interest to you. Thanks for reading.

I have e-mailed Place Matters regarding other endangered & worthy sites, but haven't received a reply. How does nominating a site for placement on Place Matters help in its rescue? Please explain.

This theater would be a shame to lose at the sake of progress. I hope this architecturally significant building can be incorporated in the new condo development, rather than undergoing demolition. It would give the new condo a distinctive presence, merging the best of both worlds, and would be a great marketing strategy for the developers.

If it can't be incorporated (which it probably can), it should be transported to a new site & gain a new lease on life. Please help us. This could meet the same fate with the Moondance Diner, which has been spared from demolition, & is now on its way to Wyoming. It can be donated to a theater non-profit & the developers could be eligible for a tax write-off. It could then be sold.

I am sorry to hear that you have received no reply to your emails. Unfortunately Place Matters is not an organisation which rescue buildings. Other organisations already do this, Like the Municiple Arts Society, who are co-creators of PM. MAS are aware of the threat to the Playpen, and it may be the case that your emails were forwarded to them.

I agree with your comments about the likely sad loss of this building. But the PM project is more of an oral history/architecture exercise. Recording NY places of significance from New Yorkers perspective and researching these places further for the benefit of future generations.

Hope that clarifies.

Thank you for your clarification! I will follow up with the Municipal Arts Society.

Some recent views of the exterior as Playpen can be seen in the new article about Eighth Avenue pornography at www.forgotten-ny.com

I think we can safetly assume that this theater will be gone and replaced with an ugly hi-rise.

An article from the Friday Sept. 7th New York Times on the closing of the Playpen can be seen here.

Shame on developer Daniel Tishman!

Here's the entire article.

September 7, 2007, 10:11 am

A Seedy Eighth Avenue Landmark, Gone Dark

By David W. Dunlap

[Photo caption: Until just a few weeks ago, the World Trade Center continued to glow at night on the facade of the Playpen cinema. (Photo: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times)]


The homogenization of the Times Square area (yes, The Times has contributed to the phenomenon with its new headquarters opposite the Port Authority Bus Terminal) has claimed another quirky victim: the Playpen, a former cinema that closed recently after 90-odd years.
Very odd years.


The Playpen is part of a larger parcel at the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 44th Street that is owned by a partnership including affiliates of the Tishman Realty Corporation. The partners have not gone public with their plans. They may not even have decided yet among themselves. But the future certainly does not include the old theater.

What Eighth Avenue will lose with its disappearance is more than an adults-only emporium with suggestive neon come-ons — “Live Girls,” “Preview Booths,” “Leather & Lace.” It will lose the last home of the Funny Store, an almost vaudevillian novelty shop. It will lose one of the most distinctive façades of any surviving theater from the early 20th century, a kind of heroic Palladian composition. And will lose a three-dimensional history lesson in the evolution of Times Square.

The Ideal Theater, designed by Eisendrath & Horwitz, opened in 1916 as a modest movie house, with 598 seats. It attracted some notice in 1935 for showing an Italian-language movie, “Dopo una Notte d’Amore” (”After a Night of Love”). Briefly known as the Esquire, it stayed in business until early 1937. It reopened a few months later as the Squire. In 1939, it was renamed the Cinecitta and played Italian films for a while.

Once again the Squire in 1941, it showed “The Eternal Gift,” said to be the first feature-length depiction of the Roman Catholic high mass, and the documentary, “Greece on the March.”

Such serious fare had disappeared by 1946, when “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors” topped the bill. During a tense moment on screen one evening, a 10-by-20-foot section of the theater’s ceiling fell down, injuring 19 patrons. Those in the front seats were unruffled, thinking they were hearing weird sound effects. By the 1950s, “girlie” films were drawing customers to the Squire.

The theater’s next transformation occurred in 1956, when it reopened as the New Cameo, a theater devoted to Russian films, beginning with the Mosfilm production of “Boris Godunov,” starring Alexander Pirogov. “A casual observer must shudder at the thought of the terrible shock and dismay of a former Squire patron who might wander into the theater looking wistfully for Rose La Rose or Lili St. Cyr,” wrote Bosley Crowther, who was then The Times’s movie critic.

Eventually, the theater became simply the Cameo. This was its most fitting name since the central arch is flanked sculptural cameos, showing women in diaphanous robes, one with a spool of movie film and the other with a camera. The Cameo was the showcase in 1970 for the blue movie, “Sexual Freedom in Denmark.”

Blue gave way to X over time, and then the “Cameo” on the marquee gave way to the Adonis, when that gay movie theater was pushed out of its home six blocks north on Eighth Avenue. The new Adonis was closed by the city’s Department of Health in 1994 after inspectors observed what they called “high-risk sexual activities” taking place among patrons, without “any attempts to monitor or control them.”

Lately, the theater was the Playpen, whose marquee loosely traced the New York skyline in red neon. It included the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which still stood and still glowed at night in their uptown incarnation. And yes, Eighth Avenue is losing those, too.

"Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" had its first release in 1965. It couldn't have been showing at the Squire in 1946 when a portion of the ceiling collapsed. The NYT probably meant "House of Horrors," a Universal release of 1946.

This is the time of year were you see the most theaters close.......

I remember walking around Times Square in the mid seventies. It was quite a panorama. I think a lot of that has been lost now. Too bad.

Another view of the Playpen in 2000:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/98456396/

I understand the site will be a hotel.

A photograph of the notorious Mrs. Chelly Wilson can be found on page 38 in The New York Times issue of January 24th, 1968, along with film critic Vincent Canby's observations about "crude 42nd St. fare." You can probably get a "free preview" at www.nytimes.com

an arty shot i took nov 2005 that kind of sums up the feel of the playpen, sad to see more new york heritage being swept away
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=354223401&size=o

Check this out:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/14/2007-09-14_times_square_playpen_may_get_demolished_.html?ref=rss

This is such a shame. I walked by a few weeks ago and noticed it was closed ( i swear I was going to The Funny Store next door!!). Besides being one of the oldest theaters around- it's architecture is so distinct and cool, it's neon sinage is awesome, and it's just about the only reminder left of old school gritty New York. So much for character I guess. Yey for homogenization!

Times Square Playpen may get demolished for high-rise

BY LEO STANDORA
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, September 14th 2007, 4:00 AM

Eighth Ave. theater dating to 1916 is likely be replaced by a tower.

A historic Times Square theater that opened as a vaudeville showplace 91 years ago and closed as a porn shop last month appears headed for a date with a wrecking ball.

Unless preservationists prevail, the Playpen on Eighth Ave. at W. 44th St., once considered for landmark status that would have protected it, likely will be torn down and replaced by a high-rise.

Leading the battle to save the Playpen, which opened in 1916 as the Ideal, is Michael Perlman of Manhattan, who wants to keep intact the building's Beaux-Arts facade with its curved central arch, pilasters, statues and other ornate features.

With few theaters dating from the early 20th century still around, one of the oldest "shouldn't be sacrificed for the sake of progress," he said.

"It's a culturally, architecturally significant structure, and we hope to preserve this gem for future generations."

A group called the Committee to Save the Playpen Theater has joined Perlman in calling for the Playpen to be spared.

Perlman played a key role in the recent rescue of the Moondance Diner in SoHo, but saving the Playpen would be harder.

The Tishman Realty Corp. got the property in July and said it already was looking at "development options."

During its life, the Playpen operated under at least eight different names, offering screen fare ranging from foreign films and Hollywood B-movies to Scandinavian skin flicks and gay movies.

As the Adonis, it was closed by city health inspectors in 1994 after patrons were seen taking part in "high-risk sexual activities."

lstandora@nydailynews.com

With The Associated Press

I doubt the veracity of the Daily News claim that the theatre originally presented vaudeville. I believe that it showed only movies from the start. Also, the headline writer needs some lessons in geography. The theatre is not in Times Square. It's a long block west of it on Eighth Avenue.

I read the story today about the Playpen closing and read all the commentaries here. A thought came to my mind too that I wanted to share with all of you.

We give Rudy G so much credit for cleaning up Times Square. Did he have something to do with this, and if he didn't, will he somehow get credit for having something to do with this pending closure?

I did this and I did that and I'm all that, blah blah blah.

I miss the old Times Square. Everything down there is now so squeaky clean it is boring.

Rudy claimed the credit for a plan that predated mayor Lindsay.

I don't miss the old Times Square of the 1970's thru the early 1990's. I miss the Times Square of the 1920's thru the 1960's. Im glad Times Square has improved and is the center of New York again. I wish better planning could have saved both Loew's State and Warner theatres with buildings being built over them instead of every movie palace being demolished in Times Square except for the Hollywood(Mark Hellinger). The legit theatres have come back in a big way with 40 active Broadway Houses when the new Henry Miller opens next year and most have been renovated or restored in the improved Times Square. It was always a problem for the film palaces as real estate values climbed and being to large to house Broadway shows and Times Square improved more rapidly than anyone thought possible. The plus side was the saving of the Broadway, Palace,Globe,New Amsterdam,Victory,American Airlines, Hollywood and Radio City Music Hall once movie theatres.brucec

The Globe's (Lunt-Fontanne) marquee on Broadway was gorgeous. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2924/

The problem with the new Times Square is that the area has become an ersatz and expensive "Main Street USA" version of its former self. So much rich and colorful history was bulldozed for glossy high-rise office towers or upscale/overpriced franchised eateries, boutiques and Disney-like attractions. Yes, all the screens lost in Times Square and 42nd Street were eventually replaced (and more than doubled) between 25 screens of the AMC Empire and the 13 across the street at the E-Walk - but with none of the charm, identity or unique programming and showmanship of the original movie houses in the area. We now have Madam Tussauds and have seen the return of Ripley's Believe it Or Not... but at admission prices upwards of $23 per person? It's very nice to have at least some of the old theaters on 42nd Street returned to their original glory - but of the 9 historic houses that dotted the Duece only 3 houses have legitimately been restored and put to good use (I refuse to count the dismantling and combination of the original Lyric and Apollo sites). And who can afford to go to a legitimate show these days anyhow? Tickets priced at $120 per seat are bad enough, but come October folks will have the privelege of being able to shell out as much as $450 a ticket for the new Mel Brooks musical version of "Young Frankenstien!"

Is there some good mixed in with the loss? Sure... I absolutely love the family theater that has been presented for reasonable admission prices at the gloriously restored New Victory Theater and the restoration job that Disney did at the New Amsterdam is nothing short of breathtaking. But for the most part, all of the rezoning and rebuilding was done for the tourists and the real estate developers - without a whole lot of thought given to the average New Yorker. And the glorious history of motion picture exhibition that was as much a part of the area's history as legitimate theater was utterly and completly ignored in the "grand design."

With the exception of the Rivoli the movie palace era of Times Square ended with the demolition of the Capitol in 1968. New theatres were created in the twin theatres of Strand/Warner/Cinerama and Loew's State. Most of the movie palaces of Times Sqaure had been altered in a modernistic way by the early 1960's with the exception of the Paramount and Rivoli. Read Ben Hall's book as he strolls down Times Square in the 1960's. The Disney Company has to be thanked for helping both Times Square with the restoration of the New Amsterdam when nobody else would touch that theatre and Hollywood with the resoration/renovation of the El Capitan. Remember the Shuberts and the Nederlanders were pushing for the clean up of Times Sqaure because its terrible condition was hurting Broadway in a major way. The improved Times Square caused real estate prices to soar and every major company who in the past wouldn't be caught dead in midtown, wanted to be part of its rebirth. Keep in mind that the City tried to bring back Times Square several times starting in the 1960's and it took nearly 40 years before things started to improve. Hollywood which was never as bad as Times Square has taken decades to reverse the decline.Hollywood at least has all its movie palaces from the past but wasn't a major Broadway hub like Times Square with its 40 plus theatres.brucec

Ed, the Times Square you are talking about was already dead by the late 60's. The 70's and 80's Times Square was a pit, a piece of garbage, and had already been trashed, and destroyed. Sure it was all still there, but in ruins, and in shambles. At least through the 90's, Times Square once again became a viable part of the city once again.

Mel Brooks's comment in Variety about charging $450 for "premium seats" to YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN : "I cut out the middleman (scalpers)".

I think Ed was referring mainly to 42nd street itself which was relatively intact through the eighties with architecturally impressive and profitable theatres. Unlike Hollywood, 42nd street theatres were thriving in spite of the real life horror show outside their doors (and sometimes inside). Their owners were forced to sell very profitable businesses in order to attract the new investments.

42nd street redevelopment sent drug dealers and the sex establishments "showcase" to a neighborhood near you, as it spread across the city instead of being most concentrated in one red light district.

I, like Ed, also do miss the divine decadence that was once 42nd Street and wish more of it had been conserved. However, at the risk of sounding hypocritical, I have since moved a block away, a move I would have never entertained before the clean-up.

The Playpen itself is a victim of this reinvention of a neighborhood that was always sleazy and to a certain extent still is. The sex shop that the Ideal eventually became bothered no one except those prudes who are in denial that this stuff will always be around next to someone in the city. My previous New York residence in Greenwich Village has since been transformed into a bar, a tattoo parlor and a sex shop. So goes the city.

Another historic theater is in danger:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/14/2007-09-14_times_square_playpen_may_get_demolished_.html

You hit the nail on the head, Al. I miss the honky-tonk atmosphere. The grinders on 42nd represented the last bastion of showmanship on the part of the motion picture exhibition industry. The very signage that clung to the entrances to each theater hawked passersby for their business with a flair and stylishness that has vanished from the moviegoing experience. Was the fare playing within lurid and exploitative? To be sure. This was not "grade A Hollywood product" for the most part - but it was cinema on the edge. Outlandish, independently made (or foreign) films that beckoned audience participation and therefore celebrated the very act of being part of a collective experience. Even the non-descript XXX mini-cinemas of the area that were converted from former store-fronts and office space did more to entice and intrigue potential customers than any of the full page ads one finds in the NY Times or the 30 second spots on TV today.

The greatest Generation who went through the Depression and WW11 did not like the Times Square of the late 1960's and beyond they remember it during its Golden Era fron the 1920's into the 1950's. Fred Astaire who performed on 42nd Street, was shocked by its decline even in 1953 when he filmed some scenes for the "Bandwagon" and thought it was a little seedy then. I can't imagine what he thought of 42nd Street in the 70's and 80's. I wish they would have restored a little more of the feel of 42nd Street of the 1920's. I for one never liked the 42nd Street of the porn era but I did like the 42nd St of the 1920's thru the 1940's. The Movie Palaces of Times Square forced 42nd Street theatres to become second rate first run theatres.Its ironic that the Times Sqaure movie palaces no longer exist and a few of the 42nd Street theatres have been restored and movies are no longer seen on Broadway but on 42nd Street.brucec

I never knew the Times Square of the '20's, '30's, '40's or '50's so I can't really relate to Mr. Astaire and others of or closer to his generation. I grew up knowing the Times Square of the late '70's and '80's. I understand that crime was a problem that needed to be solved and that a good deal of cleanup was required - but to completely sweep aside any semblance of its former attractions was uncalled for. But such is the way of real estate politics in NYC. It's happening all over again right now in Coney Island (a place that cleaned up its act greatly in the last 20 years without sacrificing a lot of what made it such a unique and special destination).

You will find NYT articles about the decline of Times Square going back to prohibition when drugs and prostitution started to thrive on 42nd street. Even the Busby Berkeley movie musical (1933) already references the violence and sleaze. The situation became obvious when the fleets visited promiscuous war time New York. Even male prostitution was already a "problem".

In the 19th century, before the Times and the theatres, prostitutes allegedly worked under the 42nd street cattle run. The street was never wholesome and every generation redefines their limits for tolerance of what goes on there. I draw the line at flying nannies.

I also loved those elaborate displays often put up for only a few day's run. I laughed at the fake nurses waiting to take your blood pressure in case you might die watching some horror flick and those XXX films that ensured you would want to "Come and Come Again!"

As one book describes it, 42nd street has always been the symbol of unchecked capitalism in America. If nothing else, you have to admit it is still that.

42nd Street was trashed in the 80's, and all it was was empty marquee after empty marquee of abandoned, and falling apart theaters, hardly "profitable" or in good shape. Intact perhaps, but far from a viable street, and certainly not in good shape.

The empty marquees came in the very late '80's and early '90's at the hand of the City's desire to have the area redeveloped - not due to dwindling movie-going crowds. Those theaters were forced to be shuttered - it was not a voluntary act. The Duece grinders drew substantial evening audiences through at least 1986 (when I stopped attending) and probably right up to 1988 - at which point the City took over half the theatre properties on the block and turned the strip into a veritable ghost-town. Even still, the Lyric, Selwyn, Rialto and Harris Theaters hung on for a few years beyond that.

Absolutely. The old 42nd street never died. It had to be murdered, with the likes of Brandt being thrown out kicking and screaming in court.

Here is a September 2007 photo of the Playpen Theater and this is a close-up view.

A Kimball theater organ was installed in the Ideal Theater in 1919.

Organs were visible during its Cameo/Adonis/Playpen days.

Well the marquee for the Playpen was removed yesterday. Con Ed cut power sometime last week. And they have the sidewalk scaffolding is around the building now.

That's a shame, I saw the marquee on Saturday the 6th while in the city.
(I was really lost)

Now they have the work scaffolding erected above the sidewalk scaffolding around the building.

photos of the wrapped building being taken down... more civic vandalism
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2008707042/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2008699642/

I am working with the Committe to Save the Playpen. The Committee is working on a proposal to move the building to another site. You can contact the Committee by e-mailing unlockthevault@hotmail.com You can contact the owner of the building, the Tishman Corporation at kielar@tishman.com (Richard Kielar, Sr. VP for Corp. Comm.).

I saw the marquee has been re-used on a bookstore down the street.

Quite interesting! Can you please send some photos if you have a chance? You can e-mail me at unlockthevault@hotmail.com

Why would anyone want to go to the expense of moving the building to another site, and for what purpose? The theatre was of no architectural distinction, and I doubt that anything exists of the original except whatever holds it together.

Of course the entire fascade of the building is original, and according to someone's photos of the interior somewhere up above, still showed some of the theater's original ornamentation.

Here's the photo "Woody" posted:

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=73318458&context=set-1113147&size=o

Here's Warren's historical interior photo, which shows the same ornamentation:

http://www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/133-3373_IMG.jpg

all the interior plasterwork as seen in Warrens photo still exists (existed) but painted black, the coffered ceiling is intact, the lower stalls walls are plain but i think from the photo they were always that way, the floor had been levelled and the balcony partly levelled so video booths could be fitted.
the main floor was a maze of booths all the way down to the stage, like something from the 7th layer of Hell, with crack whores wandering round in their underwear and drug dealers crusing the dark narrow spaces, i didnt venture in very far, i was too worried about my camera being robbed.
as one of the few remaining intact Times Square/42nd St area movie theatres it really should have been saved, or at least the sky scraper built around and over it like the Liberty.

Well they have started to raze the theatre. They have lowered the facade front top by about 10 feet as of today. So most of the roof must be gone now.

They are around the second floor now.

There's a big hole in the ground now.

Here is a RIP list that was compiled by New York Magazine & a member of a popular blog. It features the Playpen/Ideal Theatre:

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2008/01/2007s-rip-list.html

So you won't forget what it looked like, here is another 2007 photo of the Playpen Theater.

Heh, it seems so strange with the neon lights out. I must have walked passed it more times than I can count over the years. I haven't been by since it's been knocked down. that will be even stranger...

Does anyone have any historic or semi-historic photos of this theater as the Ideal Theatre, Squire, Esquire, Cinecitta, Cameo, or Adonis? Any interior photos? Please e-mail me at unlockthevault@hotmail.com and please point me in the right direction. I contacted the Avery Library, but no blueprints were on file. I will also contact some other sources, but would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Here is the Cameo in 1983:
http://tinyurl.com/cc6e4l

I always felt "sorry" for this theater when I would walk by and see it's marquee with porn on it. The actual building had a lot of character on the outside, and it seemed a shame it was used for porn. Although now even worse, it's a pile of rubble.

here is a new high res scan of a previous photo i posted, taken in 1992 when the theatre was the Adonis
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/3508912638/sizes/l/

The Ideal Theatre was built for Consolidated Amusements Enterprises, one of the largest of the early movie theater circuits in the east. The trade journal The Music Trade Review of November 6, 1915, published an encomium penned by Consolidated's head, Lawrence Bolognino, in praise of the instruments of the American Photo Player Co., which had been installed in a number of the circuit's houses.

The Ideal was then under construction, and a $5,000 Fotoplayer had been ordered for it. Other theaters being operated by Consolidated (each with a Fotoplayer among its accouterments) included the Drury Lane Theatre, the Regent Theatre, the Seventy-Second Street Playhouse, and the Morningside Theatre.

Photo from private archive shows RKO CAMEO THEATRE in May of 1930 -
http://picasaweb.google.com/michaeln2007/EisensteinSM?authkey=Gv1sRgCOnqv7THzZqiswE#5419011605405473442
Reference - Sergei M Eisenstein. Biography by Marie Seton, NY 1960, page 160

Wow, that is a great photo, from the theater in "happier" days.