Eros Theatre

I think there was a straight porn theatre right next store, was it the Venus?

One of the theaters owned by Chelly Wilson, who also owned the Cameo and the Adonis.

The Venus also was a Chelly Wilson owned theater.

Was this a twin theatre called the Eros 1 and 2? If so, there's some footage of its marquees in a new filmed addendum to the revival of "Deep Throat". Apparently the film itself was too short, so the releasing company filmed some reminiscing by adult film star Eric Edward to tack on when the film had ended.

I think Eros 2 was at a seperate location, I will find out.

Eros 2 is listed as 8th Ave near 45th St. I wonder if it was the Venus? Eros 2 was running straight porn.

Yes...Stud Farm in July, 1969. Outrageous, unheard-of admission price of $5.

The Eros 2 was indeed a separate theatre and it did later become the Venus.

A 1969 NY Times story about the deluge of new mini cinemas

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Theatres/MiniCinemas1969.jpg

Interesting article, RobertR. What is that 130-seat New Mini Cinema on Seventh and 47th, discussed just under the photo caption about halfway through the article? The old Mayfair/Demille occupied the northeast corner and I don't recall there having been one on the southeast corner adjacent to the RKO Palace. I suppose it could have been across the street near the northwest corner of that intersection, but I only ever remember the Castro Convertible showroom and Playland arcade there... Do you think it refers to the Doll Theater which was on the same block as the Demille but closer to 48th? A C of O for that theater cites 160 seats, but the article's 130 count might have been in error.

Ed, I think the Mini was a converted storefront.

It operated in 1973-74 at 732 Seventh Avenue.

Here's a photo from the flickr.com website that's a little soft and blurry but depicts the east side of 8th Avenue looking north from just below 45th Street. You can see the marquees for both the Venus and Eros Theaters (from right to left) between 45th and 46th Streets. There is a third marquee to the left of the Eros with a parking lot separating them... I think it's the Capri. When you click on the "back to flickr photo page" link in the upper left corner, you'll see the caption indicates "42nd st Venus and Strand theaters"... but I think that's a misidentification. I can't remember what that might have been except for the Capri.

Anyway, I think the account holder "woody1969" has posted here on CT before as "woody". Maybe he can offer some clarification as to dates and anything else he knows about these theaters. If you scroll through the photo stream, he has a number of photos from the area including the Adonis and Richard Basciano's Show Palace on Eighth and 43rd as well as the 42nd Street grind houses. Lot's of fun.

Some more info I found on the Eros (former Eros I)...

*A temporary C/O in June 1969 was issued for a 114-seat motion picture theater with projection booth on the mezzanine level. A final C/O follows on 12/5/69.

*An alteration permit is issued in November of 1997 to convert the space to a restaurant.

The building is now occupied by the Playwright Tavern and Act II Restaurant, whose website may be found right here including a color photo of the exterior.

My mistake above. The permits for conversion to restaurant are 1996. That year pretty much jibes with the shutting down of all three porn theaters on this block front (Capri, Eros, Venus). Interestingly, all three have become restaurants.

An article by Vincent Canby in the NY Times on 12/14/69 discusses notable events in the NYC movie scene for that Holiday season and makes mention of the Eros and Capri cinema in a short paragraph on Mrs. Chelly Wilson:

"Greek-born American producer, distibutor and exhibitor of what are known as 'skin flicks.' Two of her newest ventures are the Eighth Avenue minitheaters, the Capri (recent attractions: 'Kiss My Analyst' and 'A Fruedian Thing') and the Eros, which specializes in all-male films ('Gay in Space'). Admission to the Capri is $4; to the Eros it's $5."

Hi EdSolero,
yes it is my flickr photo, i took it in 1992 along with the other b/w shots of former theatres on 42nd st and eighth ave that are in my flickr account, the quality isnt great as they are scanned from photos, i wish i had taken close-up photos.

Thanks for taking them, woody. I hope you don't mind that I've been sharing links to those photos all around the web! I noticed a lot of them were posted to flickr some time back, so I figured it would be OK. I snapped some shots along 42nd Street and Times Square myself back in October of '93... That was a stark and depressing time for the strip... with all those once-lively and colorful theaters shuttered or gasping their last breaths. But, at least there was some semblance of character and atmosphere left. Now it's like walking through an enormous pinball machine.

This address is now the Playwright Tavern & Restaurant Act II. Here is a photo.

Please update the seat count to 114 per C/O information posted on Oct 4, 2006.

We had an Eros Theater in Jacksonville back in the 70's.Never went in there,it was just a little hole inthe wall peepshow place.Doeas anyone have any pictures of the old peepshow machines,the 8mm or 16mm variety from the 70's?

Screen-grab of the Eros in 1991:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/NYCEros1991.jpg

Here's that same 1991 screengrab from Hollywood90038's video footage - now that his link no longer works. Thanks for the permission, H.

BTW, that's the Capri Theatre's marquee that can be glimpsed in the foreground of the image above. The Venus Theater is just barely visible behind the Eros. All three were opened between 1968-1969 by Chelly Wilson - who also ran the Cameo and Adonis Theatres on the other side of Eighth Avenue.

Eros & Venus
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=122&ProductID=30994

The sign was taken down in 1997:
http://tinyurl.com/pty4zb

This was another Times Square place in the early 70s. Not listed on CT, as far as I could tell.
http://tinyurl.com/o2up25