68th Street Playhouse
1164 3rd Avenue,
New York,
NY
1164 3rd Avenue,
New York,
NY
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 63 comments found
I saw so many good films there. What a shame it had to close. In 1986 I saw an excellent French film called Baiser Rouge. I think “The Gods Must Be Crazy"played there for two years.
“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” was remade in 1974 for American television. I never saw it, but heard it was an insult to Elia Kazan’s orginal movie.
Margaret, it is considered a classic novel and film and often shows on TV. The book was required high school reading at my school in the mid-seventies.
The film was often a second feature in later years and had a minor re-release in November 1947 but I can’t find any other dates at the 68th St. Playhouse.
Dear Al and Tinseltoes,
Thank you so much for this information. I am in the UK although I have made a point of visiting the store where the theatre was on a visit to New York. Such a shame it has gone but the same think has happened in the UK where the young generation know mostly on Multi screen cinemas. However, we have a lovely restored one in my town that has plush seats where people can pass without you having to get up and they even have four two seater red sofas if you are lucky enough to book them! They also sell wine by the glass … very civilised. With regard to ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ how popular and widespread is it in contemporary popular culture. Is it still referenced and well-read. I noticed that there has been a recent stage revival. Was the film shown again later after the above dates do you know?
Thank you,
Margaret
I remember catching quite a few movies at this rather tiny and intimate theater.
Given the small space available, they really had to cram in as many seats as they possibly could in order to maintain a profitable capacity. This resulted in the first few rows being situated nearly under – only a mild exageration – the screen. On one occasion, the showing was full to near capacity and I could only find a seat in the first row. In order to view the film, I had to tilt my neck at a very extreme angle. While I have totally forgotten the film that I saw that day, I still occasionally am visited with neck pains derived – I am sure – from those two or so hours of trying to view it.
The moral of the story: NEVER sit in the first five rows in the 68th Street Playhouse! Beyond that point, however, this was a great place to take in a flick.
That was a subsequent-run booking for “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” The movie first opened exclusively at the Roxy (with stage show) and then played the RKO circuit before reaching lesser “nabes” like the 68th Street Playhouse. In that East Side area, its first-run had been at the RKO 58th Street and the RKO 86th Street.
Hi Margaret.
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN was showing from Monday, May 28, 1945 to June 3, 1945.
Dea Al,
You helped me some time ago with a list of films shown at the 68th Street Playhouse and I believe that you have a list that goes further back than 1949? I wonered if ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’ was shown there and if so, the date, please? Best wishes, Margaret Eaton
Does anyone know when this theater was built and opened? Thanks.
Almost, Ed.
“Wedding Bell Blues” and “Head Above Water” had short runs after “The Designated Mourner” and before “The Pillow Book”.
You were only off about a month.
Al, For years I believed I had seen the final film there, “The Designated Mourner.” Was that the next-to-last 68th Street Playhouse feature?
According to this NYT article, the 68th Street Playhouse was converted from an apartment building to a vaudeville and movie house in 1914.
View link
It closed in July 1997 with “The Pillow book”.
Correction: “We’ll always have Paris” is the correct line. Sorry.
Yes, pretty small, but in way it had its charm and played very good movies. As for single screen, as Rick told Ilsa, “We still have (the) Paris”.
Pretty small theatre for New Youk.
I saw the “Gods must be Crazy” at this theatre with my father in the winter of 1985. I remember waiting on line to get in and it was freezing outside. Also I recall the film played there for 18 months from September 1984-March 1986. Not often that a film stays at a theatre for that long and certainly not now in 2010. To me, this theatre was the last one’s of the single screen houses.
Very much miss the eclctic programming of the 68th St. When it closed, the Eastside Playhouse was supposed to pick up its mantle with similar scheduling, but never lived up to the challenge. If I recall, the RE telephone exchange stood for Rector.
Margaret, those films would have played all over town. Are you looking for the first run locations or the 68th St. Playhouse dates?
The Playhouse.
View link
Renewing link.
Thank you to the very knowledgeable Al as well!
Margaret Eaton
Dear Warren and anyone else who is able to help,
Thank you for your previous assistance.
I wondered if any cinema experts would know the approximate dates and venues of the John Wayne films ‘Rio Bravo’, ‘The Searchers’ and ‘Stagecoach’, in addition to Joel McCrae and Randolph Scott in ‘Ride The Big Country’?
Thank you.
This is for academic research.
Best wishes,
Margaret Eaton
What I remember most about this theater, besides the shoddy, exposed air conditioner ducts, was that during the movie, every time someone went in or out of the theater, the light from the lobby would shine on the screen when the door opened. Drove me crazy.
This is from Boxoffice magazine, April 1960:
NEW YORK-The 68th Street Playhouse, one of Manhattan’s oldest film theaters dating back to the nickelodeon days, became a first-run art theater March 30 with the opening of “When Comedy was King”, 20th Century Fox omnibus feature starring famous silent days comedians.
The theater, which has been operated as a neighborhood subsequent run house since Brecher Theaters took it over in 1937, was refurbished before the opening, according to Walter Brecher. The theater was at one time operated by the late Charles O'Reilly, former vice-president of ABC Vending Corp.
I have a quick related question. According to a 1979 NY Times listing, the telephone number for the playhouse was RE4-0302, or 734-0302. Does anyone know what word or name the RE is an abbreviation for? Thanks!