Apollo Theater
126 Clinton Street,
New York,
NY
10002
126 Clinton Street,
New York,
NY
10002
1 person
favorited this theater
This was entered as a comment from another Apollo Theater, at 125th Street, first posted by RedDawg, then followed up by Warren.
(A certain wurlitzer) “was actually installed in a different Apollo theatre at 126 Clinton Street, NYC. There is likewise no information on the status of this theatre that I can find.”
“The Lower East Side Apollo was a 1,788-seat independent theatre near bustling Delancey Street that Loew’s took over in the 1930s and ran for about ten years before closing it as a substantial loser. I don’t think it ever re-opened under another management. Several years ago, I tried to find the Apollo but couldn’t. It has either been demolished or converted beyond recognition as a theatre.”
Contributed by
Dave Bonan
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Recent comments (view all 20 comments)
The photo was probably taken in 1935, when the Apollo had a short-lived affiliation with RKO, which took over the independent house in an attempt to break Loew’s domination of the Lower East Side. At that time, RKO had no theatres below 14th Street (and there only the Jefferson). But the RKO Apollo proved a fast flop (not helped by the Depression) and Loew’s bought the Apollo’s lease from RKO to make sure that there were no more invasions of its turf. Though Loew’s operated the Apollo for at least fifteen years (until the early 1950s), I don’t understand why Loew’s Apollo is not given as one of its alternate names. I reported it as such last October, and it’s also mentioned in the introductory remarks. The Loew’s connection was far more important than RKO’s, which lasted only a matter of months.
Contact Cinema Treasures. Give the name and number of the theater if possible and the correction(s) that you want made.
I suspect that Eugene DeRosa was architect of the Apollo Theatre, though I have no actual proof. But on November 1, 1925, The New York Times reported that DeRosa would be the architect of four theatres being built on the Lower East Side by Delancey-Clinton Realty Co., one of which turned out to be the Apollo.
I discovered more about the connection of RKO and Loew’s to the downtown Apollo and Hollywood in the August 25, 1935 issue of New York State Exhibitor. About a year before that, the M&S circuit, which owned both theatres, made a management deal with RKO to run them. But M&S was extremely disappointed with the results and sued to end the agreement, winning $45,000 in damages from RKO. M&S then leased the Apollo and Hollywood to Loew’s, which did well enough with the Apollo to continue running it but returned the Hollywood to M&S due to poor attendance.
None of the old 42nd Street theaters was nice by the time I started frequenting them in 1967, but as an out-of-towner who knew that a movie could play in only one theater in a “zone” at a time, I was fascinated to find first-run movies playing with companion features in dumpy 42nd Street houses while the same new films were running at higher prices just around the corner on Broadway and Seventh Avenue.
Are there any pictures of this movie theater.
Checked Google Maps. Nothing there but acres of parking lots.
I and my friends used to cut through the construction area that became the Seward Park Houses to go to The Apollo theater in the late 50’s and early 60’s. We paid 35 cents to see three feature films. They make up part of a lot of precious memories of my childhood growing up on the Lower East Side of NYC.
BTW – here is a link to my FaceBook where I have posted what might be the only picture of this Apollo theater when it was called: Apollo Hall in 1900!
View link
Thanks for the cool picture, geneser1.