Frisco Theater
732 Seventh Avenue,
New York,
NY
10019
732 Seventh Avenue,
New York,
NY
10019
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 28 comments found
Ed, I think there were probably two live shows and no number ‘2’s available to put up on the marquee.
I think this the film showing as it is the same distributor as “LOVE CAMP 7”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061358/
From grindhousedatabase.com comes, at long last, this photo of the Mini Cinema from around 1969 or 70. “Love Camp 7” was a definite 1969 release, not sure if either of the films called “The Animal” at imdb.com are the same as the title featured on the Mini’s flat marquee.
Looks like this may have been soft porn on screen when it opened, plus the “burlesque” acts – all eleven of them! Can’t figure out if Marinka & Dawn performed their act 11 times? Or were there 11 acts? I’m thinking the former – otherwise the cast and crew may have outnumbered the audience for most performances!
Sorry didn’t mention the Fascination sign here, it was earlier today on the page for the Cine Lido.
And there’s a photo of the Pussycat on Seventh and 49th that also shows that Fascination arcade sign I mentioned above. No idea where the Samson is or what it was. If only we could make out some of the other storefront signs or address numbers as a reference point.
If you scroll down this story about Bill Clinton waxing melancholy about the hookers of Times Square you will find a photo of the entrance to a Samson theatre in Times Square.
View link
I think we can also eliminate the 3rd paragraph in the intro and incorporate the line about it’s opening in 1969 as New Mini Cinema into the first paragraph. Also can update number of seats to 130 and current function as retail/restaurant.
The building is still standing. The new 1600 Broadway residential tower sits on the footprint of the demolished Studebaker Building that was on the 48th Street end of the block. The rest of the block consists of 4 other buildings, which includes 734 Seventh Ave, 740 Seventh Ave (on the corner of 49th), 202 West 49th (where the World Theater moved after the original World became the Embassy 49th) and the 3-story L-shaped building that fronts the corner of Broadway and 49th as #1604-1610 (where the Circus Cinema and Big Top Theatre was) and also fronts Seventh Ave at 732 (where the Frisco/New Mini Cinema was located). All of these buildings are still standing – and all are owned by the related companies Farmore Realty Co Inc or Sweetheart Theatres Inc, the latter of which ran numerous porn theatres in the area – see my post above dated Oct 1, 2006.
732 Seventh Avenue is currently occupied by two asian kitchens – Pearl’s and Teriyaki Boy. As per this photo from Feb 2011, Teriyaki Boy closed due to high rents. But this is definitely the same location and building that housed the Frisco. The new 1600 Broadway is immediately adjacent to the left.
Bottom line here, an AKA should be added for New Mini Cinema, which is the name under which this cinema originally opened. Also the address should be confirmed as 732 Seventh Avenue. And status should remain as closed, since the building has not been demolished. Took us 5 years and it seems only Al, Ken and myself give a damn, but there you have it!
That’s what I thought.
It looks like it was demolished.
Is the building still standing? I wasn’t sure when I looked at the map view.
That photo also shows the Frisco outlasting the Avon 7.
Nice shot, Ken.
The address must have been 732 or 734 Seventh Avenue based on its proximity to the Avon 7, making an almost certainty it was the Mini Cinema before it became the Frisco.
A familiar double feature can be seen in this circa 1970s photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yznq4rq
This is the Frisco up close.
The glamorous Frisco during happier times:
View link
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[Numerous antagonistic comments have been removed by the site’s administrators. The next off-topic taunt from either of the two users receives a free suspension, all expenses paid.]
The car at the curb in the 1973/1980 photo appears to be a Plymouth Volare or Dodge Aspen. Which weren’t introduced until the 1977 model year. Replacing the Valiant & Dart.
So 1980 is probably correct.
What kind of long hairs protest porn?
Must be 1980.
This is another small photo of the Frisco. Guess which movies were playing here. :)
Thanks, Scott. I’m almost positive that the pair had a similar run here at the Frisco, but I’ve been having difficulty nailing that down as the gospel truth. I made a leap of faith when writing the introductory comments above, based on recollections from folks on this site and elsewhere – but also based in some measure by the “circa 1973” date for the exterior photo that Warren now pretty much confirms to be in error. That casts some doubt on whether this theater did play the double feature for as long as I initially thought.
Starting in 1974, it was not unusual to see “Deep Throat” & “Devil in Miss Jones” playing together. (I know of several Pussycat Theaters in the Los Angeles area doing that, one of which in Hollywood played the combo for approx 7 years straight!—One theater in San Francisco, the Art 1 at 55 Taylor Street played these two films together from 1974 into the early 1980’s on a continuous run. That run outlasted the run in Hollywood.)
Thanks, Warren. Though, the two films were paired on a grind throughout the 70’s at several theaters in NYC (and elsewhere, I’d presume). I don’t think the porn industry followed quite the same distribution policies as did the mainstream industry. In any event, when I first saw this photo, I wasn’t entirely sure that Ebert’s date caption was accurate. I think I’d put more trust in the AP to get the date right so I’ll assume May ‘80 is correct.
The Memorial Day weekend in May 1980 was the date mentioned in the caption to the photo in the archives of the Associated Press. I can’t swear to the date’s accuracy. But I don’t think those two movies were paired until well after they’d finished their individual runs. I believe that “Throat” was first released in 1972, and “Devil” in 1973, so it hardly seems likely that the photo was taken circa 1973. Which is one of the pitfalls of trying to date a photo by the original release date of a film displayed on a marquee.
Thanks for sharing, Warren – regardless of your estimation of the Frisco as either a theater or treasure. May I ask about your source for the photo and how you were able to date it? It is a larger version of the very same photo I posted above that had been dated “circa 1973” on Roger Ebert’s website.
Although I don’t consider the Frisco a theatre, let alone a cinema “treasure,” I was amused by this photo, which shows how some New Yorkers celebrated the Memorial Day weekend of May, 1980:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/frisco580.jpg