Manhattan 1 and 2
220 E. 59th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
220 E. 59th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
4 people
favorited this theater
This was an interesting theater less for its architecture — although its curved marquee had its merits but for its chequered history and how tough it was to make a go of it sometimes in the 70s.
Opened in 1967 as the Pacific East/Avco Embassy East – yes one name for each screen as East side companions to Pacific’s Cinerama/Penthouse twins on Broadway.
Seth Lewis writes, “I remember seeing Steve McQueen in The Reivers at the Pac East.” The other screen was largely dedicated to films from Joseph E. Levine’s Avco Embassy distribution.
This brand lasted maybe two or three years when the RKO Stanley Warner chain rebranded them as the East 59th Street Twins with an odd mix of hard/soft core porn and later (with yet another logo) of MGM programming (on a circuit known as 4 Star Theatres) and Cinerama Releasing / American Interntaional blaxploitation fodder.
In the original incarnation the theater did have an interesting two tone square marquee and probably some of the brightest interior colours for the time. The end of the 70s was the theatre’s saddest point, turning to hard-core male and female porn as the EastWorld Twin (there was a WestWorld in several locations near Broadway).
In 1979, Cinema 5 soon to be taken over by RKO Stanley Warner gave it another go by renaming this theatre the Manhattan 1 and 2 and a fair mix of first run programming – some mainstream and some art.
Again this was a house that never really had the same cachet as its brothers on the avenue.
Cineplex Odeon tried a discount policy here in the mid-90s. Before it closed in 1998 the theatre was screening Bollywood films. It was torn down a couple of years later.
Contributed by
SethLewis
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Recent comments (view all 63 comments)
Operating as the all-male Spartan theatre in 1978 with male dancers and “3 male erotic films” while Eastworld was the other screen.
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In the 1971 photo it looks like Dennis Hopper under the marquee. Can’t believe no one else noticed.
It does!
Yeah it looks like Dennis.
I think it is Dennis!
December 1971, MGM releases Ken Russells “The Boyfriend” starring Twiggy at the RKO 59th St Twin
During its late seventies porno incarnation Twin One went back to mainstream subrun as the “RKO 59th St East” while Twin Two still played strictly adult sex films as the Spartan. Does anyone know if RKO itself was actually operating this as a hard core porno theatre?
Al I only know that when I saw “The Story of Joanna” here in 1975 the other theatre was showing “The Naughty Victorians”. That was also a hard-core film. I believe it was 1978 when I was dragged here by a girlfriend to see “The Savage is Loose”, but that arrangement was a private one year lease with the film’s star/ Director.
Garth, if memory served me correctly The Savage is Loose had its year long engagement at the former D.W. Griffith theater down the blockfrom Manhatten Twin.
Garth was correct. The Manhattan-1 was going by the name RKO 59th Street East at the time of THE SAVAGE IS LOOSE. That name would later be revived at the D.W. Griffith by Cineplex Odeon when they found out they owned no legal right to continue using the Griffith name.