Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
205 West 46th Street,
New York,
NY
10036
205 West 46th Street,
New York,
NY
10036
8 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1910 as the Globe Theatre for producer and theater manager Charles Dillingham, this 1475-seat theater was designed in neo-Renaissance style by the firm of Carrere & Hastings.
It originally was a venue for legitimate theater, until closing in 1931.
It served as a movie house from 1935 until 1957.
Acquired by City Playhouses, Inc. in 1957, it was renovated and renamed the Lunt-Fontanne, after the famed husband-and-wife stage actors, returning to its pre-1935 use. At the same time, the main entrance was moved from Broadway to the former side entrance on 46th Street.
The theater became part of the Nederlander Organization in 1973. Marlene Dietrich, Peggy Lee and Carol Channing have all appeared on the Lunt-Fontanne’s stage.
The theater received an extensive restoration from 1997-99, which returned it to its original appearance, reopening with Disney’s stage version of “Beauty and the Beast”.
Contributed by
Bryan Kreffft
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Recent comments (view all 89 comments)
Although the intro correctly states that the Globe became a full-time cinema in 1935, from 1927 to 1935 it spent more time each year as a motion picture theatre than as a live venue.
This was never a “porno” theatre. The writer of the 11/4/09 item obviously confused it with the New York Theatre, which was re-named Globe after the original Globe had been transformed into the Lunt-Fontanne. Here’s the listing for that other theatre:
/theaters/6604/
“Forbidden Planet”, first-run, at the Globe.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1484101632/tt0049223
Check out Stanley Kubrick’s “Killer’s Kiss” where one scene takes place at night in Times Square. The Globe is playing “How to Marry a Millionaire in 1953. The action goes indoors for a minute then is outside again and the Globe is now playing "Beachhead” with Tony Curtis, from 1954. Guess it didn’t take Kubrick two years to shoot the film, but apparently it did take a while.
In this 1955 view, the Globe is at left, with “Ulysses” on the marquee. Source material for the Paramount import was Greek mythology, and not the controversial novel of that title by James Joyce: http://www.nfo.net/usa/bway45up.jpg
Here’s a 1943 view with Walt Disney’s “Saludos, Amigos” on the Globe’s marquee. In the block below, the ex-Gaiety was serving as a Laffmovie, while the Astor had MGM’s “The Human Comedy”: View link
Re-posted from Vito’s post today on the Loew’s State page:
Nov. 10th: On this date in 1953 the second picture released in CinemaScope opened simultaneously at the Loew’s State and Brandt’s Globe.
I believe “How to Marry a Millionaire” was actually the first movie filmed in Scope but Zanuck in his wisdom decided to release “The Robe” first to introduce the miracle you see without glasses.
View link
In rememberance of Jane Russell, it should be noted that her first movie to be shown in New York City was Hunt Stromberg/UA’s “Young Widow,” a B&W melodrama co-starring Louis Hayward that opened at Brandt’s Globe Theatre on July 27th, 1946. Russell’s notorious debut film, “The Outlaw,” made in 1941-42, was long delayed by censorship problems, and didn’t reach New York until September 11th, 1947, at the Broadway Theatre. Amazingly, both theatres still exist as “legit” playhouses, while Jane Russell will live on in her films and recordings.
This photo with “Hoodlum Empire” on the Globe’s marquee was incorrectly posted at the listing for the New York Theatre: photobucket
I like that you can see a little bit of Horn & Hardart there on the right.