Victoria Theatre
1547 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1547 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 109 comments found
On this traditional Columbus Day (10/12) in 1949, J. Arthur Rank’s Technicolor epic, “Christopher Columbus,” with Fredric March in the title role, opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Victoria Theatre. Universal-International handled the American distribution, which proved a critical and boxoffice disaster.
This previously linked 1954 image is now part of a New York Times slide show of photographs by Frank Oscar Larson: View link
Seventy-eight years ago tonight, MGM’s B&W adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood’s sophisticated comedy hit, “Reunion in Vienna,” opened its world premiere engagement at the Gaiety Theatre as a two-a-day reserved-seat roadshow. John Barrymore and Diana Wynyard filled the leading roles played in the stage version by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. The booking gave MGM two roadshow presentations in the same block of Broadway, with the B&W thriller “Hell Below” (Robert Montgomery-Walter Huston) continuing at the Astor Theatre.
A September 7, 1943 article in the New York Times explains how this location became an outlet for Russian films in 1943-1944.
Maurice Maurer, owner of the lease for several Times Square theatres including the Victoria, sold his lease to the Stanley, which had been an established outlet for Russian films since 1941. He then competed with the sucessful Stanley by programming first-run films from Russia (or about Russia) at the Victoria for almost a year.
Just prior to this it had been the Laffmovie and the often raided Gaiety Burlesque.
Nice link Tinseltoes.
Half a century ago today, Paramount’s “It Started in Naples,” teaming Clark Gable and Sophia Loren for the first and only time, opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Victoria and Murray Hill Theatres. Here’s a link to the original trailer: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=197379
Here’s a 1954 view when the Victoria was presenting Garland’s “A Star Is Born” day-and-date with the Paramount Theatre: http://www.nfo.net/usa/bwayasto.jpg
Here is a photo circa 1965:
http://tinyurl.com/yz6kr8r
Here’s a 1934 view with the Gaiety and Astor in the background: View link
Here is a 1967 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ydynovo
Laffmovie should be added to previous names (1942-1943).
Here’s a 1956 view with Columbia’s “The Solid Gold Cadillac” at the Victoria and Paramount’s “The Mountain” at the Astor: View link
The NYT is selling this 1948 image at their online store:
View link
Image taken in December 1948 during showing of “Joan of Arc”.
From a 1944 LIFE photo can be seen an unusual view of the Victoria -
View link
Don’t narrow it down for me.
“Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” opened in 1957, so that might narrow it down a bit.
Not a great photo.
Here is an undated color photo from Life magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/nhyybx
At the end of July, 1964, the Victoria closed for two weeks to be “specially renovated and re-equipped” for a new booking arrangement with Columbia Pictures on some of its more “unusual” releases. The “New Victoria” re-opened on August 14th with the world premiere engagement of Fred Zinnemann’s “Behold a Pale Horse” (shared with the Sutton Theatre on the East Side). Announced as “forthcoming” were Robert Rossen’s “Lilith” and William Wyler’s “The Collector.” While “Lilith” did debut at the Victoria (and East Side Coronet), Columbia had second thoughts about “The Collector” and opened it instead at the Paris and Coronet Theatres.
Here is a December 1952 ad from the New York Times:
http://tinyurl.com/pynkk7
Under its final name of Embassy 5, the theatre closed forever on October 19th, 1981.
The last booking was Michael Laughlin’s “Strange Behavior.”
1979
View link
This is a 1940 photo of a Gaiety Theater. The caption with the photo claims that it is the Gaiety Theater in Los Angeles but I believe that it is a photo of this theater.
Renewing link.
New links to 1942 ads showing the theatre’s brief affiliation with the 42nd Street Laffmovie (ex-Eltinge):View link
View link