Loew's State Theatre
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1540 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
27 people
favorited this theater
Loew’s State Theatre opened on August 9th 1921, with vaudeville and movies, and the adjoining office building that became Loew’s headquarters.
Many World Premieres were hosted here including “The Three Musketeers” on October 20, 1948. Loew’s State Theatre was closed in 1958 for modernisation. The theatre reopened on March 28, 1959, with the World Premiere engagement of “Some Like It Hot”. The theatre was very successful in the 1960’s with reserved-seat road shows such as “Ben Hur”.
World Premiere’s of 70mm movies at the Loew’s State Theatre included “Ben Hur”(November 18, 1959 and played for 74 weeks), “King of Kings”(October 11, 1961), “Mutiny on the Bounty”(November 8, 1962), “Becket”(March 3, 1964), “The Agony and the Ecstasy”(October 7, 1965), “The Bible in the Beginning….”(September 28, 1966) and “Paint Your Wagon”(October 16, 1969 in Loew’s State 2). In 1972, “The Godfather” had its World Premiere here.
Partly due to the loss of Loew’s Capitol Theatre, Loew’s twinned the State Theatre. The balcony overhang was extended to create State 1 (1,172 seats) in the downstairs auditorium, State 2 (1,214 seats) used the upper portion of the original proscenium arch, was designed in a more ornate fashion, and had some original side wall and ceiling decoration visible. The theatre reopened December 1968, with “Oliver” in State 1 and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in State 2.
The Loew’s State Theatre closed February 19,1987.
In the 1990’s the State Theatre and the adjoining office building which had been Loew’s headquarters were demolished and replaced by a Virgin Megastore. A replacement four-screen multiplex, the Loew’s State 4, opened in the basement in 1996, but closed in 2006 after the opening nearby in W. 42nd Street of two stadium seated megaplexes; the AMC Empire 25 and the 42nd Street E-Walk(13-screens opened by Loew’s in 1999 and operated by Regal since the AMC-Loew’s merger)
Contributed by
William Gabel, Howard B. Haas
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 595 comments)
You always send the most interesting items..Thanks. Just before being sold, Loews always ran an ad in the NYTimes telling the features playing in their theaters.
SeaBassTian… audience participation is precisely what brought me back to the theaters of Times Square time and again – that and the cheap admissions. Of course, I was a teen at the time. I’ve grown much more conservative in my expectations for movie-going etiquette as the years have passed.
I didn’t care what the audience did or did not do. There is nothing like seeing a major motion picture in a major movie palace. A first-run movie at Radio City Music Hall with a stage show/organ and all the hoopla can never be equaled, ever……
With that beautiful shot of the revamped auditorium, I try to picture myself in there watching the premiere attraction of Some Like it Hot.
Must have been an unforgettable experiencce..
I actually began to return to State when it became a second-run house under Virgin Mega Store. That was the opposite experience, always spookily quiet. I caught quite a few discount shows there though the price kept increasing. The Weather Man was probably my last visit.
The original Loew’s State became nothing but rubble and dust in 1987. The newly built, subterranean State, to which you refer, has its own page right here. That latter theater opened nearly 10 years after the original’s demolition – and bore absolutely no resemblance to its earlier, more famous incarnation.
Seeing “Some Like It Hot” at Loew’s Lexington on the East Side was an even more unforgettable experience. It was a combination press screening and “sneak prevue,” with Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Miller occupying seats in the center section of the orchestra floor.
Reserved seat engagements were so common in 1968 that here’s an advance order form for a movie before its theater had even been booked. It wound up being the opening attraction at Loew’s State 2.
“Easter Parade” breaking boxoffice records: Boxoffice
Tinseltoes, your Boxoffice magazine is such a joy to read. Thanks.