Park Lane Theatre
1726 First Avenue,
New York,
NY
10128
1726 First Avenue,
New York,
NY
10128
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For lack of a photo of the Park Lane’s auditorium, I’m posting this one of the same architect’s Gallo Opera House, which was built at the same time and very similar. The Park Lane opened on February 17th, 1927, and the Gallo Opera House in November. The Gallo opened later because opera companies operated on a limited, seasonal basis. Due to more legroom between the rows, the Gallo had fewer seats than the Park Lane, which was a movie palace designed to pack in as many customers as possible: View link
This is a new direct link to the photo mentioned above. The Park Lane’s interior was similar to architect Eugene De Rosa’s Gallo Opera House, which was built around the same time on West 54th Street and still exists as a “legit” theatre under the name of Studio 54: View link
I tried rejuvenating one of the NYPL photos and was surprised to find that it was in color. I was also surprised to discover that the theatre was situated so near to a gasoline station (on the corner with 90th Street), which I thought would have been prohibited by safety laws. The double feature displayed on the marquee is “Green Hell” & “A Child Is Born,” both first released in January, 1940. The photo would have been taken later than that, since the Park Lane was a subsequent-run house: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/plcolor.jpg
BUILDER PURCHASES GRACIE SQ. THEATRE.
NY Times February 4, 1952
The Gracie Square Theatre, a 2,200-seat motion-picture house at the northeast corner of First Avenue and Eighty-ninth Street, has been sold by the trustees of Columbia University to Evan M. Frankel, designer and builder, who plans to alter the building for occupancy by television or motion-picture companies.
The name changed from Park Lane to Gracie Square on October 30, 1947, with the opening of the subsequent-run “Brute Force.” Instead of the conventional companion feature, the theatre introduced “The Gracie Square Variety Show,” a one-hour compilation of shorts and cartoons. The selection would change each time that the feature movie did, but patrons weren’t happy and the Gracie Square soon became just another “dualer.”
A Wurlitzer organ Opus 1540 Style H NP was installed in the Park Lane Theater on 12/18/1926.
In this photograph (top) you can see the Park Lane Theatre.