Fine Arts Theatre
128 E. 58th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
128 E. 58th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
6 people
favorited this theater
A small art house on 58th Street between Park and Lexington. It was built and first operated by Richard Davis, who later became a film importer. The theatre had a plain nondescript interior.
The Fine Arts Theatre opened on October 15, 1951, with the United States premiere of “The Lavender Hill Mob” (Alec Guinness), which ran for more than eight months and established the theatre as a formidable rival to the nearby Sutton and Plaza. Fellini’s “The Nights of Cabiria” had its US premiere here in October of 1957. The Fine Arts was one of the premier art houses in New York City during the 1950’s and succeeding decades. In 1964, Davis sold a long-term lease on the Fine Arts to the Walter Read Circuit for $1.5 million. It eventually became a chapel, under the jurisdiction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in 1978. The chapel has since closed, and the building appears to be boarded up.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 36 comments)
Renewing link.
Does anyone know when the Fine Arts stopped functioning as a moviehouse and even possibly its final film attraction?
And is it still boarded up?
Would a passerby recognize it as a former moviehouse? (Many old theaters had a telltale architecture.)
A non-descript, but very convenient location with a major subway stop, shopping at Bloomingdale’s & Alexanders (with a more upscale selection that that found in branch stores). Could catch a quick burger either at Yellowfingers or Sernedipity.
Depending on starting times you could easily/literally run over to the Paris, Plaza, Sutton, Trans-Lux East, Coronet/Baronet or Cinema I & II, for the best selection of films available anywhere. Waited on sold-out lines to see They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, & Women in Love. Much less crowded when Stolen Kisses & Day for Night opened.
The Fine Arts closed in 1978 with “THE DUELLISTS”. The landlord refused to renew the lease and Walter Reade was forced to close the site and move the film to the Waverly.
Samll photo of front of Fine Arts Theatre, with marquee. Also a discussion of the “Curtain at 8:30” (not 8:40) idea.
From Boxoffice magazine, April 5, 1952:
View link
Any update on what is in place of this theater now since the church closed
Registering.
its interesting the Fine Arts is the only art house in
Manhattan to have hosted 3 roadshow films-A MAN FOR ALL
SEASONS, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE and THE TROJAN
WOMEN. all three films also had souvenir programs.
It’s fascinating that the filmgoing economics of 35-40 years ago allowed for the specialized handling of serious films on a roadshow basis. The major studios backing those films must have made reasonably good business to have gone through with such arrangements at a small venue such as the Fine Arts.
I think the failure of the latter two may explain why they stopped doing it more often.