5th Avenue Cinema

66 5th Avenue,
New York, NY 10011

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Rugoff & Becker

Architects: Thomas White Lamb

Functions: Educational

Previous Names: 5th Avenue Playhouse, Cinema de Paris

Nearby Theaters

January 14, 1971

The 5th Avenue Playhouse was opened December 16, 1925. It was renamed Cinema de Paris on September 28, 1935. It was renamed 5th Avenue Cinema in 1954 when it was operated by Rugoff & Becker. A premiere art house in the Greenwich Village area of New York for many decades where the offerings were always synonymous with high quality. Satyajit Ray’s “Pather Panchali!” was introduced to New York moviegoers in this small venue. Pasolini’s “Accattone” had its first commercial run here. Closed in September 1974, the theatre building is now part of the New School for Social Research.

Contributed by Gerald A. DeLuca

Recent comments (view all 29 comments)

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on May 16, 2008 at 10:50 pm

This stopped showing films in 1973.

mhantholz
mhantholz on May 21, 2010 at 2:41 am

I lived @ FIFTH AVENUE CINEMA mid-1960s-70s. Living 4 blocks south, at the Hotel Marlton 5 West 8th St., it was the movie theater of choice—-the Art and the 8th St.Playhouse were for the fairies & débutantes at NYU and the bridge-&-tunnel mutts who got off on “Rocky Horror Show” [hawk-ptoo]. I saw a double-bill here that can’t be beat—–“L'Aventura” / “Last Year At Marienbad”. Saw them again recently—-after all the jokes, these two are among the very few from the ‘60s to have survived, their power intact. The snapper here is that not only has Parson School Of Design taken over the 5th Ave. for an auditorium, they’ve taken over my old home, the Hotel Marlton for dorms !!! Am I to be spared nothing ??

cblog
cblog on November 2, 2012 at 6:23 am

My mom and I saw Dr.Strangelove here, after my Saturday morning children’s theater group at Mills College of Education, and lunch at the Schraffts 13th st. We saw other films, but Dr.Strangelove created the memory. The mural was fascinating to look at, at least for a child.

Astyanax
Astyanax on May 27, 2017 at 8:30 pm

Any sign of the Hirshfeld mural?

EduardoSuave
EduardoSuave on June 2, 2017 at 12:12 pm

The closing date is incorrect. The cinema closed in September 1974. After seeing two mentions here of a purported 1973 closing date, I recalled that the last thing I’d seen there was the closed circuit broadcast of the second Ali-Frazier fight — which took place in January 1974. A look into the New York Magazine archives showed the theater was open into the following September. The last showing was apparently a double bill of two erotic French films, Going Places (Les Valseuses) and Le Sex Shop.

rivest266
rivest266 on August 22, 2017 at 7:08 pm

This was with the France-Film circuit, which was based in Montreal, QC in the 1930’s.

Found on Newspapers.com

They also built Cinemas de Paris cinemas in Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Trois Rivieres. As of the time of this writings they own the St. Denis in Montreal.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on August 23, 2017 at 9:55 am

It was Cinema de Paris for at least eight years.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on August 24, 2017 at 7:20 pm

It was called Cinema de Paris alternatively from 1935 to 1942 depending on the product being run.

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