Cinema III
2 West 59th Street,
New York,
NY
2 West 59th Street,
New York,
NY
1 person
favorited this theater
This small cinema beneath the Plaza Hotel was opened during the 1970s and is not to be confused with Cinema 1, 2, 3 on the East Side.
Contributed by
Gerald A. DeLuca
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 16 comments)
The address for the Cinema III was 2 West 59th St. New York, NY.
Wow, I had forgotten about the phone reservations. I am trying to remember I think at the very end they did sell concessions here.
I remember the odd booking of “Jetsons: the Movie” which played for a few weeks. The theatre name “Cinema 3” must have ticked off the Cinema 1 & 11 when they had to name their third theatre “Cinema 3rd Ave.”
Never sold concessions as it was in there lease
Can you imagine showing The Jetsons with no concession stand, a lot of unhappy kids.
Cineplex Odeon did eventually put a small concession stand in here near the end but it was the only in the circuit without postmix soft drinks. The popcorn was popped at the Plaza and brought over. Donald Trump wanted to use the area as a club and would not renew the lease.
The Cinema 3 was a primary outlet for German films for a while but that didn’t last. Cineplex Odeon booked it as a last run move-over house.
I saw Alain Resnais' ‘Providence’ here.
Opened in January of 1977.
NY Times January 12, 1977
The Nicest Place to See a Movie?
It may be the first movie theater in New York City with a street entrance graced by ornate, turn-of-thecentury bronze railings and a crested cast-iron canopy, but that isn’t the only feature that promises to make Cinema III an unusually luxurious place to see films. The new theater, due to open Jan. 24 with Alain Resnais’s “Providence,” is dedicated to the proposition that filmgoers need not suffer for their art.
Get rid of the Roman numerals
The Cinema 3 opens:
View link
Closed in May 1997 after a run of “Waiting For Guffman”.