Trans-Lux 49th Street Theatre
1607 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1607 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
4 people
favorited this theater
Designed by Eugene DeRosa, this small newsreel theatre first opened in 1938. The entrance was on the west side of Broadway, just below the intersection with 49th Street. By the mid-1950’s, television had made newsreel houses redundant, so the Trans-Lux Theatre switched to double features or whatever first-run bookings it could get.
In 1963, it was renovated and re-named the Trans-Lux West Theatre as a link to the circuit’s brand-new Trans-Lux East Theatre on Third Avenue. Trans-Lux tried to book the two theatres day-and-date, but that didn’t prove too successful because the Broadway theatre had a quite different clientele.
The Trans-Lux West Theatre closed in the 1970’s, but re-opened in the 1980’s as the Grand Pussycat Cinema, with a spectacular neon frontage hiding its newsreel origin. The Grand Pussycat Cinema was so successful that it spawned a copycat around the corner on 49th Street called the Kitty Kat Cinema, converted from a restaurant.
Both were demolished in 1987 to make way for a skyscraper hotel.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 82 comments)
Interesting find, Joe.
The Trans-Lux West name did not start until 1967, not 1963 as the intro states. The New York Times claims the original opening year was 1936.
Well the Trans-Lux Theatre in the Brill Building was ripped out in 1938. Warren had an opening date for this theatre as Dec. 28th. 1937.
This was the Embassy 49 for only one year in 1976. By 1977 it was the Pussycat.
In August, 1953, the Trans-Lux 49th Street was being marketed as “The First Wide Screen Newsreel Theatre in the World,” using a newly patented rear projection system developed by the parent company (by now known as Trans-Lux Stewart). In addition to its usual program of newsreels and short subjects, the cinema also gave the wide screen treatment to the NYC premiere engagement of Walt Disney’s live-action Technicolor short. “The Olympic Elk,” one of the producer’s last releases through RKO Radio Pictures.
Image of the Trans-Lux during a run of La Cucaracha, Boxoffice, January 12, 1935:
http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/011235-1/35
Gerald, your last image post is under the wrong theatre. It should be under the Trans-Lux Modern Theatre, the one with two screens. Which was in the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway. This theatre opened in 1937.
Here is a screen capture from the TV series Taxi showing this theater’s marquee (as the Embassy 49) at far left. It’s from a first-season episode titled, appropriately enough, Hollywood Calling.
Was this theater was known as th the Byransten west during the booking of Andy Warhol’s Frankenstien
This theatre was listed as Bryanston in Variety but advertised as Bryan West in 1975.
It opened “Frankenstein” as the Trans-Lux West.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=adpHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CowDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6174%2C3663809
This 1977 trade ad provides no specific address: Boxoffice