Savoy Theatre

This was built as the Hughes Theatre by Isador Benenson, a real estate investor whose death, at age 68, was reported in The New York Times on 2/21/1946. According to the obituary, Benenson and sons Charles and William were also responsible for the Benenson, Freeman, and Winter Garden cinemas in the Bronx, and the Austin in Kew Gardens, Queens. The Winter Garden was apparently the earliest and closed in the 1920s. The address, according to Michael Miller’s list of Bronx theatres, was 1874 Washington Avenue. Miller gave no seating capacity.

Thanks Warren. Yeah, most of the old theatres are unrecognizable, except for the ones turned into churches or bingo halls. They still have the marquee outside.

I just posted a short film I made about The Savoy. You can watch it on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1ftGm69Hs4&fmt=18

If it’s similar to another photo that someone displayed, why bother to post a link to it? Just so that you can add another post to your record of more than 20,000? Since you seem to be suffering from acute verbal diarrhea, I suggest that you change your moniker to Loose Bowels.

This is a similar photo.

Was there another Savoy Theater in the Bronx?

MOVIE PANIC HALTED BY ITALIAN ANTHEM; Pianist Plays National Hymn and Frightened Spectators Stand as Flames Rage. RUSH FOR DOORS STOPPED Nobody Hurt, and Crowd Soon Turns to Laughter at Film Antics in Bronx Theatre.

NY Times July 5, 1920

Six hundred men, women and children were watching a rough and tumble screen fight at the Bronx Savoy Theatre, 602 East 187th Street, last night, when some one yelled “ fire.” With one accord all the spectators turned and saw smoke drifting from the operator’s booth above the floor level.

I am the co-writer of the book “Belmont & Arthur Avenue” and I thank you for pointing out the fact that, given its rich history, more detailed information should have been included about Cinelli’s Savoy Theatre (or “The Dumps” as it came to be known.) From my generational viewpoint, that wonderful (if verbally mistreated) neighborhood theater had already reached its “Dumps” stage, and with a child’s eye, I neglected to embrace its true history. That’s not to say that we didn’t all LOVE having our very own movie theater in our midst. We treasure our memories of seeing our first 3-D movies there, the free dish sets given out, the cranky old matron who tried to keep order among us, etc. etc. etc. We were very, VERY lucky to have grown up in that neighborhood, at that particular time. It was just the perfect place for kids, and families, something we neighborhood alumni all agree about, and share the warmest of memories. Perhaps I can convince the publisher Steve Samtur to do a follow-up book, focusing on the actual history of such an important area of the Bronx.

This vintage image from the Municipal Archives was copied from the front cover of “Belmont & Arthur Avenue: Little Italy of The Bronx,” a 2002 paperback by Stephen M. Smith & Paula DeMarta Mastroianni. More information about the theatre’s early history is needed, since the Savoy was apparently one of the most unusual in the Greater New York area. The original name was Cinelli’s Italian American Savoy, which can be put together from the words in the three-part marquee and the electrified owner’s name above it. By the end of the Savoy’s theatrical life in the 1960s, it was known to local residents as “The Dump.” Perhaps its original manifesto was to present both Italian and American entertainment of all sorts, but I’m only guessing. It is not reported in the book, which focuses mainly on the popularity of the Savoy’s Saturday matinee kiddie shows with serials, cartoons, comedies, and “B” double features.
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bxsavoy.jpg

To view a recent pic of the Enrico Fermi Center, on the site of the Savoy, click here and scroll to bottom of page:
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