Warners' Theatre
1664 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1664 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
8 people
favorited this theater
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Pictured as Warners' Theatre in this 1928 trade ad: archive
The Republic Theatre is pictured at the bottom of this 1946 trade ad showing midtown cinemas: boxofficemagazine
Here’s the Piccadilly Theatre featured in a 1924 trade ad for Universal’s “The Tornado”: archive
During the last week in April, 1943, this became known as the New Abbey Theatre for the NYC premiere engagement of Columbia’s “B” musical “Reveille With Beverly” to capitalize on the zooming popularity of crooner Frank Sinatra. Though Sinatra made only a guest appearance with one song, the New Abbey gave him top billing above the title of the B&W film, whose leading roles were played by Ann Miller, William Wright, and Dick Purcell. Sinatra’s first starring movie, RKO’s “Higher and Higher,” hadn’t even been produced yet, and would have its Broadway opening in January, 1944, at the RKO Palace.
Hollywood hype control.
The popular photos of the premier of “The Jazz Singer” featuring Al Jolson and the Warner brothers in front of the theatre were for an invitational sold out live performance by Jolson several days before the movie opened, designed as a publicity stunt. The movie was not shown that night.
On the real premier opening night, not only was Al Jolson not present, neither were the Warner brothers who had gone to California for the funeral of Sam Warner, who had died the day before.
More recent research has shown that not only was opening night not a sensation but that the film did not sell out. It was not even the most popular film of the week in Times Square and acceptance of sound hardly an overnight revolution caused by “The Jazz Singerâ€. Not only had “Don Juan†had already played this theatre with sound earlier in the year and done better than “The Jazz Singerâ€, but audiences had already been watching sound newsreels for several years.
The stories that have been repeated since have mostly been fabrications created in later years and fueled by Vitaphone publicity and Warner Bros. multi-picture deal with Al Jolson. “The Jazz Singer†was a mild success in big cities and failed in most smaller markets. The lack of sound theatres (there were only 400 nationwide at the time) made it impossible for it to make much of an impression and the Jewish cantor plot left most audiences outside the larger markets cold. In Boston, for example, the film had to be quickly pulled after a poor opening.
Much of the phenomena repeated today comes from the fictional plot of the movie “Singin’ In the Rainâ€. There was no audience hysteria, no Variety headlines, no sound hoopla in the opening ads, no rush to wire theatres, and no rush to train actors to speak. Silent movies continued to be made for several years and were among the most profitable. Sound caught on because Hollywood pushed it on theatres in order to create demand for weak product during the depression, not unlike the way they push 3D today.
This was known as Brandt’s Mahattan in April, 1944, when Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” played its first NYC engagement since the movie’s original release in 1938. Newsreel footage of crowds outside the Manhattan Theatre, as well as views of the marquee and electrified billboard display above it, can be seen in the “bonus material” in the recent Blu-Ray and conventional DVD release of the Disney classic.
Opening ad for “The Jazz Singer”. Notice that ads read “WARNER” and not “WARNERS'” as on the marquee and that the Vitaphone aspect was not played up until much later in the run.
View link
I believe this closed as the Republic, not the New Yorker.
OK, I will repost it. I think Life said it was in NYC. Thanks.
ken mc, the photo you posted on April 17 is actually of the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. Great photo, but wrong page.
Here is a larger version of the photo posted on 6/9/05:
http://tinyurl.com/ckz8jz
Here is a 1946 photo from Life magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/dcjn46
Here’s a 1938 view as the Oriental Theatre with Minsky’s Burlesque: View link
Abbey should be added as an aka name here.
The Piccadilly Theatre first opened to the public on September 27, 1924, following the previous evening’s invitational screening of the Civil War epic, “Barbara Frietchie,” in its world premiere engagement. “Live” musical accompaniment came from the Piccadilly Orchestra, conducted by Vincent Lopez, and John Hammond at the Marr & Colton organ. Here are two ultra-rare images:
View link
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By October 3rd, 1929, this was called Warner Bros. Theatre, according to an ad in that day’s New York Times. The current attraction was the Vitaphone All-Talking “Disraeli,” with the great George Arliss in the title role. Performances were given twice daily, with a third show added on Sundays…Shouldn’t the theatre be listed here as Republic, which was its name at time of closure? The Warner affiliation ended long before that.
In 1947, when the theatre was known as the Republic, This Anna Magnani film from Italy had its American premiere here.
The new DVD box set of Al Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer” includes the original trailer for the movie, which contains some newsreel coverage of the opening night at this theatre. There are views of the marquee and other signage, as well as the arrivals of numerous celebrities including Al Jolson himself.
Thanks, Warren. All has been corrected!
Warner aka Strand:
/theaters/2975/
You’ve posted the ad at the wrong theatre. This one had been demolished by the time of “Exodus.” The Warner of “Exodus” started out as the Strand Theatre, and later had other names, including Warner, Warner Cinerama, etcetera. I think it’s listed here as Strand, but can’t swear by that…Also, your link doesn’t seem to be operating.
Here’s a vitage ad: The Warners' Theatre Now Accepting “Exodus” Reservations by Mail:
http://emulsioncompulsion.com/v/roadshowsouvenierprogrambooks/exodus/Warner+Theatre+Ticket+Order+Form.jpg.html]http://emulsioncompulsion.com/v/roadshowsouvenierprogrambooks/exodus/Warners+Theatre+Ticket+Order+Form.jpg.html+Ticket+Order+Form.jpg.html]http://emulsioncompulsion.com/v/roadshowsouvenierprogrambooks/exodus/Warner+Theatre+Ticket+Order+Form.jpg.html[/url][/url]
As Cine Roma, the theatre used an advertising address of Broadway & 52nd St. When Cine Roma shifted to the Broadway Theatre in 1937, the advertising address changed to Broadway & 53rd Street.
The theatre had two periods as Cine Roma, a showcase for Italian films, the first starting in March, 1936 and the second running from May 1940 until early 1942. The first period continued into 1937, when the theatre became Minsky’s Oriental with skin shows that were prohibited by law from using the word “burlesque” or variants thereof such as “burlesk.” Cine Roma moved to the nearby Broadway Theatre for a time, but I don’t know the exact duration. Cine Roma might have been dormant for a time before the name turned up again at the Ambassador in January 1940, where it doesn’t seem to have lasted long before returning to this theatre in May. By that time, the theatre’s Oriental phase had ended, and it was showing foreign films as the Continental.
WARNER BROTHERS BUY THE PICCADILLY; Reported to Have Paid About $835,000 for Broadway Moving-Picture Theatre. FOR INDEPENDENT FILMS Purchasers to Remodel Interior of the House and Double the Size of the Orchestra.
NY Times August 10, 1925
Warner Brothers' Pictures, Inc., according to an announcement made yesterday at the company’s offices, 1600 Broadway, have purchased the Piccadilly Theatre, Fifty-second Street and Broadway. Although the exact price to be paid has not been settled, it is understood that it will be between $825,000 and $835,000.