New Victory Theater
209 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
209 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
20 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 103 comments
Hello- how different is the renovated theater’s interior to what it was when it opened in 1900?
Victory in 1971 among others in below link.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21612362@N05/sets/72157629137226648/with/6948877089/?fbclid=IwAR1yqOGPN-v1_cRyUSinKoWV4hCX4HXAmeEfPLKcRvwAq8Q2QU9sBzMfxZk
I just uploaded a photo from a 1959 NYT Sidney Poitier photo shoot across from the Victory. Good example of the types of double features on 42nd Street back in the day.
I did Wilburg 145. It was no different than all the other theaters on 42nd St. They were all sleezy even first run houses.
Did anyone go to this theatre when it was showing porn? I would like to know what the condition of this place like during it’s porn days
wolftoy…..if you go to google images and type in “victory theater frankenstein and dracula” you will see a beautiful image of the marquee from around 1952.
Looking for information for Brandts Victory theatre. My dad went there in the 50’s and got a 5 x 7 pic of Frankenstein. It says on it-I’ll be scaring you Frankenstein at the Brandts Victory Theatre 42nd and Broadway. Was wondering if this was just that they were showing the movie or was someone dressed as Frankenstein showing up at the screening? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Article about Time Square with a photo of the Victory and other theatres.
http://gearsofbiz.com/the-evolution-of-new-yorks-times-square/32320
Great mid `50’s marquee photo added courtesy of Jim Jordan.
1972 photo added, photo credit Henry Bonham Houchins.
Not sure if I missed a mention going through the previous comments but according to Wikipedia, the theater scene in THE LAST DRAGON (1985) was filmed at the Victory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Dragon
In the movie “NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY”, there are a number of very quick theatre marquee shots. At the 1 hour 31 minute and 36 second mark, there is the Victory theatre- on the marquee: PINK PUSSY" plus “SUBURBIA CONFIDENTIAL”. Right next door is the Lyric; it’s showing “BORN LOSERS” plus “DOOR TO DOOR MANIAC”. At the 1-31-22 mark, you can see the Empire-on the marquee: “LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS” plus “ONCE A THIEF”. Can be seen- for free- on YouTube.
A little European jewel-box now. I attended the legit re-opening in the 1990s. A production called Cirque Eloise- a variety /circus type show that had a lot of former Cirque de Soliel performers in the cast. Theatre books mostly Theatre for Young Audience attractions. In the 1980s, I was curious to see what one of the 42nd St grindhouses looked like inside, so I came here. The New Amsterdam would have been a better choice,but oh well. Dark, dirty, smelly, and in awful condition was what it was. Oh and many men roaming around in the shadows.
It is night and day now!
Interesting to note that when the Theatre Republic first opened its doors on September 27, 1900, the premiere engagement was the drama “Sag Harbor” from playwrite James A Herne. The show would feature the Broadway debut of Lionel Barrymore, who was born 133 years ago today.
While his stage career would last some 25 years – before he switched to working exclusively in films – he would only return to the stage of the Theatre Republic once (in its post-Belasco incarnation) in a 1917 production of “Peter Ibbetson.” He did, however, return to the Deuce to appear in a short-lived staging of “Macbeth” at the Apollo in 1921 (the 2nd ever production at that theatre) as well as another short-lived drama, “The Piker” near then end of his stage career in 1925 at the Eltinge (later Empire) Theatre.
Ed, I never went to either one but I remember that the first one caused quite a stir as the first VHS theatre. The 35mm locations were concerned about the trend and the projectionist union was charging them standard 35mm rates basically for operating a VHS player.
The second location is murkier and less is written about it as it was not a trend setter, but some Village Voice ads show as many as twelve titles showing at one time.
By all means go ahead and enter them on CT. I am not quite sure of their lifespans.
I do have several books about the Deuce that walk a fine line between social archeology and smut.
Sounds like an interesting book. I find material about this area during those years in particular to be endlessly fascinating. In part because it brings me back to a certain time in my life, but also because the stories that surround so many of these old theaters, dance halls and cabarets are so vivid and entertainingly sordid! Sounds like you may have done a good deal of the fact-checking leg-work necessary to post a decent new entry for the Roxy on CT. Is that something you were planning on doing? If not, I may look to do so myself. Been a while since I’ve added one. Ironically, I never patronized either of the Roxy’s back then.
I have a book that references four screens which showed films but were later used for other purposes such as live shows and sex back-rooms.
I know it always advertised “4 Smash Hits” on that marquee signage, even when it went back to porn a few years later. I think the one by the New Amsterdam closed several years before the one adjacent to the Empire. You sure it was four screens and not four titles that were advertised?
I’d have to troll through my photos to see if I can piece it together. Now that I think of it, I’m going to say that the Roxy Burlesk at 244 W 42nd (later Roxy Twin) was the original and that the one adjacent to the New Amsterdam was added at a later date. The only reason I say this is because the signage depicted in the 1983 shot looks like it dates back to the early ‘70’s. And the signage I remember by the New Amsterdam was very much like the marquee depicted in the latter shot from '86. I also believe that both the Cine 42 and the the Roxy Burlesk were opened in spaces formerly occupied by that old skee-ball like arcade game Fascination that was all over Times Square back in the day, leading me to believe they may have been opened around the same time by the same people?
Just making some educated assumptions and guesses here. I may be completely off base here. One of us should open a new theater entry on the Roxy Burlesk (I can feel the purists cringing) and let this conversation continue over there.
Ed, since the Roxy was advertising four screens in the early nineties I am starting to wonder if both were open concurrently.
Hey AlAlvarez… This is to answer the question you posed over a year ago about the Roxy Burlesk and Roxy Twin on Feb 18, 2010. Both photos are of the same establishment, with the later pic from 1986 showing the marquee re-dressed for the Roxy’s changeover from porn to action-film grinder. The location was just to the west of the Empire, with the Anco a few doors furhter down (you see the Anco marquee in background of the earlier night shot from 1983). I remember both incarnations. That site was later reconfigured into the short-lived multiplex that became the last movie theater to remain in business on “old” 42n Street before being shuttered by the City for redevelopment in the 1990’s.
There were two Roxy’s, as I’m sure you recall… the other, which also ran porn, being just to the east of the New Amsterdam. I’m not sure which of these two came first. I want to say the Roxy Burlesk at 244 W. 42nd was the first one, but I can’t say for sure.
Ahh, thanks, I am confused then. I thought it was the legit one. Sorry, my mistake.
A great article of the renovated theater with some great photos:
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Here is a photo circa 1968:
http://tinyurl.com/yadsb4q
Does anyone know where the first Roxy was located an whether this was it?
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For comparison, here is the Roxy Twin at 244 West 42nd street.
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Man oh man those are some great photos.