There is something incorrect about this description. I remember very specifically because I was there. Sometime in the middle 80s, the theatre had a grand opening as the Metro and they completely restored the inside to art deco style and even had users who had carts with popcorn and snacks going up and down the aisles. The first movie showed was King Kong. It wasn’t a duplex at that point! The only reason I went was to see the unedited Kong on a big screen! The theatre is still there and available for rent.
Just a note: This theatre was seen briefly in the 1951 remake of Fritz Lang’s classic, “M.” The killer is walking with a curly haired blonde girl about 45 minutes into the movie when the theatre comes into the frame.
I used to take the A train here to see the double bill of horror movies. When cable TV started coming into the area of Queens this theatre had a conniption and started showing serials from the 30’s and 40’s along with the features to attract customers on a weekly basis. They also had drawings for plates (yes, plates!) to attract business. Later I seem to recall they were showing many more R rated movies.
A google street search shows the building is just about unrecognizable.
I really LOVE that pic from 1941!!!!! We moved to Hwd Bch when I was tiny on 1962, but I still remember this theatre. Interestingly, the pole in front of the theatre is still there — wonder if it’s the same one?
Also that house in the near distance is also still there, nearly 70 years later! It’s been updated a bit but it’s the same house.
This street is actualy 159th AVENUE not Rd. Maybe it was road some time in the past but definitely all my life it’s bee Avenue. And the other street opposite the street you are looking at (102nd St.) is not 103rd Street as someone said. It’s Coleman Sq. 103rd St was built when I was a teenager and it begins a block away. Like maybe the 70s. Before that it was weeds.
The second movie on the bill — Free and Easy — is a 1930 Buster Keaton movie!
I used to go to this theatre all the time in the 80’s. I loved it even tho it wasn’t a great venue for seeing a movie. First of all, it was 16 mm REAR screen projection. Because the space was so small, all the seat were way too close to the screen.
Still I loved going.
I also vaguely remember there were Sid Grahman-esque hand prints outside the place in cement. I seem to recall Joan Crawford as one.
It’s not completely accurate to say this theatre went from first run movies to adult to off Broadway. Here’s the scoop that I can personally attest to. I was going to school and/or living in the West Village during the 70’s, 80s and early 90s. I’ve always been fascinated by these old theatres and the East and West Village was full of them during this time.
So here’s my experience with the Variety Photoplays. During the middle 80’s-early 90’s the theatre alternated weekly between porn and weird, never heard of, horror films, or judo flicks. I used to go to see the horror movies and in someways, a bit of the horror was gotten by just stepping into this theatre!
First of all you paid at a stand alone booth outside of the theatre manned by a guy with so much grease in his hair that if he moved quickly, the grease would splat on the window of his booth!
Then you walked inside, which was very very dark. Just inside the door, to the right, was a small counter area with candy and such, and a woman who took your ticket. I swear this is true — standing outside of the counter as you entered was a big bruiser with a thick and long long motor cycle chain around his neck! I still don’t know why he was needed. Were there lots of fights?
Then you enter the theatre. It was very ornate. I don’t know if the balcony was still in use. I never went up there because the orchestra section was never even remotely full. The audience was made up of mostly over weight bald men smoking cigars (yep—they still allowed smoking!!!) The place reeked of cigar, in fact.
Now check out this part — and again I swear this is true — right before the first feature started, two scantily clad women would walk done either aisle saying “Last chance! Last chance before the film!” These were clearly “working” girls and I would always try to avoid eye contact with them, for fear they’d try to solicit me.
In all the many times I went to the theatre for a double dose of some weird horror films, only once did I see a guy go with one of these girls. They walked toward the screen and left through an emergency exit next to the screen! The guy never came back out! I still wonder what happened to him!
I assume that the girls got more business during the weeks they showed porn, but can’t attest to that.
I loved going there because it was pure grind house. In fact it was more grind house than 42nd street because these films were completely unknown — and I know my movies. I remember one film was about some mother and daughter running thru the forest away from some killer and the daughter had a doll. About 45 minutes into this movie there was a jump and a badly made splice in the film. Then suddenly, it was a completely different movie!! The only common element was there was also a doll in this other film! Just nuts!!!
I’m convinced that during this period the theatre must have had some sort of mob connection. It was just too shady and full of very unsavory characters like the motorcycle chain guy and the working women.
So then around 1989/1990, the movie theatre closed and later reopened as a legit live performance space. I so looked forward to seeing the restoration of the beautiful ornate structure. I was so excited about it that I got tickets to the very first performance of the re-opened theatre! What a let down! They completely gutted the place down to the brick walls. Everything was gone! I was so saddened. That movie theatre should have been declared a landmark and preserved. Last time I looked, it was demolished and turned into condo.
Sad.
PS If you want to get a sense how seedy this joint was, get your hands on a copy of the 1983 movie, Variety by Bette Gordon. The film is set in Times Square, but the theatre they used for the movie is actually the Variety Photoplays. It’s not a great movie, but you’ll get to see quite a lot of the theatre in all it’s seedy grandeur.
I used to go here was I was a kid and it was a simplex. A beautiful old theatre. I remember seeing not only the original Planet of the Apes, but also the Go Ape Marathon where all 5 of the original Ape movies were shown back to back. Also Three Stooges vs Hercules some Disney animations that were released every 7 years and the original Batman movie based off the TV show. Great memories although, even tho I was a kid, I also remember that the theatre was sort of dirty and not well kept. In the 70’s the marquee was loaded with a sign saying “Stop Pay TV” when there were murmurs of Cable coming to Queens.
This movie theatre CLOSED last month. The landlord is looking for someone to buy the air rights to build a big building on top of this, but says teh restaurant next door will remain. The current movie tenant said he was blind sided by his lease not being renewed.
BTW, the capacity listed above says 750 seats and 6 screens. I know for sure teh original configuration was 2013 seats.. It’s hard to believe they’d go from one screen and 2013 seats to 6 and 750. The rent on this property was around $15K a month!
Please correct the header above that says it’s open.
Yeah. You have to search OUT of the site for specific theatres in order to find them. At one time years ago you could call up a list and just browse through open and closed theatres. Now only the open ones come up. It really makes teh site useless.
What happened? i mean if the content was there before, why did it disappear?
This marknyla guy seems to have a thing about the theatre. it was closed while they got rid of a bed bug problem. The place is packed. And renting out to church groups? the BB King theatre across the streets does Sunday Gospell that so so loud you can hear it down the block.
What happened to this site?
It used to actually be cool and have background with pics for theatres of long ago.
Now you search for stuff and they don’t even come up
Varieties Photoplays anyone? Used to be here.
no more.
Please shut this down if you cant be relevent
Built in 1963 in the shell of a turn of the century fire station, Cinema Village is the oldest continuously operated cinema in Greenwich Village and one of the oldest continuously operated art cinemas in the city.
In the early 80s this theatre would alternate between XXX and bizarre regular movies (mostly horror or westerns that you never ever heard of).
I remember watching one horror flic and 45 minutes in, it suddenly turned into another movie! The producers just edited a different film onto the ending!
The place stunk of cigars and the guy who took your tickets had a giant motorcycle chain across his chest!
The oddest thing I remember was just before the movie started women would walk down the aisles saying “last chance” and old codgers would get up and go out with them through one of two exit doors on either side of the screen!
It’s a shame most of the theatres on 42nd street are one. Fond memories of going to the Apollo in the early 80s. Price of admission was 75 cents at 11am and would rise to $1.25 in the afternoon.
They left the lights on inside and I always thought it was because they were afraid people were going to kill each other. One day a guy ran down the aisle and sat next to me with a toaster in his lap!
Moments later the cops came in and dragged him away.
Another time they were jackhammering in the back and no one complained!
It was a wild time but if you were a poor HS student, you could see a first run flick with an older film for next to no money. I was always convinced some people lived there!
I didn’t see any mention of this, but in the early 80’s this theater ran XXX features. I can still remember being a wide eyed college id in Hollywood for the first time passing the marque which advertised Ron Jeremy in The Marriage of Sulka – a M2F sex change gal!
There is something incorrect about this description. I remember very specifically because I was there. Sometime in the middle 80s, the theatre had a grand opening as the Metro and they completely restored the inside to art deco style and even had users who had carts with popcorn and snacks going up and down the aisles. The first movie showed was King Kong. It wasn’t a duplex at that point! The only reason I went was to see the unedited Kong on a big screen! The theatre is still there and available for rent.
Just an update: It’s a 30 seat theatre. Not fifty.
Interestingly, this a pic of this theatre was used in the opening credits of a number of Bowery Boys films from the 50’s
This theatre is features briefly in the 1949 classic Film Noir, D.O.A.
According to this source, the capacity was 1.600, not 2,200.
https://www.westland.net/venicehistory/articles/oceanparkpier.htm
Just a note: This theatre was seen briefly in the 1951 remake of Fritz Lang’s classic, “M.” The killer is walking with a curly haired blonde girl about 45 minutes into the movie when the theatre comes into the frame.
I used to take the A train here to see the double bill of horror movies. When cable TV started coming into the area of Queens this theatre had a conniption and started showing serials from the 30’s and 40’s along with the features to attract customers on a weekly basis. They also had drawings for plates (yes, plates!) to attract business. Later I seem to recall they were showing many more R rated movies. A google street search shows the building is just about unrecognizable.
Looks like this is now a Rite_Aid
I really LOVE that pic from 1941!!!!! We moved to Hwd Bch when I was tiny on 1962, but I still remember this theatre. Interestingly, the pole in front of the theatre is still there — wonder if it’s the same one?
Also that house in the near distance is also still there, nearly 70 years later! It’s been updated a bit but it’s the same house.
This street is actualy 159th AVENUE not Rd. Maybe it was road some time in the past but definitely all my life it’s bee Avenue. And the other street opposite the street you are looking at (102nd St.) is not 103rd Street as someone said. It’s Coleman Sq. 103rd St was built when I was a teenager and it begins a block away. Like maybe the 70s. Before that it was weeds.
The second movie on the bill — Free and Easy — is a 1930 Buster Keaton movie!
When I was a kid this theatre frequently showed Hammer double bills. We got to know Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing here.
I used to go to this theatre all the time in the 80’s. I loved it even tho it wasn’t a great venue for seeing a movie. First of all, it was 16 mm REAR screen projection. Because the space was so small, all the seat were way too close to the screen.
Still I loved going.
I also vaguely remember there were Sid Grahman-esque hand prints outside the place in cement. I seem to recall Joan Crawford as one.
It’s not completely accurate to say this theatre went from first run movies to adult to off Broadway. Here’s the scoop that I can personally attest to. I was going to school and/or living in the West Village during the 70’s, 80s and early 90s. I’ve always been fascinated by these old theatres and the East and West Village was full of them during this time.
So here’s my experience with the Variety Photoplays. During the middle 80’s-early 90’s the theatre alternated weekly between porn and weird, never heard of, horror films, or judo flicks. I used to go to see the horror movies and in someways, a bit of the horror was gotten by just stepping into this theatre!
First of all you paid at a stand alone booth outside of the theatre manned by a guy with so much grease in his hair that if he moved quickly, the grease would splat on the window of his booth!
Then you walked inside, which was very very dark. Just inside the door, to the right, was a small counter area with candy and such, and a woman who took your ticket. I swear this is true — standing outside of the counter as you entered was a big bruiser with a thick and long long motor cycle chain around his neck! I still don’t know why he was needed. Were there lots of fights?
Then you enter the theatre. It was very ornate. I don’t know if the balcony was still in use. I never went up there because the orchestra section was never even remotely full. The audience was made up of mostly over weight bald men smoking cigars (yep—they still allowed smoking!!!) The place reeked of cigar, in fact.
Now check out this part — and again I swear this is true — right before the first feature started, two scantily clad women would walk done either aisle saying “Last chance! Last chance before the film!” These were clearly “working” girls and I would always try to avoid eye contact with them, for fear they’d try to solicit me.
In all the many times I went to the theatre for a double dose of some weird horror films, only once did I see a guy go with one of these girls. They walked toward the screen and left through an emergency exit next to the screen! The guy never came back out! I still wonder what happened to him!
I assume that the girls got more business during the weeks they showed porn, but can’t attest to that.
I loved going there because it was pure grind house. In fact it was more grind house than 42nd street because these films were completely unknown — and I know my movies. I remember one film was about some mother and daughter running thru the forest away from some killer and the daughter had a doll. About 45 minutes into this movie there was a jump and a badly made splice in the film. Then suddenly, it was a completely different movie!! The only common element was there was also a doll in this other film! Just nuts!!!
I’m convinced that during this period the theatre must have had some sort of mob connection. It was just too shady and full of very unsavory characters like the motorcycle chain guy and the working women.
So then around 1989/1990, the movie theatre closed and later reopened as a legit live performance space. I so looked forward to seeing the restoration of the beautiful ornate structure. I was so excited about it that I got tickets to the very first performance of the re-opened theatre! What a let down! They completely gutted the place down to the brick walls. Everything was gone! I was so saddened. That movie theatre should have been declared a landmark and preserved. Last time I looked, it was demolished and turned into condo.
Sad.
PS If you want to get a sense how seedy this joint was, get your hands on a copy of the 1983 movie, Variety by Bette Gordon. The film is set in Times Square, but the theatre they used for the movie is actually the Variety Photoplays. It’s not a great movie, but you’ll get to see quite a lot of the theatre in all it’s seedy grandeur.
I used to go here was I was a kid and it was a simplex. A beautiful old theatre. I remember seeing not only the original Planet of the Apes, but also the Go Ape Marathon where all 5 of the original Ape movies were shown back to back. Also Three Stooges vs Hercules some Disney animations that were released every 7 years and the original Batman movie based off the TV show. Great memories although, even tho I was a kid, I also remember that the theatre was sort of dirty and not well kept. In the 70’s the marquee was loaded with a sign saying “Stop Pay TV” when there were murmurs of Cable coming to Queens.
This movie theatre CLOSED last month. The landlord is looking for someone to buy the air rights to build a big building on top of this, but says teh restaurant next door will remain. The current movie tenant said he was blind sided by his lease not being renewed.
BTW, the capacity listed above says 750 seats and 6 screens. I know for sure teh original configuration was 2013 seats.. It’s hard to believe they’d go from one screen and 2013 seats to 6 and 750. The rent on this property was around $15K a month! Please correct the header above that says it’s open.
Yeah. You have to search OUT of the site for specific theatres in order to find them. At one time years ago you could call up a list and just browse through open and closed theatres. Now only the open ones come up. It really makes teh site useless. What happened? i mean if the content was there before, why did it disappear?
This marknyla guy seems to have a thing about the theatre. it was closed while they got rid of a bed bug problem. The place is packed. And renting out to church groups? the BB King theatre across the streets does Sunday Gospell that so so loud you can hear it down the block.
What happened to this site? It used to actually be cool and have background with pics for theatres of long ago. Now you search for stuff and they don’t even come up Varieties Photoplays anyone? Used to be here. no more. Please shut this down if you cant be relevent
Built in 1963 in the shell of a turn of the century fire station, Cinema Village is the oldest continuously operated cinema in Greenwich Village and one of the oldest continuously operated art cinemas in the city.
The original Thalia was a super great theatre
Used to go there all the time in the late 70s/early 80s. They poured soda out of a 2 liter bottle!
In the early 80s this theatre would alternate between XXX and bizarre regular movies (mostly horror or westerns that you never ever heard of).
I remember watching one horror flic and 45 minutes in, it suddenly turned into another movie! The producers just edited a different film onto the ending!
The place stunk of cigars and the guy who took your tickets had a giant motorcycle chain across his chest!
The oddest thing I remember was just before the movie started women would walk down the aisles saying “last chance” and old codgers would get up and go out with them through one of two exit doors on either side of the screen!
In the seventies they used to run old Laurel & Hardy and W.C. Fields flicks periodically.
To get to the theatre you had to walk down a long stairwell We used to say we were going to see and “underground” film!
It’s a shame most of the theatres on 42nd street are one. Fond memories of going to the Apollo in the early 80s. Price of admission was 75 cents at 11am and would rise to $1.25 in the afternoon.
They left the lights on inside and I always thought it was because they were afraid people were going to kill each other. One day a guy ran down the aisle and sat next to me with a toaster in his lap!
Moments later the cops came in and dragged him away.
Another time they were jackhammering in the back and no one complained!
It was a wild time but if you were a poor HS student, you could see a first run flick with an older film for next to no money. I was always convinced some people lived there!
Theatre showed XXX flicks in the mid-80S.
I didn’t see any mention of this, but in the early 80’s this theater ran XXX features. I can still remember being a wide eyed college id in Hollywood for the first time passing the marque which advertised Ron Jeremy in The Marriage of Sulka – a M2F sex change gal!
Glad there are revivals, but the screens are smaller than TV monitors!