Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre

If you look up Marcus Loew in the Wikipedia, it will give you a better idea of the start of theatres built to show film. One thing that’s certain, when Marcus Loew built Loew’s State, which also housed Loew’s Theatres corporate offices, it was designed primarily for movies, despite having vaudville also.

Nearly all the movie palaces built before 1928 also had vaudville shows. As I’ve previously said, in order to be classified as “movie theatre only”, the theatre would have to be built with just a few dressing rooms (not the classic multi-floor design) and a shallow stage.

btw- 1913-2013 is the 100th birthday of Local 306, IATSE, Moving Picture Machine Operators Union.

Besides keeping the noise of projectors isolated so not to bother the audience, because of the combustible nature of the nitrate film, movie theaters had to be self standing and not under the same roof as is today with theaters in the basement or first floor of an apartment or office building — i.e., Loews 84th St. in NYC and others. If I am not mistaken, even though safety film was around for years, it was not until movie palaces were torn down and multiplexes began to appear in malls, etc., that movie theaters began to be included under the same roof as other businesses.

Bigjoe59… Something to keep in mind is that back in 1909, most motion picture production was of the one- and two-reel variety. Additionally, just a few years earlier, it was not uncommon for many vaudeville companies to include their own exhibition of reels between acts, or as an act unto themselves. This included the companies providing their own projection equipment and screen for the show.

I think a key factor in identifying structures that were purpose built with movies in mind (by your own definition) would be whether or not the builders equipped the theater with its own projection booth and screen. That’s probably going to be a bit more difficult to ascertain than finding out when a given theater first opened and whether it was built from the ground up. It might not be impossible, however. Even in those early days, the combustible nature of nitrate prints was well known, and construction projects that included motion picture exhibition booths would have surely been scrutinized by the municipality for reasons of public safety. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why projection equipment was housed in booths (besides abating the distraction caused by the loud clacking of the apparatus) was to ensure the safety of patrons in the event of a fire.

hdtv, please don’t go. I’ve enjoyed your insights and photos over the years. I’d hate to have any one person force you off this board. (What IS playing at the AMC Rockaway, anyway?)

Hello To Al A. & techman707-

as always i enjoy reading my fellow poster replies. to which your comments of May 4.

i guess i have a rather liberal definition of what classifies as a built from the ground up or to use the more proper term purpose built movie theater. my search used the nifty list this site complied of all movie theaters that ever existed in New York State. i of course just looked up the theaters listed under New York, New York which was the list’s notation for Manhattan.

the oldest purpose built “movie theater” i could find was the Cresent at 36 W. 135 St.. it opened on the night of Dec. 16, 1909. true the opening night program as you can imagine was a double bill of movies and vaudeville but the important fact to remember is this- the fact movies were shown as part of the opening night program would seem to be proof that during the design and construction phase it was the intent to exhibit movies as well as vaudeville. to which this fits my definition of a purpose built “movie theater”.

Bigjoe, Can you name any of these theatres you found in your research? Most theatres that come to mind that were built before 1928 were usually built as a dual purpose theatres and not just as a movie theatres. That said, some of the “best” examples of theatres, built exclusively for movies, were built by William Fox, to exhibit films from his Fox Film Co. in the 1920’s. He built many large pre-1928 theatres that could be classified as “movie only” theatres. One sign of a theatre built for movies only is that they don’t have ANY backstage dressing rooms. An interesting example of this is the “Fortway Theatre” in Brooklyn, built by William Fox in the 20s.

Hello To My Fellow Posters-

2 new notes-

*in 1910 “movies” were at the most 22 mins.long? so i’m guessing they alternated thru out the day with vaudeville acts.how long the Apollo continued to show movies doesn’t matter. my point was that its the oldest theater i have found to date that was built from the ground up expressly to show movies.

*actually of the 12 theaters built on 42 St. between 7th and 8th Avenues two were built with the intend of showcasing “movies”. aside from the Apollo the other was the Candler. it opened in 1914 with the Italian epic “Anthony and Cleopatra”. the original intend didn’t quite take hold and a short while later it became a legit house.

Bigjoe and Ed,

I can tell you one thing for sure, I once worked at the Liberty Theatre on 42nd St and I can say for SURE that it WAS NOT built as a movie theatre. The Floors of the balcony were made of all wood.

If I get a chance to look, I’ll try to go through all the documentation I might still have that might shed some light on the “oldest” movie theatre question. Allot of the documentation that I once had was donated to the “Museum of the Moving Image” back in 1989, but I still have some stuff left in the attic.

Hello To Ed S.–

you have a point but hey i like searching.:–)

my original post/query was specifically about the first movie theater in Manhattan built brick
by brick from the ground up expressly to show
movies. for the longest period the oldest ones to fit my criteria that i was able to find were the ornate Regent and the moderately sized Bunny both from 1913. yet in the last two days i found out that the late Apollo on 42 St. was in fact built expressly to show films as well as vaudeville in 1910. so it bests the other two theaters by 3 years. hey you never know maybe with a little more searching i might find another Manhattan movie theater that fits my criteria that bests the Apollo.

speaking of the city as a whole(meaning all 5 boroughs) the answer might be The Nicoland Theater in the Bronx one of the very first theaters designed by renowned architect Thomas Lamb. it was at 768 Westchester Avenue and opened at the end of 1908.

one other note. the Westchester Theater at 2319 Westchester Avenue opened according to its page on this website in 1914. i then contacted the Bronx County Historical Society to ask if they had any additional info/photos on the this theater. guess what? the society’s reference librarian sent me an e-mail containing a photo of the Westchester Theater that existed at 2319 Westchester Avenue. the caption states it was owned and operated by George Hoffman. here comes the good part. the Westchester Theater at 2319 Westchester Avenue according to the photo’s caption opened in 1904 10 years before its page on this website said it opened. interesting hey?

Hello To My Fellow Posters-

i do enjoy reading all your replies especially the witty ones. :–)

two new notes- *regardless of the sexual orientation and gender of the audience members or whatever activity they might have been engaged in am i correct in my statement that in its porn years the Variety Photoplays never showed gay porn only straight porn.

*my original post was about whether the ornate B.F. Moss Regent and the moderate sized Bunny both from 1913 were the 1st theaters built brick by brick from the ground up specifically to show to photoplays or flickers as they were called at the time. i asked this because since movies exploded like fire works after their debut at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in April of 1896 i simply couldn’t believe that no theater built expressly to show movies were built until the Regent and Bunny of 1913. well they say if you search long enough you’ll find what you’re looking for. i had always assumed that the Apollo on 42 St.(which was torn down with its neighbor the Lyric to built the theater now known as the Foxwoods Theater)was built from the get go as a “legit” house to use an old term. well guess what? it was built from the get go to be a combo movie and vaudeville theater. so since it bests the Regent and the Bunny by 3 years it takes the crown as the oldest theater i’ve found to date that was built from the get go to show movies.

saps – LOL!

Al,

I can only assure you that they WERE NOT running “gay porn” when I worked at the Variety Photoplay theatre, that must have come (no pun intended) later. Now the Gaiety is another story. When I worked there, they ran 16 & 35mm porno and had live stage shows in between. They filmed “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” at the Gaiety when I worked there.