Apollo Theatre
223 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
223 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
21 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 133 comments
Well, the walls may have been standing but the roof and every single thing in the place that wasn’t removed beforehand were completely demolished — it was a just a very big hole in the ground before the Ford Center was constructed.
The Apollo returned as a Broadway theatre with On Golden Pond after a renovation which included changing the entrance to 43rd Street to get away from 42nd street which had yet to be revitalized. As a result the lobby was very tiny since it was basically the “secondary lobby” which a few Broadway houses had when they ran from street to street. The Imperial is another one which immediately comes to mind. The 43 street entrance was retained when this became a concert venue. The theatre was never actually demolished. The exterior walls, along with those of the Lyric next door were used in the final Ford Center, now Hilton.
Some posters who were regular Apollo patrons found my previous suggestion that the theatre played art but sold sleaze, was offensive.
That photo is a perfect example. “THREE FORBIDDEN STORIES” was never advertised this way anywhere else except perhaps drive-ins.
Cool shot.
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!
A full page movie ad in the New York Times, rare for 1922.
View link
Near the end
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Wrong Apollo page.
This is a Life Magazine photo taken in Harlem in 1958. I believe the Apollo is in the foreground, with Loew’s Victoria in the background. Neither theater is identified.
http://tinyurl.com/6auxaf
Always loved this theater — as a run-down cinema, as a playhouse, as a lovely, post-playhouse cinema (it was funny to see something like “Beat Street” here, with chandeliers and red velvet trimmings!) and as a rock concert venue. Broke my heart when they tore it down.
Well To All: I am disabled and housebound so that’s why I have a large collection of classic films——-so I don’t think I will ver get there——-The Apollo was on 42nd st———Grey had a couple of homes, but Catalina was his main abode since he loved the sea as well as the wild west——-Joe From Florida
If you ever get to Catalina Island, off the coast of Los Angeles, the tour guide will take you past Zane Grey’s house.
There you go………….Now you know how to do a complete search——-I have Knights of the Range along with many other Paramount Zane Grey titles in my collection=====Joe from Florida
I did a google search and found the latest film to be 1940. I figured the others were reissues. Not too scientific, but that’s how I got the approximate date.
They can always double check them as I do at Allmovie.com———-and much information at IMDB is wrong since they go by Studio Notes——an perfect example is Ida Lupino’s birthyear, which I, Maltin, Neil Doyle and many others have asked IMDB to correct as they have it down as 1914 which is what Paramount was told when she came to them from the UK——-It is actually 1918——-So when she made her romantic debut with Paramount apposite Buster Crabbe in “Search For Beauty”—1934, when she was 15 going on 16, rather then 20 years old……………..plus there are so many others now——-all you have to do is login a title in Google Search and you will get alot of info on that title, or even more if you login the stars name——-Joe From Florida
Just go to IMDB.com and enter each title——-It will give you all the information on each title showing at that time———Joe From Florida
Here is a circa 1940 photo from skyscrapercity.com:
http://tinyurl.com/6jybrx
Are there any images of the original 42nd Street entrance utilized by the Bryant Theatre?
Great photos, memories and info on this page.
Thanks Jerry K……..Only one theater on the corner of 8th Ave & 42nd Street used to show sleeze shows, as they were called————It seemed to be all alone as there were no other theaters on that block…..but in thinking back, my favorite still had to be the Apollo since they showed films you would never see in your own neighborhood———-and that is where I received my appreciation of Foreign films————Subtitles helped alot since i tried to see all types of films there———It is where I first saw Rossellini’s Paisan, and many other great Foreign films———Joe From Florida
I agree, Joe. The article captures my memory of 42nd in the mid 50s to early 60s. The only thing risque that I recall was the Brandt theaters showing Coming Attractions of nudist films during a Audie Murphy double feature. My dad put his fedora over my eyes. The nudist film was probably playing in one of the theaters east of Broadway since the Victory was still showing action and even Bowery Boys double features in the early 60s.
Funny that you mention Cagney. 42nd had all of the old WB films when Dominant Pictures did a mass re-release in 1956-57 timeframe. I remember “The Roaring 20s” with “Black Legion”. And “Capt. Blood” with “Desparate Journey”.
And I would never had walked out on a Bowery Boys epic which they never played my local RKO or Loews.
Great stuff. jerry k
I think it always had a reputation——Example from the Classic Musical “42nd. Street” which in the lyrics called it “Naughty & Bawdy”——of course Burlesque was big at that time in that area and on that street; but I remember it exactly as the Variety Article described it———-I was a Messenger at Grand Central station after school in the 1950s, plus I took two years of French & German, so I would go to the Apollo frequently——-and i must say that I saw somw very fine films there and not just in German or French———-When times were slow in the package or deliveries, I would either go to the NYC Public Library or look down 42nd st. to see what was playing at the various themed theaters——-One great double feature I saw at one of them was a James Cagney Double header——–“The Roaring Twenties” & “Each Dawn I Die”….also I would review films and was the Sports Reporter for my High School, so I saw many First Run films as well——-I saw “Rebel Without A Cause” in 1955 at the Astor I think, but am not certain——-and in those days, they would have Previews where a Theater would show a film before its general release and give folks in the audience cards to fill out to let the Distributors know what they thought of it——I’m trying to recall if it was after this film, East of Eden or another Major films that the Preview was a Bowery Boys film——-Most of the patrons left without filling out the cards—-lol—-joe From Florida
Joe, although my first visit to the deuce (from Florida) was in the mean and nasty mid-seventies, the larger than life movie displays and energy of the street was a life changing experience.
Today, it is still quite exciting but something is missing. It certainly isn’t tacky movies, thugs, drugs, hookers and hustlers as they are still there, if you care to look close enough.
I think it may be the symphony of a street that wasn’t hiding, like it is today and was instead promoting it with a carnival barker’s glee. The decadence was oddly liberating.
I have read that the street has never been wholesome and that the more decadent years started during the second war but the nadir (apex anyone?) had to be the eighties.
Certainly the arrival of a new Ripley’s will bring it down a notch or two and put that she-wolf frisky minx MARY POPPINS back in her place.
Nice article Al……….I was one of those Patrons way back then and appreciate you sharing the Variety Article with us——Thanks For The Memories——Joe From Florida
From Variety January 30, 1957
42nd St. Grind’s $5-mil Gross
10 Film Parlors Carefully Run
A total of 10,000,000 people paid an estimated $5,000,000 to see motion pictures last year in 10 theatres on one block in New York City. The 10 theatres are located on 42nd street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, a street frequently condemned because of its ‘carnival’ atmosphere.
Surrounded by pizza parlors, hot dog stands, shooting galleries, pokerino palaces, and novelty stores, the theatres, the theatres are nevertheless well maintained policed, and managed. This is no skid row.
The theatres â€" seven of which are operated by Brandt Theatres and three by Cinema Circuit â€" offer perhaps the most varied programming that can be obtained in any concentrated area in the world. The type of product available on the street in any one day â€" offers a choice to all tastes â€" from the discriminating intellectual to the uneducated laborer.
Although it is not generally known, each of the 10 theatres on the block follows a specific programming policy. For example, the Brandt’s Lyric and Cinema’s New Amsterdam are first subsequent run houses, playing pictures immediately after their Broadway runs and simultaneously with the key Loew’s and RK theatres. Pictures are booked at these houses for a week’s run. Brandt’s Apollo is an art house which offers the outstanding foreign language imports at popular prices after the films complete their first-run engagements. The bookings are exclusive for the area and the films are played for two to four weeks depending on the draw at the box office.
Brandt’s Times Square is a western and action outlet and the same circuit’s Victory concentrates on exploitation and horror films. The Selwyn (Brandt) and Harris (Cinema) are moveover houses. Brandt’s Liberty and Empire and Cinema’s Anco are strictly reissue outlets. The action and reissue outlets change bills twice a week.
Admission prices are moderate, the first sub-runs charge 40c.– 95c.; the art house ditto; the current product moveovers 30c.– 85c.; and the action and reissue houses 25c. â€" 65c. The theatres operate on an amazing schedule. The majority open at 8 a.m. and run to 3 a.m. the following morning, with several closing at 4 a.m. To maintain this operational schedule, the theatres employ three shifts of employees.
Contrary to general belief, the atmosphere of 42nd St. has not provided the managements wit undue problems of coping with juvenile delinquents and undesirables. According to Martin Levine, general manager of the Brandt houses, the 42nd St. theatres have no more problems than other theatres. As a matter of fact, he maintained, the juves make up only a small portion of the patronage. He noted, for example, that two recent pictures especially aimed at teenagers â€" ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender’ â€" fared poorly at the box office.
The theatres, however, have taken precautionary measures against young hoodlums and other undesirables. A crew of uniformed Burns guards make frequent tours of the theatres. The Brandt Theatres has long followed the policy of notifying parents when a juvenile is involved in a disturbance.
The 42nd St. patronage comes from all walks of life. Midnight workers are on hand for the 8 a.m. show. Salesmen, shoppers and others with several hours to kill dominate the afternoon audiences. Dater, married couple, and groups of young people make up the evening trade. Show people and other stay-up-laters are among the late film-goers.
The 42nd St. houses offer patrons a chance to catch up on missed pictures, a wide choice of pictures which enables groups to break up and meet later, and prices within the range of the general public. According to the belief of the 42nd St. operators, when a person comes to 42nd St. it’s not with the thought of seeing a specific film. However, after the potential customers looks over the wide selection, he then makes his choice.
19 Years as an Artie
Perhaps the most unique of the 42nd St. operations is the Apollo which has been running continuously for 19 years on an art house policy. Even during the war years when it was difficult to obtain foreign films, the house operated successfully by replaying over and over again the available imports. The house has a steady clientele and for each change of bills it send out 25,000 mailing pieces. The theatre is also a popular place with language students and many times whole classes from various New York high schools and colleges attend afternoon performances to absorb French or Italian, Shakespeare films also draw a large student audience and the management provides special reduced tickets for school groups.
Foreign films with English titles also draw a large audience of deaf and dumb individuals. Many of these people as well as their special schools are on the mailing list.
From a profit and cents standpoint, the 42nd St. houses have managed to buck the general sluggish trend that has hit theatre business throughout the country. For the most part, however, the new, better Hollywood films and the foreign imports do the better business. The theatres have ‘their hands full’ in maintaining a profitable operation at the houses which show the secondary films and the reissues.
The theatre operators have no desire to see the complexion of the street changed. They feel the carnival atmosphere of 32nd St., the pizza parlors, and the other carny attractions are just the things that draw crowds to the street.