Loews Festival Theatre
6 W. 57th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
6 W. 57th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
8 people
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Showing 26 - 50 of 59 comments
Every couple years United Artists re-released Goldfinger paired up with another Bond feature. Here it is in 1972 with From Russia With love at the Festival. They are not calling it Premiere Showcase, they are using Red Carpet.
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I worked at the Festival from 80-82 fro Joe Torres. There was no marquee. We had a sign in the upstairs window that said Festival Theater.
The zoning on that particular block did not prohibit a marquee structure, but it did prohibit exterior illuminated signs on any business. The Festival, as well as many of the other businesses on the block got around that by having the illuminated sign inside, facing out the window.
This theatre has received a real beating in the posts here and as I recall, they are not undeserved.
…but no one has mentioned that it did open with Fellini’s 8 ½, first-run. How many theatres can lay claim to that?
Yes Ed, the Festival had a flat, non descript marquee as did several others on West 57th St. The changing banners did have eye-appeal.
What I remember most about the Festival was that there was a row of potted (presumably fake) flowers at the bottom of the screen. My first time here was to see “I Never Sang For My Father” in 1970. Although this is apparently not a fondly-remembered theatre, the Festival was an important venue for art films at the time (Visconti’s “The Damned” was the Christmas 1969 attraction).
I’m almost positive I saw “The Complete Beatles” here in 1983, but as I posted on the DGA Theater site (former 57th Street Playhouse), I get the two theaters confused in my memories. There was also a very graphic Canadian produced documentary on the porno industry entitled “Not a Love Story” that was released in 1981 or so that I remember seeing either here or at the 57th or maybe even the Plaza on 58th? (I’m now even thinking it may have been the Paris Theater or the Cinema III which was located below the Plaza Hotel). Can anyone verify the midtown bookings for this film?
Did this theater have a flat marquee almost flush with the facade? I seem to recall a blue banner with the theater’s name flying from a flagpole on the 2nd or 3rd floor above the entrance, but, again, I might be thinking of the 57th Street Playhouse.
Seems “Thats Entertainment” moved here when “Earthquake” came into the Ziegfeld
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In 1982 the Festival was playing the acclaimed “Atlantic City”.
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Thanks for the ad, Robert. I never knew that “Die! Die! My Darling” was in Stabbing Color. I love the ‘60’s.
Robert that was a great newspaper ad. It looks like the Festival was not a Walter Reade theater at that time. If you look under the ad for Marriage Italian Style it listed the Reade theaters and the Festival nor the New Torker were not part of the chain. I worked there from the late 80’s until 82 on and off for Joe Torress when they needed extra help. I think when Cineplex Odeon took over, they closed the Festival, but than when Loews merged they briefly reopened it. We had a lot of great movies there when I worked there. We ran Airplane simotaniously with the Coronet. I heard Valley Of The Dolls played there for 9 months in 1967 along with the Criterion.
Gerald – I agree with your description of Night Games. Ingrid Thulin was a wonderful actress and appeared in many interesting foreign films, including Visconti’s The Dammned, Resnais' La Guerre est finie and of course the Bergman films.
Yes, I saw Night Games there in January of 1967. Starring Ingrid Thulin and directed by Mai Zetterling, the Swedish movie is generally described as a strange, moody film. Which it certainly is.
Other films that played a the Festival include Bride Wore Black, The Fox,, Pocket Money and Night Games.
Saw ‘Day For Night’ here.
It’s small but there is an ad here for “Marriage Italian Style” at the Festival
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No, when I handed the keys to Loews the Festival had 2 Century 35mm machines, using 6000' reels no platter, and no automation.
Absolutely not, Michael. Barely had 35mm!
Was The Festival ever equipped for 70mm projection?
Christmas of 1964 the Festival had a revival of “West Side Story” and urged filmgoers to “See it again for the holidays”.
Between the time that Reade closed the Festival and City Cinemas re-opened it, it was being used by Magno Sound and Video as a screening room on a month-to-month sublease. The lease-holder and the property owner were trying to find an upscale retail tenant for the space. In 1987 fledgling City Cinemas was then trying to increase their number of screens to gain advantage with the distributors, and partnered with Meyer Ackerman and Magno to re-open it to the public. We didn’t spend a lot on remodeling, since we might have to leave on 30 days notice. We just freshened it up with paint, minor repairs and a good cleaning. In 1991 the landlord, Sheldon Solow, who also owns the 9 West building across the street and also 4 W. 58 St (the Paris), did not renew Pathe Cinema’s lease on the Paris Theatre, instead partnering with Loew’s to operate it. The lease at the Festival, being month-to-month, was terminated, and it also became part of the deal with Loew’s. Later, Solow and Loew’s had a falling out, Loew’s got the boot and Solow took over operation of the Paris and closed and demolished the interior of the Festival to make it more attractive to a retail tenant.
Actually, I think the Festival was open until the mid 1990s, unless I’m confusing my 57th Street theatres. My notes say I caught “Romeo Is Bleeding” and “Dreamlover” here in 1994.
I never went to The Festival all that often. I was always aware of it, but even the fare didn’t appeal to me or it was duplicated elsewhere, closer to home.
I think this one was the first of the 57th Street Theatres to close in the spate of closings in the 1990’s and first decade of this century when we lost the Angelika 57, the 57th Street Playhouse (for commercial fare anyway) and the Carnegie Hall Cinemas (although the entrance was on Seventh Avenue) and now the Sutton.
Loews also operated the Festival for a time. The Avco Embassy East (later the since-demolished Manhattan Twin), meanwhile, was actually located on 59th, between 2nd and 3rd.
Having started out as an outlet for Joseph E. Levine as stated above it was part of his mini-chain which included the Lincoln Art further west on 57th St., and the fairly dreadful AvcoEmbassy East, on 58th St. It passed on to the Walter Reade chain, and came under the City Cinemas banner before it closed.
People in that Club Monaco are usually pretty nice, and some of them know about the space’s previous usage. I live down the street and have discussed it with them.
Margot