Grand Pussycat Cinema
1607 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1607 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
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Showing 26 - 50 of 71 comments
Hey Irv… We’ve all had our moments of confusion with these two theaters here on CT, but the theater described on this page was NOT in the Brill Building but on the block to the south between 49th and 48th and on the same side of Broadway as the Brill. The other Trans Lux – known as the Trans Lux Modern Theater – was located within the Brill building, but NOT where the Colony Records store is now situated. The theater was located in the northern end of the Brill Bldg, closer to 50th Street, while Colony records occupies the southern corner of B'way and 49th. Prior to Colony Records, the site had been the location of Jack Dempsey’s restaurant as well as the Paradise Cabaret, but never – as far as I know – a theater of any kind.
Hope that clarifies things a bit.
I’m confused, the Trans Lux was in the Brill Buiding and there was a theater where Colony Records is? I was under the impression that Colony Records had been there since the 50s or 60s.
The Bryanston West name was used by Variety, for some reason, when it reported the theatre’s weekly grosses. The “family” allegedly established Bryanston Pictures and the Pusssycat with DEEP THROAT profits.
There’s a small photo on this page of the Pussycat signage during daylight hours. This is the artkraft-kraus site and there are a number of images (albeit small ones) of the signage in Times Square over the years.
Al… my most humble apologies, sir! Heh heh. Anyway, it’s not the strip joint I’m referring to but the Kitty Kat.
The title on the Kitty Kat marquee in that 1985 photo shows up on imdb.com as a 1985 porn film, so looks like it did show films – at least for a while.
Ed, I am shocked and appalled that you think I might be some kind of authority on strip joints!
Having gotten that out of my system, I am pretty sure the main entrance was on Broadway but there could have been other marquee signs as it seems to have been located somewhere within this complex as was the Mardi Gras Topless (huh?) disco.
Did the Kitty Kat play movies?
It’s listed on here as the Gotham
Calling AlAlvarez… The introduction above states that the Kitty Kat Theater was around the corner on 49th, but there is a marquee visible in the 1985 image on Seventh Ave. Were there two entrances? Or was this an auxilliary marquee placed here for higher visibility?
Thanks William. I fell into the same trap everyone did back in 2005! So the Paradise became Jack Dempsey’s and is now the site of Colony Records. The Trans-Lux 49th (later to become known as the Pussycat) was across 49th from Colony Records one block to the south. My mistake. Too bad… the irony between the old Paradise and the topless Mardi Gras was just too good to be true! So, then there are no vintage photos here of the old Trans-Lux 49th Street other than the one I just posted as the Pussycat. Hmmmm. Now, I’ll have to go digging around to see if any can be found out there.
It’s this one.
/theaters/13922/
Ed the shot you reposted from RobertR and the last one are not from the Trans-Lux 49th Street. The theatre you posted is the Trans-Lux Theatre that was located in the Brill Building at 1619 Broadway. Look at my post of Sept. 16th 2005.
Sorry… Here is an even better image of the Paradise Cabaret of the 1930’s. If their revue was “daring” and “thrilling”, I wonder what they’d think of the display at the Mardi Gras some 40-50 years later?!?
Here’s a 1985 night shot of the colorful Pussycat marquee and signage in full neon splendor. Plus note the Kit Kat Theater and Mardi Gras Topless go-go right next door.
If you enlarge this image, previously posted by RobertR back in May, 2005, you’ll see that some sort of restaurant (looks like Paradise is part of the name on the signage) occupied the Mardi Gras site back in the 1930’s and even back then advertised “beautiful girls” as an attraction!
Yes, William. I remember that re-issue in ‘82. I saw it – I think – at the RKO Twin in either Rockville Centre or Lawrence. Right after that, “Dial M for Murder” was also re-released in 3-D (March of '82). This was part of the 3D revival that brought us stereoscopic gems such as “Coming At Ya!”, “Treasure of the Four Crowns” and just about every cheesy sequel at the time with the number “3” in the title.
Well StereoVision 3D puts the left and right eye image of the same piece of film. And you use a special lens that merges the images together and you wear those glasses. The original was run with two projectors interlocked together and a magnetic reproducer for the WarnerPhonic sound. Also in 1982 it was reissued in select cities in 70MM, it played at the RKO Cinerama (02/10/82).
What is the “new third dimensional film process you’ve been reading about”? Did they just run the copy that accompanied the film’s original release some 18 years earlier? Or was there some kind of enhancement to the 3-D exhibition employed for this re-release?
The 1971 re-issue
View link
A “World Premiere” engagement as the Pussycat Cinema in the late ‘70’s:
From Holly with Love – 1/28/78 Daily News
I wonder how co-star Tony “The Hook” Perez got his nickname?
I saw Woodstock here in 1970. It was presented in 4 track stereo and I remember at the time that the stage announcements in the film-which came from the surround speakers-were so life like that I thought it was the manager of the theatre making announcements from the back of the auditorium.
I believe the first movie at the (new)
Trans-Lux West was “For A Few Dollars More” in 1967.
Yes, when I started reading the introduction and then the posts. Are they talking about the one theatre or a second theatre. And then with RobertR’s picture from May, it’s in the Brill Building.
I work in the Brill Building.
Many Thanks Warren for all your research too.
Warren: At the Brill Building site on the net.
http://www.brillbuilding.com/history.html
Info is under History of a sound building
It has a history of the building plus a 1936 shot of the building from across the street which shows that there is a Trans-Lux Theatre on the ground floor.
In the second paragraph it says, “The envisioned ground floor retail bank outlet was leased out to the Trans-Lux Movie Corporation for a twin newsreel theatre. In 1938 the theatres were ripped out & remodeled for the Jack Dempseys restaurant space."
Go to the 2nd page for the 1936 vintage picture of the building & theatre.
Warren: Because when you go to the RobertR post from May 20th at 12:22pm. You enlarge the picture to see the Capital Theatre in the background. The only large building is the Brill Building. The marquee has the Trans-Lux company name and the Modern Theatre tag too. I work in the Brill Building and their is a picture in the managers office that also shows that there was a theatre. Since you know alot more about the New York area theatres, I was just seeing if this one just slipped by.
Warren: In the first photo in your last post looks like a slightly different marquee from the pictures that RobertR posted on May 20th 2005. I made a comment shortly after on May 20th 2005 at 12:39pm. I’m just asking because there was a Trans-Lux Newsreels theatre at 1619 Broadway in the Brill Building at one time. And your first pictures looks like that marquee, RobertR’s picture dates from 1935 from the information in the picture with “Mutiny on the Bounty” in the background. So there was two Trans-Lux theatres there?
Heh, heh, heh, those copywriter villians.