Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre
707 7th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10036
707 7th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10036
39 people
favorited this theater
Showing 551 - 575 of 1,094 comments
Bill, many stars in many pictures were listed at the end with the “and” before their name. It’s called French Billing and it means a star in a smaller but important role. On TV they use Guest Star.
I like how Janet Leigh’s name is posted last in the cast list. Some astute movie fans might have suspected something fishy when they saw that.
Another great catch-line…
By the way, after you see the picture, please don’t give away the ending.
It’s the only one we have.
That’s a great 4-star review. The reviewer Wanda Hale hits all the right notes without giving away an ounce of the plot. How exciting to have gone into this movie not knowing too much about it – what chills and thrill await within.
The NY Daily News review of “Psycho” at the DeMille, dated 50 years ago tomorrow:
View link
I have another ad at home with a picture of “Psycho” on the big curved corner sign, celebrating its 10th week as “the biggest hit on Broadway”. I’ll post it tonight.
Boy, how I wish today’s filmmakers would start making some movies that will be remembered that way 50 years from now.
Great vintage photo of the LOEWS MAYFAIR.
Renewing link.
I’d love to junk the triplex name, but in reading most of the above posts, it seems evident that this theater had its most prestige as the Demille. Some 70mm world premieres are listed in the Intro. The world premiere of Pscyho was here? So, perhaps it should be listed as Demille.
Regarding the topic of how to list theaters either by the name it was when it closed vs. the name it had the longest, I have to agree with the idea that it should be listed under the name it had the longest. There are many reasons why this makes sense but the main one is that people coming to this site are more likely to search for a theater by the name it is most popularly known by. The example of the Rivoli is perfect. However, to make this site even more user friendly, might I suggest that it be developed where theaters could have “sub names†(or “also- known-asâ€) granted to it? A theater like the Embassy probably should be listed as the Mayfair but with also-known-as names like DeMille, Columbia and Embassy.
Excerpt from NY Times' review of The Blob (11/7/58)
“Speaking of shocks, be wary of the Mayfair floor as you go in. During the first scene, as the insistent screen goo began eating a screaming farmer alive, this spectator uneasily hoisted a foot, took one look at a giant blob of chewing gum clinging to the shoe and almost lit out for Cape Canaveral. One thing you can count on with "The Blob” â€" goo galore."
Another Mayfair Theatre operated in the early seventies at 235 West 46th street in the Paramount Hotel. It alternated between Vaudeville, plays, and films. The film programs were mainly in Yiddish or with Jewish appeal and the theatre may have been operated by remnants of the old White Rats Vaudeville Union.
Does anyone know anything else about it?
I concur.
I agree with the last 4 posters. Maybe that policy should be re-evaluated. I think a theater should be listed under the name it held the longest, and not what it closed under. Bway is right – it’d be criminal to list the Rivoli as the United Artists Twin.
Columbia 1910 to 1930 (20 years)
Mayfair 1930 to 1960 (30 years)
DeMille 1960 to 1976 (16 years)
Mark Triplex 1976 to 1977 (1 year)
Embassy 2, 3, 4 1977 to 1997 (20 years)
Embassy 1, 2, 3 1997 to 1998 (1 year)
Is that about right?
Technically, the Rivoli should be listed as the United Artists Twin, which is what it closed as. It would really be an insult to change the name of it to that nondescript name, after it’s whole life being the Rivoli, and what it is known as. I know it’s the policy, but in cases like that, it would be almost insane to call the Rivoli the “United Artists Twin” here. But then again, why should the Mayfair be listed as the Embassy 2,3,4 here?
I agree with the above post although I recognize CT policy in identifying theatres by their last known names. In this case the Embassy & the Mark affiliations had a minimal impact on the significant history of this site known either as the Mayfair, or the DeMille. If the Guild organization had taken over the Rivoli and renamed it Emabassy 5, would anyone recognize it as other than the Rivoli?
The intro needs some adjusting.
It became a triplex in late 1976 when it became the Mark Triplex. It became the Embassy 2, 3, 4 in December 1977 when Guild took it over and the Embassy 1, 2, 3 in 1997 after the Embassy 1 on 46th street closed.
Since Embassy 2, 3, 4 was neither its last name nor its most important phase, it should probably be listed as the Mayfair.
Great photos and history on this site.
Great photos and history on this site.
Reading that Frankenstein ad I noticed a funny coincidence—It says No One Seated During Final Reel, which is a precursor or foreshadowing of the policy at this same theater for Psycho 30 years later, when no one was seated after the feature began. (I like to publish this same comment once every five years.)
I was surprised to see Boris Karloff’s name in the “Frankenstein” ad, because in the actual screen credits he was billed as “?”.
There is currently a photo on eBay of a 1971 concert at the Demille. Sid Bernstein presents Melanie. I don’t remember concerts there. Does anyone recall other shows?
Well I went to have some BBQ on Friday night at Famous Daves. There is really nothing left except for the top of the proscenium and a few coves and the domes along the ceiling area. They have installed four retro type light fixtures hanging from the proscenium and two light fixtures from the dome in the ceiling. (seen in pictures from Gotham Lost and Found site) The kitchen and a raised dining area over the kitchen now sits on stage. Now you can see that the stage was maybe 20 feet deep at most. The rest of the front of the orchestra seating of the theatre is dining and a bar. You can see the bare brick walls and their retro trendy bar look. The rest rooms are next to the kitchen to the right on stage.
The food and drinks were good but the former theatre is sad to look at.
We had two plexes in Southern California area that were plexed that way, but the walls were alittle wider for regular aspect ratio films. California Theatre in Huntington Park and the Culver Theatre in Culver City.
Now I have to try some BBQ from Famous Daves and see the location.
Re: The saps question above — the theatre did reopen after the fire in 1974, but not as a Walter Reade house. It was a reduced fare theatre (I can’t remember whether it was just a dollar or a little more.) One of the projectionists on the crew at Radio City was also involved with Local #306 and was a little disturbed when I commented to him that when I went there, there were people in the balcony. He said the agreement to operate with a reduced crew was that the house use only the orchestra level seating in order to get the reduced operating costs. It was probably about a year later that the decision was made to turn it into a porno multiplex with strippers working the runway in the orchestra. When the city objected it became a sub-run theatre operated by the Elson family.
The article in the gothamlostandfound column is wrong in one respect. A wall wasn’t put down the center of the balcony — TWO walls were put down the balcony to divide it into two houses on the left and right, with the space between them a pathway for the image from the center projector in the booth to hit the downstairs screen. This made for a limited width picture downstairs where the screen had been the width of the proscenium for 70mm presentation, but as designed it would have been used to only show 1.37 aspect ratio porn films in between the strippers' performances.