Embassy 1,2,3 Theatre

On the Victoria page they have the actual photo. The billboard is actually displaying A Face in the Crowd. So they got the decade wrong.

Thats true, while it was a large screen, it was only a fraction of the available space. There was a LOT of dead space around the projection area.

If you mean did it have the same size screen it had before it was triplexed…absolutely not. Because of the position of the projection booth for the downstairs auditorium, it became one of the smallest screens I have ever seen in a large theatre.

I worked for Guild theatres in the early 1980s, and was the manager of the Embassy 2,3,4. I also workes at times at the Embassy I, the Forum, and another theatre that Guild theatres operated.

I always enjoyed the many interesting architectural features of this theatre, and often wandered about the parts of the theatre that nobody else got to see. I recall a lot of space behind the screen from the original stage, with much of the equipment still in place. I recall several floors of dressing rooms on either side of the stage, and those horrendous labrynthian fire escapes… which were inside the building, but open to the sky.

When I was there, the original curtain still worked, and we would occasionally close it at the end of a film. I recall a some of the stage still projected in front of the screen and curtain, but do not know if the entire front part of the stage remained.

There’s a news item on the home page here announcing someone’s desire to take this theater over and revive it as a center for live performance and independent film house. The plan is to have several auditoriums. I’m happy someone has interest in the place, I just wish there was a viable plan to restore it to single screen use and as a showcase for Cinerama presentation. Whatever the outcome, I hope it involves restoration of any original architectural character that might have been buried behind modernizations and multi-plexing that occured over the years.

Vincent—Ted Turner claims to have lost most of his money in the AOL-Time Warner debacle. Better look elsewhere.

It’s funny, Vincent, that you mention and have mentioned Scorsese because a friend of mine from LA suggested to me yesterday that we should contact him. Scorsese has a good comment about Cinerama on the Cinerama Adventure web. Does anyone know how to reach him?
Or De Niro? He has a restaurant and lives downown in Tribeca, doesn’t he?. Andres.

Well, Koch said no. Here is his e-mail:

Thank you for your e-mail. I suggest that you write to Katherine Oliver, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, 1687 Broadway, New York, New York 10019. She is in charge of movie production in New York City. Also, you should renew your correspondence with Chrystine Nicholas. It is not a matter that I plan on adding to my own plate.

All the best and good luck.
Ed Koch

Let’s bombard Ms. Oliver and Ms. Nycholas (at NYC&CO) with letters on saving the DeMille/Embassy 2-3-4. Andres.

I was going to mention that, Warren… but I figured that should be a discussion for the Criterion site. Not that discussing L.I. malls has much to do with the old Mayfair either!!! The place is called Bond 45 in a nod to the famous clothing store and discothèque than had shared occupancy of the building with the Criterion over the years. The red and blue block neon lettering over the entrance is very much in the spirit of the old Times Square (a welcome respite from the blinding electronic video displays that dominate the area). Sort of reminds me of the old Jack Dempsey’s that occupied a corner of the Brill Building once upon a time.

Yes, it was the one in the Source Mall where Fortunoff’s is. You would have thought with the crowds that gather there waiting for 90 minutes for a table at the Cheesecake Factory or P.F. Chaing’s, there’d be sufficient time for some impulse shopping at Virgin, but it wasn’t to be.

I never liked the Westbury Virgin store, I think it’s being so close to Tower Records in Carle Place hurt it.

I was there this past weekend and Toys ‘R’ Us is definitely still open for business. Besides, most of the building – beyond just the theater itself – was gutted to the outer walls for the conversion. I do recall reading in one of the earlier comments, that some remnant of the theater was visible at the rear of the store’s 2nd level, but I have not made it back to the store to check it out.

I know Toys ‘R’ Us has gone through some financial difficulties and has closed many of its stores, but most of the locations I’m familiar with in the NY area are still up and running (and presumably doing well). I did note that a well located Long Island location of the Virgin Megastore had closed down, but the Times Square branch continues to thrive. I’m sure the extraordinary volume of foot traffic keeps both locations among each company’s most profitable – despite what must be extremely high operating nuts.

When Apple Computer announced it would open a 2nd store in NYC, I was very surprised to learn the location would NOT be in Times Square but up in the GM Building on 5th and 59th. Perhaps CEO Steve Jobs prefers the more elegant company of FAO Schwartz, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany’s, the Plaza Hotel and Central Park to the louder and more obnoxious environs of Times Square!

Toys R Us hasn’t closed.