As late as 1965 the Lyric was still “premiering” motion pictures albeit smutty ones:
Per NY Times 8/12/65: BOB HOPE, get some soap and scrub out that blue humor! “I’ll Take Sweden,” which United Artists opened yesterday at the midtown Lyric Theater, is altogether unworthy of a beloved sunshine man who has cheered millions. The picture is an altogether asinine little romp, laboriously eking out a winding trail of sexual innuendoes, with some pasted-on backgrounds of Sweden and much mad racing in and out of bedrooms. And it couldn’t be duller or more obvious.
This was the first porno theater I ever tried to enter — I was about 15, and the manager at the door wouldn’t let me in, saying “You don’t wanna know what goes on in here.” But I really did want to know…!
Alas, it wasn’t until Cabaret opened here, decades later, that I finally passed through these hallowed portals.
16 of the 17 theaters listed in the Dr. No ad are gone, except for the Roosevelt Field, which is now a multiplex. (The Green Acres was around until last year, though.)
Still closed as of this week. Here’s the direct link and here’s the text of Wally’s post:
The aroma of hot buttered popcorn will soon be wafting through the long-shuttered Islip Theater.
The circa-1946 venue on Islip’s Main Street, closed since 2006, could be playing first-run movies by mid-March, through a planned remake of the community touchstone.
Rudy Prashad, who owns two theaters in Queens, has signed a long-term lease to operate the three-screen theater, which seats about 900. He’s spending $500,000 on renovations to the interior, including paint, carpeting and new seating. The theater will be outfitted with new digital projectors for Real-D — the latest in 3-D technology.
“I love the area, it’s a beautiful, beautiful neighborhood,” said Prashad, who operates the Center Cinema in Sunnyside and Main Street Cinemas in Kew Gardens. “I just want to keep it as a neighborhood movie theater.”
The theater was once the pulse of Islip’s entertainment district, with patrons lining up to buy tickets at a marble box-office. In 1982, the single theater was turned into a three-screen movie house; and in 2006, with increasing competition from mega cineplexes, it closed.
James Nazzaro, a real estate investor who bought the closed theater at auction in 2006, has tried since then to lease the property. Several deals — which would have turned the venue into a day care center or a symphony hall — fell through.
In 2009, Nazzaro withdrew an application before the town’s Planning Board to demolish the building and build a day care center.
“For six years, I’ve been painstakingly trying to find the right tenant,” said Nazzaro, of the Bay Shore-based Nazzaro Group Llc. “It’s just really gratifying to see it come to fruition.”
When Suffolk County Legis. Tom Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) posted news on his Facebook page earlier this month that the theater was set to reopen, the message garnered more than 600 likes.
“It’s a tremendous shot in the arm for the community,” Cilmi said. “Main Street in Islip has always enjoyed the community’s support. We have a pretty successfully cohesive area in the Islip hamlet. This missing piece has always been like a blemish on our community. Now that blemish will be healed.”
Prashad, who lives in Great Neck, said he has been greeted warmly as he has supervised crews working on the renovations. “We will have passersby knock on the glass door and say, ‘What are you guys doing? Is this going to be a movie theater?’ They’re very excited.”
Prashad said he anticipates keeping prices “very low,” – in the range of $2 less than the average movie ticket — and that free municipal parking will be available.
“I want to attract neighborhood folks,” he said. “There’s no reason for people to have to go far … to go to the movies. They should be able to walk and drive a close distance and enjoy a movie with their family.”
According to Lou Lumineck at the NY Post: Moss says the programming at the 1,131-seat venue would remain “pretty much as it is'‘ — first-run movies, movie premieres and special events like high-definition opera presentations. Cablevision spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew also declined to discuss the theater's finances or the length of the lease — believed to have around 10 years to go — but stressed that "this great partnership allows us to keep the Ziegfeld, which is open for business.’'
Wasn’t 1933 the year a lot of the 42nd Street playhouses — including Ziegfeld’s Follies' home the New Amsterdam — converted to first-and-second run grindhouses?
Joe, I suggest you read the Box Office article from 1947 that Tinseltoes posted on July 1, 2012. It is chock full of information about this theater, including its history, capacity and seating arrangemnts.
bigjoe59 posted:
Speaking of the legit theaters that once were located on the south side of 42 St. between 7th and 8th Aves…my question is simple – when the renovation for the “new” 42 St. began in earnest in the early 90s what was the state of the Candler Theater? Was it in such bad shape they decided to demolish it or was it in perfectly renovatable shape but no one wanted to spend the money so it was razed.
saps responded:
The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house [than the Anco], solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
techman707 responded:
It’s interesting you [Bigjoe59] should ask about the Candler building, since the union I was in, the projectionists Local 306, was located in the Candler building. The only reason they were FORCED to move was because of the demolition. The building was certainly NOT in bad shape. In fact, like so many of the older buildings that have been razed, it was a building that was built for the ages. Like comparing the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center, which building would you select to be in if were going to be hit by a plane?
The Lew Fields (aka Anco) was a featureless pit so it seems like no great loss.
The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house, solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
The old building is completely down and the new one looks massive from the outside. There is a bit of work to go but it should be impressive when finished.
Willstan, that’s pretty cool that you can remember seeing that movie so long ago. I saw a movie there a couple of years ago, but I have no idea what it was!
There’s something off about that photo, Gill (which I saved in the Photos section for closer examination.) The Palace was only three windows wide, with shorter buildings on each side, but that 1928 photo is seven windows wide. And wasn’t the verticle blade facing sideways rather than forward?
Perhaps that photo was an archtect’s model of what the proposed building would look like. Anyone..?
As late as 1965 the Lyric was still “premiering” motion pictures albeit smutty ones:
Per NY Times 8/12/65: BOB HOPE, get some soap and scrub out that blue humor! “I’ll Take Sweden,” which United Artists opened yesterday at the midtown Lyric Theater, is altogether unworthy of a beloved sunshine man who has cheered millions. The picture is an altogether asinine little romp, laboriously eking out a winding trail of sexual innuendoes, with some pasted-on backgrounds of Sweden and much mad racing in and out of bedrooms. And it couldn’t be duller or more obvious.
I wonder why this theater is not yet listed in the newspaper movie clocks.
This was the first porno theater I ever tried to enter — I was about 15, and the manager at the door wouldn’t let me in, saying “You don’t wanna know what goes on in here.” But I really did want to know…!
Alas, it wasn’t until Cabaret opened here, decades later, that I finally passed through these hallowed portals.
16 of the 17 theaters listed in the Dr. No ad are gone, except for the Roosevelt Field, which is now a multiplex. (The Green Acres was around until last year, though.)
Too bad it’s not a Loew’s.
Still closed as of this week. Here’s the direct link and here’s the text of Wally’s post:
The aroma of hot buttered popcorn will soon be wafting through the long-shuttered Islip Theater.
The circa-1946 venue on Islip’s Main Street, closed since 2006, could be playing first-run movies by mid-March, through a planned remake of the community touchstone.
Rudy Prashad, who owns two theaters in Queens, has signed a long-term lease to operate the three-screen theater, which seats about 900. He’s spending $500,000 on renovations to the interior, including paint, carpeting and new seating. The theater will be outfitted with new digital projectors for Real-D — the latest in 3-D technology.
“I love the area, it’s a beautiful, beautiful neighborhood,” said Prashad, who operates the Center Cinema in Sunnyside and Main Street Cinemas in Kew Gardens. “I just want to keep it as a neighborhood movie theater.”
The theater was once the pulse of Islip’s entertainment district, with patrons lining up to buy tickets at a marble box-office. In 1982, the single theater was turned into a three-screen movie house; and in 2006, with increasing competition from mega cineplexes, it closed.
James Nazzaro, a real estate investor who bought the closed theater at auction in 2006, has tried since then to lease the property. Several deals — which would have turned the venue into a day care center or a symphony hall — fell through.
In 2009, Nazzaro withdrew an application before the town’s Planning Board to demolish the building and build a day care center.
“For six years, I’ve been painstakingly trying to find the right tenant,” said Nazzaro, of the Bay Shore-based Nazzaro Group Llc. “It’s just really gratifying to see it come to fruition.”
When Suffolk County Legis. Tom Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) posted news on his Facebook page earlier this month that the theater was set to reopen, the message garnered more than 600 likes.
“It’s a tremendous shot in the arm for the community,” Cilmi said. “Main Street in Islip has always enjoyed the community’s support. We have a pretty successfully cohesive area in the Islip hamlet. This missing piece has always been like a blemish on our community. Now that blemish will be healed.”
Prashad, who lives in Great Neck, said he has been greeted warmly as he has supervised crews working on the renovations. “We will have passersby knock on the glass door and say, ‘What are you guys doing? Is this going to be a movie theater?’ They’re very excited.”
Prashad said he anticipates keeping prices “very low,” – in the range of $2 less than the average movie ticket — and that free municipal parking will be available.
“I want to attract neighborhood folks,” he said. “There’s no reason for people to have to go far … to go to the movies. They should be able to walk and drive a close distance and enjoy a movie with their family.”
According to Lou Lumineck at the NY Post: Moss says the programming at the 1,131-seat venue would remain “pretty much as it is'‘ — first-run movies, movie premieres and special events like high-definition opera presentations. Cablevision spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew also declined to discuss the theater's finances or the length of the lease — believed to have around 10 years to go — but stressed that "this great partnership allows us to keep the Ziegfeld, which is open for business.’'
Link here
So the Lyric wasn’t strictly a playhouse until 1934?
Was the 1922 Robin Hood a movie or a play?
And as Eliza wondered about her late aunt, “what become of her new straw hat that should have come to me?”
Wasn’t 1933 the year a lot of the 42nd Street playhouses — including Ziegfeld’s Follies' home the New Amsterdam — converted to first-and-second run grindhouses?
But the question is, will BowTie run the house for Cablevision as a regularly-scheduled movie theater?
Joe, I suggest you read the Box Office article from 1947 that Tinseltoes posted on July 1, 2012. It is chock full of information about this theater, including its history, capacity and seating arrangemnts.
Well, Cablevision hasn’t done too badly by the Music Hall, MSG and its theater, and the Beacon, so maybe isn’t all bad news…
There is so much info about the Lyric on the Lyric page, especially in links that Tinseltoes has already posted.
The intro for this historic house really needs to be corrected and expanded.
Reposted from Embassy 1,2,3 page:
bigjoe59 posted: Speaking of the legit theaters that once were located on the south side of 42 St. between 7th and 8th Aves…my question is simple – when the renovation for the “new” 42 St. began in earnest in the early 90s what was the state of the Candler Theater? Was it in such bad shape they decided to demolish it or was it in perfectly renovatable shape but no one wanted to spend the money so it was razed.
saps responded: The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house [than the Anco], solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
techman707 responded: It’s interesting you [Bigjoe59] should ask about the Candler building, since the union I was in, the projectionists Local 306, was located in the Candler building. The only reason they were FORCED to move was because of the demolition. The building was certainly NOT in bad shape. In fact, like so many of the older buildings that have been razed, it was a building that was built for the ages. Like comparing the Empire State Building to the World Trade Center, which building would you select to be in if were going to be hit by a plane?
Carry on!
The Lew Fields (aka Anco) was a featureless pit so it seems like no great loss.
The Candler (known as the Harris since 1921!) was a much nicer house, solid and dependable, and I don’t think I ever heard a satisfactory explanation as to why it was demolished. One of my favorites, and surely missed.
Direct link to article and photos here
Vito calls those strips “curtain raisers” but aren’t they also called “policy trailers?”
The old building is completely down and the new one looks massive from the outside. There is a bit of work to go but it should be impressive when finished.
Now if there was only some way to get there by mass transit we’d have it made.
Willstan, that’s pretty cool that you can remember seeing that movie so long ago. I saw a movie there a couple of years ago, but I have no idea what it was!
Here is the correct link for this cinema, which I soon hope to visit.
There’s something off about that photo, Gill (which I saved in the Photos section for closer examination.) The Palace was only three windows wide, with shorter buildings on each side, but that 1928 photo is seven windows wide. And wasn’t the verticle blade facing sideways rather than forward?
Perhaps that photo was an archtect’s model of what the proposed building would look like. Anyone..?