The console was installed in the auditorium so that a single projectionist could run the whole operation from downstairs with closed circuit TV views of all three projectors upstairs. It gave the projectionist a patron’s- eye view of the presentation.
The Union never accepted the concept so it never ran that way.
This intro needs to be corrected. This Adonis stopped operating in 1989 in conjunction with the opening of the World Wide Center. The Adonis operation then moved down to the Cameo Art on 44th Street.
Ed, check out TIMES SQUARE ROULETTE by Lynne B. Sagalyn, DOWN 42nd STREET by Marc Elliot, and GHOSTS of 42nd STREET by Anthony Bianco.
There are also several newspaper articles and sleazier books about tracking down the landlords of 42nd street. Many owners were buried in the actual paperwork by design so no one would go to prison during obscenity raids. Even arrested employees claimed not to know who the tenants and landlords actually were. Someone came by delivered or and picked up a bag of cash once a month in order to handle payrolls and rent.
The assumption was that the mafia bosses of shelter companies willed some of the properties to the Catholic Church who then became landlords of properties they were unaware of until NYC authorities started procedures to evict them. At least that is the story the church has claimed. Large payments were made to Disney, the church, and numerous shady companies by the Guiliani administration with Federal, State and City tax grants in order to clean up 42nd Street. To sweeten the deal, the Guiliani administration allowed the porn shops to relocate in the boroughs where they had been refused licenses before.
Moviebuff82, the Empire is not a good example of what’s wrong. It is actually a pretty decent theatre. Too many mindless CGI superhero movies are what’s wrong. There used to be a better balance.
Ed, I have few book on the subject and they credit/blame the Dinkins administration, not Dinkins himself, for the changes. The deal with Disney was made while Dinkins was mayor but it was predicated on cleaning up the street first.
Guliani did have connections with the Gambini Family and the Catholic Church, two of the major landlords of the x-rated shops and brothels that operated down 42nd street. He helped sign off on the forced evictions that made the project eventually happen, but delayed everything by threatening to derail it all if he was not put down front and center of the deal.
They only harassed people on the Bay Ridge side of the Gowanus. Didn’t you ever wonder why Spike Lee movies played to all white audiences at the Alpine? Or why horror and big action movies always did better at the Fortway even if they were move-overs from the Alpine?
Techman, you may have noticed that minority audiences were rare at the Alpine and that the grosses reflected their reluctance to come into Bay Ridge at night. Even our ethnic Alpine employees had problems with the local police.
The Fortway attracted the Sunset crowd and had some problems. That is the price we paid for higher grosses.
You are correct about Garth Drabinsky and he now has the criminal record to prove it.
There was no such intentional preference against the Alpine. The Fortway just had access to an ethnic audience that Bay Ridge police intimidated at the Alpine. Blacks and hispanics were simply not welcome in the streets of Bay Ridge in the evenings, even as late as the late nineties, so movies with wide appeal went to the Fortway first.
Mr. Goldberg was simply grade-A asshole. Dead or alive. Anyone who knew GTM could confirm that.
I worked for Cineplex Odeon and dealt with these silly Brooklyn clowns for years.
Joe, the ads are New York Times RKO directories and do not include any details about the Vaudeville acts themselves. I am not sure this will help you much.
I found an old article that states the landlord was none other than E.M. Loews, who evicted the Latin Quarter due to overdue rent. Does anyone know if E.M. Loews was the actual operator of the Cine Lido and Cine Malibu?
Joe, I found some more. The last mention is Sunday, February 25, 1951. The show included the features “The Glass Menagerie” and “Grounds for Marriage” plus ‘Vaudeville All Day’.
A few older posts (2006) on this site refer to the post-Loews brief incarnation of this as the Yiddish Village Theatre as a result of this 1966 photo of Timothy Leary from Ed Solero’s photobucket:
If you compare it to what Disney did across the street they actually did a pretty half-assed job. The murals are badly faded or covered in dust and many of the wood finishes are damaged or rotting away.
The console was installed in the auditorium so that a single projectionist could run the whole operation from downstairs with closed circuit TV views of all three projectors upstairs. It gave the projectionist a patron’s- eye view of the presentation.
The Union never accepted the concept so it never ran that way.
dmtyler, I doubt “DEEP THROAT” ever played at the Roosevelt since it was banned in Miami Beach after the Sheridan premiere.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25725093@N07/6823711111/lightbox/
“TORA! TORA! TORA” had a very long Roadshow run at the Beach and not at the Sheridan which was indeed showing “SONG OF NORWAY” at the time.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LL4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sPMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4887%2C105337
This intro needs to be corrected. This Adonis stopped operating in 1989 in conjunction with the opening of the World Wide Center. The Adonis operation then moved down to the Cameo Art on 44th Street.
Ed, check out TIMES SQUARE ROULETTE by Lynne B. Sagalyn, DOWN 42nd STREET by Marc Elliot, and GHOSTS of 42nd STREET by Anthony Bianco.
There are also several newspaper articles and sleazier books about tracking down the landlords of 42nd street. Many owners were buried in the actual paperwork by design so no one would go to prison during obscenity raids. Even arrested employees claimed not to know who the tenants and landlords actually were. Someone came by delivered or and picked up a bag of cash once a month in order to handle payrolls and rent.
The assumption was that the mafia bosses of shelter companies willed some of the properties to the Catholic Church who then became landlords of properties they were unaware of until NYC authorities started procedures to evict them. At least that is the story the church has claimed. Large payments were made to Disney, the church, and numerous shady companies by the Guiliani administration with Federal, State and City tax grants in order to clean up 42nd Street. To sweeten the deal, the Guiliani administration allowed the porn shops to relocate in the boroughs where they had been refused licenses before.
Thank you for this, Sam. It is a wonderful contribution!
It confirms the theatre name as one word.
Moviebuff82, the Empire is not a good example of what’s wrong. It is actually a pretty decent theatre. Too many mindless CGI superhero movies are what’s wrong. There used to be a better balance.
Ed, I have few book on the subject and they credit/blame the Dinkins administration, not Dinkins himself, for the changes. The deal with Disney was made while Dinkins was mayor but it was predicated on cleaning up the street first.
Guliani did have connections with the Gambini Family and the Catholic Church, two of the major landlords of the x-rated shops and brothels that operated down 42nd street. He helped sign off on the forced evictions that made the project eventually happen, but delayed everything by threatening to derail it all if he was not put down front and center of the deal.
Actually Giuliani’s only contribution was not stopping it as long as he had the photo op.
The address here should be 320 41st Street.
Or “Popeye”.
I am.
They only harassed people on the Bay Ridge side of the Gowanus. Didn’t you ever wonder why Spike Lee movies played to all white audiences at the Alpine? Or why horror and big action movies always did better at the Fortway even if they were move-overs from the Alpine?
Techman, you may have noticed that minority audiences were rare at the Alpine and that the grosses reflected their reluctance to come into Bay Ridge at night. Even our ethnic Alpine employees had problems with the local police.
The Fortway attracted the Sunset crowd and had some problems. That is the price we paid for higher grosses.
You are correct about Garth Drabinsky and he now has the criminal record to prove it.
There was no such intentional preference against the Alpine. The Fortway just had access to an ethnic audience that Bay Ridge police intimidated at the Alpine. Blacks and hispanics were simply not welcome in the streets of Bay Ridge in the evenings, even as late as the late nineties, so movies with wide appeal went to the Fortway first.
Mr. Goldberg was simply grade-A asshole. Dead or alive. Anyone who knew GTM could confirm that.
I worked for Cineplex Odeon and dealt with these silly Brooklyn clowns for years.
Uploaded a Variety ad for Jerry Lewis Cinemas.
Joe, the ads are New York Times RKO directories and do not include any details about the Vaudeville acts themselves. I am not sure this will help you much.
I found an old article that states the landlord was none other than E.M. Loews, who evicted the Latin Quarter due to overdue rent. Does anyone know if E.M. Loews was the actual operator of the Cine Lido and Cine Malibu?
Joe, I found some more. The last mention is Sunday, February 25, 1951. The show included the features “The Glass Menagerie” and “Grounds for Marriage” plus ‘Vaudeville All Day’.
Sorry, I don’t have a link. I have the ads themselves.
Joe, RKO stopped advertising Vaudeville in the NYT here in early 1950.
“Steamboat Willie” opened at this Colony. The 79th Street was not named Colony until 1937.
A few older posts (2006) on this site refer to the post-Loews brief incarnation of this as the Yiddish Village Theatre as a result of this 1966 photo of Timothy Leary from Ed Solero’s photobucket:
http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Manhattan%20Movie%20Theaters/Loews%20Commodore%20aka%20Fillmore%20East/?action=view¤t=LoewsCommodoreLeary.jpg&sort=ascending.
I found an ad for this period hiding in plain sight in the New York Times.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25725093@N07/6574751901/lightbox/
In March 1964 this was shut down (along with the Gramercy) for showing ‘unlicensed avant-garde films’.
It was then known as the Sans Souci Pocket Theatre
If you compare it to what Disney did across the street they actually did a pretty half-assed job. The murals are badly faded or covered in dust and many of the wood finishes are damaged or rotting away.
Has anyone else noticed that if you choose New York, New York City on the CT search option there are no listings?
There are some interior shots at this site:
http://www.avoidingregret.com/2010/09/photo-essay-inside-governors-island_21.html