Come, come, Warren. Some folks find great enjoyment in the music of ABBA. I don’t happen to be among them, but I am a fan of rock and rock-era pop. Just as I enjoy jazz and classical. Different strokes for different folks (and so on and so on and scooby dooby do). No need to put the music down just because it doesn’t tickle your fancy. There are plenty of level headed folks who probably feel the same way for the ushers at the Met.
As beautiful as Morricone’s scores have been (“Once Upon a Time in the West” might be my favorite), I think Coppola did OK on the Godfather films with Nino Rota.
Hey B'klyn Jim… You should have ended that last post “…it got a Coppola laffs.”
Hey dave-bronx… Point taken. I’m primarily interested in constistency here on this site. There should be one uniform policy with respect to listing the theaters. Freezing the name of a given theater with that which served at the time of its closure as a cinema is one way to go – but, while that might leave this entry as “Loew’s 175th Street”, it would leave the great Rivoli Theater on B'way with the nondescript listing of “UA Twin”. Perhaps the convention should be to use the theater’s original name (at time of opening or at time of conversion to cinema) and then leave the rest to the AKA’s. That is, if we even agree there should be any sort of uniformity at all.
Thanks Myossi… I’d love to see that footage of John Belushi singing and doing cartwheels with the Dead on U.S. Blues! I hope a restoration project gets underway and those tapes see the light of day! I imagine there’d be considerable legal red-tape to be negotiated with all the artists, but I’d surely be willing to pay to have some of those shows on DVD!
I agree. There needs to be consistency here. As long as one can easily search all AKA addresses when looking for a specific theater, it should not matter that what may be the theater’s most famous appellation is buried in a list of “previous names”.
Myossi… Amazing that you referred me to that page of your wonderful website!
I attended one of those Who concerts in September of 1979 just within a few days of seeing them at the Madison Square Garden (later on in that tour, the notorious crowd rush in Cincinatti resulted in a number of deaths). That was my first venture to the Capitol – and there’s the vertical sign as I remember it. I’d love to say that the next time I went to the Capitol was March 30th, 1980, since that’s the next photo on your webpage, but I think I saw a Jerry Garcia show a few weeks earlier. I was at that March 30th Dead show, however. I remember hearing about the show on April Fools Day a few days later where the Dead came out for the first number with everyone on the wrong instrument. Wish I had caught that one.
Hey… didn’t John Scher videotape many of the gigs at the Capitol for archival purposes? I remember cameras rolling a few times. Always wondered what happened to those vids. If whoever owns those tapes can get artists to sign licensing agreements, they’d be sitting on a treasure trove of rock history!
Exactly. If you can’t get up and dance at a concert, where can you? Funny, though… it’s usually the older farts who are asking other folks to sit down!
Yes. I think the Marx house was in Richmond Hill. I think it was Groucho’s house, but I’m not sure on that count. I believe he resided in Queens in the 1920’s – during their Broadway heyday – and probably right up until the time that Paramount relocated the Brothers to Hollywood in 1931 to continue their cinematic careers.
This and Movieworld in Douglaston were by far the worst theaters I ever had the displeasure of attending. The old Bayside Theater on Bell Boulevard ran a distant third, when it was a horrendously maintained multiplex in the ‘80’s. Somehowe, Movieworld still survives to this day.
Warren… I don’t believe the 42nd Street E-Walk (which opened under the Loews banner and sold to Regal after the AMC takeover of Loews was completed) ever showed porno movies. That would have gone completely against the very ideals upon which the “new 42nd Street” and the freshly Giuliani-scrubbed Times Square were built. I think, rather, that the writers of the New York Magazine article are either referring to or confusing the theater with the old Harem Theater – a bona fide XXX porn house carved from former retail space in the early 1970’s on the site where the E-Walk now stands.
Warren… I don’t believe the 42nd Street E-Walk (which opened under the Loews banner and sold to Regal after the AMC takeover of Loews was completed) ever showed porno movies. That would have gone completely against the very ideals upon which the “new 42nd Street” and the freshly Giuliani-scrubbed Times Square were built. I think, rather, that the writers of the New York Magazine article are either referring to or confusing the theater with the old Harem Theater – a bona fide XXX porn house carved from former retail space in the early 1970’s on the site where the E-Walk now stands.
Warren… I don’t believe the 42nd Street E-Walk (which opened under the Loews banner and sold to Regal after the AMC takeover of Loews was completed) ever showed porno movies. That would have gone completely against the very ideals upon which the “new 42nd Street” and the freshly Giuliani-scrubbed Times Square were built. I think, rather, that the writers of the New York Magazine article are either referring to or confusing the theater with the old Harem Theater – a bona fide XXX porn house carved from former retail space in the early 1970’s on the site where the E-Walk now stands.
Hey Moyssi… I remember going to a few Capitol shows in the early ‘80’s… Jerry Garcia mostly. Did they remove the vertical sign at some point? My memory is a bit fuzzy and I could swear I remember a vertical, but sometimes I can’t distinguish what is actually in my memory from what I’ve seen in images later on. I do remember the more modern “capitol” signage over the marquee sideboards that matched the program masthead.
Hey Hollywood90038… I have a photobucket account myself where I’ve posted a bunch of images of NYC movie houses (and some legit theaters as well). I’m a big Times Square enthusiast – having misspent much of my youth in and out of the area cinemas – and have scoured the net for images and such to add to those that I’ve taken on my own. I’d love to snag a few images you have on your site – including the Big Top image you posted July of last year and a pair of photos you have of the Adonis/Cameo on 8th Avenue. I’d give you proper credit in the captions. Actually, it seems I must have already copied one of your Adonis images – which I’d gladly delete if you are not agreeable. No hard feelings whatever if you decline my request.
I’d have contacted you privately, but I saw no email associated with your CT account. Thanks.
Hey BMitchell… If you go to photobucket.com, you can sign up for a free image hosting account and upload your photo there. Then you can cut and paste a link to your image in a comment here on this page. I’d love to see your photo.
Ha! “Scented movies are here to stay!” Hardly. One could probably count the number of “scented movies” released in the U.S. on a single hand. Last one I recall, was John Waters' campy “Polyester” in Odorama – a “process” that involved a simple scratch and sniff card with numerical cues flashed on the screen to tell the audience when to use the card.
I wonder about the definition of “Greek films” and “art films” in that document… and who provided the theater history. As far as I know, adult films – including the prototype nudies that preceeded the first hard-core films circa 1969-70 – were part of the Capri’s bill of fare since Chelly Wilson first opened the theater in 1968/69.
In any event, I think we should update the data at the top of this page to include a seating capacity of 230. Status should also be changed to “closed” and present function to “restaurant” as the building still stands and is now occupied by the Euro Diner.
Hey Warren. If you’re thinking of me, then “guano” is the person you’re thinking of! And you were kind enough to allow me to snag that photo for my own collection.
Ken… I can’t take credit for the 1978 photo either. I have copied numerous photos I’ve found here or elsewhere on the web and placed them in my scrapbook for my own personal use. I only post images here on CT that either I have found on the web (on a site other than CT) or that I’ve photographed myself. I’ve thought about making my scrapbook private, but I keep it open to all only as a repository for theater images for those who are interested. Particularly since so many of those links here tend to disappear after a while due to space restrictions on other scrapbook accounts.
I suppose if I choose to keep it a “public” scrapbook, I’ll have to endeavor to be more diligent in identifying the source of each image.
Lost… You should know better. Had I found an image of the elusive Lynbrook Airdrome, I’d have certainly let you know about it first! I will soon be a resident of Lynbrook, so once there I’ll hastily avail myself of the Lynbrook library facilities to see if I can dig anything up on this theater. I’m also quite interested in the Arcade/Studio One Theater on Atlantic Ave, that I recall attending in the late ‘70’s and early '80’s. I placed a call to the library back when this listing was first posted, but the librarian was unable to assist me with any possible materials for research. Hopefully, a physical visit will yield better results.
Thanks, Howard Becker. I wish I had (or would find) more photos of the area during the 1970’s. My memories are so fuzzy and fleeting. But, thanks to this site, many of them are coming into much clearer focus now.
Thanks, Al. I think the latter is most likely the case. Warren’s description as to how Cine 1 and 2 operated here sounds too much like the history of the Agee/Cine/Show Palace that was between the DeMille and the Doll a few blocks up Seventh Ave to be coincidence. Unless he can clear this up, my guess is that he got his facts crossed up a bit between the two sites when posting this submission.
Fascinating, William. Thanks for posting the link. And later on, those new “modern” clean lines that replaced the old fashioned “gingerbread” plaster decoration on the auditorium sidewalls were hidden behind an apron of heavy drapes that ran from the proscenium curtains to the back wall of the theater. A shame that so much of the original decor was lost – not only in the Rivoli but in many of the Broadway palaces during the road-show era. But I would have the 1970’s Rivoli back today, drapes, kitschy carpeting, streamlined look and all.
Al… my fellow Times Square veteran and enthusiast… If you would be so kind, can you tell us if this theater was ever known as Cine 1 and 2 before it’s time as the Big Apple Theater? If not, could you offer a possible explanation for the words “Cine 1” seen either on or through the glass doors in the “Unknown Soldier” photo I posted above on July 5th, 2006?
My mistake, by the way… the Richard Basciano porn palace on 7th near 47th adjacent to the DeMille and known at one time as Cine 1 and 2 was called “Show Follies” in the late ‘80’s into the '90’s, not Show Palace.
Come, come, Warren. Some folks find great enjoyment in the music of ABBA. I don’t happen to be among them, but I am a fan of rock and rock-era pop. Just as I enjoy jazz and classical. Different strokes for different folks (and so on and so on and scooby dooby do). No need to put the music down just because it doesn’t tickle your fancy. There are plenty of level headed folks who probably feel the same way for the ushers at the Met.
As beautiful as Morricone’s scores have been (“Once Upon a Time in the West” might be my favorite), I think Coppola did OK on the Godfather films with Nino Rota.
Hey B'klyn Jim… You should have ended that last post “…it got a Coppola laffs.”
Rimshot.
No?
OK.
Fuhgedaboudit.
Hey dave-bronx… Point taken. I’m primarily interested in constistency here on this site. There should be one uniform policy with respect to listing the theaters. Freezing the name of a given theater with that which served at the time of its closure as a cinema is one way to go – but, while that might leave this entry as “Loew’s 175th Street”, it would leave the great Rivoli Theater on B'way with the nondescript listing of “UA Twin”. Perhaps the convention should be to use the theater’s original name (at time of opening or at time of conversion to cinema) and then leave the rest to the AKA’s. That is, if we even agree there should be any sort of uniformity at all.
Thanks Myossi… I’d love to see that footage of John Belushi singing and doing cartwheels with the Dead on U.S. Blues! I hope a restoration project gets underway and those tapes see the light of day! I imagine there’d be considerable legal red-tape to be negotiated with all the artists, but I’d surely be willing to pay to have some of those shows on DVD!
I agree. There needs to be consistency here. As long as one can easily search all AKA addresses when looking for a specific theater, it should not matter that what may be the theater’s most famous appellation is buried in a list of “previous names”.
Myossi… Amazing that you referred me to that page of your wonderful website!
I attended one of those Who concerts in September of 1979 just within a few days of seeing them at the Madison Square Garden (later on in that tour, the notorious crowd rush in Cincinatti resulted in a number of deaths). That was my first venture to the Capitol – and there’s the vertical sign as I remember it. I’d love to say that the next time I went to the Capitol was March 30th, 1980, since that’s the next photo on your webpage, but I think I saw a Jerry Garcia show a few weeks earlier. I was at that March 30th Dead show, however. I remember hearing about the show on April Fools Day a few days later where the Dead came out for the first number with everyone on the wrong instrument. Wish I had caught that one.
Hey… didn’t John Scher videotape many of the gigs at the Capitol for archival purposes? I remember cameras rolling a few times. Always wondered what happened to those vids. If whoever owns those tapes can get artists to sign licensing agreements, they’d be sitting on a treasure trove of rock history!
Exactly. If you can’t get up and dance at a concert, where can you? Funny, though… it’s usually the older farts who are asking other folks to sit down!
Yes. I think the Marx house was in Richmond Hill. I think it was Groucho’s house, but I’m not sure on that count. I believe he resided in Queens in the 1920’s – during their Broadway heyday – and probably right up until the time that Paramount relocated the Brothers to Hollywood in 1931 to continue their cinematic careers.
This and Movieworld in Douglaston were by far the worst theaters I ever had the displeasure of attending. The old Bayside Theater on Bell Boulevard ran a distant third, when it was a horrendously maintained multiplex in the ‘80’s. Somehowe, Movieworld still survives to this day.
Warren… I don’t believe the 42nd Street E-Walk (which opened under the Loews banner and sold to Regal after the AMC takeover of Loews was completed) ever showed porno movies. That would have gone completely against the very ideals upon which the “new 42nd Street” and the freshly Giuliani-scrubbed Times Square were built. I think, rather, that the writers of the New York Magazine article are either referring to or confusing the theater with the old Harem Theater – a bona fide XXX porn house carved from former retail space in the early 1970’s on the site where the E-Walk now stands.
Warren… I don’t believe the 42nd Street E-Walk (which opened under the Loews banner and sold to Regal after the AMC takeover of Loews was completed) ever showed porno movies. That would have gone completely against the very ideals upon which the “new 42nd Street” and the freshly Giuliani-scrubbed Times Square were built. I think, rather, that the writers of the New York Magazine article are either referring to or confusing the theater with the old Harem Theater – a bona fide XXX porn house carved from former retail space in the early 1970’s on the site where the E-Walk now stands.
Warren… I don’t believe the 42nd Street E-Walk (which opened under the Loews banner and sold to Regal after the AMC takeover of Loews was completed) ever showed porno movies. That would have gone completely against the very ideals upon which the “new 42nd Street” and the freshly Giuliani-scrubbed Times Square were built. I think, rather, that the writers of the New York Magazine article are either referring to or confusing the theater with the old Harem Theater – a bona fide XXX porn house carved from former retail space in the early 1970’s on the site where the E-Walk now stands.
Hey Moyssi… I remember going to a few Capitol shows in the early ‘80’s… Jerry Garcia mostly. Did they remove the vertical sign at some point? My memory is a bit fuzzy and I could swear I remember a vertical, but sometimes I can’t distinguish what is actually in my memory from what I’ve seen in images later on. I do remember the more modern “capitol” signage over the marquee sideboards that matched the program masthead.
Almost forgot… Here’s a link to my photobucket account if you care to peruse it.
Hey Hollywood90038… I have a photobucket account myself where I’ve posted a bunch of images of NYC movie houses (and some legit theaters as well). I’m a big Times Square enthusiast – having misspent much of my youth in and out of the area cinemas – and have scoured the net for images and such to add to those that I’ve taken on my own. I’d love to snag a few images you have on your site – including the Big Top image you posted July of last year and a pair of photos you have of the Adonis/Cameo on 8th Avenue. I’d give you proper credit in the captions. Actually, it seems I must have already copied one of your Adonis images – which I’d gladly delete if you are not agreeable. No hard feelings whatever if you decline my request.
I’d have contacted you privately, but I saw no email associated with your CT account. Thanks.
Hey BMitchell… If you go to photobucket.com, you can sign up for a free image hosting account and upload your photo there. Then you can cut and paste a link to your image in a comment here on this page. I’d love to see your photo.
Ha! “Scented movies are here to stay!” Hardly. One could probably count the number of “scented movies” released in the U.S. on a single hand. Last one I recall, was John Waters' campy “Polyester” in Odorama – a “process” that involved a simple scratch and sniff card with numerical cues flashed on the screen to tell the audience when to use the card.
I wonder about the definition of “Greek films” and “art films” in that document… and who provided the theater history. As far as I know, adult films – including the prototype nudies that preceeded the first hard-core films circa 1969-70 – were part of the Capri’s bill of fare since Chelly Wilson first opened the theater in 1968/69.
In any event, I think we should update the data at the top of this page to include a seating capacity of 230. Status should also be changed to “closed” and present function to “restaurant” as the building still stands and is now occupied by the Euro Diner.
Hey Warren. If you’re thinking of me, then “guano” is the person you’re thinking of! And you were kind enough to allow me to snag that photo for my own collection.
Ken… I can’t take credit for the 1978 photo either. I have copied numerous photos I’ve found here or elsewhere on the web and placed them in my scrapbook for my own personal use. I only post images here on CT that either I have found on the web (on a site other than CT) or that I’ve photographed myself. I’ve thought about making my scrapbook private, but I keep it open to all only as a repository for theater images for those who are interested. Particularly since so many of those links here tend to disappear after a while due to space restrictions on other scrapbook accounts.
I suppose if I choose to keep it a “public” scrapbook, I’ll have to endeavor to be more diligent in identifying the source of each image.
Lost… You should know better. Had I found an image of the elusive Lynbrook Airdrome, I’d have certainly let you know about it first! I will soon be a resident of Lynbrook, so once there I’ll hastily avail myself of the Lynbrook library facilities to see if I can dig anything up on this theater. I’m also quite interested in the Arcade/Studio One Theater on Atlantic Ave, that I recall attending in the late ‘70’s and early '80’s. I placed a call to the library back when this listing was first posted, but the librarian was unable to assist me with any possible materials for research. Hopefully, a physical visit will yield better results.
Thanks, Howard Becker. I wish I had (or would find) more photos of the area during the 1970’s. My memories are so fuzzy and fleeting. But, thanks to this site, many of them are coming into much clearer focus now.
Thanks, Al. I think the latter is most likely the case. Warren’s description as to how Cine 1 and 2 operated here sounds too much like the history of the Agee/Cine/Show Palace that was between the DeMille and the Doll a few blocks up Seventh Ave to be coincidence. Unless he can clear this up, my guess is that he got his facts crossed up a bit between the two sites when posting this submission.
Fascinating, William. Thanks for posting the link. And later on, those new “modern” clean lines that replaced the old fashioned “gingerbread” plaster decoration on the auditorium sidewalls were hidden behind an apron of heavy drapes that ran from the proscenium curtains to the back wall of the theater. A shame that so much of the original decor was lost – not only in the Rivoli but in many of the Broadway palaces during the road-show era. But I would have the 1970’s Rivoli back today, drapes, kitschy carpeting, streamlined look and all.
Al… my fellow Times Square veteran and enthusiast… If you would be so kind, can you tell us if this theater was ever known as Cine 1 and 2 before it’s time as the Big Apple Theater? If not, could you offer a possible explanation for the words “Cine 1” seen either on or through the glass doors in the “Unknown Soldier” photo I posted above on July 5th, 2006?
My mistake, by the way… the Richard Basciano porn palace on 7th near 47th adjacent to the DeMille and known at one time as Cine 1 and 2 was called “Show Follies” in the late ‘80’s into the '90’s, not Show Palace.