RKO Warner Twin Theatre
1579 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1579 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
41 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 378 comments
Do not know.
Does anyone know if the Orleans closed at the same as the other two? In 1987?
I think they decided a while back to leave the historic theatres with their original names. Anyway, this closed as a Cineplex Odeon so that name meant nothing even then.
Shouldn’t this theater be listed as the RKO Warner Twin, its name when it closed?
There is a pic of this corner in Sunday’s Metropolitan section (nee Connecticut) of the New York Times. Page 8, titled “The City, From Wartime Grit to Modern Soullessness”. It mentions 3 books but the picture of the Strand in Duffy Square has a caption (the text doesn’t mention it). The caption says, “At ease, Duff Square in WWII near the Pepsi-Cola canteen.” Photo credit is US Army and there are soldiers lounging with the Strand in the background, with its vertical marquee.
When “Grand Prix” opened here in 1966 there was so much masking on the screen it was no better than a regular Panavision presentation.There still is no better film presentation than the original three lens process of Cinerama (better than Imax or anything we have today),bring it back to New York for today’s audiences!
This is probably the 12/4/03 photo, but the date should be 1941:
http://tinyurl.com/pnxq5t
The last two films shown at the Strand (which closed as the RKO Warner Twin): Allan Quarterman and the Lost City Of Gold and Deadtime Stories.
Interesting note about that photo I posted: neither movie played past one week. The next week, Cobra replaced both films and played on both screens. One print was in 70mm.
Another theatre that shows its decline in pictures.
One for Mountaintop Motel Massacre, please.
View link
The Orleans.
View link
As the Cinerama 1 and II.
View link
Woody Allen’s film Radio Days contains archival color footage of Broadway with the marquee of the Strand visible with the title of the film Devotion, starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid. The film played here in 1946. Trouble is, this is an anachronism for Radio Days, which at that point was supposed to be set in the year 1943.
Does anyone have any additional information on Three Stooges appearances at the Strand, either around 1945, 1950 or any other time? The Three Stooges Fan Club is trying to document all their personal appearances.
Thanks,
Frank Reighter
Warren: a lot of Cinerama fans are purists who believe Cinerama actually came to an end with “How the West Was Won”. But when I saw “2001” (shot in Super Panavision 70mm) on the full size Cinerama screen at the Capitol in 1968, I was astounded by it. And I sure would love to see “The Greatest Story Ever Told” on a Cinerama screen. I guess if it says Cinerama in the ad, that’s enough for me :)
Warren, Both films were shot in Ultra-Panavision (70MM) as was “It’s a Mad…World”. United Artists roadshowed those films in many markets in Cinerama theatres. Which they also licensed the “Presented in Cinerama” to make it more of a event. By licensing Cinerama they could present the film using the Full Cinerama size screen. Otherwise without the license it would be presented on a slighty smaller screen. D-150 was also licensed in the same way for a time.
In this ad you can see two Cinerama pictures from United Artists within 4 blocks of each other, one great (“Greatest Story” at the Warner) and one lousy (“Hallelujah Trail” – I never liked that movie. Maybe it was better in Cinerama …) Whatever you or I may think of the movies, though … what a choice to have!
View link
The paper is the New York Journal-American, dated 8/11/65.
You can see many shots of this theatre as the Cinerama in the documentary “Cinerama Adventure”. They had no real shots of the Broadway Theatre from opening night of “This is Cinerama”. Most of the NYC shots were of this theatre. The documentary is available from Warner Home Video on the New Remastered DVD of “How the West Was Won”. On Blu-ray the disc features two leterbox versions of the movie one regular for a 2.89:1 aspect ratio and whats called a SmileBox version which features a more of a widescreen presentation on widescreen TV sets.
And you can see the Capital’s vertical sign on the far right side of the picture too.
White Heat and Xavier Cugat
View link
When the Strand became the Cinerama and its piggybacked Penthouse upstairs, it was quite nice. The roadshow “Finian’s Rainbow” was, I think, upstairs and another roadshow, maybe “Ice Station Zebra,” on the ground level. That was late 1968. By the time I saw “Black Caesar” there in 1973, I was disheartened by the fact the theater was deteriorating so quickly. And around the corner, the much smaller Cine Orleans, where I had seen “The Killing of Sister George,” was gone.
There was a New Strand at 78 East Broadway in 1924.
The caption for this photo said “Strand Theater Broadway 1910s”. Going by that, it could be the Strand, but I can’t confirm it:
http://tinyurl.com/6sxakx
When the Strand was being demolished, I walked around the lobby and balcony area. For some reason, the construction workers didn’t stop me!
While the majority of the area was totally modernized, there was one strange exception. The ladies lounge on the balcony level was completely original; very ornate, with mirrors and fancy light fixtures. It appeared to have been walled up or covered over in the 1960’s. One of the workers told me that the contents had been sold to an antique dealer and the room would be stripped before demolition.