Perhaps Denny Laine and Pete Best will be telling horror stories of their dealings with Paul McCartney! LOL. Thanks for the info on the Chiller conventions, Bill. I didn’t realize that. And I forgot all about “The Haunting!”
I don’t think Russ and George were at the Chiller Theater convention due to their work in WSS!!! LOL. I know Tamblyn had appared in the 1960’s Japanese giant monster epic “War of the Gargantuas” as well as in Al Adamson’s ultira-low budget Drive-In movie “Dracula vs. Frankenstien” in the early 1970’s. I am not familiar, however, with Chakiris' association with the genre. Anyway… I guess all those acrobatics and his seemingly perennial boyish demeanor has kept Tamblyn looking so hale and hearty.
I don’t see a listing for a drive-in theater in Rocky Mount, but I did find this haunting image of some long gone and derilect drive-in screen and speaker stand overtaken by weeds and the ravages of time. Anyone know what this might have been?
Here’s a B&W photo of the old Thalia marquee & entrance with a nice Eric Rohmer double feature advertised. The photo is mislabled as West 94th rather than West 95th Street. Lots of good B&W photography on this site including theater related shots I’ve been posting around CT.
Here’s another shot from the same site but taken in 1994 when that “poetry project” was still adorning the marquees of the Duece’s vacant grind houses. That block was like a ghost-town during that time, except for the Grand Luncheonette still operating and the old Harris still showing double features. All it was missing were some tumbleweeds rolling around the place – and some Ennio Morricone music!
This page has a nice shot of the by-then long-closed Liberty and Empire Theaters in 1996, with their vacant marquees all lit up during a snow storm. You can see the “Pandora Theater” sheilds on the doors to the Empire as well as the faux lower facade elements that were left over set dressings for the location shoot of “The Last Action Hero” in ‘92.
When this photo was taken, the New Victory Theater had already been re-opened as a children’s theater the year before and Disney’s restoration of the New Amsterdam was well underway. Nineteen Ninety-Six would also see the last porno establishments on the block permanently closed to make way for redevelopment, including the entire stretch of storefronts across the street from Eighth Avenue to the Selwyn Theater building which housed a number of peep-shows, adult book shops and the XXX Harem Theater.
You can just make out the glow from the lit-up marquee of the Movieplex 42 at the right edge of the photo – which would also finish out its short life before the year was out.
This page has a nice shot of the by-then long-closed Liberty and Empire Theaters in 1996, with their vacant marquees all lit up during a snow storm. By this time, the beautifully restored New Victory Theater had already re-opened as a children’s theater and restoration work was well underway at the New Amsterdam. Across the street, the row of storefronts to the west of the Selwyn Theater & Building were being cleared for demolition in the summer and 1996 would also see the last remaining adult establishments on the block closed and evicted to make way for redevelopment.
This page features an image of the former Toffenetti’s building during a snow storm in 1996, after Nathan’s and the New York/Big Apple had been shuttered. The entrance to the theater would have been towards the right edge of the building in the storefront that appears to be open to the elements.
The six boarded up doors under the Nathan’s signage were set catty-corner to the intersection, at a 45 degree angle to both Broadway and 43rd Street. Keep that in mind when comparing the shot to this 1950 image that Warren had posted back on April 2, 2006.
So… does the print of WSS currently playing at the Ziegfeld feature a quality stereo or surround soundtrack? I didn’t percieve any stereo at all when the film played in February.
Man, would I love another WB festival at the Hall! Every once in a while, it would be nice for the Hall to remind everyone that the theater was built as a stage and MOVIE showplace. Not to mention how it could put to shame the automated megaplex exhibition that now passes for “presentation” in today’s cinema.
Rob… Where is it that you currently practice your art? Are these press or industry screenings? If so, sounds like they get a better show then the paying public!!!
On this page you will find a photo of one of the chandeliers that adorned some part of the old Harris Theater. Apparently, this salvage company sold the chandelier to one of their customers who hung it over the main staircase in their home. The Griffin-motif mantleplace seen on both of those pages is also from the Harris. This same company also salvaged elements of the facade from Rosario Candela’s 1935 Rialto Theater on the corner of Broadway and 42nd.
This page has an interesting little blurb and small photo regarding the restoration of the Liberty’s 42nd Street facade (now obscured under a myriad of signs as per the photos I posted above on May 5, 2006). It seems that much of the facade (I’m guessing the upper portions particularly) had to be completely reconstructed in reinforced fiberglass.
There’s a small photo on this page of the Pussycat signage during daylight hours. This is the artkraft-kraus site and there are a number of images (albeit small ones) of the signage in Times Square over the years.
Mike… I just checked the Warner’s Theater page and there seems to be a “Manhattan” aka for that house. I don’t see one for the Hellinger/Hollywood. I also found this CT listing for the Stanley Theater on Seventh Ave.
I think the author of that article ought to be contacted by one of the interviewees for the piece and asked to write a follow up to call attention to the what’s going on.
While I’m harking back to old posts, RobertR posted this newspaper clipping back in May and I was wondering if anyone could identify the Manhattan Theater at 51st and B'way where “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is playing and the Stanley on 7th Ave near 42nd Street where the seemingly racist wartime propaganda film “Ravaged Earth” is playing. Would these be AKA’s for the old Warner and Rialto Theaters, respectively?
This link features an early Diane Arbus photo entitled “42nd Street movie theater audience, NYC, 1958” which is part of a travelling Arbus exhibition (“Revelations” is the name of the exhibit and the accompanying book). If you click on the photo, you’ll get a larger image.
I first came across this image on another website, but it was very small and not expandable so I thought it might have been taken in the Liberty Theater. But then I found this larger image and a look at the ceiling ornamentation left no doubt in my mind that it is a shot of the old Empire’s 2nd balcony and projection booth. If Robert Endres checks into this page, maybe he can confirm that – harking back to his post of January 18th, 2006, about a relief gig he once pulled here. Notice how the projection booth was built out over a good portion of the shallow and steep upper balcony — there are seats up around the sides of the booth. I wonder if that was common in some of the taller and shallower playhouses that were converted to cinemas. The Liberty was very similar.
In any event, it is a great shot. And right from Jerry Kovar’s favorite period on the Duece!
Stucco on the facade of the Elmwood? That is really disappointing. I had such high hopes when the folks at the Rock Community Church started to take on what looked like it would be a loving restoration. I understand funds are limited for the church, but to just sack the handsome terra cotta work that has graced the facade for 78 years and replace it with cheap stucco is a disgrace. Of course, that sabotages any thoughts on having the building landmarked.
CT member Woody has a number of old and recent photos on his flickr account, and I’ve been plastering links to many of those images all over this site!
Here is a recent image of the Playpen’s exterior and here is a 1992 shot from its days as the Adonis. What’s more, Woody actually ventured inside the Playpen to snap this fleeing interior shot, capturing an ornamental detail on the former auditorium wall.
You may enlarge the photos by clicking on the “all sizes” icon just above the top left corner of each image.
Nothing has been mentioned on this page yet about Mrs. Chelly Wilson, the Greek-born exploitation film producer, distributor and exhibtitor who was a seminal figure (no pun intended) in the New York porn cinema scene. The Tivoli and the Cameo (former Squire) on Eighth Avenue were her earliest ventures as an exhibitor. I found a NY Times article that identifies Mrs. Wilson as the operator for both theaters as early as January of 1968 – and her association with the Cameo goes back possibly as early as 1964 when proto-porn flicks like the Olga series made their debut under her stewardship. Her empire on Eighth Avenue would expand by 1970 to include the Capri and the Eros I and Eros II theaters (the latter to become known as the Venus) all clustered on the block between 45th and 46th Streets.
Perhaps Denny Laine and Pete Best will be telling horror stories of their dealings with Paul McCartney! LOL. Thanks for the info on the Chiller conventions, Bill. I didn’t realize that. And I forgot all about “The Haunting!”
I don’t think Russ and George were at the Chiller Theater convention due to their work in WSS!!! LOL. I know Tamblyn had appared in the 1960’s Japanese giant monster epic “War of the Gargantuas” as well as in Al Adamson’s ultira-low budget Drive-In movie “Dracula vs. Frankenstien” in the early 1970’s. I am not familiar, however, with Chakiris' association with the genre. Anyway… I guess all those acrobatics and his seemingly perennial boyish demeanor has kept Tamblyn looking so hale and hearty.
I don’t see a listing for a drive-in theater in Rocky Mount, but I did find this haunting image of some long gone and derilect drive-in screen and speaker stand overtaken by weeds and the ravages of time. Anyone know what this might have been?
Here’s a B&W photo of the old Thalia marquee & entrance with a nice Eric Rohmer double feature advertised. The photo is mislabled as West 94th rather than West 95th Street. Lots of good B&W photography on this site including theater related shots I’ve been posting around CT.
Here’s another shot from the same site but taken in 1994 when that “poetry project” was still adorning the marquees of the Duece’s vacant grind houses. That block was like a ghost-town during that time, except for the Grand Luncheonette still operating and the old Harris still showing double features. All it was missing were some tumbleweeds rolling around the place – and some Ennio Morricone music!
Here’s a 1973 photo showing the venue still in use for concerts as the Village East two years after Bill Graham pulled up stakes.
This page has a nice shot of the by-then long-closed Liberty and Empire Theaters in 1996, with their vacant marquees all lit up during a snow storm. You can see the “Pandora Theater” sheilds on the doors to the Empire as well as the faux lower facade elements that were left over set dressings for the location shoot of “The Last Action Hero” in ‘92.
When this photo was taken, the New Victory Theater had already been re-opened as a children’s theater the year before and Disney’s restoration of the New Amsterdam was well underway. Nineteen Ninety-Six would also see the last porno establishments on the block permanently closed to make way for redevelopment, including the entire stretch of storefronts across the street from Eighth Avenue to the Selwyn Theater building which housed a number of peep-shows, adult book shops and the XXX Harem Theater.
You can just make out the glow from the lit-up marquee of the Movieplex 42 at the right edge of the photo – which would also finish out its short life before the year was out.
This page has a nice shot of the by-then long-closed Liberty and Empire Theaters in 1996, with their vacant marquees all lit up during a snow storm. By this time, the beautifully restored New Victory Theater had already re-opened as a children’s theater and restoration work was well underway at the New Amsterdam. Across the street, the row of storefronts to the west of the Selwyn Theater & Building were being cleared for demolition in the summer and 1996 would also see the last remaining adult establishments on the block closed and evicted to make way for redevelopment.
This page features an image of the former Toffenetti’s building during a snow storm in 1996, after Nathan’s and the New York/Big Apple had been shuttered. The entrance to the theater would have been towards the right edge of the building in the storefront that appears to be open to the elements.
The six boarded up doors under the Nathan’s signage were set catty-corner to the intersection, at a 45 degree angle to both Broadway and 43rd Street. Keep that in mind when comparing the shot to this 1950 image that Warren had posted back on April 2, 2006.
So… does the print of WSS currently playing at the Ziegfeld feature a quality stereo or surround soundtrack? I didn’t percieve any stereo at all when the film played in February.
Thanks, Bob. It sure sounds like it!
Man, would I love another WB festival at the Hall! Every once in a while, it would be nice for the Hall to remind everyone that the theater was built as a stage and MOVIE showplace. Not to mention how it could put to shame the automated megaplex exhibition that now passes for “presentation” in today’s cinema.
Rob… Where is it that you currently practice your art? Are these press or industry screenings? If so, sounds like they get a better show then the paying public!!!
I was thinking the same thing, longislandmovies.
On this page you will find a photo of one of the chandeliers that adorned some part of the old Harris Theater. Apparently, this salvage company sold the chandelier to one of their customers who hung it over the main staircase in their home. The Griffin-motif mantleplace seen on both of those pages is also from the Harris. This same company also salvaged elements of the facade from Rosario Candela’s 1935 Rialto Theater on the corner of Broadway and 42nd.
This page has an interesting little blurb and small photo regarding the restoration of the Liberty’s 42nd Street facade (now obscured under a myriad of signs as per the photos I posted above on May 5, 2006). It seems that much of the facade (I’m guessing the upper portions particularly) had to be completely reconstructed in reinforced fiberglass.
There’s a small photo on this page of the Pussycat signage during daylight hours. This is the artkraft-kraus site and there are a number of images (albeit small ones) of the signage in Times Square over the years.
Are you sure that’s “Airdrome” and not “Airdome”??? Ha! Just joking….
Mike… I just checked the Warner’s Theater page and there seems to be a “Manhattan” aka for that house. I don’t see one for the Hellinger/Hollywood. I also found this CT listing for the Stanley Theater on Seventh Ave.
I think the author of that article ought to be contacted by one of the interviewees for the piece and asked to write a follow up to call attention to the what’s going on.
While I’m harking back to old posts, RobertR posted this newspaper clipping back in May and I was wondering if anyone could identify the Manhattan Theater at 51st and B'way where “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is playing and the Stanley on 7th Ave near 42nd Street where the seemingly racist wartime propaganda film “Ravaged Earth” is playing. Would these be AKA’s for the old Warner and Rialto Theaters, respectively?
This link features an early Diane Arbus photo entitled “42nd Street movie theater audience, NYC, 1958” which is part of a travelling Arbus exhibition (“Revelations” is the name of the exhibit and the accompanying book). If you click on the photo, you’ll get a larger image.
I first came across this image on another website, but it was very small and not expandable so I thought it might have been taken in the Liberty Theater. But then I found this larger image and a look at the ceiling ornamentation left no doubt in my mind that it is a shot of the old Empire’s 2nd balcony and projection booth. If Robert Endres checks into this page, maybe he can confirm that – harking back to his post of January 18th, 2006, about a relief gig he once pulled here. Notice how the projection booth was built out over a good portion of the shallow and steep upper balcony — there are seats up around the sides of the booth. I wonder if that was common in some of the taller and shallower playhouses that were converted to cinemas. The Liberty was very similar.
In any event, it is a great shot. And right from Jerry Kovar’s favorite period on the Duece!
Stucco on the facade of the Elmwood? That is really disappointing. I had such high hopes when the folks at the Rock Community Church started to take on what looked like it would be a loving restoration. I understand funds are limited for the church, but to just sack the handsome terra cotta work that has graced the facade for 78 years and replace it with cheap stucco is a disgrace. Of course, that sabotages any thoughts on having the building landmarked.
Actually, from the angle in the photo posted by Lost, it looks like a fast-food joint!
CT member Woody has a number of old and recent photos on his flickr account, and I’ve been plastering links to many of those images all over this site!
Here is a recent image of the Playpen’s exterior and here is a 1992 shot from its days as the Adonis. What’s more, Woody actually ventured inside the Playpen to snap this fleeing interior shot, capturing an ornamental detail on the former auditorium wall.
You may enlarge the photos by clicking on the “all sizes” icon just above the top left corner of each image.
Nothing has been mentioned on this page yet about Mrs. Chelly Wilson, the Greek-born exploitation film producer, distributor and exhibtitor who was a seminal figure (no pun intended) in the New York porn cinema scene. The Tivoli and the Cameo (former Squire) on Eighth Avenue were her earliest ventures as an exhibitor. I found a NY Times article that identifies Mrs. Wilson as the operator for both theaters as early as January of 1968 – and her association with the Cameo goes back possibly as early as 1964 when proto-porn flicks like the Olga series made their debut under her stewardship. Her empire on Eighth Avenue would expand by 1970 to include the Capri and the Eros I and Eros II theaters (the latter to become known as the Venus) all clustered on the block between 45th and 46th Streets.