Look at the bottom right and you’ll see “Deep Throat” and “Devil in Miss Jones” advertised at the Avon 7 just a few doors down from the Frisco. It would seem unlikely that the Avon would run the these two titles concurrently with a theater only a few doors down – or if so, that both theaters wouldn’t be mentioned in the advertisement. That puts a gaping hole in my description above of a continuous run for this double bill at the Frisco through the early 80’s. Did the Frisco feature other films during this hiatus or was it temporarily shut-down for some reason?
If anyone has any thing to share on this one, it’d be appreciated!
Here’s a photo from the flickr.com website that’s a little soft and blurry but depicts the east side of 8th Avenue looking north from just below 45th Street. You can see the marquees for both the Venus and Eros Theaters (from right to left) between 45th and 46th Streets. There is a third marquee to the left of the Eros with a parking lot separating them… I think it’s the Capri. When you click on the “back to flickr photo page” link in the upper left corner, you’ll see the caption indicates “42nd st Venus and Strand theaters”… but I think that’s a misidentification. I can’t remember what that might have been except for the Capri.
Anyway, I think the account holder “woody1969” has posted here on CT before as “woody”. Maybe he can offer some clarification as to dates and anything else he knows about these theaters. If you scroll through the photo stream, he has a number of photos from the area including the Adonis and Richard Basciano’s Show Palace on Eighth and 43rd as well as the 42nd Street grind houses. Lot’s of fun.
One of my earliest movie memories, RobertR. I can’t say for sure whether I caught this on its initial release, but certainly by X-Mas of 1969 or ‘70. And probably at the Fair in Queens (or some nearby theater if it wasn’t playing there when I caught it).
Yes, William. I remember that re-issue in ‘82. I saw it – I think – at the RKO Twin in either Rockville Centre or Lawrence. Right after that, “Dial M for Murder” was also re-released in 3-D (March of '82). This was part of the 3D revival that brought us stereoscopic gems such as “Coming At Ya!”, “Treasure of the Four Crowns” and just about every cheesy sequel at the time with the number “3” in the title.
I hasten to add, that there was some definite dirty going on in some of the straight theaters in the area… If one would classify any of the grinds on 42nd Street as “straight” theaters! I just mean non-porn houses. Some of those rest rooms and balconies were as rife with carnal activity as a room at one of the many short-stay flop houses in the area!
I think a lot of the “dirty” was going on in the porn theaters and those musty old 2nd-floor taxi-dance ballrooms that managed to survive into the ‘70’s and '80’s. When I used to get off the Subway at Seventh Ave and 53rd Street, walking down into Times Square was always a matter of dodging street-hawkers trying to lure you inside the various adult establishments that lined the strip. Never mind that my pals and I were like 15 or 16 years old!
What is the “new third dimensional film process you’ve been reading about”? Did they just run the copy that accompanied the film’s original release some 18 years earlier? Or was there some kind of enhancement to the 3-D exhibition employed for this re-release?
If you look closely at the reflections in this cafeteria window on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets, you’ll see the titles of the films playing at the Loew’s State Twin across the street. The image dates from October, 1970, and it seems that when Lee Marvin in “Monte Walsh” moved into the State 2, “Lovers and Other Strangers” (which had been playing in #2 since 8/12/70 according to Ron3853’s July 21st, 2004, post) moved downstairs to accommodate it.
Here’s an image peeking under the advertising into the outer vestibule of the New Amsterdam, circa October, 1970. Here’s another shot from the same image stream showing more or less the same. The movie advertised is Broadway Joe Namath’s “CC and Company”.
This flickr account’s photostream is worth a scroll-through as there are a number of similar photos taken on 42nd Street and the Times Square area (Times Squarea?) from this same time. Thanks, Lost Memory, for pointing this one out to me.
A few days ago, I asked about the old Metropole Cafe that was in the vicinity of this theater (and all the other addresses and C of O’s we were trying to sort out)…
Here’s a shot of some street musicians playing for change next to the old Metropole sign. One of the images in this series shows the Orange Julius and Doll Theater marquee that was on the southeast corner of 48th Street and Seventh Avenue. That places the Metropole on the east side of Seventh Ave (odd address number) between 48th and 49th Streets.
Here’s another shot from flickr.com that looks down the north side of the block from the 7th Avenue side, circa October 1970. The Harem isn’t really featured here, but if you look way down between the Modell’s and the Flame Steaks signage, you’ll see the bright Harem marquee with its black border at a time when it must have been the newest kid on the block.
Lost Memory pointed out this flickr account to me and it’s well worth scrolling through (click on images to the right of this shot) if you’re interested in other images of the Duece and Times Square in general from that time.
Lost Memory pointed me in the direction of a flickr.com account that has a great many B&W images of the area, circa October, 1970.
Here’s a shot of some street corner musicians plying their trade outside the Metropole Cafe on Seventh Ave near 48th Street. You can make out a portion of the Doll marquee across the street (adjacent to the Orange Julius joint). Click on the previous couple of photos in the stream to get a few views looking in the other direction up Seventh towards the Metropole sign.
Thanks for that info, REndres. I didn’t realize that the owners had envisioned a porn triplex and strip club at the time! That would explain much, and you’re suspicions as to the nature of the backstage facilities are probably correct. And still the theater sits vacant awaiting a lessee. I wonder if the owner is still willing to talk long-term lease, as the rental agent indicated to me a year ago. I would think this corner lot would have been gobbled up and demolished for some high rise. The entire block front on Seventh Ave from 47th to 48th would seem to me to be almost irresistible to developers. You’d think the owner would be salivating at the chance to sell and talking 1 or 2 year leases, tops! As long as he holds out, I suppose, hope still exists that this theater might once again see some viability.
I tried to get tickets to “Jeopardy” but they were “unable to fill my request” due to overwhelming demand. I was last at the Hall for the 2001 Tony’s and the place looked magnificent. I’d love the chance to see a good 70mm film festival at the Hall, but I wonder if the schedule is too cramped – and probable financial return too light – for such an event to be worked into the year.
Thanks for that one, RobertR… particularly for the supporting feature. I’m a big fan of Hammer films and their Dracula series. This was the last of the original cycle of Christopher Lee films in that series which were all direct sequels to the 1958 “Horror of Dracula”. Later that year, Lee was in the standalone “Scars of Dracula” which appeared in American theaters on a double bill with a sort of black-comedy bit of revisionism entitled “Horror of Frankenstien”… any ads in your stash for that twin bill?
Also looking for ads for Lee’s last time in the cape, “Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride” which was released in late 1978 and was the film for which I was lured into the honky-tonk underworld of the Times Square and 42nd Street grind houses for the very first time.
Here’s a link to a website that features a detail photo of the “art work” that decorated the facade of the Harem just above the marquee. It isn’t exactly a Diego Rivera mural, but at least the management attempted some sense of atmosphere.
A down and dirty ad from the good ole NY Post: March 10, 1982
The bottom of the Harem ad hawks X-rated videos for sale – “3 for $100”. A pretty decent bargain back in the days when individual titles (X or otherwise) would retail for about $99 a pop.
That last shot is just for reference, as it is a number of doors down from the Harem, but includes buidlings that were incorporated into the building lot of which the former Harem was a part.
Try this local.live view of the Pantheon’s site. When the link opens, you will see what I presume to be the shell of the former theater in the tan colored building with the rounded corner and geometric patterns of dark colored bricks on its facade.
Here’s an alternate view to the West that really conveys the orientation of the former theater. It looks like the auditorium ran straight back from the corner of the building where W. Burnside Ave intersects with Harrison Ave at a 45 degree angle from either road. You can follow the roofline from what must have been the screen wall at the rear corner as it angles up and fans out to accommodate the array of stadium seating.
It appears as though there is still a marquee on the western most end of the W. Burnside facade. If this marks the original entrance, then one entered a lobby that sat to the left and towards the rear of the auditorium. It might be worthwhile to take a trip to the site and see if the marquee itself is the original one dressed up for its current use.
Jodar… that’s funny. I always thought that “Part II” was the dog of this set and that “Part III” was a nice return to form. I think the western twist on the formula proved a welcome breath of fresh air. “Part II” was just too cluttered and frenetic to be as enjoyable as either of the other entries. IMHO, of course.
Bill… I did not make it to “Jaws” this weekend. Just one of those things. However, your appraisal of the print has me pondering the Thursday evening show.
Here’s a clipping that RobertR posted over on the Gaiety Burlesk page:
Deep Throat & Devil – 1975
Look at the bottom right and you’ll see “Deep Throat” and “Devil in Miss Jones” advertised at the Avon 7 just a few doors down from the Frisco. It would seem unlikely that the Avon would run the these two titles concurrently with a theater only a few doors down – or if so, that both theaters wouldn’t be mentioned in the advertisement. That puts a gaping hole in my description above of a continuous run for this double bill at the Frisco through the early 80’s. Did the Frisco feature other films during this hiatus or was it temporarily shut-down for some reason?
If anyone has any thing to share on this one, it’d be appreciated!
Here’s a photo from the flickr.com website that’s a little soft and blurry but depicts the east side of 8th Avenue looking north from just below 45th Street. You can see the marquees for both the Venus and Eros Theaters (from right to left) between 45th and 46th Streets. There is a third marquee to the left of the Eros with a parking lot separating them… I think it’s the Capri. When you click on the “back to flickr photo page” link in the upper left corner, you’ll see the caption indicates “42nd st Venus and Strand theaters”… but I think that’s a misidentification. I can’t remember what that might have been except for the Capri.
Anyway, I think the account holder “woody1969” has posted here on CT before as “woody”. Maybe he can offer some clarification as to dates and anything else he knows about these theaters. If you scroll through the photo stream, he has a number of photos from the area including the Adonis and Richard Basciano’s Show Palace on Eighth and 43rd as well as the 42nd Street grind houses. Lot’s of fun.
One of my earliest movie memories, RobertR. I can’t say for sure whether I caught this on its initial release, but certainly by X-Mas of 1969 or ‘70. And probably at the Fair in Queens (or some nearby theater if it wasn’t playing there when I caught it).
Yes, William. I remember that re-issue in ‘82. I saw it – I think – at the RKO Twin in either Rockville Centre or Lawrence. Right after that, “Dial M for Murder” was also re-released in 3-D (March of '82). This was part of the 3D revival that brought us stereoscopic gems such as “Coming At Ya!”, “Treasure of the Four Crowns” and just about every cheesy sequel at the time with the number “3” in the title.
This photo was posted above somewhere, but seems fitting to accompany RobertR’s posting of the advertisement for the film on the marquee.
I hasten to add, that there was some definite dirty going on in some of the straight theaters in the area… If one would classify any of the grinds on 42nd Street as “straight” theaters! I just mean non-porn houses. Some of those rest rooms and balconies were as rife with carnal activity as a room at one of the many short-stay flop houses in the area!
I think a lot of the “dirty” was going on in the porn theaters and those musty old 2nd-floor taxi-dance ballrooms that managed to survive into the ‘70’s and '80’s. When I used to get off the Subway at Seventh Ave and 53rd Street, walking down into Times Square was always a matter of dodging street-hawkers trying to lure you inside the various adult establishments that lined the strip. Never mind that my pals and I were like 15 or 16 years old!
What is the “new third dimensional film process you’ve been reading about”? Did they just run the copy that accompanied the film’s original release some 18 years earlier? Or was there some kind of enhancement to the 3-D exhibition employed for this re-release?
That night view that Lost posted on Aug 20th is quite spectacular as well. What a remarkably well preserved neon-lit marquee and display!
If you look closely at the reflections in this cafeteria window on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets, you’ll see the titles of the films playing at the Loew’s State Twin across the street. The image dates from October, 1970, and it seems that when Lee Marvin in “Monte Walsh” moved into the State 2, “Lovers and Other Strangers” (which had been playing in #2 since 8/12/70 according to Ron3853’s July 21st, 2004, post) moved downstairs to accommodate it.
Here’s an image peeking under the advertising into the outer vestibule of the New Amsterdam, circa October, 1970. Here’s another shot from the same image stream showing more or less the same. The movie advertised is Broadway Joe Namath’s “CC and Company”.
Here’s a great B&W night-time shot of the Selwyn marquee and its neighbors to the west along the north side of the Duece, circa October, 1970.
For good measure, here’s one more.
This flickr account’s photostream is worth a scroll-through as there are a number of similar photos taken on 42nd Street and the Times Square area (Times Squarea?) from this same time. Thanks, Lost Memory, for pointing this one out to me.
The marquee of the Embassy can be glimpsed across the street and under the big Buitoni sign in this October, 1970, shot from flickr.com.
By the way… is the Metropole the go-go where Felix Unger goes to drown his sorrows at the very beginning of the film “The Odd Couple”?
A few days ago, I asked about the old Metropole Cafe that was in the vicinity of this theater (and all the other addresses and C of O’s we were trying to sort out)…
Here’s a shot of some street musicians playing for change next to the old Metropole sign. One of the images in this series shows the Orange Julius and Doll Theater marquee that was on the southeast corner of 48th Street and Seventh Avenue. That places the Metropole on the east side of Seventh Ave (odd address number) between 48th and 49th Streets.
You know I’m in your camp on that point, Al…
Here’s another shot from flickr.com that looks down the north side of the block from the 7th Avenue side, circa October 1970. The Harem isn’t really featured here, but if you look way down between the Modell’s and the Flame Steaks signage, you’ll see the bright Harem marquee with its black border at a time when it must have been the newest kid on the block.
Lost Memory pointed out this flickr account to me and it’s well worth scrolling through (click on images to the right of this shot) if you’re interested in other images of the Duece and Times Square in general from that time.
Lost Memory pointed me in the direction of a flickr.com account that has a great many B&W images of the area, circa October, 1970.
Here’s a shot of some street corner musicians plying their trade outside the Metropole Cafe on Seventh Ave near 48th Street. You can make out a portion of the Doll marquee across the street (adjacent to the Orange Julius joint). Click on the previous couple of photos in the stream to get a few views looking in the other direction up Seventh towards the Metropole sign.
I love this stuff.
Thanks for that info, REndres. I didn’t realize that the owners had envisioned a porn triplex and strip club at the time! That would explain much, and you’re suspicions as to the nature of the backstage facilities are probably correct. And still the theater sits vacant awaiting a lessee. I wonder if the owner is still willing to talk long-term lease, as the rental agent indicated to me a year ago. I would think this corner lot would have been gobbled up and demolished for some high rise. The entire block front on Seventh Ave from 47th to 48th would seem to me to be almost irresistible to developers. You’d think the owner would be salivating at the chance to sell and talking 1 or 2 year leases, tops! As long as he holds out, I suppose, hope still exists that this theater might once again see some viability.
I tried to get tickets to “Jeopardy” but they were “unable to fill my request” due to overwhelming demand. I was last at the Hall for the 2001 Tony’s and the place looked magnificent. I’d love the chance to see a good 70mm film festival at the Hall, but I wonder if the schedule is too cramped – and probable financial return too light – for such an event to be worked into the year.
Thanks for that one, RobertR… particularly for the supporting feature. I’m a big fan of Hammer films and their Dracula series. This was the last of the original cycle of Christopher Lee films in that series which were all direct sequels to the 1958 “Horror of Dracula”. Later that year, Lee was in the standalone “Scars of Dracula” which appeared in American theaters on a double bill with a sort of black-comedy bit of revisionism entitled “Horror of Frankenstien”… any ads in your stash for that twin bill?
Also looking for ads for Lee’s last time in the cape, “Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride” which was released in late 1978 and was the film for which I was lured into the honky-tonk underworld of the Times Square and 42nd Street grind houses for the very first time.
Here’s a link to a website that features a detail photo of the “art work” that decorated the facade of the Harem just above the marquee. It isn’t exactly a Diego Rivera mural, but at least the management attempted some sense of atmosphere.
Yes. I’m barely stifling a chuckle.
A down and dirty ad from the good ole NY Post:
March 10, 1982
The bottom of the Harem ad hawks X-rated videos for sale – “3 for $100”. A pretty decent bargain back in the days when individual titles (X or otherwise) would retail for about $99 a pop.
Here are some images of the Harem and its enviorons in the late ‘80’s and early '90’s:
1988 shot by Matt Weber
Another Matt Weber, circa 1996
Police baracades circa 1997
Slated for demolition circa 1997
Western end of the block (at 8th Ave) circa 1997
That last shot is just for reference, as it is a number of doors down from the Harem, but includes buidlings that were incorporated into the building lot of which the former Harem was a part.
Try this local.live view of the Pantheon’s site. When the link opens, you will see what I presume to be the shell of the former theater in the tan colored building with the rounded corner and geometric patterns of dark colored bricks on its facade.
Here’s an alternate view to the West that really conveys the orientation of the former theater. It looks like the auditorium ran straight back from the corner of the building where W. Burnside Ave intersects with Harrison Ave at a 45 degree angle from either road. You can follow the roofline from what must have been the screen wall at the rear corner as it angles up and fans out to accommodate the array of stadium seating.
It appears as though there is still a marquee on the western most end of the W. Burnside facade. If this marks the original entrance, then one entered a lobby that sat to the left and towards the rear of the auditorium. It might be worthwhile to take a trip to the site and see if the marquee itself is the original one dressed up for its current use.
Jodar… that’s funny. I always thought that “Part II” was the dog of this set and that “Part III” was a nice return to form. I think the western twist on the formula proved a welcome breath of fresh air. “Part II” was just too cluttered and frenetic to be as enjoyable as either of the other entries. IMHO, of course.
Bill… I did not make it to “Jaws” this weekend. Just one of those things. However, your appraisal of the print has me pondering the Thursday evening show.