I stand corrected. I just ran a set of mapquest directions from my house in Bayside, Queens and the trip clocks in at a fairly tidy 57 minutes. Thanks, Peter.
I don’t think I recall the “to be continued” at the end of the first “Back to the Future” film. It definitely appeared on the tail of “…Part II”. As I recollect, the ending of the 1st film had the frantic Doc Brown telling Marty and his girlfriend that their children are in grave danger in the future. He stuffs some garbage into the DeLorean’s fuel converter and hustles them into the car. The last line is “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” and then the car proceeds to take off and veer off towards the clouds and then – poof – presumably towards the future.
Those vague lines about their kids being in trouble, don’t necessarily hint at what would be the plot of the first sequel, which was released 4 years later. I’m not sure they knew for sure that there would be any sequels when the first film came out.
And still no word on the progress on the Ecko Unlimited store that has been in the works for this site since sometime in 2004! What on earth is going on here? It probably took less aggregate time to build all of the original theaters on the block from the ground up!
The 1982 movie clock posted above also lists a “49St. Playhouse Burlesk” that I cannot identify. I found in my research for this theater that the two buildings on this block closest to 49th Street (#734-38 and #740) are both owned by Farmore Realy, Inc., which had been previously known as Sweetheart Theatres, Inc. Now, Sweetheart Theatres was the company that ran both the Anco Theater on 42nd Street and the Big Apple Theater on Seventh Ave off 43rd in the 1980’s at a time when both were XXX. It is possible that the Frisco was one of their properties, occupying the 734-38 building and that the 49St. Playhouse was located in the corner property at 740 Seventh Ave, which has an aka address of 200 W. 49th Street.
As I mentioned in the theater description above, World 49 Street Theater Corp owned the building at 732 Seventh at some point. That building runs all the way back to a much wider frontage on Broadway and has an aka of 1604 Broadway. Lost Memory was able to find a number of C of O’s for the building that reference motion picture theater occupancy on various floors with various seating capacities. They range from the 1969 certificate for the 130-seat New Mini Cinema at 732 Seventh that may have evolved into the Frisco as well as multiple certificates from 1969 and into the 1970’s and ‘80’s for a 440 seat theater on the ground floor and a 200 seat theater on the 2nd floor both at the 1604 B'way address. We believe these C of O’s are for the Circus Cinema and Big Top Theaters that are listed at that address. C of O searches for 734-38 and 740 Seventh Ave reveal no approvals for theater or cabaret occupancy, despite the ownership by Sweetheart Theaters.
Here’s a tiny photo showing the Frisco marquee circa 1973. Note the marquee for the Avon 7 further down the block at #724 Seventh Ave. Empoying the very unscientific method of counting doorways between the Avon and the Frisco, it would seem that #732 would be a very good bet for the address of the Frisco.
Here are a pair of early 1980’s movie clocks listing the long-running twin bill of XXX classics at the Frisco: NY Post 12/11/80 NY Post 3/10/82
I’m not sure when the run finally ended or when the Frisco closed its doors, but I find no listings for the theater in editions of the NY Post or Daily News I have from 1985 and 1986.
Furthermore… the introduction above should be corrected. Edward F. Albee did not die in 1914. Nor was he born in 1867. It was Benjamin Franklin Keith, Mr. Albee’s partner, who died in 1914 (having been born 1846. Mr. Albee, born in 1857, survived until 1930, long enough to see the company he co-founded with Mr. Keith merge with Martin Beck’s Orpheum Circuit to form Keith-Albee-Orpheum which would quickly lead to partnership with RCA with the formation of RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) in 1928.
By the way, great photo from Lost Memory back on November 11, 2005, that seemed to escape comment from anyone. Lost comments that the shot is from the 1960’s, but the place is already shuttered with the marquee referring passersby to the RKO Kenmore and displaying a sign for the Albee Square Mall that would replace the building. We know the theater was open as late as 1974, thanks to RobertR’s posting of the ad for Pam Grier’s “Coffee” on July 4, 2005, so the photo must be from the mid-‘70’s. Does anyone know exactly when the theater closed and when it was demolished?
I found a small item in the NY Times' online archives dated October 1st, 1922, concerning the plans for this theater. As William posted back on June 13th, the theater was to be called the Orpheum, even though it was intended “as a memorial to the late B.F. Keith, founder of the Keith Vaudeville Circuit.” It seems that Keith Circiut President Edward F. Albee had announced that the plans for the new theater and ten-story office building were complete and that the project would cost some $3 million tp construct. Ironic that the theater would come to be named after Mr. Albee in the end, despite the planned Orpheum moniker and intention that the house would memorialize Mr. Keith!
Just to give some historical perspective on the subject of conservation, the article also mentions how difficult it was to assemble the site for the project. “There were sixteen old buildings on the plot, all of them Brooklyn landmarks.”
In a box somewhere in my closet rests truncated and silent single reel 8mm versions of “Tarantula” and “Incredible Shrinking Man” – both courtesy of Castle Films! Those movies – and many other Universal titles I had as a kid – were quite popular at the annual block parties we used to have every Summer when I lived in Laurelton, Queens. I know I’ve mentioned this elsewhere on this site, but some of my favorite memories involved our home-movie projector and screen being set up by my dad at the curb in front of our house (with several extension cords strung from the socket under the front stoop lamp to supply power). I think I had just about every film from the original Frankenstein series – right up to “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!”
Good times…
FYI… a big-screen remake of “Incredible Shrinking Man” is in the works for 2008. The director is Keenan Ivory Wayans, which surely means that this will be a comedy.
It only took a trip or two to the bathrooms of the Duece grinders to convince me that an alternative plan of attack was necessary when visiting the area to check out some movies. I cut back on my liquids completely. I never ever ate anything or purchased any drinks at the candy counters here. I’d hit the Nathan’s or McDonalds around on Times Square for a quick bite and drink either before or after the movies and made every attempt to empty my bladder before heading over to 42nd Street. If the urge came over me in the theater, you better believe I held that sucker in until I made my way out of the theater and off the block! From the smell of some of those theaters at the very end (for me about 1986 or ‘87), it seemed to me folks were just relieving themselves in their seats! That’s pretty much when I stopped going.
Absoultely positive about that. The address is verified in several different Times' articles and via a search of NYC Building Records. The Paree was somewhere on the 2nd floor of that office building in space that had previously been occupied by a pool hall. The pool hall dates back to the early 1960’s and was familiar to the police department for its own history of public misconduct (ranging from fights, vagrancy and solicitation). If I’m not mistaken, one of the articles also makes reference to the Woolworth’s on street level. Anyway, the Earl Carroll only occupied a tunnel lobby through the office building that fronted Seventh Ave with the theater in an adjacent building behind the structure (the facade of which was on 50th Street). So the Paree (and other space) could have easily been above a portion of the Woolworth’s store.
Al… that article is mistaken about the address of the San Francisco. It was reported correctly (or so I assume) in two other Times articles as 1541 Broadway – placing it just to the north of the old Astor entrance (which ibdb.com lists as 1537 Broadway). The entrance to the San Fran (as with the Ripley’s it replaced) was actually in the adjacent building through which the Gaiety/Victoria also had its Broadway entrance a few doors up the block.
It certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see scaffolding go up around this theater real soon to head off any attempts at landmarking. Does anyone remember the “repair work” that was started on the great old Rivoli Theater in the mid-80’s or the Sutton Theater just a few short and precious years ago?
Longislandmovies… Nope, never worked in the business at all. I’m just a theater enthusiast who has frequented this theater – as well as the Midway and Fantasy – both prior to and after their gut re-habs. I realized after I typed that up that the MIdway conversion didn’t occur until the late 1990’s (‘97 I think) so the Fantasy and Meadows conversions predate that by almost a decade.
Mike… I wonder if more twin conversions took this route than the alternative method of sectioning off the balcony as a separate theater to the orchestra level. My guess is that it would be cheaper to do than having to create a new ceiling to separate the two. Of course, once you perform the work using the latter method, you’re all set up to easily section off both the balcony AND the orchestra into additional, smaller theaters – as has been the case with many old theaters.
By March 10th, 1982 the Colony – still a single screen – seems to be listing a Spanish language film. Judging by showtimes, it appears this was a double bill as well.
I think you uncovered another false address on CT, Lost… Since the Colony was closer to 37th Avenue than it was to Roosevelt, I’d say that’s a very good bet. Leading to address confusion over in that area is the fact that the Avenues that cross 82nd Street skip some numbers in the sequence so that going south on 82nd from Northern Blvd you’d cross 34th Avenue and then 35th Avenue as you would expect, but then the next cross street jumps to 37th, then Roosevelt, then 41st Ave.
The address provided above probably places the building considerably closer to Roosevelt Ave (if not on the other side) than it actually is. Additionally, I have clippings from newspapers in the ‘80’s that confirm this theater was eventually twinned.
MikeRa… The twinning of the Meadows was a simple matter of erecting a wall more or less down the middle of the old auditorium and then chopping a few of the first rows off so that the new screens could be aligned properly for projection. I’m not sure on the details about the projection booth (whether it was split or if two new booths were created), but the result was two rather narrow theaters, each with their own balcony.
The conversion in ‘89 to a 7-plex was a complete gut job. The theater was gutted down to bare brick walls and a new multiplex was constructed within the shell. Only the former glass-walled ticket lobby remains pretty much as it was in the old days. There’s one theater at street level to your right as you walk past the ticket-taker, then 3 theater’s (including the big #4) on the lower level and 3 more on an upper level. The same type of conversion happened to the Fantasy Theater in Rockville Centre. I’ve seen folks on this forum refer to this sort of conversion as “The Midway Treatment” (after UA’s Midway Stadium 9 in Forest Hills), but I think it may have happened here and at the Fantasy before the Midway. Plus, the Midway’s 9 rooms all feature stadium seating – the Fresh Meadows and Fantasy Theaters do not.
Embassy 49th opened in the same location as the World Theater. And, yes, odd numbered addresses should be on the north side of the cross-streets in Manhattan. Hmmm. My memory may be faulty on which side of the street the World was on. I could have sworn it was on the south side of 49th. But then, that should be an even address number if so. The Ambassador Theater on the next block west, and which is definitely on the north side of 49th has an address of 219 West 49th. I think we need AlAlvarez to swoop in here and help sort out the addresses. I know that he has the addresses for a number of theaters (big and small) concentrated right in this area – which he posted at some point on the Rivoli page, I think.
I was going to suggest that, actually. The World was on the same square block but at its northern perimeter on the south side of 49th Street. You should be able to trace a C of O on that site all the way back to the Punch & Judy Theater, which first opened back in 1914. I think that only had about 300 seats, however. And the building was mid-block at 153-155 W. 49th. Perhaps the owners of the World created an additional theater space on the block?
Well… technically speaking, the Godzilla films were foreign! Har har. Given what was being featured on the rest of the strip during the ‘70’s, I imagine the Apollo eventually followed suit before having a go at theatrical presentations in the very late '70’s.
Yes. Probably a very rare occurrence where a G-rated film played The Duece in the ‘70’s! I wonder what else was on the bill… and what the MPAA rating was for the supporting feature(s).
I stand corrected. I just ran a set of mapquest directions from my house in Bayside, Queens and the trip clocks in at a fairly tidy 57 minutes. Thanks, Peter.
I don’t think I recall the “to be continued” at the end of the first “Back to the Future” film. It definitely appeared on the tail of “…Part II”. As I recollect, the ending of the 1st film had the frantic Doc Brown telling Marty and his girlfriend that their children are in grave danger in the future. He stuffs some garbage into the DeLorean’s fuel converter and hustles them into the car. The last line is “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” and then the car proceeds to take off and veer off towards the clouds and then – poof – presumably towards the future.
Those vague lines about their kids being in trouble, don’t necessarily hint at what would be the plot of the first sequel, which was released 4 years later. I’m not sure they knew for sure that there would be any sequels when the first film came out.
I think it’s about 2 hours by car, Mike.
Ha. Sex in Cunningham Park. Why am I reminded of the evening of Jamaica High School Senior Day in June of 1982???
And still no word on the progress on the Ecko Unlimited store that has been in the works for this site since sometime in 2004! What on earth is going on here? It probably took less aggregate time to build all of the original theaters on the block from the ground up!
Some more peripheral info…
The 1982 movie clock posted above also lists a “49St. Playhouse Burlesk” that I cannot identify. I found in my research for this theater that the two buildings on this block closest to 49th Street (#734-38 and #740) are both owned by Farmore Realy, Inc., which had been previously known as Sweetheart Theatres, Inc. Now, Sweetheart Theatres was the company that ran both the Anco Theater on 42nd Street and the Big Apple Theater on Seventh Ave off 43rd in the 1980’s at a time when both were XXX. It is possible that the Frisco was one of their properties, occupying the 734-38 building and that the 49St. Playhouse was located in the corner property at 740 Seventh Ave, which has an aka address of 200 W. 49th Street.
As I mentioned in the theater description above, World 49 Street Theater Corp owned the building at 732 Seventh at some point. That building runs all the way back to a much wider frontage on Broadway and has an aka of 1604 Broadway. Lost Memory was able to find a number of C of O’s for the building that reference motion picture theater occupancy on various floors with various seating capacities. They range from the 1969 certificate for the 130-seat New Mini Cinema at 732 Seventh that may have evolved into the Frisco as well as multiple certificates from 1969 and into the 1970’s and ‘80’s for a 440 seat theater on the ground floor and a 200 seat theater on the 2nd floor both at the 1604 B'way address. We believe these C of O’s are for the Circus Cinema and Big Top Theaters that are listed at that address. C of O searches for 734-38 and 740 Seventh Ave reveal no approvals for theater or cabaret occupancy, despite the ownership by Sweetheart Theaters.
Here’s a tiny photo showing the Frisco marquee circa 1973. Note the marquee for the Avon 7 further down the block at #724 Seventh Ave. Empoying the very unscientific method of counting doorways between the Avon and the Frisco, it would seem that #732 would be a very good bet for the address of the Frisco.
Here are a pair of early 1980’s movie clocks listing the long-running twin bill of XXX classics at the Frisco:
NY Post 12/11/80
NY Post 3/10/82
I’m not sure when the run finally ended or when the Frisco closed its doors, but I find no listings for the theater in editions of the NY Post or Daily News I have from 1985 and 1986.
Furthermore… the introduction above should be corrected. Edward F. Albee did not die in 1914. Nor was he born in 1867. It was Benjamin Franklin Keith, Mr. Albee’s partner, who died in 1914 (having been born 1846. Mr. Albee, born in 1857, survived until 1930, long enough to see the company he co-founded with Mr. Keith merge with Martin Beck’s Orpheum Circuit to form Keith-Albee-Orpheum which would quickly lead to partnership with RCA with the formation of RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) in 1928.
By the way, great photo from Lost Memory back on November 11, 2005, that seemed to escape comment from anyone. Lost comments that the shot is from the 1960’s, but the place is already shuttered with the marquee referring passersby to the RKO Kenmore and displaying a sign for the Albee Square Mall that would replace the building. We know the theater was open as late as 1974, thanks to RobertR’s posting of the ad for Pam Grier’s “Coffee” on July 4, 2005, so the photo must be from the mid-‘70’s. Does anyone know exactly when the theater closed and when it was demolished?
I found a small item in the NY Times' online archives dated October 1st, 1922, concerning the plans for this theater. As William posted back on June 13th, the theater was to be called the Orpheum, even though it was intended “as a memorial to the late B.F. Keith, founder of the Keith Vaudeville Circuit.” It seems that Keith Circiut President Edward F. Albee had announced that the plans for the new theater and ten-story office building were complete and that the project would cost some $3 million tp construct. Ironic that the theater would come to be named after Mr. Albee in the end, despite the planned Orpheum moniker and intention that the house would memorialize Mr. Keith!
Just to give some historical perspective on the subject of conservation, the article also mentions how difficult it was to assemble the site for the project. “There were sixteen old buildings on the plot, all of them Brooklyn landmarks.”
How was the print? And any news on “Jaws” print quality? I might catch it tomorrow afternoon.
In a box somewhere in my closet rests truncated and silent single reel 8mm versions of “Tarantula” and “Incredible Shrinking Man” – both courtesy of Castle Films! Those movies – and many other Universal titles I had as a kid – were quite popular at the annual block parties we used to have every Summer when I lived in Laurelton, Queens. I know I’ve mentioned this elsewhere on this site, but some of my favorite memories involved our home-movie projector and screen being set up by my dad at the curb in front of our house (with several extension cords strung from the socket under the front stoop lamp to supply power). I think I had just about every film from the original Frankenstein series – right up to “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!”
Good times…
FYI… a big-screen remake of “Incredible Shrinking Man” is in the works for 2008. The director is Keenan Ivory Wayans, which surely means that this will be a comedy.
It only took a trip or two to the bathrooms of the Duece grinders to convince me that an alternative plan of attack was necessary when visiting the area to check out some movies. I cut back on my liquids completely. I never ever ate anything or purchased any drinks at the candy counters here. I’d hit the Nathan’s or McDonalds around on Times Square for a quick bite and drink either before or after the movies and made every attempt to empty my bladder before heading over to 42nd Street. If the urge came over me in the theater, you better believe I held that sucker in until I made my way out of the theater and off the block! From the smell of some of those theaters at the very end (for me about 1986 or ‘87), it seemed to me folks were just relieving themselves in their seats! That’s pretty much when I stopped going.
Absoultely positive about that. The address is verified in several different Times' articles and via a search of NYC Building Records. The Paree was somewhere on the 2nd floor of that office building in space that had previously been occupied by a pool hall. The pool hall dates back to the early 1960’s and was familiar to the police department for its own history of public misconduct (ranging from fights, vagrancy and solicitation). If I’m not mistaken, one of the articles also makes reference to the Woolworth’s on street level. Anyway, the Earl Carroll only occupied a tunnel lobby through the office building that fronted Seventh Ave with the theater in an adjacent building behind the structure (the facade of which was on 50th Street). So the Paree (and other space) could have easily been above a portion of the Woolworth’s store.
Al… that article is mistaken about the address of the San Francisco. It was reported correctly (or so I assume) in two other Times articles as 1541 Broadway – placing it just to the north of the old Astor entrance (which ibdb.com lists as 1537 Broadway). The entrance to the San Fran (as with the Ripley’s it replaced) was actually in the adjacent building through which the Gaiety/Victoria also had its Broadway entrance a few doors up the block.
It certainly wouldn’t surprise me to see scaffolding go up around this theater real soon to head off any attempts at landmarking. Does anyone remember the “repair work” that was started on the great old Rivoli Theater in the mid-80’s or the Sutton Theater just a few short and precious years ago?
Longislandmovies… Nope, never worked in the business at all. I’m just a theater enthusiast who has frequented this theater – as well as the Midway and Fantasy – both prior to and after their gut re-habs. I realized after I typed that up that the MIdway conversion didn’t occur until the late 1990’s (‘97 I think) so the Fantasy and Meadows conversions predate that by almost a decade.
Mike… I wonder if more twin conversions took this route than the alternative method of sectioning off the balcony as a separate theater to the orchestra level. My guess is that it would be cheaper to do than having to create a new ceiling to separate the two. Of course, once you perform the work using the latter method, you’re all set up to easily section off both the balcony AND the orchestra into additional, smaller theaters – as has been the case with many old theaters.
This Post Movie Clock from December 11, 1980 shows the Colony (way down in the lower right corner) showing late run double features as a single screen.
By March 10th, 1982 the Colony – still a single screen – seems to be listing a Spanish language film. Judging by showtimes, it appears this was a double bill as well.
I think you uncovered another false address on CT, Lost… Since the Colony was closer to 37th Avenue than it was to Roosevelt, I’d say that’s a very good bet. Leading to address confusion over in that area is the fact that the Avenues that cross 82nd Street skip some numbers in the sequence so that going south on 82nd from Northern Blvd you’d cross 34th Avenue and then 35th Avenue as you would expect, but then the next cross street jumps to 37th, then Roosevelt, then 41st Ave.
The address provided above probably places the building considerably closer to Roosevelt Ave (if not on the other side) than it actually is. Additionally, I have clippings from newspapers in the ‘80’s that confirm this theater was eventually twinned.
Here’s a NY Post movie clock from July 4th 1986 featuring a number of Queens (and Brooklyn) theaters that are no longer in existence.
MikeRa… The twinning of the Meadows was a simple matter of erecting a wall more or less down the middle of the old auditorium and then chopping a few of the first rows off so that the new screens could be aligned properly for projection. I’m not sure on the details about the projection booth (whether it was split or if two new booths were created), but the result was two rather narrow theaters, each with their own balcony.
The conversion in ‘89 to a 7-plex was a complete gut job. The theater was gutted down to bare brick walls and a new multiplex was constructed within the shell. Only the former glass-walled ticket lobby remains pretty much as it was in the old days. There’s one theater at street level to your right as you walk past the ticket-taker, then 3 theater’s (including the big #4) on the lower level and 3 more on an upper level. The same type of conversion happened to the Fantasy Theater in Rockville Centre. I’ve seen folks on this forum refer to this sort of conversion as “The Midway Treatment” (after UA’s Midway Stadium 9 in Forest Hills), but I think it may have happened here and at the Fantasy before the Midway. Plus, the Midway’s 9 rooms all feature stadium seating – the Fresh Meadows and Fantasy Theaters do not.
Embassy 49th opened in the same location as the World Theater. And, yes, odd numbered addresses should be on the north side of the cross-streets in Manhattan. Hmmm. My memory may be faulty on which side of the street the World was on. I could have sworn it was on the south side of 49th. But then, that should be an even address number if so. The Ambassador Theater on the next block west, and which is definitely on the north side of 49th has an address of 219 West 49th. I think we need AlAlvarez to swoop in here and help sort out the addresses. I know that he has the addresses for a number of theaters (big and small) concentrated right in this area – which he posted at some point on the Rivoli page, I think.
I was going to suggest that, actually. The World was on the same square block but at its northern perimeter on the south side of 49th Street. You should be able to trace a C of O on that site all the way back to the Punch & Judy Theater, which first opened back in 1914. I think that only had about 300 seats, however. And the building was mid-block at 153-155 W. 49th. Perhaps the owners of the World created an additional theater space on the block?
Well… technically speaking, the Godzilla films were foreign! Har har. Given what was being featured on the rest of the strip during the ‘70’s, I imagine the Apollo eventually followed suit before having a go at theatrical presentations in the very late '70’s.
Ha… And then I’ll add a photo of a building with an enormous paper bag over it’s facade!
Hey Joe… What is the seating capactity in #6? And just for comparison, how about #4? Is 6 the biggest of the upstairs theaters?
Yes. Probably a very rare occurrence where a G-rated film played The Duece in the ‘70’s! I wonder what else was on the bill… and what the MPAA rating was for the supporting feature(s).