Right, Bill. I forgot about HTWWW. I think Warren’s suggestion makes sense. Of course, these days, it is not uncommon to see several different Jude Law or Cuba Gooding, Jr, movies opening up within weeks of each other. Neither of those actors are even half the star John Wayne was in his hey day, but you get the point. Perhaps the example of Robert DeNiro (who has been quite ubiquitous in recent years) is a better comparison.
I’m somewhat intrigued by the idea that a movie chain would inherit a triplex in the 1980’s and convert it to a twin in the ‘90’s! I wonder what was behind that decision. They probably gained seats with the remodeling.
Just to get my facts straight, did RKO ever twin this? Or did it go directly from single screen to live theater, only to be triplexed when Walter Reade took over after Roundabout left? And what was the triplex configuration? Lost Memory’s post of April 21, 2006 implies a true balcony level, but on April 22nd, GWaterman describes a raked stadium style “loge” section at the rear of the auditorium.
That never occurred to me, Warren. Good point. Just a friendly note here – I’d feel just as informed by your comment and a bit less like I’ve been chastised if you didn’t use the quotations in your response. Seriously, just a friendly note – I don’t want to start a war and I’m sure you didn’t intend any condescension. But a courteous tone goes a long way towards stemming possible ill will.
Ken… Thanks so much for posting those images. I’m glad to see that my memory wasn’t as faulty as it often is and that the old “AUSTIN” lettering from the marquee is indeed displayed in that room off the lobby. Unfortunately, beyond those glass doors at the end of the long view of the foyer you shot, there is little left (if anything) of Sandblom’s original design for the Austin’s interior.
And now that the site seems to be back up and running properly, I’d like to make a plea to both Warren and Lost Memory to indefinitely extend the unintentional cooling down period that resulted from this most recent outage. Guys, you both contribute valuable information to this site and while some may not agree with Warren’s purist vision of what this site should be just as others do not agree with the more casual conversational format Lost Memory supports, it would be a shame to see the comment threads here deterioate into a school yard pissing match (pardon my French). That, I fear, would drive more good people away from this site than any individual offense each one of us could possibly offer on our own.
So please, lay down the swords and lets continue on amicably in the spirit of our mutual admiration for this site’s nominal topic.
The Jack Lemmon comedy was a month into its run, day-and-dating with the Trans-Lux on E. 52nd, the Brooklyn Fox and other unlisted nabes. The clipping is from the day of JFK’s funeral, which explains why these theaters (and the entire Rugoff chain) weren’t opening until 6pm.
According to imdb.com, this one opened in the UK in February, 1963, a full 9 months before coming to the States! A bit odd for a Wayne vehicle, wouldn’t you say?
Yes, Vito… Then march up to the projection booth and give the operator a good shaming ear-full. Of course, he’s probably just a victim of circumstance himself. Maybe you can commiserate with him and then report back to us if the guy seems like a pro who would rise to the challenge of a proper road show presentation, if given the opportunity.
Click here to go directly to the article and photo. Thanks for sharing, Warren. Actually, I’m glad that the ‘77 shot of the Austin was included over the recent color shot (since we can go down there and easily see or photograph it ourselves), but I would have liked to have seen the '48 shot. I wish the image was larger than it is. Looks like they simply scaled down the marquee and re-faced the facade in modern looking materials for the conversion from porn to high art.
In the current theater, there is a small room off to the left as you walk through the front doors into the lobby. I seem to recall there is some vintage neon on the wall of that room that may be the big “AUSTIN” lettering from one side the old marquee. I have to go back there and check it out – I might be mistaken about exactly what it is that is in that room. Seems one of those signs would take up an awful lot of wall space!
Julians! Thanks Willis69. You just answered a question I posed way back in October of 2003 at the top of this page and had completely forgotten about. I attended a number of shows here in the early ‘80’s. Seedy the street most certainly was at the time.
The State is listed way down the ad as just another screen showing the tepid (and somewhat tasteless) comedy “Soul Man” – no more important to the circuit than, say, the Loew’s 84th Street Six. The 2nd State screen was evidently booked like an extension of the grind houses on nearby 42nd Street that day, playing a double bill of “Friday the 13th, Part VI” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part II” and not listed in this block.
Of course, now that we know the theater, if you look above the building across the street from the Strand, you can make out the V-shaped roof-top sign for the Brooklyn Paramount looming a couple of blocks away on the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush Aves. That should have been a dead giveaway.
I think Ken and Lost (well, his first instinct anyway) are correct. The Ionic columns belong to the old Strand. But then, the subway site has mis-captioned the photo by locating it on Flatbush Avenue. The Strand is OFF Flatbush at the corner of Rockwell Place and Fulton Ave. Here’s one of Lost Memory’s favorite images of mine (clipped from the local.live site and highlighted for the mentally challenged – heh heh):
The angle of Rockwell Place to the theater’s right matches up in both images, and you can make out a slight angle to the theater facade in the subway photo that matches up with the aerial view.
(Slipping on my architectural nerd beanie now…) Ahem! Bway – a Doric order column has no capital feature. The columns on the Strand evidence the opposed volutes (the scroll-like feature) at their capitals that define the Ionic order. Here endeth the lesson.
Thanks Bill. I remember the Ziegfeld having that distinctive Walter Reade font in movie ads from the ‘70’s and early '80’s (ditto the Little Carnegie and New Yorker Twin). I was just curious as to the origins of the Reade chain in NY, particularly during the '63-'64 time frame from which the clippings I posted came. Warren’s response helped me out with that one. I’m also curious about the geographic territory. I know there were a number of Manhattan houses over the years (inlcuding the Waverly, later on, and one on W. 23rd Street) and a couple in Queens, but did Reade ever run any Brooklyn houses or theaters further out on Long Island?
Not to stray too far off topic (after all I seem to be a member of the Off Topic Bilge Brigade), but here is a link to a site that has photos of the Electric Lady Studios entrance prior to the renovations and then after. It looks like the destruction of the old entrance took place some time in 1997. http://www.univibes.com/OutANDAbout/el_studio.html
Bway, the first photo is captioned “Rockwell Place”. Rockwell is a short street that runs farther up Flatbush Ave near Lafayette and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The shot is definitely not of BAM, but must be one of the old downtown Brooklyn theaters and not the Flatbush Pavillion (which is further to the South near 7th Avenue). With that Ionian facde, it should be fairly easy to identify on this site. It’s definitely not the Strand or Majestic (which were not on Flatbush Ave). Maybe the Albee? Or the Fox?
I agree with both vito and Jeff S. I only offered the “Backdraft” story as the Ziegfeld’s excuse… not to endorse it. It boggles my mind – even with the limited knowledge I have about the profession – that a single screen house like the Ziegfeld that employs a veteran projectionist (this is not a manager/operator situation) would ever run platter. I wonder if Craig would care to offer some kind of explanation or rationale.
Electric Lady Studios is still there, dave-bronx. They completely remodeled the entrance to the studios in the late ‘90’s – to much derision from local preservationists. If you look at Ken’s photo, the two gated window fronts just to the right of the No Standing sign are for Electric Lady Studios. The old facade had a tall rectangular recess to the right of the 8th Street Playhouse marquee from which a curved brick wall protruded slightly onto the sidewalk. The curved wall was designed to look like the shoulder of a guitar, as if a giant guitar were embedded in the facade of the building and half buried in the sidewalk. As you walked into the small vestibule the wall created, there was even a round window on the inside of the wall designed to approximate the sound hole on an acoustic guitar. Now, the entrance looks like any old plain and boring storefront. I’m sure if you dug around the internet, you’d find an article about the whole remodeling – and perhaps even a before/after photo. This would have been several years after the Playhouse closed… maybe '96 or '97.
Don’t ask me, I’m guilty of both offenses!
Right, Bill. I forgot about HTWWW. I think Warren’s suggestion makes sense. Of course, these days, it is not uncommon to see several different Jude Law or Cuba Gooding, Jr, movies opening up within weeks of each other. Neither of those actors are even half the star John Wayne was in his hey day, but you get the point. Perhaps the example of Robert DeNiro (who has been quite ubiquitous in recent years) is a better comparison.
I’m somewhat intrigued by the idea that a movie chain would inherit a triplex in the 1980’s and convert it to a twin in the ‘90’s! I wonder what was behind that decision. They probably gained seats with the remodeling.
Just to get my facts straight, did RKO ever twin this? Or did it go directly from single screen to live theater, only to be triplexed when Walter Reade took over after Roundabout left? And what was the triplex configuration? Lost Memory’s post of April 21, 2006 implies a true balcony level, but on April 22nd, GWaterman describes a raked stadium style “loge” section at the rear of the auditorium.
That never occurred to me, Warren. Good point. Just a friendly note here – I’d feel just as informed by your comment and a bit less like I’ve been chastised if you didn’t use the quotations in your response. Seriously, just a friendly note – I don’t want to start a war and I’m sure you didn’t intend any condescension. But a courteous tone goes a long way towards stemming possible ill will.
Hmm. Odd that someone would come along and take over a triplex and then turn it into a twin! I’ll have to visit that page and see what the story was.
Ken… Thanks so much for posting those images. I’m glad to see that my memory wasn’t as faulty as it often is and that the old “AUSTIN” lettering from the marquee is indeed displayed in that room off the lobby. Unfortunately, beyond those glass doors at the end of the long view of the foyer you shot, there is little left (if anything) of Sandblom’s original design for the Austin’s interior.
And now that the site seems to be back up and running properly, I’d like to make a plea to both Warren and Lost Memory to indefinitely extend the unintentional cooling down period that resulted from this most recent outage. Guys, you both contribute valuable information to this site and while some may not agree with Warren’s purist vision of what this site should be just as others do not agree with the more casual conversational format Lost Memory supports, it would be a shame to see the comment threads here deterioate into a school yard pissing match (pardon my French). That, I fear, would drive more good people away from this site than any individual offense each one of us could possibly offer on our own.
So please, lay down the swords and lets continue on amicably in the spirit of our mutual admiration for this site’s nominal topic.
Jerry Lewis runs amuck at the Victoria:
Who’s Minding the Store – Daily News 11/25/63
Some twenty three years earlier:
Yum Yum – Daily News 11/25/63
The Jack Lemmon comedy was a month into its run, day-and-dating with the Trans-Lux on E. 52nd, the Brooklyn Fox and other unlisted nabes. The clipping is from the day of JFK’s funeral, which explains why these theaters (and the entire Rugoff chain) weren’t opening until 6pm.
Should “New Embassy” be included as an AKA above? Perhaps even “Newsreel” and “Embassy I”.
One of the all time great imports (scroll to the bottom of the clipping):
Fellini – Daily News 11/25/63
The film opened in the States in June of ‘63, per imdb, so I’m not sure if this is part of that initial engagement, a move-over or a late run.
The Duke at the Astor:
McHilarious! – Daily News 11/25/63
According to imdb.com, this one opened in the UK in February, 1963, a full 9 months before coming to the States! A bit odd for a Wayne vehicle, wouldn’t you say?
Yes, Vito… Then march up to the projection booth and give the operator a good shaming ear-full. Of course, he’s probably just a victim of circumstance himself. Maybe you can commiserate with him and then report back to us if the guy seems like a pro who would rise to the challenge of a proper road show presentation, if given the opportunity.
Click here to go directly to the article and photo. Thanks for sharing, Warren. Actually, I’m glad that the ‘77 shot of the Austin was included over the recent color shot (since we can go down there and easily see or photograph it ourselves), but I would have liked to have seen the '48 shot. I wish the image was larger than it is. Looks like they simply scaled down the marquee and re-faced the facade in modern looking materials for the conversion from porn to high art.
In the current theater, there is a small room off to the left as you walk through the front doors into the lobby. I seem to recall there is some vintage neon on the wall of that room that may be the big “AUSTIN” lettering from one side the old marquee. I have to go back there and check it out – I might be mistaken about exactly what it is that is in that room. Seems one of those signs would take up an awful lot of wall space!
Anyway, here’s a repeat link to a recent photo first posted by Lost Memory on August 10th, 2005.
Julians! Thanks Willis69. You just answered a question I posed way back in October of 2003 at the top of this page and had completely forgotten about. I attended a number of shows here in the early ‘80’s. Seedy the street most certainly was at the time.
Here’s a Loew’s block ad from 1986:
NY Times 10/27/86
The State is listed way down the ad as just another screen showing the tepid (and somewhat tasteless) comedy “Soul Man” – no more important to the circuit than, say, the Loew’s 84th Street Six. The 2nd State screen was evidently booked like an extension of the grind houses on nearby 42nd Street that day, playing a double bill of “Friday the 13th, Part VI” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part II” and not listed in this block.
Here’s a mid-1980’s clipping featuring a few theater-chain block ads, including Walter Reade:
Reade, RKO/Cinema 5 and New York Cinemas – NY Times 10/27/86
Is the Ziegfeld the only theater in the Reade listings still operating in the same configuration as in 1986?
It’s already here, Bway… posted on July 19th at 2:13pm – and dutifully poked fun at by Lost Memory by 4:53!
Of course, now that we know the theater, if you look above the building across the street from the Strand, you can make out the V-shaped roof-top sign for the Brooklyn Paramount looming a couple of blocks away on the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush Aves. That should have been a dead giveaway.
My error (again!) Rockwell Place angles in to Fulton to the theater’s LEFT not the right.
I think Ken and Lost (well, his first instinct anyway) are correct. The Ionic columns belong to the old Strand. But then, the subway site has mis-captioned the photo by locating it on Flatbush Avenue. The Strand is OFF Flatbush at the corner of Rockwell Place and Fulton Ave. Here’s one of Lost Memory’s favorite images of mine (clipped from the local.live site and highlighted for the mentally challenged – heh heh):
Aerial View of Strand
The angle of Rockwell Place to the theater’s right matches up in both images, and you can make out a slight angle to the theater facade in the subway photo that matches up with the aerial view.
(Slipping on my architectural nerd beanie now…) Ahem! Bway – a Doric order column has no capital feature. The columns on the Strand evidence the opposed volutes (the scroll-like feature) at their capitals that define the Ionic order. Here endeth the lesson.
Thanks Bill. I remember the Ziegfeld having that distinctive Walter Reade font in movie ads from the ‘70’s and early '80’s (ditto the Little Carnegie and New Yorker Twin). I was just curious as to the origins of the Reade chain in NY, particularly during the '63-'64 time frame from which the clippings I posted came. Warren’s response helped me out with that one. I’m also curious about the geographic territory. I know there were a number of Manhattan houses over the years (inlcuding the Waverly, later on, and one on W. 23rd Street) and a couple in Queens, but did Reade ever run any Brooklyn houses or theaters further out on Long Island?
Not to stray too far off topic (after all I seem to be a member of the Off Topic Bilge Brigade), but here is a link to a site that has photos of the Electric Lady Studios entrance prior to the renovations and then after. It looks like the destruction of the old entrance took place some time in 1997.
http://www.univibes.com/OutANDAbout/el_studio.html
Bway, the first photo is captioned “Rockwell Place”. Rockwell is a short street that runs farther up Flatbush Ave near Lafayette and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The shot is definitely not of BAM, but must be one of the old downtown Brooklyn theaters and not the Flatbush Pavillion (which is further to the South near 7th Avenue). With that Ionian facde, it should be fairly easy to identify on this site. It’s definitely not the Strand or Majestic (which were not on Flatbush Ave). Maybe the Albee? Or the Fox?
I agree with both vito and Jeff S. I only offered the “Backdraft” story as the Ziegfeld’s excuse… not to endorse it. It boggles my mind – even with the limited knowledge I have about the profession – that a single screen house like the Ziegfeld that employs a veteran projectionist (this is not a manager/operator situation) would ever run platter. I wonder if Craig would care to offer some kind of explanation or rationale.
Electric Lady Studios is still there, dave-bronx. They completely remodeled the entrance to the studios in the late ‘90’s – to much derision from local preservationists. If you look at Ken’s photo, the two gated window fronts just to the right of the No Standing sign are for Electric Lady Studios. The old facade had a tall rectangular recess to the right of the 8th Street Playhouse marquee from which a curved brick wall protruded slightly onto the sidewalk. The curved wall was designed to look like the shoulder of a guitar, as if a giant guitar were embedded in the facade of the building and half buried in the sidewalk. As you walked into the small vestibule the wall created, there was even a round window on the inside of the wall designed to approximate the sound hole on an acoustic guitar. Now, the entrance looks like any old plain and boring storefront. I’m sure if you dug around the internet, you’d find an article about the whole remodeling – and perhaps even a before/after photo. This would have been several years after the Playhouse closed… maybe '96 or '97.