Apparently, the contact for The Esquire Theatre on the same street was also the same Mavis.
btw, twinning Risque as downstairs I and upstairs II (“all male”) appears to have started in 1981.
Opened several months earlier than “Dec. 11th, 1969”, the earliest ad is from July 11th, 1969, promoting a double-bill of Come Dream with Me and Strictly Beaver.
I very much like to know who owned and / or managed it at the beginning and circa 1970. Classified ads wanting a projector note “phone Mavis”.
Tom Kat of SF had opened on Feb.12, 1969.
btw, I can’t see a cinematreasures entry for Pink Kat on 150 Mason St at Ellis, which had opened the year before. Both were Habib Carouba’s theatres.
Actually, the earliest listing for the Screening Room at 220 Jones is from April 10th, 1967 with a color double bill of Sylvia’s Girls and Girls A-Poppin'. It seems to have operated as such (showcasing double bills of color features) for about two months in 1967. Then, there is a gap. Eventually, it reemerges in 1968 showcasing beavershorts.
(btw, Pornography in Denmark was released in 1970, not in 1968, and it premiered at North Beach, not at the Screening Room.)
Bill Osco’s first film Whatever Happened to Stud Flame played here in June 1970 which was busted by the police as a result. There was a lengthy court case which was covered by the AP.
Update: Towards dusk today, construction decks were set up around Emek apparently for the kick-off of its demolition to build a shopping mall in its place by the greedy Demirören Holding Co.; here is the latest photo of Emek surrounded by newly-set up decks: https://twitter.com/sevilbasturk/status/311235151164219392/photo/1 International protest calls to Demirören Holding Co at .tr and to the municipal authorities at .tr would be appreciated
Update: The Chamber of Architects seems to have received a serious setback in its attempt to halt the project demolishing Emek. On Dec. 1st, 2011, an Istanbul court canceled its previous suspension order on the project (on May 5th, 2010, the same court had ordered a suspension of the project pending a final decision on the matter). Now, there is no legal obstacle for the Demirören Holding Co. to go ahead with demolishing Emek to build a shopping mall in its place.)
More on Rüya: Apparently, it was also named as Küçük Emek for a period. In 1958, Sümer was renovated and re-named as Küçük Emek at the same time as Melek was renovated and renamed as Emek. Both reopened on April 19th, 1958. Küçük Emek was further renovated and renamed as Rüya in 1963, reopening on Jan. 17th. At the time, it was still showing mainstream Hollywood fare.
More on Güneş: The earliest newspapere listing for this cinema that I could find is from 1966. In 1973, it was one of the cinemas where LAST TANGO IN PARIS premiered in Istanbul. In mid-1970s, its output consisted mainly of Euro (mostly Italian) soft-core sex movies. In 1990, there was a fire suspected to be arson. In 1992, it was closed down for two weeks by the police for showing pornographic films.
To be more precise: Emek had opened as Melek in 1924.
This historical piece of Istanbul’s cultural heritage was closed down as part of a project by the Demirören Holding Co. to build a (yet another) shopping mall in its place.
Here are clips of a mass demonstration on the first anniversary of its closure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5isfFjFQ-M
continued
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsIRbBV3R4&feature=related
continued
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EabKeXhknLg&feature=related
I think court battles by the Chamber of Architects are continuing to halt Demirören’s project.
Dating from 1948, it is one of the oldest surviving cinemas in Istanbul. (currently, the oldest is SinePop, on Yeşilçam Street across İstiklal Avenue, set up in 1943).
This cinema has been closed since 2010. On Dec. 27th, 2008, Rüya was raided by Turkish police’s vice squad for being a site of gay prostitution. Next month, it was renamed as Yeni [New] Rüya and converted into mainstream programming, eventually even hosting the Istanbul Film Festival. However, it closed its curtains for good on May 7th, 2010.
It had opened in 1930 as Artistik, later renamed as Sümer, and later as Rüya. Here is a clip about the Turkish debut of Bambi in Sümer:
http://kayaozkaracalar3.blogspot.com/2010/09/1944-magazine-clip-regarding-turkish.html
To dylandog30: I cannot confirm if all of the adults-only cinemas in Istanbul were closed in 2009.
Apparently, the contact for The Esquire Theatre on the same street was also the same Mavis. btw, twinning Risque as downstairs I and upstairs II (“all male”) appears to have started in 1981.
Opened several months earlier than “Dec. 11th, 1969”, the earliest ad is from July 11th, 1969, promoting a double-bill of Come Dream with Me and Strictly Beaver. I very much like to know who owned and / or managed it at the beginning and circa 1970. Classified ads wanting a projector note “phone Mavis”.
The now-cult Ed Wood movie Plan 9 from Outer Space had screened in this cinema under an alternative title as Vampires from Venus
Tom Kat of SF had opened on Feb.12, 1969. btw, I can’t see a cinematreasures entry for Pink Kat on 150 Mason St at Ellis, which had opened the year before. Both were Habib Carouba’s theatres.
Actually, the earliest listing for the Screening Room at 220 Jones is from April 10th, 1967 with a color double bill of Sylvia’s Girls and Girls A-Poppin'. It seems to have operated as such (showcasing double bills of color features) for about two months in 1967. Then, there is a gap. Eventually, it reemerges in 1968 showcasing beavershorts. (btw, Pornography in Denmark was released in 1970, not in 1968, and it premiered at North Beach, not at the Screening Room.)
Bill Osco’s first film Whatever Happened to Stud Flame played here in June 1970 which was busted by the police as a result. There was a lengthy court case which was covered by the AP.
Update: Towards dusk today, construction decks were set up around Emek apparently for the kick-off of its demolition to build a shopping mall in its place by the greedy Demirören Holding Co.; here is the latest photo of Emek surrounded by newly-set up decks: https://twitter.com/sevilbasturk/status/311235151164219392/photo/1 International protest calls to Demirören Holding Co at .tr and to the municipal authorities at .tr would be appreciated
It had opened in 1920s.
Update: The Chamber of Architects seems to have received a serious setback in its attempt to halt the project demolishing Emek. On Dec. 1st, 2011, an Istanbul court canceled its previous suspension order on the project (on May 5th, 2010, the same court had ordered a suspension of the project pending a final decision on the matter). Now, there is no legal obstacle for the Demirören Holding Co. to go ahead with demolishing Emek to build a shopping mall in its place.)
Acıbadem is a district of Istanbul, not a different city, so this movie should be shifted under Istanbul.
More on Emek: In 1958, Melek was renovated and re-named as Emek, reopening on April 19th.
More on Rüya: Apparently, it was also named as Küçük Emek for a period. In 1958, Sümer was renovated and re-named as Küçük Emek at the same time as Melek was renovated and renamed as Emek. Both reopened on April 19th, 1958. Küçük Emek was further renovated and renamed as Rüya in 1963, reopening on Jan. 17th. At the time, it was still showing mainstream Hollywood fare.
More on Güneş: The earliest newspapere listing for this cinema that I could find is from 1966. In 1973, it was one of the cinemas where LAST TANGO IN PARIS premiered in Istanbul. In mid-1970s, its output consisted mainly of Euro (mostly Italian) soft-core sex movies. In 1990, there was a fire suspected to be arson. In 1992, it was closed down for two weeks by the police for showing pornographic films.
This cinema was raided by vice squad on charges of being a venue for gay prostitution in 2008. I think it remains closed since then.
To be more precise: Emek had opened as Melek in 1924. This historical piece of Istanbul’s cultural heritage was closed down as part of a project by the Demirören Holding Co. to build a (yet another) shopping mall in its place. Here are clips of a mass demonstration on the first anniversary of its closure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5isfFjFQ-M continued http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsIRbBV3R4&feature=related continued http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EabKeXhknLg&feature=related I think court battles by the Chamber of Architects are continuing to halt Demirören’s project.
Dating from 1948, it is one of the oldest surviving cinemas in Istanbul. (currently, the oldest is SinePop, on Yeşilçam Street across İstiklal Avenue, set up in 1943).
This cinema was closed down in 2010 due to unprofitability. It had re-opened in 1994 thanks to the efforts of film critic Onat Kutlar.
This cinema has been closed since 2010. On Dec. 27th, 2008, Rüya was raided by Turkish police’s vice squad for being a site of gay prostitution. Next month, it was renamed as Yeni [New] Rüya and converted into mainstream programming, eventually even hosting the Istanbul Film Festival. However, it closed its curtains for good on May 7th, 2010. It had opened in 1930 as Artistik, later renamed as Sümer, and later as Rüya. Here is a clip about the Turkish debut of Bambi in Sümer: http://kayaozkaracalar3.blogspot.com/2010/09/1944-magazine-clip-regarding-turkish.html To dylandog30: I cannot confirm if all of the adults-only cinemas in Istanbul were closed in 2009.