For a time, it was operated by Cineplex Odeon, and it over-charge customers for concessions. I believe the Village Voice may have ran a story about it.
I went there once when it was Xenon, circa 1981. Beautiful building. Sad that it is gone now. I remember the coat check girl was dressed in leopard skin.
I remember going here one time after leaving the DuArt film lab. I was literally carrying at least two canisters of film. This place had a spiral staircase leading up to a lounge area.
I went there with a friend on the very last night it was open in 1989. There was a crowd there, but not nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. Closing nights were something of a right of passage in NYC. I had gone there maybe once or twice before it closed. Fascinating place.
This was a great place to see films. My first visit there, if I remember correctly, was a double bill of DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS and THE VELVET VAMPIRE. I also saw Warhol’s TRASH and HEAT there, and later on late movies like THE SUCKLING and SPACE AVENGER.
I saw Joan Bennett in person here in November of 1980. It was a double feature of Scarlet Street and Woman in the Window, but in between features there was a short version of Alice In Wonderland in which Joan appeared. Joan walked up the stage and answered questions. It was a thrill to see her in person.
As a child, I lived quite close to this drive-in but don’t recall ever attending a screening there. We did, however, go to the near-by Bellingham Drive-In.
Returned here in the summer of 2017 for the first time in 28 years. So pleased to see The Stadium has been restored to its former glory! Saw a wonderful live show here.
I saw the double bill of THE MUTILATOR and PIECES as depicted in the photo. They screened the unrated version of THE MUTILATOR. If I remember correctly, it was January of 1985. Years later, the R-rated version played 42nd Street. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7881/photos/158124
I started going to 42nd street in January of 1986. I attended regularly for a few years, and I believe that last movie I saw there was in 1992. Somehow, I never made it to the Anco….
42ndStreetMemories, you say you didn’t pay $2.00 in the 60s. As late as 1986 or even a couple of years later, the first show on a Saturday morning when the theaters opened at 10:00 AM was only $3.00. And that was often for double or even triple features! Oh, those were the days! I’d grab a coffee and danish from a shop on Broadway around the corner, then head down the duece to check out what was playing and be in my seat watching the first flick by 10:00 AM.
To be fair, the Lighthouse didn’t always screen to audiences of one. A short time after my experience there, I hear of (but did not attend) a sold out standing-room only screening of a 1960s documentary featuring Mike Wallace. It was a television documentary titled The Homosexuals and you can read about it here: https://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2012/04/09/mike-wallace-and-homosexuals
I actually attended a screening at this cinema. I was literally the only person in the audience, and Dennis was kind enough the screen the film for me. The film was “Vampira: About Sex, Death and Taxes.” You can find my review of the experience on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114823/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_12
I saw JAWS there the week the cinema opened. That makes me feel so old. I saw quite a few films there. LOGAN’S RUN, FUTUREWORLD, a four-film Barbra Streisand festival, THE DEVIL’s RAIN, and a very bizarre double-bill (from Disney no less) of DR SYN ALIAS THE SCARECROW and another feature, can’t remember the name of the second one.
I went here only one time that I can remember, and that was to see Alain Resnais film PROVIDENCE in 1977. I also remember seeing a banner advertising a late-night screening of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
I attended many screenings at this theater in the late 1980s. RAGE plus MONSTER SHARK was one memorable double feature. UNSANE plus THE KINDRED, CAGED WOMEN plus WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE, AGENT ON ICE and IN THE SHADOW OF KILIMANJARO, and so many more!
For a time, it was operated by Cineplex Odeon, and it over-charge customers for concessions. I believe the Village Voice may have ran a story about it.
It was not closed in the “early 80s.” As late as July of 1985, it played CEMENTERIO DEL TERROR.
I went there once when it was Xenon, circa 1981. Beautiful building. Sad that it is gone now. I remember the coat check girl was dressed in leopard skin.
I want there one time. I remember as being a rather small theater.
I remember going here one time after leaving the DuArt film lab. I was literally carrying at least two canisters of film. This place had a spiral staircase leading up to a lounge area.
I went there with a friend on the very last night it was open in 1989. There was a crowd there, but not nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. Closing nights were something of a right of passage in NYC. I had gone there maybe once or twice before it closed. Fascinating place.
This was a great place to see films. My first visit there, if I remember correctly, was a double bill of DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS and THE VELVET VAMPIRE. I also saw Warhol’s TRASH and HEAT there, and later on late movies like THE SUCKLING and SPACE AVENGER.
I saw Joan Bennett in person here in November of 1980. It was a double feature of Scarlet Street and Woman in the Window, but in between features there was a short version of Alice In Wonderland in which Joan appeared. Joan walked up the stage and answered questions. It was a thrill to see her in person.
That is a great article, Dennis. Thank you for sharing that here!
There’s a newspaper ad from October 1969 that has it open.
As a child, I lived quite close to this drive-in but don’t recall ever attending a screening there. We did, however, go to the near-by Bellingham Drive-In.
Returned here in the summer of 2017 for the first time in 28 years. So pleased to see The Stadium has been restored to its former glory! Saw a wonderful live show here.
I saw EVILS OF THE NIGHT here on Halloween night, 1985.
I saw the double bill of THE MUTILATOR and PIECES as depicted in the photo. They screened the unrated version of THE MUTILATOR. If I remember correctly, it was January of 1985. Years later, the R-rated version played 42nd Street. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7881/photos/158124
I lived in that neighborhood for years. I used to go to that store all the time, and I had no clue it had once been a movie theater. Wow!
I started going to 42nd street in January of 1986. I attended regularly for a few years, and I believe that last movie I saw there was in 1992. Somehow, I never made it to the Anco….
42ndStreetMemories, you say you didn’t pay $2.00 in the 60s. As late as 1986 or even a couple of years later, the first show on a Saturday morning when the theaters opened at 10:00 AM was only $3.00. And that was often for double or even triple features! Oh, those were the days! I’d grab a coffee and danish from a shop on Broadway around the corner, then head down the duece to check out what was playing and be in my seat watching the first flick by 10:00 AM.
To be fair, the Lighthouse didn’t always screen to audiences of one. A short time after my experience there, I hear of (but did not attend) a sold out standing-room only screening of a 1960s documentary featuring Mike Wallace. It was a television documentary titled The Homosexuals and you can read about it here: https://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2012/04/09/mike-wallace-and-homosexuals
I actually attended a screening at this cinema. I was literally the only person in the audience, and Dennis was kind enough the screen the film for me. The film was “Vampira: About Sex, Death and Taxes.” You can find my review of the experience on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114823/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_12
In 1991, I caught a double bill of FX2 and whatever STAR TREK film was released around that time. It was the first and only time I’ve been there.
I saw JAWS there the week the cinema opened. That makes me feel so old. I saw quite a few films there. LOGAN’S RUN, FUTUREWORLD, a four-film Barbra Streisand festival, THE DEVIL’s RAIN, and a very bizarre double-bill (from Disney no less) of DR SYN ALIAS THE SCARECROW and another feature, can’t remember the name of the second one.
I attended this cinema only one time during its short life. My mother and I saw INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE here.
I went there as a child. I remember seeing FOR PETE’S SAKE with Barbra Streisand.
I went here only one time that I can remember, and that was to see Alain Resnais film PROVIDENCE in 1977. I also remember seeing a banner advertising a late-night screening of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
I attended many screenings at this theater in the late 1980s. RAGE plus MONSTER SHARK was one memorable double feature. UNSANE plus THE KINDRED, CAGED WOMEN plus WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE, AGENT ON ICE and IN THE SHADOW OF KILIMANJARO, and so many more!