Trans-Lux Theatre

Playland Park, an amusement complex still operating in Westchester County near NYC, was home to this Trans-Lux cinema, which first opened on May 1, 1931. The 45-minute programs of newsreels and cartoons changed twice weekly. Variety described the theatre as “The Roxy of the Trans-Lux Circuit” because it had more seats than all of the other T-L sites combined.

More information is needed about its history. I doubt that it survived very long in the wake of the Depression.

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

Joe Vogel on October 1, 2014 at 2:20 pm

Could this house have been an older theater operated under a different name prior to being operated by Trans-Lux? This entry in the “Theatres in Construction” column of Variety for December 1, 1926, might be the same house:

“Rye Beach, N. Y.— (Also casino). $1,000,000 Manursing Island. Owner, Westchester Parkway Commission, Bronxville, N. Y. Architects, Walker and Gillette, New York City. Policy not given.”

We have no other theaters listed on Manursing Island. If this project was carried out, and it wasn’t the same theater as the Trans-Lux, then we are missing a theater in Rye, but I haven’t been able to discover its name.

rivest266 on April 26, 2021 at 12:43 pm

Grand opening for this buried in this ad for Playland from April 29th, 1931. Trans-Lux theatre opening 29 Apr 1931, Wed The Daily Item (Port Chester, New York) Newspapers.com