Duke and Duchess Theatres
1605-1607 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19103
1605-1607 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19103
6 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Sameric Corporation
Architects: Clarence Stern Thalheimer, David Daniel Weitz
Firms: Thalheimer & Weitz
Nearby Theaters
The Duke and Duchess Theatres was a twin, side by side, sharing a wide marquee and a 66 foot frontage on the north side of Chestnut Street between South 16th Street and South 17th Street. With the Regency Theatre on the same block, and many other movie theatres nearby on Chestnut Street West, the theatre marquees lit up at night to give a cinematic Broadway style appearance to Chestnut Street. The Duke and Duchess Theatres were designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Thalheimer and Weitz and cost two million dollars to build. On the second floor were the executive offices of the movie operator, the Sameric Corporation.
The Duke and Duchess Theatres opened December 19, 1969. Early plans were for the theatre to open that day with the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, to be named the Sameric, and to be the flagship of the movie chain of the same name. Instead, the theatre opened as a twin named after the two dogs belonging to Samuel Shapiro, President of the Sameric Corp. Many of the popular James Bond films were shown here. In 1971, after the chain purchased the historic Boyd Theatre, the Boyd Theatre was renamed the Sam Eric. Eric was Samuel Shapiro’s grandson.
The Duke and Duchess Theatre each had 460 rocking chair seats. Each auditorium was long and narrow with drapes lining the walls. The screens were not very large. Sound leaked between the houses. First run movies were shown.
The theatre closed in 1987 and with the neighboring Regency Theatre was demolished for the construction of the glamorous Liberty Place office skyscrapers, hotel, and shopping mall complex. The Liberty Place announcement specified that movie theatres would be included. They were not.
Contributed by
Chuck, Howard B. Haas
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
In this 1984 review of exploitation film KILLPOINT, Philadelphia Inquirer film critic Rick Lyman makes special mention of the D&D’s “ambience”.
Philadelphia Inquirer KILLPOINT review (1984)
Here is a June 1979 photo from Temple U:
http://tinyurl.com/yhq45va
WOW! My heart just lept! Thank you for posting that link CHUCK1231! I’ve been looking for photos of the DUKE AND DUCHESS for quite a while as well as THE BUDCO REGENCY which was next door right on the corner of 16th & CHESTNUT — you can see a tiny edge of it in that photo. Anyone have any links to an image of the entire Regency?
Also, Ken mc, I had found the thumbnail of the Duke from that first site you listed. I actually considered paying the $40 for the larger but just couldn’t bring myself to it. Was the link you posted the larger image or a blowup of the thumbnail?
Never mind about the Budco, I found its listing. Thanks to all!
Ken, I don’t see a way to contact you directly so hopefully you’ll see this post.
I am still curious if that was the fullsized image of the D&D. The blow up of the thumbnail I have is here:
View link
Also, there was a more mainstream theater down the street on the corner, probably 17th and Chestnut, calleds SAM’S PLACE or something along those line, and then in the opposite direction, the other way down Chestnut, in the middle of a block, was another grindhouse like dive. I can’t remember the name of it to save my life though. Any thoughts?
Thanks hdtv. I’m pretty sure that in the opposite direction of Sam’s, probably in the 1300 or 1400 block of Chestnut, was another small grindhouse theater right in the middle of the block. Any ideas?
Leif, you may be thinking of Eric’s Place, originally the Trans-Lux, which was at 1519 Chestnut.
RickB — Eric’s Place is absolutely it. Thank you!
Complaining about Polish jokes in “THE END”,give me a break.ARCHIE BUNKER let out more polish jokes than Burt Reynolds ever did,I can tell you one thing 100 % true they sold tickets with that protest.
I worked at most of the SamEric movies from 1974 – 1986, thru high school, Temple and part time after college. Eric’s Place, D&D, Mark 1 (under the Holiday Inn on Market Street), Rittenhouse 1&2 and the SamEric. From what I was told the Duke was named after John Wayne (friend of Sam Shipiro) and Duchess after the dog. Eric’s Place was named after Mert’s son who committed suicide. There was a big mural at Eric’s Place and the center piece was John Wayne in cowboyoutfit showing a young boy (Eric) his sidearm.
December 19th, 1969 grand opening ad in the photo section.