Frisco Theatre
732 7th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10019
732 7th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10019
2 people
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BD, please do tell us more. This is lost history due to morality barriers.
Al Goldstein wrote a review in Screw Magazine on the Frisco Theater in 1977 and highlighted myself in the review as I worked there. Upstairs on the right there were “Peeps”.The windows were opened at that time. It was up a large set of stairs from the street. To the left upstairs there was a small theater. The Frisco which we called Black Jacks was the very first theater in NYC to host live S&M Shows. A year later Belle Du Jour began presenting S&M shows a few blocks south of 42nd St. Then Show World on 8th Ave. caught on, The Star Ship Discovery night club on 42nd St and many other venues. It all began at the Frisco Theater.
In September of 1970, Variety identified the Mini Cinema as the first venue in NYC to screen films (16mm) with explicit hardcore content (outside of the context of the 35mm “marriage manual” films were screening widely that same year). Maybe they should erect a plaque.
From grindhousedatabase.com comes, at long last, this photo of the Mini Cinema from around 1969 or 70. “Love Camp 7” was a definite 1969 release, not sure if either of the films called “The Animal” at imdb.com are the same as the title featured on the Mini’s flat marquee.
Looks like this may have been soft porn on screen when it opened, plus the “burlesque” acts – all eleven of them! Can’t figure out if Marinka & Dawn performed their act 11 times? Or were there 11 acts? I’m thinking the former – otherwise the cast and crew may have outnumbered the audience for most performances!
Sorry didn’t mention the Fascination sign here, it was earlier today on the page for the Cine Lido.
And there’s a photo of the Pussycat on Seventh and 49th that also shows that Fascination arcade sign I mentioned above. No idea where the Samson is or what it was. If only we could make out some of the other storefront signs or address numbers as a reference point.
If you scroll down this story about Bill Clinton waxing melancholy about the hookers of Times Square you will find a photo of the entrance to a Samson theatre in Times Square.
View link
I think we can also eliminate the 3rd paragraph in the intro and incorporate the line about it’s opening in 1969 as New Mini Cinema into the first paragraph. Also can update number of seats to 130 and current function as retail/restaurant.
The building is still standing. The new 1600 Broadway residential tower sits on the footprint of the demolished Studebaker Building that was on the 48th Street end of the block. The rest of the block consists of 4 other buildings, which includes 734 Seventh Ave, 740 Seventh Ave (on the corner of 49th), 202 West 49th (where the World Theater moved after the original World became the Embassy 49th) and the 3-story L-shaped building that fronts the corner of Broadway and 49th as #1604-1610 (where the Circus Cinema and Big Top Theatre was) and also fronts Seventh Ave at 732 (where the Frisco/New Mini Cinema was located). All of these buildings are still standing – and all are owned by the related companies Farmore Realty Co Inc or Sweetheart Theatres Inc, the latter of which ran numerous porn theatres in the area – see my post above dated Oct 1, 2006.
732 Seventh Avenue is currently occupied by two asian kitchens – Pearl’s and Teriyaki Boy. As per this photo from Feb 2011, Teriyaki Boy closed due to high rents. But this is definitely the same location and building that housed the Frisco. The new 1600 Broadway is immediately adjacent to the left.
Bottom line here, an AKA should be added for New Mini Cinema, which is the name under which this cinema originally opened. Also the address should be confirmed as 732 Seventh Avenue. And status should remain as closed, since the building has not been demolished. Took us 5 years and it seems only Al, Ken and myself give a damn, but there you have it!
That’s what I thought.
It looks like it was demolished.
Is the building still standing? I wasn’t sure when I looked at the map view.
That photo also shows the Frisco outlasting the Avon 7.
Nice shot, Ken.
The address must have been 732 or 734 Seventh Avenue based on its proximity to the Avon 7, making an almost certainty it was the Mini Cinema before it became the Frisco.
A familiar double feature can be seen in this circa 1970s photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yznq4rq
The glamorous Frisco during happier times:
View link
The car at the curb in the 1973/1980 photo appears to be a Plymouth Volare or Dodge Aspen. Which weren’t introduced until the 1977 model year. Replacing the Valiant & Dart.
So 1980 is probably correct.
What kind of long hairs protest porn?
Must be 1980.
Thanks, Scott. I’m almost positive that the pair had a similar run here at the Frisco, but I’ve been having difficulty nailing that down as the gospel truth. I made a leap of faith when writing the introductory comments above, based on recollections from folks on this site and elsewhere – but also based in some measure by the “circa 1973” date for the exterior photo that Warren now pretty much confirms to be in error. That casts some doubt on whether this theater did play the double feature for as long as I initially thought.
Starting in 1974, it was not unusual to see “Deep Throat” & “Devil in Miss Jones” playing together. (I know of several Pussycat Theaters in the Los Angeles area doing that, one of which in Hollywood played the combo for approx 7 years straight!—One theater in San Francisco, the Art 1 at 55 Taylor Street played these two films together from 1974 into the early 1980’s on a continuous run. That run outlasted the run in Hollywood.)
Thanks, Warren. Though, the two films were paired on a grind throughout the 70’s at several theaters in NYC (and elsewhere, I’d presume). I don’t think the porn industry followed quite the same distribution policies as did the mainstream industry. In any event, when I first saw this photo, I wasn’t entirely sure that Ebert’s date caption was accurate. I think I’d put more trust in the AP to get the date right so I’ll assume May ‘80 is correct.
Thanks for sharing, Warren – regardless of your estimation of the Frisco as either a theater or treasure. May I ask about your source for the photo and how you were able to date it? It is a larger version of the very same photo I posted above that had been dated “circa 1973” on Roger Ebert’s website.
Here’s a clipping that RobertR posted over on the Gaiety Burlesk page:
Deep Throat & Devil – 1975
Look at the bottom right and you’ll see “Deep Throat” and “Devil in Miss Jones” advertised at the Avon 7 just a few doors down from the Frisco. It would seem unlikely that the Avon would run the these two titles concurrently with a theater only a few doors down – or if so, that both theaters wouldn’t be mentioned in the advertisement. That puts a gaping hole in my description above of a continuous run for this double bill at the Frisco through the early 80’s. Did the Frisco feature other films during this hiatus or was it temporarily shut-down for some reason?
If anyone has any thing to share on this one, it’d be appreciated!
Some more peripheral info…
The 1982 movie clock posted above also lists a “49St. Playhouse Burlesk” that I cannot identify. I found in my research for this theater that the two buildings on this block closest to 49th Street (#734-38 and #740) are both owned by Farmore Realy, Inc., which had been previously known as Sweetheart Theatres, Inc. Now, Sweetheart Theatres was the company that ran both the Anco Theater on 42nd Street and the Big Apple Theater on Seventh Ave off 43rd in the 1980’s at a time when both were XXX. It is possible that the Frisco was one of their properties, occupying the 734-38 building and that the 49St. Playhouse was located in the corner property at 740 Seventh Ave, which has an aka address of 200 W. 49th Street.
As I mentioned in the theater description above, World 49 Street Theater Corp owned the building at 732 Seventh at some point. That building runs all the way back to a much wider frontage on Broadway and has an aka of 1604 Broadway. Lost Memory was able to find a number of C of O’s for the building that reference motion picture theater occupancy on various floors with various seating capacities. They range from the 1969 certificate for the 130-seat New Mini Cinema at 732 Seventh that may have evolved into the Frisco as well as multiple certificates from 1969 and into the 1970’s and ‘80’s for a 440 seat theater on the ground floor and a 200 seat theater on the 2nd floor both at the 1604 B'way address. We believe these C of O’s are for the Circus Cinema and Big Top Theaters that are listed at that address. C of O searches for 734-38 and 740 Seventh Ave reveal no approvals for theater or cabaret occupancy, despite the ownership by Sweetheart Theaters.
Here’s a tiny photo showing the Frisco marquee circa 1973. Note the marquee for the Avon 7 further down the block at #724 Seventh Ave. Empoying the very unscientific method of counting doorways between the Avon and the Frisco, it would seem that #732 would be a very good bet for the address of the Frisco.
Here are a pair of early 1980’s movie clocks listing the long-running twin bill of XXX classics at the Frisco:
NY Post 12/11/80
NY Post 3/10/82
I’m not sure when the run finally ended or when the Frisco closed its doors, but I find no listings for the theater in editions of the NY Post or Daily News I have from 1985 and 1986.