Loew's Delancey Theatre

It seems George Bernard Shaw knew the Loew’s Delancey. When he and Harpo Marx met on holiday on the French Riviera in 1928, the playwright “roared with laughter when Harpo lifted his beard, noted that he wore no tie underneath, and told him he could never get into the orchestra of the Loew’s Delancey because that theatre, which then catered mostly to Orthodox Jews, had a policy of making the same kind of examination and sending patrons sans ties up to the balcony.” From the very readable “George S. Kaufman and His Friends” by Scott Meredith (Doubleday, 1974, page 355).

I’ve found a now-month-old Matt Lambros blog post at https://afterthefinalcurtain.net/2023/09/14/loews-delancey-theatre-in-new-york-ny/ that includes three photos of the interior. “Originally posted on After the Final Curtain’s Patreon in January 2022.”

And now, the Sunshine is gone, too.

Circa 1962 photo added courtesy of the AmeriCar The Beautiful Facebook page. Marquee on the far right. Great pic if you like picking out automobiles.

AndrewBarrett: It has just occurred to me that johndousmanis was probably talking about standpipe pumps, which were part of a theater’s built-in firefighting equipment, required by law in New York. It wouldn’t have had anything to do with the organ. Standpipe is another name for a fire hydrant.

theatrefan: I’ve just noticed in Street View that there is a white square with an X through it painted on the front wall of the theater, with the words “ABOVE STORE.” I wonder if that could be an indication that the building is vacant above the first floor? It’s quite possible that in this neighborhood, which was very low rent for a long time, only the ground floor was ever converted for other uses.

No new windows have been cut into the upper parts of the walls, so it certainly wasn’t converted into offices. In fact a few old windows (maybe for the mezzanine lounge, manager’s office, or rest rooms) that must have been part of the original design have been sealed up. I’d say the chances are pretty good that something remains of the upper part of the theatre.

Dear Mr. Dousmanis and CinemaTreasures readers,
[By the way hello from a fellow AMICA member!] You mention being up in the upstairs part of this theatre, and specifically, “The top floors of the dressing rooms contained old air conditioning compressors and equipment. Well stripped by past junkies. There is more equipment under stage stand pipe pumps” Could any of this “equipment” or “pipe pumps” have been parts or pieces of the old Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ that was installed in this theatre?

According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by Mr. David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “Delancey Street Th.” in New York, New York, originally had a Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1921. This organ had a 5 horsepower Kinetic blower, serial #J169, which produced 10" of static wind pressure.

Although the book does not give the size (# of manuals, # of pipe ranks) of the organ (not known at the time of publication), my comparison of the data on known Smith organs shows that only the very largest organs the company built (10 to 16 ranks) had blowers that were 5 horsepower.

Most of the rest of the Smith organs that the various Smith companies installed from 1913-1928 (mostly 4 to 9 ranks) had blowers of 1 HP, 1 & ½ HP, 2 HP, and 3 HP sizes. Only a relative handful (about 10) of the 200 or so Smith organs built were known to have been 10 ranks or larger, or had a 5 HP or larger blower that would also indicate the size of the organ.

Does anybody know where the Seeburg-Smith organ from the Delancey Street Theatre, or its parts, is/are today? Thanks!

Still trying to find new pictures!

Bittersweet nostalgia. Growing up on the Lower East Side meant the Loew’s Delancey was the movie theater of choice during my teenage years during the 60’s. Although the Loew’s Canal theater was in close proximity, this theater was situated on a “main street” as it meant good food as well as convenient shopping (in addition to street fare on Orchard, Essex, Clinton.)

I remember watching James Bond double features, Von Ryan’s Express, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Duel at Diablo, A Guide for the Married Man, The Battle of The Bulge, to name a few (good movies.)

Strange, I remember movie going weekend afternoons with my adolescent friends, eating the food there, laughing, carrying on, but not being admonished by adults for doing so. I think kids made up all most of the audience during the day. As an aging adult, these days I couldn’t tolerate such a distraction.

Every time I past by and see the outer building it’s like looking at a ghostly hulk of a sunken ship. Quite heart breaking as this area still doesn’t have a decent movie complex in addition to empty undeveloped lots across the street.

For the past several years I’ve been getting ecstatic experiences of times past whenever I’ve gone to the restored Loew’s Jersey Theater (unashamed plug) in Jersey City, viewing classic films. The symmetry and decor inside is reminiscent of immense showcases like Delancey and the defunct 14 st. Academy of Music. The venue is a gigantic bonus to simply watching an old great film, say, as shown at Film Forum. The sound, the screen, all should be experienced by those with and without remembrances of what New York City used to have.

There was a movie made a long time ago with Marlo Thomas called Thieves (if I remember right) and she would say in the movie how she used to go to the Lowes Delancey. There is a brief shot of the interior of the theater, showing the stage and the asbestos fire curtain down halfway, the curtain had Lowes Delancey on it.

Relinking.

The Delancey Street Theatre was designed by architect S.S. Sugar, who also designed Loew’s Greeley Square Theatre. An item saying plans for the project had been filed was published in The New York Times of July 2, 1911.

Once again great old pictures and info.

Are there any pictures of part the marquee in the bar. Are there any other pictures of this theater, or is there a websit of the old movie theaters of the past of new york. Please let me know.

Thanks
Dan