Roxy Theatre
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
83 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Walter W. Ahlschlager
Styles: Spanish Baroque, Spanish Renaissance
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News About This Theater
- Jan 22, 2010 — Historic Montauk Theatre could be destroyed
- Jan 22, 2010 — Color drawings of the interiors of historic theatres for sale
- May 13, 2009 — My career as a movie theater manager
- Sep 9, 2008 — Remembering Cinerama
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then one look at photos of this palatial movie palace is worth about a million. Often cited as the most impressive movie palace ever built, the Roxy Theatre was called “The Cathedral of the Motion Picture” by its creator and namesake, Samuel ‘Roxy’ Rothafel. Roxy was arguably the greatest showmen of his time and he built a theatre that has seemingly outlasted his own legend.
With its 6,214 seats and multi-tiered balconies, the Roxy Theatre was the showplace of New York City and of the nation. Construction began on March 22, 1926 and it opened on March 11, 1927 with a world premiere presentation of United Artists “The Loves of Sonya” starring Gloria Swanson. It was designed by architect Walter W. Ahlschlager of Chicago (who also designed New York’s Beacon Theatre), with interior decoration by Harold W. Rambusch of New York. Its rather modest entrance at the corner of the Taft Hotel building disguised one of the most cavernous lobbies ever built and a magnificent auditorium that has lived on in its patrons' imagination. Whatever adjectives can be used for the Roxy Theatre, they all fail to signify the theatre’s achievement.
The Roxy Theatre was equipped with three Kimball organs. The auditorium organ had 29 ranks installed under the stage and 3 ‘fanfare’ ranks above the proscenium. This magnificent instrument had three consoles. The main console had 5 manuals and was opened by organist C.A.J. Parmentier, while the two 3 manual consoles were opened by organists Dezso Von D'Antalffy and Emile Velazco. There was also a Kimball organ in the Grand Foyer Rotunda which had 3 manuals and was opened by organist Lew White. A 2 manual Kimball organ was located in the theatres' recording studio located on the roof above the proscenium. There was an 110-piece Roxy Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Erno Rapee.
On September 1, 1953 the Roxy Theatre was equipped with CinemaScope and a curved screen 65ft wide and 26ft tall was installed to screen a formal international showing of “The Robe” starring Richard Burton. The world premiere of the movie was held at the Roxy Theatre the following evening. Sadly this brought an end to stage shows as part of the program. On April 9, 1958 it was equipped with Cinemiracle to screen “Windjammer” on a curved screen 100ft wide and 40ft tall. Sadly, the decline in attendance that had begun in the 1950’s spilled over into the early-1960’s and the Roxy Theatre closed with Dirk Bogarde in “The Wind Cannot Read” which began its run on March 9, 1960. Despite numerous protests, it was razed in the summer of 1960 and demolition was completed by the end of 1960. In its place sits a nondescript and unremarkable office building. The neighboring Taft Hotel survives to this day (now the Michelangelo Hotel) and is the only evidence that this epic structure was ever here. A TGI Friday’s restaurant (closed by August 2022) and a KFC restaurant (later Dunkin Donuts) occupied the theatres' original entrance.
The legacy of the Roxy Theatre is almost as impressive as the theatre itself once was. The name ‘Roxy’ has since adorned movie theatres, nightclubs, restaurants and a host of other establishments around the world all attempting to give to their patrons what Roxy always brought to his own: entertainment.
The end of the Roxy Theatre signified the beginning of the end for thousands of movie palaces across the country. With its destruction, New York City began to destroy its past for urban renewal and the city, and movie palaces, have never been the same.
Contributed by
Cinema Treasures
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Recent comments (view all 1,232 comments)
I think it was the Roxy. I remember reading it about thirty years ago in one of my books about movie theaters and even thought how convenient it was for a widescreen process to have a projection booth inside the front of a balcony to deliver almost horizontal projection and therefore avoiding the deformation induced by keystone projection. It was either “The Remaining Seats” from Ben Hall or “Hollywood’s Master Showman - The Legendary Sid Grauman” from Charles Beardsley. Can’t check now because I don’t have my books right here.
I just checked the Rivoli’s page on Cinema Treasures including photos and it’s definitely NOT the theater I have in mind. It must have been the Roxy. There is even a programme picture posted here that shows the projection booth as I remember seeing it on a better picture in “The Best Remaining Seats”.
Interesting. I’ve never heard that about the Roxy. In terms of widescreen all I’ve ever heard about was The Robe.
“THE BIG TRAIL” premiered in 70mm GRANDEUR in October 1930 at the Roxy. “KISMET” opened the following week in 65mm at the Hollywood.
I posted loooong ago. But o do have a very large collection of stage shows at the Roxy during the early to mid 30’s. Thousands of negatives. Still, no one thinks they are worth anything. Amazing theatre. Wonderful time in NYC theatre history.
‘“THE BIG TRAIL” premiered in 70mm GRANDEUR in October 1930 at the Roxy. “KISMET” opened the following week in 65mm at the Hollywood.’
And they made no splash? All I’ve heard about was The Bat Whispers which I saw years ago at MOMA in its 70MM version and now it’s been released on bluray along with its 1.33(or is it 1.37?) version. I don’t remember them being discussed in Martin Hart’s Widescreen Museum. I’ll have to read that more closely. I somehow missed them. Do they still exist in 70?
My understanding is that although they were well received, theatres across the country could not afford the retrofit during the depression and the technology got abandoned. After all, sound was still a challenge for many small town theatres in 1930.
DavidMShapass-Surely they must be of interest to The Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center or The Museum of the City of NY.
I’ve often wondered what happened to the films Leonidoff took of the stage shows at Radio City and the beautiful Impact photos that used to be on display outside the theater. I would give anything to see films of the big production numbers like Bolero, Serenade to the Stars, Court of Jewels, Rhapsody in Blue, The Great March, The Undersea Ballet, Milady’s Fan,…I did see a few of them on stage but most I did not.
I have pics of the stooges. Olsen and Johnson. Edgar Bergens first routine with Charlie Mcarthy ( Dr routine )
I just uploaded an illustration of the Fox Grandeur 70mm film to the photos section. Comparison of standard 35mm and 70mm films in the early 1930s. Both gauges feature an off-axis picture with a variable-density Movitone mono optical sound track to the left of the picture, as well as a four-perforation pulldown profile. The 70mm process portrayed here is Fox Grandeur for which the Roxy was equipped.