Plaza Theatre
42 E. 58th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
42 E. 58th Street,
New York,
NY
10022
19 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 167 comments
For most of its life, The Plaza was the flagship of Brecher Theaters, Inc., the family chain that my grandfather, Leo Brecher, founded in 1917. My dad, Walter, 1913-2007, used to tell me about sitting on the lap of a woman named Polly as she sold tickets from the front glass booth. White-gloved matrons served coffee in china cups to patrons in the loge, certainly through the 1950s. In its early days, the Plaza boasted its own top-notch orchestra, and patrons dressed as if for the opera. The place billed itself as “Smarter New York’s Favorite Theater.‘’
Please update, theatre closed February 1, 1996
Never hard to find…a mature booking policy of mostly independent or smaller studio films (a mix of UA and Fox)…Saw Viva Maria, Flim Flam Man, Alfredo Alfredo, Finzi Contini, Bird, Round Midnight among others here
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I admit I tend to repeat myself but for someone who might be reading the intro for the first time I just wanted to make the point the Plaza was never hard to find.
…almost 3 years later to the day and we’re still having the “hard-to-find” conversation! Funny.
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to Al A. thanks for your seconding my thought that the
Plaza was by no means “hard to find” as stated in the intro.
again since the address was clearly stated in the ads for
whatever film anyone who could see should have had no trouble
finding it.
in tis last years of operation whenever I went it was always well attended. so why did it close? this is especially perplexing since they didn’t demolish the building.
also my fondest memory of the Plaza. I went to see the highly acclaimed film Hester Street and was sitting in the downstairs lobby which I am sure you agree was gorgeous waiting for the next showing to begin. I was chatting with an older couple in the few minutes I was waiting. when we went up after the previous audience and left I suddenly realized who the older gentleman was I had been chatting with- Richard Rodgers.
“Hard to find” is not really accurate. The problem was that patrons expected it to be at the Plaza Hotel and would show up at the Paris or Cinema 3 at showtime looking for the Plaza movie they wanted.
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i object to the statement in the intro that this theater
was “hard to find”. how in God’s name was it hard to find
when the address was clearly stated in the ads?
I just posted a fantastic 1929 photo of the Plaza! Have a look…amazing! Thank you, NYPL.
Came here in 1965 on my first date to New York City from lower Westchester at age 15! First to Reuben’s down the street for a meal, then over to the Plaza Theater on 58th St. We saw “The Knack” with Rita Tushingham. I am so blessed to have a good memory because I never want to forget any of it. There is no place like New York City.
When the Plaza joined the Rugoff – Cinema 5 group, the roster of theatres also included the Murray Hill, the 5th Avenue Cinema, the Art & the 8th St. Playhouse. There was fierce competition with Walter Reade Sterling in the showcasing of the international “art house” films. As jay58 has mentioned in earlier posts, the Rugoff corporate offices were around the corner from the Plaza at 595 Madison Ave. Oh, what I would have given to have lived next door to the Plaza!
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I still say if you knew the address the Plaza wasn’t “hard to find” per se but you bring up an interesting point. considering the Plaza and Paris had similar names and were close by I can see people forgetting which theater a film was playing at if they hadn’t written it down.
its kind of like the late but great Ziegfeld. once it’s closing was verified a number of people posted that part of the problem was it was out of the way, or off the beaten path etc….. but when the Ziegfeld was still used by the studios for exclusive runs of their big releases people had no trouble finding it then so why should they have had trouble finding it now.
speaking of which. I recently posted a question for the late Crystal Hall on 14 St. if anyone knows the answer I bet you do. thanks in advance.
I worked for Cineplex Odeon who once owned the Plaza and the Cinema 3. People were constanty going to the Paris and the Cinema 3 looking for the Plaza. Due to the long runs at all three theatres, even veteran New Yorkers couldn’t remember which was which. In the days of exclusive runs, cash tickets and long lines, believe me, it was a problem.
I agree completely…the Plaza wasn’t “hard to find.” The marquee was visible from Madison and Park Avenues and my family always used it as a landmark when we told people how to find our building. “Next door to the Plaza Theatre,” we said. Never a problem!
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I still say the description of the theater as “hard to find” is unwarranted. many of the films I saw there under the address said “between Madison and Park Aves.” I mean even a blind person could have found it.
as I said, they were in the immediate area, meaning the same neighborhood, known as the Upper East Side.
Cinema 3 was not really near Cinema 1 & 11. The Plaza Hotel was two blocks away from the Plaza Theatre and the Sutton was not really quite on Sutton Place. But that is New York for you.
Rugoff / Cinema V Theatres in the immediate area: Paris; Plaza; Sutton; Cinema I & II. Further downtown were the Beekman; Grammercy & Art.
Cinema 3 was diagonally across from the Paris Theatre
Many people went to the Plaza Hotel looking for it there.
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I frequently attended this theater. it often held the exclusive Manhattan engagements of many top American films and foreign films. it was not hard to find. i don’t know why the intro at top states so.
It was a real unique theatre, 1st movie I saw there was Big Trouble in Little China on 7/3/86 which was the day the movie came out.
Yes, Cinema 3 was indeed the brainchild of Donald Rugoff. Although I worked for C5Ltd in the post-Rugoff era, I don’t recall ever being in Cinema 3. Aside from its location and the fact that they took phone reservations I couldn’t tell you much more about it.
Hi, dave-bronx: How do you remember this stuff? I think that Cinema 3 was also a Rugoff creation, no?
Cinema 3 (with an Arabic 3, not Roman) was in the Plaza Hotel, in a former disco on the lower level in the northeast corner of the building. When the lease was up in the early 1990s the hotel had other plans for the space, I believe it became a health club, operated for the benefit of the hotel guests.