Scarsdale Plaza Theatre
70 Garth Road,
Scarsdale,
NY
10583
70 Garth Road,
Scarsdale,
NY
10583
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: B.S. Moss Enterprises, Cinecom, RKO
Architects: Cornelius Ward Rapp, George W. Leslie Rapp, Benjamin Schlanger
Firms: Rapp & Rapp
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Scarsdale Picture Theatre, Scarsdale Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The original Scarsdale Picture Theatre opened on November 22, 1920, with the exhibition of the D.W. Griffith drama, “The Love Flower”, and continued operating, featuring vaudeville acts and silent films, until closing after the stock market crash of 1929.
In 1931, after a half-million dollar investment by RKO, the theatre was reborn in its permanent location on Garth Road in Eastchester, near the Scarsdale border, as the Scarsdale Theatre. Designed by architects C.W. and George L. Rapp, the Art Deco style theatre seated 1,149 and featured unique wood detailing on its marquee and interior.
The theatre, which had, in 1942, featured a live performance starring Ethel Barrymore and Gloria Swanson, and was allegedly frequented by Paul and Linda McCartney, John Lithgow, and Judy Garland with daughter Liza Minnelli, was closed in 1988.
The theatre reopened for a time in 1996 and but closed on September 24, 1998 with Drew Barrymore in “Ever After:A Cinderella Story” before being shuttered for good. Despite the attempts of some locals to preserve the historic theatre, it was razed in 2002 to make way for Scarsdale Commons, a $15 million, 42 unit luxury apartment complex.
Contributed by
Damien Farley
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
I worked as an usher there during the summer of ‘85.. the films were dirt cheap, and the place was always packed on the weekends.. There were the usual problems with pest control.. Rats in the cellar, etc,
It had a huge staircase leading to the balcony..overall one of the last symbols of enjoyable moviegoing that has long vanished.. in favor of the big, noisy multiplexes..
As a small kid about 1947 I remember the usherettes blouses said
“Skouras Theaters” on the pockets, which a parent told me meant the theater was controlled by 20th Century-Fox. Not for long, though, as the Studios were already under order of the Courts to divest themselves of their theaters. By ‘49 or so the place was dark until
Brecher reopened it in 1951 as “The Plaza In Scarsdale” named after his flagship theater in Manhattan. First film was “The Great Caruso"
and the place was packed!
It was the old theater, not a new one, but had been spruced up and looked good until the '60’s and '70’s when subsequent managements let the place go. Final nails in the coffin: the heating and AC systems went paws up, not meeting code requirements and that was that. A sad end, but what else is new?
In one of the histories of Scarsdale I read that the"Scarsdale
Picture Theater" was located at the northeast corner Of Popham Road
and Depot Place – the road leading to the Scarsdale Metro North
south bound railroad platform. It’s my conjecture that, besides the
oncoming depression of 1929, this theater’s demise was hastened by the cost and need to convert to sound movies.
The “new” 1931 theater that many of us remember was located across Popham Road and 300 feet or so going south up Garth Road, just over
the Eastchester border.
My cousin lived further up on Garth Road. I use to pass the theatre many times. I remember going there back in the 1990’s. Bob Miller gave excellent info.
In the late 1970s, the Scarsdale Plaza had an admission policy of 99 cents at all times. I remember they had a bowl of pennies at the box office to use for change.
Also, there are scenes in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” that were filmed in the lobby concession stand area of this area.
I grew up on Garth Road in the early 1970s and my Mother would walk me and my sisters all over the area. She took us to see films at this lovely theater on a number of occasions during this time…Disney classics such as SNOW WHITE and ALICE IN WONDERLAND, as well as first run of MAME with Lucille Ball. I remember seeing ‘one-sheets’ displayed for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED (although I wasn’t taken to see those.) As a child, I always dreamed of buying and running vintage films in this theater. My heart truly broke when it was torn down to make way for yet more apartments. A beautiful part of Scarsdale and cinema history died when that was allowed to happen.
Come on fellow Scarsdale Plaza Theater fans. Don’t you remember: One Western Two cartoons A serial a feature and throwing popcorn off the balcony. We would wear our cowboy outfits to see Hopalong Cassidy. With real cap guns, remember those? Kids today just don’t know about real fun. Anybody for Playland?
Ben Schlanger was the architect of a redesign of teh Scarsdale Theater in 1950 and even helped develop its new screen (see photo).
It appears that the Scarsdale Plaza Theatre closed on September 24, 1998 with “Ever After: A Cinderella Story”. I don’t know if the theater continued to operate after because of “Call Theatre For Showtimes” being listed afterward into as late as February 1999.
Once operated by Cinecom.