Was this place actually ever a movie theatre? If so, when? I was under the impression it was a concert hall throughout its life until the Philadelphia Orchestra moved to the Kimmel Arts Center and it began to be used for Broadway shows.
I remember making a point of driving here on a cross-country trip just to see the theatre in July of 1973, two years after the release of the film in 1971. I took a couple of photos of the exterior.
One of the first movies I saw at the Art was Michelangelo Antonioni’s gorgeous color experiment “The Red Desert” with Monica Vitti and Richard Harris. The film had previously opened at the Beekman in February of 1965 and had a subsequent run here.
The cinema never found a true identity and did combinations of first run, second run, art house, revival programs. I saw a fair number of films here including “Torch Song Trilogy” in January of 1989. It could have become something special, given the location near Harvard, if it had been intelligently programmed and enthusiastically managed but instead it evolved into just another boring blah place.
I just took the trouble (no trouble, actually) of listing the theatre with just some rudimentary information. Hopefully, folks will add to that listing once it appears. Now, if someone beat me to it, it shall appear twice!
“But I don’t remember 2001 being at that theater, I thought it opened at the Pilgim, same block of the street.”
—-It did in fact open at the Boston Cinerama. I saw it there in 1968. The Pilgrim was 2nd run at the time. You can consult the Globe microfilm to verify.
In the summer of 1988, while studying in Siena, I visited this cinema with colleagues. I saw Francesco Rosi’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” in a wonderful CinemaScope-ratio print. It was so good I went back again. I also caught a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo e Giulietta” which was shown, to my horror, in a substandard video projection.
Yes, I too was surprised this wasn’t listed, and so I listed it. It is one of New York’s most ESSENTIAL cinemas for informed and caring film-goers…along with Film Forum and the Walter Reade Theatre, and a few others. I too have seen many great programs here, and I am not from New York, but I have been to the place many times indeed in the last quarter-century. How about Gianni Amelio’s “Stolen Children,” and “Lamerica” for starters? The revivals of Satyajit Ray’s masterpieces in pristine new prints were highlights. Seeing “Pather Panchali” again here in that series was an overwhelming experience.
Many worthwhile films play here besides those that have great popular appeal even among foreign and independent film buffs. The shattering Iranian “A Time for Drunken Horses” is one such movie. In the late 1980s the Taviani Brothers' “Kaos” opened on two screens but didn’t draw the audiences to support that decision. Yet it remains a masterpiece of the modern Italian cinema.
In the initial weeks of Michael Moore’s acclaimed “Fahrenheit 9/11” it was almost impossible to get near the theatre, depite the fact that the movie was playing on at least three of the screens.
Most of the foreign films that open here play for the first time in the United States, are reviewed, and go on to other cities. Its performance at the Lincoln Plaza often determines a film’s success elsewhere.
A “cinema treasure” means to me not just an architectural wonder, glorious surroundings, or a huge screen. Sure, we all respond to those things and it anguishes us to see them perish, often through wanton destruction. But let it be known that a “cinema treasure” can be a small plain place like this that “merely” shows fantastic movies. There is nothing mere about the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.
I believe I was actually here only once, in 1986, when it was a repertory cinema. The film I caught was Jacques Rivette’s “Love on the Ground” with Jane Birkin and Geraldine Chaplin.
I saw “Top Gun” here in 1986, the only time I was ever there, and remember the Regency I as an very attractive place, despite the descriptive comments above.
I have a note to myself that I saw the Japanese film “Four Sisters” (“Shimaizaka”, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi) here in July of 1986. It was the only time I ever visited the theatre. Do any Angeleno film buffs know if this place is still around?
For a time in the 1980s the Palace was re-christened “Playhouse ‘85” and showed mainstream films. In June of 1986 I saw William Friedkin’s God-awful “To Live and Die in L.A.” at the Playhouse '85.
When the twin-screened Pastime was still open, it was the closest movie theatre to the residence of actor Anthony Quinn who lived on Poppasquash Road. I don’t know if he actually ever went to the theatre, possibly yes, since he often frequented some of the local dining and shopping establishments in Bristol. After Quinn’s death in 2001, the Pastime showed “Zorba the Greek” as a tribute to one of Bristol’s most noted residents.
I knew the one-time owner of the theatre, Al Bilodeau, who also owned the Castle and Cable Car in Providence as well as the Bristol Cinemas (Pastime) and I remember being shown the very spacious projection booth. Mr. Bilodeau also owns the antique store in Warren that was formerly the Lyric Theatre of many decades ago. When actor Anthony Quinn lived in nearby Bristol, he used to visit that antique store occasionally.
My only visit to the Walker (I’m from R.I.) was on October 23, 1978 when I went out by subway to see two Italian films that were showing there. The theatre was still single-screen. It seemed a impressive place though a slightly dingy one at the time. For the record the films were “Totosexy” with the popular Italian comic performer Totò and Mario Camerini’s “Il Brigante Musolino,” about a bandit from Calabria. It starred Amedeo Nazzari and Silvana Mangano.
Yes, this place is indeed a bargain! Sometimes it happens that a film is still playing here and does good business AFTER coming out on DVD. It’s cheaper to see it here on a sizable screen than rent it on DVD. Even the admission price for two people makes it comparative deal. And so many movie choices!
Some history: during the 1960s when it opened as the Four Seasons, with only two screens, I believe, they had 70mm capability and you could see some major first-run releases here. I remember “The Great Race,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and a revival of the 70mm widescreen adaptation of “Gone With the Wind” here…and many many others. At least one of their screens was used for art-house fare for a considerable time, premiering such movies as Fellini’s “Juliet of the Spirits” and Cassavetes' “Faces.” They tried that again after the Cinerama closed in the early 1980s but it didn’t last long.
Good news! It was announced in the Hartford Courant that the theatre is in fact re-opening under new management as “ART@Cinema City."
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Michael, I can be reached at
Michael, I’d be glad to scan it and email the scan to you and slow-mail the photo back. E-mail me using the member list e-mail feature.
Was this place actually ever a movie theatre? If so, when? I was under the impression it was a concert hall throughout its life until the Philadelphia Orchestra moved to the Kimmel Arts Center and it began to be used for Broadway shows.
I remember making a point of driving here on a cross-country trip just to see the theatre in July of 1973, two years after the release of the film in 1971. I took a couple of photos of the exterior.
One of the first movies I saw at the Art was Michelangelo Antonioni’s gorgeous color experiment “The Red Desert” with Monica Vitti and Richard Harris. The film had previously opened at the Beekman in February of 1965 and had a subsequent run here.
The cinema never found a true identity and did combinations of first run, second run, art house, revival programs. I saw a fair number of films here including “Torch Song Trilogy” in January of 1989. It could have become something special, given the location near Harvard, if it had been intelligently programmed and enthusiastically managed but instead it evolved into just another boring blah place.
The theatre is now listed at:
/theaters/7894/
A number of comments have already been posted on this theatre under the news section:
http://cinematreasures.org/news/11954_0_1_0_C/
I just took the trouble (no trouble, actually) of listing the theatre with just some rudimentary information. Hopefully, folks will add to that listing once it appears. Now, if someone beat me to it, it shall appear twice!
“But I don’t remember 2001 being at that theater, I thought it opened at the Pilgim, same block of the street.”
—-It did in fact open at the Boston Cinerama. I saw it there in 1968. The Pilgrim was 2nd run at the time. You can consult the Globe microfilm to verify.
Will someone who knows the short history of this place please list it?
In the summer of 1988, while studying in Siena, I visited this cinema with colleagues. I saw Francesco Rosi’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” in a wonderful CinemaScope-ratio print. It was so good I went back again. I also caught a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo e Giulietta” which was shown, to my horror, in a substandard video projection.
And I believe the Talbot-founded distributorship New Yorker Films is nearby on West 61st Street.
Yes, I too was surprised this wasn’t listed, and so I listed it. It is one of New York’s most ESSENTIAL cinemas for informed and caring film-goers…along with Film Forum and the Walter Reade Theatre, and a few others. I too have seen many great programs here, and I am not from New York, but I have been to the place many times indeed in the last quarter-century. How about Gianni Amelio’s “Stolen Children,” and “Lamerica” for starters? The revivals of Satyajit Ray’s masterpieces in pristine new prints were highlights. Seeing “Pather Panchali” again here in that series was an overwhelming experience.
Many worthwhile films play here besides those that have great popular appeal even among foreign and independent film buffs. The shattering Iranian “A Time for Drunken Horses” is one such movie. In the late 1980s the Taviani Brothers' “Kaos” opened on two screens but didn’t draw the audiences to support that decision. Yet it remains a masterpiece of the modern Italian cinema.
In the initial weeks of Michael Moore’s acclaimed “Fahrenheit 9/11” it was almost impossible to get near the theatre, depite the fact that the movie was playing on at least three of the screens.
Most of the foreign films that open here play for the first time in the United States, are reviewed, and go on to other cities. Its performance at the Lincoln Plaza often determines a film’s success elsewhere.
A “cinema treasure” means to me not just an architectural wonder, glorious surroundings, or a huge screen. Sure, we all respond to those things and it anguishes us to see them perish, often through wanton destruction. But let it be known that a “cinema treasure” can be a small plain place like this that “merely” shows fantastic movies. There is nothing mere about the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.
I remember going to this cinema for close to fifteen years in a row for the annual Montréal World Film Festival. Saw a lot of great films when I had the desire to watch movies from 9 A.M. until after midnight. I remember many celebrities on hand to introduce films or speak to patrons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Shelley Winters, Kathryn Grayson.) I remember the superb projection in a variety of formats, meticulous attention to aspect ratios and appropriate screen masking.
This was the first place I saw the uncut version of Bertolucci’s “Novecento” (dubbed in French and not part of the Festival.) It was the North American première of that version. I don’t like the idea of multiplexing historic theatres like the Princess, but this place had character, and each of the auditoriums was well-appointed and attractive. I haven’t been there in years.
I believe I was actually here only once, in 1986, when it was a repertory cinema. The film I caught was Jacques Rivette’s “Love on the Ground” with Jane Birkin and Geraldine Chaplin.
I saw “Top Gun” here in 1986, the only time I was ever there, and remember the Regency I as an very attractive place, despite the descriptive comments above.
I have a note to myself that I saw the Japanese film “Four Sisters” (“Shimaizaka”, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi) here in July of 1986. It was the only time I ever visited the theatre. Do any Angeleno film buffs know if this place is still around?
For a time in the 1980s the Palace was re-christened “Playhouse ‘85” and showed mainstream films. In June of 1986 I saw William Friedkin’s God-awful “To Live and Die in L.A.” at the Playhouse '85.
Along with the Paris, the Beekman is the only other remaining single-screen example in Manhattan of what has been traditionally named the “art house”…although some very carefully selected mainstream films have also played here over the decades. In 1961 Antonioni’s “L'Avventura” was the filmic-reflection-about-the-angst-of-our-times-over-espresso that opened here, panned by Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, but going on to make legendary status on many best-films-of-all-times lists. Jules Dassin’s “He Who Must Die” on the other hand opened here in 1958 to a rave review by that critic but is all but unknown now. Over the years I had the chance to see a good number of films at this fine theatre. Satyajit Ray’s Indian famine film “Distant Thunder” made an impression in 1973, De Sica’s “A Special Day” with Mastroianni and Loren in 1977. I saw Woody Allen’s “Zelig” to a packed matinée house in 1983. My most recent visit was to Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” a few months ago.
When the twin-screened Pastime was still open, it was the closest movie theatre to the residence of actor Anthony Quinn who lived on Poppasquash Road. I don’t know if he actually ever went to the theatre, possibly yes, since he often frequented some of the local dining and shopping establishments in Bristol. After Quinn’s death in 2001, the Pastime showed “Zorba the Greek” as a tribute to one of Bristol’s most noted residents.
I knew the one-time owner of the theatre, Al Bilodeau, who also owned the Castle and Cable Car in Providence as well as the Bristol Cinemas (Pastime) and I remember being shown the very spacious projection booth. Mr. Bilodeau also owns the antique store in Warren that was formerly the Lyric Theatre of many decades ago. When actor Anthony Quinn lived in nearby Bristol, he used to visit that antique store occasionally.
My only visit to the Walker (I’m from R.I.) was on October 23, 1978 when I went out by subway to see two Italian films that were showing there. The theatre was still single-screen. It seemed a impressive place though a slightly dingy one at the time. For the record the films were “Totosexy” with the popular Italian comic performer Totò and Mario Camerini’s “Il Brigante Musolino,” about a bandit from Calabria. It starred Amedeo Nazzari and Silvana Mangano.
Yes, this place is indeed a bargain! Sometimes it happens that a film is still playing here and does good business AFTER coming out on DVD. It’s cheaper to see it here on a sizable screen than rent it on DVD. Even the admission price for two people makes it comparative deal. And so many movie choices!
Some history: during the 1960s when it opened as the Four Seasons, with only two screens, I believe, they had 70mm capability and you could see some major first-run releases here. I remember “The Great Race,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and a revival of the 70mm widescreen adaptation of “Gone With the Wind” here…and many many others. At least one of their screens was used for art-house fare for a considerable time, premiering such movies as Fellini’s “Juliet of the Spirits” and Cassavetes' “Faces.” They tried that again after the Cinerama closed in the early 1980s but it didn’t last long.