Unless the ‘new’ Paradise falls flat on its face – and, if it’s handled and appreciated well, it won’t – big-box retail use seems like something of a distant possibility at this point.
An impressive collection of mid-renovation photos of the exterior and interior of the Paradise, taken by Cinema Treasures member Roger Katz this past August, can be found at the following URL: http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=16520
A shame; what’s happening with the plans which were announced a couple of years ago to build a new multiplex in Westwood? Any news on that front? Were the plans quashed by the success of the Grove and Arclight and AMC’s new construction at Century City?
Here’s something I wondered about some time ago, but had forgotten about until Robert began adding listings for some of the seemingly lesser-known Times Square movie houses (the Cine 1 & 2, the Cine 42 Twin 1 & 2, and the MoviePlex 42) – why were the major studios so accomodating to allow the theatres on the Deuce to double-book their product with the chain houses (the Criterion, the Astor Plaza, the Embassy 1 and Embassy 2-3-4, among others)? Was it because the theatres on 42nd Street weren’t considered a threat to the chain sites? And why weren’t the 42nd Street theatres included in the newspaper print ad listings (beyond the newspaper-coordinated listings in the Post and Daily News)?
The MoviePlex 42, following several delays, opened for business on June 26, 1994 – the day after the Harris Theatre, the last of the 42nd Street grindhouses, ceased operating as such – and closed on March 15, 1996, its final six offerings being ‘Broken Arrow’, ‘City Hall’, ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’, ‘The Juror’, ‘Rumble in the Bronx’, and ‘Unforgettable’.
One of the more unique aspects of the MoviePlex 42 was its double bill policy – patrons could see one film in one auditorium, and then switch to a second film in a second auditorium. To accomodate this, features in all six of the auditoriums had the same starting times – 11:10 am, 1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:55, and 10:10, with 12:20 am late shows Fridays and Saturdays – the occasional exception to that schedule (and the double bill policy) being films with longer running times, such as ‘Casino’.
Currently, a Modell’s Sporting Goods location occupies the spot where the MoviePlex 42 once stood.
br91975
commented about
Cine 42on
Oct 6, 2004 at 11:14 pm
The New Amsterdam box office currently occupies the former Cine 42 Twin 1 & 2 space.
Easily the best art house experience in NYC. (The Angelika has the cool cache, the neat cafe, and a good selection of films, but the subway trains rumbling underneath the shoebox auditoriums, the lack of legroom, the cattle call in the lobby just before showtime… plain and simple, the Sunshine’s time is here…)
The MoviePlex 42 had six screens. Instead of being a traditional double-bill Deuce movie house, patrons could move from a film in one auditorium to another film in another auditorium (to accomodate this, all features – save for ones with longer running times, such as ‘Casino’, for example – had the same starting times… 11:10 am, 1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:55, and 10:10, with 12:20 am late shows on Fridays and Saturdays).
The Cine 42 had two screens, Robert. (As a matter of fact, for a time – in its final months/years, I forget which – it was formally renamed the Cine 42 Twin 1 & 2; the theatre ultimately closed sometime in ‘92.) I may be wrong about this but it might have been Richard Basciano, the owner of Show World, who may have been the operator of the 42nd Street movie houses pre-cleanup as it was one of his former porn palaces on the Deuce which was renovated as the short-lived MoviePlex 42 in the mid-'90s (and which also opened, following numerous delays, the day after the Harris closed in June of '94)…
Photos dated 1986 and 2001 of the exterior of the Times Square Theatre can be found on the cover of the book ‘Times Square Roulette’ by Lynne B. Sagalyn. (The boxy, 1950s era marquee that once broadcast the Times Square’s current attractions to Deuce passersby was removed in mid-April of 1996.)
‘Broadcast News’ and ‘Wall Street’ had extended runs at the Cine 1 & 2 in 1987-1988; if I’m not mistaken, one of the last films to show at the then-West Side Cinema 1 & 2 was that somehow Academy-neglected flick ‘Showdown in Little Tokyo’ in the fall of 1991.
The theatre you’re thinking of, Robert, was the Cine 42; the building which formerly housed it is presently occupied by the New Amsterdam box office; the Cinema 1 & 2 you make reference to, lostmemory, is (or was) the Cine 1 & 2.
Just out of curiosity, what’s the approximate seating capacity for each of the Coliseum’s four auditoriums? What’s the size of the screens – tiny, decent, medium, etc.?
Unless the ‘new’ Paradise falls flat on its face – and, if it’s handled and appreciated well, it won’t – big-box retail use seems like something of a distant possibility at this point.
‘Spy Kids 2’, ‘Undisputed’, and ‘XXX’ were the final offerings at the Nova – which became a triplex sometime in the early ‘90s – in August of 2002.
One of the films booked into the Paradise at the time of its closing in December of 1994 was the Clint Eastwood-Kevin Costner flick ‘A Perfect World’.
An impressive collection of mid-renovation photos of the exterior and interior of the Paradise, taken by Cinema Treasures member Roger Katz this past August, can be found at the following URL: http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=16520
As depressing a sight as they’d provide, I wonder if any photos exist of the Keith’s auditorium in its present state…
Some post-modernization shots of the Loew’s Capitol interior can be found at the following URL: View link
Some post-twinning exterior and interior shots of the Loew’s State can be found via the following URL: View link
Does anything remain of the Esquire’s interior, beyond some semblance of the former box office?
A shame; what’s happening with the plans which were announced a couple of years ago to build a new multiplex in Westwood? Any news on that front? Were the plans quashed by the success of the Grove and Arclight and AMC’s new construction at Century City?
The exterior of the Olympic is briefly visible in a current TV commercial for the Nissan Altima.
Here’s something I wondered about some time ago, but had forgotten about until Robert began adding listings for some of the seemingly lesser-known Times Square movie houses (the Cine 1 & 2, the Cine 42 Twin 1 & 2, and the MoviePlex 42) – why were the major studios so accomodating to allow the theatres on the Deuce to double-book their product with the chain houses (the Criterion, the Astor Plaza, the Embassy 1 and Embassy 2-3-4, among others)? Was it because the theatres on 42nd Street weren’t considered a threat to the chain sites? And why weren’t the 42nd Street theatres included in the newspaper print ad listings (beyond the newspaper-coordinated listings in the Post and Daily News)?
The MoviePlex 42, following several delays, opened for business on June 26, 1994 – the day after the Harris Theatre, the last of the 42nd Street grindhouses, ceased operating as such – and closed on March 15, 1996, its final six offerings being ‘Broken Arrow’, ‘City Hall’, ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’, ‘The Juror’, ‘Rumble in the Bronx’, and ‘Unforgettable’.
One of the more unique aspects of the MoviePlex 42 was its double bill policy – patrons could see one film in one auditorium, and then switch to a second film in a second auditorium. To accomodate this, features in all six of the auditoriums had the same starting times – 11:10 am, 1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:55, and 10:10, with 12:20 am late shows Fridays and Saturdays – the occasional exception to that schedule (and the double bill policy) being films with longer running times, such as ‘Casino’.
Currently, a Modell’s Sporting Goods location occupies the spot where the MoviePlex 42 once stood.
The New Amsterdam box office currently occupies the former Cine 42 Twin 1 & 2 space.
The final two films booked into the Olympia were ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ and Steven Soderbergh’s remake of Tarkovsky’s ‘Solaris’.
Easily the best art house experience in NYC. (The Angelika has the cool cache, the neat cafe, and a good selection of films, but the subway trains rumbling underneath the shoebox auditoriums, the lack of legroom, the cattle call in the lobby just before showtime… plain and simple, the Sunshine’s time is here…)
You’re right, Dave, it was, but I wonder how he got control of that old Basciano-owned porn house which became the MoviePlex 42…
The MoviePlex 42 had six screens. Instead of being a traditional double-bill Deuce movie house, patrons could move from a film in one auditorium to another film in another auditorium (to accomodate this, all features – save for ones with longer running times, such as ‘Casino’, for example – had the same starting times… 11:10 am, 1:20, 3:30, 5:40, 7:55, and 10:10, with 12:20 am late shows on Fridays and Saturdays).
The Cine 42 had two screens, Robert. (As a matter of fact, for a time – in its final months/years, I forget which – it was formally renamed the Cine 42 Twin 1 & 2; the theatre ultimately closed sometime in ‘92.) I may be wrong about this but it might have been Richard Basciano, the owner of Show World, who may have been the operator of the 42nd Street movie houses pre-cleanup as it was one of his former porn palaces on the Deuce which was renovated as the short-lived MoviePlex 42 in the mid-'90s (and which also opened, following numerous delays, the day after the Harris closed in June of '94)…
Photos dated 1986 and 2001 of the exterior of the Times Square Theatre can be found on the cover of the book ‘Times Square Roulette’ by Lynne B. Sagalyn. (The boxy, 1950s era marquee that once broadcast the Times Square’s current attractions to Deuce passersby was removed in mid-April of 1996.)
‘Broadcast News’ and ‘Wall Street’ had extended runs at the Cine 1 & 2 in 1987-1988; if I’m not mistaken, one of the last films to show at the then-West Side Cinema 1 & 2 was that somehow Academy-neglected flick ‘Showdown in Little Tokyo’ in the fall of 1991.
The theatre you’re thinking of, Robert, was the Cine 42; the building which formerly housed it is presently occupied by the New Amsterdam box office; the Cinema 1 & 2 you make reference to, lostmemory, is (or was) the Cine 1 & 2.
Just out of curiosity, what’s the approximate seating capacity for each of the Coliseum’s four auditoriums? What’s the size of the screens – tiny, decent, medium, etc.?
It’s a flat marquee, Robert, about five years old, and on the front of the building, directly above the theatre entrance.
A view of the Plaza’s marquee – pre-Walgreen’s-engineered alterations – can be seen by clicking on the link below:
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/11277089/
To follow up on Robert’s comment from August 30th, the Battery Park City Stadium 11 was also rechristened as a Regal site.