Referring to a comment made on 9/10/2005, I believe Once Upon A Mattress played at the Orpheum Theate on 2ND and St. Marks Place before being moved up to a Broadway house. This is based purely on my memory for whatever thats worth.
After the roadshow of La Dolce Vita, I believe Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Roger Vadim played this house as well; I believe it was 2 performances a day but I’m not sure if seats were reserved or it was reserved performances.
I believe when those theatres orinally opened they were called Agee Screening Room 1 and 2 and had initially played independent and foreign films (mostly Spanish) for a few months and as Warren stated descended into porno.
If my memory is correct there was the Agee Twin Theatres on that same block some time in the mid 70"s which was also north of the Demille but I’m not sure if that became the Westside Cinema or not. I also believe the Agee Twin might have become the Mark 1 and 2 also not 100% psitive but relying on my memory…
I believe in the very early seventies this was the home of some of the Shaw Brothers Chinese films. I saw a fim there called Dynasty which could have been ‘72 or '73.
I believe that the first film that played the new D.W. Griffith Theatre was “The Connection” which was directed by Shirley Clarke and was adapted from the Off-Bdway play.
I remember going to this theatre in either May of ‘66 or '67 to see Ulysses by Joseph Strick on reserved seats; the adds for the theatre at that time called the theatre the Trans-Lux 85TH Street Cinema Cafe.
I lived a few blocks away from Peoples Cinema in the early thru mid 50"s and I can remember seeing many Western double bills with Hopilong Cassidy and Gene Autry plus a bunch of cartoons and maybe a serial thrown in as well. Theatre was located across the street from Betsy Head Park which contained a large city pool.
I believe the first film to play the new Demille Theatre in 1958 was a documentary called Behind The Great Wall which had been narrated by Chet Huntley..It was exhibited in a process named Aroma-rama which released differnt smells thru the air conditioning ducts of the theatre. A unique thing about attending this theatre was that you were able to smell the different scents of China for at least 10 years after that presentation.
If I remember correctly, when the theatre opened in 1969 weekend evening performances were supposed to be attended with men with sports coats and ties only and women in dresses, but I think this practice only lasted a week or two.
Grew up at 502 Williams Ave between Riverdale and Livonia and needless to say I went to this theatre almost every week; my friend’s uncle worked behind the candy counter there. As far as I remember, the theatre played day and date with the Pitkin from 1953 at least until mid ‘62. When Premier Showcase was initiated by United Artists things started to change drastically. The one thing I do recall that Wedsnday started a new double bill each week butif films didn’t do well they would be replaced on Monday for 2 days with a double bill of 2 lesser features. Any pictures of exterior or interior of this theatre would be greatly appreciated. My e-mail address is I also have a list of every double bill that played there from 1953 thru 1962 which is totally acurate and 1963 thru 1964 which is mostly accurate. Thank You, Harold Warshavsky
Leo, I tried sending you an e-mail but it was undeliverable 2 or 3 times so try sending me one at and we’ll talk
Referring to a comment made on 9/10/2005, I believe Once Upon A Mattress played at the Orpheum Theate on 2ND and St. Marks Place before being moved up to a Broadway house. This is based purely on my memory for whatever thats worth.
I believe this theatre sometime in the mid 60’s went by the name of Pineapple St. Cinema. This is totally based on my memories.
After the roadshow of La Dolce Vita, I believe Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Roger Vadim played this house as well; I believe it was 2 performances a day but I’m not sure if seats were reserved or it was reserved performances.
I believe when those theatres orinally opened they were called Agee Screening Room 1 and 2 and had initially played independent and foreign films (mostly Spanish) for a few months and as Warren stated descended into porno.
If my memory is correct there was the Agee Twin Theatres on that same block some time in the mid 70"s which was also north of the Demille but I’m not sure if that became the Westside Cinema or not. I also believe the Agee Twin might have become the Mark 1 and 2 also not 100% psitive but relying on my memory…
I believe in the very early seventies this was the home of some of the Shaw Brothers Chinese films. I saw a fim there called Dynasty which could have been ‘72 or '73.
I believe that the first film that played the new D.W. Griffith Theatre was “The Connection” which was directed by Shirley Clarke and was adapted from the Off-Bdway play.
I remember going to this theatre in either May of ‘66 or '67 to see Ulysses by Joseph Strick on reserved seats; the adds for the theatre at that time called the theatre the Trans-Lux 85TH Street Cinema Cafe.
I lived a few blocks away from Peoples Cinema in the early thru mid 50"s and I can remember seeing many Western double bills with Hopilong Cassidy and Gene Autry plus a bunch of cartoons and maybe a serial thrown in as well. Theatre was located across the street from Betsy Head Park which contained a large city pool.
I believe the first film to play the new Demille Theatre in 1958 was a documentary called Behind The Great Wall which had been narrated by Chet Huntley..It was exhibited in a process named Aroma-rama which released differnt smells thru the air conditioning ducts of the theatre. A unique thing about attending this theatre was that you were able to smell the different scents of China for at least 10 years after that presentation.
If I remember correctly, when the theatre opened in 1969 weekend evening performances were supposed to be attended with men with sports coats and ties only and women in dresses, but I think this practice only lasted a week or two.
Grew up at 502 Williams Ave between Riverdale and Livonia and needless to say I went to this theatre almost every week; my friend’s uncle worked behind the candy counter there. As far as I remember, the theatre played day and date with the Pitkin from 1953 at least until mid ‘62. When Premier Showcase was initiated by United Artists things started to change drastically. The one thing I do recall that Wedsnday started a new double bill each week butif films didn’t do well they would be replaced on Monday for 2 days with a double bill of 2 lesser features. Any pictures of exterior or interior of this theatre would be greatly appreciated. My e-mail address is I also have a list of every double bill that played there from 1953 thru 1962 which is totally acurate and 1963 thru 1964 which is mostly accurate. Thank You, Harold Warshavsky