Riverside Theatre

2561 Broadway,
New York, NY 10025

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Fox Circuit, Shubert Brothers Theater Company, Skouras Theatres, United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.

Architects: Thomas White Lamb

Previous Names: Shubert Riverside Theatre, William Fox's Riverside Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Riverside Theatre exterior with the nearby Riviera Theatre

The Riverside Theatre was built for the Shubert Brothers and was opened by William Fox on December 9, 1911 with vaudeville and movie shorts. It was located next-door to the Riviera Theatre, which has another theatre in the same building called the Japanese Gardens. All three theatres were designed by Thomas W. Lamb. The Riverside Theatre could seat 1,710. In 1912 an open-air roof theatre opened on top of the Riverside Theatre. The Riverside Theatre along with the Riviera Theatre, was part of the so-called “Subway Circuit” of legitimate houses in its earlier years.

In its later years, the Riverside Theatre (and Riviera Theatre) were part of the Skouras Theaters Corp. chain and later United Artists chain. Closed around May 1974, all four theatres have long ago been razed, and an apartment tower sits on the site today.

Contributed by Jean

Recent comments (view all 49 comments)

mfarricker_1
mfarricker_1 on June 25, 2014 at 2:34 pm

Movieplace I don’t know if you saw my notes under the “pictures” comments. If not, look under the photo of the Riverside marquee featuring Woody Allen’s movies. I’ve been trying to retrieve the comments I sent during the period when the cinema treasures site was down. So far, no luck. P.S. I spoke to my son about your tours and gave him your email address. He does a great deal of entertaining, so he may be interested. Manhattan Marty.

mfarricker_1
mfarricker_1 on July 18, 2014 at 2:09 pm

FOR MOVIEPLACE
I finally remembered the name of the little side street
where Bogart lived as a boy.
It’s called Pomander Walk.
Am I correct or not?
Manhattan Marty.

Movieplace
Movieplace on July 19, 2014 at 2:34 am

When Bogart was a kid, from the time he was born until his late teens or early 20’s, he lived at 245 West 103. That was his parents brownstone. His father was a surgeon and his mother was a suffragist and illustrator. I am not clear when he actually moved out as he used the 245 W. 103 address on his marriage license when he married the actress Helen Menken, his first wife. He had this license for a while, almost 2 years if I remember this right. Anyway, Bogart lived at Pomander Walk with his first wife.

mfarricker_1
mfarricker_1 on July 19, 2014 at 4:18 am

For MOVIEPLACE Thanks for correcting me about the time line Bogart lived at Pomander Walk. I know that his mother was an illustrator. I heard that she did the illustration of the baby that appears on the Gerber Baby Food jars and she used baby Bogey as the model. True or not? Manhattan Marty.

Movieplace
Movieplace on July 19, 2014 at 5:18 am

Sorry Manhattan Marty, it was not Gerber’s. There is this long lived myth that not only did she draw the Gerber baby but Bogart is the baby. Although Bogart was a cute baby, he ain’t the Gerber Baby and that is not her work. There was another baby food company that she did do work for, but I cannot remember the name. How is the work going for your retrospective? Hope you are well.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on July 19, 2014 at 6:23 am

A number of Maud Humphrey’s illustrations can be seen on this web page. She illustrated a number of children’s books as well as drawing advertisements. Mellin’s Baby Food was among her clients.

mfarricker_1
mfarricker_1 on July 19, 2014 at 2:56 pm

For MOVIEPLACE Thanks again, for setting me straight about the Gerber baby. I was always a little suspect about that rumor. About me? Well, as far as I know, my part is done and I’m waiting to see what’s happening. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain some of my best work to include in the collection. Once a piece goes to a client, it’s usually gone forever and is difficult to recover. Now, comes the hard part,trying to clean up my studio which is upside down. I’m still enjoying your wonderful site. I found a photo and notes on West 100 Street, which once again brought back memories. We lived at 70 West 100 Street for a year or two. Central Park west was at the end of the block, where a clinic stood on the corner. It was called, the Reconstruction Clinic(real name?)and I was its main patient. Many horror stories I can relate. First, being that I never once received any anesthetic for any procedure. That’s okay, it only made us stronger. Be well and “I’ll see you at the movies.” Manhattan Marty.

mfarricker_1
mfarricker_1 on July 19, 2014 at 3:20 pm

For Joe Vogel. Thanks for posting the information about Maude Humphrey. I must confess that I never saw any of her work before and was delighted to peruse the samples you included. Her work is charming and certainly is a perfect example of nineteenth century illustration. Manhattan Marty.

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on April 3, 2018 at 3:47 pm

First opened as William Fox’s Riverside on Saturday night, December 9th, 1911, according to reports in Variety and Billboard. Presentations were primarily vaudeville, but with short films such as newsreels and comedies between the acts. The Riverside also had an open-air roof theatre which would debut in the spring of 1912.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 15, 2023 at 7:44 pm

They credited the CT Overview description, but this link also has the organ information and and enlargeable version of the top photo.

http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/RiversideTheatre.html

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