Royal Theatre
655 10th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10036
655 10th Avenue,
New York,
NY
10036
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Opened in 1918, the Royal Theatre was a rather posh name for a small, late-run movie house that served residents of what was then known as “Hell’s Kitchen”, one of Manhattan’s roughest and toughest neighborhoods. It was located at the intersection of 10th Avenue and W. 46th Street. By 1926 it was operated by the Yost Theater Circuit. By 1941 it was operated by RKO. In the 1943 edition of Film Daily Yearbook it was still under RKO, but listed as (Closed). It had reopened by 1945 but had closed by 1950.
The area is now “gentrified” and known as Clinton.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
According to boxoffice magazine this was operated by the same manager as the Lido (147th street, aka Bluebird) in 1945.
I think Chelsea Clinton lives on the upper west side.
This is still listed in the 1947 Film Daily Yearbook although the New York Times reports that the property was sold in 1945 and intended for other use.
I think this building was a recording studio until it was demolished just last year.
to Ed S.–
i’m guessing the pic above is fairly new since the building was torn rather recently.
a few questions.
1.while the building was standing for almost 100 years it hadn’t been a movie theater for decades. so what would you say is the longest lived movie theater built as such and operated as such? my guess would be the Bunny at Bway & 145 St.. it opened Dec. 1913 and closed the fall of 2010? the runner up i’m guessing would be the Coliseum at Bway & 181 St, which opened in 1920 and closed at the fall of 2012.
2.in the listing of comments for this theater is one that states a rare photo of the façade can be found on nyc.org. I tried finding it but zippo. I can’t help but wonder if its the same photo in the issue of Motion Picture News from the beginning of 1918.