Here is a postcard view that clearly shows another building between the State and the corner. The marquee seems to read ‘BELLE OF THE NINETIES" which would make it 1934.
Warren, since the 1931 Broadway address is listed as the address for the Arcade Theatre in Film Daily yearbooks I suspect it was possibly caused by Lincoln Square Arcade access perhaps changing traditional east and west assignments.
Since the Studio Cinema was built from the ground up in 1946 (the first post-war new build in NYC according to Brecht) it may have inherited the number from the Arcade but, you are correct, I cannot find anything with that number attached to the Studio Cinema, or in fact any number.
Here is my list of operating midtown cinemas in 1934.
LOEWS 42ND STREET
CAMEO
LYRIC
TIMES SQUARE
APOLLO
HARRIS
SELWYN
LIBERTY
TIMES
STANLEY
TUXEDO
RIALTO
PARAMOUNT
IDEAL
NEW YORK
ASTOR
CRITERION
STATE
GAIETY
GLOBE
MIAMI
MAYFAIR
PALACE
CENTRAL
STRAND
CARUSO (Hindenberg)
CENTER
WESTMINSTER
CASINO
RIVOLI
LITTLE PICTURE HOUSE
ROXY
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
TRANS-LUX 50-1
TRANS-LUX 50-2
CAPITOL
HOLLYWOOD
LEXINGTON
PASTIME
ZIEGFELD
55th ST. PLAYHOUSE
CHALONER (Town)
What exactly is an “electric scootered wife” and what further explanation does a power failure require?
Is “the wife” disabled or just really lazy? Did her scooter derive its power from AMC Theatres?
Both AMC and Carmike have some bad operations and young staff and both have really good operations with young staff, but really…aren’t the customers the real idiots?
The Rivoli may have abandoned stage shows but it still had stage in the mid forties when it was used by Skouras for fund raising benefits on a regular basis.
It was apparently also also quite large.
Jan. 1943
“one hundred women in uniform from various war organizations will appear on the stage in formation” (Jan 1943)
March 1943
Evening performance canceled for Stage Show to benefit the Good Neighbors Center.
Nov. 1945
Movies cancelled for a revue version of “East Side, West Side” to benefit St. Vincents Hospital
Louis, glad I am not the only one who enjoys these old ads.
The Tivoli was a Paramount (Sparks) Theatre until the early fifties but was apparently owned by the same guy after that. It advertised jointly with the Strand in The Herald when they both switched to Spanish language films in the late fifties. I guess there were no Spanish language newspapers in town yet and they most likely shared a film booker and not an owner.
JSA, “Celia” and “La Mala” are most likely U.S. driven. Both legendary ladies CELIA and LA LUPE are tabu on the island, especially as they were both black and anti-Castro.
The Rivoli opened with a platform stage in 1917. In 1926 it was remodeled by Publix, better stage space was allocated, and stage revues were introduced as per this NY Times review of “A Kiss for Cinderella”.
“The new idea at the Rivoli is to have a John Murray Anderson revue in addition to the screen feature, and no real prologue. This theatre, which now is run by the Publix Theatres Corporation, has been remodeled so as to have more stage space. Mr. Anderson’s current production is hailed as "The Melting Pot,” in which the dancers of different nations, after giving their native performance, pass through the melting pot and emerge clad in glistening gold. There is too much of a contrast between this stage effort and the delicate charm of Barrie’s story."
Scott, just because bars close and liquor companies failed does not mean that drinking did not blossom among those stores that remained in the business. You could only get movies in one place.
Deflation came from the need to discount. Where people went out to dinner less, they went to movies more as they were good value for money. Theatres that discounted or added value boomed in attendance. Although restaurants failed to draw at lower prices, movie attendance went up when lower prices were introduced as people saw them as better value for money than eating out, dancing, plays and other leisure activities.
Most theatre closings came from financially marginal locations that were unable to discount in order to allow their cash strapped audiences to grow. Those theatres without sound equipment failed almost immediately as people would not risk valuable cash on an inferior night out. This affected many small town locations in particular that had never bothered to upgrade.
Studio bankrupcies were caused by their failures to get loans. Those studios that self-financed their movies made a killing at the box office especially if they had stars like Chaplin, The Marx Bros. or Mae West in their stables and could churn out the product into their own theatres.
You will find that the general drop in attendance and revenue came from small town and under capitalized venues shutting down and leaving people with no where to go or ill-advised over-blown venues that should never have been built. If you operated in a town with 500 people, discounting could not grow your audience and you were doomed.
Although no business operates in a vacuum, movie revenues were hurt more by simple credit failures than any audience reluctance.
In the big cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles they barely hurt at all and were breaking all-time records by the end of 1933.
movie 534, a major reason movies ran all summer in the ‘70s was that we had a serious product shortage and we often had nothing to replace them with. Distributor contracts dictated minimum play weeks so that box office stinkers like “A BRIDGE TOO FAR” stuck around for months to unwarranted hold-overs. The best one could do is put a wall down the middle of the auditorium and double your chances of getting the occasional hit.
The “old” days you are referring to caused awkward twinning and therefore the destruction of many movie palaces.
Here is a postcard view that clearly shows another building between the State and the corner. The marquee seems to read ‘BELLE OF THE NINETIES" which would make it 1934.
View link
Thanks for the kind words, Louis.
Here is a 1941 Wometco Christmas ad with yet another “Havana” themed movie at the Strand.
View link
Warren, since the 1931 Broadway address is listed as the address for the Arcade Theatre in Film Daily yearbooks I suspect it was possibly caused by Lincoln Square Arcade access perhaps changing traditional east and west assignments.
Since the Studio Cinema was built from the ground up in 1946 (the first post-war new build in NYC according to Brecht) it may have inherited the number from the Arcade but, you are correct, I cannot find anything with that number attached to the Studio Cinema, or in fact any number.
How it have been above 66th street when called Studio 65?
The Tuxedo and Pastime were on the east side on 42nd and 54th, respectively.
Here is my list of operating midtown cinemas in 1934.
LOEWS 42ND STREET
CAMEO
LYRIC
TIMES SQUARE
APOLLO
HARRIS
SELWYN
LIBERTY
TIMES
STANLEY
TUXEDO
RIALTO
PARAMOUNT
IDEAL
NEW YORK
ASTOR
CRITERION
STATE
GAIETY
GLOBE
MIAMI
MAYFAIR
PALACE
CENTRAL
STRAND
CARUSO (Hindenberg)
CENTER
WESTMINSTER
CASINO
RIVOLI
LITTLE PICTURE HOUSE
ROXY
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
TRANS-LUX 50-1
TRANS-LUX 50-2
CAPITOL
HOLLYWOOD
LEXINGTON
PASTIME
ZIEGFELD
55th ST. PLAYHOUSE
CHALONER (Town)
The Capitol opening, December 1919.
View link
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916)
View link
JOAN THE WOMAN.
View link
Intolerance
View link
Opening Next Saturday Noon:
View link
I meant Cinemark…
Hmmm.
What exactly is an “electric scootered wife” and what further explanation does a power failure require?
Is “the wife” disabled or just really lazy? Did her scooter derive its power from AMC Theatres?
Both AMC and Carmike have some bad operations and young staff and both have really good operations with young staff, but really…aren’t the customers the real idiots?
I received my copy today and it was well worth the wait.
The name here should be changed to Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.
http://gusmancenter.org/
The Rivoli may have abandoned stage shows but it still had stage in the mid forties when it was used by Skouras for fund raising benefits on a regular basis.
It was apparently also also quite large.
Jan. 1943
“one hundred women in uniform from various war organizations will appear on the stage in formation” (Jan 1943)
March 1943
Evening performance canceled for Stage Show to benefit the Good Neighbors Center.
Nov. 1945
Movies cancelled for a revue version of “East Side, West Side” to benefit St. Vincents Hospital
Louis, glad I am not the only one who enjoys these old ads.
The Tivoli was a Paramount (Sparks) Theatre until the early fifties but was apparently owned by the same guy after that. It advertised jointly with the Strand in The Herald when they both switched to Spanish language films in the late fifties. I guess there were no Spanish language newspapers in town yet and they most likely shared a film booker and not an owner.
JSA, “Celia” and “La Mala” are most likely U.S. driven. Both legendary ladies CELIA and LA LUPE are tabu on the island, especially as they were both black and anti-Castro.
These are films from Cuba.
There have been fewer each year as Castro feels movies about life in Cuba are undermining in the revolution and has cut funding.
The Rivoli opened with a platform stage in 1917. In 1926 it was remodeled by Publix, better stage space was allocated, and stage revues were introduced as per this NY Times review of “A Kiss for Cinderella”.
“The new idea at the Rivoli is to have a John Murray Anderson revue in addition to the screen feature, and no real prologue. This theatre, which now is run by the Publix Theatres Corporation, has been remodeled so as to have more stage space. Mr. Anderson’s current production is hailed as "The Melting Pot,” in which the dancers of different nations, after giving their native performance, pass through the melting pot and emerge clad in glistening gold. There is too much of a contrast between this stage effort and the delicate charm of Barrie’s story."
Charles Chaplin in person, 1916.
View link
Scott, just because bars close and liquor companies failed does not mean that drinking did not blossom among those stores that remained in the business. You could only get movies in one place.
Deflation came from the need to discount. Where people went out to dinner less, they went to movies more as they were good value for money. Theatres that discounted or added value boomed in attendance. Although restaurants failed to draw at lower prices, movie attendance went up when lower prices were introduced as people saw them as better value for money than eating out, dancing, plays and other leisure activities.
Most theatre closings came from financially marginal locations that were unable to discount in order to allow their cash strapped audiences to grow. Those theatres without sound equipment failed almost immediately as people would not risk valuable cash on an inferior night out. This affected many small town locations in particular that had never bothered to upgrade.
Studio bankrupcies were caused by their failures to get loans. Those studios that self-financed their movies made a killing at the box office especially if they had stars like Chaplin, The Marx Bros. or Mae West in their stables and could churn out the product into their own theatres.
You will find that the general drop in attendance and revenue came from small town and under capitalized venues shutting down and leaving people with no where to go or ill-advised over-blown venues that should never have been built. If you operated in a town with 500 people, discounting could not grow your audience and you were doomed.
Although no business operates in a vacuum, movie revenues were hurt more by simple credit failures than any audience reluctance.
In the big cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles they barely hurt at all and were breaking all-time records by the end of 1933.
movie 534, a major reason movies ran all summer in the ‘70s was that we had a serious product shortage and we often had nothing to replace them with. Distributor contracts dictated minimum play weeks so that box office stinkers like “A BRIDGE TOO FAR” stuck around for months to unwarranted hold-overs. The best one could do is put a wall down the middle of the auditorium and double your chances of getting the occasional hit.
The “old” days you are referring to caused awkward twinning and therefore the destruction of many movie palaces.
The Granada around 1969/1970.
View link
Cinerama in Miami.
http://cinematreasures.org/news/20931_0_1_0_C/