Grand Central Theatre
89 E. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10017
89 E. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10017
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7thRowCenter7thRowCenter on August 18, 2026 at 9:54 am (remove) This theater appears in the 1955 crime novel “Clean Break” by Lionel White, which was the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 film The Killing, adapted by Kubrick and Jim Thompson. The novel is set in NYC and Belmont Park, not southern California, where the movie takes place. The main character Johnny Clay (played by Sterling Hayden in the film) hides out in the newsreel theater in Grand Central Station following the big racetrack heist.
Is it the only theatre/cinema inside a train station?
Is the clock still there?
This was showing Plaza Suite in 1971
Weird that I came across leafing through NYT ads last night
Was a newsreel theatre before that
I passed by it many times but never went in. (In the early 1970’s, when I was going to college and Amtrak trains on the old New York Central lines were still leaving from Grand Central, I had to change stations in New York.) I distinctly recall that on one occasion, oe of the last times I saw the theater in operation, the program was the 1971 documentary “The Hellstrom Chronicle”, so the end must have come around 1973 or thereabouts.
Another thing: it probably was an inspiration for a strip in the comic series “Julis Knipl: Real Estate Photographer”, which takes place in such a theater.
The April 1, 1937, issue of Motion Picture Daily said that the opening of the newsreel theater being built inside Grand Central Station had been set for May 3.
a short video of people going into the grand central theater is on the video VHS titled: “The winning of world war 2” “The road to victory – ratling the saber” 1990 mbi/ulanoff distributed by publishers choice videos. hosted with personal commentary by John s. d. elsenhower. I own this video.
bill gilbert
.ny.us
Though it won’t really map properly, I believe the address should be listed as 33 Grand Central Terminal (Main Concourse, opposite Track 17), New York, NY 10017.
Hi Joe Clark & my other theater enthusiast friends!!! Every so often, you can find a Grand Central Theatre postcard on Ebay.
Some other newsreel and short subject cinemas located in train stations:
South Station Theatre, Boston
Newsreel Theatre, Cincinnati
Victoria Station News Theatre, London
When I was a regular customer in the early ‘50s, they changed the program twice a week (to run current news in that pre-TV era). Since the change-over came in the middle of the day, and if you timed it right, you could catch two programs (a two-hour show) for a single admission ($1).
Where can I get a better copy of this postcard? I would like to use it in my research
I think I remember reading that later on it screened second run fims.
the site is now home of a wine store, and if you go inside you can see—fully restored—the star-filled arched ceiling of the theater’s lobby.