Circa 1970...

The Lyric

I love the sign above the marque:

"WELCOME TO 42 ST THE WORLD'S GREATEST MOVIE CENTER"

...say no more!

That is a seriously great photo album.

Somewhat OT, but pertinent: In the 1960 film THE RAT RACE, which I just watched on TCM, new arrival to New York Tony Curtis gets off a bus on 42nd St., where the Selwyn (as I recall) is showing a double bill of THE KILLER SHREWS and THE GIANT GILA MONSTER. What a way to start a movie. :)

Wow, what a great site. I need to show these photos to the young whippersnappers around here (in my office) who don't know what a double feature is or what a grindhouse is and who don't know what 42nd Street used to look like. Hell, they don't even know what a movie theater is anymore since the only place they're likely to look at new movies is on bootleg DVDs. Downloaded to their video iPod!!!

What I love about these photos is trying to decipher what the films are on marquees where key info is obscured. "Man Stalks Man in the GAME OF DEATH." Tony Curtis in NOT WITH MY WIFE YOU DON'T. What movie is being advertised as starring Jack Palance, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin?! I know of two movies with Palance and Marvin, but neither one has a Ryan, Robert or otherwise, in it. And the co-feature is something called ATTEMPT TO KILL, which isn't even on IMDB. Unless it's 1958's INTENT TO KILL and the marquee letter-putter-upper misread the title (not the first time that happened on the Deuce) or simply changed the title to promise more action than the original title did (again, not the first time...).

I also like how Steve Reeves' MORGAN THE PIRATE gets top billing over William Wyler's prestige western with Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston, THE BIG COUNTRY. On 42nd St., they knew where the action was.

And I love how they squeeze a lot of cast members onto the marquees to fill up space so you get all kinds of great unsung performers announced who wouldn't get marquee space anywhere else. My favorites: Mona Freeman (HUK), Ed Begley (Sr., not Jr., HANG 'EM HIGH), France Nuyen and "Jeff" Hunter (DIMENSION 5), Torin Thatcher (I couldn't tell what film), George O'Brien (GUN LAW), and the amazing quartet from STAGE TO THUNDER ROCK, Barry Sullivan, Marilyn Maxwell, Scott Brady, and Lon Chaney (no Jr.).

It's THE PROFESSIONALS, isn't it?

Oh my God, how could I have forgotten that one?! (Where's a "D'uuuhh"/slapping one's forehead icon when you need one? They've got one on the Morning Musume board--where there are HUNDREDS of icons for just such occasions.) And I even checked Palance's IMDB filmography, too. Problem is, it's sandwiched there in between "Run for Your Life" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass," so it was easy to overlook. But still... :huh:

Here's a link to first page of thumbnails on the site:

Deuce Photos

I love the marquee on the Harris theater that says "Get More Out Of Life Go Out To A Movie."

Movies on this marquee: LET'S MAKE LOVE and 3 MURDERESSES...

What's amazing is how many theaters there were down there!!!

Awesome album, Chris! Thanks for posting.

On a related note, I'm looking forward to delving into my copy of Gregory Gibson's Hubert's Freaks this weekend. Released just a few days ago, this book is about Hubert's Dime Museum & Flea Circus, an arcade and freakshow that was located smack dab in the middle of the Deuce, and features many recently discovered photos by Diane Arbus of the museum and the characters who worked there.

I was particularly gratified to see the photo of the theater playing the lost Olga film MME. OLGA'S MASSAGE PARLOR, aka OLGA'S MASSAGE PARLOR. An employee of Something Weird Video once opined that the film was never actually released, but I didn't buy his opinion. That photo proves that the film did get a theatrical run.

I was particularly gratified to see the photo of the theater playing the lost Olga film MME. OLGA'S MASSAGE PARLOR, aka OLGA'S MASSAGE PARLOR. An employee of Something Weird Video once opined that the film was never actually released, but I didn't buy his opinion. That photo proves that the film did get a theatrical run.

It was also released here in Canada. Here is the Ontario Censor Board record:

MADAME OLGA'S MASSAGE PARLOR
Date Classified: May 25, 1973
Film Number: 1973022345
Distributor / Submitter / Exhibitor: CINEPIX INC.
Running Time (min): 70
Format: 35MM
Language: ENGLISH
Classification: RESTRICTED

Any regulars to the 42nd-ish strip of theaters along Chestnut Ave. in downtown Philly? I found this pic of The Duke & Duchess near 16th and Chestnut.



I saw a double feature of MOTHER'S DAY and DAWN OF THE DEAD there when I was 12. It was the first time I ever cut school and was my first solo trip into downtown Philly to see a flick. Definitely a life changing experience. Later I saw ANGEL, PIRANHA 2 and a number of other flicks.

Just a couple of stores to the right of D&D was the Budco Regency. There I saw THE GATES OF HELL, a midnight sneak of NIGHTMARES, a way early sneak of THE ROAD WARRIOR under the name MAD MAX 2, DAY OF THE DEAD and others.

Down the street I saw a triple feature of CAGED HEAT, THE MUTILATOR and RE-ANIMATOR...truly the good old days.

BeAst WisheS -- L

No, but back in the Fall of 1984 a guy from Philadelphia transferred to my high school in Poughkeepsie and used to tell me all about a kung fu/action theater he used go to with his homies. He used to walk around the school with an unlit cigar clenched between his teeth like his hero, Fred Williamson. We became fast friends, of course. He was obsessed with THE CHINATOWN KID, and I remember one day in art class he went off on dePalma's SCARFACE, calling it a poor imitation of the Shaw Bros. movie (?!).

Another thing I remember is a brawl or shootout at the same theater (during a showing of THE LAST DRAGON) making Headline News on CNN a year or so later.

Any idea what theater I'm talking about?

Sadly no as I was living in Sacramento in 84. Came back to visit the Philly area during the Summer of 85 to catch DAY OF THE DEAD and others along the Chestnut, then revisited again in summer of 87. (Edit: I saw the extended Cannes Film Festial Edit of DAWN OF THE DEAD at a Starlog convention in downtown Philly during the summer of 85. Some miles outside of Philly that same summer I also caught a drive-in zombie triple feature that played in the order of: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD.) Returned to Philly again in 93 when I was in the state for the NOTLD 25th Ann. Zombie Jamboree Convention at the Monroeville Mall and all of grindhouses I remembered were gone, replaced with new, slick glass and chrome offices and shopping space.

There were at least 4 or 5 grindhouses along Chestnut when I was frequenting the area, plus a couple of more mainstream multiscreens. I'd bet the kung fu/action theater was somewhere in there but I couldn't say for sure. During the late 70's very early 80's I remember being mesmerized by a huge amount of double, triple and quadruple feature ads for horror/kung-fu/action/etc. flicks in the Philladelphia Inquirer 'Weekend' section, but I was simply too young then to make the trip.

Down on South St. was the TLA, a nice and gritty little theater that showed a wide range of arthouse, foreign and revival flicks. Saw a double feature of ALLIGATOR and BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET as part of a John Sayles festival. While The Ritz (later divided up into the Ritz 3) was a another downtown art/foreign/revival house that catered to a slightly higher-brow crowd. (I remember that kids weren't allowed in the theaters which were very clean and nicely maintained. Not sure but it seemed like they didn't allow drinks in the auditorium either.) There I caught THE QUIET EARTH, KOYANISQUATTSI, REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO and others. I believe both The TLA and The Ritz are still in business.

BeAst WisheS -- L