Anco Cinema

The Anco Cinema was a former Broadway theatre turned cinema at 254 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1904 and was originally named the Lew Fields Theatre. It continued to operate as a playhouse under various names until it was converted into a movie theatre in 1930. Its block was famous for its concentration of Broadway theatres turned cinemas. After World War II, the street declined and the Anco Cinema eventually became a pornography venue. It closed as a cinema in 1988 and was gutted for retail use. The building was demolished in 1997.

photo of exterior of The Hackett Theater in 1909, with signs announcing that actress Grace George is starring; inset shows photo of James K. Hackett's face
254 West 42nd Street: The Hackett Theater in 1909, during the run of A Woman's Way.[1]

Playhouse
254 West 42nd St.[2]
As ofName
December 5, 1904Lew Fields
August 27, 1906Hackett
August 31, 1911Harris
September 7, 1920Frazee
November 12, 1924Wallack's
1940Anco Cinema
1997[demolished]

In 1903, producer Fred R. Hamlin and producer/director Julian Mitchell had a big Broadway hit with The Wizard of Oz, a musical staging of the L. Frank Baum story, and they had another with Babes in Toyland, a Victor Herbert[3] operetta, later in the year. In 1904, Oscar Hammerstein I[4] announced plans to build his eighth Manhattan theater (after the Harlem and Manhattan opera houses, the Olympia and Victoria music halls, and the Columbus, Olympia and Republic theaters), on vacant land he had recently bought at 254–58 West 42nd Street,[5] calling it the National. It would be designed by Albert E. Westover,[6] a Philadelphia architect who designed several theaters in that city for vaudeville operator B. F. Keith and is credited with Hammerstein's Republic.[7] The same year, comedians Joe Weber[8] and Lew Fields[9] ended their decades-long partnership, giving their final show May 28, at the New Amsterdam Theatre.[10] On May 31, the new partnership of Hamlin, Mitchell, and Fields contracted to lease Hammerstein's (not-yet-built) new house. They announced they would name it for Fields and produce musicals and burlesques.[11]

1900s

Their first offering was a new Victor Herbert operetta, It Happened in Nordland, with libretto and lyrics by Glen MacDonough,[12] starring Fields and Marie Cahill,[13] together with a burlesque of The Music Master, a current hit play. The Lew Fields Theatre opened on December 5, 1904, eight days after Hamlin's unexpected death.[14] The show was a hit;[15] the production ran through April 29, 1905, went on a road tour,[16] resumed on August 31 with Blanche Ring instead of Marie Cahill, and closed on November 18, for another tour.[17]

Lew Fields Theatre

On May 23, 1906, Fields formed a corporation with Lee Shubert of the Shubert Brothers, taking joint possession of the Herald Square Theatre.[18] Fields and Mitchell moved there in August, and the former Lew Fields Theatre was leased by the well-known actor-manager James K. Hackett, who renamed it for himself.[19] The Hackett Theater opened August 27 with a farce imported from London, The Little Stranger, starring Edward Garratt.[20] Its first big success was the seven-month run of The Chorus Lady, starring Rose Stahl, from October 15, 1906, through June 1, 1907. (The play had opened at the Savoy Theatre on September 1.)[21] In the first week of February 1907, Hammerstein sold the theater to Henry B. Harris,[22] the theatrical producer who bought the Hudson Theatre the next year and built the Folies-Bergere in 1911.[23] Hackett retained his lease and the playhouse its name.

Humphrey Bogart and Shirley Booth in Hell's Bells at Wallack's Theatre (1925)

Another big success at the Hackett was the Shubert production The Witching Hour, a dramatic play by Augustus Thomas, which played from November 20, 1907, to June 27, 1908, and from August 17, 1908, to September 19, 1908 (when it moved to the West End Theatre on 125th Street).[24] From September 21 through October 10, 1908, Hackett reprised his starring role in The Prisoner of Zenda, which he had first played on February 10, 1896.[25] (In 1913, he starred in the novel's first film adaption, which was produced by Adolph Zukor and was the first production of the Famous Players Film Company.)

1910s

In 1911, Hackett's lease expired and Henry B. Harris took over, making major interior and exterior alterations.[26] The New York City government announced the same year that it would widen 42nd Street, requiring that the Lew Fields Theatre's lobby and marquee be modified.[27][28] Harris named the playhouse the Harris Theatre in honor of his father, William Harris Sr., also a theater owner and producer, and an associate of the Theatrical Syndicate.[29] The Harris opened on August 31 with a new play, Maggie Pepper, again starring Rose Stahl.[30]

Henry B. Harris died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912.[31] His estate operated the theater for the next two and a half years, and September 21, 1914, leased it to Selwyn and Company; i.e., Crosby Gaige and the Selwyn brothers.[32] They mounted several productions at the Harris, the first on October 23: The Salamander, by Owen Johnson (adapted from his book), starring Carroll McComas.[33]

1920s

When the Selwyn & Co. lease expired on July 1, 1920, Harris's widow sold the theater to H. H. Frazee, a producer and theater owner and owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team,[34] who again made renovations and opened the Frazee Theatre with a new play September 7: The Woman of Bronze, starring Margaret Anglin, which ran for 252 performances.[35] Dulcy, a comedy by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly, opened on August 13, 1921, made Lynn Fontanne a star, and ran through March 11, 1922.[36]

In late 1924, John Cort leased the theater, naming it Wallack's Theatre (his Cort Theatre on 48th Street was already using his own name); in two years he had no hits. Frazee sold it in October 1926, and it was leased out again, housing nothing but flops. The last was called Find the Fox, and its third performance, on Saturday evening, June 21, 1930, brought the legitimate career of this theater to an end.[37]

Movie theater

In late 1930, the theater was leased to Max A. Cohen's company, Excello Estates, which showed movies in it. According to Henderson, "Cohen bought the land underneath Wallack's in 1940 ... tore out the second balcony, put stadium seating in the orchestra" and replaced the facade "with a windowless sheet of bland stucco."[38] Cohen named it Anco Cinema after his wife Anne.[38] Cohen headed the Cinema Circuit,[39] which was also operating the Harris and New Amsterdam theaters by the mid-1930s.[40] This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30.[41][42]

By the mid-1940s, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this led Variety to call the block the "biggest movie center of the world".[43] The Brandt family operated seven of these theaters, while the Cinema Circuit operated the other three.[43] The Cinema Circuit theaters, the New Amsterdam, Harris, and Anco, were all on the southern side of the street.[43][44] By the late 1950s, the Anco was classified as a "reissue house", displaying reruns of films and changing its offerings twice a week. Tickets cost 25 to 65 cents apiece, the cheapest admission scale for any theater on 42nd Street. The Anco and the other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them.[45]

Cohen retired around 1961, and Mark Finkelstein took over full operation of the Cinema Circuit.[46] By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including the Anco.[47] The area continued to decline, although Finkelstein said none of the company's 42nd Street theaters showed hardcore pornography.[44] The Cinema Circuit's movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Anco had been leased to the Sweetheart theatrical chain, which screened pornographic movies.[48]

Redevelopment

The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square.[49] The same year, the City University of New York's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of several nearby theaters to advocate for the area's restoration.[50][51] One plan for the site, in 1978, called for razing several buildings in the area, including the Anco, to create a park.[52][53] The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981.[54][55] The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue, developed by Park Tower Realty and the Prudential Insurance Company of America.[56][57][lower-alpha 1] Ultimately, the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project was delayed for several years due to lawsuits and disputes concerning the towers.[58]

The New York state government acquired the sites of eight nearby theaters in April 1990 via eminent domain.[59][60][61] Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue.[62] After Disney committed to restoring the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1994, most of the other theaters around 42nd Street were quickly leased.[63] By 1995, real-estate development firm Forest City Ratner was planning a $150 million entertainment and retail complex on the site of the Empire, Harris, and Liberty theaters. Madame Tussauds and AMC leased space in the complex that July.[64][65][66] As part of the Forest City Ratner development, the Anco Cinema was demolished in 1997,[37] and the Empire Theatre was relocated to the Anco's site the next year.[67] The Empire Theatre's facade and auditorium were converted into an entrance to the AMC Empire 25, a multiplex that opened in April 2000.[68][69]

Notable productions

References

Notes
  1. The sites were:[57]
    • Northwest corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue: now 3 Times Square
    • Northeast corner of 42nd Street and Broadway: now 4 Times Square
    • Southwest corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue: now 5 Times Square
    • South side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway: now 7 Times Square (Times Square Tower)

Citations
  1. "A Woman's Way is Pleasantly Shown" The New York Times February 23, 1909 and A Woman's Way at Internet Broadway Database
  2. Anco Cinema at Internet Broadway Database
  3. Browne & Koch 1908, p. 233, "Herbert, Victor"
  4. Browne & Koch 1908, pp. 218–219, "Hammerstein, Oscar"
  5. See Bromley (1911), Plate 20. On land sale, see "Oscar Hammerstein Buys" Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide Vol. 73, No. 1869 [i.e. 1870] (January 16, 1904):111 and "Another Theatre for Forty-Second Street", ibid.:114, col. 2 (scroll down)
  6. See
  7. See
    • "Between 14th and 59th Streets" Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide Vol. 64, No. 1658 (December 23, 1899):990, col. 2: item beginning "2113 - 42d st, Nos 207–211 W". (207–211 is the Republic; Westover is named as architect.)
    • White, "New Victory Theater," location 8389
  8. Browne & Koch 1908, pp. 444–446, "Weber, Joseph M."
  9. Browne & Koch 1908, pp. 166–168, "Fields, Lew M."
  10. "Stage Shows of Springtime" The Sun (New York) May 15, 1904, Third Section: p. 5 col. 1 paragraph 12; and advertisement for Weber and Fields farewell, same page, cols. 4–5
  11. "Theatre for Lew Fields" The New York Times June 1, 1904 (scroll down)
  12. Featuring the song "Absinthe Frappé". Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  13. Browne & Koch 1908, p. 68, "Cahill, Miss Marie (Mrs. Daniel V. Arthur)"
  14. "Fred R. Hamlin Dead" The New York Times November 28, 1904
  15. "Lew Fields Scores Again" The Evening World (New York) December 6, 1904, Evening Edition: p. 13 col. 1; and "Fields's Theatre Opens With Dainty Comedy" The New York Times December 6, 1904
  16. "Musical Attractions" The New York Times April 16, 1905, col. 3
  17. "Before the Footlights" New-York Tribune August 27, 1905, p. 2 col. 5 paragraph 4; Advertisement for Lew Fields Theatre New-York Tribune November 11, 1905, p. 8 col. 6; and "Miss Bentley Joins Lew Fields" New-York Tribune November 11, 1905, p. 9 col. 3 (scroll down)
  18. "Lew Fields Has Joined Theatre Independents" The New York Times May 24, 1906
  19. Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide Vol. 77, No. 1990 (May 5, 1906):857, col. 1: item "42d st, s s…Oscar Hammerstein…" and Browne & Koch 1908, pp. 212–214, "Hackett, James Keteltas"
  20. "A Funny Little Stranger From the Curio Hall" The New York Times August 28, 1906
  21. "The Chorus Lady and Her Friends" The New York Times September 2, 1906; "Before the Footlights" New-York Tribune October 14, 1906, p. 2 col. 2 item 10; and "Roof Gardens Open" New-York Tribune June 2, 1907, p. 6 col.1 item 3
  22. See
  23. Helen Hayes Theatre at Internet Broadway Database; Hudson Theatre at Internet Broadway Database; and "H. B. Harris Takes Hudson" New-York Tribune April 2, 1908, p. 1 col. 3 last item
  24. "The Witching Hour" The New York Times November 21, 1907; "Stage Gossip and Amusement—Resort Theatres" The New York Times June 21, 1908, col. 3 paragraph 1; "Stage Affairs" New-York Tribune August 16, 1908, p. 3 col. 1 paragraph 4; and "Plays That Hold" The New York Times September 13, 1908, col. 3
  25. "The Drama. A Revival at the Lyceum" New-York Tribune February 11, 1896, p. 7 col. 2 (scroll down); "Prisoner of Zenda Again" The New York Times September 22, 1908; and "Hackett in The Crisis" The New York Times October 11, 1908
  26. "Harris to Produce Fifteen New Plays; Hudson Theatre Will Open Sept. 4 with "Snobs" -- Rose Stahl to Open the Harris" (PDF). The New York Times. August 14, 1911. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  27. "42d Street to Be Widened at Once; Hotel, Theatre and Other Stoops on the Sidewalk Line Must Be Cut Away". The New York Times. July 22, 1910. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  28. Bloom 2007, p. 213.
  29. For an account of the father see his obituary: "William Harris Sr., Stage Veteran, Dies" The New York Times November 26, 1916
  30. "Rose Stahl's Rescue Mission" and "The Harris Like New House" The New York Times September 1, 1911
  31. "Concerning H. B. Harris" The New York Times April 21, 1912
  32. "Deficit of $32,247 in Harris Estate" New-York Tribune July 2, 1914, p. 9 col. 7; "Deficit in Harris Estate" The New York Times July 2, 1914; "Selwyn & Co. Get the Harris" The Sun (New York) September 22, 1914, p. 7 col. 3 (scroll down); and Crosby Gaige at Playbill Vault website (retrieved October 2, 2015).
  33. "The Salamander Comes as a Play" The New York Times October 24, 1914. See also the drawing by Dumas, Anthony F., "Harris Theatre and Loew's American Theatre". Museum of the City of New York Digital Collections, Digital ID: 75.200.54. The play Lilac Time, named on the theater, played the Harris May 14, 1917 to June 9, 1917.
  34. Reports of the sale in two different newspapers include nearly identical statements which conflict with citations above. Among other questionable aspects is the middle initial of the father's name, which does not appear elsewhere in contemporary sources, including his obituary in The New York Times (cited above). The reports are:
    • "Frazee Buys the Harris" The New York Times March 27, 1920, which states, "The Harris ... was built at a cost of $500,000 in 1900 by William B. Harris, father of Henry B. Harris ..." and
    • "Frazee Takes Possession of the Harris Theatre" New-York Tribune July 24, 1920, p. 4 col. 6, which states: "The Frazee Theatre was built as the Harris in 1900 by William B. Harris, father of the late Henry B. Harris, at a cost of $500,000."
  35. Woolcott, Alexander "The Play" The New York Times September 8, 1920 and The Woman of Bronze at Internet Broadway Database
  36. Dudley, Bide "The New Plays" The Evening World (New York) August 15, 1921, Wall Street Final Edition, p. 17; and Dulcy at Internet Broadway Database
  37. Henderson & Greene 2008, p. 139.
  38. Henderson & Greene 2008, pp. 138–139.
  39. "Max Cohen Dead; a Theater Owner". The New York Times. June 6, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  40. "Wallack's Theatre Will Re Razed Soon; Combined Offices and Theatre to Supplant Landmark". The New York Times. June 16, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  41. Reilly, James F. (January 3, 1951). "Legitimate: the Disappearing Theatre". Variety. Vol. 181, no. 4. pp. 266, 268. ProQuest 1505767801.
  42. Pihodna, Joe (January 21, 1951). "30 Theaters a Far Cry From Abundant Old Days: But They're Enough to Fill Our Needs, People Claim, Despite TV's Inroads". New York Herald Tribune. p. D3. ProQuest 1291337111.
  43. "Pictures: Even 42d St., With Its Unique Films, Faces Shortages". Variety. Vol. 165, no. 12. February 26, 1947. p. 27. ProQuest 1285899443.
  44. Horsley, Carter B. (June 19, 1977). "A Critical Time For the Old Theaters Along 42d Street". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  45. "42d St. Grinds' $5-mil Gross". Variety. Vol. 205, no. 9. January 30, 1957. pp. 3, 20. ProQuest 1014785728.
  46. Henderson & Greene 2008, p. 103.
  47. Reed, Henry Hope Jr. (October 28, 1962). "Beneath the Squalor, Yesterday's Glamor: the Names of the Astaires, of Barrymore and Belasco, Lawrence and Lillie, Cling to the Cheap Movie Houses of 42nd Street". New York Herald Tribune. p. SM2. ProQuest 1325840251.
  48. McDonough, Jimy (December 11, 1985). "New York Entertainment: 42d St. Grindhouses: Alternative Outlet For Dusty Subruns Facing Extinction". Variety. Vol. 321, no. 7. pp. 94, 116. ProQuest 1438444052.
  49. Morehouse, Ward, III (November 9, 1977). "A 'Little white Way' for tawdry 42nd St.: 'Little White Way' planned for tawdry 42nd Street". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 1. ProQuest 511943242.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  50. Williams, Lena (November 7, 1977). "Can Photos Return Gloss to Times Square?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  51. "42d St. Show on Theaters is a Tragedy". New York Daily News. October 19, 1977. p. 336. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  52. "Changing cityscape: $170M smile planned for face of W. 42d St". New York Daily News. November 19, 1978. p. 423. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  53. "City Considers Park Plan For Times Square". Newsday. August 25, 1978. p. 14. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  54. Prial, Frank J. (April 6, 1982). "City Names Main Builders in Times Sq. Redevelopment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  55. Stern, Fishman & Tilove 2006, p. 683.
  56. Stephens, Suzanne (March 2000). "Four Times Square" (PDF). Architectural Record. Vol. 188. p. 92. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  57. Dunlap, David W. (August 3, 1992). "Long Delay Likely in Rebuilding Plan for Times Square". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  58. Lueck, Thomas J. (February 14, 1988). "The Region: Redevelopment; Times Square Plan Takes A Shaky Step Forward". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  59. Stern, Fishman & Tilove 2006, p. 693.
  60. Levine, Richard (April 19, 1990). "State Acquires Most of Times Square Project Site". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  61. Cohn, Lawrence (September 24, 1990). "Legit: Gotham 'takes back' West 42nd Street". Variety. Vol. 340, no. 11. p. 92. ProQuest 1286158079.
  62. "42nd Street: No beat of dancing feet- yet" (PDF). Architectural Record. Vol. 177. June 1989. p. 85. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 3, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  63. Lueck, Thomas J. (November 15, 1995). "Returning From Decline, 42d Street Is Now a Magnet for Merchants". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  64. Pulley, Brett (July 13, 1995). "Tussaud's and a Movie Chain Are Negotiating on 42d St. Site". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  65. Lowry, Tom (July 21, 1995). "Entertaining plans for Times Square". New York Daily News. p. 775. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  66. Pulley, Brett (July 16, 1995). "Tussaud's and Movie Chain Join Disney in 42d Street Project". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  67. See
  68. Kramer, Louise (April 10, 2000). "Multiplexes storm city, and you ain't seen nothing yet". Crain's New York Business. Vol. 16, no. 15. p. 4. ProQuest 219191443.
  69. Pristin, Terry (September 4, 2000). "Movie Theaters Build Themselves Into a Corner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  70. The Broadway League (August 13, 1921). "Dulcy – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "Dulcy (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1921)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  71. The Broadway League (September 7, 1920). "The Woman of Bronze – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "The Woman of Bronze (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1920)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  72. The Broadway League (June 26, 1922). "From Morn to Midnight – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "From Morn to Midnight (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1922)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  73. The Broadway League (August 31, 1922). "Her Temporary Husband – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "Her Temporary Husband (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1922)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  74. The Broadway League (May 7, 1923). "The Chip Woman's Fortune – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  75. The Broadway League (May 7, 1923). "Salome – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "Salome (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1923)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  76. The Broadway League (May 15, 1923). "The Comedy of Errors – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  77. The Broadway League (May 14, 1924). "The Kreutzer Sonata – Broadway Play – 1924 Revival". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "The Kreutzer Sonata (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1924)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  78. The Broadway League (January 26, 1925). "Hell's Bells – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "Hell's Bells (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1925)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  79. The Broadway League (March 26, 1925). "Eve's Leaves – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
    "Eve's Leaves (Broadway, Anco Cinema, 1925)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2022.

Sources

40.75674°N 73.98924°W / 40.75674; -73.98924

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