Monday, December 03, 2012

From Chic Silber #7


The Roxy Theater at W. 51st and 7th Avenue, New York- 1937

Cole Porter wrote:
"You're romance
You're the Steppes of Russia
You're the pants
Of a Roxy usher!"

Buckles

Posted by Buckles at 12/03/2012 05:37:00 AM

8 comments:

Ole Whitey said...

There's a great book called "Hotel Kid" written by Stephen Lewis, who grew up in the Taft Hotel, more-or-less upstairs from the Roxy.

Highly recommended- tells about the pre-WW II Times Square area.

03 December, 2012 10:20
Ole Whitey said...

I am informed by an older and wiser head than mine that Ben Hall's book “Best Remaining Seats” has good coverage of the Roxy.

03 December, 2012 10:46
Chic Silber said...


Maybe older but no wiser Dave

Developers have converted the Taft
Hotel, for nearly 60 years one of
the Times Square area's best-known
tourist landmarks, into a mixed
commercial, residential and hotel
complex.
The renovation, in which the hotel
on Seventh Avenue between 50th and
51st Streets was gutted out to its
exterior walls, includes 270 hotel
rooms, 448 condominiums, and about
35,000 square feet of retail space
and 20,000 square feet of offices.

03 December, 2012 13:04
Chic Silber said...


When the Taft was built in 1926,
it was one of the premier tourist
hotels in the city. The Roxy
Theater opened next door the
following year, and the old
Madison Square Garden on Eighth
Avenue at 50th Street helped
provide steady business.

03 December, 2012 13:06
Chris Berry said...

The last big premiere at the Roxy was Irwin Allen's "The Big Circus" in 1959 (with Victor Mature, Red Buttons, and Rhonda Fleming.) The theatre was demolished a short time later. The Taft Hotel is still there, but is now known as the Michelangelo Hotel and there is now a TGI Friday's restaurant where the main entrance to the movie palace once stood.

03 December, 2012 13:29
Harry Kingston said...

Chic,
Now I know why King Kong opened at Radio city and the Roxy at the samr time due to tons of folks wanting to see the movie.
Harry in Texas

03 December, 2012 14:37
Chic Silber said...


Courteous service to the patron
was a key part of the Roxy formula.
The theater's uniformed corps of
male ushers were known for their
polite manner, efficiency and
military bearing. They went through
rigorous training, inspections and
drill, all overseen by a retired
Marine officer. The ushers' crisp
attire was immortalized by Cole
Porter in a verse of the song
"You're the Top" in 1932.

03 December, 2012 21:26
Chic Silber said...


This photo credit should read

50th Street & Seventh Avenue

04 December, 2012 09:06

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