15. Punch and Judy Theatre
The Forty-ninth Street Punch and Judy Theatre was built for Charles Hopkins in 1914 and only seated 300 people. The theater’s mural of Punch and Judy fighting and the lobby that was modeled after a 16th Century English pub were good indications of the experimental nature of the venue. As most of its performances were experimental, the Punch and Judy Theater didn’t do very well financially. The few successes out of its 18,000 performances were modest at best.
Once Charles Hopkins renamed the theater after himself in 1926, it fared better. However, when the Great Depression hit, the theater could no longer sustain live performances and the last live show took place in the spring of 1932. The following year, Punch and Judy became Westminster Cinema and showed only British films. The name was changed again in 1960 to The World Theatre and focused mainly on foreign films.
The theaters around The World Theatre were thrust into a major financial decline and many of them decided to show adult movies to prevent from going under. The World followed their example with the premiere of “Deep Throat.” The theater was renamed one final time when it was taken over by Embassy Theatres. The Embassy Forty-Ninth Street was still standing in decent shape when it was torn down to build the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in 1987.
Next, check out 10 Forgotten Theaters of Brooklyn and 7 Forgotten Theaters of Astoria, Queens
This article was written by Xandra Harbet with contributions by Nicole Saraniero.