Paris Theater (Manhattan)

History

The theater was opened by Pathé Cinema on September 13, 1948, when actress Marlene Dietrich cut the inaugural ribbon in the presence of the U.S. Ambassador to France.

It was designed by the New York architectural firm of Emery Roth & Sons. It was one of the first designs produced by Richard Roth when he reorganized the firm after returning from duty in the Pacific during World War II. He later co-designed the Pan Am Building and the World Trade Center.

Located at 4 West 58th Street in Midtown Manhattan, it has specialized in foreign (especially French language) and independent films. It is between the Solow Building and Bergdorf Goodman Building, across from the Plaza Hotel. The theater became a destination for motion pictures by directors including Federico Fellini and Franco Zeffirelli.

In 1990, Pathé lost its lease. Loews Theatres then took over the operation and it was known as the Fine Arts Theatre for a while. In 1994 the space was purchased by Sheldon Solow, a New York City–based real-estate developer and owner.

By 2009, City Cinemas was the theater's operator. After the Ziegfeld closed in January 2016, the Paris became Manhattan's sole surviving single-screen cinema. In August 2019, a notice of closure was posted. In November 2019, it was announced that the cinema would reopen for a limited run of Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story (2019). At that time, Netflix leased the Paris Theater to use it for Netflix-original movie debuts, special events and other screenings. The Paris closed temporarily in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening in August 2021. During the closure, Netflix installed new seating and made other improvements to the facility, which reopened August 6, 2021.

References

References

1. (August 29, 2019). "Paris and Beekman".
2. "Paris Theatre".
3. Nygaard, Sandra. (n.d.). "Paris Theater".
4. "NYCityMap". [[New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications]].
5. Yarrow, Andrew L.. (1990-09-01). "Paris Film House Loses Its 58th Street Home". The New York Times.
6. Queenan, Joe. (2008-08-30). "On 58th Street, the Keeper of the Flame". The New York Times.
7. Brueggemann, Tom. (December 6, 2019). "Now That Netflix Saved the Paris Theatre, Here's What to Expect".
8. Alsup, Blake. (August 29, 2019). "Midtown's historic Paris Theatre has officially closed". [[New York Daily News]].
9. McClintock, Pamela. (November 25, 2019). "Netflix to Keep New York's Paris Theater Open". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
10. (November 26, 2019). "Netflix takes over its first cinema".
11. (November 25, 2019). "Netflix To Reopen Famed Paris Theatre In Manhattan".
12. Rubin, Rebecca. (July 28, 2021). "New York City's Paris Theater to Reopen in August".
13. Schulz, Dana. (July 21, 2021). "Under new Netflix management, historic Paris Theater will reopen next month".
14. (July 28, 2021). "New York City's Legendary Paris Theater Reopens: What Film Lovers Can Expect". Netflix.