Repertory Movie Theaters of New York City: Havens for Revivals, Indies and the Avant-Garde, 1960-1994

“Ben Davis’ excellent new book thoroughly explores the history, culture and importance of the repertory movie theaters that influenced the art film scene in New York City from the 1960s into the 1990s. In this well organized and impressively researched monograph, the author explains and analyzes the ways that the major repertory film theaters contributed to the film scene and to the creation of a cinephilic community – both casual and extreme- among a diverse group of filmgoers in New York City. Part One focuses on the First Wave of Repertory Theaters that took place in New York City during the 1960s. Davis begins this section with a clear explanation of the historical and cultural context in which these theaters emerged. He examines the larger art scene and the demographic changes taking place in New York and across the nation as part of a significant cultural revolution. He clearly defines his terms and takes pains to impress upon his readers the excitement and importance of the First Wave of repertory programming in New York. Davis looks at each of the theaters that shaped this movement—the New Yorker, the Bleecker Street Cinema, the Charles Theater and the Thalia—and devotes a chapter to each. We learn of the foundation of the theaters, the various owners and staffs, the specific films that these theaters screened, and the events and unexpected surprises that each theater contributed to its neighborhood. Davis includes personal anecdotes, letters from fans and employees, and memorabilia that all demonstrate how vibrant and beloved these theaters were in their neighborhoods and among the cinephile community of New York City. Davis celebrates the innovative programmers and often highly mortgaged theaters that carved out such exciting opportunities for regular people to see foreign and art films and to engage with the artistic explosion of this dramatic decade. Part Two examines the Second Wave of the New York film scene that expanded rapidly throughout the 1970s, contracted in the 1980s, and died out altogether by 1994. …”
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