Where The Grim Game took flight

Today marks the anniversary of Houdini's The Grim Game opening at B.S. Moss' Broadway Theater in New York City on August 25, 1919. The movie played an exclusive two-week run with Houdini appearing in person at every performance. Our friend Joe Notaro has shared an original program on his blog, Harry Houdini Circumstantial Evidence. I encourage you to check that out.

What I want to focus on is the theater itself. The Broadway Theater opened in 1888 at the southwest corner of Broadway and 41st Street. It sat around 1,700. It was the seventh theater to bear the "Broadway" name. In 1908, it was purchased by B.S. Moss and played a mix of movies and vaudeville. As for the theater's decor, this comes from the excellent Cinema Treasures website:

The Broadway Theatre featured a somewhat generic facade on Broadway, in a five-story red brick office building with little indication of was inside, until a vertical marquee was added in the 1910’s. The elegantly decorated auditorium, with its large proscenium arch, six sets of boxes and twin balconies, featured such touches as antique copper chandeliers, gilded plasterwork around the proscenium, the box and balcony fronts and murals on the ceiling and balcony walls.

Here's something I never knew until today. On the same day as The Grim Game's opening, Howard Thurston opened at the Globe Theater on Broadway and 46th Street. Sorry, Howard, I'm seeing Harry! (But I might sneak over to the Globe the next day.)

B.S. Moss' Broadway Theater closed on January 2, 1929, and was demolished later that year. Below, you can see the site of the theater today. Where The Grim Game first took flight!

Want more? I've shared a nice selection of newspaper advertisements and reviews for The Grim Game at B.S. Moss' Broadway Theater (and a few Thurston ads) on my Patreon below.

Theater photos from Cinema Treasures.

Related:

• The Grim Game turns 100
• Grim Game plane wreck lobby display
• Houdini conquers Hollywood (at last) in The Grim Game