A New Era for an Old Landmark

You could call the Picture House a brand-old theater.

Pelham’s 90-year-old movie house, which officially reopened Friday following a six-month renovation, includes all the latest amenities that moviegoers have come to expect, such as rocking seats, cup holders in the armrests, and an up-to-date sound system.

But many of the best architectural features from the past have been preserved. Six large double-hung windows that had been covered for decades are now visible, as are the wooden trusses that support the roof.

I especially like the sturdy exposed-brick piers that run from floor to ceiling and the decorative woodwork, including jigsaw trim that runs around the tops of the walls and the carved brackets that support the roof beams.

And then there are some whimsical touches. Old movie posters hang on the lobby walls, including one for the original “The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.” And instead of the standard labels on the restroom doors, pictures of two iconic stars indicate the women’s and men’s rooms.

You can’t get much more feminine than Audrey Hepburn, and the image of a young Marlon Brando is unmistakably masculine.

Also, the entries to the restrooms are now where you’d expect to find them—in the lobby. You no longer enter the restrooms from the theater area, perhaps the quirkiest aspect of the old Picture House.

A number of old features came to light during the renovation, including the original silent-era movie screen and the pit where a pianist would accompany those pre-talkie films. Because of the demands of contemporary movies, not all of those details are visible now—a new screen covers the original—but I these architectural finds during a January sneak peek at the unfinished theater.

“We were very careful that anything that was an original detail that was uncovered was worked into the design to accommodate it,” said architect Raymond Beeler.

Still, just because it was original didn’t mean it had to be preserved. Beeler said the renovation revealed that the original color of the rough stucco walls was pink. It’s now a less-jarring light tan.

Sitting in one of the new chairs, I couldn't help wondering what it must have been like to be in the Picture House and see "Casablanca" when it was first released, or, in light of her , one of Elizabeth Taylor's classic titles.

With the theater’s $1.1 million renovation comes a new mission. Since its opening in 1921, the Picture House has been a neighborhood theater, showing first-run movies to a hometown crowd. That didn’t result in a lot of commerce for neighboring businesses.

Now, however, it’s the home of that will show a mix of independent films and classics and also provide classes for children and adults in filmmaking, screenwriting and acting.

The hope is to draw from a wider area in southern Westchester, according to executive director Jennifer Christman. And that could lead to greater activity in Pelham’s downtown area as people stop for a bite to eat or to shop before or after a movie.

In keeping with that thinking, on Fifth Avenue will start serving dinner earlier so people have enough time to eat before show time.

Economic development was a theme that ran through many of the remarks by the politicians who showed up for the ribbon cutting, including Rep. Nita Lowey and state Sen. Jeff Klein, whose districts include Pelham and who helped get federal and state grants for the renovation.

We won’t know for some time if those hopes pan out. For now, the mood at the Picture House is celebratory, with a weekend lineup of films to mark its reopening.

In honor of its origins, the theater scheduled Buster Keaton’s classic silent comedy “The General” for Friday night, with accompanist Ben Model playing a Wurlitzer organ for the occasion.

And the first movie in the Sunday Essentials series of classic films? In a nod to its hometown, the Picture House will show “The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three.”

After all, it already has the poster.