The Empire

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A black and white photograph of an ornate (but somewhat worn down) movie theater, with "Empire" in script across its marquee, which advertises "Always 3 Great Kung Fu Hits" (in this instance they are "The Master Strikes Back", "Super Dragon", and "Wild Panther", rendered below with some letters missing). A group of mostly Black people walks in front, wearing groovy early-80s fashion.

source: https://www.jimigphotography.com/america

The Empire Theater on 42nd Street. Jimi Giannatti, 1982. #photography

8 hours ago

otaman

6 hours ago

Every movie was kung fu fighting
Those casts were fast as lightning

ian_whitney 4 hours ago

I think it's a little later than 82. The Master Strikes Back is listed as an 1985 release on hkmdb. And WL Panter might (??) be Wild Panther, which was a 1984 release.

Had I been in NYC in the mid 80s I would have lived in this theater, no doubt.

snarkout

4 hours ago

@ian_whitney You're probably right; I saw it listed as 1982 on Pinterest, I think, and it's not dated at Giannatti's website.

MackReed

3 hours ago

@ian_whitney and you would have had a slimy, perilous walk to and from "home" every day. The whole of that part of midtown was a wretched hive of scum and villainy at that point - and also a vibrant petri dish of edgy sex-industry culture that would look largely tame as dishwater compared with today's internet.

The Empire

Steve

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