I checked and there was a theater in Manhattan called the Knickerbocker theater. It was near Broadway and 38th st. The New Yankee Cafe and the Leumi Bank are on its former location.
The sports arena called the Ridgewood Grove was located on St. Nicholas ave and Palmetto st. It was a poolroom in the 60’s. Before that it was a bowling alley. Before that it was famous for boxing matches. Thats before my time.
In the articles that I read, one refers to a theater on Myrtle near Knickerbocker as the Grove theater. That was in the 20’s. The other article from the 30’s called it the Knickerbocker theater. There is no address given. I don’t know what “near Knickerbocker” means. Is it on the corner of Knickerbocker or 2 blocks away from there or what? I gon’t have a map handy, but I believe the intersection of Myrtle and Knickerbocker aves is near either Greene ave or Bleecker st.
Instead of being called the Grove theater, could it have been called the Knickerbocker theater? I read something about a Knickerbocker theater being located at Knickerbocker and Myrtle. Maybe the first article calling it the Grove theater was incorrect.
I don’t want to upset you Eddie but I want to finish my “crap” messages about the theater organ’s.
The Parthenon had a Wurlitzer organ and it was installed in 1920.
The Glenwood also had a Wurlitzer and it was installed in 1921.
The Ridgewood had/has a Moller organ installed in 1917.
There is no organ listing for the Madison theater.
I was going to put this info under the appropriate theaters but if I did that, Eddie would have more places to complain. I figured by posting it all here, I would limit his complaints to this one area.
Well Eddie, I didn’t consider the info on the theater organ’s as “crap”. This is the reason that I thought that it could be usefull. There are dates that the organ’s were installed. If your not sure when a theater was built or opened, you could use the installation date of the organ to get an idea of when that theater was built. I found Organ info on alot of theaters in Brooklyn and Queens. Since you consider that info as “crap”, I won’t post anymore of it. That gives me more time to research other things. Besides, I wouldn’t want to waste anyone’s time reading my “crap” messages when they could be reading your informative posts about “hot chicks” and “making out in the balcony”.
I came across this on the web. On March 23,1946 there was a double feature playing here. The movie was called “Deception” with Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. The second feature was “The Undercover Woman” with Stephanie Bachelor and Robert Livingston. The cartoon was called “Jaspers Derby” in Technicolor. The Belvedere is listed as being on Myrtle ave and 64th Place.
Bway…..Your welcome. I haven’t come across any other sites for the Keith in Flushing yet. I know how difficult it is to find things on the web. Sometimes I get lucky and find things about these theaters and other times I just get frustrated. That’s why this site is so great. You can bring all the info that you find and put it here so it’s all in one place for everyone to read. During these searches, I sometimes come across what I call “obscure facts”. Here is an example:
The RKO Keith in Richmond Hill had an organ built by Robert-Morton and Co. It was installed in 1928. The Belvedere theater had one built by Marr & Colton and it was installed in 1922. Other theater organs used during that time were made by Wurlitzer and Midmer-Losh. Some people might find this trivial and others will find it interesting. You make the decision. I just report what I find.
I found this on the Queens Historical Society website. Is this the RKO Keith your talking about? If I come across any pictures, I’ll let you know.
“RKO Keith’s Theatre"
The theatre originally opened as the Keith-Albee Vaudeville Theatre on Christmas Day, 1928. Thomas Lamb was the architect, using the Mexican Baroque style. Against a blue evening sky, the effect of twinkling electric stars and projected drifting clouds evoked a romantic feeling of sitting in a Spanish garden. The entire building was once designated a city landmark. The ticket lobby and grand foyer, still landmarked, are intact and await restoration. Jack Benny, Bob Hope and other entertainers of the day played the Keith’s.
Another memory that I have of the Madison theater was the organ that used to play during intermission. I don’t know when they stopped doing it but in the late fifties and early sixties it was done. After the first movie ended, the lights would be turned up and the organist would play. That gave you time to go to the concession stand to get more popcorn and candy. I assume the movie reels were being changed at that time. There were days that the intermission would last too long and the kids would get rowdy. They would throw candy and whatever else was handy at the screen until the movie started. It’s funny how you remember things like that.
I know that I saw “The Fall of the House of Usher” but I don’t remember where I saw it. This movie came out before “The Raven”. Another Roger Corman-Vincent Price movie I remember seeing in the early sixties was “The Pit and the Pendulum”. I thought that this was one of the scariest movies that Corman made.
Yes, I do remember Ray Milland in “The Man With The X-Ray Eyes”. As a kid, I thought it would be great to be able to see through things like Superman could. Ray Milland was in another Roger Corman movie prior to this one called “The Premature Burial”.
I came across an article that said there was a theater called the Grove theater located on Myrtle ave near Knickerbocker ave. Has anyone heard of this theater?
In the 50’s I saw other movies besides horror and sci-fi. The problem is, I don’t remember which theater I saw them in. I’ll give you a few examples. I saw “Three Coins in the Fountain”. I remember Rossano Brazzi singing in this movie. As a kid, I was not a big fan of musical love stories so I did not enjoy this movie at the time. Another musical love story that I remember was “South Pacific”. This movie also had Rossano Brazzi singing in it. Again, not one of my all time favorites. Another movie that I remember was called “Bridge on the River Kwai” with William Holden. Although it wasn’t a musical, I found it kind of boring.
I remember seeing most of those Vincent Price movies that you mentioned. Thanks for reminding me that they were Roger Corman movies. The Raven wasn’t really a scary movie, in fact I thought it had some funny scenes in it. Peter Lorre gets turned into a raven by Boris Karloff and can still talk while he is a raven. Vincent Price was the good sorcerer and Boris Karloff was the evil sorcerer. Hazel Court played the usual damsel in distress.
Does anyone know if this movie played at the RKO Madison? I remember seeing it but I’m not sure which theater I saw it at. It was called “The Raven”. Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholon were in it. I saw it around 1963. Most of the Vincent Price movies played at the Madison so I’m thinking that this one did also. Thanks.
I forgot about “The Thing” with James Arness as the alien. That was also a very good movie. One other very good movie from the early 50’s that I also forgot about was “Invaders from Mars”. There was a remake of it in the 80’s but the original is much better.
“Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers” had special effects by Ray Harryhausen. They weren’t bad for the time that the movie was made. Some of the movies made today rely too much on special effects to overcome a weak story line.
There were also good science fiction movies made in the 50’s. Two of my favorites are “War of the Worlds” and “Forbidden Planet”. Both were in color and both had good special effects for their time. Although, if you look close at the spaceships in “War of the Worlds”, you can see the wires that hold the ship up. I assume that they were small models.
Alot of movies in the 50’s dealt with the effects of the A-bomb. The A-bomb woke “Godzilla” up. Some of those movies dealt with mutations from the fallout of nuclear testing. Do you remember “Them” about giant mutant ants? Were these movies making a political statement? I think that they were.
What horror fan could forget Tor Johnson. He was an ex-wrestler turned “actor?”. In all the movies that he was in, I don’t think he spoke more than 10 lines in all the movies combined. I remember him in another “B” movie with John Carradine and Lon Chaney, Jr. called “The Black Sleep
”. If I’m not mistaken, Bela Lugosi was in this movie also. They sure don’t make them like they used to and I;m glad that they don’t make them like these anymore.
Actually I kind of liked “Invasion of the Saucer Men”. There was one “famous” person in that movie. It was Frank Gorshin the impressionist who also played the Riddler on the Batman tv show.
Wasn’t “Plan 9 From Outer Space” the last movie that Bela Lugosi was in? Didn’t he die during the making of the movie?
I have a question. Is there a way to edit the info at the top of the page for this theater? I want to enter the seating capacity of 600 that Warren found in his book.
While doing research for the Majestic, I have come across info on other theaters from Ridgewood like the Wyckoff and Partheon, I post that info in the appropriate place. As an example, I posted the dates those theaters opened and who owned them at the time. I think that the people that entered those theaters should take that info and add it to the intro at the top also if that’s possible.
I checked and there was a theater in Manhattan called the Knickerbocker theater. It was near Broadway and 38th st. The New Yankee Cafe and the Leumi Bank are on its former location.
Is there a Knickerbocker theater listed for Manhattan? I came across the following:
“THE CRINOLINE GIRL” opening at the Knickerbocker theater on March 16, 1914.
Maybe the people writing these articles get confused. Maybe they remember the name of the theater but get the location wrong.
Thanks Peter. I think that I’ll give up on Map Quest and just ask you from now on. (just kidding)
The “Godfather” was at the Madison. For some odd reason I did not see it at the Madison. I saw it at the Sunrise drive-in in Valley Stream.
The sports arena called the Ridgewood Grove was located on St. Nicholas ave and Palmetto st. It was a poolroom in the 60’s. Before that it was a bowling alley. Before that it was famous for boxing matches. Thats before my time.
In the articles that I read, one refers to a theater on Myrtle near Knickerbocker as the Grove theater. That was in the 20’s. The other article from the 30’s called it the Knickerbocker theater. There is no address given. I don’t know what “near Knickerbocker” means. Is it on the corner of Knickerbocker or 2 blocks away from there or what? I gon’t have a map handy, but I believe the intersection of Myrtle and Knickerbocker aves is near either Greene ave or Bleecker st.
Instead of being called the Grove theater, could it have been called the Knickerbocker theater? I read something about a Knickerbocker theater being located at Knickerbocker and Myrtle. Maybe the first article calling it the Grove theater was incorrect.
I don’t want to upset you Eddie but I want to finish my “crap” messages about the theater organ’s.
The Parthenon had a Wurlitzer organ and it was installed in 1920.
The Glenwood also had a Wurlitzer and it was installed in 1921.
The Ridgewood had/has a Moller organ installed in 1917.
There is no organ listing for the Madison theater.
I was going to put this info under the appropriate theaters but if I did that, Eddie would have more places to complain. I figured by posting it all here, I would limit his complaints to this one area.
Well Eddie, I didn’t consider the info on the theater organ’s as “crap”. This is the reason that I thought that it could be usefull. There are dates that the organ’s were installed. If your not sure when a theater was built or opened, you could use the installation date of the organ to get an idea of when that theater was built. I found Organ info on alot of theaters in Brooklyn and Queens. Since you consider that info as “crap”, I won’t post anymore of it. That gives me more time to research other things. Besides, I wouldn’t want to waste anyone’s time reading my “crap” messages when they could be reading your informative posts about “hot chicks” and “making out in the balcony”.
I came across this on the web. On March 23,1946 there was a double feature playing here. The movie was called “Deception” with Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. The second feature was “The Undercover Woman” with Stephanie Bachelor and Robert Livingston. The cartoon was called “Jaspers Derby” in Technicolor. The Belvedere is listed as being on Myrtle ave and 64th Place.
Bway…..Your welcome. I haven’t come across any other sites for the Keith in Flushing yet. I know how difficult it is to find things on the web. Sometimes I get lucky and find things about these theaters and other times I just get frustrated. That’s why this site is so great. You can bring all the info that you find and put it here so it’s all in one place for everyone to read. During these searches, I sometimes come across what I call “obscure facts”. Here is an example:
The RKO Keith in Richmond Hill had an organ built by Robert-Morton and Co. It was installed in 1928. The Belvedere theater had one built by Marr & Colton and it was installed in 1922. Other theater organs used during that time were made by Wurlitzer and Midmer-Losh. Some people might find this trivial and others will find it interesting. You make the decision. I just report what I find.
When you do a search for this theater the search engine comes back with the one in Flushing and Richmond Hill.
Try this link also:
View link
Bway…..Try this link:
View link
I found this on the Queens Historical Society website. Is this the RKO Keith your talking about? If I come across any pictures, I’ll let you know.
“RKO Keith’s Theatre"
The theatre originally opened as the Keith-Albee Vaudeville Theatre on Christmas Day, 1928. Thomas Lamb was the architect, using the Mexican Baroque style. Against a blue evening sky, the effect of twinkling electric stars and projected drifting clouds evoked a romantic feeling of sitting in a Spanish garden. The entire building was once designated a city landmark. The ticket lobby and grand foyer, still landmarked, are intact and await restoration. Jack Benny, Bob Hope and other entertainers of the day played the Keith’s.
Another memory that I have of the Madison theater was the organ that used to play during intermission. I don’t know when they stopped doing it but in the late fifties and early sixties it was done. After the first movie ended, the lights would be turned up and the organist would play. That gave you time to go to the concession stand to get more popcorn and candy. I assume the movie reels were being changed at that time. There were days that the intermission would last too long and the kids would get rowdy. They would throw candy and whatever else was handy at the screen until the movie started. It’s funny how you remember things like that.
I know that I saw “The Fall of the House of Usher” but I don’t remember where I saw it. This movie came out before “The Raven”. Another Roger Corman-Vincent Price movie I remember seeing in the early sixties was “The Pit and the Pendulum”. I thought that this was one of the scariest movies that Corman made.
Yes, I do remember Ray Milland in “The Man With The X-Ray Eyes”. As a kid, I thought it would be great to be able to see through things like Superman could. Ray Milland was in another Roger Corman movie prior to this one called “The Premature Burial”.
I came across an article that said there was a theater called the Grove theater located on Myrtle ave near Knickerbocker ave. Has anyone heard of this theater?
In the 50’s I saw other movies besides horror and sci-fi. The problem is, I don’t remember which theater I saw them in. I’ll give you a few examples. I saw “Three Coins in the Fountain”. I remember Rossano Brazzi singing in this movie. As a kid, I was not a big fan of musical love stories so I did not enjoy this movie at the time. Another musical love story that I remember was “South Pacific”. This movie also had Rossano Brazzi singing in it. Again, not one of my all time favorites. Another movie that I remember was called “Bridge on the River Kwai” with William Holden. Although it wasn’t a musical, I found it kind of boring.
I remember seeing most of those Vincent Price movies that you mentioned. Thanks for reminding me that they were Roger Corman movies. The Raven wasn’t really a scary movie, in fact I thought it had some funny scenes in it. Peter Lorre gets turned into a raven by Boris Karloff and can still talk while he is a raven. Vincent Price was the good sorcerer and Boris Karloff was the evil sorcerer. Hazel Court played the usual damsel in distress.
Does anyone know if this movie played at the RKO Madison? I remember seeing it but I’m not sure which theater I saw it at. It was called “The Raven”. Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholon were in it. I saw it around 1963. Most of the Vincent Price movies played at the Madison so I’m thinking that this one did also. Thanks.
I forgot about “The Thing” with James Arness as the alien. That was also a very good movie. One other very good movie from the early 50’s that I also forgot about was “Invaders from Mars”. There was a remake of it in the 80’s but the original is much better.
“Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers” had special effects by Ray Harryhausen. They weren’t bad for the time that the movie was made. Some of the movies made today rely too much on special effects to overcome a weak story line.
There were also good science fiction movies made in the 50’s. Two of my favorites are “War of the Worlds” and “Forbidden Planet”. Both were in color and both had good special effects for their time. Although, if you look close at the spaceships in “War of the Worlds”, you can see the wires that hold the ship up. I assume that they were small models.
Alot of movies in the 50’s dealt with the effects of the A-bomb. The A-bomb woke “Godzilla” up. Some of those movies dealt with mutations from the fallout of nuclear testing. Do you remember “Them” about giant mutant ants? Were these movies making a political statement? I think that they were.
Peter….On that same website is a photo of the RKO Keith from 1939. Here is the link:
http://www.richmondhillhistory.org/RKOkeith.html
What horror fan could forget Tor Johnson. He was an ex-wrestler turned “actor?”. In all the movies that he was in, I don’t think he spoke more than 10 lines in all the movies combined. I remember him in another “B” movie with John Carradine and Lon Chaney, Jr. called “The Black Sleep
”. If I’m not mistaken, Bela Lugosi was in this movie also. They sure don’t make them like they used to and I;m glad that they don’t make them like these anymore.
Actually I kind of liked “Invasion of the Saucer Men”. There was one “famous” person in that movie. It was Frank Gorshin the impressionist who also played the Riddler on the Batman tv show.
Wasn’t “Plan 9 From Outer Space” the last movie that Bela Lugosi was in? Didn’t he die during the making of the movie?
I have a question. Is there a way to edit the info at the top of the page for this theater? I want to enter the seating capacity of 600 that Warren found in his book.
While doing research for the Majestic, I have come across info on other theaters from Ridgewood like the Wyckoff and Partheon, I post that info in the appropriate place. As an example, I posted the dates those theaters opened and who owned them at the time. I think that the people that entered those theaters should take that info and add it to the intro at the top also if that’s possible.