Bombay Theatre

Not at all, Warren. Looks great. I only wish I had produced better raw material for you to work with. I’m waiting for prices to come down on the new SLR Digital Cameras out there. Perhaps after the holidays I’ll get my hands on one. The cameras I’ve seen advertised come with 18-55mm zoom lenses, which means you can widen out to a near fish-eye perspective and take in those large auditoriums from almost any vantage point. That will do nothing but encourage me to get inside some theaters and start snapping photos.

I would tend to guess that video projector is left over from the porn days. Most Bollywood films are 35mm and scope. It’s go great to see a neighborhood theatre like this again. They should experiment with playing second run American films in-between the Bollywood stuff.

I snapped these night shots of the illuminated Bombay marquee a couple of weeks back:

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I was also able to take my camera inside for a few shots. The theater manager was very nice and accommodating, though he really didn’t know any history about the place. He wasn’t even aware it had been a porn house for so long. He has been there for 5 years and he confirmed that the theater operates on a pretty irregular schedule. They had a few local teens working in the theater to sell admissions and concessions and when I arrived (just before 8pm) there were maybe 3 or 4 people sitting in the auditorium awaiting the screening. The interior is kept clean, but there are definite signs of wear and tear particularly in the auditorium. The ticket booth is set up on the left wall of the outer foyer, which you can make out in the 2nd photo above through the doors. From the foyer, you walk through a 2nd set of doors into the small lobby (about the same size as the foyer), which has a fairly large glass display case set into the left wall, a small snack bar at the rear and rest rooms on the right. You enter the auditorium on the left through glass doors next to the display case. Once inside you can proceed to orchestra seating (center aisle set up) or make a u-turn up the stairs for the loge.

I took two pictures of the foyer below, but they really didn’t come out very well. This was my first time taking interior photos of a theater and I think that I rushed myself, feeling a little sheepish and self-conscious about what I was doing. I didn’t get any shots of the lobby at all! I was able to grab a few shots of the auditorium – but the flash from the digital camera was not enough to light the entire space (and there was insufficient ambient light to get a satisfactory exposure without the flash). I lightened up the image as best I could. I really need to start using my SLR for interior shots – I can take a longer exposure and take advantage of the wider angled 28mm lens – but it’s not digital and I’ll have to scan. Anyway… here’s what I got:

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If you look closely at that shot of the screen (the 3rd photo) you’ll see a video projector hanging from the ceiling. Looks to be mounted pretty close to render a quality image on the screen. I forgot to ask the manager if this was how they presented their movies or if the projection room was still in operation. I know I sort of muffed my opportunity here, but I figured I’d share the results with everyone all the same. Hopefully, I’ll get it better the next time around.

Here are some 1941 images. The current program on the marquee was “Hudson’s Bay” (Paul Muni) & “Play Girl” (Kay Francis), a combo that originated on the RKO neighborhood circuit and arrived here several weeks later:
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This was the neighborhood theatre for Harvey and Bob Weinstein of Miramax fame. They both consider the Mayfair their film school. When they attended this was a theatre that specialized in foreign filn. In the late 1970’s it turned to porn for survival. I was friendly with a projecdtionist who worked this theatre and kept him company many nights when he ran XXX product. Theatre could be found only with a Sherpa guide. Think it went XXX bevause if you didn;t live within a four or five block radius, you wouldn’t find it. Similar in design to other Queens theates Utopia, Drake, and Austin ( now Kew Gardens).

i miss when it ran porn!

Thank you Warren. I guess that’s better than no movies being played in it.

What kind of film does this theater show now?

Yes, it’s still operating as the Bombay Theatre. When I phoned to ask what time the next show starts, the answerer said, “What time can you get here?”…Seriously, the Bombay is open only certain days of the week. The number is 718-358-2929.

The Mayfair first opened on September 25th, 1940, with a late-run double feature of “New Moon” & “Florian.”

Something seems wrong with the map generator. 68-25 Fresh Meadow Lane seems to be the correct address; it appears both in the 1957 Film Daily Year Book and the 2004 Queens Yellow Pages (as Bombay Theatre). But when I enter it in the Mapfinder giving Fresh Meadows or Flushing as the community, the star turns up well north of the Long Island Expressway, when, in fact, the theatre is several blocks south of it!

The Circle Theatre is now a Lucille Roberts, the marquee is there but covered over with the present store’s sign. How much of the interior exists is unknown.

This theater is located on Fresh Meadows Lane just off 69th Ave where it merges with Utopia Parkway in Fresh Meadows, Queens.