RKO Commack Twin
Veterans Highway,
Commack,
NY
11725
Veterans Highway,
Commack,
NY
11725
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 151 comments found
1983-84
Longislandmovies; what years did you manage the York ?
Oh by the way, I’d like to see how the Will Rogers collection cans would do with today’s Long Island teen audiences.
If it does well, it’s probably only because of people trying to find an alternative to the Commack Multi-Obnoxious-Teenager-Plex! The Shore used to be an alternative (for me; I worked in Huntington village for a decade). Now that has gone “Lolita-Plex”.
ELWOOD NOW IS A 4 SCREEN AS OF LAST YEAR OR 2 …DOES VERY WELL..
The RKO Commack and RKO Rockville Center, were mirror image bookings in the early 1970’s. I think the Babylon was too. I have some ads, with these very uniform bookings that I will post soon.
I saw “Trog” and “Dracula” at The North Babylon Theater. It must have been a move over from the RKO Babylon. Every chain collected for Will Rogers and The Variety Club. Most of the executives were on the Charities boards. When I was at The 150 we would show the charity film with lights off then show trailers or a music video (the 80’s ya know) with the lights on instead of the audience just sitting there.
So when are we gonna have that “Commack Drive In / Commack R.K.O.” tailgate/reunion party ?
Saps, I saw “Taste the Blood of Dracula” (great title!) at the RKO, but have NO memory of “Trog”. I think my father made us leave before it started (knowing that it was a “bomb”?). Yeah, the Will Rogers thing was annoying…they did it at Whitman too? And I remember it was the same ritual at Elwood but I could be wrong. ____
By the way, I’m shocked that Elwood is still standing…That has “closed/demolished” written all over it! C'mon people—lets wreck it an put a C.V.S. up in it’s place!
century and rko ran will rodgers…………that was the worst
I saw that Trog/Dracula double feature. Trog was my first Joan Crawford picture, and her last. Thanks for the flashback.
Was it the RKO the theaters chain where they showed that Will Rogers short “commercial” then had the ushers come around with cans collecting change? That was very strange and discomforting—even for a good charity..at least that’s how I had felt as a kid. They showed the “commercial” way into the 80’s and it was in horrible shape as well.
I guess it’s “happenstance”. The two theaters were not connected in any way. But when you think about it—were there any other two movie theaters ANYWHERE, that were so close together?
I think i have heard of this before at other indoor /out door theaters when they are both the same company..never saw this situation…
Oh my gosh: this 1970 double bill was at the Commack RKO and the Commack Drive In…AT THE SAME TIME! Is this the first time this has happened?
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The micro-film at certain public libraries are a goldmine They keep Newsday on file from day one…some of my best ads are from there. (Unfortunate however, no Daily News or New York Post—which would have the most smokin' movie ads!) The machines are linked with Xerox machines, so anything you want, just drop in a dime and it prints out! I do collect newspapers, but DAMN, “human nature” sucks! The only newspapers that people actually saved were the following: World War 2 (various dates), Kennedy Shot in 1963, the other Kennedy shot in 1968, Man on the Moon in 1969, Nixon resigns in 1974, Bicentennial in 1976, Elvis dies in 1977, John Lennon dies in 1980… Therefore, nothing happened in 1964,1965,1966,1967,1970,1971,1972,1973,1975,etc.????????????
As Babs would sing memmmreees….Jeez, I was assistant manager at one of those theaters playing “Polyester” at the time. I got to meet John Waters and I have an Odorama card signed by him and I met Carol Kane last year and have the Stranger DVD signed by her. I wish there were a site that had tons of Newsday movie ads. I collected one sheets, and now I collect DVD’s signed by the stars but I never thought of keeping the ads. Every time I read one of your posts Bloop, it’s like my own personal “This Is Your Life!”. Thanks.
Another “classic” thriller I saw, at the Commack RKO:
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The best time I ever had at the Commack RKO TWIN :
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OOPs, that was for the Commack D.I. ———-THIS is for the RKO!
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CLICK for a shot of the dying days of an ad for Commack’s “grind house” features
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Oops! it’s up and running now!!
Also: are we gonna have to wait till the next century to get a Commack Drive-In page on Cinema Treasures . com !? I submitted it to be listed 3 weeks ago or more. Meanwhile; back to the Commack RKO: would love to see a Lobby shot! Also, I remember one night coming out of there and seeing a “coming soon” poster for “Straw Dogs”. The disturbing poster made me think “OK, this movie is NOT for kids”. LOL. I saw “Reanimator” there…and I think “From Beyond” as well. Still not certain, but I think the last movie I saw there was “Spinal Tap” (maybe a midnight showing?). I wish I had saved one of the cobalt blue tiles from when they demolished this place…
The 1980’s ruined MOST things…just look at this site! Drive Ins and Movie Palaces all DIED within the 1980’s…this is no coincidence. But what I miss the most was looking in the paper and seeing some ad for a movie of double-bill that you NEVER heard of (because it was a cheap-o grindhouse type), taking a chance and actually going to see it; and laughing your ass of because it was soooo bad. Also: DOUBLE-FEATURES died in the 1980’s. I loved going to the drive in, and when they would show something like “Halloween”—the second feature was some cheap 8 year old movie you MAY have never seen. I saw the gruesome CLASSIC “grind house” movie “I Drink Your Blood” (1971) in just that way at the Smithtown Drive – In. P.S. Quentin Tarantino should go back and do some research….as his current “GrindHouse” does NOT resemble anything I used to see at REAL drive ins!
I remember seeing Meatballs and, i think, Moonraker at the Commack drive in. I miss having this theater and Modells Shopper’s World right across the street. The Candlelight Diner is still there, though. My wife and I go there every Sunday for breakfast after our son’s swimming lessons. As a teenager of the 80s, I’m not sure if they “ruined everything” (heh heh), but certain things I think were better way back when.