Regal UA Midway
108-22 Queens Boulevard,
Forest Hills,
NY
11375
108-22 Queens Boulevard,
Forest Hills,
NY
11375
19 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 154 comments
This Universal feature “The Killers” was originally filmed for television and then deemed too violent. It lists Angie Dickinson and Lee Marvin as it’s stars, however it’s most famous as being the last movie of Ronald Reagan right before he became Governor of California. It’s also one of the few times Reagan played a bad guy. Check out the great co-feature Mamie Van Doren and Mickey Rooney in “The Private Lives of Adam & Eve”.
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Cleopatra opened here after the Rivoli engagement (sorry that the scan is not too good)
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I saw many, many movies at the Midway in the 80’s. I remember liking the upstairs theaters best because the slope of the balcony gave the audience “stadium style” seating some 15 years before the phrase entered into common usage! Also, the balcony railing was still in place in front of the 1st row of seats and the screens were set back from the railing about 20-25 feet or so making for some very comfortable 1st row viewing.
In the early 80’s, the Midway would often play double-bill horror films much like those that played on The Duece in Times Sqaure, making it a pleasant alternative to the often menacing grind houses in Manhattan. Not to mention that the Midway always listed its attractions in the newspaper movie timetables (unlike the theaters on 42nd Street, where one had to just show up hoping to find something that suited one’s mood). Some of these titles I recall from the Midway include Black Magic, Friday the 13th:The Orphan (not to be confused with the neverending saga of Jason Voorhees), Beyond the Door 2, The Brood, The Dark, Without Warning and Humanoids from the Deep (which recently played on IFC to my great amusement).
This was also a fairly easy quartet to sneak in from one auditorium to the next (particularly if you used the back staircase that was located on the right side of the lobby). Hey… I was 15 or 16 years old. I had to get the biggest bang out of my $3.50 admission that I could. Of course, perish the thought today…
1971 the Midway was playing “Tora Tora Tora” and was billed as the exclusive Queens flagship theatre. At the bottom of the block ad they are also selling tickets for the up-coming Ali VS Frazier fight
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I remember the Midway in the 80’s. It was always beautifully maintained. However, I agree, during the process of quading it, because it is so “well” maintained, much of the original features were lost to “modernization”. Other theaters, like the Ridgewood were minimally maintained, but since it was also sort of hap-hazardly cut up, much of the original interior was still there to be seen.
A lot was covered at the Midway, because it was so nicely maintained.
It should be pointed out that the quadding of the Midway in the 70’s destroyed most of the Midway’s original look. That transformation was sinful. When the theater was changed into a nine-plex, it had to be considerably enlarged in width and height to accommodate stadium seating auditoriums and give necessary attention to accessibility. Also, engineers discovered quite quickly that the original building needed considerable strengthening, because it was constructed during wartime steel shortages. What exists now from the past is the 1942 building facade and vertical sign, the curved staircase, the oval lobby, excellent maintenance and the same graciousness that has always been a trademark of this venue.
By the way folks, throughout this website you will read posts where people mention that a particular theater had or was having the “Midway Treatment.” The phrase comes from this theater. This is the theater that gave reference to completely gutting and rebuilding without leaving anything that resembles the original decor.
When in Forest Hills, Queens, this is where we watch a movie. In its day, it must have been awesome.
Thanks so much for posting these photos of the Midway Warren. I always enjoyed that theater as a teenager, unfortunately, it was already cut up by then. I have seen movies in all of the 4 theaters it was cut up into, and can actually visualize them from your old photos in their respective spots.
In the 80’s, I always found the Midway very well kept, and always enjoyed going there. I remember the lobby like it was yesterday.
I have not been back to the Midway since they redid it into the stadium theater it is now.
I also can’t believe that out of all the time I was on this site, I never visted the Midway’s section until today!
I recall the drapes on the lobby windows opened only during the Skouras days, and I always believed it was a way to save on electric bills in the grand foyer! Also, was that big window part of the orignal design, or were bricks hard-to-come by in the summer of 1942 during construction?
You enter the inner lobby through the doors under the attraction screen and walk straight ahead into the auditorium (to the right in the photo)
Wow, Warren, those are great and surprising shots. I went to the Midway frequently as a kid and for my early dating years, 1964-73, and I don’t recall ever seeing natural light in the lobby (or seeing the message screen). I only recall a big dark space with an impression of a high ceiling. I wonder whether the drapes were always closed by then, or whether the second photo is of a part of the theater I didn’t ordinarily see. Ar the doors under the message screen the same as the ones you used to enter from the under the marquee? Where would the auditorium be with respect to that photo?
Thanks, Warren, for the photos. From my first visit to the Midway in its first year (“Arabian Nights” with Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu) to my last, reopening night as 9-plex (Woody Allen’s “Celebrity”), it was a pleasure to visit. Today, it’s an example of preservation and renewal in the best sense. How many 60+ year-old theaters are fortunate enough to have owners and managers willing to invest in and maintain such important community resources and keep them functioning beautifully despite all the changes in technology, demographics, shifting values, and bottom-line mentality?
Just a note about the Preview screen in the lobby. It was still there in the late 1960’s. I remember it very well
I have fond memories of Charlie Manfre, he hired me and my first job was with the Midway theater from 1970-1974. Charlie was the “Chief of Staff” and an icon in the theater. He was a wonderful man who truly loved his family and I am very sorry to learn of his passing. Every Christmas season I would go with Charlie to help him pick out a Christmas gift for his wife. I remember his son Joey worked at the theater for a while as well. Dave Ginsburg was the manager at the time and he was a wonderful gentleman. I went to high school with Rob Berkowitz and I believe I introduced him to Charlie Manfre. I remember when Rob and his wife got engaged. We had some great times with some very wonderful people at the Midway and it was quite an enriching experience.
I worked as an usher in the Midway from 1971-1973. It was a special time in my life. Spent New Year’s Eve 1972 with my boss and friend Charlie Manfre. At midnight he walked into the theater and yelled out to the few patrons, “Happy New Year.” He was a special and wonderful man, and I miss him very much. The excitement of the large crowds on Friday and Saturday, were truly amazing. Met my wife to be there in 1972, as she worked behind the refreshment stand at the young age of 16. We are still marrried and often think back of those special times. The 26 weeks of the French Connection were a highlight, as were the rare Fight Nights on the large screen. The 1900 seat theater had a personality all of its own, and walking in there now, one can not even imagine the beauty that lived inside those walls.
My family moved to Forest Hills in 1956. The movie theaters back then were The Forest Hills on Austin Street, The Midway on Queens Boulevard and a bit later, The Cinemart on Metropolitan Avenue. The Continental opened in the early sixties on Continental Avenue and eventually had a second screen across the street from itself.
The Midway was my favorite theater and was the one at which I fell in love with the movies. I well remember the theater in its single screen glory. The pseudo-deco, black, red and gold lobby, the graceful staircases, the wide auditorium with its sweeping, curved screen. The way the curtains parted as the film began…I also recall the coming attractions screen above the main exit door in the lobby. And popcorn. Hot, fresh popcorn with real butter. And lots of it. Snocaps. Goobers, Raisinettes. And you got change back.
I also recall the box office which was outside, under the front of the marquee in it’s own little enclosure. I remember the elderly woman who worked the box office and the friendly, talkitive doorman who treated kids as real people.
Among Midway movies, I recall West Side Story (1961), The Music Man (1962) and many assorted Disney features.
We remained in Forest Hills unti, the late eighties. I sometimes went to The Midway but it was a bit dispiriting to see the once splendid theater divided in quarters and less than well maintained.
I’m glad to read that The Midway, even as a nine-plex, is alive and well.
Jp
An unfortunate incident outside the UA Midway 9 the other night: View link
I went to the Midway in the fall of 1974, because that was the closest theatre to me that was showing the “Universal Fun Festival”, an umbrella title for the revivals of their comedy library, in this case W.C. Fields in “Never Give A Sucker An Even Break”. And as I entered the great portals, I was impressed by the beautiful lobby and stairway leading to the balcony. I tried to settle back to enjoy the picture, but unfourtunately, the print had cuts and splices every fifth frame. But I did enjoy the magnificent theatre, and vowed I would return there again! The years went by, and one day I was leafing through the paper, and found a listing for the Midway 4…I never went back.
I used to come here a lot with my aunt and grandfather when I was little (my aunt took my to see “The Muppet Movie” and “Superman” while my grandfather brought me to “Airplane!” without telling me parents—heh!). Years later, when my wife and I moved to Kew Gardens, we were here just about every weekend. Although it’s been ‘plexed, I do agree that it is in immaculate condition and is well-run and well-maintained. The facade of the theater is still quite a sight to behold, especially with the glowing “MIDWAY” sign on the side (you really don’t see that often anymore). Hope to get back here eventually.
This is my neighborhood thatre and although it has been “plexed” it is well maintained. This is because the theatre is owned by the Heskel Group and operated by UA Regal. Elijah Heskel comes in often and I’m sure that’s the only reason they don’t destroy this like all their other houses.
The Midway was one of my neighborhood theaters when I was a teen in the mid-late 60’s. It was still a large and well-equipped single-screen, although many of the special touches mentioned above, like the preview screen, were gone.
I recall that the window of the exterior box office bore a decal showing a map of Midway Island — the first inkling I had, as a kid, that Midway was more than the name of a theater. See, movies CAN be educational.
I also recall that the screen was not only huge but also unusually curved for regular theater, giving s slight, and actually pleasing distortion to the picture.
I vividly recall seeing “The Sand Pebbles” there, several times, in Fall 1967. It was the first time I’d seen a picture with stereo sound. I wonder if this sound system had been slumbering unused, or whether it was installed specially for the engagement of this prestige feature?
Other Midway memories include “Dr. Zhivago” — my first actual date — “Planet of the Apes”, “In Like Flint” (OK, a guilt pleasure, but as I kid I loved it!), and “Patton”.
My father “Charlie” was an employee and a fixture at the Midway for almost thirty years. It truly was his home away from home. Sadly, due to health reasons he retired in 1989 and passed away in 1998. Today when I visit Sam the doorman, who my father hired so many years ago, we reminice and talk about how things have changed. He always reminds me that I’m welcomed to see a movie for free and I always remind him that the only reason I stop by is to see him and to remember a man I miss so very much..my father “Charlie"Manfre
All I know about this is that the matrons were licensed by New York City and Children’s sections had to be maintained. This was probably to protect children from child molesters. Adults were chased out childrens' sections as children were watched if they were sneaking into adult sections or the balcony. This regulation must have “gone with the wind” since multi-screen theatres were required one matron per auditorium, as was the fact at the Midway. Another regulation that “flew the coop” is that exits from a theatres were on ground level or from fire escapes leading to street level. In today’s Manhattan, with their multi-level theatre buildings, the exits are into corridors and stairwells with audiences not aware of where the outside exit from a auditorium on the fifth floor really is. Can you imagine a fire at either AMC 25 or Loew’s E-Walk with the escalators and elevators inoperative and people panicking in smoke filled stairways. This is just another disaster in the making and where are the fire laws to prevent this? As far as children in theatres, they can sit anywhere in any Long Island multiplex. Not only can they buy their tichet for a PG movie, they can see an R or NC-17 once they pass the ticket taker. 12 and 14 screen theatres don’t have a ticket taker at every auditorium entrance. I would never let my child attend any movie theatre alone today.
I worked at the Midway in 1977 and the “quadding” took place in the spring of that year to be completed in time to be open for “The Disney Festival” (Remember them?) which started the last week of June. The Midway was always a busy house no matter what played. That summer we also had the “A.I.P. Summer Festival”. For one of those double bills, “Tentacles” and “Squirm”, some teenagers changed the Balcony theatres entrance sign to rhyme with the a certain part of the male anatomy and what it produced. This went un-noticed for a while until a patron informed management as to when we started showing X-rated pictures. There are many more stories. When the blackout occured that summer, the theatre was sold out (all auditoriums). When it was found to be a city blackout and not just the theatre, patrons were told to keep their stubs for re-admission. This caused a furor amongst people who wanted their money refunded (even in the dark). Refunds weren’t issued and the police were summoned to get the refund agitators removed so the building could be closed and secured. The Midway also had two part time matrons and children’s sections in all auditoriums. The lobby was done with a red and black color scheme and the left staircase that led to the balcony had an area for game machines (almost 10) that were very busy on the weekends. Also at this time, we had a union electrician and he also changed the marquee. No one was allowed to change a light bulb except him. I was at the Midway for about six months until I was transferred to the Syosset Theatre on Long Island.
P.S. At the time managers got 2 ½% commission on candy sales and 1% on the game machines (– shortages).