RKO Alden Theatre
165-16 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11432
165-16 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11432
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This August of 1958 ad for “The Fly' shows up what Warren said about the product split that happened because of the Merrick and Alden. All the RKO’s are getting the "The Fly” and “Space Master X-7” but because it is booked in the Merrick the Alden is holding over the previous weeks “The Light in the Forest” and “The Story of Perri”.
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the alden was my favorite theater because they had the best movies of the day all of the warner brothers movies with stars like cagney raft, davis, crawford, bogart,and bacall.
the savoy was on jamaica ave and adistance from my house. so i went to the plaza.on saturdays the the price was eleven cents .i usally had sixteen cents . eleven cents for the movie and five cents for a box of good and plenty
The Carlton (not Carleton) has a listing here, as does Loew’s Hillside.
I don’t remember the hillside, carleton linden plaza or marlboro. The Savoy I do remember in the ‘50s. Triple features – a war movie, a monster movie and a western – all in one long afternoon!
I saw the Three Stooges perform at the Valencia in about ‘61 or so during their resurgence at that time in TV.
Where was the Marlboro Theatre in Jamaica? I’ve never heard of it. In fact, I don’t recall a Marlboro Theatre anywhere in Queens. Perhaps “english” confused it with the Savoy, a Jamaica theatre that he neglected to mention.
in the previous comment i ment linden not liden
the pecking order of the movie houses in jamaica during my time wre as follows.valencia,alden,merrick.jamaica,hillside,carleton,liden,plazaaand the marlboro.
In the years before “Showcase” saturations, the Alden did a “split” with the nearby Skouras Merrick of all programs put together for the RKO neighborhood circuit break. The Alden played all the WB and RKO movies and some Universal, the Merrick got 20th-Fox and some Universal. This often required running the programs for two weeks, even though attendance might not have warranted a “hold-over.” Sometimes, a program of reissues or new “B” movies would be shown instead.
this theater is where i saw night and day also to have and have not with the young beautiful and unforgettable lauren bacall.also objective burma and most othe big warner brothers movies of the 1940s .at this point in time movies and baseball were bigger than life
The Alden was built by Hurtjam Theatre Corporation, a subsidiary of Hurtig & Seamon, which never intended to operate the theatre itself. It was named in honor of its first tenant, the Shubert Organization, which opened it on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1928, with “Just a Minute,” a musical that had a brief run on Broadway in October. A week later, the “Greenwich Village Follies,” which had played on Broadway in the spring of 1928, followed. By March, competition from Loew’s Valencia and stage plays at the Cort Jamaica forced the Shuberts to sell their lease to Mutual Burlesque, which took over the theatre starting on March 18, 1929 with a revue entitled “Nite Life in Paris,” which boasted of using an illuminated runway for its chorus of 16 dancing beauties.
How odd it seems to see a film saying “direct from Radio City” and then playing the Alden, but 1971 was probably right before it went into it’s decent of horror and kung-fu films
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“Blacula” played the Alden in 1973
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For what it’s worth, in resolving a four-plus month-old mystery, Fred Astaire’s final film was the 1981 thriller (and former Showtime staple) ‘Ghost Story’.
Here’s a 1943 image of the Alden’s auditorium. Little had been changed since it first opened in 1928 as the “legit” Shubert Jamaica:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/e3f6b999.jpg
You cant go wrong with a fun double bill like this!! The main feature had in it’s cast the legendary stripper Lili St. Cyr
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165-11 Jamaica Avenue is the current address for a Church. It won’t show up on a tax record search because they are tax exempt. I will post the property report for that address under the Valencia theater section.
The next address below that number is 165-09 and should appear on a tax search since it is listed as a store. These are all the valid addresses listed for that area:
16501 Jamaica Avenue Store Building, Two-Story Or Store/Office (K2) 20.00ft x 100.00ft
16503 Jamaica Avenue Store Building, One Story (K1) 11.00ft x 100.00ft
16506 Jamaica Avenue Store Building, Two-Story Or Store/Office (K2) 75.00ft x 80.00ft
16509 Jamaica Avenue Store Building, Two-Story Or Store/Office (K2) 49.00ft x 75.00ft
16511 Jamaica Avenue Church, Synagogue, Chapel (M1) 139.00ft x 195.00ft
16516 Jamaica Avenue Miscellaneous Store Building (K9) 18.00ft x 60.00ft
16517 Jamaica Avenue Office Building, Fireproof Up To 9 Stories (O1) 100.00ft x 110.00ft
16518 Jamaica Avenue Miscellaneous Store Building (K9) 18.00ft x 60.00ft
16519 Jamaica Avenue Store Building, One Story (K1) 37.00ft x 75.00ft
16520 Jamaica Avenue Miscellaneous Store Building (K9) 19.00ft x 60.00ft
16522 Jamaica Avenue Miscellaneous Store Building (K9) 19.00ft x 60.00ft
16524 Jamaica Avenue Store Building, Two-Story Or Store/Office (K2) 32.00ft x 98.00ft
16601 Jamaica Avenue Miscellaneous Store Building (K9) 48.00ft x 100.00ft
The Valencia, which was directly opposite the Alden, has an address of 165-11 Jamaica Avenue. The nearest match I can find to that at NYC Property Search is 165-06 Jamaica Avenue, which seems to be a catch-all address for the current properties across the street from the Valencia.
It’s possible that 92-23 165th Street was the Alden’s only “official” address. The small and narrow entrance on Jamaica Avenue was converted from retail space and not actually part of the theatre building itself. They broke through a store’s back wall and connected it to the rear of the auditorium. The Alden’s management may have only rented the space on a long-term lease. The owners might have refused to sell it.
In a message above dated Mar 19, 2005 I posted that this building “occupies the address of 9211 to 9225 165th St”. So, 9223 165th St falls within that range and would be fine. Any of those numbers would be better than the address given above. That address looks more like a drive-in theater address.
The 1945 NY Film Board of Trade Directory gives an address of 92-23 165th Street for the RKO Alden (that was the original side entrance). An NYC Property Seach shows the current owner as Alden Realty Enterprises. The site has a probable worth of $3.41 million.
I would use the Jamaica Avenue address, but the one posted in the intro as “165th Street & Jamaica Avenue” is certainly accurate enough. The original entrance was used only for a few years and then permanently closed when the new one on Jamaica Avenue was built. Although I can’t find a specific address in Film Daily Year Books, it might appear in Queens telephone directories for the years of its operation.
Since the entrance was on 165th street, the address of 9211 165th St should be used for this theaters address
Yes, that would be better than “Jamaica and 165th” as it says now. However, the Jamaica Ave address could also be used (the new entrance through what was once a store on Jamaica Ave which became the permanent and only entrance once RKO took over). So this theater really has two addresses (even though the building never moved). Hmmm, I wonder what happens when you have two addresess for the same theater, if they use the last address the theater used or the original.
The build date doesn’t give a specific month, only a year. At some point in 1927, a C.O. was issued (certificate of occupancy). The building could have been used when the C.O. was issued in 1927 but for whatever reason, it wasn’t. I believe that this theater did open in 1928. As long as the build date given is prior to the opening date there is no conflict. Since the entrance was on 165th street, the address of 9211 165th St should be used for this theaters address.
The theatre may have started construction in 1927, but it didn’t open until December, 1928. It was built by an investment group that had no intentions of operating it and first leased it as a playhouse to the Shubert Organization, which is why it was originally known as the Shubert Jamaica. The one and only entrance was on what’s now known as 165th Street. All of the frontage on Jamaica Avenue had already been developed into stores. When RKO took over the theatre, by which time it had been re-named the Alden, the circuit purchased a store on Jamaica Avenue and converted it into a new entrance, with a new and much smaller marquee. The original marquee and entrance on 165th Street remained for many years, but were used only for display purposes and a side exit.