Smith Haven Mall

I was the manager that closed this theater when it was a single screen back in 1989. It reopened not as a twin, but a quad. I visited once, it was nice, but the small amount of traffic we'd had even before closing makes me unsurprised that the renovation didn't garner significant business later.

They have now opened stores up in the theaters old location. Aside from the large size of the stores that now occupy the location, there is no evidence a the theater ever even existed.

I miss this theatre, I used to go to it all the time when I was younger. The last time I went there was to see Blair Witch 2 right before it closed. My sister and I were the only ones in the theatre which made it a lot scarier. Yeah, you can't even tell there was a theatre there since they put in all those new stores.

so is the layout for the stores the same as where the theaters used to be, like the old lobby and hallways to theaters, which are now stores? I wonder if any projectors remain, etc.

i over saw the renovation of this theater for Cineplex Odeon never did the # ,it should .some of the big movies it did well with the Rambo series.

the fact that this theater closed saddens me. i saw logans run there, and bank shot, and cuckoo's nest and rocky and judge roy bean and rambo and fiddler on the roof in 1971, and a host of wonderful indelible films and memories.
the neat thing about this theater was that it was possible to drop your kids off and shop the mall while they were safely tucked away in the theater. the last film i saw there was spy games, and the popcorn was still the best around, and the air conditioning felt great on a hot summer's day. but the place was practically empty!
i used to walk 4 miles to this theater to catch "that's entertainment", then scout the mall and head home. what a wonderful place! sad that kids will no longer be able to enjoy it.
its a comment i think not so much on the theater's owners or managers but on the incredibly crappy content coming out of hollywood. how can anyone maintain a quality viable theater with the spotty, non-escapist fare they have now?? i took my nephew to the holtsville island 16 this weekend and there was hardly anything a 12 year and an adult even wanted to see!! the drive to see great movies is there - the quality and content has packed up and left town. And the great Century theater at the Smithhaven Mall - and the Jerry Lewis theater and Ronkonkoma theater (when it showed family fare) are among its many victims.

MALL THEATERS NEVER SEEM TO WORK.

Century's Green Acres did monster grosses in the old days as did Kings Plaza.

true green acres did well but was located outside the mall . Kings plaza is the only theater i can think of that does well inside a mall.

some dogs in malls SMITHHAVEN , UA MASSAPEQUA,WHITMAN (outside ),even in there hayday were weak theaters.

sorry one more comment green acres grosses have been bad for ove20 years stays open so no other chain can get its hands on it

the green acres had some magnificent popcorn but some awful greasy countertops!

Green Acres is actually doing better under Redstone since it can play the more upscale product there as opposed to the hovel Sunrise Cinemas. When Cineplex had the theatre they could barely get enough good product to fill it the screens. The heyday of The Green Acres was the years when Centurys would open exclusive Nassau engagements there like Towering Inferno in 70mm.

true GREEN ACRES IN THE 70s had great box office numbers.The LOEWS southshore mall a theater on long island that also did very poorly.

Currently an "XXI" (21) store occupies the vast space that the theater usd to occupy. The "Express" store next door also probably occupies part of the former theater space.

cant even tell a theatre was here anymore/ such a shame never booked properly.

Just noticed this theater was never a twin as posted in the theater info section .Went from a single to a quad.

i remember standing for 2 hours to see Rocky 2 at the Smithhaven theater. or the two hour walk from my house in the hot summer to bask in the cool air conditioning as i enjoyed That's Entertainment or Logan's Run.
the single theater was HUGE, normally less than half filled, and always a treat.
less known was another All-Weather Smithtown drive in and indoor theater practically across the street. to the east of the mall and nestled in the woods, this was where i first saw All the President's Men, then walked home in the dark on a scary Halloween night...

saw Rocky 2 at Smithhaven also the Rambo series true this theater always seemed huge

This theatre opened in 1968 with "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belguim" which was on the United Artist Showcase. This theatre along with the Whitman, York, Morton Village and some others were co-owned with the United Artists Theatre Circuit, but Century operated. I worked at all locations and duplicate box office reports were made for each company. Century operated their theatres better than U.A..
Grosses at the Green Acres were good only when they had exclusive L.I. showings along with then open sister Plainview Theatre. The agreement between U.A. and Century came to an end when Almi acquired the Century Circuit in 1981.

To Longislandmovies and everybody;
You said that mall theaters do not work. Well, the Smith Haven Mall proved you wrong. It lasted from the 1960s well into the late 1990s. Of course there were modifications, including the change to a multiplex, but that was in the 1990s.

I recall going to this theater when it was a single. In the 1980s, when I spent many an hour going to movies, it was nice to see a theater like this. This was a time when many theaters had bare screens with just some projected designs, if anything. THIS ONE HAD A CURTAIN. In other words, it was a likable throwback to simpler times. It was a small contemporary picture palace in a shoebox. That was its charm, and it held despite the sticky floors. I would have preferred they keep it that way instead of making it a multiplex. The nasty staff of the multiplex did not help anything anyway. We need more of these shoebox picture palaces, and that's the way it is. The few times I went to the original Smith Haven Mall Theater were gems, and that's the way I remember it.

Gustavelifting
I agree 100%, this theatre could still be open and making money. Smithtown and Nesconset are affluent areas and they could have booked this upscale and with art and independant films.

GUSTAVELIFTING- Long land Mall theaters do not work staying open does not mean it was making money.I saw the # for SMITHAVEN FOR MANY YEARS as a manager and a district manager and as the one who over saw the renovation for CINEPLEX ODEON I can tell you it was a big box office bomb. That is not to say as a single it did not make money on films from time to time.

We would all like to see nice single theaters doing wellthat is why many of us are on this site and i hope one day soon to own my own single or twin.The mall never helped this theater late shows after 9:30 you could only come in and out of one mall door Holidays forget the theater was the only thing open and it was dead.Why did they keep it open so long 1. UA and Century were in it together for some years2. as a single the rent was so cheap with a 50 year lease ,when they multiplexed the rent was raised to current prices.3. It stayed open in the hopes it would be multiplexed that bought it about 5 years until all the permits and mall said it was ok.This was one of the last multiplexes of a century house soon after only new theaters went up.

Sorry one more point as an art house just to big as a single as a quad rent just to high.

agree li, i too hope to open a cinema one day.
The Smithhaven Mall was big and clunky and had a giant red curtain, and wonderful films like Splash and Logan's Run, and Cuckoo's Nest, and that western movie with James Caan who's name i've forgotten (bertolucci i think directed it) and Judge Roy Bean and Bank shot, and a hundred wonderful memories. I miss it.

I like to blame the theaters less, and the crowds less, and put the problem squarely where it belongs...
The product is simply inferior (movies suck these days) AND the concession center rips people off. How can a family of 4 go to the movies anymore without severely testing their budget?
I'd like to go WATCH a movie, and not necessarily FINANCE the damn thing everytime i go.
In fact i'd go a step further - although this may be largely subjective....refund money if the movie is a bomb. Show better more well-crafted films and stop mugging people at the snack bar, and you've got yourself a recipe for success.

Anyway, good luck .

Also did you see the way the marquee looked the last two years? One side was all dark and broken. Anyone driving by would think it was a ghetto house.

Vince, I totally agree, with you about the prices of movies, and the concession prices, etc.
However, it's not that that killed the smaller movie theaters, it's the megaplexes. Go to many of those (such as the Holtsville Island16 or the Stony Brook, the Ronkonkoma, etc), and you will see no shortage of people going to the movies or buying the over-priced popcorn. Movie-going is alive and well, it's just that they are all going to the megaplexes.

lots of good points all around

ya know i don't wholly subscribe to the megaplex theory; if you've ever been to the Huntington Art Cinema, or remember it when it was even dinkier, and happen to see it when there's a particularly interesting flick, people DO show up.
if the content's there, i theorize that the people will come in droves.
on the other hand (as Tevya would say) you ARE correct. the megaplexes are alive and well and bustling. which proves to me that people are desperate to be entertained and don't really care all that much about substance (sort of like the upcoming election! lol)

Vince;
It's exactly like the current presidential race (LOL). Only some movies have substance. However, you do get dogs like Mean Girls.

Was there a PathMark in the Smith Haven Mall at one time?

There was a Pathmark there. When that store closed, a new Pathmark opened on Middle Country Rd in Centereach.

Let me correct something. Pathmark wasn't in the "Main Mall" area. It was near Alexander Ave and Circuit City is now located there.

Ah yes, right next to/near Ben's "Kosher" Deli....or whatever it's called now...

I worked there as an usher from its opening day till about a year or so later. Lived within walking distance and this being my second theatre position. I previiously worked at the All-weather diagonally across form the Mall.
We had uniforms then and there even was a matron for the weekend to keep the kids in line.
Opeing night, after al the big wigs left, I accidently shut the door to the employee dressing room, locking all our street clothes till the proper keys arrived a few days later. The manager never had a compplete set, Creates a good impression on the first day of work
doesnt it?
The door man, a very nice gentlemann , work for many years there, I remember seeing him when visiting the mall where I was employeed later.

I hate to keep harping on the PathMark question, but didn't the PathMark open up into the mall area?

No. Pathmark's old parking lot opens up into the Smithhaven parking lot, but not the mall itself. Seperate buildings and shopping centers.

You can't even tell this theater existed in the mall anymore. I went by some weeks ago in the mall, and had trouble even locating where it was!

bway true only thing left is the pylons

QUESTION: I remember this mall did not open up until 1975 or so. Am I wrong? Some of the posts go back further than that date! Best flick I had seen there: the 1978 "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"! UA always showed Pink Panther cartoons before their features...this was a lost art by the late 1970's with other chains, but UA kept doing it. Does anyone recall "Featurettes"...short films shown before the features. The RKO Twin in Commack often had these......

I enjoyed Midnight Maddness 3 Stoodges Movies in the 80's at the Mall Theater...

Does anyone know which store now occupies the space of the theater? I remember the theater so well, but the mall has changed so much, that I can't remember what store is there now.

What stores in the mall now fill in the space where the theatre used to be? Anyone remember?