Loew's Valencia Theatre

This was a truly magnificent theater! Designed in Moorish architecture,it was long acclaimed as one of the most beautiful theaters in the five boroughs of New York. The Valencia's ticket booth was under the marquee outside the theater. After buying a ticket, one walked through a long wide hallway, lined with one sheets of coming films. The uniformed ticket taker took your ticket at a bank of doors that opened onto a huge and magnificent lobby. The concession counter was on the left (looking into the theater ) with goldfish pools dotted around the lobby. Inside, the theater was designed to look like Valencia, Spain. On either side of the orchestra section, shadowy silhouettes lined the proscenium, and, best of all, clouds floated slowly across a ceiling sky dotted with twinkling stars. There was a loge and a huge balcony that seemed to go on forever. (If I am not mistaken, the Valencia was the twin to the Paradise Theater in the Bronx.)

The theater offered many sneak previews (at least in the 50's and 60's when I knew it), such as FRIENDLY PERSUASION in July of 1955, four months before the film opened its regular run, and hosted personal appearances by such stars as Joan Crawford (with STRAIT JACKET) and Paula Prentiss with THE HORIZONTAL LIEUTENANT.

Many times, when a double feature that had been booked in for a week wasn't doing well enough, the management would change the show on Saturday afternoon, meaning that if you came for the first movie you could stay for all four!!! (I remember one Saturday in particular when we were treated to NIGHT OF THE HUNTER with Robert Mitchum, DESERT SANDS starring Ralph Meeker, GENTLEMEN MARRY BRUNETTES with Jane Russell and a western!!

The Valencia is now a church, but it will remain always in my memory as one of the magic places.

The former Loew's Valencia (one of the 5 Loew's "Wonder" theaters in NYC) is now known as the Tabernacle of Prayer. The church has done a great job of keeping the interior in immaculate condition (although, I believe some of the nudity and more risque depictions in it's statuary and ornamentation have been discretely concealed). The intricately detailed exterior facade of the theater was obscured by the elevated tracks of the J train for just about it's entire existence as a movie theater. Around the time of it's closing, the tracks along Jamaica Avenue were removed and the glory of the theater's exterior architecture revealed.

The location is Jamaica Ave just West of Merrick Blvd. The last movie to play here was "The Greatest" starring Muhammad Ali.

The Valencia opened in September of 1929 in Jamaica, Long Island. Architect John Eberson based his design on Spanish architecture motifs. Extensive use of wrought iron railings, ornate tile work, sculpture and murals created a Latin illusion. Eberson deigned the auditorium to resemble a moonlit Spanish garden in festival regalia. Loews closed the Valencia in 1977 and donated it to the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People

The address for Loew's Valencia Theatre is 165-11 Jamaica Ave..

Loew's Valencia first opened on January 12th, 1929, and NOT in September of that year. The opening program was MGM's "White Shadows of the South Seas" on screen and an elaborate stage show comparable to the best being offered on Broadway. Early in 1935, stage shows were dropped and replaced with double features, which was true of all other Loew's theatres except the flagship State on Broadway. For several decades, the Valencia was the most successful theatre in Queens, due partly to its location in Jamaica, then the shopping hub of Queens and Long Island, and its "exclusive" status. The programs were first-run for Queens, and shown at least a week ahead of all other theatres in the borough. That began to change in the 1960s with the introduction of "Premiere Showcase," where the new movies opened simultaneously city-wide. The Valencia was suddenly sharing movies with several other Queens theatres, and also could no longer count on a weekly change of program, which was another reason for its success. The Valencia was also hurt by the decline of Jamaica as a shopping and business center...I'm happy to say that I worked at Loew's Valencia as an usher from 1953-57 while I was attending college and the theatre was still in its prime. Even though the Valencia seated about 3,600 people, we usually had waiting lines in the enormous "hold-out" lobby on Friday and Saturday nights and all day Sundays. On blockbusters like "From Here to Eternity" and a revival of "Gone With the Wind," the lines were out on the sidewalk and around the corner on Merrick Road.

Yes, it could be used as a cinema again, but I doubt that it ever will for as long as the current church owns it. Their services are usually packed to capacity. I'm sure that some people go just to see the theatre's interior decor, which is mostly intact though garishly re-painted in colors that would probably make John Eberson turn over in his grave. There is also a huge chandelier hanging from the center of the auditorium ceiling, which ruins the "atmospheric" effect.

I also worked as an usher at this beautiful theatre at the age of fourteen I remember the manager known as Mr. "Z". I then worked at the Astor theatre in New York City for the remaining period of my High School days. I remember as it was yesterday the magic that theatre had for everyone who entered that massive lobby. The box office always made me feel that you were entering a new world. Great theatre!

Roy Barry
roybarry@msn.com

"Mr. Z" was Bernard Zelenko. He was the manager who hired me for the ushering staff in June, 1953. About a year later, Zelenko was promoted to district manager, and Edward Brunner was brought over from Loew's Paradise to replace him as the Valencia's manager... About thirty years later, I went to the tiny, rundown Thalia Theatre on Manhattan's Upper West Side and found "Mr. Z" selling tickets in the boxoffice! He was probably the manager and filling in for the cashier during his or her break. I didn't let on that I recognized him, and I doubt that he remembered me. I suspect that he probably lost his job (and tenure) at Loew's Theatres during one of its changes of ownership

Thanks for clearing up the mystery of "Mr. Z". Different era, different time! Thanks!

The Loew's Valencia, one of the 5 Loew's "Wonder Theaters" in New Jersey and New York, opened on September 28th, 1929. It was actually the 4th of the five theaters to open. Loew's Paradise and Loew's Kings were the 1st and second Wonder Theaters to open, both on the same day, September 7th, 1929. The Beautiful Loew's Jersey was the third Wonder Theater to open, on September 28th, 1929. The Valencia opened the next day, on the 29th. Loews 175th was the last and final Wonder Theater theater to open, in 1930.

Please see my comments above about the opening date of Loew's Valencia as January 12th, 1929. I have newspaper advertising to prove it. The September date is an error that started in a magazine published by Theatre Historical Society of America and has since been corrected by them. The Valencia was actually the first "Wonder" theatre to open if you don't count the Brooklyn Paramount, which had already started construction when Loew's took over the project from Paramount-Publix. Loew's didn't want the Brooklyn Paramount because it already had the Metropoltian in downtown Brooklyn.

More information on the former Valencia as well as a more current photo of its facade can be found here.

I prefer the vintage photo. The "more current" one suggests that the church is doing minimal maintenance of the Jamaica Avenue facade above the marquee, which is also a travesty of the original.

The opening of the Loew's Valencia was September 29th, 1929. We hold the Loew's theatre information ledgers from that time period, which are from the Loew's Jersey. Furthermore, there are no newspaper articles listing any of the five Loew's Wonder Theaters before September 7th, 1929.

Which newspaper is your article from that claims the Valencia opened? What is the date of the newspaper? Can you provide a scan of the article/advertisement to back this up? (We find this incredulous because the foundations for four of the five "Wonder Theaters" were being poured in January, 1929...

Please consult microfilm of The New York Times circa January 12, 1929, for advertising about the Valencia's opening. The theatre was also reviewed in Variety shortly thereafter. A long article about the Valencia with many photographs appeared in the April 1929 issue of Motion Picture Review & Theatre Management...You say that foundations for "four of the five" Wonder Theaters were being poured at that time. Obviously, there weren't five out of five, because the Valencia had already been built!

Thanks for the info, Warren. Rechecked the books today, and we DO have articles about the Valencia's opening. I believe I was reading about the Kings, perhaps. (four of the five theatres would then have been correct now, wouldn't it?)

Loew's took over this multi-theatre project from Paramount-Publix after the first two, the Brooklyn Paramount and what became known as the Valencia, had already started construction. The BP opened November 24, 1928, but remained with Paramount-Publix because Loew's already had a big theatre, the Metropolitan, in downtown Brooklyn. But Loew's took over the theatre in Jamaica and opened it on January 12, 1929 as the Valencia. Paramount-Publix had also intended to build a large theatre in Flushing and had already purchased a site at the intersection of Main Street & Roosevelt Avenue. Loew's decided that Flushing was too close to Jamaica, so it canceled those plans and sold the site to a real estate developer, with the proviso that it could never be used for a theatre. Retail stores were eventually built there.

Part of the facade, and /or the vertical sign, of Loew's Valencia, on Jamaica Avenue, is visible at the left side of the following images :

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3021
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3022
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?12230
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5557
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4642
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26369

Some of these photos were taken in the late afternoon. It is interesting to see how the direction of the shadows changes with the date (time of the year). These photos face east, and the sun is clearly to the northwest in August 1970 and clearly to the southwest on New Year's Day 1977.

Image 5557 shows the cross-shaped sign for the "Tabernacle Of Prayer" church attached to the baroque facade.

I believe that the date of 9/10/1972 on image 5557 is incorrect. Loew's Valencia didn't close until 1977 or thereabouts.

Thank you Warren. I may post that and other comments, like the date of the image of the active Hillside theater in Jamaica, Queens, on nycsubway.org.

I found an old newspaper clipping that claims that the last movie to be shown at Loew's Valencia was the Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali biopic, "The Greatest," which was released in May, 1977. Presumably, the booking was part of a "Showcase," since the Valencia had long lost its exclusive, first-run in Queens, status by that time.

Thanks, Warren. It would be interesting to compare this film with the 2001 film, "Ali", with Will Smith in the title role.

Any idea what the last film shown at the RKo Madison Theater in Ridgewood was ? The 1977 film "Tentacles" has been indirectly suggested.

I was the one who mentioned Tentacles and Squirm at The RKO madison. I think though that this may have been after RKO dropped the theatre and it reopened for a short time as an "indie".

"Squirm" was a 1976 film and "Tentacles" was a 1977 film. I know the theater was still showing films in August 1976 so perhaps "Tentacles" is the last one the RKO Madison showed. Perhaps someone on this site will be zealous enough to go into the N Y Times archives and find the last and latest movie listing for the RKO Madison. Someone did this to find out what the Oriental in Bensonhurst, Bklyn was showing in August 1981.

The Valencia's "Wonder Morton" organ was last played in 1965.
It was bought from Loew's and was to be removed to a studio in Rosedale, Queens to join the Wurlitzer (?) from Loew's (Sutphin Blvd) Hillside Theater. The movie that was playing on the day the cables were to be cut was "Those Magnificent Men And Their Flying Machines". Before the theater opened we greased the blower bearings and turned on the current. Oddly enough, after almost 20 years or so of silence, it came to life with only a few dozen cyphers. We stopped the pipes to silence them and one fellow squeezed throught the door to the console (which was buried under the floored-over orchestra pit. A cable was dropped to the console for earphones so that he could hear the organ in the auditorium above. When the house opened and a few cusotmers came in the organ roared forth with the movie theme and segued into the start of the movie. We played it between the main feature and shorts for a good portion of the day. I remember going into the lobby and the elderly lady behind the candy counter asked me, "Is that the organ playing? I haven't heard the organ in years- I thought it was gone!" and she went over to the auditorium doors to listen. There were many comments from patrons who received a healthy dose of nostalgia that day. The organ was completely restored and spent many years in Rosedale (I lived a short distance away and played it frequently). It was subsequently sold and shipped to Barrington Hills, IL where it was absorbed by the behemoth in the Music Palace.

Thanks, Robbie.

The Loew's Valencia Morton organ was removed in the 1930s, when the orchestra pit was filled in with cement to make room for more rows of seats. I don't know the identity of the purchaser, but it reportedly was someone wealthy who lived in Queens or Long Island.

The following information concerning the whereabouts of the Valencia's Wonder Morton was found on the Garden State Organ Society's web page.

"This article appeared in the American Theatre Organ Society Web Journal Wednesday, April 09, 2003
One more of the five Wonder Mortons is going to a new home. The 4/73 organ originally installed in the Loew's Valencia Theatre in Jamaica, Queens, New York will be installed in the Balboa Theatre in San Diego.
In 1966, the late Peter Schaeble purchased the organ from the theatre and had it installed in an addition to his Long Island house. After his death in 1996, Jasper Sanfilippo acquired the organ and stored it with the idea of installing it in the carousel building on his properly. This did not come about.
The Balboa Theatre Foundation intends to restore the theatre which once had a smaller Robert Morton organ. That organ was removed in 1931 and installed in another San Diego theatre where it remains today. The Balboa Theatre Foundation has purchased the Wonder Morton from Sanfilippo to install in the restored theatre. The restoration will take about two years."

I would think it was a 4/23 or 4/28 rather than a 4/73 (which would make it bigger than the Wurlitzer in RCMH! It definitely was not removed in the 30’s; it went to his studio in Rosedale in 1965 where it remained until the house was sold after he passed away. I was there with Pete and others who removed it in '65 and helped to releather the combination action and chest pneumatics to make it playable. It had a Wurlitzer roll player, Moller roll player and Aeolian Duo-Art roll player attached so it could be played in the absence of a live organist since neither Pete nor most of the guys who restored it played. Needless to say, there was never any lack of ways for it to be heard. Gaylord Carter, Jeff Barker, Calvin Hampton and C.A.J. Parmentier (of ROXY fame) were among the many well-known organists who visited.
The last I heard of it was that it was going to the Sanfilippo residence, but I'm glad to hear it will stand on its own eventually. ‘nuff said…

I was obviously misinformed about the organ at the Valencia. When I first started working there as an usher in 1953, an electrician told me that the organ was buried under cement when they filled in the orchestra pit to make room for more seating. I was horrified, and thought he might just be joking, so I asked the manager for confirmation. Perhaps to make me feel better, as well as to protect those responsible, he told me that the organ had been sold to someone who installed it in their home on the North Shore. In the four years that I worked at the Valencia (the last three as chief of service on the evening shift), I had unlimited access to the theatre, including the walk-in safe in the manager's office, and I never saw any evidence of an organ being on the premises. And it was certainly never played, or I would have known about it. Presumably, it was encased in some sort of protective covering before the cement was installed. Photos taken of the Valencia's auditorium when it first opened in 1929 show that the organ was at the far left of the stage opening, and had a separate lift from the one for the orchestra.

I was an usher at the Valencia in winter of 1952 to June of 1953 with my twin brother. The movie playing was "Moulin Rouge", "I Love Melvin!" and numerous others I have since forgotten. Mr "Z" was the Manager. We were both freshmen at Boy's High in Brooklyn. In July of 1953 we both worked at the Astor and Victoria theatres in Times Square. Stayed there until graduation in 1956.. Great time!

Elliston, I vaguely remember you and your brother. I started on the day shift, and I think that you were both on the night shift. Ida Magerkirth was the daytime chief of service, and Frank Keane at nights. You must have left soon after I arrived. The first show that I worked on was "Sombrero" & "The Girl Who Had Everything," followed by "Small Town Girl" & "Remains To Be Seen." "Moulin Rouge" came right after that, playing as a single feature with short subjects added. The opening date of "Moulin Rouge" was June 10, 1953.

Thanks, guys, Warren and elliston and brother. Wow, ushers two to three years before I was born ! You read like contemporaries of Carol Burnett ! I remember her saying she saw "Strangers On A Train" hundreds of times due to her job as an usherette / candy girl, and that was 1951.

My favorite line from "Moulin Rouge" (I saw it at Thalia Soho, Fall 1987), the REAL "Moulin Rouge", with Jose Ferrer as Toulouse-Lautrec, both father and son, not that putrid farce of a remake with "No Coal Kid Me" (see it with "Eyes Tight Shut"), was when that ingenue, or whatever she was, played by Zsa Zsa Gabor, says, "Dahling, zey come to luke at my bwoken heart !" and Toulouse the son, the artist, says, with perfect insouciance and world-weary ennui a la George Sanders, "But my dear, it's been broken SO MANY TIMES !!!"

Reminiscent of Johnny Carson needling her to her face, "Any gal with a drip dry wedding dress can't be all bad !"

Of actors working today, I think Alan Rickman could best deliver that line now. Similar to how he said, "By Grabthar's Hammer ... what a saving !" in 2000's "Galaxy Quest".

Yeah I know this comment belongs on the Internet Movie Database but I wanted you guys to read it.

Warren, you're right about the placement of the console. It was in the far left portion of the orchestra pit. The pit had a concrete floor built over it, but if you went down under the stage, you could still get through a small doorway into a chamber under the floor which was where the orchestra lift and the organ console lift were still extant. The console was there, although in very poor shape. The pipe chambers up in the auditorium were on either side of the stage in the large structures that resembled Spanish Villas. The chamber on the left was entered from backstage, but the one on the right had to be entered via a door on 165th Street.

The vintage postcard, which was obviously hand-colored, gives a rather idealistic view of the Valencia's entrance. The marquee was smack up against the framework for the Jamaica Avenue elevated subway, which was apparently airbrushed from the original photograph. Fortunately, the Valencia's auditorium was far enough enough removed from Jamaica Avenue that you couldn't hear the trains when performances were going on.

During the Second World War there was a tremendous increase in movie going in North America.

Thaters which had closed during the Depression were reopened and the number of daily showings increasded in the busiest areas. In Canada children were banned from theaters for the duration to free up seats for adults involved in the war effort. Some theaters ran the program around the clock to cater to defense workers working the swing and graveyard shifts. ( Canadian comic books went to black and white printing, producing copies of USA color comic books for local consumption to save resources for the war).

Circa 1943 Loews paved over the orchestra/organ pits in several theaters to allow more revenue producing seats in response to demand. You had to see the crowds lined up in the lobbies and out onto the street waiting for a seat.

Back then, people would come in at any time during a show and leave when they reached the part they came in at. This was common, the way it was done, incompehensible to today's people but part of the movie culture back then.

The Valencia was altered at this period in history, burying the organ console.

While the VALENCIA was not Eberson's greatest work, it still stands as one of the largest and nicest former movie palaces in the nation, and when I saw the modern color photos of it on page 188 of David Naylor's "American Picture Palaces: The Architecture of Fantasy" I was intrigued to see the draped plaster figures of ladies inside niches forming the vault of the proscenium arch, but horrified by the treatment of the giant chandelier then suspended directly above the balcony rail, just as though it were hanging in nothingness from the 'sky.' They may not use the little electric 'stars' anymore, but the very least they could have done when installing the scaffolding to drape the figures and hang the chandelier, was to paint on the ceiling an angel with his hand outstretched to appear to be holding up the chandelier!! Without this little touch, the huge fixture just falsifies the interior. Church or not, they could do something as small as this to retain some of the imagination of the artists who conceived the place. By the way, Naylor's book can sometimes be obtained at www.Amazon.com or via Inter-Library Loan at most libraries.

My first encounter with the Valencia was in the summer of 1950, when they played "Scared Stiff" with Martin and Lewis. The stars twinkled and the clouds drifted across the atmospheric sky...a first time experience not to be forgotten. Other memorable films that come to mind were the 1956 reissue of "Gone With The Wind", a reissue of "Duel in the Sun", "La Strada", "Two Women" and the special reserved engagement of "The Ten Commandments".

The Valencia had the best air conditioning of all the Jamaica theaters. Whatever their system was, the whole theater was like a giant meat locker. Still remember waiting in front of the theater for a bus on a hot summer's day and feeling a blast of cold air every time someone opened one of the lobby doors.

Also recall that in the early 50's, before using studio generated posters in their display cases, posters were created by either an in house art department at the Valencia or, more likely, an art department within the Loew's Theaters organization. Some were quite unique and certainly added a touch of class to the whole operation.

In the "old days," Loew's had its own shop in the Bronx where all posters and display materials were custom made. In the case of the Valencia, after use, all the lobby posters went to the Hillside, which ran the same programs two weeks later. In the long lobby that led from the street to the auditorium, the Valencia also had back-lighted display cases built into the side walls for signs (hand-painted on canvas and attached to wooden frames) that announced the coming attractions for the next several weeks. Since none of the other Loew's theatres had these display cases, the signs were eventually thrown out with the trash. On major movies that had opened on Broadway at the Capitol or Loew's State, the Valencia inherited the big "overhead" signs that were designed for display across the street entrance and above the boxoffice. They were delivered by truck and required several workers to install them...As I might have mentioned before, the Valencia had a full-time engineer whose only responsibility was to take care of the heating and cooling systems. During the air-conditioning season, he reported to work at 7AM to start the "plant" so that the theatre would be cooled by the time of the 11:15 boxoffice opening. Wet-bulb thermometers were placed throughout the theatre to keep track of the temperature. Every hour, the engineer or chief usher would make the rounds and mark down the temperatures in a daily record book. (It should be noted that there were actually two engineers, one on the day shift and the other replacing him in the late afternoon. Once a week, they worked both shifts to give the other a day off.)

The splendor of the Valencia stood in stark contrast to the drab and uninviting Alden directly across the street. What disappointment we felt when a picture we wanted to see was booked at the Alden! After the long bus ride from Bellerose, and the permanent gloomy twilight under the Jamaica Avenue el, we often abandoned our plans and went to the Valencia, regardless of what was playing. The Alden used to sponsor special showings for kids sponsored, I guess, by local merchants. We were never too eager to attend, knowing we would sit there in the dank auditorium and dream of the Valencia, so near and yet...

I to remember the cartoon Satuday's at the Alden. I'm going back to 1946-48. yes the Valencia was just across the street. And a good thing that was!

The Alden first opened as a Shubert playhouse and wasn't intended for movies. RKO eventually took it over because it was the only way for the circuit to enter downtown Jamaica. No space was left for the building of a new theatre. Unlike the Valencia, which was exclusive first-run for all of Queens, programs at the Alden were only first-run for the Jamaica area. You could also see them at the RKO Keith's Richmond Hill, RKO Keith's Flushing, and some Century and Skouras houses that played day-and-date with the RKO circuit.

gb My own Valencia Excerpt

My grandmother and mother used to take me to the Loews Valencia on 165th St. Jamaica Avenue. I don’t remember much about our trips. The last involvement my mother had was when she sent me with my buddies and the oldest brother; Vic, Ant and Johnny. Johnny was older; he was about 16 and knew the security guard. We kept the money for food.
I remember the smell of beer and weed. The food was great; the rest rooms were better kept ten I expected. My mother also took me regularly to Radio City Music Hall at Rockafeller Center, for under $3.75 back then. There, and the Valencia were my favorites. The movie we viewed was a Karate flick, where they completely dismembered their victims in mid air. I don’t remember the name.
The last flick I remember seeing was with Ant and Vic. It was King Kong. We admired the gold fish, ate our pop corn, and walked back home. The afros were thick, the velvet black art was popular, Evil Kenevil was on the model Zenith System III, and Fly Robin Fly was the hit, followed by Twenty-Five Miles from Home… Sneakers were only $8.99, for the popular Keds, the Uptown model…
Then it seemed that crime was taking over and the economy was loosing. Radio City Closed down, I kept the program. The Valencia closed. I was just a kid and didn’t know why. Then The Jamaica Tabernacle of Prayer opened up, starting a new development trend that is still booming. We all know Radio City doesn’t have a show with a movie anymore, and the price all over town jumped. The little spot in front of the store, for the man to display a cardboard box with cologne, is worth $400 per month this year 2004.
The Jamaica Tabernacle is rollin’… Community service, outreach, ministry, in beauty… I understand there are historians who would expect other forms of maintaining the edifice. Now, this is me thinking, why don’t you pay for the work to be done? Otherwise, it is still a church. I don’t know about the finances in this church or your church, but as a visiting deacon who visits many churches, even the rich churches have their finances limited.
Santa Monica Church by York College was demolished, but they preserved the face of the building to be the entrance of what I believe will be the nursery. Mario Cuomo was an alter boy there, and I was baptized there. I remember the pews and furnishings had hand carved paws for feet.
Presentation of the BVM Church on Parsons Blvd. once boasted the best pipe organ with music I used to hear when I walked by. I know it’s not only expensive to maintain as an instrument, but the temperature and humidity had to be maintained as well. The pipes are velvet coated from the interior, as you experts know, and for it to work properly, the environment had to be perfect.
I plan to visit the Jamaica Tabernacle this coming month, July. It started about 9 am, praise and worship started when the first person showed up and grabbed the mic. By the end of two hours, the whole choir and band joined in. Then the first speaker was an hour. Offertory was an hour, where you get a chance to eat. I snuck out for a street shish-ke-bob, or a hot Jamaican beef pattie in cocoa bread.
Then the next speaker had about an hour, before the main speaker came out. Pastor Ronnie Davis is a mighty man of God. You may think that’s long. We’d get out at about three or for in the afternoon, but it was a blessing. After all, it is a Sabbath “day”….

GeorgeBrown19662hotmail.com

The idea for a large "super" theatre in Jamaica actually started with a group of local businessmen who tried to interest the major movie companies into building one. Paramount-Publix was the most excited, and the project was announced to the trade press on March 12, 1927, nearly two years before the Valencia finally opened on January 12, 1929. In the interim, Loew's took over the project...For those with access to microfilm, a review of the Valencia's opening and first stage show can be found in weekly Variety's issue of January 30, 1929, page 45.

I visited the Valencia many times as a child, my grandparents lived within a somewhat long walking distance...my mother recalls seeing lots there..once I get more of what she remembers I will supply. Last film I saw there was Gorgo but like any film I wistnessed there it had better be good as most of the time I gazed at the ceiling with wonder.

Jim Mannix, I will look forward to you posting your mother's memories. "Gorgo" must have been awesome, on the Valencia's huge screen, and booming sound system ! My dad was going to take me to see it at the Ridgewood Theater (which see on this site), in the Queens neighborhood of the same name, where we lived, but I was only six, and he was afraid I would be scared, so he didn't.

Good comment about the ceiling ! The Valencia was one of those extremely ornate movie palaces in which, if the film was of insufficient interest, one could always enjoy looking at the decor !

My dad remembers the Valencia's beautiful ceiling, as does a friend of mine, age 56, who, as a small boy, thought it really was the sky !

I remember walking by on the sidestreet in the early 80's, and the side doors to the "Tabernacle of Prayer" being open. I couldn't believe the ornateness of the the theater. Unfortuntaely, I had never seen a movie there.

During the 1953-57 period that I worked as a part-time usher at the Valencia, these were some of the most heavily-attended double features. (Bear in mind that in those days, the Valencia did not show releases from Warner Brothers, 20th Century-Fox, RKO Radio, or Disney-Buena Vista, which were divided up between the RKO Alden and Skouras Merrick.)
"War of the Worlds" & "The Big Leaguer"
"Roman Holiday" & "The Last Posse"
"Stalag 17" & "Francis Covers The Big Town"
"Mogambo" & "Affairs of Dobie Gillis"
"The Caddy" & "The Vanquished"
"The Long, Long Trailer" & "Tennessee Champ"
"Living It Up" & "Southwest Passage"
"Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" & "Go, Man, Go!"
"Rear Window" & "Pride of the Bluegrass"
"Sabrina" & "Yellow Tomahawk"
"On The Waterfront" & "Member of the Wedding"
"The Barefoot Contessa" & "Operation Manhunt"
"Three Ring Circus" & "Crest of the Wave"
"Vera Cruz" & "Twist of Fate"
"Bridges At Toko-Ri" & "Hell's Outpost"
"The Country Girl" & "Geraldine"
"Blackboard Jungle" & "Top of the World"
"Strategic Air Command" & "Moonfleet"
"Love Me Or Leave Me" & "Canyon Crossroads"
"We're No Angels" & "Far Horizons"
"Not As A Stranger" & "The Big Bluff"
"To Catch A Thief" & "The Gun That Won The West"
"Desperate Hours" & "Lady Godiva"
"The Tender Trap" & "Crooked Web"
"Marty" & "Top Gun"
"I'll Cry Tomorrow" & "No Man's Woman"
"The Rose Tattoo" & "The Houston Story"
"Man With the Golden Arm" & "Timetable"
"Picnic" & "Uranium Boom"
"Godzilla" & "Quincannon, Frontier Scout"
"The Man Who Knew Too Much" & "Lawless Street"
"Forbidden Planet" & "Thunder Over Arizona"
"Trapeze" & "Hot Cars"
"Pardners" & "The Leather Saint"
"High Society" & "Showdown At Abilene"
"The Solid Gold Cadillac" & "Storm Center"
"Teahouse of the August Moon" & "The Cowboy"
"Funny Face" & "Fear Strikes Out"
"Gunfight at the OK Corral" & "The Buster Keaton Story"
"Lust For Life" & "Accused of Murder."
During that period, there were occasional single features with "selected short subjects," including "Moulin Rouge," "From Here to Eternity," "The Caine Mutiny," "White Christmas," War and Peace," "Knights of the Round Table, "Guys & Dolls," and a revival of "Gone With The Wind" (sans short subjects).

Warren, what about "The Ten Commandments"(1956) ?

That's a wonderful list of double features--I'd forgotten most of the second-billings. Did "Member of the Wedding" accompany "On the Waterfront" the first time around? or was it a re-issue for both? (I remember seeing "Waterfront" at the B'klyn Fox on New Year's Eve '54, but definitely not with "Member"; sometimes Loew's changed the second feature after the main attraction left the Fox or B'klyn Paramount.) And "Fear Strikes Out" was a pretty classy (though incongruous) accompaniment to "Funny Face" (I remember the latter as the Easter show at RCMH in '57--sublime!) As a Brooklyn kid, I never visited the Valencia, not even after I grew my own wings thanks to subway tokens. I definitely missed out on something good.

O, and "Strategic Air Command" with "Moonfleet": a good example of how a second feature could sometimes tower over the top billing (though Anthony Mann has his fans, as many currently at Lincoln Center will surely attest).

Peter, "The Ten Commandments" was still a Broadway "roadshow" by the time that I stopped working at the Valencia in June, 1957. But it did eventually play there as a single feature at slightly "advanced" admission prices.

The first program shown on the Valencia's new "panoramic wide screen" in July, 1953, was a double bill of "The Juggler" & "Last of the Comanches." It was actually the last day of that show, but the new screen was installed the night before and tests were done all day to make sure that the projection lenses and the adjustable masking surrounding the screen were working correctly. Everything was being shown with a 1:85 to 1 ratio. The "official" unveiling was the next day with the debut of a double bill consisting of "Sangaree" & "Girls of Pleasure Island." "Sangaree" posed an additional problem, because it was shown in 3-D with Polaroid glasses. But I don't recall any mishaps. All I remember are Arlene Dahl's heaving bosoms practically bursting from their low-cut gowns into the audience.

I'm reminded of 1953's "House Of Wax", also in 3-D, with the ball of the hawker's paddle, ball and elastic cord made to apparently fly into the face of the audience. I'm also reminded of Hazel Court almost popping out of the top of her dress in "The Raven".

Perhaps "When Worlds Collide" should have been done in 3-D, with Arlene Dahl's heaving bosoms as planets Xyra and Bellus hurtling towards Earth !

I thought of the slogan on the one sheet of The French Line "J.R. in 3-D, need we say more"? Miss Russell was made for that process for sure.

Jane Russell, who starred in "The Outlaw", as well ?

I've always thought of Alison Hayes, star of "Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman", as a cut-rate Jane Russell. Both dark-haired, pouty, buxom.

In my list of well-attended programs from 1953-57, I neglected to mention "Shane," which had Republic's TruColored "The Lady Wants Mink" as second feature. Also, "Scared Stiff," supported by "Pony Express." Martin & Lewis comedies always drew big crowds, especially on Saturday and Sunday matinees, when we had to turn away unaccompanied children once their matron-protected section of seats filled up. The children's section consisted of all seats between aisles five and six, next to the exit doors on Merrick Road. On a Martin & Lewis movie, we would also add the section between aisles four and five, but that was the limit that the fire department would permit for safety reasons. The Valencia's orchestra floor had six aisles. The section of seats between aisles three and four was considered best because it was in the center of the house. But wherever you sat in the orchestra, if you were in the rows beneath the balcony, you would be unable to see the auditorium's ceiling and its atmospheric effects.

Even though the address of 165-11 Jamaica Avenue is correct, the map finder won't work unless you eliminate the hyphen and enter it as 16511 Jamaica Avenue.

That was an exciting time in Summer ’53 when theaters were installing wide screens. As an eleven-year-old, I wondered how managers could do it without interrupting screenings. To replace a flat 15x20 sheet with a panel-curved 20x40 framed by movable masks to accommodate CinemaScope (which wasn’t available until the following winter!) must have invited a lot of chaos. I imagine that from midnight until morning, roving bands of workers moved from theater to theater in a given circuit until each house was equipped. Did it take two or three nights to set up the new screen behind the old one, and then strike the latter when the work was done? But how a new screen be set up behind the old one while the original sound-speakers were still in place? Stereophonic sound installation must have required an additional step afterwards, no? All of this without missing a single frame from any show! At my local RKO nabe, the Dyker, I remember seeing on the old screen “Titanic” (the Negulesco one, with “Destination Gobi” as co-feature, another example of a second-billing that topped the first), while hearing the sounds of hammering and sawing behind the proscenium. A few inches of backstage light shone out beneath the bottom mask. When I returned to the theater a few days later to see “The Maze” (a b&w 3D schlocker), the miracle-mirror wide screen was up and running, but low-grade and disappointing since I’d hoped for something mammoth, on the scale of Cinerama. For my Loew’s nabe, the Alpine, I should address questions on that site to someone who might know how the unique design of that house (no stage, no conventional proscenium) created special problems for hanging a wide screen. If memory serves, that theater installed a temporary one, fairly hulking and squarish, which it replaced scant months later with a wonderfully large, elegantly proportioned, and amazingly seamless one.

As I recall, it was impossible to install new wide screens at all Loew's theatres simultaneously, so the most important ones got them first. I think that Loew's State was the very first, with James Stewart's "Thunder Bay," followed by the Capitol with Clark Gable's "Never Let Me Go."

Yes, exactly, "Thunder Bay" was the first (after RCMH showed "Shane" on its flat "Panoramic" screen, actually its old Magnascope screen), and a big event at the State in May '53. (There's an article on its installation in Theatre Catalogue, ca. summer '53.) The Capitol might have inaugurated its new screen with "Battle Circus" a week or so later. Then, a week after that, MGM opened "Julius Caesar" at the Booth on a reserved-seat run. The nabes followed one-by-one throughout the summer. The newspaper ads for the Loew's circuit marked a check next to each theater that had a new screen, and a double-check next to each that had stereophonic sound. I followed the newspapers every day to see which had what. Every two or three days a new check-mark would crop up, implying that it took at least that long to get the work done. And the trail seemed to move from neighborhood to neighborhood in each borough, implying that each territory had its roving squad of installers. One of the last to get fitted was Loew's Bay Ridge, a subsequent-run house, with (I believe) "The Band Wagon" in October or so. I then wondered what the installers did for work after that.

Is this theatre still capable of showing movies like the 175th Street? or did Loew's take out all the projection equipment when they donated it to the Tabernacle of Prayer in the late 70's?

Wow, I just checked out the 175th St theatr page. What a spectacular theater, and lovingly preserved throgh the church! Theaters lend themselves very well to conversion to churches, as they do the least harm to the integrity of the theaters.
This particular theater at 175th St actually rents the theater out for movies, etc! Check out he 175th St section of the site:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/44/

The Valencia (Tabernacle of Prayer) should do the same.

I was curious about Jeff Laffel's comment about the Valencia of 7/18/2002 that "If a double feature that had been booked in for a week wasn't doing well enough, the management would change the show on Saturday afternoon, meaning that if you came for the first movie, you could stay for all four." Jeff then went on to cite an example that just happened to be during the time that I worked at the Valencia as an usher, and I couldn't remember it. But the general statement seemed wrong to me because I couldn't recall the Valencia ever suddenly changing a program like that in the four years that I worked there from 1953 to 1957. Yesterday, I did some library research and this seems to be what actually happened, and it was at all Loew's theatres that played simulataneously with the Valencia in other boroughs. It happened during the pre-Christmas period of 1955. In those days, Wednesday was opening day for new programs, but Loew's was committed to playing four United Artists releases that hadn't been doing well, so they changed it to Tuesday, December 6, for a double bill of "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" & "Desert Sands." Loew's knew it wasn't strong enough to sustain a full weekend, so they decided to split it with "The Night of the Hunter" and "Fort Yuma," which opened Saturday night and continued through Tuesday, enabling a return to the usual Wednesday opening on December 14 with "Lucy Gallant" & "Count Three and Pray." On that preceding Saturday (December 10), the "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" combo ended at 5PM, and was replaced for the rest of the week by "Hunter" and its companion.

I WAS WONDERING IF WARREN OR OTHERS HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN THE EL SUBWAY LINE IN FRONT OF THE THEATER ON JAMAICA AVE WAS TORN DOWN?

1977-8

The Long Island Press for 4/28/58 has an ad advertising the 4th smash week of "Ten Commandments" at the Valencia. COMPLETE, INTACT, NOTHING CUT BUT THE PRICE. The showtimes Sunday through Friday were 2pm and 8pm. On Saturday 10am, 230pm and 8pm. Tickets were on sale in advance for all future shows. Children are advertised as 60 cents at all times, and the management will give special consideration to theatre parties. The phone number was REpublic 9-8200. I wish I could go back and see that classic under the Valencias stars and clouds.

Just to add about the el, the last regular passenger train ran on the eastern end of the Jamaica el on September 11th, 1977. A fan trip then ran one last time to the then abandoned stations on the 12th....and then it was over.

HI BDWAY, THANKS FOR THE INFO. ON THE DEMISE OF THE ELEVATED LINE IN FRONT OF THE VALENCIA THEATER. ARE THE PRESENT COLORS IN THE LOBBY AND AUDITORIUM THE COLORS THAT WERE USED BEFORE IT BECAME A CHURCH? I RECENTLY VISITED THE CHURCH AND FOUND IT TO BE WELL MAINTAINED AND CARED FOR.PETE CULLEN

The color scheme in the Valencia has been DRASTICALLY changed from the original. I think that John Eberson would flip over in his grave if he saw it!

Warren
Could you tell us what it's like now?

To my eyes, it looks like they hired a band of gypsies and let them go hogwild without any supervision. Bold, garish colors predominate. Eberson used subdued coloring that didn't call attention to itself. It glowed rather than glared...To realize what the Valencia's color scheme once looked like, you should visit the ex-Loew's 175th Street, now also a church. Though it's a different architect (Thomas Lamb), he used a similar color scheme and the owners have simply maintained it, never changed it.

John Eberson was known for some vivid colorations as seen in many of his theatres and as brought out in the article "Fancy Dress" in the Oct. 1984 issue of INTERIOR DESIGN magazine where a lengthy article and ten color photos of his LOWE'S in Richmond Virginia (now the Virginia Center for the Performing Arts). In the final paragraph of the article, the restoration architect, Fred Cox, is quoted as saying: "During the restoration there were times that we were a little worried we'd end up with something vulgar, especially as we got down to the original layers of paint and discovered what an eccentric colorist Eberson was. But a funny thing happened as we applied the finishing touches to the interior -- it seemed to crystallize, become whole and complete. That was Eberson's vision." As was pointed out in the 1930 book AMERICAN THEATRES OF TODAY, the colors used often had to be far more vivid than normal due to the often subdued lighting coming from amber or rose colored lights. We today are used to much higher light levels, but too high a light level in a restoration can make the colors look garish and destroy the subtle ambience designed by the architect. These palaces were to be 'carriages' to lands of fantasy, after all, not the duplication of a living room.

Oops! That should be LOEW'S RICHMOND, and the CARPENTER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ( http://cinematreasures.org/theater/211/ ).

While it's true that Eberson sometimes used vivid colors, it was sparingly, and not blatantly. And once the paint had been applied, it was then lacquered to give it a burnished effect, so that it didn't look like it was fresh out of a can.

I had never been in the Valencia when it was still a theater (nor as a church either), but when I passed by once on the side street, and the "emergency" exit doors were open once, I took a peak inside. The way it is painted it appears as if you almost need sunglasses to sit in that theater. It was a bit overwhelming and bright. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that the theater is being maintained, even if not a theater anymore, but they sure used some bright and shiny colors when they last repainted it!

Further to Warren's above "colorful" description of the paint job at the Valencia, one can go to the Valencia page at the Cinema Tour website to witness what the gypsies run amok have created. Also the bizarre hanging of a chandelier from the sky to brighten things up!.

Well, I guess we should be happy it's being maintained, but wow, it is a bit gaudy with that paintjob. Thanks for the link. Here's a direct url to it:
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=9940

Gaudy is an understatement!

It looks like they purchased every color in the book and just went wild.

Yes, that is gaudy, but I'm glad it's so well preserved !

Thanks for the link !

What was the original paintjob on the ceiling? I assume there were murals or clouds painted there originally? That's the only thing they seemed to paint one color now! Anyone know of any vintage photos of the Valencia?
Just to add, of course the Valencia's main auditorium was never meant to be lit up as bright as it is needed to be lit up for a church. The original colors had to be much more subdued (which will be hard to tell from black and white vintage photos).

Oh, and one more thing. Did anyone ever find out whether the Valencia is still capable of playing movies like the 175th St Theater is? That one, as mentioned above, is also a church now, very similar in style, but they rent it out occasionally for movies, and other functions - or has the Valencia only held church services for the last few decades?

The brownish, sepia tint of the vintage photos I have seen would also make it difficult. Ditto Loew's Pitkin.

I have a friend at work, who's 7 years 8 months older than me, who went to Loew's Valencia as a kid. The ceiling was so realistic looking, he thought it was the sky !

My dad has similar recollections of the Valencia.

Vintage views of the Valencia's interior can be seen here, but as Bway mentioned, since they're in black & white, it doesn't really help with giving some idea of the original color scheme.

Exactly the images I was referring to ! Thanks for re-posting the link !

It just occurred to me that there is an irony in many old movie palaces like the Valencia in Queens, and the Loew's Gates, the Empire, and the Colonial, in Brooklyn, having become churches, in that many conservative congregations and denominations have preached, and warned against many, if not all, movies, for some time now.

To answer Bway's question...I do not believe that the theater is capable of showing movies anymore. I took a tour of the Valencia as part of a walking tour of downtown Jamaica a number of years ago. At that time, it was explained to us that the projection booth had been turned into a radio broadcasting studio used to broadcast church services from the Tabernacle of Prayer.

Peter...
Especially with these type of congregations that is especially true. The owners of the Valencia did cover/remove some of the "nudity", etc from some of the Valencia's ornamentation.
Wouldn't be ironic if when the Valencia closed around 1977, one of it's last movies was "The Exorcist II" released that year. Ironic enough if the Exorcist itself was played in the Valencia in 1973....

Thanks Erwin for the information. Sad to hear that. I figured as much, because I never heard that they did that like the 175th ST Theater church.

The original ceiling was dark blue and simulated the midnight sky, with twinkling stars and floating clouds (the latter projected from machines on the side walls). There were no murals painted on it, nor were there any lighting fixtures hanging from it.

The photo that Bryan Krefft links to does indeed show the clouds as 'painted' upon the ceiling of the auditorium, but for those not familiar with the practice, these 'clouds' were actually retouched upon the photo negative since the PROJECTED clouds in a real theatre would have been much too faint to show up on the film of that day. And the clouds were not supposed to be vivid, since actual clouds are usually wispy to some degree, and doing them vivid in paint would not only make them unmoving and static unlike real clouds, but it would take a most skilled artist to reproduce wispy clouds in the dim light of a normal atmospheric theatre.

For those not familiar with 'cloud projection' let me explain that it was accomplished very much the way the movie was projected: an image is moved across a source of bright light and focused by a lens upon the ceiling. Often it was by means of special 'cloud projectors' which were lamp houses having a glass disk painted with clouds, mounted in front of the light on a motor-turned shaft but behind a lens such that the light from the lamp (as much as 500 or 1,000 watts!) would pass through the rotating disk and pass through the images of the clouds and thus cast their whitish image upon the ceiling in a moving way. Just how realistic this looked depended upon the place of mounting in the theatre, and oftentimes the architect failed to provide a proper angle to mount the projector in relation to the ceiling, and the clouds looked too faint our odd in appearance.

In many smaller theatres, the clouds were projected from a special port in the wall of the projection room by means of what was known as the 'Effects Projector' which was also used to cast special effects (snow storms, lightning bolts, even clouds of butterflies!) upon the screen. Few of us have seen the results of such projectors since most of them have perished with the palaces, and few of the survivors work any longer or have their hundreds of hand-painted glass slides anymore. A photo of one is on page 201 of the late Ben Hall's "The Best Remaining Seats: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace" (1961 and later editions) at many libraries and still at www.Amazon.com . There are few theatres still with operating 'cloud machines' the only two I have seen being the wonderful CORONADO in Rockford, Ill. and the PATIO in Chicago. In the recent book about the CORONADO, there is an image of the 'cloud projectors' there, and while the imperfectly silhouetted image shows two machines, the woman who wrote the caption mentions it as though it were only one. It would, of course, be silly for the VALENCIA church to return such projections upon its ceiling, since with a chandelier there now, they would hardly be convincing. As I had mentioned once before, had the church also painted an angel on the ceiling with his arm outstretched as though holding up the chandelier, it would have been a lot more convincing and less an insult to the observer, as it would perpetuate some of the illusion of the theatre.

This building was registered by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1999.

http://www.queenstribune.com/guide2001/stylin/landmarksdef.htm

The Stanley Theatre in Jersey City, NJ, now a Jehovah's Witnesseses church, still has cloud machines. I don't know if they're used during services, but they are operated during public tours of the building. Visitors are shown a short film in the darkened auditorium...I don't think that the Valencia is a full-fledged NYC "landmark." If it was, the present owners would not have been permitted to make the interior and exterior renovations that they have.

I'm not clear on how much a building classified as a "landmark" can be modified. I'll try to find out more about it. Here is link for NYCGov and this link has a photo of the church:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/designation/summaries/loewsvalencia_large.html

(Former) LOEW'S VALENCIA THEATER (now Tabernacle of Prayer for All People), 165-11 Jamaica Avenue, Borough of Queens. Built 1928; John Eberson, architect.
Landmarks Preservation Commission. Designated February 23, 1999; LP-2036

Summary

Located on Jamaica Avenue at Merrick Boulevard in Jamaica, the major commercial center of the borough of Queens and once a major theater center for Queens and Long Island, the Loew's Valencia is the borough's largest and most famous remaining movie palace. Designed by theater architect John Eberson and opened in 1929, the 3554-seat Valencia was the first of five so-called "Wonder Theaters" built for the New York-based Loew's chain of movie theaters to serve the major metropolitan population centers outside midtown Manhattan. Eberson, who created the "atmospheric theater" type, was one of America's most prolific and influential theater designers, and the Valencia was among his most important commissions. Its romantic, brick and glazed terra-cotta facade was inspired by Spanish and Mexican architecture of the Baroque or "Churrigueresque" period, with detail including elaborate ornamental terra-cotta pilasters, cherub heads, half-shells, volutes, floral swags, curvilinear gables and decorative finials. The Valencia entertained the people of Queens for half a century. Since 1977, it has housed the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People, which has maintained the building's exterior almost completely intact.

The city has a guide available that tells you what you are allowed to alter on a landmark building. You can download a copy if your interested in reading it. The guide is in Adobe Acrobat format. If you don't have the Adobe reader installed on your computer, don't try to download the guide until you install the reader.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/pdfs/publications/rules.pdf

75 years ago, the Wonder Theaters were built and became prime showcases for all the great MGM product over the next 3 decades. The only Wonder Theater showing film today is Loew's Jersey but, sadly, they are not playing any MGM product in their 75th anniversary programming.

However, the beautifully restored Lafayette Theater in Suffern, New York salutes the Loew's Wonder Theaters by presenting a newly restored 35mm print of one of MGM's greatest musicals, "Meet Me in St. Louis." It will be shown this Saturday, September 25 as part of their weekly Big Screen Classics series. They will also present a vintage MGM short, and will play live music on their magnificent Wurlitzer organ.

For more information, visit their website at www.bigscreenclassics.com

Warren writes in his Sept. 24 post: "The Stanley Theatre in Jersey City, NJ, now a Jehovah's Witnesses church, still has cloud machines. I don't know if they're used during services, but they are operated during public tours of the building. Visitors are shown a short film in the darkened auditorium." Just to clarify for those not familiar: The STANLEY in Jersey City is now an Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, and they do give free daily tours at which color postcards of the venue are available, but, no, they do not use the darkened auditorium with the cloud machines during their "services" which are instructional meetings needing bright light to read the Bible. At those times (usually on weekends) they turn on the many metal halide up-lights hidden in the area behind the building facades along the walls. These thousands of watts of light then reflect downward off of the now off-white painted ceiling. They have preserved much of the theatre's original decor.

Robbie,

Indeed, Wonder Mortons were 4m/23r as you said. BTW, the prototype Wonder Morton was said be the Morton still playing in the Saenger Theater on Canal Street in New Orleans. Two pieces of trivia here. Radio City's is a 4/58.

You mentioned C.A.J. Parmentier. Not only did he open the Roxy but he was at the other console at the opening of Radio City Music Hall, along with Dick Leibert. I heard "Cass" Parmentier share a concert at the Music Hall with the late LeRoy Lewis in November 1974 with both of them at either console. It was a tribute to the 25th Anniversary of Ray Bohr's tenure at the Music Hall. It was a concert not to be soon forgotten. I knew Ray and his impersonation of Parmentier was hoot.

Robert Morton organs, once located in Van Nuys, California, were also built under license by the Wicks Organ Company. The Free State Theater Organ Society has Baltimore's Metropolitan Theater organ, Morton built by Wicks, up and playing with a WurliTzer console and relay. One look at the pipe work and one will see the Wicks influence.

The current market value of the building is $2.37 million, according to NYC records.

Someone just told me the Jehovah's have outgrown the theatre and plan on building a new structure.

The "Tabernacle of Prayer" is a Jehovah's Witness group? I thought it was just some "sotrefront" group of Evangalists.
They must have a huge following if they outgrew a 3500 seat mega-theater!!

No I meant the Stanley Warner in Jersey City

I have a question about the Valencia's lobby. What is the large ornate barricade type wall that encloses about one third of the lobby floor on the right hand side? You see it in every photograph, and I'm not sure what it's for. Some sort of traffic control maybe? If anyone knows, please tell me. I'll look here for the answer.

Technically, that "ornamental barricade wall" is just that and is called a COLONNADE, but here it does not support anything aside from its conjoined columns which are in a non-classical styling according to the Orders of Architecture. Most theatres had some provision like this to divide the exiting audience from the incoming audience who stood in rows between the STANDEE RAILS shown in the view on this page: http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=9940 . In most movie palaces, the space above such a colonnade was a promenade or gallery off of the balcony or mezzanine lobby, as at the MICHIGAN theatre in Detroit where the columns were actually marble-clad piers and between them on the lobby floor level were HOLD OUT GATES of ornate metal that were closed to make the EXIT PASSAGE separate from the incomers on the lobby side of the gates. Here in the VALENCIA, there were probably ropes between the columns put up by the ushers just before a show would let out, and opened when a show was in progress. Thus, traffic pattern or crowd control was just the idea in a time when there were thousands of people that could be milling about a lobby at any one time which would have created tremendous traffic jams without such devices. Because the VALENCIA'S lobby is rather narrow, the architect no doubt thought it best to create such a unique barrier as opposed to a much more closed wall both for aesthetic and ventilation needs. Thus the exiting audience would be directed to the set of doors that led to this EXIT PASSAGE between the colonnade and the outer wall with various exits.

The new color scheme in the 2003 photo is so garishly different from the original that I didn't recognize the lobby at first. The lanes at the extreme left and right were used by exiting patrons, while those entering used the center portion of the lobby, which was used for "lock-outs" when the theatre was filled to capacity and there was no more room for lines to be formed outside the orchestra aisles or the mezzanine and balcony promenades. The upper portion of the center lobby was divided into sections with guard rails, and an usher would fill each section with patrons, starting with the section on the right and eventually going across. After those sections were filled, still incoming patrons would just stand enmasse behind them. When the show "broke" and the exiting crowd had subsided, the "lock-out" would be opened, one section at a time, starting with the space that had been filled first. When that space was empty, people from behind would be directed in, and stayed there until all the other sections had been un-locked. Then you would start over again from the right, until all the people were able to enter the auditorium.

Yes, while it's great that the theater is being maintained. The church sure picked some hideous and gaudy colors when they painted the place! Again, it's certainly better than the alternative, at least for the most part the theater is intact, even if it's gaudy now....it's only paint. I only wish the RKO Madison's glorious interior or other theaters still existed, even if in a hideous and gaudy paint scheme.

I have a question about the Valencia's screen. Was the screen contained within the procenium arch, or was the screen placed in front of it? From the photo of the "altar", it doesn't look like it was all that large (although the theater is so vast that it may just be perception.

Oh, and one more question. Does the Tabernacle of Prayer use the old Valencia's organ, or was that removed many years before the valencia stopped showing movies.
I would assume there is an organ in the "church". Do any of the other theaters converted to churches like the Loews Gates and the 175th Street in manhattan (or others) still use the old theater organs?

Thank you Jim and Warren. Somehow I knew that one or both of you would fill me in. I figured that it was meant for exiting patrons, but wasn't sure. As you said Jim, most exit passages, and almost all the ones I've seen, are placed beneath mezzanine level promenades, and separated from incoming crowds by gates or velvet ropes. Thank you Warren for your personal memories of the place.

In anwer to Bway's question about organs. I don't know about the Valencia's, but I believe that the 175th St. still has its organ in place.

The screen was within the proscenium arch, covered by curtains between peformances. The Valencia had a large and deep stage, since it was designed for vaudeville as well as movies. The original Morton organ is gone (read elswhere on this page). The church may well have installed an organ of its own, but I haven't heard it.

To find out all you wanted to know and more about the Wonder Morton organ, check out the postings above from late May and early June 2004.

During the double-feature era, the Valencia opened Monday-Saturday at 11:15 AM, with the first show starting at 11:30 (11:45 and noon on Sundays). Except at very crowded times, there were no intermissions, so people purchased refreshments before they sat down or waited for the times between the two feature movies when the newsreel, trailers, and short subjects were shown. From Monday-Thursday and on Sundays, the last complete show started between 8:30--9PM and ended around midnight or thereabouts. On Friday, the last show started between 9:30-10PM and concluded around 1AM. On Saturday, the last show began around 10:30-11PM, and let out around 2AM. The boxoffice stayed open for a half-hour after the last complete show started. If people arrived after that, an usher guarding the entrance would phone the manager's office and someone would come down to sell them the tickets.

I was born in Jamaica, N.Y. in 1947, and lived in my grandfather's house on 139th Street north of Hillside Avenue until 1952. After moving away, I still often spent weekends with him (until he passed away in 1956), and we went to the Valencia quite alot.

We always walked along Supthin Boulevard down to Jamaica Avenue. At that point, I'd whine enough to get him to take me on the El. It couldn't have been more than a station or two down to the Valencia, and he always tried to get me to walk instead, but I'd have none of it. I loved riding the subway, and the El was even better, as you could actually see where you were going. I always stood at the front window, playing engineer.

At the Valencia (never the Alden, he looked down on it), we'd sit in the balcony, where my grandfather would smoke two cigars, one for each feature.

Jwood, did you ever see a film at Loew's Hillside, with or without your grandfather ? There's a page for it on this site.

Why did your grandfather look down on the RKO Alden ? What about the nearby Merrick ?

Peter -

I remember the Hillside (just north of Jamaica, actually on Supthin), and I'm pretty sure that we saw some films there. If my memory is correct (and I'm going to take a peek at the Hillside Theatre page), at one point it became sort of a burlesque house. Was this in the early sixties? Guess I'll find out soon.

My grandfather just didn't think the Alden was up to the standards of the Valencia, or that the films were as good. I'm sure that we did go there, but rarely.

It is kind of odd that jwood's grandfather sort of looked down on the Alden. I did too and really cannot give a valid reason. I was a frequent moviegoer to the Jamaica theaters during the 50's. Most frequently at the Valencia, Merrick, Savoy and Hillside. I only went to the Alden once and the feature was "Moby Dick". Probably because I was reading the book in school at the time. However, I do recall that the theater was quite nice inside and that it had box seats.

The Alden was just a plain, ex-playhouse with box seats, and had none of the aura of a movie palace. It also did a "product split" with the Merrick, so it didn't get as many top movies as the Valencia.

I guess it's time to showoff my age. TheValencia was a wonderful kitcsh theatre.My most fond memories were some of the second features--Dr.Kildare with Lew Ayres-Lionel Barrymore-Laraine Day also all those Andy Hardy series with Mickey Rooney Lewis Stone Fay Bainter and up and coming starlets like Lana Turner Judy Garland ----Travelogues("As the sun sets in the west we bid fond farewell to-----we will return again") always the same line! But since we have experts on tech I saw 3D with glasses as a short in about 1940 also I never found anybody who knew about the sepia movies of MGM around the same time -short lived and used with western - I partcularly remember one with Wallace Berry.Berry seems to be forgotten in film showings.P.S Idid see The Good Earth with Paul Muni after a 1 hour wait in line my parents got 2 seats and I sat on the steps
David Robertson

I am still hping somebody knows about the all brown(sepia ) films by MGM circa 1939-40.Otherwise I will thinkI imagined it Also does anyone remember the poor sister movie house about 5 blocks past the end of the EL and the Valencia and Alden. It became a catering hall.
David Robertson

David Robertson :

Trust your memory until tangible, objective evidence requires you to do otherwise.

"Five blocks past the end of the el (168th St.) and the Valencia and Alden" : in what direction ? East or west ?

Have you looked on Cinema Tour's list of Queens theaters for this "poor sister movie house" ? Do you remember the name at all ? That would be better than trying to find it with an approximate address like 163-XX or 173-XX Jamaica Avenue.

Try this link :

http://www.cinematour.com/theatres_us.php?province=NY&page=15

The theatre that became a catering hall (Regency House) was the Carlton Theatre, on the south side of Jamaica Avenue near 175th Street. I believe that it has a listing here. The original name was the Cort Jamaica, followed by Werba's Jamaica before being re-named the Carlton. Sadly, it was demolished several years ago and has since been replaced by a large, modern building that might be a school or nursing home. I've seen it only from a distance while passing on LIRR trains.

Thanks, Warren. The Carlton Theater is on the CinemaTour listing for Queens, but no address is given for it.

When the theater was known as Werba's Jamaica, I wonder if it had anything to do with Werba Realty, in Ridgewood, or elsewhere, in Queens, circa 1965 or 66.

Thank you Warren.I did go there to a wedding when it was called "da ta" the Regency House a catering establishment.Abaut 1960 or when chubby Checkers twist was popular,they played it three times. I also worked as a kid for a man who fixed the broken seat at that movie.Worked from end of last show till 6 AM. in the summer,but thats a whole other story.
David Robertson

David Robertson-- The most famous sepia sequence from 1939 is, of course, the beginning and end of "The Wizard of Oz," which some (most?) modern prints represent in black-and-white. I remember the sequences projected in sepia for the reissue of "The W of O" that I saw as a kid in 1949 at the Mayfair (aka Embassy 234), but when I took my own kids to see it at a multiplex in the '70s, the sequence stock was black-and-white. I recall a few B-features in sepia in the late '40s at the Loew's chain (ergo MGM), notably "Lust for Gold" with Glenn Ford and Ida Lupino, now shown on TV in black-and-white.

Louis Werba was a well-known producer and one of the founders of the so-called "subway circuit," which presented Broadway stage plays at cut-rate prices at theatres in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Upper Manhattan. I doubt that he ever ran a realty office in Ridgewood, but I suppose he could have been related to the owner.

Thanks, Warren.

I grew up attending many movies at the Valencia. I actually never cared what the movie was--I just wanted to be sitting inside the castle, marveling at the very realistic sky above me and imagining myself as living in the castle. It was about 1958 or 9 when I saw Ten Commandments that I found out I needed glasses--I couldn't read the bus signs on Parsons Blvd.when we came out!
Now I work around the corner from the main entrance and next to the side entrance (I work for Queens Library) and get to visit the place often. It is garish but very carefully and lovingly done.

We moved to Jamaica in 1958 and, although I went to the Valencia a number of times while we lived in Jamaica, I particularly remember going to the Valencia in the evening with my father to see, if I remember correctly, "One, Two, Three," starring James Cagney. My father was a smoker in those days, so we sat in the balcony or loge, and my recollection is that the theater was just PACKED.

Since a number of posters seem to have worked in the Valencia, I have a question. Was there ever a particular point in time when you (or your co-workers) distinctly noticed that the era of the movie palace (and the Valencia) was on a downswing or coming to an end? I'm thinking of a specific event or series of events -- e.g., a year when the crowds had noticeably declined; a sure-fire hit movie that somehow inexplicably "bombed."; etc.

For instance, as I understand it, transatlantic ocean liners were doing extremely well as a business up until the late-1950s the trans-Atlantic Boeing 707s was introduced. Then within a period of a year or two there was a real noticable change.

I suppose the same might be said of long distance rail travel -- or of neighborhoods that experience a steep sudden decline. (For instance, supposedly when Co-Op City opened in the Bronx, moving vans were virtually double-parked on the Grand Concourse.)

And of course, many people have mentioned how the emergence of Milton Berle as a TV star was a noticeable event in the history of TV.

Were there also noticeable events, or dates, in the decline of the movie palace (as experienced as a worker at the Valencia)?

I worked at the Valencia from 1953-57, but visited and kept in touch with the manager and other employees for a long time after that. Despite Jamaica's business decline due to the opening of shopping malls on Long Island, attendance at the Valencia held steady until 1962, when United Artists introduced the "Premiere Showcase" concept and the practice rapidly spread to all the distribution companies. The Valencia lost its "exclusive" status for Queens, and also had to hold the movies for two or more weeks, which was death because a theatre of that size was very expensive to operate and maintain. Along with exclusivity, weekly program changes were essential to its success, as was also the case at Loew's Paradise in the Bronx.

Warren
Were weekly changes the norm all the way up to premiere showcase? I know for a film like Ten Commandments that it would wind up being held over, but what about a strong grossing normal film? I guess this is why films had such strength in those days to keep moving down the circut tiers and then to the late run neighborhood houses.

Weekly program changes were the "norm" at the Valencia from the time it opened in 1929. There were a few exceptions, such as "Gone With the Wind" in its original release and "Ten Commandments," but these hold-overs were set in advance and weren't really "by popular demand." All of the major Loew's neighborhood theatres had a weekly program change. Some couldn't even sustain a week and ran the programs for five days, and for the other two days showed a double feature of "B" movies or revivals. The same was true of the major RKO/Skouras/Randforce neighborhood theatres.

During the early 40's, the Valencia and Triboro screens were tiny compared to the sizes of the prosceniums. And is it my imagination, or were the corners of the screens rounded rather than square?

PaulNoble

Thanks Warren for the information!

I've noticed that the "Premiere Showcase" concept has been mentioned before, mostly by you but perhaps by others also. Is there a succinct source of info on this apparently watershed "Premier Showcase" concept that would explain a little bit more about its background and influence?

Here are some of the questions that come to mind. (Since I'm not that familiar with the movie business, some of these questions may include misconceptions or info that is otherwise incorrect.):

Why did United Artists come up with this concept? Were they operating at some sort of competitive disadvantage, and did this concept somehow allow them to rectify this?

Why did no one else come up with it before they did? In other words, what conditions might have changed to make this way of doing business possible when United Artists did it in the early 1960s, while it might not have been possible to do before then? I'm thinking, maybe they had the (apparently successful) hunch that enough people were now willing to trade-in traveling downtown (or to a borough's downtown) to see a movie in a grand movie palace for a visit to a closer neighborhood theater if the theater had easy parking and showed the film early enough in its run? Or maybe it was a decline in the number of films being released -- such that the old system of a new film every week at a movie palace was no longer really feasible?

Why did U.A.'s "Premiere Showcase" concept force a change on the other movie companies -- why couldn't the Loew's chain continued to show films the "old" way with the films that came their way? Or was the pool of available films so much smaller in the early 1960s that this was something that was no longer possible – so Loew's had to directly compete for business with U.A. and their "Premiere Showcase" concept?

Another thought: perhaps the nature of movies and the movie going audience had begun to change – become more fragmented – so that fewer and fewer movies that were made were of the type that could comfortably fill a movie palace. In some ways this audience fragmentation would be similar to what happened to the big general interest magazines – they (Life, Look, the Saturday Evening Post, etc.) experienced trouble while a host of more specialized magazine proliferated.

Obviously, I'm guessing that something changed to make the "Premiere Showcase" concept a (financially) "better" way of doing business than the "old" system (with a movie first playing at a movie palace and then making its way down the hierarchy of theaters).

In other words, I'm guessing that the "Premiere Showcase" concept was probably analogous to the introduction of the multiplex that showed owners that given the world as it has become (suburban malls and people driving to movie theaters, etc.) they could make more money showing a number of films throughout the day in smaller auditoria than one film throughout the day in a very large movie auditorium (e.g., by selling popcorn throughout the day, having people arrive in a steady stream throughout the day; putting one auditorium on top of another to maximize land values, etc.).

"Premiere Showcase" started out as a vendetta by Eugene Picker against the Tisch brothers for ousting him from the presidency of Loew's Theatres when they bought the company. Picker's brother, Arnold Picker, was one of the top execs at United Artists, which, along with MGM and Paramount, was a major supplier of the movies shown at Loew's. At that time, the UA product was often better than that from MGM and Paramount, so Eugene persuaded Arnold to try a new scheme of New York area distribution that was similar to one that had been operating successfully in Los Angeles for many years. Instead of opening exclusively at one theatre on Broadway, the new UA movies would open at one theatre in each borough, and would run for at least two weeks, or longer, if business warranted. When UA announced the plan, both Loew's and its main rival, RKO, saw it as breaking their dominance of the market and refused to participate, so the first UA "Premiere Showcase" of "The Road to Hong Kong" was made up of theatres from chains such as Brandt and Century as well as some independently owned theatres. When "Premiere Showcase" proved successful, other distributors started using the same concept, though with different names. Eventually, Loew's and RKO ran out of sources of product and had to book individual theatres into showcase engagements. Along the way, the "Showcase" concept changed. Instead of one theatre in each borough, there might be two or three, and it kept growing until there was mass saturation. In a way, mass saturation forced the multiplexing of theatres. The larger ones were often playing to low capacity, so they could attract more customers if they were divided up.

Thanks, Warren, for the fascinating information! It's very thought provoking. And, of course, fascinating info like this provokes even more questions (readers of the Cinema Treasures website, like myself, being insaitiable and spoiled!).

You mention that LA theater owners already had such a system in operation. I wonder how/why it started there? (I'm thinking perhaps because of the way the city is laid out -- so suburban and spread out to begin with -- that it made a lot of sense for that market?)

I also wonder how/why it spread (as I assumed it did) to other cities with downtown movie palaces other than New York (e.g., Cleveland, Philly, etc.).

The distribution system that prevailed in Los Angeles was due to the great size of the city and the distances from "downtown." Unless you had a car, the public transportation service was not extensive or frequent enough for people to depend on it to attend a movie. And even if you had a car, the time and expense of driving downtown and back just to see a movie was too much for many.

Here is a link for some photos of the Valencia Theatre from the American Theatre Organ Socity.
http://www.atos.org/Pages/Palaces/Lowes-Queens/Lowes-Queens.html

This is taken from a 2004 Daily News Article:

Loew, who was born on the lower East Side and made millions in the nickelodeon era before turning to theaters, died in 1927 at age 57 from a heart attack.

He did not live to see talkies or the opening of his wonder palaces. Still, the theaters bore his signature and Loew is credited with ushering in the golden age of moviegoing. In the 1930s and 1940s, New Yorkers saw an average of 50 films a year.

After Marcus' death, the Loew's chain had a checkered business history. The Tisches - Larry and Bob - bought up a lot of the stock in the 1950s and 1960s. It is now the Loews Cineplex.


Last 5 Palaces

Loew built five sumptuous "wonder theaters" in the New York area. They're still in existence, but in varied condition.

* Loew's Paradise, Grand Concourse at 188th St., the Bronx. The 3,885-seat landmark opened same day as Kings; featured live shows and double features before closing in 1994. Had brief run as a movieplex. Generations of Bronx moviegoers gazed at a ceiling of moving clouds and a constellation that recalled the day Marcus Loew was born. Its private owners reportedly are trying to find a tenant.

* Loew's 175th St. Theatre, Broadway, upper Manhattan. Last of Loew's grand palaces opened in 1930 about same time as nearby George Washington Bridge. Walls of 3,444-seat auditorium were embellished with Indochinese motif. Now home to flamboyant Rev. Ike, the TV evangelist.

* Loew's Valencia, Jamaica Ave. Queens' dominant first-run theater for almost 50 years before closing in 1977. At a time when Jamaica Ave. thrived as a shopping hub with six movie houses, the 3,440-seat Valencia was a spectacle in itself - twinkling galaxy ceiling, Moorish lobby, makeout balcony. Now home to the Tabernacle of Prayer.

* Loew's Kings, Flatbush Ave. Opulent lobby, majestic 3,600-seat auditorium. Opened in 1929 with movies and stage shows. In 1935 the theater went to showing double features. Setting for high school graduations. Closed in 1977. Magic Johnson toyed with divvying it up into a 12-screen multiplex. City still looking for developer who would need at least $35 million to restore its glory.

* Loew's Jersey, Jersey City. The only "wonder" theater still operating, showing classic movies. Local preservationists saved 3,300-seat theater. Opened Sept. 27, 1929, a month before the stock market crash. It was divided into three viewing rooms to compete with suburban multiplexes in 1974. Closed in 1986, reopened in 2002 as a classic film venue with 50-foot-wide screen.

The "Wonder Theatres" were not really the vision of Marcus Loew or his company. The project was originated by Paramount-Publix, which wanted to expand its interests in the Greater New York area. But Loew's was terrified of the competition and made a deal to take over the project, also promising to stay out of Chicago, which was a Paramount stronghold through its ownership of Balaban & Katz.

To read a contemporary account on the Valencia's opening take a short hike to the Jamaica Library and ask to see a micro-film reel of the January 1929 Long Island Press. Ginger Rogers danced on the Valencia stage before her fame and fortune. A multiplex theatre has just opened on Jamaica Avenue to serve today's residents.

The multiplex opened several years ago. Does anyone know how it's doing? I've never seen any grosses reported in the trade press.

it sure has been great reading about the valencia theater.in the 60's my dad worked there and he'd take me to work with him on saturdays. my dad was the stagehand there until it closed in 1977. he was in charge of all seat maintence,marquee changing and changing the hundreds of light bulbs all over the building. he also had to raise and lower the huge curtain before and after each screening.when we were kids he'd let us run all over the backstage area,there were tunnels under the stage that ran all the way to the lobby. also under the stage were rooms that had'nt been opened since the 40's,my brother jim and i would go exploring in these tunnels and rooms all day. then my dad would feed us and then we'd watch the movie depending on the rating. i actually remember the huge carp(fish) in the lobby pond and skateboarding in that lobby. i always compare movie thaters to that great theater, theaters today don't come close to the granduer of the valencia.theater has stayed a huge part of our lives,today my dad is the pyrotechnician at beauty& the beast on broadway and i'm a stagehand at the brooklyn academy of music. thanks for the trip down memory lane.

I remember working at the Valencia in 1953. I mentioned this in an earlier comment. Seeing that I changed my email address I had to re-apply. My twin brother Robert and I were ushers when Mr. "Z" was manager. I believe the very first movie I worked was either "I Love Melvin" with Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor or "The Moulin Rouge". What a great theatre! I still can remember the smell when you entered the theatre from that long lobby...it was part of the magic and the mystique. I was listening to Robert Redford on "The Actor's Studio" and he was quite literate regarding the excitement one felt when you went to the movies. We have in a way too much to have those small experiences. Going to the "Music Hall" during Christmes bring back some of that charm.

LeRoy, I started at the Valencia around the same time, and remember both you and your brother, although I was on the day shift and I think you worked nights. Mr. "Z" (Zelenko) was the one who actually hired me after I wrote him a letter asking for an usher's job! I had seen his name mentioned in an article in the Long Island Press.

Given the wealth of knowledge on this board about the "Wonder Theaters" and the Loew's organization, this is probably a good place for me to clear up what I'm beginning to think was a misconception on my part about them.

Growing up with the "atmospheric" Valencia (undoubtedly one of the five Loew's "Wonder Theaters"), I thought that all five of the Loew's "Wonder Theaters" were "atmospherics" and that, in this region at least, the "Wonder Theaters" (or at least the Loew's organization) had a, more or less, "franchise" (in an informal way, not legally) on the atmospheric "brand."

Of course, I realize you can't copyright something like the "atmospheric" concept. But I thought that in this region the concept might have been so associated with Loew's that other theater owners would have shied away from using it (thinking that it would "brand" their theater as a Loew's theater in the public consciousness). And I thought that maybe Loew's (or as Warren points out, the original sponsor of the five Wonder Theaters, Paramount-Publix) might have seen the success of earlier "atmospherics" elsewhere and decided to import them on a grand scale, and in a big way, to NYC as their way of establishing a NYC presence or "brand."

Therefore, I thought (apparently, mistakenly) that all of the regions grand "atmospherics" that I knew of were one of the five "Wonder Theaters." So, in my mind, the five Wonder Theaters would have been the Loew's Valencia, the Loew's Triboro (which I now know, while being a Loew's atmospheric, was built after the original five Wonder Theaters), the Loew's Paradise, the Loew's Kings and the Loew's Jersey City.

Substituting the Loew's 175th St., in Manhattan, for the Loew's Triboro, in Queens, I still thought that all these theaters were atmospherics. But, a friend tells me (if I understood him correctly) that in Jersey City, for instance, it was the Stanley, not the Loew's Jersey, that was the "neighborhood" atmospheric.

So, if all the Wonder Theaters were not atmospherics (and if other non-Loew's, non-Wonder Theaters were) what WERE the distinguishing qualities that the planners and builders of the five Wonder Theaters saw in their theaters that made them group them together under that one "umbrella" title?. Was it only their common ownership, large size and the fact that they were all built at about the same time -- and, thus, labeling them "Wonder" would be a nice publicity gimmick? Or did they actually have some things in common among themselves (aside from common ownership, and closely spaced opening dates) that distinguished them from the other large movie palaces built in the area?

Also, it would be interesting to find out if the other, non-Loew's atmospherics in the region were built before or after the five Wonder Theaters?

- - - - -

Speaking of Loew's "Wonder Theaters," just an amusing thought/daydream:

Too bad the "Valencia" wasn't built on the Grand Concourse, and that the "Paradise" wasn't built on Jamaica Ave.

If this had been the case, the grandest theater in the Bronx would be an Hispanic-themed one -- and would have even greater appeal as a Bronx "community" theater/town hall for graduations, concerts, etc. (I realize that Bronx residents already love the theater but, still, wouldn't a theater inspired by the courtyards of Spain be really super?) And the worshippers belonging to the "Tabernacle of Prayer" would be going to religious services at the "Paradise"!

- - - - -

Does anyone know the name of the multiplex that now serves downtown Jamaica? I'd like to find out more information about it, and would like to look it up on this website (if it is listed) on elsewhere on the internet.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Thanks, Benjamin, for posting your amusing thought and daydream !

I'll let Warren answer the bulk of your question.

The downtown Jamaica multiplex (ten screens in late June 2003, when I was there last)on the southeast corner of Parsons Blvd. and Jamaica Avenue is called the Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas, and is at 159-02 Jamaica Avenue. The phone number is (718) 291-9400.

The term "atmospheric" for a 'stars-and-clouds' movie palace, was, according to the late authority on the subject: Ben M.Hall, author of that landmark 1961 book: The Best Remaining Seats: The Story of the Golden Age of the Movie Palace", the original inspiration of architect John Eberson when he premiered it at the MAJESTIC in Dallas in 1923 (though the COURT theatre in Chicago and others with hints of a sky long predated it). Thus, 'atmospherics' were by no means original to New York City, and while they were cheaper to build, the chains had to contend with the competition of what was already in an area in deciding upon what type and style to build. If there were an atmospheric anywhere nearby, they would naturally go for a 'hard top' of some style so as to be different, a major factor in their competitive world.

The "Wonder Theatres" were really just advertising gimick slogans, as Mr. Hall points out. They weren't inherently any more wonderful than any number of other palaces in the nation, though they were among the largest and best. As far as I have been able to discern, the slogan was not copyrighted, if only for the reason that what is a 'wonder' to one person certainly may not be to another. Copyright is often refused for simple straight English words that anyone might use, else much of our language would long ago have been preempted by those seeking to make money on it.

"Atmospherics" never really caught on in the borough of Manhattan, which, as far as I know, had only two: the 1928 Proctor's 58th Street, designed by Thomas Lamb; and the 1932 Loew's 72nd Street, which had a Lamb facade and lobby, but auditorium by John Eberson. Curiously, the Broadway-Times Square district never had an atmospheric movie theatre, though one was once announced for the site that became available when the old Olympia complex on the east side of Broadway between 45th & 44th Streets was demolished. Paramount-Publix said it would build an atmospheric of at least 5,000 theatres there which, when completed, would replace the Paramount as its prime Broadway showcase. The Paramount would then become a move-over house. But the advent of the Depression killed that project. I don't know if an architect was ever selected.

As I mentioned previously, as magnificent as the Hall book is, in my opinion it is also very chaotically organized. Therefore, although I may have missed it somewhere, as far as I could tell, the Hall book never really addresses why the five Loew's NYC "Wonder Theaters" are called that, which is why I asked my question.

As far as I could tell, Hall only mentions the "Wonder Theaters" as a group in one instance, in the caption to a photo of the Loew's Kings, on page 201 -- although, of course, he does mention individual "Wonder Theaters" elsewhere in the book (such as on pg. 102, where he mentions that Eberson designed both the Valencia and the Paradise).

He doesn't say anything in the page 201 caption, at least, about the phrase "Wonder Theaters" being just advertising gimick slogans. Rather he mentions that the Kings was one of the five "Wonder Theatres" and goes on to say that all of them had identical twenty-three rank Robert Morton organs.

In my post, I mention that I did not think one could "copyright" the "concept" of the atmospheric. (Perhaps "patent" would have been the better word for "copyright" and "idea" the better word for "concept.") I wasn't talking about "copyrighting" the phrase "Wonder Theaters." (I think "trademarking" is the more legally precise word in this case, rather than "copyrighting.")

Regarding patenting the concept of the atmospheric: in the "old days," I don't think one could have patented it. I am not a lawyer, but judging from what one reads in the newspapers about the new rules regarding patenting -- where Amazon.com can get a patent on the one-click method (!) of internet shopping -- I think it is conceivable that Eberson might have had a good shot at patenting his idea today. Or, at least, it wouldn't be quite as far fetched a possiblity as it probably was in the early 1920s.

Regarding tradmarking the phrase and an overall "concept" of the "Wonder Theater": it is true that a phrase can't be too common if it is to be trademarked. Again, although I am not a lawyer, I get the feeling from what I've read that Loew's would have a decent chance, if it did things "right" in the first place, to trademark this phrase and overall "concept" (if it indeed was a concept) -- if they had thought of it and wanted to do it. In order to do things "right" they would have to have found ways to make the phrase and the "concept" distinctive (e.g., unique identifiable logo, etc.) -- like "Band Aid" brand adhesive bandages and "Scotch" brand adhesive tape.

Since Eberson's first premiered the atmospheric, according to Hall (pg. 95) in Houston (not Dallas) in 1922 (not 1923), my thought was that Paramount-Publix (or, later, Loew's) might have thought of introducing gigantic atmospherics to New York as part of its "Wonder Theater" program to make gigantic atmospherics one of the distinguishing features of the Wonder Theater "brand" -- its all atmospheric "line" of gigantic theaters, so to speak.

But since I found out that only two of the five "Wonder Theaters" are actually atmospherics (the Valencia and the Paradise) and that one of Wonder Theaters (the Jersey) was built near a giant atmospheric that was built the previous year (the Stanley), the question then came up what (if anything) did the five "Wonder Theaters" have in common that made the title "Wonder Theater" a plausable -- and not laughable -- adverstising slogan.

So far, the only things that seem to fit the bill are the seating capacities of the theaters (especially when one considers their distance from midtown Manhattan, the "traditional" home to large-sized theaters in the NYC region) and the lavishness of their decoration (in either the hard-top or atmospheric style). (Although, since Hall mentions that all five had twenty-three rank Robert Morgan organs, perhaps in those times, that particular kind and size of theater organ also put these theaters into the "Wonder" class?)

Seating capacities of the five "Wonder" theaters: Kings (3,700); Valencia (3,600); Paradise (3,885); Jersey (3,200); and 175th St. (3,444). (All figures are from the Cinema Treasures website.)

Since all five "Wonder" theaters were built at approximately the same time, perhaps this, in addition to their large seating capacities and non-Midtown Manhattan locations, may also have been part of what made them wonder-ful. (Although, I would think that Loew's would have been happy to welcome into its "Wonder" class of theaters subsequently built large-sized theaters with similarly lavish decor, like the 3,290 seat atmospheric Triboro. And the fact that the Loew's Jersey is in "downtown" Jersey City rather than "subway sububan" upper-Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens or Brooklyn, would seem to make it just another downtown movie palace, rather than a "subway suburb" Wonder Theater.)

Further exploring the Cinema Treasures website to get an answer to my question, the closest I got to an answer was a Mar 4, 2004 post on the site of the Loew's Pitkin which mentions that the 2,827 seat Pitkin was advertised as a Wonder Theater although it was not "offically" considered one. (Maybe because it wasn't large enough?)

Another thought, maybe the Triboro wasn't considered a Wonder Theater because by the time it was built the "Wonder Theater" concept -- or advertising campaign -- had come and gone as a "big thing" with the Loew's corporation?

Interesting sidenote:

Although Hall mentions that atmospherics "were comparatively cheap to build [a few paragraphs earlier he says that they cost only ". . . about one-fourth as much to build . . ."!] and simple to maintain . . . " (page 100), he also quotes some negative comments about the economics of atmospherics from Thomas Lamb (who, at least early in his career was apparently skeptical about them) on pg. 117:

"My personal opinion is that this type of work will not be lasting. My objection to it, mainly, is that valuable space is used up on each side of the auditorium for effects that otherwise could be sued for seats. Another thing, these various effects and ornamental details are very likely to be accumulators of dust and dirt, therefore increasing greatly the cost of upkeep."

When I worked at the Valencia from 1953-57, we employed "specials" for security. These were off-duty cops from the 103rd Precinct who wore street clothes and sat in the audience or the lounge areas in case of trouble, which could be anything from purse snatching to gang fights. This practice now seems to me to be illegal "moonlighting," but perhaps it wasn't considered that at the time.

Hi Benjamin, if you're still wondering what the "wonder theatres" had in common. I almost positive that all these theatres were built with these two things in common:

1) They were meant as a showcase for the new talking pictures, and more importantly

2) They were all meant to get their shows directly from the Capitol on Broadway, making them something of a chain within a chain.

ziggy -- Hi! I can see where your explanation makes sense, especially when thought of in the following context:

The sound era becomes the rage in late 1927(?). To capitalize on this new phenomenon and to tap into a very fast growing market in the newly burgeoning areas outside of Manhattan, Paramount-Public (and subsequently Loew's) plans to construct in the "outer boroughs" FIVE very large(3,000+ seat) and eye-poppingly lavish theaters -- built specifically for the "talkies." (Other large, lavish theaters, like the Capitol, 5,200 seats, and even the Roxy, 5,900 seats, were originally built, of course, with silent films in mind.)

These theaters would be designed by the greatest names in movie theater architecture (Eberson, Rapp & Rapp, and Thomas Lamb) and would all open, more or less, at the same time -- hopefully, in the fall of 1929.

Unlike other such grand theaters in the region, the "Wonder Theatres" would be located outside of midtown Manhattan, in the "outer boroughs" (Upper Manhattan and nearby Jersey City being, in the context of the Wonder Theater advertising campaign, "outer borough" communities). They would bring a super-modern version of the grand movie palace of midtown Manhattan to the middle-class "subway suburbs" of Queens, Brooklyn, etc.; and they would create an entirely new intermediate level of movie theatergoing -- something between the experience of traveling all the way downtown to go to a gigantic, first run movie palace in Manhattan (like the Loew's Capitol) and the experience of walking to a nearby local shopping street to go to one of the many small neighborhood theaters spread throughout the metropolitan region.

Such theaters would bring a new level of grandeur and beauty to the outer boroughs -- and they would be bound together by their post-Manhattan run "exclusivity" (second run after the Loew's Capitol in Manhattan).

So how is the Loew's marketing department going to publicize this chain of five spectacular new modern theaters that are located, so daringly, far from the Great White Way? -- as the five "Wonder Theaters"!

So what was so "wondrous" about them? Giving the Loew's PR department a little bit of room for puffery -- they are a PR department, after all -- these theaters would be among the very first, large-sized theaters to be built specifically with "talkies" in mind. They would have all the latest and greatest theatrical equipment on hand (including twenty-three rank Robert Morton organs). Each of the five would be designed by one of the three greatest firms in movie theater architecture, and would bring to the Bronx, Queens, etc. a level of movie palace grandeur and beauty previously unheard of for these relatively modest communities.

So that would help explain why the Valencia was a "Wonder Theater" and the Loew's Triboro and Loew's Pitkin were not. As neither of the second two would -- or could -- be part of this "second run" chain (since the Valencia and the Kings would occupy those places of honor in Queens and Brooklyn, respectively). And this would explain why it was "logical" for the Jersey (not really in an outer borough, but in "downtown" Jersey City) to be included with the other Wonder Theaters -- because it too was part of this "second run" chain of magnificent new modern theaters.

Looking back, I find it really "wonder-ful" that so much construction was taking place in New York City and its "outer boroughs." Imagine FIVE totally new 3,000+ theaters -- and that's not counting all the other theaters (and other buildings) also being built in Manhattan and other relatively close-in areas of the region. Cities were really a beehive of activity then. But then again, it was the "Roaring 20s"!

Hello again Benjamin! I also remember looking at old copies of the "New York Times" from 1929 (Specifically to find old movie ads) and noticing that the 4 wonder theatres (the 175th Street was not open yet) were always together in the same ad, and usually had a slogan like "Direct from the Capitol!" Anyway, it's nice reading your comments.

Ben Hall seemed to consider the Pitkin one of the "Wonder Theatres." On page 205 of "The Best Remaining Seats," he wrote "The Kings (named after Brooklyn's county, was opened in 1929 as one of the five Loew's 'Wonder Theatres' (others: Valencia in Jamaica, Long Island; Paradise in The Bronx, Pitkin in Brooklyn, 175th Street in Manhattan)." Curiously, he did not mention Loew's Jersey, perhaps because it was in another state...An unsigned article about the Pitkin in Marquee (issue for Third Quarter of 1984) describes it as a "Junior Wonder Theatre," the difference being its Robert Morton organ. The Paradise, Kings, Jersey, Valencia and 175th Street had identical 4-23 models, according to the article. The Pitkin's, however, "was a uniquely constructed 3-13 Morton (complete with picket fence on the console), unusual in its large scale pipework evidently designed to fill the 2817-seat theatre."

Yes, but it was Loew's, Inc. which got to decide which theatres were "wonder theatres", not Ben Hall.

I guess the "Wonder Theater" slogan was really good advertising if movie theater buffs, 75 years later, can be discussing which theaters should or should not have been included! And it’s not just about the Pitkin, I’ve notice other theater threads that have also included discussions about whether the theater was a “Wonder Theater” or not. (Kind of reminds me of those debates about who should be Miss Rheingold or who should win an MTV award -- both great advertising ploys by Rheingold and MTV, respectively!)

It is true that, ultimately, the Loew’s Corporation gets to decide which theaters belong or not (just as, I assume, MTV gets to decide which are the best videos in the various categories), so it is interesting to figure out what criteria and reasoning they had in their original advertising campaign – hence my original question. But I also find it interesting to find out what criteria other people thought Loew’s had in mind, too.

I finally got a chance to look at my copy of the Hall book, and I discovered something very interesting. In my copy, page 205 has nothing at all about any "Wonder Theaters"! Instead, there are two photographs of Balaban & Katz presentations on that page: 1) a scene from "Pearl of Baghdad" (on top) and 2) a scene from "Watteau Come to Life" (below).

BUT, on page 201 of my copy, as I mentioned in my February 6 post, there is a caption to a photo of the interior of the Loew's Kings that does mention the various Wonder Theaters. In my copy it reads: "The Kings (named after Brooklyn's county) was opened in 1929 as one of the five Loew"s "Wonder Theatres" (others: Valencia in Jamaica, Long Island, Paradise in The Bronx, JERSEY, JERSEY CITY, 175th Street in Manhattan." [The emphasis is mine.]

Possible explanation?:

I believe my copy is a cheap reprint from the mid-1970s. (It was published by Bramhall House, a division of Clarkson N. Potter.)

At a number of points in the text, it refers to color photos -- although there are no color photos in the book. I’ve never bothered to check to see if the photos are instead included in only black and white, but maybe they just left the photos out altogether and just re-numbered the pages?

Also, since the book was originally published 15 years or so earlier, maybe they discovered that the substitution of the Pitkin for the Jersey was a small Ben Hall mistake, or perhaps, instead, just a typographer's error? (But then, again, the dust jacket of this edition gives a brief bio of Hall as though he were still alive, when apparently he had been killed in the late 1960s or early 1970s. So it's not really clear when this edition was published or what they conciously decided to change and what, if anything, they decided to leave alone.)

Actually, I’ve noticed a number of what I believe are mistakes in the Hall book. And Warren has also pointed out what appears to be a pretty big one regarding the auditorium of the Loew’s 72nd Street Theater, which Hall seems to feel is one of Lamb’s best: “His atmospheric Loew’s Pitkin Theatre in Brooklyn and the auditorium of his Loew’s 72nd Street Theatre, while lacking some of the subtlety of the Eberson touch, turned out quite well, and did, indeed, ‘retain their novelty character for a considerable length of time.’” And the photos of the interior of the 72nd St. Theater (pgs. 114-115) do, indeed show a really stunning atmospheric. But Warren points out on the Loew’s 72nd St. page on this site, that there is an article in an issue of the Theater Society’s journal that says it was Eberson who actually designed the auditorium – Lamb, according to the article designed the rest of the theater. What’s more, according to the article, this information was pretty well known when the theater was built.

Regarding Ben Hall's mistakes: While his book is really terrific -- a monumental work , really -- nevertheless he was a pioneer in the field and was thus almost bound to make a number of mistakes. I see the same thing with other early writers on historic preservation. One can do just so much research at the time, and years later, with a lot more researchers spending a lot more time on the issues, inevitably more accurate information comes to light.

The edition Benjamin is looking at is indeed the most recent reprint (from 1987) and the pages were renumbered as he surmises, due to the fact that the latter-day publisher, the DeCapo Press, did not reproduce the 5 color plates of the first edition of 1961. The edition of 1975 did not either, but both the latter day editions **did** retain the caption to four missing pages (bottom of page 136 of the first edition), the frontice piece being the fifth one! On their back of title page is this paragraph: “This DeCapo Press paperback edition [of 1987] of ‘The Best Remaining Seats’ is a republication of the revised edition published in New York in 1975 and issued under the title: ‘The Golden Age of the Movie Palace.’ The present edition has been updated through 1987 and is supplemented with a new preface by B. Andrew Corsini. It is reprinted by arrangement with Crown Publishers, Inc.” They did update the theatre captions where needed, but not the text of the book.

The mentioning of the JERSEY as one of the 5 Loew’s Wonder theatres in that original page 205 caption reprinted as on page 201 in the ‘87 edition, is an interpolation by a latter day editor, and not Ben Hall’s original text. So, Mr. Hall felt that the PITKIN was one of the ‘Wonder Theatres’ originally, but someone else thought to replace it with the JERSEY in the latter editions. This may be because the PITKIN was demolished by the time the reprints were made, and latter day editors may have thought it would make the book more ‘relevant’ as was the by-word of those days for the sake of sales, and to get new listings in library card catalogs of the day.

Ben M. Hall was murdered on Dec. 15th, 1970 according to the article about it in the New York Times of Dec. 16th, 1970, page 54 at bottom: “Writer Found Slain in Village Rooms”. The dust jackets and other reproductions of such text and photo are just simple photo reproductions, and do not attempt to be updated, though one would hope that a new bio note there would have mentioned his death. All this shows the cheapness of latter day publishers who will not even take the time to remove irrelevant captions for the color plates they are too cheap to print, as well as update the dust jacket. I guess that their attitude is that we should be happy that they reprinted a 16-year-old book at all.

Possibly it was a mistake of Mr. Hall’s in regard to the actual architect/designer of the 172nd St.’s auditorium, but as Benjamin graciously admits, most anyone can make a mistake, or be upstaged by latter day research. The 1961 first edition of the book is definitive, but probably does have an error or two.

Ooops, I didn't mean to say that the PITKIN was demolished, but was apparently thinking of the 172nd STREET.

Well, I still say that the Pitkin is not one of the "wonder theatres", and the Jersey is, by virtue of the original ads put out by Loew's themselves. I've made mention of them in a previous post. Now, we can agree that the Pitkin is one of the wonder-ful theatres.

And with it's recently collapsed roof in the auditorium, Loew's Pitkin is the first true atmospheric!

Umm, speaking of anyone can make a mistake (including yours truly)....Jim, you probably don't realize that in your last post you moved the 72nd Street theatre 100 blocks uptown.

You're right, of course, Ziggy, since from about 900 miles away my acquaintance with NYC geography is sketchy. Maybe someday I will get there to see things firsthand.

Bob's comment about the PITKIN now being an 'atmospheric' of the original kind, is too well taken, of course. There were lots of open air theatres in the early years aside from drive-ins, but they were designed that way!

In response to a comment I made on the Roxy page regarding pricing policies for "neighborhood" theaters like the Valencia, Warren posted some very interesting info on that page. Thanks Warren! Since I'm particularly interested in the scale of prices at the Valencia, however, I thought I'd reprint parts of Warren's original post here, and then ask Warren or other posters about the pricing policy at the Valencia (in, say, 1960).

Here are the relevant parts of Warren's Roxy post:

"In the 'old days,' movie theatres, regardless of rank, always had a sliding scale of admission prices. From opening until 5 or 6PM, it would be cheaper than in the evening. Weekday performances were cheaper than those on weekends. On Saturday night, and all of Sunday and holidays, the highest prices prevailed. Children under 12 usually paid half the adult price. There were no discounts for seniors.

Movie theatres with balconies often had a segregated section at the front called the 'loge' where seats were bigger and wider spaced. Loge tickets were always priced higher than general admission, from maybe 25 to 50 cents or even $1, depending upon time of day."

- - - - - -

When I went to the Valencia in the 1950s and 1960s I was a kid, so I really didn't pay that much attention to prices. (My recollections are probably from the daytime and pretty simple: $1.00 for adults, $.50 for kids, if I remember correctly.) So I'm wondering what the full price scale for the Valencia would be in, say 1960, if one went on a Saturday evening, Sunday or holiday (when the prices would be highest).

In particular I'm wondering if (in 1960) they charged more for seats in the loge and/or balcony and, if so, how did they "enforce" it? Did the patrons get specific reserved seats (which, I believe, are referred to as "hard tickets") in the higher priced sections? Or were ushers stationed at strategic spots to screen out those with the less expensive tickets?

Since I think it would really be interesting to see what the "top" prices for various forms of entertainment were across the board (for example, non-"hard ticket" Times Sq. theaters, "hard ticket" Times Sq. theaters, Radio City Music Hall, and Broadway plays and musicals), I'm not as much interested in weekday prices or daytime Saturday prices. (Actually, it would be interesting. But since it makes everything so complicated, it seems too much to ask!) But it would be interesting to know what the top ticket prices were in 1960 for a neighborhood theater like the Valencia in order to see how they compare with the top prices for other forms of entertainment at that time. (I think it would also be interesting to find out the pricing policies for other Queens theaters, like the Alden, Merrick, RKO Keith's, Triboro -- but only if they had pricing policies that differed from the one that the Valencia had for Saturday nights, Sundays and holidays.)

Thanks in advance for any info that anyone has!

In the "old days," the Valencia always charged extra for loge seats, from 25 to 50 or 60 cents, depending on day and time. As soon as the section filled up, they stopped selling loge tickets at the boxoffice, but if you wanted to wait for seats to become available, you bought a regular ticket and then "exchanged" it at the checkroom on the mezzanine by paying the difference. The loge was patrolled by usherettes (for some reason they preferred women for that job), who cut your ticket stub and then showed you to seats. These usherettes had to be very alert because the home office often sent "spotters" who would try to sit in the loge without the proper ticket. If these spotters weren't caught by the usherette, the latter would get reported and could lose her job if it happened too often.

I was just at the Virgin Mega Store on Union Sq. and noticed a new book (official publishing date, Feb. 1, 2005) that I think will be of interest to posters at Cinema Treasures: "New York: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider tour of Movie New York." There is also a Los Angeles version, also having a Feb. 1 publishing date. (I just skimmed the New York book, but I get the feeling that both the L.A. and N.Y. books are revised and expanded versions of books that the author, Richard Alleman, originally wrote in the 1980s, or so.)

Mainly the book is a listing of movie/TV locations, places where movie/TV people lived or grew up, location and history of New York movie/TV studios, movie star grave sites, etc. But it also includes info about movie (and "legit") theaters, including the Loew's Valencia, the Stanley and Loew's Jersey, Moss Colony, Cadillac Winter Garden, etc. In fact it has a "rare" photo of the interior (stage, east wall of the "courtyard" and part of the balcony)of the Loew's Valencia. I suspect it is a photo taken in the theater's last days as a theater, but before the church took it over, because the "sky" seems to have a few patches of water damage and falling plaster.

While the book seems to be pretty good, I did notice a number of things that seemed to me to be really glaring errors. Now, in a book containing so many facts, I suppose this is to be expected. But it'll be interesting to investigate to see how error prone this book is.

As part of this effort, I have a question. One -- very minor -- thing that struck me as an error (or sloppy writing) is that the author says the Valencia is in Hollis (not Jamaica) Queens. Although I grew up in Jamaica, I'm not exactly clear where the boundary between Hollis and Jamaica is located. But, it seems to me that the Valencia is in Jamaica as much as anything else (including the rather substantial Jamaica post office only a block or two away) is in Jamaica.

Does anyone know the "official" boundaries of Jamaica and Hollis, and whether the Valencia is "officially" in Jamaica or Hollis? (I assume, but I'm only guessing, that ever since Queens became part of NYC in 1898, the "official" boundaries for "town" names were in fact the postal district boundaries.)

According to the venerable Hagstrom's map (1961 edition), the boundary between eastern Jamaica (postal zones 32, 33, and 35) and western Hollis (postal zone 23) is 180 Street running north to south from Hillside Avenue to the Murdock Avenue spur off Linden Boulevard, then eastward along Hillside Avenue to 188 Street so that the northern sector belongs to Jamaica and the southern to Hollis, then north along 188 Street to 80 Road just south of Union turnpike, which constitutes the northern border of Jamaica (complicated somewhat on the western end when 80 Road disappears on that side of St. John's University, and challenged not the least by my own map which is missing a crucial page at the the northern end of Hollis). Does my explanation make sense?

The Valencia is in Jamaica, never was and never will be in Hollis. When that Alleman book first came out in 1988, I contacted the publisher with a correction, and they promised to make sure the error was removed in the next edition. Obviously, they didn't.

Thanks BoxOfficeBill and Warren for the terrific information!

Of course, my gut feeling was that the Valencia was in Jamaica, but I was also curious as to what the exact boundary line between Jamaica and Hollis was -- in part, I guess, to figure out how the author could have made such a "weird" mistake. (To give an example of how such a mistake can be seen to be somewhat sensible: the Manhattan apartment I once lived in was officially part of one post office (same zip code), had mail delivered from a different post office (where my mail carrier was actually based), and was actually physically closest to yet a third post office (where I went to buy stamps, etc.)!

So I think the author's mistake would have been more understandable if, for example, the official boundaries of Jamaica ended at say, 167th St. or 168th St., even though the activities of "downtown" Jamaica might have in reality "spilled" over to the next "town," Hollis. But given that the boundary is, if I understand Bill's post correctly, about 15 blocks away it's hard to understand how in the world the author came up with a Hollis location for the Valencia.

And I was also curious as to what the publishing "history" of this book was like. So it's very interesting to find out that this mistake was in the original edition, the publishers were contacted and yet did nothing about it.

So far, the most disturbing ("biggest") mistake I've found in the book (and although I'll still buy it, I could only skim it last night) was that it says that "What's My Line" (which, I'm pretty sure was a CBS show done from the theater that later became Studio 54) was done in the NBC studios at Rockefeller Center. (And "What's My Line" is not a trivial show. I believe it sets records for both being a top rated show and for overall longevity.) And while this could be seen, in a sense, as a trivial mistake, especially since TV shows are understandably an afterthought in a book about movie making, what really makes this mistake "serious" in my eyes is that the author also does a profile of the Studio 54 theater (which might have actually been CBS Studio 52?) and never mentions, if I recall correctly, anything about any CBS shows, let alone "What's My Line," being broadcast from there! (In fact, the entry seemed solely a brief history of the disco and the movie celebrities who went there.)

And I also saw some other "facts" that seem to be in error, which I'll also have to check out some day. It seemed to me that the book was really best when in looked at the "big" picture -- explaining, for example, why "Splendor in the Grass" and other films were / were not actually filmed in NYC rather than Hollywood or on location (in the case of "Splendor in the Grass," Elia Kazan, the esteemed director didn't want to leave his sickly father's side).

So, it seems to me that one has to take the info in this book with more than a grain of salt! (A "pinch"?; a teaspoon?; a tablespoon?)

Which brings up the topic of Loew's "Wonder Theaters" again. If I understand Alleman correctly, he says that the theaters were Wonder
Theaters because they all contained Robert Morton "Wonder" organs. I get the sense that besides providing a glowing nickname for this model of a Robert Morton organ, "Wonder" was in a sense a brand name -- like "Wonder-bread" or "Miracle" Whip. So, if Alleman is to be believed, the five Loew's "Wonder Theaters" were billed as they were because they contained identical models of the "Wonder" line of Robert Morton organs -- which, to be fair to Alleman, seems to be the same thing that Ben Hall is saying in the caption in "Best Remaining Seats" that we've been discussing. In fact, his explanation seems to make the caption a little clearer to me than it first was when I read it.

However, I still like Ziggy's explanation, and I suspect the "real" explanation is probably a combination of the two of them -- as that's the way things seem to actually work in the real world (i.e., one thing feeds off of another and the final event is a product of many "coincidences").

Loge seats were not reserved by specific locations. You could sit anywhere in the loge section, but if it was crowded, you might not get a seat that you would have preferred...The loge tickets themselves were considerably larger than "regular" tickets and were not sold through the automatic registers. The cashier had them on a separate roll of tickets. After the doorman tore off one third of a loge ticket, the remaining two thirds would be taken by the loge attendant, who would keep half and give you the remaining half as your stub. The attendant put her halves in a tin box, which was later emptied by a manager. Those stubs were kept for a certain period of time in case they were needed for an investigation of some kind or another.

By the way, I wonder if the reason the management of the Valencia, and presumably other theaters too, used usherettes rather than ushers to screen patrons who had loge tickets was based on a variation of the "good cop, bad cop" idea.

This is what I suspect management was thinking:

We'll have a lady (it could be either a pretty, young one, or a motherly or grandmotherly type) screen those going into the loge seats. This will make most people think twice about trying to "beat the system." ("Don't want to upset the pretty young thing, or make 'mom' or that nice little old lady cross with us.") And for those who have no shame, the usherette can always call for one of the big guns (a bouncer-like usher) if they persist and continue to be a problem.

But if we start off with the guy ushers 1) it becomes more of a challenge for certain kind of people to try and beat the system and 2) we would have already used up one of our big guns at the very beginning, so where would we go from there? But with a sweet young thing, or a "mom" or granny "authority figure" followed by a "now we're getting down to business" hulk, we really have an effective "one, two" punch that will wear down most people who might try and beat the system.

Better that we start out "small" and move on up from that level, then start out "big" and wind up with a big argument/fight on our hands.

Due in part to being the first of the five "Wonder Theatres" to open, Loew's Valencia ran the movie/stage show policy the longest. The Valencia's last movie/stage booking, Paramount's "Every Night at Eight" with Lou Holtz, Belle Baker and Block & Sully topping the vaudeville bill, closed on September 5, 1935. The next day, the Valencia switched to a weekly change of double features, starting with "China Seas" & "Bright Lights." The movie/stage policy had lasted 2,427 days, or roughly 6.6 years. Simultaneously with the Valencia, Loew's Paradise in the Bronx made the same switch, though, of course, with a different stage show supporting "Every Night at Eight." The Paradise had opened nine months after the Valencia, so it had presented movie/stage shows for 2,189 days, or roughly 5.9 years. Loew's 175th lasted only two months with movie/stage shows, and the Loew's Kings only nine months. I don't have information for the fifth "Wonder Theatre," the Loew's Jersey." but it had definetely dropped stage shows by September 1935 and was nine months younger than the Valencia, so it couldn't have exceeded the latter's record.

For the fun of it, I did a database search of "the New York Times" for the term "Wonder Theaters" using the "Proquest" database service available at NYU's Bobst Library.

What I found were mostly display ads (although there was also a brief news item about, I think, the opening of the Valencia). (I should have taken better notes!; but I didn't think I'd find anything to really report back to Cinema Treasures.)

On page 33 of the March 4, 1930 issue of "the New York Times" there is a display ad that says the following: Loew's 'BIG 5' Wonder Theatres [I've copied the capitalization and punctuation that was in the ad]. Below this headline they've listed five theaters: 175th St., Paradise, Valencia, the Pitkin and the King's.

So, to be fair to Ben Hall, there was a legitimate reason for him to include the Pitkin and exclude the Jersey in that original photo caption! (Of course, it also makes sense for Loew's not to include the Jersey in a display ad published in a New York City newspaper -- especially in the late 1920s when Jersey City was probably less of a "satellite" of NYC and more of an economically independent city than it is today. It's my guess that in those days it have been considered a poor use of advertising funds to advertise the Jersey in a NYC newspaper.)

I also looked at some of the later ads as the year went on. It seems that a number of the theaters were dropped out of the Wonder Theater group advertisements. I didn't note the dates or the theaters, but at first I think the group went down to three and then down to two (the Paradise and Valencia). I didn't check all the advertisements on the page to see how the "dropped" theaters were advertised -- perhaps they had separate ads that also used the term "Wonder Theater" but were advertised separately because they were showing a different show.

Towards the end of the year only the Valencia and the Paradise were grouped together in the same Wonder Theaters ad (again, possibly, because these two were the only two with the same show).

By the way, both of these theaters, and some others too I think, advertised midnight showings on Saturday night! Fascinating to think that in 1930 this was a profitable thing to do in Jamaica, Long Island (which is the way the ads identify the Valencia's location) and the upper Grand Concourse!

I think the ads also mention something about de lux shows. But I'm not sure what they mean by this -- or even it this applies to any of the Loew's theaters. (I found the ads a bit confusing as the ads seem to me to kind of run together.)

In the "old days," most of the top neighborhood theatres had "late shows" on Friday and Saturday nights. At the Valencia, the last complete show on Friday would begin (starting with the second feature) somewhere between 9:30 and 10 PM, and on Saturday between 10:30 and 11 PM. The theatres usually emptied out around 1AM on Saturday morning and 2AM on Sunday morning.

Vincent... the Loew's Jersey actually held onto their Full Stage Show/Movie bill until 1936. We have plenty of records to this effect. I can grab the date of the final stage show, and I recall it being shy of the seven-year mark (of September, 1936). It might be in June, 1936 that the Loew's Jersey stopped stage shows.

I'll look it up next time I'm over at the Jersey.

I can tell you that the last stage show was actually a little different. It was announced as the WOR Barn Dance. I'll copy down the final five weeks and print them here when I can.

I suspect that 1935, and not 1936, was the final year for stage shows at the Loew's Jersey. The months you mention for 1936 were the same that stage shows ended in 1935 at the Capitol, Loew's Valencia, Loew's Paradise, Loew's Metropolitan, and others on the New York side of the Hudson. I doubt that the Jersey would have continued for another year after that, but I could be wrong.

I'll check it out... just give me a few days until I get back to the Jersey... but I really do distinctly recall a 7-year stretch (1929-1936). However, let me do my homework. I'll copy down everything the Jersey has for the final five weeks of the stage shows.

There is an old photo of the Valencia Theater here:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~angell/thsa/loewsval.jpg

I can't tell what movie is listed on the marquee because the sign from the store next to it is blocking half of the marquee.

lostmemory, thanks for posting that old photo.

What can you deduce from the words on the marquee that ARE visible ? What are those words ? Would you care to post them here ?

the movie is "a woman of affairs" starring john gilbert, it opened in 1928

The movie was MGM's "Woman of Affairs" with Garbo & Gilbert, released in January, 1929, which means the Valencia photo was taken not long after the theatre opened. The feature film was silent, though not, of course, the stage show. Garbo's first "talkie" wasn't released until the following year.

Peter....

When you enlarge the photo, it reads:
Gilbert
Affairs
Deluxe Show

I see that Woody has already figured out the movie title. Thanks.

Thank you, woody and Warren.

Bway and I once did similar detective work on Loew's Hillside, an image that we thought was from November 1964 but was actually February 1961 right after the blizzard of the 4th and 5th of that month.

With the help of others on this site, we figured out that, at that time, as seen in that image, the Hillside was showing "Hell Is A City" and "Let No Man Write My Epitaph".

165-11 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, New York 11432

Block & Lot #: 09795 - 0003
Building Class: Church, Synagogue, Chapel (M1)
School District: 28 map/schools
City Council District: 28
Police Precinct: 103 (Crime Statistics)
Political Contributions: search
BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS
Zoning C4-2
Building Size (F x D): 139.00ft x 195.00ft
Lot Size (F x D): 139.33ft x 319.00ft
Building Height: -
Total Gross Area of Building:
Year Built: 1929
Historic District?: Yes
Corner Lot?: No
Has Garage?: No
Number of Floors: 4
# Units: 0
FAR as built: 1.62
Allowable FAR: 3.40

TAX INFORMATION
Estimate 2005/2006 Taxes (est.): $0
Tax Billing Address: -
Tax Class:
Tax Rate: 0%
Total Assessed Value: x $1,066,500

Annual Property Tax (est.): = $0
Quarterly Property Tax (est.): = $0
Monthly Property Tax (est.): = $0

MARKET VALUE1 HISTORY
Jun 01, 2005 $2,680,000
May 01, 2004 $2,370,000
Apr 01, 2003 $2,370,000
Mar 01, 2002 $2,370,000
Feb 01, 2001 $2,300,000
1 Market value obtain from the NYC Department of Finance

Curiously, the Valencia's current market value is far less than the $6.55 million quoted for the nearby Merrick, but the latter is perhaps better situated on a prime corner...I wonder what determined the value set for the Valencia? I doubt that it could be sold at any price, or at least for any other use but as a church. I think that Loew's made that condition when it gave it away.

A story in The New York Times (March 9, 1978, page B1) about the conversion of the Valencia into the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People claims that the church, founded in Brooklyn in 1970, was originally interested in acquiring Loew's Kings in Flatbush. "For various reasons," reporter Richard Shepard wrote, "the deal was not consummated, and, some time later, the theater company offered the Valencia." The Tabernacle's leader, Rev. Johnnie Washington, said "It's a miracle, a gift from God. A miracle at a time when miracles are not supposed to happen." The Tabernacle took over the premises in June, 1977, and spent $250,000 on renovations before re-opening. The new crystal chandelier hung from the center of the auditorium's atmospheric ceiling was 18 feet in diameter and had 360 electric light bulbs.

In May, 1973, the Valencia showed "Black Mama, White Mama" simultaneously with the Rochdale Cinema (South Jamaica) and the Laurelton Theatre. Oh, how the mighty had fallen! Perhaps it was God's mercy that the Valencia became a church.

Thats funny Warren. I remember Pam Grier was Black Mama but I have no idea who White Mama was.

Blonde Margaret Markov was the "White Mama." The movie was a rip-off of "The Defiant Ones," with the two women chained together while escaping from a prison camp in the Phillipines.

June 1, 1929 news story from the Brooklyn Standard Union

"ROESNER’s Farewell Party
Walter ROESNER, master of ceremonies at the Valencia Theatre, Jamaica, was given a farewell party by the Jamaica Kiwanis Club on the eve of his departure for California. He will open a new Fox theatre there, but will return to Jamaica next fall".

Follow up story:
"Robert GILLETTE has been appointed by William SAXTON, manager of the
Valencia Theatre, Jamaica, as successor to Walter ROESNER, master of state ceremonies. ROESNER has been sent to California to open a new Fox Theatre there".

William K. Saxton was the first managing director of Loew's Valencia, but I don't think that he remained more than six months. The April 1929 issue of Moving Picture Review & Theatre Management described him as "a showman of rare capability. He has opened many houses for the Loew organization and probably knows the problems of the fine theatre as well as anyone in the business." I believe that Saxton moved on to open one of the next "Wonder Theatres," but I'm not sure which. Possibly the Paradise or Kings.

The Loew's Valencia Theatre was the first of the five 'Wonder Theatres' to open;12th January 1929
Joint 2nd and 3rd to open were;
Loew's Kings Theatre, Brooklyn and Loew's Paradise, Bronx, both opened;7th September 1929
4th to open was Loew's Jersey Theatre, Jersey City, NJ, opened;28th September 1929
5th to open was Loew's 175th Street Theatre, Manhattan, opened;12th February 1930.

May of 1972 American International had a double bill playing all over town of "Dr. Jeykll & Sister Hide" and "Blood From the Mummy's Tomb". Besides the Valencia it was also playing in Queens at Loews Triboro, the Arion and Laurelton.

I am trying to find out the last features to play the Valencia, so far the last booking I can see from 2/11/77 is "Car Wash" and "Trick Baby"

December 17, 1976 King Kong opened at the Valencia and played until 2/10. This seems like the last first run picture that was booked. When "Car Wash" played on 2/11 it was a second run release playing all over town. They might have just stuck that in for the final weeks booking.

Check out this ad for Gigi when it opened wide 12/29/59

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Gigi12-59WideRun.jpg

It is interesting that this film opened in almost every Loew's in Brooklyn except it's premiere house the Metropolitan. In Queens where the Valencia ruled it has it exclusive except for the RKO Columbia which is so far away it's almost Long Island.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/ManoftheWest.jpg

The last few years of the Valencia had it playing things like this.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Coffy.jpg

Here's a photo of the interior snapped just before the 1929 opening. Stage curtains were still being hung. The black shadows across the top of the proscenium arch were caused by the photographer's flash:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/123-2389_IMG.jpg

1954 the Valencia was still on the "A" run
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/RoseMarie.jpg

RobertR... I know with great certainty that the last feature to play at the Valencia was the Muhammed Ali film "The Greatest" which opened in the late Spring of 1977 at the Criterion in Times Square and other theaters around town. It's reasonable to assume that this movie opened fairly wide and the Valencia might even have been included in its first run bookings, but I don't know the dates it played there.

By the way... I love the scans of those newspaper ads. I could sit up online all night and devour page after page of that sort of stuff. Thanks for sharing!

RobertR... I know with great certainty that the last feature to play at the Valencia was the Muhammed Ali film "The Greatest" which opened in the late Spring of 1977 at the Criterion in Times Square and other theaters around town. It's reasonable to assume that this movie opened fairly wide and the Valencia might even have been included in its first run bookings, but I don't know the dates it played there.

By the way... I love the scans of those newspaper ads. I could sit up online all night and devour page after page of that sort of stuff. Thanks for sharing!

The Valencia was always on the "A" run and exclusive for Queens until the era of "Premiere Showcase" in the 1960s. Even after United Artists introduced PS in 1962, Loew's continued in its usual way with the releases of other companies. I don't think it was until around 1966 or later that Loew's was forced to book individual theatres into showcases and the Valencia lost its first-run exclusivity for Queens. I wish that I knew the Valencia's first participation in a showcase, but I don't.

A marquee shot
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/tab204.jpg

Here's a 1948 image of the marquee. The current program was preceded by "Up in Central Park" & "Another Part of the Forest," and followed by "The Bride Goes Wild" & "Summer Holiday." All of the Valencia's bookings were first-run for Queens and also exclusive for the borough:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/129-2988_IMG.jpg

Here's another 1948 exterior view. Notice how close the elevated tracks came to the entrance (an artist removed them from the color postcard view seen in the intro!). Fortunately, the auditorium was quite a distance from the street, so you were unlikely to hear train noises during performances:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3080_IMG.jpg

Here are several views of the opening day ad in the Long Island Press. Due to the ad's unusual proportions, I was unable to reduce it to one image. Interestingly, no mention is made of "Wonder Theatre(s)," apparently a concept that had yet to be dreamed up by the Loew's hypsters. The nearest the ad comes to it is in the phrase "be one of the first to enjoy the wonders of Loew's Valencia!."
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3238_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3247_IMG.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3248_IMG.jpg

Ah, memories good and bad. I traveled from Glendale, sometimes on the B53 bus, to see movies at the Valencia. My graduation from Richmond Hill High School occurred there in 1966, and I recall whispering to my Dad as I marched down the aisle that he had to run over to the Gertz parking lot to drop some money in their meters because I was sure I was running low.

Later, waiting for the B53, years later, just a few years before it closed for good as a movie, I was surrounded, a la Bernhard Goetz, but several youth with sharpened screwdrivers. But I was lucky. I kept jiving with the youth until a police car passed. I sidestepped, ran into the street, got their attention, the dear old B53 came and while the cops pinned "da youts" to the wall of the Valencia, I rode off. One "yout" got free and gave chase for a bit but gave up.

And so I lived and remember the lovely gold fish and darkened outline of buildings and stars with a big screen in the middle!

Christmas of 1961 the Valencia and other Loew's were showing "Exodus"
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/ExodusonLoewsNeighborhoodRun.jpg

Taken with available light, this image shows how the auditorium's atmospheric effect was ruined by hanging a gaudy chandelier from the center of the ceiling:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/135-3538_IMG.jpg

Indeed the atmosphere was ruined by the "gaudy"! chandelier hung from the stars and clouds ('atmospheric') ceiling, but we must not be harsh in condemning this attempt to get more light to those trying to read their humnals or count their donations in the seats below. True, I recommended in a previous post that at least they could have painted an angel upon the ceiling with his arm outstretched as though holding up the chandelier, but we must be thankful that "Rev. Ike" did not also have the midnight blue ceiling painted white to reflect the meager light from the chandelier. Really, if light is what he wanted, he would have been better off to insert black-liner, recessed metal halide lamps into the dark ceiling; these down-lights would have projected far more lumens to those needing them, without doing much damage to the vista of the 'sky'. Still, should the church decide to leave the place, it could be returned to theatre use without too much money, if the churches changes have been as meager as claimed. Let us hope.

Opps: "humnals" above, are, of course, 'hymnals.'

I agree, if it was still a theater, the chandelier would be a horrible addition, but we must remember, that it's not a theater anymore, it's a church. And the building has to be functional for it's current use. Whereas as a movie theater, the place was meant to be dark, as a church, it has to be lit up.

Instead of being upset with the chandelier, we must be VERY thankful that the Valencia DID get a church to fill it's walls. Think of all the other theaters that we could only hope a huge gaudy chandelier was the biggest problem. Think of the Keiths in Flushing, or the spectacular RKO Madison in Ridgewood, and I could go on infinitely with this list. I only wish the least of all the gutted theaters was a gaudy chandelier.

It's too bad the Valencia no longer shows movies anymore. But it has to be remember, that out of all the after-theater uses a theater can get that "can't" be a theater anymore, a church is the least destructive to the integrity of the building. Sure, the Valencia is now painted gaudy colors, has a huge chandelier hanging from it's ceiling, and has an altar and a cross hanging where there "should" be a movie sceeen. However, the building is being maintained, and for the most part, all of it's ornamentation is still there in all it's glory (although I heard they covered things like the naked cherobs). I think other theaters like the Keith's only wishes the least of it's problems was a chandelier hanging from the clouds.

The metal halide lights I mentioned above were used quite successfully in the former STANLEY in Jersey City, NJ when it was converted to an Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. The blue sky was painted over in white to best reflect white halide up-lights hidden behind the building facades along the horizon line, but when they give tours, dozens of such lights in BLUE are turned on as the white ones are turned off, and with the stars, the effect is quite convincing. Pity the VALENCIA could not have been treated in much the same way. We must acknowledge the efforts of the Witnesses in preserving so much of that and other theatres which they have converted. And at the STANLEY and at many of their other such conversions, they give free tours --and with free refreshments!

This photo is supposed to be the interior of the Tabernacle of Prayer Church. If it is, it appears to be in great condition.

Lostmemory, that's the Valencia, but the photo may have been taken before the church installed the central chandelier, which does not appear in this view. The church seems to keep the building in good condition, or at least that portion open to the public. My main complaint is that they've made decorative changes which are not faithful to the original.

Warren, I think this photo shows the chandelier that you are talking about.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/Chuck1231/New%20York%20Theatres/LoewsValanciaAuditoriumQueensNY.jpg

As a teen ager during the 1950's two or three of my friends and I would get together on Friday nights (Saturday was date night) and go down to Jamaica to see what was playing. Each week one of us would have the choice of selecting what picture to see. On warm summer evenings it was difficult to pass the Valencia without being pulled in by the blast of cold air as you passed by. The front doors were always opened to let that cold air help you decide where to go. There always were lined to get into the theatre and then again to get a seat. We'd usually go to the balcony. One night while "Kiss Me Kate" was playing in 3-D, some wags had taken their 3-D glasses and put them on the heads of a number of the statues that were part of the theatre's decor.

I worked at the Carlton, a "nabe" only a few blocks away, but a world away in stature. A school mate of mine worked at the Valencia and for some reason like to swap Valencia passes for Carlton passes.
I never figured it out, but didn'nt complain.

This is a recording label dated 3/27/29. The caption reads "Theme Song of Photoplay "Weary River" (Clarke, Silvers) John Gart - Played on the Morton Organ, Loew's Valencia Theatre". Here is another one dated 4/9/29. Caption reads "Theme Song of Photoplay "Coquette" (Irving Berlin) John Gart - Played on the Morton Organ, Loew's Valencia Theatre".

You find the craziest stuff! That's wild though. quite cool.
On a similar note, I have an old record with a recording of Christmas Carols on the Manhattan Paramount's organ. I always loved that recording since I was a kid, and my father played it at Christmas. I still have the record, but don't have a record player anymore, so haven't heard it in quite some years.

BTW, does the Valencia's organ still searve the church? Or was it taken out before the conversion from theater to church. IINM, the church that uses Loews 176th St in Manhattan still uses the original organ.

Bway....I find all kinds of "odd" things and the best part is I'm not even looking for this stuff. Maybe I'll change my name to Mr. Trivia. :) Jerry Lewis was at the Valencia promoting his movie the "Bellboy" in 1960. This is from the Star Journal dated July 6, 1960:

"Queens movie-goers saw "The Apartment" starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, "Hercules Unchained" starring Steve Reeves, "Please Don’t Eat the Daisies" starring Doris Day and David Niven and "Pillow Talk" starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, "Psycho," began its run. Jerry Lewis appeared at Loew’s Valencia theatre in Jamaica to promote his latest film, "The Bellboy".

Jerry Lewis has 35mm color footage of that tour, and some of it appears on the new DVD of "The Bellboy."

If you've seen RobertR's photobucket scan of a newspaper ad for Lewis' Bellboy tour... doesn't it make you wonder if Lewis made it exactly on time to all of his scheduled appearances? How long were these appearances, exactly? Can you imagine trying to keep such a hectic schedule running around the Loew's circuit having to deal with NYC traffic? I think the ad has Lewis going from the Kings or Oriental in Brooklyn to the Valencia in something like 45 minutes, mid-afternoon! Maybe it was Saturday? Still... that's cutting it close if you ask me. And where'd he fit in lunch?

I saw a similar ad in RobertR's collection for the Dave Clark Five who made the rounds on the RKO circuit just a few years later for their film "Catch Us If You Can." The timing for their slate of appearances was on a par with Lewis' schedule and I have to wonder if they merely appeared to wave their hands and say "hello" to the crowd... surely they couldn't have set up to play a song or two at each appearance! Anyway... they appeared across the street from the Valencia at the RKO Alden as part of the promotion.

These days, it seems, personal appearances are limited book signings at Barnes and Nobles or the odd CD-signing by an up and coming recording artist. There doesn't appear to be any sort of "showmanship" left to the art of motion picture marketing.

The Lewis tour was done by bus, and I believe they had a police escort for certain parts of the tour. As far as lunch, they had time set aside on the schedule for meals.

Other tours of that period include Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis in full make-up for MUNSTER, GO HOME. And Adam West with Burt Ward in costume for BATMAN.

Showmanship was alive and well at that time. Those were the days!

Here are a few pics I took when viewing the interior in 2003

http://www.cinematour.com/location/usa/ny/tourny/qval04.jpg
http://www.cinematour.com/location/usa/ny/tourny/qval05.jpg
http://www.cinematour.com/location/usa/ny/tourny/qval03.jpg
http://www.cinematour.com/location/usa/ny/tourny/qval02.jpg
http://www.cinematour.com/location/usa/ny/tourny/qval01.jpg

The theater looks to be in beautiful condition, and extremely well kept - even if the colors are sort of gaudy now....

The new color scheme is enough to make me vomit. Take, for example, JoeB's fourth photo, which shows what was originally a fountain with fish pond at the base. The walls behind it and adjoining it are now "gypsy green," instead of the original burnished sand. The fountain was originally surrounded by real plants and floral bouquets, and were tended by a local florist. Now everything is plastic! And the painters responsible for this work seem to have no concept of shading or "aging" colors. Everything looks like it came straight out of the can from Home Depot.

Yeah, I do agree, the colors are gaudy, if that's even the word for it. I think poor John Eberson would probably fall over in his own puke if he was to walk into the theater, but then again, you may not notice the mess he made, as it would blend right in with the colors on the walls...
But then again, at least it's being maintained....it could be worse, just think of the condition of the Keith's and others.....at least the Valencia survives....and paint is just that, paint. The plaster is and ornamentation is all intact.

Yes, paint is only paint, and the interior still survives. It could be worse. Think of the former RKO Madison in Ridgewood (# 4621 on this site).

Yes, the color scheme is dreadful, but at the building is well maintained, and it's obvious the church is proud of their building. It certainly could be worse, and it's definitely still restorable.

Bway, I like your implicit naming of the ex-Valencia's current interior color scheme : puke camouflage !

this movie house was the pride of queens .it looked better inside than half of the movies on broadway.some of the movies i saw there were one thousand and one nights,the great john l,samson and delilah,battle ground,red river, the tender trap and yolanda and the theif also kismet. with the following stars cornell wilde, doug mcclure,victor mature hedy lamar van johnson, john wayne,frank sinatra, debbie reynolds, fred astaire,and howard keel and victor damone

When I worked here on the ushering staff from 1953-57 (while attending college), the "refreshment" services were modest by today's standards. As in all Loew's theatres, the concessions were run by Peoples' Candy, a subsidiary that was almost wholly owned by Loew's (certain executives such as Nicholas Schenck, C.C. Moskowitz and heirs of Marcus Loew were said to also have interests). PC hired its own staff for the candy counters, all female except for a part-time "stock boy" who also served at the counter at rush periods. One woman was supervisor and took care of the cash takings, which she turned over to the theatre's manager at the end of the working day and were eventually deposited in a PC bank account. The supervisor reported to a PC district manager who visited several times a week to check the books and take orders for stock. The Valencia's "candy counter" was against a wall opposite the entrances to orchestra aisles 3 and 4, and measured about 20' wide by 6' deep. The stock consisted of the most popular candy bars, ice cream bon-bons, pre-cooked popcorn, and (gasp! gasp!) cigarettes. There were always at least two people working behind the counter, and as many as six during peak times. On weekend nights and all day Sunday, a small candy counter on the mezzanine promenade was also operated, but limited to only candies and popcorn. Neither counter carried drinks, but the Valencia had five vending machines situated around the orchestra and mezzanine floors. These machines were also owned by PC, but the Valencia's managers and ushers took care of them, making sure that they were replenished with papercups and syrup and changing gas cylinders when needed. Patrons were required to drink their sodas at once, and were forbidden to take them into the auditorium.

Warren, no wonder you "hate" the "desecration" of the valencia....I didn't know you worked there at one time!

Yes, but fortunately my health is still good, or I might be suing the tobacco companies about all the second-hand smoke that I was forced to inhale in the loges and balcony, which had a combined seating capacity of about 1,500. I would guess that 98% of the people who sat upstairs were smokers. Probably not always simultaneously, but the beams of the projectors cutting through all that smoke was a wonder to behold!

I can just imagine the projection cutting through the smoke. I believe that many of the theaters had the smoking section in the balcony.

There were ash tray's on the backs of some seats in the balcony at The Loew's Paradise.

If a theatre had upstairs seating or a stadium section at the rear, that was the ONLY place where smoking was permitted. And it was limited to cigarettes. Ushers were instructed to stop patrons from smoking cigars or pipes because of the stench. Some single floor theatres did not permit smoking at all. Others had a section reserved for smoking, but it had to be adjacent to exit doors. I'm talking specifically about the NYC area, but I think that was pretty much the rule in cinemas everywhere in the USA.

P.S. At the Valencia, smoking was also permitted outside the auditorium in lobbies, foyers and lounges on all floors of the theatre. Orchestra patrons would often go out into the lobby to have a quick smoke and then return to their seats. Apparently they weren't bothered by missing some of the movie. They couldn't see it from there because all aisle doors were kept closed during performances.

Actually, smoking policies varied greatly acorss the nation, since the Constitution did not give such authority to the Fed. government, and the state governments regarded that as a local concern, so that was a matter left in the hands of local municipalities. Prior to the disastrous fire of 1904 in the notorious IRIQUOIS theatre in Chicago, smoking policy was usually up to the theatre management, but after that well-publicized event, many authorities enacted smoking restrictions on many places of public assembly, even though that fire was not caused by smoking materials. Here in Milwaukee, for example, local ordinance forbade it, but neighboring cities did not. Pity more did not, for if they had, we may have had fewer people with continual lung problems that we all now pay for in some disability taxes. Of course, merely having a law against it doesn't help if there are no ushers to enforce it, hence the fire in the RIVERSIDE theatre in Milwaukee in 1966 when a patron tossed a cigarette upon the stage, igniting the screen and draperies. Thank goodness they had installed automatic sprinklers back stage, for they saved the building until the firemen arrived.

The Valencia was playing Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in "You Were Never Lovelier" in Jan of 1943. Note at the top of the Loew's ad that wartime shortages of gasoline made them proclaim "There are Bus, Trolley, Subway or El Lines serving all Loew's theatres".
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/MeandmyGal.jpg

1954 Lucy & Desi in "Long Long Trailer"
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/LostWeekend1954reissue.jpg

Here's a rare 1939 image showing both the Valencia and its nearest rival, the RKO Alden. Unfortunately, a sign for an adjacent store blocks the view of the Valencia's marquee and attraction board. I'm surprised to see a foreign import topping the bill at the Alden. I wonder if "Grand Illusion" played the entire RKO circuit, and if so, with subtitles or dubbed? The Alden sometimes had special programs due to its product-splitting with the Merrick.
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rivals.jpg

I was working as an usher here during the run of "Long, Long Trailer." It was the first time since I started that we had lobby "lock-outs." If I recall correctly, there was one lock-out on Saturday night and two on Sunday, the first in the late afternoon and the second before the last complete show. A "lock-out" meant that all seats and waiting areas were filled. The overflow was held in the long entrance lobby, which had wooden railings to divide the patrons into lines. As soon as the current show ended and the crowds exited, the lines would be admitted one at a time, starting with the row that was filled first. People on other lines would start yelling that they were being treated unfairly, so we usually let down all the remaining ropes after that first row had entered. After the stampede was over, some patrons would return and demand their money back because they couldn't find seats that satisfied them. In most cases, the manager and his assistants would talk them into taking passes to use at a later time.

Thanks, Warren. I don't care about Lucy and Desi, but it's great to have that ad for "The Lost Weekend", one of my favorite films !

Thanks also for all the details about "lobby lock-outs" !

During the 1940s,most people that visited Jamaica thought Jamaica ended at Acher ave or maybe Liberty ave.But I'm here to tell you that it extended maybe five miles to the south of Archer ave.WE had the biggest department store on LOng Island (Gertz) we Had a boxing arena also a racetrack (Jamaica)and Montgomery Ward a national chain store. there were two bus terminals. one behind the Valencia and one behind the Merrick theater. There was two bus depots or yards one at New York Blvd. and Linden Blvd. the other one was below South Rd. on 166th rd. AS a matter of fact Jamaica was the largest community in Queens. The biggest attraction in Jamaica was not the movie houses,but the shopping and Jamaica Race Track.

PS The name of the arena was "Jamaica arena"

English, I believe that that Jamaica Arena still stands, but I don't know what it's used for (if anything).

HITCHCOCK BURIED UNDER MARTIN & LEWIS (first neighborhood run, 1956):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rip.jpg

1949 the Valenica was playing "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court". Note in the ad it mentions balloons flying from all marquees and free passes to celebrate Loew's big show season
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/TakeMeOuttotheBallgame.jpg

Here's a nice little article of The Valencia in it's heydey....

http://www.atos.org/Pages/Palaces/Lowes-Queens/Lowes-Queens.html

It's a national disgrace that the American Theatre Organ Society should permit such a glaring error in the headline to that article. It's "Loew's," not "Lowe's."

It's been such a pleasure to read about the Valencia. I grew up in South Ozone Park and our local theaters, the Casino, Lefferts and the Cross Bay were crummy, but convenient. The Valencia was fabulous, but was in a dicey neighborhood and so we didn't go very often. I wish I had gone more often because it truly was an amazing experience to see a film there. My Junior High School (202) graduation ceremony was at the Valencia in 1973. The last movie I remember seeing there was "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston (I liked him back then, now he's moron!).
I remember when I first heard that a church was taking over the space. I was very angry, but I now realize that this is probably the only reason that the theater is still standing and isn't a Duane Reade! I have to agree with most of the people who have commented above. Even though the church has painted the theatre in garish hideous colors, at least it is all still there and, maybe, can someday be restored.

Correct, LuisV, and thanks for posting your comment.

Bway has argued, both here and elsewhere, that a church is probably the best post-theater function of a theater, because at least the seats and the stage are preserved and maintained.

I have a friend from work who graduated Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood in 1972, and his ceremony was held in Ridgewood's RKO Madison Theater.

My Junior High School ceremony was held at the Elmwood Theater in Elmhurst, even though my school was in Fresh Meadows. That was 1979 and the local Century's Meadows Theater had already been twinned, making it too small for the graduating class. By the time I graduated Jamaica High School in '82, most of the local big theaters had been twinned or closed (or were showing porn, which would have rendered the facility inappropriate) so we held those ceremonies at auditorium at St. John's University.

I'm glad the Valencia has survived more or less intact. Pity the caretakers don't have the sensibilities to preserve the original color scheme as do the religious organizations overseeing the maintenance at the former Loew's 175th Street in Washington Heights or the renovations at the former Loew's Metropolitan in Downtown Brooklyn.

Thanks, EdSolero, for your post, including the good news about Loew's 175th Street and Metropolitan in downtown Brooklyn. I thought the Metropolitan had been multiplexed, and was still showing movies.

I know what you mean about the original color scheme not being preserved at the Valencia, but at least the interior is in good repair, even though there are no longer any "stars in the sky" (on the ceiling) and the naked cherubs have been covered for modesty.

For many years, Jamaica High School held its graduation ceremonies at Loew's Valencia. I don't know when that tradition stopped.

Perhaps EdSolero, being a fairly recent Jamaica High School graduate, can enlighten us.

I agree with PKoch too. I have to say that I think the new color scheme of the Valencia is gaudy at best, however, to their absolute credit, they are maintaining a beautiful building. This is way better than the alternative. The "worst" of the Valencia's problems is the color scheme or their is as chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and naked cherobs covered. The alternative? A pile of bricks at worst, or at best, the theater gutted for retail, with a drop ceiling placed in the auditorium, like so many other theater's fates.
The plaster is all preserved, and has a coat of paint on it, keeping it in good shape. Paint color is just that, color. Everything important is still there....
Fans of the RKO Madison in Ridgewood, the Roxy in Manhattan, (and add any other theater you wish here) only wish the worst of their favorite theater's problems was a bad color scheme or a chandelier "misplaced".

As I mentioned, when I was a Senior at Jamaica High, we held our graduation ceremonies at St. John's University. I'm not sure exactly when it was that use of the Valencia was curtailed. I can't recall what the previous two Senior classes did while I attended as a Sophomore and Junior. I wonder if they stopped using it after it closed down for theatrical use in '77 - not wanting to hold the proceedings in a church and risk offending anyone of a different religion or secular mind.

My father used to tell me he was paid in the 1930s to play the clarinet on weekend evenings in front of the Valencia.

Many thanks to Warren in his post on the Crossbay for causing me to rediscover the grandeur that was the Valencia. And to Joel B for posting the url containing four great photos (http://www.atos.org/Pages/Palaces/Lowes-Queens/Lowes-Queens.html). They unlocked long lost mental pictures, and memories.

I recall going there in the early 50s when my mother would drop us off while she went shopping. It was a safe thing to do then. Unfortunately, within a few years, it became, as someone else said, "dicey" to go to this area of Jamaica; and her forays were limited to within a few blocks of Gertz.

Listening to others tell of their graduations there, and others from my native Glendale and later Ozone Park produced nice tingles.

Funny, the age differnce of posters. Many who wax nostalgic are a generation younger than I am. I may well be the old man.

I graduated from Brooklyn Tech HS in '55. We had our commencement at the Brooklyn (? Music Hall ?). Someone help me here. It was a large theater, but not The Paramount, the home of the R and R shows.

Tonino, could it have been the Fox Theater, which, like the Brooklyn Paramount, was near Flatbush and DeKalb Avenues ? Or was it the Brooklyn Academy of Music at the western end of Lafayette Avenue ?

You graduated high school in the year I was born, and as I am now 50, that means you are nigh on 70 ... years young ! Welcome to Cinema Treasures !

My native 'hoods are Ridgewood and Bushwick, but I know Glendale and Ozone Park well also. I hope I, too, can tingle you nicely also !

PK,
Thanks, that's it, - The Brooklyn Academy of Music.

I knew Ridgewood very well. I worked at Ripley's men's store part time for six years. It was on Myrtle Avenue a few stores away from the RKO Madison. Possibly sold haberdashery or suits to your father. Hung out at Cappy's pool hall above the Ridgewood.

BTW, you young whippersnappers know how to hurt a guy. ;-)

'Tonino....Was it Cappy's pool hall in the 1950's? In the 1960's it was called Hanks billiards. I spent alot of time there in the early 1960's until the Ridgewood Grove opened. There was no A/C in Hanks so the rear door was left open in the summer. That door led to the fire escape on Madison St. My friends and I would use that fire escape as a short cut when we left the pool hall.

LostMemory,
It was definitely Cappy's in the '50s. I went there regularly between '51 and '56. You only found A/C at the movies back then. The back door and fire escape wasn't used.

Went to boxing and wrestling matches at the Ridgewood Grove.

"Maggie the Cat"
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Maggie.jpg

Christmas 1975 the Valencia had a Queens Exclusive again, not anything to brag about though.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/FridayFoster.jpg

My recollection of the Valencia goes back to the late 1940's. I would come into Jamaica from St. Albans by bus to Jamaica Ave and 168th St with my parents and later with friends. As a boy I could never understand how they got those clouds to go across the night sky. It was probably the most beautiful theater I have ever been in.

I live in Maryland now, but often think about the Valencia and wonder if it still exists, which is why I "Googled" it tonight and found this web site and these wonderful stories.

When we didn't go to the Valencia we would sometimes go to the Merrick, which I seem to recall was just across Jamaica Ave from the Valencia. I don't recall ever having been in the Alden.

W"ell,JJL if you did't go to the RKO ALDEN during the 1 940s these are some of the classics you missed seeing."NIGHT AND DAY" "OBJECTIVE BURMA" "TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT" "MILDRED PIERCE" "PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE" "SAN ANTONIO" "THE SPANISH MAIN" "SINBAD THE SAILOR" "DILLINGER" "THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE" "WONDER BOY" "CASABLANCA" 'THE MALTESE FALCON"AND SOJNIA HEINE'S LAST MOVIE "IT'S A PLEASURE"These are just a few of the movies you missed by not attending the Alden during the 1940s.

No, English, I didn't miss them. I just didn't see them at the Alden.

Movies were shown widely in those days and had a long play-off time, so if you didn't see them at a certain theatre, it doesn't necessarily mean that you "missed" them. I didn't see any of those movies at the Alden, but I did see them all at the Midway in Forest Hills or the Drake in Rego Park.

Warren, I saw those same pictures at the Midway, probably on the same Saturday afternoons. Not the most pleasant matron in the children's section, eh? Warren, as the resident authority on booking patterns in NYC, you've enlightened us greatly on the RKO & Loew's chains and their theaters. When did the two chains establish the circuits which seemed to be locked in stone from the mid-30s to the mid-50s, and when were the decisions made on borough exclusivities and playoffs?

"BTW, you young whippersnappers know how to hurt a guy."
posted by 'Tonino' on Dec 7, 2005 at 7:24am.

Tonino, how did I hurt you ?

I remember Ripley's, now that you mention it. It was on the south side of Myrtle between the RKO Madison and Palmetto St., wasn't it ?
Going east from the RKO Madison to Madison St. was the Ridgewood Garden Chinese Restaurant, at least on the second floor, then the Jay Kay Candy Store on the southwest corner of Myrtle and Madison.

Yes, you may have waited on my dad at Ripley's, but I mostly remember shopping for clothing at Howard's on the northwest corner of Myrtle and Putnam, a few doors east of the Ridgewood Theater.

Paul, I never went to the Midway on my own. My parents always took me there. The Drake was in walking distance from our home, so I was permitted to go there alone or with friends on Saturday afternoons, when we sat in the children's section...I don't know the exact date when Loew's and RKO agreed to split product, but it was in the early 1930s, when vaudeville was being phased out. RKO had fewer theatres, so it shared its programs with some Skouras, Randforce and Century theatres. Loew's did not share until 1949, when it was forced to by the anti-trust decree. However, Loew's Paradise and Loew's Valencia remained exclusive for their boroughs until the mid-1960s, when "Showcase" release took over.

PKoch,
You, and other young whippersnappers, hurt me by your reference to things as "ancient", which really happened _"last week"_. ;-)

Your reference to locations at that part of Myrtle Avenue relative to movie houses is pleasant. The Acme, Belvedere, Glenwood, and Oasis round out my reference for growing up in Glendale and working in Ridgewood.

Wow, I would have sworn that most of the people that attended the theaters on Jamaica Ave were from Jamaica.Because these theaters were considered neighborhood theaters.Especially during the war when we had air raid drills at any given time at night.All of the movie houses on Jamaica Ave were pretty nice. You must remember,we are not talking about Broadway here.We Of SOUTH JAMAICA thought all of the theaters were nice and did not worry about the beauty of the inside of the theater.We would worry about getting in or getting there before the price of admission changed.But usally you could always get into the Valencia because of its size.

That may have been the case as film distribution entered the wider "Showcase Theater" scheme in the 1960's, english, but places like the Triboro, Valencia and Flushing Keith's would often have early run bookings exclusive within the borough and probably pulled in patrons from all over Queens durings its first 30 or so years of operation. Even in the 70's when the Valencia was exhibiting more "neighborhood theater" type of fare, I know many families from my neighborhood in Laurelton, Queens (which had its own small 2nd run house) would travel by bus to Jamaica to catch a flick at either the Valencia or RKO Alden. But, obviously, even local patronage wasn't sufficient to save either theater from closing down years ago.

Tonino, when and where did I refer to something before my time is ancient ?

English, the local theaters for me and my family were the St. Albans and the Laurelton. Going all the way in to Jamaica Ave. to the Valencia or the Merrick was an event. On some occasions we would have supper at a Chinese restaurant located, I seem to recall, in a building between 168th and the Valencia - upstairs.

JJL,I remember the ST ALBANS it was on Linden blvd.But where was the LAURELTON,located?

To the best of my memory, from 1929 opening until the 1960s, the Valencia was the only theatre in Queens to play mainstream movies exclusively before any other in the borough. Loew's Triboro had a similar status, but played its programs a week after the Valencia. The RKO Keith's Flushing, however, was never exclusive for Queens. The same programs opened simultaneously at other RKO theatres in the borough, as well as at such affiliated theatres as the Skouras-operated Astoria Theatre and the Merrick in Jamaica.

The Laurelton Theater is located between 227th and 228th streets on the south side of Merrick Blvd. It is still there in operation as a church. It was a cozy little nabe that usually played double features consisting of a major film on late run (I recall both "Jaws" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as lead pictures during 1975) paired with a low budget action flick ("Framed" with Joe Don Baker and "That Man Bolt" with Fred Williamson come to mind). They also often played a cartoon or Three Stooges short between features, when the program was more child-freindly). I think it had a balcony, but I can't recall for sure.

I stand (or rather, sit at my computer) corrected, Warren. Thanks.

A&E are in the process of working on a segment on Marcus Loews' "Wonder Theatres" (the Valencia Theatre, Paradise Theatre, and Jersey Theatre) on their Breakfast with the Arts show. I was contacted because they wanted to use my photographs of the Valencia theater. As soon as I hear of a broadcast date from them I will post it here.

The last listing for Loew's Valencia in The New York Times' "Weekend Movie Clock" seems to have been in the issue of February 11, 1977, when the theatre was showing a double feature of "Car Wash" & "Trick Baby." The opposition RKO Alden had "Silver Streak" paired with "Mother Juggs & Speed." There were no other theatres listed for Jamaica. It's possible that this was not the final booking at the Valencia, and that subsequent ones went unreported by the NYT.

Thanks, Warren. I saw that double feature at the Alden, while I saw "Car Wash" sans the second feature at the old Continental in Forest Hills. It has always been reported - whenever an article is written about the Valencia's history - that the final feature to play was the Muhammed Ali bio-pic "The Greatest", which is listed on the imdb.com site as having been released on May 20th, 1977. I saw "The Greatest" at the Valencia during it's run there. I wish I could tell you exactly when that was, but somehow I recall it as being in June right near the end of the school year.

The legendary 3-D booking:
www.18.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/lokate.jpg

Warren, I saw the first Natural Vision 3-D movie at the Valencia, "Bwana Devil," on a jam-packed Friday night in 1952. The short was Disney's "The Alaskan Eskimo." Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Valencia had 3 projectors, and needed an intermission halfway through the main feature for reel changes.

If one were to believe what is written today, KISS ME KATE was only released flat because of the publics lack of interest in 3-D movies. Even the new DVD contains comments to that effect.

The truth of the matter is the film had a very wide 3-D release. In fact, there were so many bookings for the 3-D version in December 1953, the studio ordered additional left/right prints from Technicolor!

The following excerpt is from the "Kiss Me Kate" [http://imdb.com/title/tt0045963/trivia]trivia page[/url] on imdb.com:

"The movie was shot full frame (1.33:1, including soundtrack area) and then printed with optical soundtrack and interlocked with a magnetic, full-coated strip of film in the theater. While shot on Ansocolor film stock, the prints were by Technicolor, who optically centered the picture to fit the soundtrack on the film (unfortunately, new prints do not have this advantage and the left portion of the picture is cut off prematurely). The film was only shot in 3-D and except for the premiere (at Radio City), played at almost all major theaters across the USA in 3-D (according to trade ads). According to the director in a 1953 interview, the aspect ratio was intended to be 1.75:1, although it was protected for almost every ratio, due to the ever-changing standards of flat widescreen at the time."

I can't say how accurate this passage is, but I thought it relevant to this discussion. Perhaps that the premeir engagement at Radio City Music Hall was not presented in 3-D (if that is true) lies at the root of the current belief that the film was only ever released flat.

Sorry... here's the correct imdb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0045963/trivia

When the Film Forum first screened this film in 3-D I believe they advertised it as being the first time this film was screened that way in NY. I guess they were wrong.

You "guess" they were wrong?!

That passage from IMDB is extremely accurate.

By the way, film fans in the New York area can see KISS ME KATE in the miracle of perfected Polaroid 3-Dimension. It's playing on Friday March 10 at the beautiful 1924 Lafayette Theatre in Suffern, New York. I've seen original dual-strip 3-D presented at dozens of venues over the past 25 years, and the presentation at the Lafayette is by far the best. Clear, bright and - most important of all for good 3-D - in sync AND in phase. There are no eyestrain or focus problems whatsoever. (Unlike the Film Forum which frequently presents 3-D out of phase, this will be a quality presentation.) Plus there will be some rare 3-D shorts as well, which will not be shown at any other theater on the East Coast.

If you've never seen real 3-D from the 1950's (and I'm not talking about those terrible re-issues in the red/blue anaglyph system) you owe it to yourself to catch this show. And it's in stereo sound as well!

Visit their website for all the details:
http://www.bigscreenclassics.com/indexlafayette.htm

Although I can't say for sure until I can get access to NYT microfilm, I suspect that the first 3-D engagment of "Kiss Me Kate" in New York's five boroughs was probably at Loew's Metropolitan in downtown Brooklyn. Most MGM releases moved to the Met after their Broadway/Times Square premiere engagement and prior to the Loew's neighborhood houses.

"Kiss Me Kate" DID have its first 3-D showing in the five boroughs at Loew's Metropolitan in downtown Brooklyn. I'll try to post further details at the Met's listings...The Valencia apparently closed some time between June 5th and June 10th, 1977, with "The Greatest" as the final attraction. The NYT weekend movie clock of June 3rd, 1977 listed performance times through June 5th. The Valencia was not listed in the NYT movie clock published the following weekend on June 10th. I suspect that the closing was influenced by the arrival of summer weather and a possibly faulty air-conditioning system.

I saw "Kiss Me Kate" at the Film Forum in 3D and I do not remember anything wrong with the presentation. In fact I never had eye-strain from any of the Film Forun's 3D shows. By the way I always felt the Film Forum saying that "Kiss Me Kate" was not screened in NY in 3D before they did it had to be inaccurate.

You may not have experienced eye strain, but just about every 3-D presentation I've seen at the Film Forum has been out of phase, which means the two shutters are slightly off register. This is different from being out of sync, which creates instant eye strain and headaches.

An out of phase 3-D image just doesn't look right and, once you've seen it, it can be very annoying. I've had the opportunity to see many 3-D shows presented perfectly, and going to the Film Forum can be very frustrating.

Bob Furmanek, I suggest you e-mail your complaint directly to Film Forum.

I don't need to PKoch. I was there and have told the staff and management on several occasions. They even brought me up to the booth when their operator didn't know how to frame the 3-D image into alignment. (They had started the show and it was way out of registration, resulting in severe eyestrain.) I pointed out the big black knob labeled "frame" on the projector, and explained to him that it is used to adjust the framing of the image. The professional projectionist didn't know that.

They seemed to feel that the mere fact they were presenting 3-D was good enough. To go the extra mile to do it right didn't seem to matter to them.

Bob Furmanek, was this Film Forum on Watts St. or where it is now on West Houston ? I didn't know you'd been in their face about this.

West Houston. I went up to the booth most recently to correct their screening of MAN IN THE DARK. You can call it "in their face" if you want, but I was trying to help them improve the quality of their presentation.

If you'd like to see just how good perfectly projected 3-D CAN look, I suggest you visit the Lafayette for KISS ME KATE tomorrow night. Plus, they'll be running some rare 3-D shorts that you certainly won't see at the Film Forum.

So, the bottom line is, the Film Forum folks wouldn't ley you turn the "frame" knob on the projector and correct the problem ? If so, I can imagine how frustrating that would be. I know you were trying to help them improve the quality of their presentation.

I'm sorry to read that Film Forum has apparently decreased in quality in moving from Watts St. to West Houston.

Where's the Lafayette ? I think my next venture into avant-garde cinema will be to the Sunshine on East Houston in a few weeks to see "Stoned", the British 2005 Brian Jones bio pic.

By "in their face", I meant, in person, not trying to imply anything negative.

Bob - thanks for the kind words regarding my shows at the Lafayette.

PKoch - the Lafayette Theatre is in Suffern, New York, about 45 minutes by car from Manhattan. You can get there by NJTransit train from Penn Station in about an hour.

Thanks, Peter Apruzzese. I was thinking Lafayette St. near where I work in lower Manhattan. I'm glad Suffern has a decent revival cinema as well.

I was a kid in the 70's and went here with my cousins to see 2 first run movies, don't remember the names but I was so impressed with the lobby and the theatre itself. I went several times before it was closed and then reopened as Tabernacle of Prayer church. I have been in the church and they left a lot of the ornate gold statutes in tack. It was/is the biggest single screen movie theatre I have ever been in.
When the J was still running as an elavated train you never new how big the building was unless you rode the train. The tracks blocked so much of it!
It is now on the NYC historical soceity list.
When you walk buy now, you almost dont realize the great hisory of the building and area of Jamacia Ave.

To get a good idea of the size of the building, go to the northwest corner of Jamaica Avenue and Merrick Blvd. and look north along the side of the building on Merrick to see how big it is !

Yes! the BIG ones come to LOEW'S! (1949):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/loewad.jpg

Thanks, Warren ! To quote Ed Sullivan, it looks like a "RILLY BIG SHEW !"(or is it SHOE ?)

By April 1964, the "Premiere Showcase" concept had caused the mighty Loew's circuit to splinter, with most of its theatres booked separately rather than collectively. The Paradise and Valencia, which had always played the same movies, now often didn't. The Valencia, which had always been exclusive first-run for Queens, was now sharing movies with other theatres in the borough. "Seven Days in May" ran simultaneously at Century's Prospect in Flushing and Interboro's compact Trylon in Forest Hills. Some of the other Loew's theatres had subsequent runs of movies that had opened elsewhere as "Showcases":
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/showcase64.jpg

Wow...what memories! At age 69, it seems as if it were only yesterday that I gazed at the gold fish in the pond in the lobby...the blinking stars...the moving clouds.

I didn't know this web-site existed...but when I received a dollar bill for change, it had the following words stamped on the back I googled "Valencia" and got the web-site.

1929 - LOEW'S - 1977
VALENCIA THEATRE
JAMAICA, NEW YORK


P.S. Did any of you attend P.S. 160 on Inwood Street in 1949?

HeMan... your mention of the stamped dollar bill intrigues me! I wonder if the management of the Valencia had all of their singles stamped thus in order to commemorate the end of its run in some small way. If so, you have a nice little piece of historical ephemera on your hands. I hope you stashed it away someplace safe!

EdSolero, thanks for your quick follow-up comments. I am going to try to track down "why" this dollar bill as stamped as it was and how many were so stamped. Wish me luck!

I may visit Taberncle of Prayer Church and give them the dollar bill...maybe framed.

HeMan

What series is the bill (I mean, is it a "1977" bill)?

No...it is 2003.

Oh, it's obviously not done in 1977 when the tehater closed then of course.

...then the question of "why" was it stamped in 2003 and by whom and for what reason? The mystery continues.

Strange. Maybe someone attended church services there in the "church" it has become, and put a bunch of dollars in the collection baskets marked like that....

Curiouser and curiouser...

Perhaps we should all put some bills into circulation with similar information about a favorite theatre and wait to see if any turn up among the membership.

HeMan,I did not attend PS 160 but during the peroid from 1947-1951 I played a many strike out stickball games and softball games in the school yard.That was also the home of the softball team called The Pinegroves. They had great softball pitcher named Sublocki. We use to go to Callajuris for sandwiches after the games.

I also played both stick-ball and softball and basketball in the same
school yard. I remember one Sunday the "older" guys [18 +] were playing a softball game and they needed a center fielder to fill in. I was about 12 or 13. If you remember, they could either play with a short left field with a very high fence with a house behind it OR play street to street with a victory garden in left field and a opening in the fence in left where you could go after a fly ball if it were hit over the fence. At any rate, two terrific shots were hit to center field and I gloved both of them over my head! A memory I will never forget.

English...one more item! My parents rented the house next door to the house/store that the Callajuries [sp?] owned.
One of my favorite buys in the store was taking 5 cents and picking our a pickle from the huge [4 ft. high] barrel full of pickles.
What school did you attend if not P.S. 160? Did you know of anyone who attended P.S. 160?
Were you there when the Pariettis [sp?] built a competing store right across the street?
I am 69, so our paths may have crossed.

HeMan, english, and others: Nothing is more interesting to us than ourselves, but these pages are about theatres and that is why people come here. May I suggest that off-topic Comments be made to each other privately via E-mail. If you click on a person's name in blue at the bottom of a Comment you will be taken to their Profile page where you will find a field labeled CONTACT INFO and here should appear their E-mail address if you click on it.

What? No information? That is because the person forgot to list his E-mail. That can quickly be corrected by clicking the little Link at the extreme right top of all pages where it says PROFILE. Clicking that takes one to his own Profile page where he can make updates such as posting his E-mail address there. Such a Contact field exists there as a kindly feature by Pat Crowley, one of the honchos of this site, to keep spam computers from 'harvesting' someone's E-mall address as might happen were it left plain within or at the bottom of the Comments. Won't you gentlemen avail yourselves of this fine provision and upodate your pages for the benefit of yourselves as well as others?

Sorry, Jim.

Oooooops. Got carried away as I was intriqued by stamped Valencia message on dollar bill.

HeMan NoMore

Heman,did you ever attend THE "PLAZA THEATER"? If so,how about some comments about it at its page at CINEMA TREASURES?

English...yes I did. What I remember most was [1] the bathroom was reached by a huge staircase at the back of the theatre. [2] There was a wide open space in front of the screen where there were no seats and one could lie down and look up at the movie. [3] The huge radiators at the side of the theatre for heat in winter.
It is now a church.
I also remember the smallest candy store right next to the PLAZA.

HeMan

p.s. Do you remember the MALBOUGH [Spelling?] on Sutphin Blvd. [near FOCH blvd.] between the PLAZA and Baisley Park?

Was this the line up along Jamaica Ave?

Valencia...across the street the RKO Alden...then the Merrick...then the Savoy...then the Jamaica...then the Hillside corner of Jamaica and Sutphin Blvd.

I remember, either at the Savoy or Jamaica, two feature films, serial, comedy movie, news...and live acts!

HeMan

P.S. Ran into two people this week...one at gym and one at garden supply business...they didn't know each other...but they said that they had their high school graduation exercises in the Valencia...last one was Jamaica high school [1956?]

The Jamaica Theatre was "higher up" Jamaica Avenue than the Savoy. The Jamaica was at Parsons Boulevard, the Savoy at least a block below that (opposite the historic mansion). The Hillside was (and still is) on Sutphin Boulevard, just north of Jamaica Avenue.

The actual line up on jamaica ave was "THE CARLTON" "VALENCIA" "ALDEN" "MERRICK" "JAMAICA"AND THE "SAVOY AND "THE HILLSIDE" ON SUPTHIN BLVD.To HeMan,yes i did go to the Malboe a few times and like you I called it the "Marlboro".But later found out the true name

What was once the Hillside is on the east side of Sutphin Boulevard,
just north of Jamaica Avenue, as Warren said, and is now administrative offices for the Long Island Railroad. The name comes from Hillside Avenue, a few blocks to the north from Jamaica Avenue.

The Hillside has its own page on this site, with links to images of it from the nycsubway.org fan site. I do not know if the other Jamaica theaters mentioned in the post above have their own pages on this site.

The historic mansion Warren refers to re : the Savoy, is the King Mansion, in King Park.

All of the old Jamaica theaters have pages at this site.

Thanks, english.

First neighborhood run on Wide-Vision Screen with Perspecta Stereophonic Sound (1954):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/widestereo.jpg

Warren, when did stereophonic sound begin in motion pictures ? It was mentioned explicitly ("in stereophonic sound") in a song in a musical film. You might recall which one.

Apparently, stereophonic sound began in motion pictures a few years before it became available on LP records.

I don't know when stereo sound officially began in movies, but there were experiments with it from the time "talkies" arrived. The most famous early use of it was probably with Disney's "Fantasia." The song you're thinking of might be Cole Porter's fabulous "Stereophonic Sound," which was introduced in 1955 in the Broadway stage musical, "Silk Stockings," and later performed in the movie version.

The "status" of the Valencia needs to be changed. It is "open" as a church, and visitors are always welcome during services.

Thanks, Warren, that's probably correct. I'll check it out on the IMDb.

"The first commercial motion picture to be exhibited with stereophonic sound was Walt Disney's Fantasia, released in November 1940, for which a specialized sound process, Fantasound, was developed. Fantasound used a separate film containing four optical sound tracks. Three of the tracks were audible, and the fourth track controlled the volume level of the theater's amplifiers. The film was not a financial success, however, and after two months of road-show exhibition in selected cities, its soundtrack was remixed into mono sound for general release".

"In April of 1953, most moviegoing audiences heard stereophonic sound for the first time with the Warner Bros. 3-D film production of House of Wax, starring Vincent Price. The sound system, WarnerPhonic, was a combination of a 35mm magnetic full-coat that contained L-C-R, in synchronization with the two, dual-strip polaroid system projectors, one of which carried an optical surround track, and one which carried a mono backup track should anything go wrong. Only one other film carried WarnerPhonic sound, the 3-D production of The Charge at Feather River. Both magnetic tracks to these films are considered lost.

Many 3-D films carried variations on 3-track magnetic sound. Other instances include It Came From Outer Space, I, The Jury, The Stranger Wore a Gun, Inferno, Kiss Me Kate, and many others.

By the summer of 1953, the movie industry moved quickly to create simpler and cheaper wide-screen systems, such as CinemaScope, which used up to four magnetic sound tracks, and which were capable of being retrofitted into existing theatres. Cole Porter memorialized the era in a 1954 song:

If Zanuck's latest picture were the good old-fashioned kind,
There'd be no one in front to look at Marilyn's behind.
If you want to hear applauding hands resound
You've gotta have glorious Technicolor,
Breathtaking Cinemascope and
Stereophonic sound".

Thank you so much, Lost Memory, for all this detailed information.

"House Of Wax" (the original) was a great film. My dad saw it when it first came out, and I saw it, also in color Polaroid 3-D, about 35 years later, at Film Forum in downtown NYC.

The mention of Marilyn [Monroe]'s behind in Cole Porter's song seems a bit forward for the times, seeing how we got to see a good deal more of her in that 1952 nude color calendar shot, the one where her left breast seems to be looking right at you, like an eye, and what wasn't seen in that, was fantasized about, when the subway breeze blew her skirt up around her in "The Seven Year Itch".

Cole Porter had a reputation for writing "daring" lyrics, so there was nothing a bit forward in "Stereophonic Sound." Porter composed it for the Broadway stage, which wasn't subject to the Hollywood Production Code. For MGM's movie version of "Silk Stockings," the lyrics were extensively re-written, and there was no mention of anyone's behind. In fact, Marilyn Monroe and Darryl Zanuck weren't even mentioned in the song, since they were connected with rival 20th Century-Fox. Such MGM stars as Lassie and Ava Gardner were thrown into the new lyrics, but with no rude implications.

Thanks, Warner, for mentioning that, specifically, that the Broadway stage wasn't subject to the Hollywood Production Code.

What code, if any, WAS the Broadway stage subject to ? I'm thinking specifically now of the arrest of the cast and crew of the Michael McClure play, "The Beard", in the late 1950's or early 1960's. Please elaborate and enlighten us, if you can.

Peter....I thought Fantasia would be the first motion picture with stereophonic sound but I wasn't aware that House of Wax was in stereo. I bought House of Wax on dVd. It includes another movie called The Mystery of the Wax Museum from 1933. House of Wax is based on that 1933 movie. The 1933 version stars Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray. The two movies are very similar but I enjoy the Vincent Price version more.

The original stereo tracks for HOUSE OF WAX are lost. All that survives of the original Warnerphonic sound is the mono surround channel.

It's good that they had that mono surround channel as backup.

It would have been nice to have that on my first stereo phonograph, when I'd start losing the right channel of sound because of my cartridge wearing out ....

Yeah, yeah, I know, spend $ 10.95 on a new cartridge !

I saw a screening of the 1939 "Wizard Of Oz" in Yonkers in November 1998 which purported to be stereo, but was mostly mono sound.

The mono surround channel in the Warnerphonic system consisted solely of surround sound effects.

PKoch--

The 1965 policing of Michael McClure’s “The Beard” took place in California, not NYC. The play depicts an encounter in the afterlife between Jean Harlow and BoxOfficeBill—oops, I mean Billy the Kid—and it includes profanity and a simulated sex act.
After the police closed down four performances at different venues in San Francisco and Berkeley and arrested cast members upon each of fourteen consecutive performances in LA, the ACLU successfully defended its right to be staged. The California legislature then introduced an anti-obscenity bill, but the proposal was quickly defeated. There’s an account of these events in the Preface to the play’s printed edition (San Francisco: City Lights, 1967).
On 24 Oct. ’67 the play opened uneventfully in NYC in an off-Broadway production at the Evergreen Theater on W 11 Street, directed by the estimable Rip Torn, and it won two Village Voice Obie Awards. Walter Kerr wrote that it was “a children’s play that children ought not to see,” or words to that effect. A London production was hailed by the mighty Kenneth Tynan as “a heterosexual milestone.”

Thanks, BoxOfficeBill. I'm reminded of Lenny Bruce's obscenity busts.

Are you a Beat historian, by any chance, either professional or amateur ? I'd be interested to know.

I recall Kenneth Tynan as either the author and / or producer or director of "Oh ! Calcutta !"

Tynan was one of many authors. John Lennon was another.

Samuel Beckett was yet another.

Here's a 1993 look at the marquee and facade of the former Valencia that I snapped on my old Canon EOS. I finally scanned the print (as well as a number of others I took that fall in Queens and on 42nd Street) and uploaded the image to my Photobucket account.

Tabernacle of Prayer

Thanks, EdSolero, interesting how the horizontal member of the cross sign seems to jut out of the "hole" in the upper center of that baroque facade.

I lived on Crescent St. in Brooklyn, right under the BMT Jamaica line. Most times I went to more local theatres like The Embassy, The Haven or The Earl but as reached driving age I went to The Valencia on dates. It was that kind of theatre, like nothing I had ever seen. I don't remember the exact date but the last movie I saw there was The Wild Bunch. There weren't 50 people in the theatre and I could feel the end was in sight. I was so happy to find this site and read all these wonderful stories and facts. Does anyone know when The Wild Bunch played ? RobbieDupree

I lived on Crescent St. in Brooklyn, right under the BMT Jamaica line. Most times I went to more local theatres like The Embassy, The Haven or The Earl but as reached driving age I went to The Valencia on dates. It was that kind of theatre, like nothing I had ever seen. I don't remember the exact date but the last movie I saw there was The Wild Bunch. There weren't 50 people in the theatre and I could feel the end was in sight. I was so happy to find this site and read all these wonderful stories and facts. Does anyone know when The Wild Bunch played ? RobbieDupree

Robbie... "The Wild Bunch" was released in June of 1969. Not sure how that film rolled out, but if you saw it on first run at the Valencia, it was probably sometime that Summer. The theater held on for another 8 years - though they surely were not the best of times for this magnificent show place.

thanks ed= that sounds right. i appreciate your placing it for me. robbie

Yes, I remember "The Wild Bunch" opening at the RKO Madison Theatre in Ridgewood, Queens ( # 4621 on this site) in June or July of 1969.

Many years ago I saw a film starring Martin Sheen titled The Believers. Some scenes were filmed in an abandoned movie house. I wonder if anyone knows which one ? It looked like it was in East New York or Bushwick but I could never pinpoint it...Robbie

It was here at the broadway
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/3987/

No, the scenes at the abandoned movie house were filmed at the RKO Bushwick. "Bway" on this site has ample proof and documentation.

Downtown Jamaica had at least three early (and small) cinemas that aren't listed here, but I don't have enough information to do it. One was called the Comedy and situated on the same corner of Jamaica Avenue & New York Boulevard as the later Merrick Theatre. Another was the Alhambra, in the same block of Jamaica Avenue as the current Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas. The Victory was a nickelodeon that opened soon after the Fox Jamaica and was right next door to it. The Comedy and Alhambra were conversions of commercial buildings from the 19th century. The Victory was built for films but was turned into an Italian restaurant after the 1920s openings of the Merrick and Rialto (later Savoy).

Thanks PKoch for the info on The Bushwick. I had a feeling that it was a broadway movie house...robbie

You're welcome, robbie dupree. My pleasure. Bway has many interesting things to say and show about the Broadway Theater, which once stood at the southwest corner of Bway and Myrtle Avenue, and which dates back to the late 19th century. I think there's a page on it on this site.

Thanks, Warren, for all the info on the early and small cinemas of downtown Jamaica.

An exclusive late in the game
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Bucktown.jpg

1975
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Abduction.jpg

In 1934, a new theatre was announced for downtown Jamaica, but never got built. It seems to have been a dumb idea, since the Depression was still hanging on and Jamaica already had more theatres than it probably needed. I believe that the ground site waa later used for a large Mays Department Store that helped to extend Jamaica's shopping precinct by several blocks when it opened in the late '50s or early '60s: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/jamaica1934.jpg

It seems from what you've written, Warren, that, in 1934, Jamaica needed a new store more than a new theatre.

The Valencia and other Loew's "Wonder Theatres" will be featured on the A&E cable/satellite station next Sunday (June 18th) during the "Breakfast With The Arts" program, which airs from 8-10AM (EDT).
I don't know if the "Wonder Theatres" tribute will take up the entire two hours or not, but it's best to set recording machines for that just in case.

Thanks for the heads-up, Warren!

The Valencia, for years hidden in shadows of the 168th St. station, was IMHO one of the classiest theaters in Queens, not just Jamaica. I started attending St. John's in '63, so this, the RKO Alden and the Hillside on Sutphin Blvd. (was there a Merrick Theater too?) were added to my list of movie haunts. Sadly, other than the earliest James Bond films with Sean Connery, I cannot remember too many other specific movies that I saw there.

What I do vividly recall are more atmospheric memories. For example, Cassius Clay a.k.a. Muhummad Ali connected with many a black movie-goer by having some of his fights shown at this theater on closed circuit TV, very much like today's Pay-Per-View. It was a bit out of my price range, so I never got to attend any of those.

Jamaica and other parts of Queens were changing ethnically and demographically, so the latter part of the '60s and the early '70s had a glut of the so-called "blaxploitation" films. In a way, this was good for black movie makers and chain theater operators, but white folks seemed to be out of their comfort zone with this. Sad, because there were a couple of real gems they missed, but maybe they caught up with later on TV or home video: "Foxy Brown" with Pam Grier and Richard Roundtree's/Gordon Parks' "Shaft" to name just two.

Jamaica Ave. doesn't look the same to me without the el, and I saw that the Valencia is now a gospel-type church. Praise da Lord! Amen!

Thanks for your input on the Valencia, BrooklynJim. Yes, there was also a Merrick Theatre, not far from the Alden. They, along with the Hillside, all have pages on this site.

There is plenty of material on this page about the Valencia as a church, The Tabernacle Of Prayer For All People.

I remember the "blaxploitation" films very well, including "Shaft" and "Foxy Brown" : "She's sweet brown sugar and spice, who'll put your ass on ice !" or some such slogan. Also William Marshall as "Blacula", 1969's "Change Of Mind", about a black-white brain transplant, starring Raymond St. Jacques and Susan Oliver, and November 1974's "Abby", the blaxploitation cash-in on "The Exorcist" :

"Abby doesn't need a man any more ... the Devil is her lover now !"

Dang, Peter, I never got to see "Blacula." Rats! Mebbe before I head for that big Box Office in the Sky...

Try looking for "Blacula" on DVD or VHS.

Jim, it's unfortunate that the Valencia is no longer a theater, however, at least the building survives. The church takes very good care of the building, and has actually renovated and restored the interior. There are photos linked far above on this page.
They have chosen extrememly garish and gaudy color schemes for the interior of the Valencia, however, at least it is being well maintained, as the alternative would have been a shame to see it rot like the RKO Keith's Flushing, or the Kings in Brooklyn, or worse, demolished.
Churches lend themselves well as an after theater use, as they need much of the same features a theater needs. Most of the time, they won't look all that different when you go into them after conversion to a church, as all the seats remain, the ornamentation, etc. The only thing absent is the screen replaced with an altar.

Or a pulpit. Sometimes the stage remains, or is refurbished, and is used for live singing (choir) or dance productions.

True, well the stage becomes the altar, just with the screen removed. At the Valencia, the Choir sings from the stage, at least that's what it looks like from the photos.

I passed by there today... One day I'll have to go in for a peak around and maybe enjoy the choir. And BrooklynJim, don't forget the sequel to "Blacula"... "Scream Blacula Scream" featuring the lovely Pam Grier as a modern day voodoo priestess!

Pam Grier was "Foxy Brown". And let's not forget Rosalind Cash in 1971's "The Omega Man".

The church has done a good job of repairing and maintaining the building, but I don't recall seeing anything that could be described as real "restoration" in the sense of returning it to its original condition. The color scheme has been drastically changed, a chandelier was hung from the center of what was intended as an atmospheric ceiling, the fountain/fishpond covered over, etcetera.

I agree Warren. Perhaps "restoration" was the wrong word. I guess I should have said "renovation", as of course the building is being very well maintained. The colors are pretty gaudy, but again, at least the paint protects the plaster, and it's just paint, who knows, one day, it could be "restored". And of course, as I mentioned somewhere else (I think in the Elmwood page), the church has to make the building suitable for their needs, and that of course means flooding the interior with a lot more light than was necessary as a movie theater. The atmospheric design may have worked for people entering the building and sitting, waiting for a movie or performance to begin, but that may not be apropriate or needed for people coming to religious service.
At least the building is being maintained. It's not ideal that it's interior has those really wild colors, the chandelier there, and not showing movies, but it's obviously a lot better than the alternative. In the meantime, the building is being cared for, and who knows, one day very very far in the future....... That's a lot more than so many other theaters can ever hope for which are lost forever.

I received some additional information on the TV program about the Loew's "Wonder Theatres" that will be shown next Sunday morning (June 18) on cable/satellite via the A&E Channel from 8-10AM (EDT). The coverage runs about 30 minutes in total, but is broken up into segments throughout the two-hour show entitled "Breakfast With the Arts." CT contributors Joe Masher, Orlando Lopes, and myself will be among those interviewed on the program, which was filmed just a few weeks ago at the various "Wonder Theatres."

I saw Tarzan the Ape Man at the Valencia in Jamaica in 1932. I was thirteen years old.

I don't know what thrilled me the most, the movie or that magical ceiling with its movable clouds and stars.

I have never had a theatrical experience to equal it.

WASU

Welcome, Wasu ! Thanks for posting your experience here. I have heard from others about how magical the Valencia Theatre was. We could very much use someone here of your age and experience. I hope you enjoy, and continue to contribute to, this site.

You might be of particular help to some of us younger members who are trying to probe and figure out the past, such as the Ridgewood Follies Theater, or the Gem or Embassy Theaters in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn.

As you are about my father's age, I would appreciate any help you may have to offer about the Bushwick, Bklyn theaters he remembers attending, such as the Decatur, the Monroe, and larger movie houses like the RKO Bushwick, Loews Gates, and the Colonial.

According to a report in the LI Press at the time, the very first person to purchase a ticket to the Valencia on opening day (January 12th, 1929) was Miss Helen Trascey of Ferndale Avenue, Jamaica. She had waited on line for hours. I wonder if she could still be living?

In 1942, the popularity of the new "Superman" cartoons caused the Loew's circuit to prominently mention them in advertising and publicity:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/clarkkent.jpg

She could, but it all depends on how old she was at the time. If she was a teenager, she could still be alive. Chances are slimer and slimer that she's still alive if she was any older than a teenager.

In May, 1947, the Valencia lost its exlusive status for Queens for one week during the city-wide saturation of Selznick's "Duel in the Sun." The movie was show simultaneously in Queens at Loew's Triboro, Prospect, Plaza, and Woodside. The two remaining Loew's theatres in Queens, the Hillside and Willard, were considered too close to the Valencia, and would not get "Duel" until after it finished at the Valencia:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/duelsun47.jpg

This portion of a Loew's circuit ad from March, 1941, shows the first presentation of "GWTW" at popular prices. This was just over a year after the same theatres ran "GWTW" at roadshow prices. If I recall correctly, evening performances were then $1.25:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/gwtw41.jpg

"South Pacific" enjoyed a re-release at the two big Loew's houses in Queens, late spring of '64:

Showcase Presentation - LI Star Journal 5/18/64

This "Showcase Presentation" also included bookings into a number of Century's Theaters, according to another ad elsewhere in that paper.

An August 1932 ad for one of the first city-wide "saturation" engagements, in this case with four of the eight theatres also presenting vaudeville. The Columbia release was a B&W documentary narrated by radio's revered Lowell Thomas:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/8Loews.jpg

Interesting that the Valencia part of the ad, under "Vaudeville", mentions Borrah Minevitch, with, presumably, his "Harmonica Rascals".

Lets see.....In seven hours "Warren" posted eight comments. Four theater ads, two normal? comments and two Troll comments. That is a new record. The old record was eight comments in eight hours set by a one armed Chimpanzee. Talk about wasting resources. What a bandwith hog.

GWHIZ (aka Lost Memory), you must have made at least as many postings as I did yesteday, and probably more through your assorted pseudonyms. I don't recall even one of those posts that contributed information to this website.

Who is GWHIZ? That sounds like a real lame name to me. Are you losing your marbles again? My comments took less than ten minutes. I guess when your mind is slow and feeble like yours it takes alot longer to post comments. My comments contributed major information to this website. I am alerting the other members to the fact that Archie Bunker is running loose on this website disguised as "Warren". I almost forgot Archie, the one armed Chimpanzee claims that he can beat you in a comment contest. The only reason that he lost last time was, he was holding a banana with his only hand and was typing with his feet. How about a rematch? :P

I bet $10 on the monkey. haha

It's hard to be neutral, mikemovies, when your last comment cracks me up like this! ROFLMFAO!

First Run at COOL Loews Near Your Home
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/HellisForHeros.jpg

WARNING! Joan Crawford & Dorothy Kilgallen are on the loose!
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/warning.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/warning2.jpg

Cool ! I guess the severed head is smaller than a breadbox !

That breadbox must've had wings to transport those ladies from the Kings to the Valencia between 9:30 and 10:30 pm. The interview couldn't have lasted more than fifteen or twenty minutes, no? The mad dash would have made them grateful for Stopette Deodorant, yes?

Possibly. The reference was to Dorothy Kilgallen's famous question on "What's My Line ?" : "Is it bigger than a breadbox ?"

Stopette, Sure, Mitchum, Right Guard ...

Or, they could have had their underarm sweat glands excised.

Or maybe they flew on their brooms ...

Stopette served as the original sponsor of that show, no? It always seemed difficult to imagine Ms Kilgallen applying it to hereself. Arlene Francis, o.k., and Bennett Cerf, sure; John Daly, definitely. But Dorothy?

It's a bit before my time to remember that show's original sponsor.

Dorothy Kilgallen had no armpits ?

What about Tom Posten ?

The question "Is is bigger than a breadbox?" was first posed by Steve Allen, not Miss Kilgallen. Over the years, it became a running gag on "What's My Line?". Back on topic, I am going to make my first visit to the Valencia in a couple of weeks. I can't wait.

Thank you, DavidM.

A classic Loew's circuit ad from the World War II era:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/loews43.jpg

These ads have a certain aesthetic as well as a set routine. The style of the vertical ellipse on the right side with the stand-out faces has been copied in Metro-North RR posters for the current TV show, "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia".

Curiously, in 1930, the Valencia (as well as the Paradise in the Bronx) played "Billy the Kid" and "The Big Trail" in consecutive weeks. Although both movies were filmed in 70mm, nothing in the advertising suggested that the Valencia or Paradise used wide-screen projection. But since both theatres were equipped with magnascope, it's possible that they used it for certain scenes in the two movies: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valtrail.jpg

Is anyone not getting the "someone replied to" emails again from cinematreasures? I figured something was wrong since I haven't gotten one of those comments since the 8th, and sure enough, my suspicions were correct, it couldn't be just that no one was commenting about anything....
Anyone else having this problem again?

I think that the check marks on notification tend to expire if you have not posted a comment there recently.

But the strange thing is, it stops coming from ALL theaters when the problem comes up. I didn't get one email from the site since Sept 8th Even theaters I posted in about a week ago. I figured it was just "slow", but then I randomly checked ones I constantly get emails from, and sure enough, the Keiths, Valencia, Ridgewood all had recent comments, but I didn't get the emails.
This didn't happen to everyone even back in June when it happened to me the first time.

I posted in 5 theaters yesterday, and am getting the emails again from the ones I just posted in yesterday, like the Valencia, etc, but not all the others. Strange.
I don't feel like commenting in every theater I want email updates from again like I did back in June, the last time it happened, but I guess I'll have to slowly do it over time.
I wish there was a way to turn on theaters again without commenting, like a "watch this theater" box or something.

I,also have not received any e-mails

can anyone explain to me why there are no postings on the Embassy, Willard anymre ? robbie

Probably because members were cautioned to stop using those listings for off-topic discussions.

What a shame. Aside from a few off color remarks, I found the exchange of memories quite entertaining. Oh well -robbie

Seventy-three years later, these stage headliners are still celebrated, but the movies quickly faded into obscurity:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/loparade.jpg

Cool ad fella. You posted the exact same comment in four theatres. haha

"mikemovies," your sole contributions to Cinema Treasures seem to be attacks on me, and I would advise you to cease immediately, "haha." That ad concerns four theatres, each of which had a different stage attraction. If I had displayed it only here, people interested in the other three theatres might have missed it.

Can we PLEASE stop this petty crap anytime someone on either side of this war of you guys posts something?
It's getting tiring seeing this petty crap in every theater listing.

It is not an attack fella. I am pointing out the obvious as you have done to many others. Perhaps you should follow your own advice instead of trying to advise other people. Why is it that you question my contributions but say nothing to the many deadbeats that come here and post no comments.

Season's Greetings to all from Loew's Valencia. As a special treat on Christmas Day, Dick Tracy will appear in person on stage at 3:00 PM:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/christval.jpg

Thanks, Warren. What year is this from ?

P.S. The Christmas ad is from 1939.

Thanks.

Was the actor Ralph Byrd appearing in person as his on-screen persona, or just some square-jawed schnook in a yellow trench coat and fedora?

Ralph Byrd.

I seriously doubt that Ralph Byrd portrayed "Dick Tracy" on stage at the Valencia on 12/25/39. If it had been, his name would have been mentioned in the ad. He was quite well-known at the time. It might have been one of the Valencia's own employees, such as a manager or usher, or a novice actor hired for $5 or whatever. It was only one appearance, at three in the afternoon, and the audience was likely to be mostly kids who wouldn't recognize the difference.

He lives, talks, walks, and is only three inches tall!:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valkarma.jpg

This is pretty cool:

http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Qns/html/ValenciaTheatre.html

Happy New Year to all!:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valnye.jpg

The "status" in the introduction needs to be changed. The Valencia is very much open as a church, and can be visited whenever services are being held.

The Big One opened here initially in April, 1940, and returned at least five times in later years:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/val4001.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/val4002.jpg

This photo from 1941 shows that the movies "Our Wife" starring Melvyn Douglas, Ruth Hussey and Ellen Drew was playing on a double bill with "Texas," which starred William Holden, Claire Trevor and Glenn Ford.

This photo is from the NYC Municipal Archives. Between 1939 and 1941, for tax purposes, the City of New York took photos of every standing building.

Please keep an eye open for other photos from this collection in other comments of mine.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o91/youngnyer1/LoewsValencia.jpg

Thanks, youngnyer1. I'd like to see more photos from those NYC archives myself.

My late mom took my sister and me to see THE TEN COMMANDMENTS at The Valencia. Early early 70s. Shortly after it was sold and became Tabernacle of Prayer, I was documenting the soon to be demolished station at 168 on the BMT and got this shot.
Not bad for a cheap hand me down camera.
http://enwhycee.fotopic.net/p28148003.html

Thanks, balloonhedz. There are several similar photos on

www.nycsubway.org

Yes, thanks Peter! Quite a few...actually here's a more direct link:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/stations?192:86

Cecil B. DeMille's second version of "The Ten Commandments" first reached Loew's Valencia in 1958, though it played some return engagements after that.

In December, 1932, the Valencia presented an entire circus on stage, including elephants, horses with bareback riders, aerialists, tightrope walkers, and clowns. Ringmaster Fred Bradna was on winter vacation from the Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey Circus...While Loew's definitely did lead Queens, it did not advertise all its theatres in the Long Island Press, which had most of its circulation in Jamaica and surrounding areas of Queens. Missing from this ad are Loew's Triboro and Loew's Astoria in Astoria, Loew's Woodside, Loew's Plaza in Corona, and Loew's Prospect in Flushing. You could find those Loew's theatres (but not the Valencia, Hillside and Willard) advertised in the LI Star-Journal, which covered western Queens:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valcircus.jpg

Thanks, Bway ! A pleasant reminder of when I used to "live" on nycsubway.org !

Thanks, Warren, for the anecdotes, and for the link to the newspaper ad.

Further to my posting above of 6/17/06, here is a photo of the young woman who purchased the first ticket to Loew's Valencia on opening day in 1929. Note the long cloak worn by the Valenica "barker" who directed traffic at the boxoffice. Here also is a photo of some of the Chester Hale Girls who performed in the Valencia's first stage show:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valenciafirst.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valgirls.jpg

Thanks, Warren. Here's to cloche hats and flapper girls with bare legs !

FOR THE TOPS IN 3-D COLOR SHOWS-- GO LOEW'S! (August, 1953):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/goloews.jpg

I love this 1935 ad, with Bing Crosby starring on screen and Bob Hope topping the stage show. Crosby's leading lady was the recently deceased Kitty Carlisle. Hope later married his stage partner, Dolores Reade, who still survives him:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bingbob.jpg

The Valencia ended its original film/stage policy on September 5th, 1935, with a powerful vaudeville program of famous headliners of the time. Since opening in January, 1929, the Valencia's stage bills had numbered nearly 350, with a program change every week. About half were revues that originated at the Capitol Theatre, the rest vaudeville bills. Here's an ad for the final booking:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valfinal.jpg
On September 6th, the Valencia switched to its new "All The Show on the Screen Policy." The main benefit to the public was that ticket prices dropped by ten cents, a major saving in those Depression days:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valfirst.jpg

I have a wonderful memory of seeing a return engagement of SAMSON AND DELILAH starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature at the beautiful Valencia Theatre. It was 1960 and I met my friend Ray Pistone in front of the theatre for a matinee and there was a line outside! I was 12 years old and it was the first time I was allowed to travel from my Cypress Hills neighborhood to Jamaica, Queens alone on the el train. I felt very grown up and the movie was stupendous. The grandiose theatre matched the Cecil B. DeMille movie in every aspect and I think it hurt movie going for me for many years thereafter because I wanted every movie going experience to be like that! Big movie - big theatre! I feel so sorry for younger generations who have no idea what an experience it used to be to go to the movies!

Thank you, Jack Tomai, for posting this important movie memory of yours.

I have a friend at work about your age who went to the Valencia as a boy of twelve, as you did. He thought the beautiful blue ceiling, with its clouds and few twilight stars, was really the sky !

In contrast to THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, SAMSON AND DELILAH seemed to have been filmed on indoor sound stages, judging from the quality of the sound. Did you notioe that then ?

I know what you mean about younger generations having no idea of what a wonderful experience going to the movies used to be. As Jay Leno once so aptly put it, today's cinemas don't look like movie theaters any more : they're concrete bunkers at the end of the shopping mall !

I'm so glad I discovered this website! As an avid movie fan my whole life, it's wonderful to chat with others who are as passionate about films and theatres as I am. My wife and I go to the movies often but we are so sick of the boxlike multiplexes. Leno is SO right! We are always reminiscing about the old classic theatres. So I guess that makes us old fogies. But to see a film in a Valencia or Madison or even the Embassy was wonderful. Even if the picture stunk, at least the theatre was pretty to look at.
Re SAMSON AND DELILAH - I honestly don't remember the quality of the picture or the sound. I was just so happy to be allowed to go by myself that I would have been thrilled just to watch newsreels all afternoon!
It's amazing how so many of us who grew up in the 50s & 60s were so incredibly influenced by moviegoing. Not just movies - but moviegoing. Going out to the movies was a treat. It was very often a family event. I recall seeing BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI with my parents and aunts and uncles and cousins in Patchogue, Long Island in 1957, I believe, and when it was over, we all marched out of the Patchogue theatre whistling the Colonel Bogie March. I remember a bunch of us going to see REAR WINDOW at the Embassy (1956?)and my grandmother yelling at Grace Kelly to get out of the murderer's apt. cause she could see him (Raymond Burr) coming up the stairs. I'll never forget seeing DAMN YANKEES (1958) at the RKO Keiths and my parents and I singing "Ya Gotta Have Heart" on the way to our 55 Chevy Bel Air. But I guess each generation has its own memories of movie going. I'm just happy that I got mine from magnificent theatres rather than Ipods or cell phones.

I know what you mean, Jack Tomai. My parents owned a '67 Chevy Biscayne, my uncle, a '64 Impala. I'm glad you're ON this website.

Perhaps you and your wife would enjoy a trip to Loew's Jersey or Paradise, to relive those cherished experiences of moviegoing.

I know what you mean. Even if the movie was lousy, at least the theater was pretty to look at, and it was an afternoon or a night out.

Re : your "Rear Window" experience : early January 2006 I saw the new "King Kong" at our local multiplex (Greenburgh NY) with my wife, son and then-86 yr old father, and my dad kept waving at the screem for Naomi Watts (Ann Darrow) to get down to safety from atop the Empire State Building.

Yes, magnificent theaters, real show biz architecture and interior designs, rather than ipods and cell phones, though all technology has its place.

I will ask my friend at lunch today what movies he saw at the Valencia.

As promised, my work friend's movie-going experience at Loew's Valencia :

"The Ten Commandments", with his father, late 1950's.

"The Bridge Over The River Kwai", with Uncle Jerry, probably also cousin Robert and Aunt Bernice, 1957

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (James Stewart and John Wayne), probably 1964.

"Fantastic Voyage", 1966.

"To Sir With Love", 1967, with friend, Tom Krauss.

Is everybody sure this movie theater stopped showing movies in 1977? I distinctly remember seeing a cheap martial arts movie at this theater in either the late 70's or very early 80's. But maybe I have the wrong movie theater in Jamaica? The movie house was Spanish mission style (I guess) and had dark clouds that moved across the ceiling. The ceiling itself mimicked an early evening sky (at dusk). I remember that on either side of the screen as well as on the right and left hand side of the auditorium, you were surrounded by these faux Spanish stucco walls (like the walls of a Spanish missionary). Can anybody verify that this was the Valencia or was it another Spanish Mission styled theater in Jamaica?

Isn't 1977 considered "the late 70s?" The Valencia definitely closed forever as a cinema in 1977. It was the only "atmospheric" theatre in Jamaica, and one of only four in the borough of Queens. The others were the Queensboro/Elmwood in Elmhurst, RKO Keith's Flushing, and Loew's Triboro in Astoria.

Thanks, Warren. I didn't know that those other Queens theaters were "atmospheric", that is, that their ceilings mimicked the evening sky.

No, Queens Logic, I don't think that Jamaica movie theater you remember was any other than the Valencia.

BTW, are you the Queens cousin of Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic ?

From Slougham Road to Sutphin Blvd., perhaps ?

It "has" to be 1977, as the Jamaica Ave el was closed on September 11th, 1977, and there are photos at nycsubway.org using the 168th St Station, which was right at the Valencia, and there is already a "Tabernacle of Prayer" cross on the Valencia.

See here for one example:

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24041

Thanks, Bway. Was the closing date at 168th Street September 11th or October 10th, 1977 ? I think I just saw the latter date on nycsubway.org.

The last day of normal operation on the Jamaica El was Sept 11, 1977. However, they did hold fantrips for the last time on both Sept 11th, 1977 (which was the last day for normal service), and Sept 12, 1977 ran a fantrip, which was the last day a passenger train traversed it....

Thanks, Bway.

Curiously, Jamaica suffered three traumatic events in 1977. In addition to the Valencia's closing and the termination of elevated subway service, the Long Island Press, which had its offices in Jamaica for decades, ceased publication forever with its issue of March 25, 1977. Several hundred people lost their jobs, and Queens was deprived of its last daily newspaper. The Press's final "Movie Timetable" shows only two theatres operating in Jamaica, Loew's Valencia with a double feature of "Poor White Trash II" and "The Hitchhikers," and the RKO Alden with a triple feature of "J.D.'s Revenge," "Cornbread, Earl, and Me," and "Cooley High."

Thank you, Warren, for this information about the demise of the Long Island Press, and its final movie timetable.

I remember "Cooley High" being on TV in April 1977.

There were also two huge furniture stores in Jamaica, Saks New York (not to be confused with high end Sak's Fifth Avenue and a store I think was called Kurtz (and no I'm not confusing it with Gertz Department Store) :-) By the way, I just remembered Gertz's tag line....."Where Long Island Shops"!

As much as I loved the Valencia, I do remember thinking twice about going due to the decline of the area in the 70's. Though Jamaica never declined to the levels of other inner city neighborhoods in the city it was definitely pretty bad for Queens. I'm happy to see that there has been a lot of improvement over the last few years. There is a lot more on the drawing boards. I wish them luck!

You and me both, LuisV.

I don't remember the Kurtz store offhand.

"Cooley High" was released in 1975.

You might find this interesting.

The furniture store was called Sach's Quality, and part of a chain that covered at least Greater New York, if not elsewhere. Kurtz was a similar chain...I find it rather depressing that by 1977, the Valenica was reduced to playing movies like "Poor White Trash II." And it wasn't even exclusive first-run for Queens as in the days before "Premiere Showcase." The same double bill was playing simultaneously on one of the three screens at RKO Keith's Flushing and at the rundown UA Casino in Richmond Hill.

I do, very much, Lost Memory. Thanks for posting it.

I just sent the link to three friends via e-mail.

So Jamaica, as well as John Jacob Astor's fortunes, owes its existence to beaver pelts.

Somewhat related to the coneys, or rock badgers, of Coney Island, I would think.

I won't belabor the double entendre of "beaver hunt".

I won't do any beaver jokes. :)

According to this story in the NY Times, Gertz closed in 1980.

Thanks, Lost Memory.

Thanks Lost Memory for that Jamaica link! Great info. Where was the Gimbels store? I know where Montgomery Wards, Macy's and Mays were, but not Gimbels. I think I also remember WT Grants which I'm pretty sure was a department store that went bankrupt in the 70's. Robert Hall (a large mens wear store) was also in Jamaica before also going bankrupt. It's little wonder the Valencia was not able to hold on with everything falling apart around it.

I don't recall a Gimbel's store in Jamaica. W.T. Grant's was near Woolworth's, and on the same side of Jamaica Avenue. When I worked at Loew's Valencia, if one of the goldfish in the reflecting pool suddenly died, we would rush to Grant's or Woolworth's to buy a replacement. Unfortunately, the store-bought fish never survived very long. They were much smaller and more delicate than the ones that came from Forest Park. There were a couple of kids that trapped them in buckets and sometimes brought them to the Valencia in exchange for free passes. Those fish also had a tendency to eat the smaller ones from the variety stores.

Warren, thanks for the goldfish stories! The Valenica was the only theater I ever went to that had goldfish in their fountain. I remember it so clearly. My junior high school graduation was held at The Valencia in June of 1973. Warren, were you tending the fish then?

On another note, I don't remember there being a Gimbels either. I think that might have been mentioned in that article in error.

No, PKoch, I am definitely not related to Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic, but Sutphin Blvd is familiar to me, having grown up in the Richmond Hill/Jamaica border. I saw the martial arts movie at the Valencia when it was in full throttle decline, for sure. If it closed for good in 1977, then it must have been 1977 that I saw the movie at Valencia. I don't remember the goldfish reflecting pool, but I do remember torn theater seats, a somewhat dangerous element in the audience, and the distinct smell of maryjane (no offense to anybody who's into that stuff, but I'm not.) I only remember one line from the movie -- some Australian martial arts character had just killed off another character by throwing a round, metal serrated disc at his head. And then he said in a thick Australian accent, "Thank God for Black & Decker." For some reason my friends thought this was the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard and they said this sentence for weeks and weeks afterwards. The rest of the movie was forgettable but the experience stuck in my mind because I had never been inside such a gorgeous, "atmospheric" movie theater, and probably never will be again, unfortunately, now that we have these boxy multiplexes with screens smaller than a TV dinner. I really feel cheated that other than that one time, I didn't experience a real movie palace, along with ice cream/soda fountain places, unless you consider Jahn's Ice Cream Parlor in Queens, but that was already commercialized, not like the fanciful, castle-like ice cream parlors of old that used to exist (as described by my mother in law).

No, I only worked at the Valencia from 1953-57, while attending college. After that, I used to return several times a year to visit friends who still worked there. But by the early 1960s, most of them had died or retired, so I never went back and, thankfully, didn't get to see the decline that started with the introduction of mass distribution and the social-economic problems in downtown Jamaica.

Does anyone recall a Nedick's tucked into the corner of Jamaica Ave. directly next door to the Valencia? I remember my Dad stopping there with me for a hot dog and orange drink before or after we would see a movie at the Valencia. I'm talking late 50s/early 60s.
By the way, I remember Gertz clearly as my future sister-in-law used to work there as a waitress in their coffee shop. Does anyone remember when department stores used to have their own restaurants? Speaking of coffee shops, does anyone remember Louie's Coffee Shop on, I believe 164th St off Jamaica Ave? I went to Delehanty High School in the 60s and our crowd always hung out at Louie's before class, at lunchtime and after school every day. Paula was the waitress back then - red bee-hive hairdo and a great gal.

I don't recall a Nedick's in the same block as the Valencia. I do remember a Jewish-owned eatery called Junior's (no relation to the famous restaurant in downtown Brooklyn), which was on the corner of Jamaica Avenue & 165th Street, a few doors west of the Valencia. They had terrific kosher-style hot dogs and knishes...I recall a Louie's Restaurant (or possibly Louis's) on the east side of Merrick Road, just south of Jamaica Avenue. The menu was Italian, but I don't think it included pizza. The managers of the Valencia and Alden used to go there because it was so close to both theatres...Next to the Merrick Theatre was a very popular luncheonette/ice cream parlor called Teddy's. But my favorite eating spot on Jamaica Avenue was the Concord Cafeteria (SE corner with 161st Street, I think), which did all its own baking and had wonderful breads, rolls, and pastries.

Warren, thank you so much for your post...I have been racking my brains for years trying to think of the name of Teddy's and not one person I mentioned it to could remember the place!!! What a relief to finally hear it! So often we would go there for a burger after a movie. And you are probably right about Junior's. I remembered their great hot dogs and just assumed it was Nedick's. Unfortunately,I don't recall the Concord Cafeteria. Was it on the same side of Jamaica Avenue as the Alden?
Anyway, thanks so much for the Teddy's reference.

Thanks, Warren and Jack Tomai.

I remember A & S in downtown Brooklyn on Fulton Street having a small, squarish, plain, inexpensive cafeteria in its basement, with yellowish walls, where I remember having a breaded veal patty with tomato sauce when I was eleven, in 1966, and a fancy restaurant on its fourth floor, where I had shrimp creole, which at the time (1962 or 63 when I was seven) tasted like heaven on a plate !

I remember a Chock Full O' Nuts on Jamaica Avenue (north side, I think)under the end of the el, the 168th Street station, from spring 1968, when I went there with my dad.

The Concord Cafeteria was on the south side of Jamaica Avenue, a block east of Parsons Boulevard, so it was between the Merrick Theatre and the Jamaica Theatre. I don't think that the Corncord opened until the late 1940's or early 50's, and I doubt that it survived past the mid 60's. The corner site still exists, but I don't know what it's currently being used for. The interior was gutted years ago...If I recall correctly, the Concord had siblings in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and in Miami, Florida, but I can't swear that's true...Another popular eating spot in Jamaica that deserves mention is the Woolworth's opposite the Merrick Theatre. The variety store had a huge dining section with counter service from breakfast to closing time. There was also a separate island in the center of Woolworth's where they sold only "The Drink You Eat With a Spoon," which was frozen custard served in a tall glass. It came only in vanilla flavor, but you could have some chocolate or strawberry syrup drizzled into it at no extra charge.

"It came only in vanilla flavor, but you could have some chocolate or strawberry syrup drizzled into it at no extra charge."

Thanks, Warren. That reminds me of "For Two Cents Plain" by Harry Golden, about getting a flavored soda for the two cent price of a plain seltzer.

I realize that is site is for movies only. But, I met a dude, who also went to the Valencia, who stated that during WWII there were anti-aircraft weapons in Baisley Park, Queens...intersection of Rockaway Blvd. and Sutphin Blvd.

Can anyone confirm this? Thanks. [Sorry for the interruption].

HeMan

I know Baisley Pond Park, HeMan, but know nothing of the anti-aircraft weapons there. Makes sense, though.

PKoch...oh man - you just brought back some great memories when you mentioned the A&S dept store in Bklyn. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to take me there all the time. She would go shopping and deposit me on the 8th floor of A&S which was the record, book and games dept. My favorite floor! They used to have a great selection of movie soundtracks. After shopping, my grandmother and I would go to one of the restaurants for a bite to eat. Very often we would then go to see a movie at one of the fantastic movie theatres in that area: Loew's Metropolitan, RKO Albee, Bklyn Paramount, the Fox. We saw BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S at the Paramount (also as a teenager I saw a number of rock n roll shows there and at the Fox although I never told my parents cause it was thought to be dangerous to go to r n r shows at that time. Murray the K or Alan Freed hosted)and THE SEVEN LITTLE FOYS at the Albee and a double feature of THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED and I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE at the Met. I could go on and on but I won't bore you. However if you remember A&S you must remember these incredible movie palaces downtown Brooklyn.

Can someone help me with photobucket? Every time I copy I can't get in. If someone can give me a step by step procedure would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I use Photobucket, but don't understand what you mean by "Every time I copy I can't get in." If you contact me privately, I might be able to help: Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com

Jack Tomai, I'm glad I brought back some great memories of yours when I mentioned A & S in downtown Bklyn. Please go on with your movie memories. You won't bore me at all. I used to like the drum set at A & S in downtown Bklyn. One of my aunts, who was like a second mother to me, used to work there in the 1960's.

I know about those downtown Bklyn movie palaces, but never saw a film there until a year and a day ago : Saturday, July 15, 2006, when I saw the original "Psycho" at the BAM Rose Cinema. Great !

My dad is more familiar with the downtown Bklyn movie palaces than I, having seen burlesque and Eddie Cantor at Loew's Metropolitan.

What rock n roll performers did you see at the Bklyn Paramount, and in what way were rock n roll shows thought to be dangerous back then ? I can guess, but would like to read your own answer, in your own words.

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones used to collect posters from the Deep South that were heavy against black music :

DON'T LET YOUR KID BUY NEGRO RECORDS ! SAVAGE STUFF ! IT WILL TWIST THEIR MINDS !

Little did they know ...

Cue opening riff of "Johnny B. Goode" and the rest is history.

THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED and I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE are classic 50's B movies right up my alley, though I've mostly seen them many years after their original release at Film Forum and Thalia Soho and Cinema Village in lower Manhattan.

PKoch: Thanks for asking about the Rock n Roll shows at the old Bklyn Paramount. You asked why I said they were thought to be dangerous...well, I think primarily because it was a mix of ethnicities attending the shows. Also because there was occasionally the smell of pot in the air. I was only 11 thru 14 yrs old when I went to these shows with my older cousins so I really didn't know what was going on. I just remember seeing some of my favorite record stars of the 50s and 60s performing. Alan Freed and Murray "the K" were usually the mc's of these shows and some of the acts I remember seeing were The Shirrelles (a girl group famous prior to the
Supremes), Freddy Cannon ("Palisades Park"), the Angels ("My Boyfriend's Back") Johnny Tillotson ("Poetry in Motion), Gene Chandler ("The Duke of Earl") among others. These shows were very cheap affairs with very little production values. Many of the acts actually lip-synched their records. But I recall them fondly as being very high-energy and exciting at the time. There was usually lots of dancing in the aisles and there was also visual police presence (which really added to the excitement of the show for a 13 year old kid!). I personally never encountered any trouble at these shows although my older cousin was involved in a skirmish at one of them later on.
Oftentimes, you could also see a movie before or after one of these shows. I remember seeing the terrific CURSE OF THE DEMON with Dana Andrews (which has since become something of a cinema classic)at the Bklyn Fox in addition to the Rock and Roll show. I think I was about 11 or 12 at the time and still remember it as a great event! A scary movie and rock and roll all together!
As I think back about these rock n roll shows, I seem to remember that Loew's Valencia might have hosted a few rock n roll shows back then. Does anyone out there remember this?

Thanks for your answer, Jack Tomai. You mention rock n roll shows were thought to be dangerous because of their mix of ethnicities. You mean black and white ? White kids digging black music ? I ask, because the Rolling Stones classic "Brown Sugar" is about inter-racial sex, and ironically uses a black man's music (Chuck Berry's) to sing an ode to white racism.

Ah yes ... pot and the police adding to the excitement ! Who wants to see safe, legal Pat Boone, or Wayne Newton ?

"Yeah, we'll have a party, but we gotta post a guard outside !"

- Eddie Cochran

"And when da police knocked, those doors flew back ! But they kept on rockin', goin' round and round ...."

- Chuck Berry, "Around and Around"

Yeah, a scary movie and rock 'n roll : two quick bops to the nerves that feel good. Just like orgasm.

I saw CURSE OF THE DEMON at Film Forum, sometime from summer 1987 through 1989. I knew about it as a kid from "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" magazine.

Don't know about rock 'n roll at the Valencia.

Oh boy, PKoch, there ya go reminding me of something else from back in the day...FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND! I was addicted to that magazine. Wasn't Forrest J.Ackerman the editor? Loved that magazine...couldn't wait to buy it the minute it appeared each month in the local candy store! It think it cost 35 cents?
Re: rock n roll show dangers: I think it was more of a parent's concern of large groups of teenagers, no matter what their race, congregating in a large venue embracing rock and roll and letting off all that steam together.

Yes, Jack Tomai, Forrest J.Ackerman was indeed the editor of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine, also of MONSTER WORLD. I used to get them inside that little hole-in-the-wall news stand which is still there at the northern corner of Wyckoff and Palmetto under the el.
Yes, I think it cost 35 cents.

I wonder how many parents told their teenage daughters not to go to rock n roll shows because they could get pregnant at them ?

Could we please restrict this listing to discussions of Loew's Valencia before it becomes as long and over-stuffed with off-topic chat as the ones for the Ridgewood and Madison Theatres? Many thanks!

OK, we'll move the rock n roll chat to the page for the Brooklyn Paramount, and the Wyckoff and Palmetto news stand talk to the Parthenon Theater page.

In June, 1928, while Keith-Albee-Orpheum was in the midst of building a new theatre in Flushing, Queens, the circuit announced plans for an even larger one, seating 3,800, in Jamaica. No further details were given, but in August, 1929, successor company Radio- Keith-Orpheum canceled the project and sold the ground site, which turned out to be on the north side of Jamaica Avenue between 168th and 169th Streets, according to report in The New York Times at the time. The property had a frontage of 324 feet on Jamaica Avenue, and ran back through the block 284 feet to 91st Avenue. RKO's decision proved a wise one when Wall Street "crashed" only months later and a decade of Depression began.

Thanks, Warren. Do you have any data on how the Depression affected Loew's Valencia, and the other four "wonder" theaters, in their first few years ?

The Depression did not really hurt cinema attendance that much. More than ever, people needed entertainment, and movies were the cheapest form available except for home radio. Of course, to keep admission prices affordable, theatres had to cut their operating expenses, which spelled the end to vaudeville and stage shows in most cases.

Thanks, Warren. Your answer makes sense.

My mother said this was the most beautiful theater she's ever been to,the second is The RKO Madison.

Thanks, Panzer65.

My first visit to Lowe's Valencia Theater Was 50 years ago today, Sept. 14,1957. Can you tell me what was playing that day?

My first visit to Lowe's Valencia Theater Was 50 years ago today, Sept. 14,1957. Can you tell me what was playing that day?

Congratulations, tomw9 !

Perhaps some members of CT can be of assistance with some old newspaper clippings of 50 years ago.

If you have access to The New York Times website or to library microfilm of that newspaper, you will be able to find Loew's Valencia advertised in the issue of September 14th, 1957, which, according to my perpetual calendar, happened to be a Saturday. I stopped working at the Valencia in June of that year, when I also stopped keeping records of all the films that played there.

Just a note to PKock and HeMan re: your post in July. I have heard that there was an anti-aircraft battery where Aqueduct Racetrack is today. I never heard anything about baisley pond park having one. I lived just across Rockaway Blvd. from the park in the early 50's.

I don't know anything about former ack ack guns in Queens, kong1911.

to PKoch. I wasn't around yet during the war but I did hear this story when I was a kid living in the neighborhood. It might or might not be true. Also I was in the Valencia only one time and that was to see Ben Hur in 1959.

Another note to PKock and HeMan re: anti-aircraft guns. I just checked with my father-in-law who told me when he came home from the war, he remembers 90mm guns in Aqueduct Racetrack and more in Hamilton Beach on Crossbay Blvd. where there now is a VFW all by itself.

Kong911, in 1959 in the New York area "Ben-Hur" (1959 version) was on view only at the Loew's State.

Veyong, I can't be sure of the exact date. Mabe it was 1960 but I do know it was at the Valencia. The El train was still there. The electric buses were running on Jamacia Ave. I can still see the goldfish in the lobby, the huge Ben-Hur posters and billboards in and outside the theater and I was so impressed with the woodcarvings all over the walls.

The elevated subway line in downtown Jamaica survived until 1977, the same year as the closings of the Valencia, Macy's on 165th Street, and the Long Island Press. The Gertz department store outlasted them, closing at the end of December, 1980.

The Tabernacle of Prayer took over the Valencia before the El closed, even if by a few months. I have seen photos of the 168th Street station of the jamaica el on September 11, 1977, the last day of the el service, and the cross for Tabernacle of Prayer was already on the Valencia building.

Thanks for posting that, Bway, I've noticed that myself.

I found the titles of the two movies being shown at Loew's Valencia on September 14, 1957. But before revealing them, let's see how many of us can guess the films' titles from their advertising blurbs. The main feature: "Not Since 'King Kong' Has The Screen Seen Anything Like It!" The second feature: "Mightiest Shocker The Screen Ever Had The Guts To Make!"

I'll take a guess at the first movie. Was it "20 Million Miles to Earth"? I have no idea what the second movie could have been.

Hmmm. That first tag sounds like logical hyperbole for the original "Godzilla", but I know that movie was released in the U.S. a year earlier. And that line would make too much sense. I'll bet they're a pair of outlandish tags for an AIP horror double-bill! I'm sure if we search the net hard enough, we'll find the films - so spill it quick, Warren! Now my curiosity is piqued!

"Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers" ?

The first would have to be Jayne Mansfield in "The Girl Can't Help It" (and indeed the screen had never seen anything like [them]) and the second feature has many shocking possibilities but none that I can place in 1957...Streisand as Yentl? Lucy as Mame? Liberace as straight? All mind-boggling, yet none correct.

"20 Million Miles to Earth" plus "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers" would have made it a Ray Harryhausen FX double feature.

I cheated on the second movie:

"The 27th (Twenty-Seventh) Day, the 1957 William Asher (director of the "Bewitched" TV series) science fiction thriller ("Terror From Outer Space!"; "Mightiest shocker the screen ever had the guts to make!"; "Five people given the power to destroy nations! What will they do? What would you do?"; "Chinese peasant girl! Russian Soldier! English bathing beauty! American newspaperman! German scientist!"; "These five …Have been given the power to destroy every human being on earth!"; "Screen Play by John Mantley Based on His Novel") starring Gene Barry, Valerie French, George Voskovec, Arnold Moss, and Stefan Schnabel".

Thanks, Lost Memory. I don't think I'd ever heard or read about this film !

Never heard of that one either. So what is the first film... "20 Million Miles to Earth?" That's one of the Quartermass films from Britain, isn't it?

No, Ed, I think you're confusing it with "Five Million Years To Earth", about the Martian spaceship found in the Hobbs End subway station in London, the third Quatermass film, the first two being "The Quatermass Experiment", with Brian Donlevy in the title role and Richard Wordsworth as the hollow-eyed astronaut Victor Carune, who slowly and painfully degenerates into a blob of tentacle-waving goo that must be electrocuted near Westminster Abbey before it reproduces itself and consumes all life on Earth. The American release was titled "The Creeping Unknown". The rarely seen second film was "Quatermass And The Pit".

"20 Million Miles To Earth" was the Harryhausen-Charles H. Schneer film about the giant T-Rex-like Ymir from Venus. The Kraken from the 1981 Harryhausen-Charles H. Schneer film "Clash Of The Titans" was very similar to it.

Yup. Thanks Pete! I now recall each of those films - just a difference of 15 million years! I never saw "Quatermass and the Pit," though I am aware of its existence.

If the correct answer for the second movie turns out to be the "27th Day", I would have never gotten the answer right. I have never heard of that movie.

My first choice for the main feature was "Godzilla". As Ed pointed out, the year (1956) would be wrong for "Godzilla" so I went with "20 Million Miles to Earth". I also considered "Rodan" but I'm not sure when "Rodan" was released in the U.S.

Rodan was released in 1956, "Vertigo" in 1958.

"Vertigo" would have been awesome at the Valencia !

You're welcome, Ed. It's million of years, instead of millions of miles. I saw all three Quatermass films at Film Forum in lower Manhattan in August 1987, my first time to one of their summer sci fi film festivals. The line I remember from "Quatermass And The Pit" was Quatermass saying, "Those pipes are full of human pulp !" and seeing some monstrous bell-shaped thing, like The Addams' Family's Cousin Itt, sloshing around in dark liquid goo inside of some huge septic tank.

Both were Columbia releases. Also showing in Jamaica on 9/14/57 were revivals of "The Thing" & "Mighty Joe Young" at the RKO Alden; "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" & "The Third Key" at the Skouras Merrick; "Sweet Smell of Success" & "The Ride Back" at the Hillside (no longer Loew's); and a triple bill of "Escape to Burma" & "The Americano" & "Creature With the Atom Brain" at the Savoy: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/val957.jpg

Thanks, Warren.

Which two films were Columbia releases ?

Excuse me, "Quatermass And The Pit" was the British title of the 1967 film released as "Five Million Years To Earth" in the USA. The second, 1957 Quatermass film, again with Brian Donlevy in the title role, was titled simply "Quatermass 2".

There was also a TV series titled "Quatermass And The Pit".

P.S. Though it's not mentioned in the ad, Loew's Valencia was also showing "blow-by-blow" film coverage of the recent Patterson-Rademacher heavyweight match. On 9/14/57, which happened to be a Saturday, the last complete program started at 10:23 PM with the fight films, followed by the second feature at 10:44 and the main at 12:03 AM. Exit time would have been in the vicinity of 1:30 AM.

Interesting, Warren, that it would have been fight FILMS, then, rather than closed-circuit TV coverage of the fight.

The answer, for when Warren's link is taken down, is "20 Million Miles to Earth" and "The 27th Day."

and I was almost right -- there WAS a Jayne Mansfield picture playing in Jamaica that date, but not with the ad line "Not Since 'King Kong' Has The Screen Seen Anything Like It!" although both pictures had stars with prominent chests.

I figured that the first movie involved some creature running amok. I never thought of Jayne Mansfield. I cheated on the second one so I can't take credit for it. Did I win a free ticket to the Valencia?

Admission is free, but donation gladly accepted.
How did you cheat? Did you look it up somewhere?

"Rodan" was released in the USA in 1957 :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049782/

saps, whose chest do you prefer, King Kong's or Jayne Mansfield's ? How about Fay Wray ?

Yes, Lost Memory, you may attend a service at the Tabernacle Of Prayer. Now, how do we get you back in time 30 or more years ?

Some creature running amok, Jayne Mansfield ? How about "Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman" ? She went looking for Harry inside the Valencia, and damaged the El in so doing !

>>saps, whose chest do you prefer, King Kong's or Jayne Mansfield's ? How about Fay Wray ?

They all have their good points.

Thanks, saps.

Their good points ? Yes, two each, I would say.

Maybe I can hitch a ride in a DeLorean with Christopher Lloyd and go back to the past.

Saps....If you enter "Mightiest Shocker The Screen Ever Had The Guts To Make" into the Google search engine, leave out the quote marks, it will return "The 27th Day" as a result.

Good idea, Lost Memory ! Now it's a power supply issue !

Ten billion gigawatts into the flux capacitor! Right from the third rail of the Jamaica el ! And right down that center track !

Lost Memory, that's good to know about what Google will find for you.

This pre-opening ad gives more details about the two Columbia releases. It's possible that the Patterson-Rademacher fight was shown on closed-circuit TV in theatres on the night that it took place, but you'd need to check the newspapers of the time to find out; www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/val957a.jpg

I notice in the ad that it's the last day at the Valencia for "Beau James" and "Rumble on the Docks" and that they both would be playing the next day at the Loew's Triboro in Astoria. So I guess the Triboro was a send-run move-over house, even though it was a pretty opulent place itself. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1542/

second-run

Loew's Triboro was first-run for Astoria, but second-run for Queens overall, until the introduction of saturation bookings in the 1960s. In the days when the Triboro followed the Valencia by a week, the Triboro's programs were exclusive for that week and not shown elsewhere in Queens. After a week at the Triboro, the programs moved on simultaneously to the remaining Loew's theatres in Queens-- the Woodside, Plaza, Prospect, Hillside, and Willard. After they had finished their Loew's runs, the movies would start turning up at other Queens theatres.

Thanks for all the comments about the 9/14/52 movies at the Valencia. I also took the 1st commentor's suggestion to check the NY Times microfilm @ the library & found that they were Iindeed "20 Million Miles to Earth" & "The 27th Day" Relative to another issue there was a Gimbels on the south side of Jamaica Ave. near the theater & before it was a Gimbels it was a Gertz.

I don't recall a Gimbel's in Jamaica, but there was a Macy's on 165th Street opposite the bus terminal. I think that the Gertz department store was always known as Gertz. It certainly was when it closed in 1980, at which time Gertz stores in other areas (including Flushing and Douglaston) switched to the Stern's banner. Gertz had been a division of Allied Stores, which also owned Stern's.

The Gertz was to the west on Jamaica at New York Blvd, wasn't it? That street is now known as Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Mays was another department store I remember in the area, further to the east on Jamaica Ave around 170th Street. Mays lasted at least into the early 1980's when I graduated from Jamaica High School.

Thanks, Ed Solero. Did you graduated from Jamaica High School in June 1983 ?

The Gertz Dept. Store in Jamaica was, if I remember it correctly, sort of like a 2nd rate Macy's yet still a very nice department store. I remember it well because my sister-in-law Regina Murphy worked there in the coffee shop in Gertz as a waitress in the late 60s/early 70s.
Does anyone remember the odd but very tasty chicken chow mein sandwiches on a hamburger bun you could get at the Woolworth's counter in Jamaica?
I remember when I was a child, my grandmother taking me shopping with her and we would always eat lunch in a dept. store restaurant or coffee shop. It seemed so many stores had them back "in the day". What a terrific convenience for shoppers!

Jack Tomai, good to read you back on this site again !

I remember those Woolworth's chicken chow mein sandwiches well, but in Ridgewood, Queens, not Jamaica. My family and I liked them so much that we made our own at home, from take-out chicken chow mein, and buns from the grocery store.

I also remember eating at A & S on Fulton St. in downtown Brooklyn, 1962-66, both the cafeteria in the basement, and the fancier restaurant on the 4th floor. When I had the shrimp creole at the restaurant, I thought I was in heaven !

The Gertz department store is still there, but sub-divided into a "shopping mall." I would not describe Gertz as a second-rate Macy's, except that Gertz's premises dated back to the 1920s and Macy's occupied a modern store built in the 1950s. The Macy's store suffered the same fate as Gertz and is now also sub-divided into a "mall." I would't call them that, since they're more like arcades, with merchants selling from stalls and counters instead of actual stores like you would find in a mall.

June 1982. I lived in Laurelton and took the Q5 bus along Merrick Ave to Hillside Ave for 6 years ( including 3 yrs on my way to Ryan Junior High in Fresh Meadows via transfer to the Utopia Pkwy Q17A bus) from 1976 until 1982. I passed the opposing marquees of the RKO Alden and Loew's Valencia Theatres just about every weekday during the school year. Saw the Valencia marquee changeover from movie theater to church. Observed the elevated J train tracks come down and recede into the distance to the west as it was dismantled from its terminus at Merrick Ave (I can recall the lower portions of the supporting stanchions remained along the curb of Jamaica Ave for several years before finally being ripped out). Passed by the Long Island Press sign (which remained in place on the facade of their former headquarters for years after the paper shut down). Watched as the Alden went from single screen to twin and then quartet.

As bustling a shopping district as Jamaica Avenue always was, that period was certainly of darker times for the area. I remember not to far from Jamaica Avenue there was an old pre-war SRO apartment building known as the Bristol Hotel. I remember driving by several times and the corner where it was located (somewhere along 89th Avenue, I believe) was busy with drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes and cars slowing down for the solicitation of one illicit service or another. Believe it or not, an English teacher that I had while at Jamaica High was taking up residence at the Bristol around this time! He was a troubled man with a littany of personal problems - and looking back, it's amazing he was able to hold on to his job as a teacher of impressionable young teens! Oh the wonders of tenure - the Union is very strong in NYC!

Gertz department store was one of the top of the line places to go for a wedding dress. The best thing about Gertz was going there as a kid to see Santa!!! It was better than Macy's in Manhattan is now! I'm talking about the mid to late 1950's when I was taken there. The line would go all around the place with all kinds of things to see. The smaller childred would be able to walk on a raised walkway while the bigger kids and the adults walked along with you on the floor level. I took your mind off of the endless line until to got to see the big guy himself. :-)

Thanks, Ed Solero, for posting these detailed Jamaica memories of your youth. You've mentioned many interesting details of some rapidly changing conditions of your old home neighborhood.

Re : your former English teacher : I'm amazed that he also held on to his life, let alone his job as a teacher of impressionable youth ! May I ask what his personal problems were, and how did they, and the sleaze that he lived in, spill over to you and your classmates ?

SRO = Servicemen's Relief Organization ? Was the hotel pre-WW I or II ?

Having attended Delehanty High School right off Jamaica Ave,I too remember the area very well: its good times and its not so good times. I graduated in 1964 so the area was in flux at that time but it was still a bustling, active shopping and business area. Going to either the Valencia or the Alden was a treat as was Teddy's coffee shop. When my wife and I got married in 73 we bought most of our furniture at Ethan Allen Restful on Jamaica Ave. In high school, I bought all of my records at May's Dept. Store in their record dept. on the first floor. Best prices around. One of my girlfriends in HS lived in Queens Village and I didn't drive at the time, so I remember many cold, snowy nights waiting at the bus terminal by Macy's for the bus to Queens Village. Living in Cypress Hills, it was quite a trip: the J train to 168th St. and then hike over to the bus terminal and then the bus out to Queens Village! Ah, youth!

"It was the summer of '92 and he had invited me up to his shabby digs at the old Bristol Hotel. Curiosity about his faded treasures (EC comic books? lobby cards?) had got the best of me and I agreed to meet my old English teacher there despite the long bus ride down the seedy streets near Jamaica Avenue. As I climbed the worn-down marble stairs -- the smell of stale piss and body odor and old tobacco hanging in the air and my stomach in knots -- little did I realize how this visit would change my life forever..."

OK, Ed, fill in the rest.

Thank YOU, Jack Tomai (poetic !) and saps (suspenseful).

saps, your story almost reads like an old EC horror comics tale, and has some of the tinge of those deliberately, exaggeratedly melodramatic lobby cards !

It also reminds me a bit of "Human Remains", a Clive Barker "books of blood" story, one of several of them in which the sleazy sex-crime-drugs underbelly of a big city (in this case, a young male prostitute named Gavin, and his client, a middle-aged fancier of Roman Britain) is a front for a supernatural, or super-normal, horror that is infinitely worse.

Two other stories of his, even more apropos to this theater site, would be "Son Of Celluloid", and "Sex, Death and Starshine", the ultimate haunted theater story.

So, Ed, perhaps your former English teacher was not only a junkie and a sexual pervert, but perhaps had also managed to open a door into hell, or the nether-world of the dead, into which yet another unsuspecting young innocent ....

I don't want to wander too far off topic here, but I can tell you that my teacher's problems (at least as I understood it at the time) had to do with a drinking and gambling problem as well as a recent and nasty divorce (I imagine the first two lead to the last one).

Saps... very creative writing there - and most evocative of precisely the way I imagined the inside of the Bristol to be!

Pete... in this case SRO = Single Room Occupancy. It looked to me to date back to the 1920's. Limestone and brick, if I recall. I have to drive around the area one of these days and see if the place survived. If so, it's probably been gutted for condominiums!

Finally, for the record, downtown Jamaica really wasn't my neighborhood. I lived in Laurelton, which is several miles (and a couple of neighborhoods) to the southeast down Merrick Ave.

The original Nathan's at Coney Island still features chicken chow mein on a bun. The sandwich costs $2.99, but the chow mein by itself is also offered in a bowl for $3.79.

Ed, that's great news ! Your teacher avoided the cliche of being a bitter, middle-aged homosexual, mourning his loss of youth and good looks, preying on innocent and unsuspecting teenage boys ....

Although, in the case of me and my classmates, beginning sixth grade in the fall of 1966, with hormones beginning to rage then, a great deal was both suspected and imagined.

I was going to complain about you not commending me on MY creative writing. Then I took another look at what I had written, and saw I was merely echoing Clive Barker, and trying to apply my favorite horror stories of his to your high school situation.

Ah yes : Single Room Occupancy. A problem on the Upper West Side of Manhattan : mental patients turned out of hospitals for lack of room, "living" (really merely existing) in SRO's, or, worse yet, on the street ....

OK, downtown Jamaica wasn't really your neighborhood, yet you wrote about its decline so eloquently.

Merrick Avenue or Boulevard ?

Warren, I'm glad to read that the chicken chow mein sandwich is alive and well at the original Nathan's at Coney Island.

Ugh. Merrick Blvd. My error, Peter. It becomes Merrick Road once it crosses the border into Nassau County (which was only a few blocks to the east of my neighborhood). Merrick Avenue exists, but further out east in the Nassau town of Merrick.

It was originally called Merrick Road in Queens, but I don't know when the name changed. Merrick Road was once the main route to Long Beach and heavily used by people driving there from Manhattan. They would drive out on Queens Boulevard to Hillside Avenue, and then stay on Hillside until it connects with Merrick Road. Sime Silverman, publisher of Variety, got stuck in traffic one day near the intersection of Merrick and Jamaica Avenue and decided it would be a great location for a theatre. He told some friends and the rest is history.

Thanks, Ed Solero. Once my dad's Aunt Suzie and Uncle Jimmy had moved to Hempstead from Bklyn (to accompany the Crane Plumbing Co.'s move there) in the late 1930's, my dad rode out there from Bushwick, Bklyn on his bike. He preferred Merrick Blvd. to Sunrise Highway to bike out to Hempstead. He also rode his bike on Interboro Pkwy. before it was opened to automobiles. He loved the ride, but the rough unfinished under-pavement wore out the rubber of his bike tires awfully fast.

So, what was it like growing up in Laurelton, from 1965 onward ?

Thanks, Warren, for the Merrick Road-ology, as it were, and your description of the origin of Loew's Valencia ! Way cool !

Hey Peter... I think that's a tale best left to the page for my own personal little nabe, Interboro's Laurelton Theatre. As Lost Memory can tell you, I had been holding a conversation with myself that lasted a couple of years over on that page and could use the company! Actually, I've probably posted most of what there is to say in the comments that are already on that page.

I've also posted a ton of photos there that I took of the Laurelton Theatre as it currently exists (it is a church) - or at least as it existed in February of 2006.

Speaking of "Road-ology," my grade-school teacher (no, not the Hotel Bristol guy) used to tell us that a drunken Indian (meaning Native American) was to blame for the crooked path that Francis Lewis Blvd took in winding it's way from Whitestone all the way down to Rosedale! If you're familiar with that thoroughfare, Franny Lew takes a number of confusing twists and turns (including at least two 90 degree turns - even where nothing obstructs the continuation of the roadway). It was thus that my house in Laurelton was just one block over from the intersection of Francis Lewis Blvd and Francis Lewis Blvd!

Regarding the old Gertz Dept store....I never considered it a second rate Macy's. The Jamaica store was the flagship of the 7 store Long Island chain and I remember it being a very nice store. The store's slogan, written in fancy cursive script on the top floors facing the Long Island Rail Road tracks read "Gertz, Where Long Island Shops!".

Thanks, Ed Solero and LuisV. I'll read the CT Laurelton Theater page carefully, and keep the personal chat, private.

If would be great if someone could go to the Laurelton Theater page and converse with Ed. I've been busy lately and haven't been able to spend much quality time with him. And give him a hug for me while your there. LOL

In other words, Lost is a bit weary from "baby sitting" me over there! Don't worry, it's a padded room and I've had my medicine.

OK, here I go .... (I'm sure Ed isn't rabid, and doesn't bite ....)

About to visit "A Man And His Movie Theater", by Ed Solero .....

This is another listing that needs to have its "Status" changed from "Closed" to "Open." Amen!

After an exclusive 74-week reserved-seat engagement at Loew's State in Manhattan, "Ben-Hur" had its first neighborhood run in July, 1961 at selected theatres, including Loew's Valencia. "Popular" admission prices meant that they were advanced over "regular" prices, but I don't know by how much. Children under twelve, however, were 75 cents at all times. In most cases, the booking lasted for six weeks, which was probably four weeks too long, even with only two performances daily: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/wyler61.jpg

Thanks, Warren.

After a week's engagement at the Capitol Theatre in Manhattan, Johnny Weissmuller brought his "Dive In" stage revue to Loew's Valencia in May, 1932. Performed in a huge glass-sided tank, the aquatic spectacular also featured diving champion Madeline Berlo and swimming chorines. The "dry" portion of the show included Jack Pepper, the team of Mack, Harold & Bobby, and Chester Hale dancers. Seven years later, Johnny Weissmuller, still acting in the "Tarzan" series and on loan from MGM, returned to Queens to star in the opening show at Billy Rose's Aquacade at the New York World's Fair: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/weiss32.jpg

Thanks, Warren. That's fun to know.

Thanks, Warren. The supporting short HELPMATES is one of Laurel & Hardy's very best two-reelers - right up there with their Oscar-winning THE MUSIC BOX. As a young boy growing up in Corona, Queens, I used to swim at the Ederle Public Pool in Flushing Meadows. The pool used the original Ampitheater from the '39 Fair that housed the Aquacade. Regrettably, it was allowed to fall into a sad state of disrepair after years of disuse; and despite some efforts to save the crumbling ediface, it finally fell to the wrecker's ball in the late 1990's. A freind and I were able to gain entry to the decaying structure a couple of years before it was demolished and managed a couple of photos of the vandalized stands. I have to go dig those out one of these days.

There were plans to relocate the ice-skating rink that occupies part of the old City of New York Pavillion (also from the '39 Fair) to the site of the Ampitheatre - on the northern edge of the large, man-made Meadow Lake - but nothing thus far has come of it. And, this has nothing to do with the Valencia, but I hope I'll be forgiven this minor tangent!

Thanks, Ed Solero.

I thought you grew up in Laurelton, Queens, though.

I moved to Laurelton in '74, aged 9. Prior to that, I was an Elmhurst/Corona boy living on 41st Avenue just a couple of doors from Junction Blvd.

Thanks, Ed.

I'm just turning on the email notification for this theater. For some reason I don't receive any notices for this theater.

There was also a small above-ground public pool within walking distance from my families 3-family house on 41st Avenue. It was located in what used to be known as Linden Park just behind the former Loew's Plaza Theatre. The park is now called "Park of the Americas" - I presume in celebration of the neighborhood's predominantly South American ethnic makeup. I remember swimming at that pool once and finding that my sneakers had been stolen from their cubby (being an outdoor pool, there were no indoor lockers). I had to make the 6 or 7 block walk home in my bare feet - carefully studying the sidewalk and pavement ahead of me for any broken glass, bottle caps, soda-can rings or any other potential sources of pain and discomfort! I think back on those days - an 8 year old boy allowed to walk himself to the local park - and wonder how many parents would feel safe permitting the same these days! I thought nothing of it back then. My father used to ride the subways on his own at that age back in the '40's as did my grandfather when he was 11 or 12 in the very early '30's. And the City is quite a safe place nowadays! I think a very definite "suburban" mind-set has ingrained itself in the minds of many urban parents in recent years. Kids are babied and over-supervised as they grow into pre-adolescence to a degree that never existed even just 20 years ago. But I digress. I don't want to continue to summon Warren to this page for something not directly related to the Valencia. Here endeth my social commentary!

Don't worry about Warren, Ed. Thanks for your story.

This ad for the Labor Day weekend of 1942 lists every Loew's theatre in the Greater New York area at that time, including three in New Jersey. "Mrs. Miniver" had already enjoyed a record-breaking run at Radio City Music Hall. In anticipation of crowds, the Valencia opened its doors at 10:00 AM, more than an hour earlier than the usual 11:15: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/loews9342.jpg

Thanks for this information, Warren.

During the "United Nations Week" that ran from January 14-20, 1943, all movie theatres in the New York area took up audience collections to raise funds for UN War Relief Agencies. Here are the totals collected at some of the Jamaica theatres. Having lived in that era, I would guess that most of the donations were in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, not in bills:
Loew's Valencia, $2,211.71
Skouras Merrick, $1,625.15
RKO Alden, $1,167.38
Loew's Hillside, $914.37
Savoy, $853.34
Skouras Jamaica, $836.09
Malboe, $3.27

Thanks, Warren. I asked you how much you donated that week on the Madison Theater page.

Many such collections were made during the WWII years, but I never gave unless one of my parents handed me something to drop in the cannisters which ushers passed down the rows of seats. They never circulated the cannisters through the sections reserved exclusively for unaccompanied children. I guess they were afraid that they wouldn't get the cannisters back.

Or that the cannisters would come back empty! Not to imply that the young Warren would have been so mischievous!

... although, that might explain the compartively paltry collection taken up at the Malboe!

Thanks for your answer, Warren.

Here is a recent photo of the Tabernacle of Prayer.

This is a 2008 close-up view that shows more detail.

For whatever reason, the address in the introduction neglects to mention that the building is situated in Jamaica. At the time of the Valencia's opening in 1929, Jamaica was considered the #1 shopping/business district in the borough of Queens. While Jamaica has declined in importance, it still ranks as one of the most important districts in Queens. Jamaica certainly should be mentioned in the address. If there's not enough room, "Queens" should be dropped. "Jamaica, NY" is sufficient. Unlike other boroughs, addresses in Queens usually use just the neighborhood name, and don't follow it with the borough. "Forest Hills, NY," for example.

While Jamaica has declined from its heydey (up to the 1960's), there is a lot of hope for the future. At least 3 big hotels from Sheraton and Marriott are due to be built within two blocks of the Jamaica Air Train Station followed by several office buildings which are expected to serve as an "Airport Village" of sorts. There is even hope that JetBlue, the hometown Queens airliner will move their HQ to one of these new buildings. No hope, though, that The Valencia or The Alden will be returned to screening films anytime soon!

New direct links to 1935 ads showing the last program of the Valencia's original stage/screen policy and the first booking of movies exclusively: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valfinal.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valfirst.jpg

I think that the introductory "status" needs to be changed to "open." "Closed" creates a false impression that the Valencia is inaccessible, which is hardly the case. It's very much "open" to the public whenever church services are being held.

I also feel that a church should have its status listed as Open, but this site only lists a building currently used as a theater (motion pictures or live) as Open.

I don't understand that, but I guess that is the way it is done. As mentioned though, this building is very much open, and almost fully intact inside from it's theater days. Of course, it's been modified for the church use, which includes the chandelier to bring in light (as while a theater needs darkness, a church needs light), but if someone said tomorrow that they wanted to make the Valencia a theater again, it wouldn't be all that hard to do, as most of it is intact.
I can understand a theater gone retail being listed as "closed", such as let's say the RKO Madison which is still very much the building standing, yet the interior gutted....that makes sense to say "closed". However, the Valencia, although only used as a church, is very much open to the public, and still looks like a theater.

I don't know the reason why the status of a church is considered as closed on this site. A church can have as much "theatrics" as any other live theater.

The chandelier in the auditorium ceiling was only added for decoration, to compensate for the removal of the atmospheric effects. The Valencia's "house lights" were quite satisfactory in intervals between movies. You could read a programme by them, and I'm sure a bible or hymn book.

I am not familiar with the church, as was only last in there when it was still the Valencia. Also, the colors they painted the interior are quite questionable, but again, hey, it's being well cared for and maintained, and that's better than we can say for most theaters. Again, all that was "The Valencia" is all still there, and for that we should be thankful. This is the next best thing next to actually showing movies inside. Certainly better than a "Duane Reade" sign on the marquee.

Could be wrong. But don't think these have been added yet:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&q=loews+valencia&m=text

The two interior photos by "Rotoflex" of the foyer and grand lobby show the hideousness of the re-decorations. There must have been a bargain sale on green paint at the time. John Eberson would flip over in his grave if he saw it. "Restoration" is a word that should never be used for the current version of the Valencia Theatre. "Desecration" is the word of choice for anyone who knew the Valencia in its original form.

Better desecration than demolition.

It is a pretty bad color scheme. Kind of reminds me of Vegas.

Gaudy yes, Desecration, no. It could be gutted and have "Dollar Tree" on the marquee instead. THAT is desecration. I'd take this any day over the alternative.

I think that we've been down this road before. Yes, the church is to be commended for saving the Valencia from possible demolition. But they've defaced it in the process. They might have tried harder to retain the original decor instead of changing it. Loew's 175th Street, another "Wonder Theatre" taken over by a church, still looks very much like it did in its heyday through careful maintenance.

Yes, we've been through this before, and yes it would be better if the Valencia had not been repainted, but the Paradise was so chopped up and remodled inside that it actually made a list of "lost" buildings of NYC because it was assumed it could never be restored to its original look. Now look at it! Granted it's not a complete resoration, but it looks pretty much like its old self again. The Kings has some serious water damage, yet people are still saying its restorable. The New Amsterdam actually had mushrooms growing in it because it had been so neglected. Compared to these theatres, having to (hopefully) restore the Valencia's original paint job, and removing that chandelier, does not seem like such a big job.

Ziggy you are correct. The Velencia's biggest problem is a chandelier and a questionable chocie of paint. That's pretty much it. I totally agree with Warren that the paint choice is garish ar best, but hey, it's protecting the plaster, and it's only paint. The Kings which has lost a lot of it's plaster that would have to be duplicated, the Amsterdam had severe plaster problems, and yes, I have seen before and after photos of the Paradise. The Valencia is not even a hint of "lost", a new paint job, and a missing chandelier, and the Valencia is back in business as original.

Another theater I feel that is TOTALLY salvagable is the RKO Keith's in Richmond Hill, which unlike the Valencia, lost all it's seats...but is relatively intact inside. Not nearly as well maintained as the Valencia (and of course not as ornate to begin with), but it's plaster is protected under a coat of nondescript one color beige paint. I rather see that though, as hope exists there, as it's intact, and the building is maintained.....than seeing it gutted and turned into a drug store with a drop ceiling.

A discussion of atrocities would not be complete without mentioning the Elmwood:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1942/

All too true, Life's too short.

Here are new links to an opening day ad and a view of the auditorium. The black shadows behind the statuary across the top of the stage area were caused by the flash used at the time:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3238_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/123-2389_IMG.jpg

I've tried to resuscitate this aged press clipping from June, 1955, which shows an air raid practice drill taking place on Jamaica Avenue. A cop is directing a pedestrian to take shelter in the Valencia's entrance. Ironically, the feature movie that day was "Run For Cover," supported by "Conquest of Space." Also on the bill was a Technicolor short detailing Danny Kaye's roving ambassadorship for UNICEF: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/valencia55.jpg

The main entry needs to be changed. Under "Loew's Valencia" it should say Jamaica, NY, or Jamaica, Queens, NY (not just Queens, NY). And the specific address underneath should also include mention of Jamaica (and should not be just Queens, NY). The listing for the Ridgewood Theatre in Ridgewood, Queens mentions the community in both cases. Why should Loew's Valencia be treated differently?

Good point, Warren. Thanks. Have you mentioned this to the management of CT ?

In September, 1949, Kathryn Grayson and new star discovery Mario Lanza did a tour of Loew's circuit theatres in advance of their "That Midnight Kiss" opening at the Capitol in midtown Manhattan. Miss Grayson's husband, Johnnie Johnston, emceed the stage proceedings. This ad mentions only the Valencia,46th Street, Pitkin, and Oriental, but I'm sure that there were other theatres on adjacent evenings: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/tour949.jpg

Great to read these rich exchanges about this grand palace. My grandmother took me several times in the mid-late 1930s, and I still recall my awe at the constellations above us. I wept when Dick Powell sang "Don't Give Up the Ship" in (I think) "The Singing Marine."

Don

Thanks for posting your recollection of the Valencia here, Don.

comment from a relatively "young-un" - One of the great movie experiences of my childhood was "Lawrence of Arabia" - and in THAT theater and on THAT screen, I'll say no more.
And you know what else - one of the saddest Saturdays in American History, the rainy day after JFK's assassination, went to see "The Haunting"

Thanks, HBH ! I grok you loud and clear !

By a twist of fate, Loew's Valencia became a church and a Jamaica church became a performing arts center. Figure!
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2008/08/11/2008-08-11_curtain_rises_at_new_jamaica_performing_.html

Thanks for posting this, Warren. So, to some extent, the changes in the Valencia and the Jamaica church compensated for each other. Odds are, the multi-purpose performance space at the new arts center will include a movie screen.

Too bad they can't switch venues!

Good thought, LuisV.

The exterior of the Valencia was given landmark status according to this May 26, 1999 story in the NY Times. The interior isn't landmarked because the building is used as a church:

"The landmark status, which protects the outside of the building, the former Valencia theater, at 165-11 Jamaica Avenue against alteration without the panel's permission, is actually conferred only on the exterior because the legal tradition separating church and state bars the commission from designating the interior of a house of worship as a landmark, said Ronda Wist, the executive director of the commission."

Thanks, Lost Memory.

WOW! That is so interesting about that church!! I passed that church more times than I can count when passing by on the LIRR behind it....

Portions of the Valencia's marquee and entrance can be seen in this August 1949 photo showing fans awaiting the arrival of Al Jolson to promote his new movie, "Jolson Sings Again." The Life Magazine archive also has a shot of Jolson performing on stage at Loew's Pitkin in Brooklyn, which was another stop on the tour. That tour has beed discussed before at Cinema Treasures at listings for Loew's Valencia, Loew's Prospect, and perhaps others:
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=4588629bfb6076f3&q=Al+Jolson+source:life&usg=__yUi_GDj1uwUTbv_qzffFoGaAlcM=&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAl%2BJolson%2Bsource:life%26start%3D20%26imgtype%3Dphoto%26as_st%3Dy%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

From the NYT, dated 5/5/53:

MOVIE ROBBED OF $2,375; Queens Theatre Official Bound by 3 After Income Tax Ruse

Three hold-up men, two of them brandishing pistols, took $2,375 from Loew's Valencia Theatre in Jamaica. Queens, yesterday and left the assistant manager, Henry Shamp of 212-08 Seventy-fifth Street, Bayside, Queens, tied up with twine on the floor of his office.

Thanks, Ken, for reminding me of an incident that happened a few weeks before I started working as a part-time usher at Loew's Valencia. Mr. Shamp nearly had a nervous breakdown due to that incident, and retired permanently within months. He had previously been robbed while working as assistant manager at Loew's Kameo in Brooklyn. He was replaced at the Valencia by John Mellucci, who was transferred from Loew's Hillside.

This was my favorite movie theater. I loved to go there and just look around. It was magnificent.
It was a mistake to demolish it.

I believe it's up and running as a church, with most of its glory intact. Not demolished.

It most definitely is NOT demolished. Though I do feel it was desecrated (pun intended) by the resident church by painting the interior in bright colors and draping the nudes so as not to offend churchgoers.

Even so, the Valencia remains one of the most beautiful theaters ever built and I am grateful to the church for having saved it back in the terrible late 70's. Otherwise, it may have suffered the fate of so many other palaces: demolition.

Converting it into that church was the same as demolishing it. It's gone. One way or the other, it's gone.

Wow, I'm an atheist and I couldn't disagree with you more!

The beautiful building that housed the films that we went to see in our youth is still there. The work of all of the talented artisans there for all to see.

I wish that a church, even if it were the Scientologists, had taken over the Roxy or the Capitol or Loews 72nd St, or Proctor's E. 58th St, or the Paramount or any number of spectacular palaces for conversion into a church. They didn't, and they were all demolished. These thaters ARE GONE.....FOREVER!

Loew's 175th Street theater, was also taken over by Revernd Ike's church and lovingly and meticulously restored. It now houses frequent concerts. I have yet to attend, but I look forward to the day that I do. And when I do, I can thank the Reverend Ike for saving that spectacular theater for future generations.

It's not realistic expect the old palaces to be preserved based on showing movies. In the entire New York Metropolitan area, home to over 18 Million people, there are just 3 palaces that just show movies; The Ziegfeld in Manhatan, Loews Jersey in Jersey City and The Lafayette in Suffern, NY.

Some of the old palaces like the New Amsterdam, the Broadway and the Gallo Opera House (aka Studio 54) are back to live theater. Radio City, Beacon, Apollo, Loews Paradise, St. George are all entertainment venues. Loews 175th is both a church and a concert hall. The Hollywood, Loews Elmwood, Loew's Metropolitan, Kameo, Elmwood, and Stanley among others are churches who have maintained the integrity of the original theaters.

The Brooklyn Paramount was saved decades ago by LIU and converted to a gymnasium. They now have a brand new gym, and the possibility now exists that, someday, the Brooklyn Paramount can be reborn.

The landmark process is underway to try and save two other old theaters, The Ridgewood in Queens and The Paramount in Staten Island.

My point is, what made movie palaces special was the architecture and the atmosphere that it created when you went there to see a film. Even when it is no longer showing a film, the architecture and atmosphere remain and it is a window into the past that future generations should be able to see. It was a time when Where you went to see a film was (perhaps) more important than What you went to see.

I, for one, am grateful for each palace that is saved, even if the saviour (pardon the pun) is a church.

p.s. Loews's Kings and the RKO Keiths Flushing sit in ruins waiting to be saved. While I would much prefer to see these historic palaces returned to us as entertainment venues, I would settle for a religious one just to save the buildings.

The answer should NEVER be "just tear it down" because that is truly forever.

You are absolutely correct Luis. The Valencia may not be a theater, and it may be painted strange colors, but it's beauty is all intact and still there. If this church hadn's taken it over, it could have been actually demolished, or converted into retail, and destroyed. NOTHING is destroyed in the Valencia, and paint is just paint. The magnificent plaster work all survives.
Churches are one of the best after theater uses a theater building can get.

Paint is not just paint. Suppose someone changed the colors in the "Mona Lisa?" The color changes at the Valencia, along with hanging a chandelier in the center of the atmospheric auditorium ceiling, are a tragic desecration of John Eberson's art. Thankfully, his Paradise Theatre in the Bronx has been magnificently resuscitated, even though it's currently closed to public view.

I strongly agree with you Luis. While not a perfect solution, these conversions are far preferable to the alternatives of demolition or radical alteration.

To your list of successful conversions let me add the old Woodside, which now functions as St. Sabastian's RC Church. Both the the exterior and interior of this lovely building are certainly worth a look.

Warren. It is just paint. The theater could have been completely gutted inside and used as a store. It could have been ripped apart and left to rot like the RKO in Flushing. Or worse, it could have been torn down and used for a parking lot. The Valencia faired very well. Perhaps not as tasteful as the Loews 175th St also used as a church, but WAY better than most of other theaters have met their end.

Here's a Google street view of the Valencia:

Click here for link

Just re-registering with a note that the Valencia celebrated its 80th birthday in January. Although the old gal ain't what she used to be, she promises to be with us for many more years.

Near the end
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=96&ProductID=30840
The date of 1982 is wrong because the vertical was long gone. I'm guessing the marqueee might say Cecil B. DeMilles Show on Earth?
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http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=96&ProductID=30843
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http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=97&ProductID=30845

The Valencia closed as a theatre in 1977. "The Greatest Show on Earth" first played there in 1952, but if "Cecil" is the first word on the marquee, DeMille's remakes of "The Ten Commandments" and "The Buccaneer" were shown at the Valencia in later years, as well as resissues of "Samson and Delilah" and "Reap the Wild Wind."

"Private entrance to what was arguably New York's grandest theater, meticulously restored" will be part of four FREE Saturday afternoon walking tours being conducted by the Jamaica Center Business Improvement District. The dates are June 13, July 11, September 26, and October 10. All tours start from the front porch of King Manor Museum at Rufus King Park. Advance reservations are required. More details at http://www.jamaicacenter.org/newsevents09.htm

Doe's anyone remember MERKEL'S MEATS located at New York Blvd.And Archer Ave.I think it closed in the late 50s

My father had a butcher and grocery store in east new york brooklyn and sold merkel products for years. I thought there bacon was the best. Merkel's building could be seen from the Long Island Railroad platforms at the Jamaica station. The Merkel Big sign above the building has been gone for many years but the building was there until about a year ago. One of the reasons Merkel closed down was that government inspectors found that to save money they were mixing horse meat into their products. If you go back that far you would have read that in the Long Island Press.

Thanks Kong1911,I thought it was also Kangaroo meat.My mom would send me to the New York Blvd.Store for ham and sausages,back around 1946

Very cool theater, glad its still there,some things were meant to last.

Lots of great pictures in this site.Will have to check it out if I ever go to Queens

To get an idea of what the very first patrons to the Valencia may have seen on the screen is a 3 minute introduction of the first movie shown: White Shadows in the South Seas 1928 Youtube. Try it.

The reason this church has chosen such garish colors is not a fact but my own opinion. Most of the congregants are Afro-American and also some Carribean-American who as a people are ornate and favor the colorful. It is part of the culture and they favor rainbow hues in everything from the cars they choose, home decor and style of dressing. I mean no affront but this is just what I perceive that this is what they like and why not? For any rumors that the church will go forget it. It is here to stay for a long time at least for our life time. When you do visit please make a contribution to help the church. They have kept the Valencia, my nake sake, alive.