Maspeth Theatre

I used to go there as a kid. No balcony. I think seating capacity was larger, maybe 900-1200.

The Maspeth is located at 69-20 Grand Avenue and originally had 1,161 seats. It was built by Small & Strausberg (S&S Theatres), one of the many circuits taken over by William Fox circa 1927-29, which explains how the Maspeth landed under Randforce management for most of its life. The Grand Avenue entrance was eventually converted to retail, but the auditorium became a bingo hall with an entrance around the corner. As far as I know, bingo is still played there.

Yes it still is used for bingo, I passed there last night.

Warren, thanks for mentioning Randforce Management once again. I seem to recall the Ridgewood Theater referred to as "Randforce's Ridgewood" in the NY Daily News in May 1969 in an ad for a re-release of "Psycho" in that month and year. Later, it was referred to as "Florin's Creative Ridgewood".

While on the topic, I remember CBS TV was to have shown "Psycho" on a Friday in October 1966, in the 9 to 11 p.m. time slot. There was even a closeup segment in "TV Guide" on it with a picture of Anthony Perkins. Much to my disappointment, another film, "Kings Go Forth", was shown instead. Stations indeed reserve the right to make such last-minute changes.

Florin Creative is a private booker for independant theatres. They booked the Ridgewood for the Diaz brothers when they aquired the theatre from UA.

"Creative Entertainment" still runs the Ridgewood Theatre. The company is a successor to Liggett-Florin Booking Service, which used to run many independently-owned theatres in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area. As Creative Entertainment, it seems to run mostly older theatres that the major circuits have discarded, such as the Ridgewood and the Jackson in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Thanks, RobertR and Warren, for this information.

The bookers there are mostly former RKO bookers.

After the Fox bankruptcy, the successor company, Metropolitan Playhouses, decided to put the Maspeth Theatre on the Randforce Circuit because of its close proximity to Brooklyn. Most of the other ex-Fox theatres in Queens were assigned to the Skouras Circuit. As a result, the Maspeth was rarely mentioned in the Queens newspapers and was one of the borough's least-known theatres.

I think Metropolitan Playhouses needed some help reading a map, because the Maspeth is 1.6 miles east of the Bklyn Queens border along Grand Avenue / Street, and because Maspeth does not sit on this border, as Ridgewood does. I would imagine this happening to the Ridgewood and RKO Madison, or even the Oasis, near the Ridgewood-Maspeth border, rather than the Maspeth.

I take it that the result of the Maspeth rarely being mentioned in the Queens newspapers, and being one of the borough's least-known theatres, was a major factor in its closing.

Yes, but Randforce had its executive offices in Brooklyn, and I guess that was the deciding factor. The Maspeth wasn't near any of the Queens neighborhoods in which Skouras had theatres. The closest were in Jackson Heights and Corona.

Early Film Daily Year Books list a second theatre in Maspeth called the Columbia, with a reported 500 seats. It was no longer listed by the 1929 FDYB, suggesting that it was an old-timer not worth conversion to "talkies." Does anyone know the location of the Columbia? I would imagine somewhere on Grand Avenue, Maspeth's main business street.

I found an address for the Columbia, but, unfortunately, it's now archaic: 61 Grand Street. What would that be in "modern" terms?...Also, Maspeth had another early cinema, the Idle Hour, reported in 1914 to be situated at Muller & Grand Streets.

I've seen the Idle Hour in the Cinema Tour listing I have for Queens.
Unfortunately, no address is given.

How about Grand Avenue in Maspeth? It use's four digit numbers that coincide with the cross street. For example, 6100 would be on Grand ave and 61st street in Maspeth with a zipcode of 11378. I'll see if I can find out if Muller st had a name change at some point in time.

I checked Grand street on a genealogy site and it is Grand avenue now. I'm having trouble locating Muller street which most likely has been changed to a numbered street.

Okay, Grand st is now Grand ave. There is a Muller ave listed for Kew Gardens which is now called 82nd road. I doubt thats the one your looking for. But there was a Mueller st in Maspeth which is now 68th street. Maybe thats the one your looking for.

I remember this theater quite well. We would always pass it on our way home from visitng my late aunt in Greenpoint. I haven't been there in quite some years now, as my aunt moved over to New Orleans to be with her daughter (my cousin) about 15 years ago, and has since passed on.
I should really get over there and trace our monthly steps again one day.
What is the Maspeth Theater being used for now?

It's a bingo hall now.

Thank you very much Robert for that information. Does it still have any of it's original interior visable inside?

I worked at the Maspeth Theatre in 1948-9.
Usher, ticklet-taker, etc.
It was part of the Randforce "chain"
The Oasis Theatre was part of the chain.
I got paid 45 cents an hour- part time.
Seeing movies over & over again nade me movie fan for life
Dinerguy

Ok Guys and Gals... The Maspeth Theater was the theater where we would go on Saturday or Sunday Afternoons. It was the first theater ( and I think the only one where I had my face slapped for getting "fresh". This was when Grand Avenue still had the Car Barns. It was also the theater where I used to get free dishes for going to the movies. Sorry but those were the days ( late 40's-early 50's)
Was back to Maspeth for our 50th Class reunion and saw so many changes, but the Maspeth Theater was still there.

Anyone out there know about the Juniper Diner that was locatted on the corner of 69th Stret & Grand Aveue before the LIE swept it away.
It was across 69th Stret from Weber's Drug Store.
The Dinerguy

There is an old photo of the Maspeth Theater here:
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/maspeth/oldmasptheatre.jpg

Its not a great photo but its the only one that I could find.

Can anyone read what's listed on the marquee in the forgotten-ny photo? According to an old publication of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, the Maspeth first opened in 1924, under the ownership of the Small & Strasuberg Circuit. David Goldberg was the theatre's manager. The programs included a prologue, feature movie, short subjects, and music provided by a house orchestra.

I can't read anything on that marquee. I will give you the webpage where that photo came from but I doubt the photo there is any clearer.
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/maspeth/maspeth.html

Unfortunately it is to fuzzy for me to read too.

Here's a wild stab. The second line looks like it could be "(The)Mad Dancer," a 1925 film. The first line might be performers in the film, but I couldn't connect the Imdb-listed credits with anything resembling the first line. But I am almost certain the second line reads "in Mad -----".

Any film may be researched on the Internet Movie Database :

www.imdb.com

Using a magnifying glass, I can make out the word 'Mad' on the bottom line of letters. Looking that up on Internet Movie Database, I came up with Ann Pennington "The Mad Dancer" (1925) as a likely reading on the marquee.

KenRoe, just as I said above. So that must be it. "The Mad Dancer."

Elvis played here on a 1964 neighborhood run
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/VivaLasVegas.jpg

The marquee in the photo of the Maspeth Theater on Forgotten-NY.com reads "Vincent Lopez in Mad Dancer." The photo was taken from a Maspeth History book that I own and the original photo is much clearer than the scan. - Christina of Forgotten-NY.com

Thanks Christina. It appears that both Ken and Gerald were correct about the title of the movie. Imdb does date "The Mad Dancer" at 1925. The odd thing is, Imdb doesn't list Vincent Lopez in the credits.

I noticed that too. This article explains the reason Lopez is listed. Apparently, he was more popular at the time than the stars of the movie. This seems to have been a particularly risque film for the time period, but then again it was the Roaring Twenties.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=100790

Does anyone know what if any thater ornamentation exists in the Bingo hall? Is it a "diamond in the rough" like the RKO Richmond Hill Keiths, or was it gutted?

It was just slightly saved when they cut through the LIE in the 60's. IF it was about a half of a block further over, it would have had to have been demolished.

When did it close to movies by the way?

The Maspeth Theatre's history is discussed in the "I Have Often Walked" feature in the current issue of the weekly Queens Chronicle. Unfortunately, the QC's website posted the article with a different photograph than the one described in a caption, which says the photo shows the Maspeth in 1949. The photo posted is not even of a theatre! I wonder if the regular paper editions of QC have the correct photo?

Warren is right, it's obviously not a photo of the theater!
Here's the link:

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=16823661&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574995&rfi=8

I regularly check the "I Have Often Walked" feature of the Queens Chronicle, and have never before seen them make such a mistake. Thanks, Warren, for pointing this out. Thanks, Bway, for posting the link. I wonder what it IS a picture of ?

The photo posted with the Maspeth Theatre feature was the same photo that ran with the previous week's "I Have Often Walked" article. I don't recall the subject, but if you look at the previous week's issue of QC, you will see it. It seems possible that the error also occurred in the printed editions of QC, but I haven't been able to find a copy to check it out. I sent an e-mail to QC about the error at the website, but they have yet to reply.

This is the photo that didn't make it to the Queens Chronicle website, but it did appear in the printed newspaper. It was taken on June 10, 1949. The double feature originated on the Loew's circuit. The trolley car originated in Ridgewood and was headed towards Flushing:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/maspeth61049.jpg

Thanks, Warren. The trolley, then, was the # 58, predecessor of the B-58 and Q-58 Flushing-Ridgewood buses.

Thanks Warren. It's so strange not to see the Expressway in the distance as you would now.

As I looked at the photo, Bway, I was wondering where the LIE would have been located in relation to the view. I've always noticed the roof line of the building from the Expressway, particularly from the eastbound lanes. So the theater ran parallel to Grand Ave with the back wall of the lobby on your left as you entered and the auditorium on your right pointed towards the southwest where the LIE would eventually be constructed.

As a matter of fact, here's a local.live.com aerial view of the structure:

Maspeth Theater looking South

I'm starting to develop a dependency on that site! I must be stopped...

The roof and water tank of the Maspeth Theatre can be seen in the right background of this 1932 view of Grand Avenue. The space plowed under for the LIE in 1952 had been occupied for 60 years by a large depot for the Grand Avenue and Flushing Avenue trolleys and buses. The front of the main depot building is at right, somewhat set back from the block of stores south of it:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/maspeth32.jpg

That's a great photo Warren. I can actually visualize the expressway. The building in the distance on the right of course is the block with the Maspeth theater, and that is still there. The expressway comes through in that somewhat empty area, and where the trolley barn is, and of course all the buildings on the left are gone too I believe.

I found a 1919 ad for the 500-seat Columbia, which may have been Maspeth's first cinema. By the time of this ad, it had just been renovated and was being called the New Columbia. I believe that Woodhull Place is now called 69th Lane, which would put the Columbia near the Maspeth Theatre, which opened in 1924. The competition and the arrival of "talkies" probably spelled the end of the Columbia, which disappeared from theatre listings in the Film Daily Year Book after the 1928 volume:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/colmaspeth.jpg

The American Motion Picture Directory 1914-1915 has the following theatres listed for Maspeth, L.I.:
Columbia Theatre, 61 Grand Street
Flushing Airdome, Flushing Avenue & Seidler Street
Idle Hour Theatre, Muller & Grand Street's
Mariondale Theatre, (no further details given)

Thanks, KenRoe. I've seen an Idle Hour Theatre listed in Cinematour in Queens. Problem is, with these old listings, one has to figure out what those older Queens street names have now changed to. I think Grand Avenue becomes Grand Street when it crosses Newtown Creek into Brooklyn.

There was also an Idle Hour in Long Island City, which has a listing at Cinema Treasures.

Could there have been an Idle Hour Theatre franchise, or are these two names merely a coincidence ?

Idle Hour was a very popular name in the early days before features became the rage. If you had an idle hour or two, the cinema was a relaxing and cheap way to pass the time, watching a batch of one or two-reelers and newsreels. I doubt that the Idle Hours in Maspeth and LIC had any more connection than the scores of Bijous, Dreamlands, Stars, or whatever that cropped up everywhere in the USA.

Does anyone have a closing date for the Maspeth Theatre? In December, 1956, it was showing "War and Peace" simultaneously with the Ridgewood Theatre. Since the two theatres were under the same ownership, I suspect that, due to their proximitiy, the Maspeth was eventually sacrificed in favor of the Ridgewood:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/randpru56.jpg

The Oasis, also listed in that ad, was even closer to the Maspeth than the Ridgwood. The Oasis was (give or take) half way between the Ridgewood and the Oasis. I don't when the Maspeth closed, but the Oasis closed some time around 1979 or 1980 (give or take a year).
I didn't realize the same ownership owned both the Ridgewood and the Oasis.

I'm sorry, I meant "The Oasis was about half way between the Ridgewood and the Maspeth. Sorry for the typo.

Here's an opening day ad from 1924. For those who kneep track of such events, the Maspeth opened in the same Thanksgiving holiday week as the larger and more prestigious Loew's Willard in Woodhaven:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/maspeth24.jpg

Thanks, Warren. I think the RKO Madison opened around Thanksgiving Day 1927.

The Madison closed in Fall 1977 (or was it 1978), so it was almost 50 years to the day...give or take a year...not long enough for such a beautiful building.

I think the Madison closed in the fall of 1977 (or was it 1978), either way 50 years almost exactly....which was way too short for such a beautiful building....

Speaking of the Madison closing - when did the Maspeth Theater close to movies?

As I have posted many times, to my chagrin and annoyance, I cannot recall precisely when the Madison showed its last film, (my working assumption is Halloween 1977, based on what I have read on this site)but I DO know it was closed by the last Saturday of February 1978, when I noticed that "THIS IS HOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STARTS TO DECAY" sign on the front of it.

I have absolutely no idea when the Maspeth stopped showing movies.

Guys....Forgotten NY claims that the Maspeth Theater, "showed movies until 1965 when its use as a movie house came to an end". Here is the link. Its about halfway down the page.

Thanks, Lost Memory. Hadn't been on Forgotten NY for awhile ...

A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 903 style 160 was installed in the Maspeth Theater on 9/22/1924.

Again, Lost, back on topic with the right kind of organ. Thanks !

Here's a new link to a 1949 image of the Maspeth Theatre. By this time, the Maspeth had won better "clearance" and was playing movies simultaneously with the last rung of Loew's theatres in Queens (Prospect, Plaza, Hillside, Willard, Woodside):
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/maspeth61049.jpg

The Maspeth used the "re" ending for the "t" word--Maspeth Theatre (not Maspeth Theater). Here's a new link to a 1924 grand opening ad:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/maspeth24.jpg

In June, 1949, the Randforce Maspeth went first-run for the area, showing the same movies as some Loew's houses for four days of the week. For the other three days, the Maspeth played subsequent-run off the RKO circuit: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/maspeth649.jpg

Anyone out there remember the Juniper Diner?
It sat on the cotner of 69th Stret & GRand Avenue in Maspeth.

Why don't you check the website Diner Treasures? This one is supposed to be for discussions of cinemas.

Thanx, Warren -
I will look at the site you suggest. I'm still learning.
The Juniper Diner was 1 block from the Maspeth Theatre and I thought they could be considered on the same site as the thaetre.
Mariothe Dinerguy

A bit off topic, but here's a question:

Did most of the posters here on CinemaTreasures grow up in New York? Just curious, because there seem to be lots and lots of posters on this site with memories of New York movie palaces, along with the communities they served, and the various movies they saw in those palaces.

MPol, I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, only sold my Ridgewood, Queens home fairly recently (May 1999), am in Ridgewood once a month on business, and work in lower Manhattan.

From my windows at work I can look out to see Evergreen Cemetery, Woodhull Hospital in Bushwick, and the ENY subway yard radio transmitter tower on the horizon.

I've been taken out of Bklyn and Queens, but Bklyn and Queens will NEVER be taken out of me !

Folks, please let's not turn this into another off-topic dumping ground like the listing for the Ridgewood Theatre. Thanks in advance!

Well, Warren, you have shut down the communication valves with your Jan.23, 2009 message. Maybe we should open up this "page" to more far-reaching subjects and still keep it within Maspeth. I suggest the trolley car-barns that were located at 69th Street, Brown Place, and Grand Avenue, only a block away from the theatre. Anyone care to respond?
Mario the Dinerguy

Can anyone name a small movie house on Austin Street, Forest Hills, Queens, NYC?
Mario the Dinerguy

There is the Brandon Cinemas on Austin St which used to be the Continental? is that the one you mean?

I think so.
Thanx.
Mario

I think so.
Thanx.
Mario