AMC Loews Roosevelt Field 8

The Roosevelt Field Theatres is now owned by Loews Cineplex, but is named in theatre directories as Loews Roosevelt Field. What was the original Roosevelt Field theatre like before it was chopped up into many smaller screens? What are the current seating capacities now?

This was a huge single screen theatre with curtains and very comfortable seats. It had a large blacony and would guess the seating at maybe 1800? Maybe longislandmovies can tell us more. I think this was always one of Centurys big moneymakers.

This was Centurys big money maker and still does well today.Rko was renovating this theater when Cineplex bought the chain avery bad design .This theaters box office #s were are hugh. Avery good matinee house also.

this must be listed under a different way i dont think this theater would have only 3 posts,

The address that I found for this theater is 630 Old Country Rd.

I'm looking for information about a different theater at Roosevelt Field.

During what I think was the summer of 1963 my mom dragged us kids to Roosevelt Field -- an unusual expedition for a sedentary Queens family -- for back-to-school clothing and supplies. I recall a theater inside the mall called "Cinema". It was showing a foreign film, "Shoot the Piano Player". I remember that this was the first time I had heard movies referred to as "Cinema", and that some movies were made in languages other than English. (And it was only years later that I learned that "Shoot the Piano Player" was one of Truffaut's most beloved films).

I'd like to start a page about this theater but I lack even the most basic information. I can't find any trace of the theater by doing web searches, although part of the problem is swamping by thousands of references to the current theaters at Roosevelt Field.

Does anyone have any information about this "Cinema" at Roosevelt Field -- the full name, the company that ran it, its dates of operation?

The sign "Cinema" seems to jog a memory of seeing other LI mall theatres with this name. Was thios maybe the original Roosevelt Field theatre as a single screen? I think it may have opened into the mall when it was built. I know later on all the Century Theatres had the huge Century name in script on them, at least the newer ones.

They all had the name in script

Not all, just the Long Island locations with the exception of the Shore, Alan, Baldwin, Freeport, Grove and some others. Just the newly constructed houses after 1962 have the Century script. The Whitman's was the last script to exist on a former Century house. None of the Brooklyn locations had the Century script. Their theatre in Garden City Park (the Park East) didn't have the script as well. The Century motto was "Let Us Entertain You". From time to time in the lobby showcases was a poster sign, "We treat our patrons like royalty". When a location closed, another poster sign was put in the outside showcases "thanking the patrons for the many years of their patronage" and "to visit the nearest Century Theatre for their movie going pleasure". Today, it's just close the doors and walk away from it."

The Century theatres all had the same carpeting which was known as "Century" spatter.
P.S. RobertR, Sorry I missed you at the Loew's Jersey, I was there and was talking to some volunteers. "SPARTACUS" was great, even better than the Ziegfeld presentation some 13 years ago. I plan to be in Brooklyn Sunday for a theatre crawl in Bushwick and Ridgewood.
Did you take the PATH after the "SPARTACUS" showing?

The Bellrose did not have the script, and I dont think the Floral did either.

Orlando- No I drove the car there. Stupid me though I forgot to bring my camera. Are any more movie events planned?

not just the long island theateres had the script some jersey houses had it also

The Century carpet was famousi wonder if it is left anywere?

longislandmovies
Can you tell us if the Roosevelt Field theatre ever opened inside the mall?

To my knowledge, it never opened into the mall. The current building is larger than its original. When shoeboxed, one and two were downstairs, and three and four were upstairs. Later the building was expanded on its Southern side to include five and six downstairs, and seven and eight upstairs. There are four projection rooms. To get to the projection room for one and two, you must must walk behind the screen in auditorium three. Projection room three and four is in auditorium four. Projection room five and six is accessed from the lobby. Projection room seven and eight is accessed by either climbing a ladder or spiral staircase from projection room five and six. Have I confused you yet? :)

By the way, the menu at this place is great. You can get pizza, spicy curly fries, spicy-hot buffalo wings, chicken sandwiches, chili, REAL nachos (you know, the ones with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, sour cream, etc.) smoothies, expresso and a ton of stuff you cannot get at other theaters.

It has always suprised me that Roosevelt Field has better food served then Loews Raceway.

I remember this theater going way back. It was a large single screen theater when I was a kid in the 70's. It was VERY similar to the Century's Valley Stream theater at Green Acres. In the mid 80's they made it into a triplex. Due to it's size, each theater was very nice and big. Then in the late 80's, they carved up the balcony sections even more and made a few more theaters. This was in the early 90's. The movie theater was very nice. Well maintained. The last time I was there was in the summer of 2002 and I was shocked to see how shoddy the place had become. Dirty, dirty, dirty and very run down. I assumed it was because of the newer theater down where the raceway had been.

In actuality, Roosevelt Field Mall as a whole has become majorly shabby of late. It's not the same great mall that I remember growing up.

This is another example of the minute there is competition, they let the older house go to hell. The dumb thing is they are both owned by Loews Cineplex and both get a good share of A pictures.

How is Roosevelt Field becoming shabby? After the major renovation and expansion they had about 4-5 years ago, the mall is bigger and cleaner than ever (especially considering how close it is to Hempstead).

Well, the last time I was at Roosevelt Field was in the summer of 2002 and I was appalled at the condition. The parking lots were incredibly littered, they got rid of the neat spouting fountain in the open area outside of where JC Penney's and Sterns used to be to put in (OH GOD!) a stupid train ride and a useless carousel to get more money, and just the whole place looked tired. This was THE mall in Nassau county back in the 80's and early 90's and after the MAJOR renovation, it was truly spectacular. Even in 1998 or so, it was still fantastic. When I worked there in the late 80's when it was still a single level mall, Roosevelt Field was the standard by which all other malls were compared, usually unfavorably. So, it might've improved since 2002 but back then, whoa! It was becoming a trashy dump, IMO.

And that goes double for the theater. I've written above about how great it was. But since the multiplex opened where the raceway was, they've let the theater go downhill big time.

I went here on Saturday night to catch "Guess Who". I have to say the place was very clean, bathrooms, lobby and auditorium. I was in #5 which is one of the smaller auditoriums. The sound was fine, but my only complaint was the picture seemed dark. The bulb may have been past it's hours or the mirror needed to be aligned.

This mall and theater always one of the busyest in the country

The last time I was at Roosevelt Field was during the summer of 2002 and the place was majorly depressing. Ok, so that was three years ago so I hope things have changed. It's just that back in the 80's, that mall was like Long Island's Times Square without the seediness and such. It was a real cultural hub. It was a genuinely exciting place to be and it was maintained beautifully. Seeing it three years ago was very upsetting. Like I said, I hope it's better now.

But RobertR, I have a serious question for you: what in God's name would make you go see "Guess Who"? I'm a HUGE Bernie Mac fan but I still wouldn't pay nearly $10 bucks to see this in a theater. I'll wait for cable....

Fritz played here in the 70's
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/FritztheCat.jpg

"Century twinned it and later when they were aquired by RKO, it was made into a quad. Later Cineplex Odeon made it an eight-plex" (RobertR, intro)
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A couple of clarifications: During the early-to-mid 1980s, this theater was a triplex. RKO Century then turned it into a quad in '85 or '86. By '89 it was expanded again to an eightplex, at which time it was operated by Loews not Cineplex Odeon.

Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando in 1968 on a Universal Premiere Presentation
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/CountessFromHongKong.jpg

this theater never operated as a loews

this is how it went
CENTURY
ALMI CENTURY
RKO CENTURY WARNER
CINEPLEX ODEON \


LOEWS/CINEPLEX

This theatre under went a major makeover in about 98 maybe 3 yrs after the raceway opened, all new seats, carpet, wallpaper, retro fitted the kitchen and on and on.
There is only so much management can do when customers are constantly kicking holes in the walls and ripping seats with their pocket knifes, grafetti on the walls inside and out, gang problems and so on.
Loews did not let this one go because of the raceway it was just the opposite, Loews had always called the Raceway and Roosevelt Field their "Crown Jewels" big grossing theatres.
They are not in any comptition with each other as they are booked very differently and clean up with 18 screens.
The crowd (Yourger trouble makers) have no respect for this theatre and tear it up all the time, everytime they fix it they tear it down.

This theatre was a loews theatre, and also operated under the name of Sony

When I worked here they had security, now they have armed security. Be careful if you attend this place with younger kids, better to see mat.

I like this theatre, they can really expand more, It has an open environment, but I haven't gone recently.

The name of the area is very evocative.Go to abandoned and little known airfields.com and see where the name came from.The pictures and from the air shots are interesting.Some things of great importance happened there before the mall came on the scene.

70mm
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/Mission.jpg

Century twinned it and later when they were aquired by RKO, it was made into a quad. Later Cineplex Odeon made it an eight-plex" (RobertR, intro)
_____________________________________

A couple of clarifications: During the early-to-mid 1980s, this theater was a triplex. RKO Century then turned it into a quad in '85 or '86. By '89 it was expanded again to an eightplex, at which time it was operated by Loews not Cineplex Odeon.

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By the time Loews merged with Cineplex Odeon in 1998, this theatre was already a 8-plex.

Here is the updated operating order:
CENTURY
ALMI CENTURY
RKO Century Warner (1981-1987)
Cineplex Odeon (1987-1998)
Loews Cineplex (Still as Cineplex Odeon) (1998-2006)
AMC Loews (Still with Cineplex Odeon or Loews Cineplex logos) (2006-P)

Century twinned it and later when they were aquired by RKO, it was made into a quad. Later Cineplex Odeon made it an eight-plex" (RobertR, intro)
_____________________________________

A couple of clarifications: During the early-to-mid 1980s, this theater was a triplex. RKO Century then turned it into a quad in '85 or '86. By '89 it was expanded again to an eightplex, at which time it was operated by Loews not Cineplex Odeon.

________________________________________

By the time Loews merged with Cineplex Odeon in 1998, this theatre was already a 8-plex.

Here is the updated operating order:
CENTURY
ALMI CENTURY
RKO Century Warner (1981-1987)
Cineplex Odeon (1987-1998)
Loews Cineplex (Still as Cineplex Odeon) (1998-2006)
AMC Loews (Still with Cineplex Odeon or Loews Cineplex logos) (2006-P)

I worked here from 96 - 2000 it was a loews theatre and did not change until the merge with AMC in 2006. I worked for loews since 1992 and this was a loews theatre the entire time until we merged with cineplex at which time it changed the name to Loews Cineplex (still under loews management ) there was also a time in there during the 90's maybe around 97 or 98 when we were called Sony ( but sony and loews were sister company's ) so again all the same management. Loews ( upper ) management did not survive the last merge with AMC in 2006.

This AMC Loews Theatres is probally the last of the Century Theatres from the late 1950's and 1960's that is still in use. It's sister theatre (from the Century days), the Loews Cineplex Route 17 Triplex (which had the "RKO Century's Paramus Theatre" instead of the Cineplex Odeon logo on it's building to the very end) has been closed since Janunary 12, 2006, and demolished by May of this year.

Went here a number of times in the 60s/early 70s when it was a single large house incl. AFTER THE FOX, MAROONED and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE.

Oh yeah, played hookie one day and my pal and I went to SLEUTH.

Those were the days........

The seating is
1. 424 SDDS(8)/SR
2. 419 dts/SDDS(8)/DS
3. 296 SDDS(8)/SR
4. 219 DS
5. 171 DS
6. 250 DS
7. 183 SDDS(8)/DS
8. 259 SDDS(8)/DS

After Cineplex Odeon took over RKO Century is 1987, Cineplex sold the complex to Loews Theatres. Cineplex Odeon didn't ran the theatre too long.

Loews had to finish the renovations of 4 plex expansion. The other Century Theatre still ran by AMC is the Fantasy in Rockville Centre

Cineplex odeon finished the expansion long before LOEWS was in the picture

old CENTURY theaters still in use in NY ...

Roosevelt field,fantasy,meadows,green acres,

Also the Shore theatre in Huntington

SHORE theater falls under --kind of --as the Century building was demolished and a new theater went in its place..Where i started as an usher................

you can say the same fo the meadows.

No the Meadows is still the original building just redone inside...

This used to be a good multiplex. The last 5 years hasn't been good to this theater. Always pulling in the wrong crowd. They don't even post what movies they are showing at the entrance anymore.

Triplex
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c32%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=88&ProductID=30799

Hi Orlando, are you Charlie Orlando the projectionist??

Last night, I passed by the Roosevelt Field theatre and it was completely dark. When I got home, and just now, I phoned the theatre and let it ring a solid three minutes. Anyone knows what's going on there?