Rockville Centre Cinema

This was one of rko busyest twins on long island the theater is the last rko twin still open(now loews cineplex)The theater has an odd lease were it can never open matinee except sat ,sun and legal holidays.AN UGLY TWIN BAD SEATS BUT ALWAYS DID GREAT BSNS.

Thats interesting about the lease, I always used to wonder why this was never open for matinees in the summer when they had big movies.

The bank is the landlord so they never wanted the theater to take its parking.

The main comment above from Robert R. is incorrect.

The theaters were divided but the lobby was open. You could, if you wanted to, walk in the lobby to the "other side". It was just one lobby.

The gimmick was that one theater was blue and the other was red. When you entered into the lobby, if you were going to see a movie in the red theater, you entered on that side. Everything the lobby (the walls, carpet) were red. Then about halfway across the lobby, it would turn blue. The deocorations (curtains, carpet) exactly the same except they were blue. Even downstairs where the bathrooms were, it was the same. There was a set of stairs on either side of the lobby to go down there. And downstairs the red vs. blue motif continued. When I was a kid, if I was seeing a movie in the red area, I thought you might get in trouble if you "dared" to go over into the Blue zone.

This theater was a Times Square Store (remember these fellow Long Islanders?) until around 1968.

Saw a lot of movies here.

At one time this theater had a wall down the center of the lobby when i was dm for this house i remember V.Graham the mgr of many years telling me that story.

I remember the wall.

With the wall: what year would that be? I'm talking from about 1973 until the early 80's. I remember this so well that you could walk throughout either the Blue area or the Red.

Do you remember the colors?

i do remember the colors all RKO auditoriums (twins ) were red and blue.

I was dm in 1985 for this theater

а нашей улице снова праздник. Близится 14 ноября – день, когда ГРАМОТА.РУ отмечает свой день рождения. В этом году – уже четвертый по счету. В это трудно поверить: кажется, что только вчера сайт с адресом www.gramota.ru впервые появился в Интернете.

THERE SHOULD BE A NAME CHANGE To RKO ROCKVILLE CENTRE TWIN . hAS ALWAYS BEEN CALLED THIS..

В Москве Данила встречает Костю и Илью, друзей по первой чеченской войне. Костя пытается помочь брату - близнецу, играющему в НХЛ, в Америке. У него серьезные проблемы с чикагской мафией. Внезапно Костю находят убитым. За дело берется Данила. Ему на помощь приезжает брат Виктор. Вместе они отправляются в Америку. Америка встретила их неприветливо. Братья начинают свою войну.

I wish it was in English..

Ivan,
If you wish to post comments on Cinema Treasures, please post in English so everyone can understand what you're posting, otherwise we'll have to remove your comments. Thank you.

Bryan Krefft
Cinema Treasures

Be careful what you wish for longislandmovies. (just kidding) I found a website to translate what Ivan posted. It makes as much sense to me in English as it does in Russian. This is the translation:

"In Moscow Daniel meets Kostyu and Ilya, friends on the first Chechen war. Kostya attempts soak to brother - twin, who plays in NKHL, in America. It has serious problems with the Chicago Mafia. Suddenly Kostyu finds killed. Daniel undertakes the matter. To it to the aid arrives brother Victor. Together they leave for America. America met them unfriendly. Brothers begin their war".
If you want to do translations, copy the text and paste it in the following website:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr

I hope this is not a code for no good......lol

One of the last RKO THEATERS STILL RUNNING

Yeah, I passed by that theatre one time about two weeks ago (that was actually Christmas Eve). On the way home from visiting our Grandma, we saw the huge marquee, and on the side it said "Finding Polar Treasure", which brought on a nice little laugh. Anyway, I've never been inside this theatre, but I've seen it a good number of times, complete with the old "Cineplex Odeon" logo intact.

Long and narrow, but if the projector light is bright enough it's OK for a move-over from the Fantasy or for a new B-pictue.

Never a b picture house always big boxoffice # s ........Still open as a twin tells you something.

this should be listed as RKO ,,

Well, I live here and they show mostly horror, action and move-overs. The past few weeks have been move-overs. A-pics go to Fantasy. When a new pic opens here I know it's flawed in some way.

I remember seeing the "orange" marquee going through Rockville Centre on the LIRR. I've never seen an orange marquee since.

I worked at the theatre during the mid 70's and I loved climbing the ladder sticking out onto Sunrise Highway and changing the marquee. We would get paid for two hours worth of work to do the marquee regardless of how long it took to do it. Climbing up during a sleet storm wasn't very fun but back then movies hung around for a lot longer than they do now and we didn't have to do it that often. The movies used to change on Wednesday so I'd be up on the ladder on Tuesday night. My teachers at school would always give me grief on Wednesday morning if I didn't have my homework done because they had seen me up on the ladder the night before.

I have always been intimidated by the bathrooms . I have to make my boyfriend stand outside while I go, because I always have this eerie feeling.
I also have seen a funny listing on the side of the marquee as 'cinemaniac'.Mine was "dead , man ,boy" referring to of course(land of teh dead, cinderella man, sharkboy lava girl).
Thanks for the always wondered information about this theatre.

I'd have to think this theatre isn't long for the world after (or if) the Loews-AMC merger is approved.

Is there a mergerin the works? I wasn't aware of one.

Is there a mergerin the works? I wasn't aware of one.

There is, cinemafan131; here's the story, as posted on this site, and the accompanying comment string - http://cinematreasures.org/news/13262_0_1_0_C

The Rockville Centre Cinema is commonly listed in the NY Post and Daily News movie clocks as the R.V.C. Twin.

Thanks br91975.

There is a reason this twin is the last of a long line of RKO TWIN theaters to survive. The box office numbers have always been BIG .All the other twins from RKO are LONG gone .

A few other notes This was the smallest of the twins (rko ). ..Alittle TLC and this is a gold mine a perfect mom and pop theater if lowes ever closes it.

Both of these comments are very true .Whenevr I go there theatre is always packed.

Both of these comments are very true .Whenever I go there that theatre is always packed.

Whether I go at 1:57 or at 1:58, it's always packed!

bookings of late are weak but also at the fantasy as well ..strange...

bookings of late are weak but also at the fantasy as well ..strange...

I ran this place on occasion when the manager was on vacation, around 1987-1989. I remember we opened Rain Man on both screens, and sold out the entire opening night before 7PM.

Is it still open? It is listed with no showtimes at EnjoyTheShow.com .

I think it's closed...it's not on the new AMC/Loews website, nor is it on Yahoo Movies.

I passed by a few weeks ago and someone was in there taking tickets ,maybe they are closed now.

If this is closed ...this is the theater to LEASE .........THIS HOUSE IS LOVED BY THE LOCALS ,

I went by the theatre today ,there is no name on the marquee and appears to be empty.I guess it's really gone.
Maybe if they renovated or something they would've drawn more patrons.When I first moved here they always had a nice crowd and year by year it dwindled.They were only open later on in the evening and weekends due to there lease restricttions (read first post of this page),that alone will kill a business .Sorry to see it go.

This theater always outgrossed the competition when given a good movie .The rvc the last of the RKO theaters left on longisland.The bank holds the lease on this propertynext to the theater.

I wonder if this closing has anything to do with AMC taking over Loews as of this past Friday (1/27/06).

As much as I bashed the Oceanside Twin, seeing this theater go is a REAL heartbreaker for me. My GOD I saw so many movies here. How sad!

sad because this is one of the few twins that could still make money ..the big chains just dont want them if there this small.

I was in the neighborhood with my camera the other morning and snapped these photos of the old RKO Twin's exterior.

Corner view
Head on view

I wonder how long this space will remain vacant before it is demolished or gutted for re-use. Aside from the lack of film titles on the marquee and empty display cases, the place looks like it is simply waiting in off hours for the doors to be opened for the next showing. I imagine the boards will go up over those windows before too long.

only closed a few weeks .this is a twin........ and there are but afew..... that really could make money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

"I remember seeing the "orange" marquee going through Rockville Centre on the LIRR. I've never seen an orange marquee since."


Yes,Don I remember that too. Being the movie obsessed geek that I was I would track my trip to NYC on the train by the marquees along the tracks of teh Babylon line. Sunrise Mall, The Pequa, the rickety looking Movies in Bellmore, and then getting close to Queens, the orange RKO marquee followed by the Green Acres and the Multiplex. Was always glad the nearby Sunrise Multiplex didn't eat it up.

The photo links I posted February 12th no longer work. Here's a new link where those pics may now be found.

Came across an old copy of Newsday I saved from the time just after John Lennon's murder. I also have copies of the NY Post and Daily News from this time and it seems that only in Newsday did theater chains like RKO run these sort of throwback block ads:

RKO block ad

Elsewhere in the paper, RKO also had a smaller block for its bargain-priced third run cinemas (at the time priced at "80 cents at all times") such as the Mineola, Valley Stream and Hempstead Theaters.

What is going on with this theater ,has anything gone in this space,
.

I passed this theater last Thursday evening. Still looks the same as it did in the photos I posted above that I took in February. There is now a "for rent" sign on the side panels of the marquee. There are no gates on the building at all, the doors are merely locked and one can peer through the large windows that front Sunrise Hwy and see the candy counter in full view. As I said previously, it looks as if it were closed during off business hours just waiting for the manager to show up and open the box office.

The seat were so bad in this theater. If you are over 5'10" forget about it. My parents dragged me to see "The Sting" there when I was like five. The bathrooms are strange there. Very haunted feeling from them.

The seat were so bad in this theater. If you are over 5'10" forget about it. My parents dragged me to see "The Sting" there when I was like five. The bathrooms are strange there. Very haunted feeling from them.

The seat were so bad in this theater. If you are over 5'10" forget about it. My parents dragged me to see "The Sting" there when I was like five. The bathrooms are strange there. Very haunted feeling from them.

ALL you people that post you want a theater in new york ...This is your chance a small twin that can still make money ....a lease deal that locals love ...there is a reason this theater closed in 2006 over 15 years after all the other RKO HOUSES WERE LONG GONE...RUN INTO THE GROUND BY LOWES BOOKERS........Grab this one !!!!1

I drove by here Saturday and it is still clean and well kept. That awesome marquee, I would hate to see it go. I wonder why nobody grabs this one.

The last RKO HOUSE on longisland.....

if some one does not open this soon .....................THIS IS A GOLD MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

This website uses two different spellings of the community. This one is correct: Rockville Centre. The Fantasy Theatre, however, is listed incorrectly as being in Rockville Center.

I wonder if this will open anytime soon. It's almost been a year now. I've toyed with the notion of looking into it myself. But I really know very little about theatre management, costs, etc.

Does anyone here know something about what goes into a venture like this? I know I would have to lease the theatre and pay taxes, etc. What other costs are there? I don't know the process of renting a 35mm film or how that works? Or if you need a lisense to even show movies.

Anybody smart like that?

closed 9 months ...........and should not be ...........

do you know why it closed?

The theatre closed last January, AMC didn't want to operate twin theatres. Their was a posibility the owners of Malverne might take it over.

Shouldn't this also have an AKA of "RKO Rockville Centre Twin" or "RKO Twin"?

Malverne is ok but it would be better to have some variety in ownership. Oceanside was run poorly. Malverne would be competing with itself if it had another theatre to run independent films.

I think the Rockville Centre would do very well with more mainstream fare than is currently programmed at the Malverne. It's in a good location and from reports on this page, hadn't really been wanting in attendance, even at the very end. The thing is that restrictive lease covenant that curtails hours of operation due to the small parking lot it shares with the Bank. I wonder if that'll keep any larger chains away.

Anyone know if this theater is still available??.....Longislandmovies??? anyone???

As far as I have seen it is still vacant.

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.657025~-73.641573&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=8758106

Aerial view, you can see the red and blue building.

how can this still be empty???

It's empty because the landlord wants a ridiculuos amount of money for rent.

too bad........ a rent at this theater should be about $3,800

Rockville Centre is a congested little *unfriendly* town CRAMMED with it's own rules and regulations (some of which include not being able to park in front of your own house!). You don't wanna open this theater back up. I was at this theater only once a few years ago, and the friend I was with who went to the bathroom, also commented on it's "haunting atmosphere".....other people posted such comments. What was up with the restrooms in there? Was someone killed down there in 1968?

Bloop have you lost your mind,,Rvc is a great town with high end homes with loyal theater patrons ./Yes the bathrooms need a redo ....were you coming from?

Long Island e-mail me if you have any contact info on who has the sale for The Rockvilel Twin. Me and my freind have an idea for a cinema/cafe fot it.
The clientelle around there would love it.

Someone would perhaps go into the theatre if it was for sale. But look at the aerial shot above. But think outside the box. Look at how crowded this area is and there is very little parking. There are small parking area here and there. Keep in mind that if this building does seat around 800 people, you should have at least 300 parking spaces available. Granted, maybe a bit less because this area does have access to mass transit (LIRR and buses). Then there is the use to think about. This theatre is way too small to convert to a live performance venue. That is really the only thing that would work out generate a good income. Maybe a non-profit arts movie house may work...but you could never do first runs here. Just in the next town, Valley Stream, you have a few theatres including a large one by the VS Mall. So that would be out of the question. With two screens you probably wouldn't make enough money anyway. . Running old movies probably will not be enough to get people out of their homes. It is a pretty touchy situation, but perhaps as others pointed out because the building is not for sale, probably the owner is ramming up the rent. Once he gets discouraged enough, he probably will renovate the building to turn it into a retail outlet. CLASSIC Long Island for you.

The sad thing is that Long Island does need big theatres for live shows. Right now the only ones that I ever hear much about is the Patchogue Theatre and also Gateway Playhouse. Occasionally I hear something going on at the Airport Playhouse in Bohemia, but that is a really small place in an industrial area.

Just about all of Long Island's large single screen houses are gone or have been converted to retail space.

Finally there is the cost of living/and or operating a business here. Taxes are VERY high. One of the highest in the nation. Add insult to injury with rising gas prices and people are just not leaving their homes anymore. So you have to make something affordable and attractive enough to get people to come to your theatre. Yet profitable enough to pay your bills.

I hate to say it, but I don't foresee anything happening with this theatre anytime soon. If indeed that bank next to it owns the theatre, I am sure they will convert it to something they know they can lease at a high figure once they figure out no one is going to pay their present high rate to run the place as a movie theatre.


Lastly...look at the place. It's a box. No character at all. It isn't like it is a classic movie palace with a guilded facade and velvet seats and a gold clad proscenium arch.

Given this building's size and it's divided nature, I can almost assure you that the owner will eventually create two retail shops out of this building and then get TWO rents out of it.

I am sorry to say that, but realistically think about it for a while. It would be the easiest AND most profitable thing for the owner to do with an otherwise empty building.

Geo1--- The theater parking has never brrn a big issue for this theater as it uses the bank lot .The bank owns the building and the theater can only be open when the bank is closed..This twin can and was making money ,this theater closed the day chain ownersipe changed.

*Parking your car in Rockville Center (Centre) is a *nightmare* Especially on a weekend, or during nice summer/spring nights.

...oh yeah, I forgot about the high taxes...

Geo1 also didn't mention the "attitude" in Rockville Centre...

Up for lease for over a year, the RVC theater is now up for sale. The realtor is Sutton and Edwards and the phone number on the marquee is 516-328-6500.

While not the most beautiful theater, the marquee is cool, and the historic value to the community is, I think, important.

Rockville Centre is a very community based village. The people are very proud of their community and work very hard to preserve it which may to some appear to "have an attitude," and it also accounts for some somewhat unique restrictions on homes and businesses. People who live here put up with it because they know it is in the interest of preserving the charm of the village they love.

After reading in the Rockville Centre Herald that the Malverne was interested in the property, I spoke to the Malverne owner about it briefly one night while attending his theater and he said that he didn't think the theater could make money since it was only a duplex and the problem of the parking issue.

Nevertheless, I think this theater has some potential. Rockville Centre is known as the restaurant captial of Nassau County. It is the perfect dinner and a movie date night town, especially because of the variety of restaurants. People from all over the county come here to go out to dinner.

I think it could do well as a community arts cultural center. A similar project of turning an old movie theater into a cultural arts center did wonders for the real estate in West Hampton Beach. The Huntington Cultural Arts Center seems to be successful.

I'm going to look into it to see if it's viable. Anyone interested in joining a coalition to turn the movie theater into a cultural arts center, e-mail me at scrivenerb@aol.com or stay tuned......

Anyone interested in forming a coalition to help turn this theater into a community cultural arts center, please e-mail me scrivenerb@aol.com

Heres some RVC gossip I just heard from a local store owner on that block.According to him the movie theatre has or is being taken over b another cineplex.

Interesting. I actually met with the realtor today and saw the building. He didn't mention anything about that and the architectural plans he gave me gave me the impression that they were also trying to pitch it as a retail space.

I've written to some local government officials and they seem interested in the cultural arts center idea.

Well at least it would be kept as a movie theater if a cineplex took it over and it wouldn't be a chain store. Please let me know if you hear anything else.

Not the greatest twin cinemas in creation, but the loss of any is still a blow to the heart.

Anyone interested in forming a coalition to help turn this theater into a community cultural arts center that would show independent movies as well as develop other art and dramatic programs, please e-mail me scrivenerb@aol.com
posted by scrivenerb on Jul 24, 2007 at 12:36pm

i looked into this place a while back. the rent was so high. i would love to see it re-opened rather than sitting around or becoming some ugly storefront.

I'll echo some of the sentiments above on what a great little village RVC is. Great restaurants in a hopping little business district that is always clean and brightly lit. I've never had a problem with parking - a lot of some kind always seems to be within walking distance of wherever your headed. There is a lot behind the Fantasy multiplex, another across Sunrise Hwy and yet another behind the storefronts that are on the other side of the street from the Fantasy. As for not being able to park in front of your own house - part of living in an incorporated village on Long Island is that you have to move your cars off the street and into your driveway (which everyone has) between the hours of 3AM and 5AM. Residents of apartment complexes can either rent spaces in their complex' lot or park at nearby Village lots with permits or cheap overnight metered rates (a dollar for 12 hours is not uncommon).

Swung by the theater today with my camera, which I pressed up against the filthy glass front of the theater to get these shots into the lobby (and even one of the theater doors):

Through the doors of the \"blue\" auditorium
Right side of refreshment stand
Head-on refreshment stand
Box Office window
Made in Brooklyn
Four adults for the 7:30 showing of Blow Out, please
Right (blue) side of lobby
A ghostly view through the doors
What is that metallic object in the distance?
Under the canopy
Exclusive Agent

Looks like they unceremoniously ripped out all the light fixtures and the entire drop ceiling (grid, panels and all) from the lobby. At least one pane of glass is cracked in a large shatter pattern (but it hasn't broken to shards) and the windows could definitely use a wash, but overall this seems to be in pretty good shape. Anyone know what the shiny metallic looking square is at the end of the aisle in the photos into the right auditorium? Looks like this is where the screen should be - could it be part of the speaker system?

Anyway... I saw many movies here in the early '80's when I lived in relatively nearby Laurelton, Queens. The only one that comes to mind after all these years is Brian DePalma's "Blow Out" back in 1981. I think I also saw David Lynch's "The Elephant Man" here - but that might have been the RKO in Lawrence.

Both theaters were single aisle down the center, so you always sat to one side or the other of the dead center sweet-spot a lot of folks loved. And at matinees, if someone opened the door to the lobby, the image on screen would get partially washed out by sunlight streaming through the mostly-glass facade! Now that I'm thinking of it, I'm trying to remember if this theater placed the aisle slightly off center so that one section was a bit wider than the other and would therefore offer a center-screen sightline for those who could get those seats early enough. I might be thinking of one of those auditoriums formed by the split of a larger single screen (like the Lynbrook) - it's all rather fuzzy nowadays!

Ed nice shots .............love to see this back ........i wish i still lived on longisland........

I saw that they were closed a few months back for an asbestos cleaning .Nice shots!

Nice little twin, saw a lot of movies here when I was kid with my dad.

I saw:

The Goonies-1985
Spaceballs-1987
Who Frammed Roger Rabbit-1988
Lethal Weapon 2-1989

Saw much more, but this is what I remember. I do recall going downstairs to the bathroom. A shame it had to shutdown, it would have been nice to go back to see a shot there to relive my childhood.

someone asked me about this..i remember it...didn't

this twin come about the same time as west babylon rko twin?

what is around it now?

i DID COME AROUND THE SAME TIME..

Any news on this???????

I am sorry to see that this theatre is closed. I would take my GF there after going to Time Piece Cafe for dinner. I seem to recall it was always busy on Fri and Sat nights. I would try to time dinner with enough time to eat and not have to rush for the movie. I liked it because you could not only see the movies but hear them as well. If I had seen the movie playing there I would go to the Green Acres or Sunrise multiplex that was before they put the airport metal detectors in there.

Its funny how this theatre was an RKO from the start, and yet was built similar to many Jery Lewis theatres from the early 70's. I remember the twin my late father worked at in Carteret N.J. The left theatre was blue and the right theatre was red. The concession stand was built right across the lobby, so there was no way to cross from one side to the other. This was helpful later in the decade after JL was out of the business and the theatre started showing soft porn in the blue theatre (which they called the adult side, the other theatre was the family side.) It finally closed in 1984, but man that place was fun, alot like your sounded like.

The year given for this photo of the RKO Twin is 1986.

What is there now???

To longislandmovies, The building is still there. Still with a for lease sign on it. I don't think the inside has been touched. Last I heard the owner of the property wanted too much rent to make it work for an operator.

To see this building on Google maps, use 394 Sunrise Highway as the address. At the time the Google photo was taken, the building was empty and available.