Bliss Theatre

The Bliss can be glimpsed at mid-left edge of the following image. Look for the watertower (as opposed to WatchTower) :

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?510

The building has a current market value of $3.48 million, according to NYC property records. Curiously, the Albemarle in Brooklyn, which is about the same size as the Bliss and also now a JW church, is valued at $7.2 million. Perhaps the location makes the difference.

A recent photo of the theatre's exterior as church can be seen at http://www.18.photobucket.com/albums/a18/warrengwhiz/22fb04ee.jpg

My earlier post of July 6 apparently contains an error. This was my first attempt ever to post a photo and I obviously goofed. I will try again at some time in the future if I ever learn how to do it correctly.

I hope that this works:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/th_22fb04ee.jpg

The Bliss ran this double bill Christmas 1954
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/AdventuresofRobinsonLittleKidnapper.jpg

This is a 1957 photo of a fire on Greenpoint Avenue. You can see part of the Century Bliss Theater.

Here is another photo of the fire showing a portion of the Bliss Theater.

From the December 1932 Daily Star "AS DEPRESSION DEEPENS":

"On December 29 the Bliss Theater did its bit towards seasonal cheer by holding a free children's matinee, sponsored by neighborhood businesses Lindy Clothes and Adams Hat. So great were the crowds of children waiting outside that the doors were opened at 9.45 am!

Many boxes of Loft's candy were opened for the junior moviegoers, who sat down to watch a Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Barnyard Broadcast, followed by the "talkie" Huckleberry Finn, adapted from the book by Mark Twain, and starring Jackie Coogan, Junior Durkin, Jackie Searle and Mitzi Green. The talented Mitzi Green, who had previously appeared in Love Among the Millionaires, Sweetie, and Tom Sawyer, was also starring that Christmas in Little Orphan Annie. Mitzi, the first child Paramount ever signed to a long-term contract, lived in Flushing until she achieved Hollywood stardom".

Here are some exterior shots I took a couple of weekends ago:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0678.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0679.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0680.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0681.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0682.jpg

I wonder if the Church would allow me to take some photographs of the interior one Sunday after services (or perhaps on some other day of the week)? Next time around, I'll give it a try.

EdSolero, please don't become a Jehovah's Witness, just to get inside of, and photograph the interior of, that former theater ! It's not worth it !

My first memory of the Wyckoff Theater (there's a page for it on this site) in Wyckoff Heights, Bklyn, is as a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall.

There's very little left of the original Bliss decor except on the exterior. The auditorium walls and ceiling have been streamlined to a modern appearance. Last year, everything was re-painted and new seats were installed. The entrance lobby still suggests a cinema, but the wall and ceiling murals are all new and look like they were done by someone using a "paint-by-numbers" kit...If you are looking for a theatre-as-church to photograph, I would suggest the ex-Loew's in Woodside, which is now the Roman Catholic St. Sebastian's. Most of the architecture of the Woodside's auditorium is still evident, but probably not in the same colors as the original.

Thanks for the tip, Warren. I'd also love to get my camera inside the old Valencia on Jamaica Avenue, one of these days. Presently, the level of nerve I can work up on these excursions only allows for exterior shots. But, when I stop to think about it... what have I got to lose?

EdSolero, the former Valencia, now the Tabernacle Of Prayer, is a different story. It reads like a strong Christian church, and I see no reason not to go inside.

I have read that the interior there has been repainted in colors gaudier than the original decor, and that the naked cherubs on the ceiling have been covered for modesty.

Warren, I never knew that St. Sebastian's in Woodside was once a Loew's movie house. I've passed it so many times on the el, yet have never been inside. Yet a friend of mine once was. Thanks for mentioning this.

Thanks for the encouragement, PKoch. And have no fear... I am imune to religious indoctrination! Ironically, my father was raised Jehovah's Witness (but abandoned it in adulthood). Maybe I can use that somehow to curry favor with those who have the authority to let me in with my camera.

You're welcome, EdSolero !

Ed, when planning to take interior shots of theatres as churches, it is best to attend a service and just start shooting until told to stop (which might not happen). NEVER ask for permission in advance because you probably won't get it...Peter, St. Sebastian's has several services on Sunday morning, which is best time to go. I think it's also open on Saturday afternoon for confessions.

I reorganized my photobucket account, so the photos I originally posted Sep 7th are now located in this album.

Thanks, EdSolero.

This was copied from inferior microfilm at the NYPL, but at least gives an idea of what the auditorium looked like before the current church sanitized it:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/blissoriginal.jpg

Great image, Warren, despite the graininess. The auditorium appears to have been far more elaborately ornamented than I would have thought, particularly for what would be a 2nd run nabe. I imagine the intentions were a bit loftier when it was built? Perhaps Century's thought it might compete with the Valencia and Triboro? I love the straight line and right angle patterns. No curves in sight - not even on the chandelier! An interesting contrast to the usual Adamesque or Art Deco/Moderne interiors found in most nabes throughout the borough.

Here's the full article that ran in Motion Picture Herald soon after the Bliss opened:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bliss02.jpg

Here's a pre-opening ad from 1930. Please note "Unit 6" of the premiere programme, which demonstrated the theatre's "Giant Screen." A news report in The Daily Star of 12/26/30 said: "One of the special features of the Bliss is the new type of magnascopic screen. The screen is mounted on a huge frame which can be expanded or contracted to suit the size of the picture. The normal size is sixteen by twenty feet. By means of an electrically controlled device, the screen can be expanded to magnascopic size-- twenty-three by thirty-two feet. A further expansion to an area of forty-five by thirty-two feet is available for the showing of a huge panorama." To the best of my knowledge, the Bliss never projected an entire feature movie via magnascope, but it often used it to surprise the audience during a spectacular scene.
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/blissopener.jpg

Here's a portion of a Century Circuit ad from February 7, 1951, showing how the Bliss promoted its expanding "Magnascopic Screen," here for the all-star B&W musical, "The West Point Story":
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/magnabliss.jpg

Copied from murky microfilm, this 1930 photo reveals that the Bliss originally had a large electric sign on the roof, facing Greenpoint Avenue. Note how the entrance and lobbies are separate from and at an angle to the auditorium. The corner store was bricked up by the current church and is used for offices. Thomson Hill is the now rarely used name for a section of Sunnyside that has spectacular views of Manhattan, including the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/blissroof.jpg

This photo was on a site called bridgeandtunnelclub.com. There are several photos of current and former theaters in the NYC area. It's worth checking out if you haven't seen it already:
http://tinyurl.com/3cd38s

Link to the site. Mentioning the site is not the same.

Hello, my name is Guy Smith, and cant believe I found thus site. I lived at 53-07 43rd Street, Maspth in buildings called the Flats near the Calvery Cemetary from 1959-1963. One summer day on a Saturday, myself and my friend Danny Finn and another boy went to The Bliss Theater to see "Jack the Giant Killer", must have been in 1961. Wonder if anyone has memories of this area as I was seven in 1961, remember a Key Food, a small candy store, a bakery, a doctors office...which I hated, and a Buster Brown shoe store nearby. My e-maol is habs1rule@yahoo.com Thank You.

Here are new links to previously posted vintage images:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/blissoriginal.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bliss02.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/blissopener.jpg

As those of you who have visited this page over the last few days will notice, I have deleted a number of off-topic and/or antagonistic emails.

The next attack wins a free suspension! :)

Thank you, Ross, for your attention and help !

The Bliss was already being used as a church in this 1979 photo.

The Bliss went directly from theatre to JW church, which didn't alter the marquee right away. The "Watchtower" displayed is a JW publication.

Here is an item in the August 1, 1953 edition of Boxoffice magazine:

NEW YORK-Police arrested a ring of youthful theatre bandits Wednesday whose members said they concentrated on houses showing 3-D pictures “because they take in more money”.

The holdups began June 12 with a $1,600 haul at the Sunnyside Theatre, Queens. On June 28, according to police charges, the robbers got $1,300 from the Bliss Theatre in Queens, on July 8 $800 from the Fortway Theatre in Brooklyn, and $400 from the Dover Theatre, Bronx, Monday July 27. In between theatre jobs, the bandits are alleged to have held up a number of taverns.