Century's Baldwin

The address for the Baldwin Theatre was 71 Merrick Road, Baldwin, NY.

This sat emptey for years / is the building still there?

The building is still there but it's an office building. You really can't tell that it was a movie theater anymore.

I lived in Baldwin until the early 90's. This movie theater was small but it was great. It did have a very small balcony but in 1969, it closed for about three months or so. When it re-opened, the balcony was gone. You could still use the stairs to go up to the restrooms and such but no balcony. I must've seen countless films there through the 70's right up to the 80's. The last film to be shown there was "Rambo: First Blood, Part II" in 1985. I know because I worked in a vitamin shop right down the street from it.

This is so unusual why would they remove the balcony?

From what my Mom told me, they said it was structurally unsound and had to remove it. She said it was tiny but comfortable. I don't remember it but I do remember seeing the one set of stairs to the left of the consesssion stand that took you up to it. I saw a picture of the Century's Baldwin in a photo book of the town. It showed the therater with a very elaborate marquee and it was showing "The Three Musketeers" with Gene Kelly. That was long gone by the time I saw it. It was a pretty remarkable theater because it was always very clean and neat and it was in a great location with lots of parking. That whole strip along Merrick Road back in the 70's was very vital. But it started to go downhill in the early 80's. When the theater closed in 1985, it really started to kill off the neighborhood. It was very, very sad.

Maybe longislandmovies or Orlando can shed some light on the closing.

Do any of you know if the Olde Venice Inn is still in business? It was a bar/restaurant down the block from the Baldwin Theatre. We used to go there a lot in the 1970's -- the pizza was very different and quite special. There was a pretty waitress in her 30's or 40's, some guy in the back wearing a tuxedo, and a fascinating display of original oil paintings on the walls.

Best regards,

www.Flickhead.com

Geez...I haven't thought about the Old Venice in a long time. Breaks my heart to think about it because my family used to go there a lot for dinner and then up to the theater afterwards for a movie. Then across the street to Carvels after the movie. It was such a nice neighborhood then.

I can't imagine the place is still there. The area where it was is weirdly run down. It's not the place I grew up in. If anyone is a real 70's Baldwinite, you'd also know about Howies. The name should be enough to evoke memories.

Glad to see someone else posted something about my beloved Century's Baldwin. It seems so forgotten now it's like a ghost.

Century's has such a precense in Long Island but they seemed to stall in the late 80's before they were bought up by RKO. I dont know if it was that they did not multip-plex their theatres soon enough or they had cash problems. They had so many key locations.

I think what doomed the Baldwin was the lack of a balcony. This theater was virtually identical in size and basic design to the one in Franklin Square. When we used to go to that one, I always felt we were in the same place. The key differnece between the two was the the Franklin Square still had the balcony whereas Baldwin's was removed in the late 60's for some reason. When they decided to multiplex, I think they realized they could get more theaters out of the Franklin Square than the Baldwin. The most they could've gotten out of the Baldwin was two or maybe four VERY small theaters. I assume they felt it was not worth the cost. Also, the Baldwin remained a single screen long after the wave of multiplexing former one screeners had taken place. It closded in '85 when the new stage of multiplexing was taking place where theaters like the Fantasy and Green Acres had their insides completely gutted and remade.

The Baldwin was in an ideal location and, best of all, had tremendous parking. If it had been just slightly bigger, it would've been multiplexed and it could've helped the area stay nice. Now there's nothing to bring people to that neighborhood. It's depressing.

The Baldwin also played "The Sound of Music" upon it's 1973 re-release. I know because that's where I saw it. Me, my older brother, my Mom and what seemed like a thousand neighborhood kids. Loved the movie but I remember there was pandemonium during the intermission. Kids (a lot of them my friends) were running around the theater like a bunch of lunatics. I didn't because my Mom would've clobbered me. One of my friends (and I can remember this like it was yesterday) had the audacity to run up the the curtain and life it up to reveal the white screen behind it! I swear to God, I was shocked. I thought it was some kind of blasphemy. Ok, at 7 years old, I was already a movie-stick in the mud.

I have 8x10 pictures from a bunch of the Century's theatres. I have to find them and I will scan them to link onto here. I am almost positive I have one of this theatre showing the balcony still in place. When Cineplex was gutting the Meadows before they multi-plexed it the entire basement was full of filing cabinets with Century's material. It all went in the garbage. One of the projectionists there knew I was into old theatres and grabbed a stack of the pictures.

I would love to see a picture of this theater with the balcony. Like I mentioned before, this place was a virtual twin to the Century's Franklin Square. Only the Franklin Square still had the balcony.

I worked a lot of Century theatres in the 60s and 70s, they were in a class all their own. Century was at the top of the game then, they kept all the theatres in first rate condition. If you needed something, you got it nothing could be left in disrepair. I loved working the Baldwin but my favorite was a gem in the jewel box called Green Acres in Valley Stream. That was the top of the line for the Long Island theatres in it's day. Projection was a top priority to Century, the projection equipment had to run perfectly.
As a projectionist if you missed a changeover or in any way caused a disruption in the performance , you were written up in a file kept in the District Managers ofice, I believe his name was Mr. Neuman
For as while, the union had to get his approval before awarding a projectionist with a job at a Century theatre. That policy ended in the 60s but you knew if you wanted a job at a Century theatre you had better know your stuff. Century had a great policy called Delux, which ment the curtains had to be closed and reopened before the feature. They also played the Star Spangeled Banner before the first show on many holidays. The last time I worked for Century was at the Five Towns in 1972 with a Roadshow engagement of "Fiddler on the Roof" playing day and date with the Syosset.

Vito

I remember those days well when the Green Acres was one of the gems of Long Island. In their day Green Acres, Syosset and Cinema 150 were on par with top Manhattan houses.

Robert, that's quite a trio of great theatres, I worked them all. Other than in Bellmore are there any single screen theatres left on L.I ?

For your information - The Olde Venice Inn is still there. It is true the movie theatre is now a medical building, but the good news is - Carvel is still right across the street. Cheers

SAG HARBOR
BELLMORE
MONTAUCK-SUMMER ONLY
THE LAST OF THE SINGLE SCREENS ON LI.....................

As part of the RKO chain right near the very end:
Newsday - 10/5/85

When was this theater built? And was it always a Century's house? I have block ads from Long Island papers for Century's Theaters from September and November of 1963 and May of 1964 that do not list the Baldwin at all. Other papers I have from the early '80's show this (and the rest of the chain) still listed as Century's in the movie clocks as late as December of 1980, but by March of 1982, they were all listed under RKO Century. I assume that joint name lasted only during the early months of the acquisition since it eventually yielded entirely to the RKO brand. I wonder if the same will happen with the current AMC Loews merger.

Ed, I have several friends working for the new AMC Loews, they all tell me the name is expected to remain as is. Although there was much apprehension as to what would happen to all of old Loews employeees, for the most part things have been going very well. Everyone seems very happy with what followed after the merger, Of course not everyone survived, but in most cases the in-house staffing at the Loews locations was left intact. Only a few Loews upper management positions were absorbed by AMC.

Well... It's certainly nice to see that the venerable Loews name will continue on for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the info, Vito.

Yes Ed, the plan originally was to begin to gradually replace all the signage on the Loews houses to AMC Loews. I am not quite sure how far they have come with that.

The Baldwin first opened in 1933, according to a lengthy article about the theatre by Fred McMorrow in the February 16, 1986 issue of The New York Times. If the article can't be found at the NYT website, I will happily send anyone a copy, though they will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Please contact me privately at Warrengwhiz@nyc.rr.com

My memories of this theater fall from the late 70s up and until it closed. I remember one summer, not exactly sure when -but it must have been towards the end, they showed Star Wars for over a month at it cost all of 75 cents. I must have seen it 30 times that Summer. I also saw The Island of Dr. Moreau, Clash of the Titans, Jaws, Xtro, and Rambo -just a few highlights but there were so many, many more. I lived just down the block from the theater on May Place and really love the above conversations. My own film mania starts with this theater which was indeed beautiful. What a great place to grow up and see movies: the death of the single screen movie house was the death of Baldwin, but more importantly the death of American film culture. What could be more ruinous to the idea of movies than watching them exclusively in home theater?

In 1965 I was a usher at the Baldwin Century Theatre and there was no balcony. There was smoking in the last five rows only.The theatre was know for playing movies for weeks at a time. Not a bad job for high school kid and making $1.25 an hour.

Well baldwin, I can tell you, we projectionists were always very greatful and kind to ushers. During those long 12+ hour grind days you kids were our only conection to the outside world. Ushers would get us our coffee and dinner and sometimes they were the only human contact we had all day. So thanks!
It was not to bad at the Baldwin since the booth was close to the main floor, but some of the theatres in the area like the Fantasy, Freeport and Grove had booths a mile in the sky and no one ever came up to visit. It could be a very lonely job sometimes.

Vito,Do you know a projectionist by the name of Chuck Toma? After school he got me a job working for his dad in a gas station,In the early 70's he was working in Freeport, Then I lost track.Baldwin

Sure do baldwin, I don't remember him working the Freeport but he was one of the two full time projectionists working the Baldwin when I relieved there. I don't think he is still working as a projectionists but you may be able to reach him through:
IATSE local 640, 103 Cooper Street, Babylon NY 11702

Vito-Thank's, I'll follow that up,Baldwin

Was there another Baldwin Theater? A Midmer-Losh theater organ was installed in a Baldwin Theater in Baldwin, N.Y. in 1925.

Hi...I haven't been on this site in a long time because of chaning jobs and all. I was CConnolly but I lost my password and the site hasn't sent it to me. Anyway...loved all the comments on "MY" theater, Century's Baldwin.
To jgroom: if you were an usher there during that period, I definately walked by you or got some kind of service from you. I must've gone to the Baldwin every week during the summers of '75 and '76 and beyond. But those two stick out. Yes, I saw "The Island of Dr. Moreau there. Did you work there when that god awaful Joan Collins movie "Empire of the Ants" was there? Terrible movie but perfect for me and my older brother to go see and kill a couple of hours with. It was just such as nice place. So well maintained. And how about that wild floral print all over the auditorium? It hung over the little hallways leading to the exit doors in the back of the theater.
And I totally agree with you about how the theater's closing (with "Rambo First Blood" in 1985) was the death knell for that little neighborhood. It was slowly sliding even before that but when I was a kid, it was a great place with Pergaments and Nassau Chemists and, of course, "Howies" with his ancient looking mother sitting in the back in that kitchen of his (only die hard Baldwinites will know what anyone means by Howies). And Carvels right across from the theater. The neighborhood wasn't upscale, there wasn't much to look at but there was always a lot to do and see. I think my generation (born in the 60s) was the last to experience, however fleetingly, the concept of neighborhood, neighbors and a sense of community. These multiplexes and movie malls. Some are nice but there totally impersonal.
The last movie I saw there was a really cute, very good movie called "Heaven Help Us" around 1985. I had not been in the theater for a few years and about halfway through the movie, I just happened to kind of look around at the auditorium. I noticed that the ceiling paint was chipping really badly and it was very dirty. I felt sad because I sensed that the theater's time was ending. But I'm glad I got to see such a nice movie there for my last time.

Thanks everyone for writing with their memoris and for everyone who worked there, as a former patron, I thank you for your great work.

Hi...I haven't been on this site in a long time because of chaning jobs and all. I was CConnolly but I lost my password and the site hasn't sent it to me. Anyway...loved all the comments on "MY" theater, Century's Baldwin.
To jgroom: if you were an usher there during that period, I definately walked by you or got some kind of service from you. I must've gone to the Baldwin every week during the summers of '75 and '76 and beyond. But those two stick out. Yes, I saw "The Island of Dr. Moreau there. Did you work there when that god awaful Joan Collins movie "Empire of the Ants" was there? Terrible movie but perfect for me and my older brother to go see and kill a couple of hours with. It was just such as nice place. So well maintained. And how about that wild floral print all over the auditorium? It hung over the little hallways leading to the exit doors in the back of the theater.
And I totally agree with you about how the theater's closing (with "Rambo First Blood" in 1985) was the death knell for that little neighborhood. It was slowly sliding even before that but when I was a kid, it was a great place with Pergaments and Nassau Chemists and, of course, "Howies" with his ancient looking mother sitting in the back in that kitchen of his (only die hard Baldwinites will know what anyone means by Howies). And Carvels right across from the theater. The neighborhood wasn't upscale, there wasn't much to look at but there was always a lot to do and see. I think my generation (born in the 60s) was the last to experience, however fleetingly, the concept of neighborhood, neighbors and a sense of community. These multiplexes and movie malls. Some are nice but there totally impersonal.
The last movie I saw there was a really cute, very good movie called "Heaven Help Us" around 1985. I had not been in the theater for a few years and about halfway through the movie, I just happened to kind of look around at the auditorium. I noticed that the ceiling paint was chipping really badly and it was very dirty. I felt sad because I sensed that the theater's time was ending. But I'm glad I got to see such a nice movie there for my last time.

Thanks everyone for writing with their memoris and for everyone who worked there, as a former patron, I thank you for your great work.

Hey CConnolly welcome back.

The best part of working the Baldwin was the fact that it was a Century theatre, I worked most of the Century theatres during the hey days. The theatres were run very professionally, and always well maintained. Customer service was key, as was perfection in the film presentation.
We had a lot of rules, and if you worked a century theatre you were expected to give your best.
Does anyone remember Century’s policy of playing the star spangled banner at the start of the first show of every holiday?
The Home Office was located in Floral Park, so executives would
often stop by, and would come up to the booth and ask “do you need anything”?
When Century sold out it was the end of an era of showmanship which, except for National Amusements, is something you don’t see anymore.

Vito
Was the home office in the Floral Theatre building?

No Robert, it was just up the street on Jericho Trpk. But the DM did have an office in the Floral, heck of a nice guy, Mr.Murray I think was his name.

I finally got around to reading the article about the Baldwin theater in the NYTimes. And it's a real heartbreaker. Despite being over 20 years old, it still echoes the sentiments of a lot of people and especially those of us on this website.

Here is the article:

February 16, 1986
ABOUT LONG ISLAND
By FRED MCMORROW
THE RKO BALDWIN, built when they named Long Island movie theaters after their villages, is at the top of a slope where its marquee can't be missed if you're downhill at Merrick Road and Grand Avenue, the original hub of this village's business district.

The Baldwin always changed its feature attractions Wednesdays. But when it had a good thing going, it kept the same show Wednesday after Wednesday. ''Santa Claus: The Movie'' stayed on that marquee for two months of Wednesdays.

But that had to end with the holidays, and I kept watching the marquee for what would finally be ''Starting Wednesday.'' Even if I didn't intend to see the next movie, I always had to know what it was. What's-playing-at-the-Baldwin was vital community trivia around here. Yes: Was.

Nothing trivial replaced ''Santa Claus'' on that marquee. THE END did. What's playing at the Baldwin? ''FOR SALE,'' in those big blue capital letters they use for the marquee title. What's playing at the Roxy? What's playing at the Astor? the Paramount? What's happening all over has finally happened on Merrick Road between Park and Harrison Avenues.

The place where all our children and our friends' children discovered the magic of seeing a movie from the dark and on a great big screen, not the dinky business end of a television set, is not Baldwin's only movie house. There is the newer Cinema, halfway between Sunrise Highway and the Southern State.

But the Cinema, which opened as a spacious, wide-screen house, was hardly a teen-ager when it was converted into a ''multiplex.'' And what advancement is that over the nickelodeon? Just one. The sound. But that is why the Cinema is surviving and the Baldwin is not.

The Baldwin opened in 1933. Howard Herrman, who was born down the block in the ''upstairs'' over the Herrman family stationery store, says he remembers it well. This well: ''Arthur E. Norton, the Superintendent of Schools, gave a big speech before the movie.'' (Pause.) ''Will you look at this, I can remember a middle initial, but I don't remember the movie!''

Neither do I, of course; we only moved here in 1959. But neither does the Baldwin Public Library. Its microfilm files of The Baldwin Citizen, the doyenne of this area's weekly papers, skip 1933. But the ads show that in that era Wallace Beery, Mickey Rooney, Janet Gaynor, Norma Shearer, Grace Moore (you don't remember ''One Night of Love''?), James Cagney and Beryl Mercer did their turns on the Baldwin's screen. (Beryl Mercer? Cagney's mother in ''Public Enemy''! I thought everybody knew that . . . ) My own sometimes reliable memory insists that at least once in the Baldwin, Clark Gable told Vivien Leigh after he rescued her from the burning of Atlanta and got her home to Tara that he was joining the Confederate service because he liked lost causes. Like this one. The former Eileen Palmer and I have made inquiries about the community chipping in to turn the Baldwin into a repertory theater, but nothing's happening.

The Baldwin was not the village's first movie house. A retired woman who lives near us remembers a store-sized theater on Grand Avenue around the corner from Howie's. ''It cost a quarter,'' she said. ''My girlfriends and I saved up all week for Saturday. The piano player was always late and when he did get there he'd sit and study the music like it was a concerto or something and we'd clap and clap until he got started and the movie started. I had this awful crush on William S. Hart!''

Yes. ''Come quick. Indians!'' The only silent I ever saw when movies weren't called silents because there weren't any talkies was ''The Lost World.'' It was shown in a Y.M.C.A. and the projectionist wasn't very good and the film snapped just as the poor old confused dinosaur broke London Bridge. Or was it Tower Bridge?

The last movie the former Eileen Palmer and I saw at the Baldwin was ''Kiss of the Spider Woman.'' There were about seven other people in the fine old house. When the film ended, everybody left and nobody was coming in for the second show. I don't think there was one.

Everybody in town is sorry about this, but then it's everybody's fault, including the movie makers. Movies aren't any better than ever than they were when that empty slogan was dreamed up. Distributors' tastes aren't any better, either. ''Spider Woman'' was the best film the Baldwin had had for I don't know how long.

And I don't know for how long because it's been years since it was an imperative of my life to see at least one movie in a theater a week. Last year I think I saw three movies in theaters. I don't have to wait for a movie to find its way to The Tube, but I do, and that is neither television's fault nor the fault of the Baldwin's owner, RKO Century Warner Theaters; it's mine.

''No, don't fault yourself,'' Morris Englander, the head of the real estate department of RKO Century Etc., said in a brief interview. ''The individual theater does not bring in what a multiplex does. That's a fact of life.''

And of course his company has watched the decline in attendance at the Baldwin just as all of us here have. He has a gentle, friendly manner, conveying over the phone the image of a man who is dedicated to theaters, but also to what he has to do. He declined, officially, to confirm a report that ''an architect'' had made a bid for the Baldwin that was rejected.

And he would not disclose the asking price, nor what kind of bids he was getting. But he gave me just the tip of a hint that the building would survive. Was there any possibility, I asked, pressing him, that it would be torn down to make room for one more row of condominiums?

''Well, it's a building,'' Mr. Englander said, ''and we're offering it as a building.''

Is the building still standing? If so, what currently occupies the site? I've passed through the area a number of times and can't think of any structures on this block that resemble an old movie house.

It looks like a pretty modern looking but non descript office building. I remember when they built it, the pretty much ripped off the front of the building and then put in this kind of glassy atrium lobby "thing" where you could see through it into the stairs. Kind of 80s looking. There were some doctors offics in it at that time. The reason why you can't remember what it looks like now is that they pretty effectively wiped out any resemblence to it ever being a movie theater.

Ah, OK. Thanks, CConnolly, now I know the building you're describing. It's the building right before the church on the north side of Merrick just east of Grand Avenue. I'll have to take a closer look next time I pass by, but it sure doesn't bare any resemblance to a theatre! There's a building further east down Merrick on the right hand side (currently a supermarket, I believe) that I've always thought looked like it might have been a small theatre at one point. It's just across from the lake

Yes, Ed Solero, that is the building. It is right across the street from what was (and perhaps still is) a Blockbuster video store. In that little shopping center was the Carvels (again, that could still be there too).

Hey guys. you sure started the memories flowing after I read the above entries. We had lived on harrison ave, right around the corner from the old movie house. I can still remember the line when the Godfather was playing there. I read one of the entries above about Howies. I used to work for about an hour or two during the summers at Howies. I would pick up his breakfast from across the street, I CAN STILL SMELL THE AROMA. Howie was a special guy who really seemed to care about us kids. Someone mentioned the Venice In, some of the greatest pizza. I fondly remember going there with my brother and Dad on Sunday nights. He would have a beer while waiting for the pizza. He would say he couldn't wait for us to get older and have a beer with him there. When the pizza was ready we would head home (2 minutes) and watch The Lawrence Welk Show. (guess I'm dating myself). I never got that beer with my Dad, He died a couple of years later, but I still have those memories. We attended Prospect Elementary School. What a school! Could not think of a better place to have started. If anyone has any pics of the old school, I would love to see them. I guess it was torn down in the 80's. Baldwin was one heck of a place to grow up.