RKO International 70
41 Albany Street,
New Brunswick,
NJ
08901
41 Albany Street,
New Brunswick,
NJ
08901
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To Egcarter. To my knowledge ther never was an RKO International 70 built in the Boston area. Our 2 RKO houses from the 20,s became the Boston Cinerama in 1953 and later the other one became the Opera House much much later.
This opened as Albany on September 26th, 1936 and reopened as the International 70 on August 5th, 1964. Both grand opening ads in the photo section.
Found on Newspapers.com
There was an entire “sub-circuit” within the RKO theatre chain called “RKO International 70” that was developed in late 1963, It was designed to be a deluxe set of houses (all 70mm equipped), including locations in Denver, Boston, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Syracuse, Rochester and the NY Metro area. The SOUND OF MUSIC ad posted to this New Brunswick house listing is actually for the Cincinnati theatre.
wow-this was someone’s “dream” grind-house !
I remember my mom taking me to see “Gone With the Wind” for my first time. I believe it was at the International, because the only other theatre we went to, the Rivoli, I remember as showing mainly/only Disney films. I loved the curtain opening automatically, slowly, majestically at the beginning of the film, and loved their short intro to the main feature: “RKO International” (with picture of Medieval trumpeters) followed by “Feature Presentation” (with picture of a motion picture film reel moving). I can still hear the music background that went to this in my head and wish I had a copy of this intro! Thanks to those who provided the links to the old photos!
And another, somewhat older:
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A picture of the Albany:
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Beautiful photo can be found in the book “Urban Landscapes A New Jersey Portrait” by George A. Tice
The photo is from February 1974. That Man Bolt and High Plains Drifter are the features. The theatre’s marquee reads “The New International Cinema”
The “before” picture of the same block:
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The Albany is the fourth building (including one empty lot) from the left of the building with the prominent windows (near the clover leaf) and behind the huge parking lot.
lm
thanks for this great site.
This photo pretty much sums it up:
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The Albany was located on the N (upper) side of Albany street which is the west – east road (left to right)in the photo. From your first posted photo, the Albany appears a few stores to the left of the one building left standing with the very prominent windows. J&J demolished the Albany along with the Rivoli which was located West (left) of the towers under construction where there are cars parked near the intersection of George Street. I believe that this parking lot has been turned into more scenic gardens today to cover up a parking deck.
Should be updated with single screen, demolished, address at 41 Albany Street, other name – RKO Albany and 1030 seats.
I posted there about the same time you made this post. ESP?
Thanks for the post. I read “41” Albany street in your ad, which matches the address in my 6/12/05 post. I’ll do some research on the Trenton theater.
Hard to believe they once played Richard Burton’s Electronovision version of “Hamlet” 2 a day. The reason I bring this up is look at this ad, it seems there were two theatres called RKO International 70. This one at 45 Albany Street and another in Trenton located at 18 South Brean Street. It’s such an unusual name for a theatre and two of them really seems odd. Anyone have any idea?
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A fact which needs to be remembered here, is by 1970, the demographics of New Brunswick, as well as many cities in NJ, ,had changed dramatically. The theater, by that time, reflected the tastes of its customers. Albany street, by the mid 70’s, was a very run down area. That area today bears NO resemblence to that time period.
Wow – not exactly Academy Award material. Looks like a “B” theater to me.
Thanks for the post.
I have 4 theatre seats, the curtain motor, and a piece of the screen from this theatre! These items were used in my basement movie theatre which I built around 1976.
A 1936 photo can be seen on page 117 of the Arcadia Publishing book “New Brunswick”.
Caption states that this theatre was renamed the International Theatre in 1972 but sadly DEMOLISHED in 1978. Located on Albany Street at the foot of the Albany Steet Bridge.
I think that this theatre may have also been known as the “RKO Albany”, which is listed at 41 Albany Street in the 1951 FDY. This maps fairly close to the bridge.
I found this theatre listed in a block ad from 1971.
In the 1951 FDY, RKO operated 3 theaters: the State (listed on CT), the Rivoli and the Albany.