Utopia Theater

Jeff,

If you worked at the Utopia, you must also have known Paul Raisler, Ruth’s partner. Over the years, I worked as projectionist at the Utopia many times over the years. The regular projectionist for nearly 40 years was Sam Conte, who moved to Italy after he retired. After Paul passed away, Ruth ran the theatre alone for a number of years, but when the lease was up she was screwed over by the landlord (and/or his son)because they wanted a large rent increase, at a time when business was declining. He also wanted her to twin the theatre at her cost, which she didn’t want to do. After operating the theatre with Paul (and Sam as the projectionist) since the early 1940’s, the landlord signed a lease with a new tenant, an attorney named Epstein, who agreed to twin the theatre. Without any further negotiation or warning, it resulted in landlord literally pulling the rug out from under her. Because Ruth was one of, if not the sweetest person I have ever met, it was very upsetting to me also. After she lost the theatre, she was really never the same and shortly after, she became ill and not very long after that, she passed away. That theatre was her WHOLE LIFE and if you ask me, she died of a broken heart. I lived in the neighborhood for over 60 years. I used to go to the Utopia as a child, when the admission was only $.20 for children. After I was married in 1969, I bought a house nearby on 178th ST and 75th Avenue. Although the Utopia wasn’t my regular job, I was as the chief projectionist at the DeMille Theatre in Manhattan until 1973, because of where I lived, when it snowed, I would be sent to work at the Meadows, Utopia, Parsons and once even walked down Utopia Parkway in the snow to work at the Valencia in Jamaica. To the best of my knowledge (with the exception of the Valencia, which was saved as a church), virtually ALL THE THEATRES I’ve worked in over the years, have all been demolished. While I’m currently a member of a group that’s trying to save the RKO Keiths in Flushing, the theatre has been so badly destroyed (some of it intentionally over the last 25 years, in my opinion, the restoration would be nearly impossible. A recent article I read in the NY Times says that the restoration of Loew’s Kings in Brooklyn has begun and is going to cost 90 million dollars (somebody is going to wind up with heavy pockets before that’s done). How come they don’t think of saving these theatres BEFORE they are wrecked?

Unlike cities like Los Angeles, which appear to have respect for their old movie palaces, New York, despite having a Landmark’s Preservation Commission, which has watched while virtually EVERY theatre has been destroyed and/or demolished. New York once had more theatres per square mile than any other city in the U.S. …….and now, with one or two exceptions, there are none left.

My name is Fred Cantor and I wanted to let everyone know we have a photo of the Utopia Theater taken from across the street in 1977 in a new book, “Fresh Meadows,” from Arcadia Publishing. (You can also see Rogers Luncheonette in the picture.) We are donating 100% of the authors' royalties to the Fresh Meadows public library. There is also a photo in the book of the Century Meadows taken in 1977 that I think captures the marquee and glass lobby from an angle not seen in other photos of the theater. I grew up in Fresh Meadows and loved going to both theaters. This is a wonderful site, by the way, that brings back great memories.

The only minor correction I would make to the opening description is to note that the theater was gutted for the drug store (as were the other storefronts that ran along its length on Union Turnpike) and not torn down. The auditorium structure still stands behind the street front facade – no doubt stripped down to the bare bricks before the drug store was layed out within.

Great story aquarianick, we were family no matter where your theatre was more so, than say, working at a Burger King.

Thanks for confirming that, Nick

It has the Simplex XL projectors and XL soundheads like the Utopia had, but it’s hard to see anything in those pictures. There was virtually NO pitch or keystone at the original Utopia, it was a very shallow throw. In the posted picture it “appears” steeper than it was, but the picture was also taken tilted. As for the platter, after Ruth Wright lost the theatre and was taken over by the lawyer, Epstein, I never went back into the theatre after it was twined and a 5 tier platter installed.

Nick, I’m sorry, but sadly I don’t believe I have any pictures. It the type of thing where it’s always there and you think it will ALWAYS be there. You just don’t think about things like pictures.

Correction to my last post, as aquarianick originally posted, the video was also filmed using the interior of the Utopia (except for the shots of the fantasy “stage production”). I’ll try to get a couple of more screen grabs that may be interesting to post here when I get to my home computer.

Bloop, I don’t where the letter is presently and because I’m becoming a little senile I can’t tell you verbatim what it said at the moment. However, basically it said what a good friend I’ve been to her and Paul over the years and how whenever they had a problem I always came quickly to help her. It also said a few other things that I just can’t recall. If I find it I’ll scan it and post it.

As I think about the Utopia, I really miss Ruth Wright and Paul Raisler. They were the last of the “real” showman (and show women)theatre owners independent theatre owners.

Nice shots of the Utopia Theatre in the youtube video posted by aquarianick on 7/12/07.Nice link.

In the main article for the Utopia, the writer stated “The utopia was owned by an unlikely pair. Mr. Paul Raisler, a short, jovial, Jewish man, and Miss Wright (no one knew her first name)…..”. I see the “mystery, her first name, Ruth was solved in a latter post. Apart from the description of the curtain, where he states, "It’s thin, gauzy curtains pulled sideways as the show began”, the Utopia had an Austrian shade type curtain the goes up vertically, allowing the screen to take up the entire proscenium for Cinemascope, the rest of his description of the Utopia is dead accurate and reading it brings to mind wonderful memories of better days. Although I am now retired (and in the final stage of emphysema), I spent my whole life working in theatres, first as a projectionist, then servicing and installing projection equipment. I knew Ruth Wright (and her partner in the Utopia, Paul Raisler) virtually my whole life. The last time I actually worked as a projectionist at the Utopia was the day Buzz Aldren walked on the moon in 1969. Although it was against Union rules to watch television in the booth, the Utopia had a “big” 21" TV on the wall of the booth over the spotlight window. A key was needed to turn it on and despite the fact that I really didn’t like watching TV when I was working, Ruth always unlocked it anyway. On that day, Ruth came up to the booth and turned on the TV saying “you need to see this” and we both stood there and watched the moon walk in amazement. One time a relief projectionist complained to the Union that there was a TV in the booth, but it had a lock on it preventing him from watching it. After the union business agent finished balling him out because he knew we were not allowed to watch TV while working to begin with, he called Ruth to tell her she can’t have a TV in the booth. That really set her off, she told him that it was her theatre and if she wanted to have a TV in the booth it was her business, as well as who she allowed to watch it.

The “regular” projectionist at the Utopia was Sam Conte, who was a real sweetheart. Ruth told me that he had worked for her since the theatre opened in 1941 and worked there until he retired, in the late 70s, I’m not certain because I’m becoming a little senile. Although the patrons of the theatre might not have known or been able to tell, but, the projection equipment at the Utopia was first class and “Conte”, as Ruth referred to him, kept the equipment in top shape.

From the time I was about 8 years old I would go to the movies at least once a week. In those days there the Utopia and the Parsons theatres were the main “everyday” theatres I went to and believe it or not, I went ALONE some times. If I went with my sister or my parents, the choices became much wider. There was Loews' Valencia and RKO Alden in “downtown” Jamaica and Century’s Queens and Community theatres further east on Jamaica Avenue (there was also the Regency and Belair theatres along Jamaica Avenue. And of course there was Century’s Meadows on Horace Harding Blvd. Although I don’t remember going there very often, the Mayfair Theatre on Fresh Meadows Lane was another choice. When I was around 13, I would go with friends to the RKO Keiths and Century’s Prospect in Flushing, both some of the many theatres that I would later work in. It boggles my mind to think of all the theatres there once were in Queens alone, but now all gone.

After Conte retired I serviced the equipment for Ruth, but because I knew her so long and she was such a sweet person I couldn’t charge her anything, despite her insistence that I should. As a result, she would continually give my wife small gifts. In the late 50s and early 60s, I recall both Paul and Ruth in the lobby saying goodnight to patrons as they were coming out. While that alone might not sound so unusual, they knew most of the patrons BY NAME. While people associate Ruth Wright with the Utopia and the Little Neck theatres, the Little Neck, the Mayfair, the Herricks and a number of other theatres were built by her father, but she liked the Utopia the best. Unfortunately, they didn’t own the Utopia property. The landlord (and his son) who owned the property apparently had NO COMPASSION when it came to money. The Parsons Theatre, that was originally owned and operated by the Interboro Theatre Circuit, was sold to an attorney who promptly twinned the theatre. Since also operating the Utopia theatre would be advantageous for booking films, he then set his sights on the Utopia, where the lease would soon be ending. This was at a time when the movie theatre business in general was declining. Ruth knew the theatre really needed to be twinned if it was to remain viable, however, it was something she didn’t really want to become involved with at that stage of her life. Unknown to me at the time, she was already in ill health, although she always appeared to be well. She made an offer to the landlord for a new lease, but, according to her, the landlord made a deal with the attorney behind her back. Not too long afterward she became very ill. I believe losing the theatre exacerbated her illness because she always referred to the Utopia as “my baby”.

One day shortly after she learned that she would be out when the lease ended, she called me house and asked my wife to have me stop by the theatre when I got a chance. When I came to the theatre she handed me a letter and pointed to a box and said, “this is for you”. In the box were a pair of practically new Bausch & Lomb Cinemascope lenses and a spare soundhead transmission assembly and other various parts. I saw tears in her eyes as she asked me to read the note. The letter was on stationary I never saw before. The letterhead said “Utopia Theatre”, “A PARU Neighborhood Theatre”. I assume it was a combination of PAul & RUth. With the door in the booth leading to the roof, it was a great job to work, but, you couldn’t open the door on a sunny day or it would flood the screen with daylight.

While Ruth lived in Nassau County, Paul Raisler lived only a couple of blocks from the theatre. Although I grew up off Union Turnpike near Bell Blvd., after I got married I bought a house off Union Turnpike on 178th St & 75th Ave. where I lived in until 1989 when I moved to Florida. Over the years as many theatres have closed, I’ve noticed that after a neighborhood theatre closes, it changes the whole “look and feel” of the neighborhood…..and not for the good. The missing marquee from the Utopia certainly changed the look of that area in the evening. It has a dead look. In a city that had many beautiful theatres, they have all been either destroyed by multiplexing, or torn down completely. There are only a small handful of “real” theatres even standing today. Fortunately, Loews Valencia is still standing, but the RKO Keiths in Flushing has been destroyed, despite “landmark status”. The other main Loews theatre in Queens, Loews Triboro, was torn down years ago. While the RKO Midway (over the years Skouras and then UA) still stands, it’s been butchered internally to make 9 theatres. Although not an architectural gem, the Elmwood theatre is now gone too.

Here’s a new link to a 1947 photo described above on 6/8/07:
View link

nick thanks for posting that.. the song was not bad (as rap goes) either. good old utopia theater..:–}