RKO Alden Theatre
165-16 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11432
165-16 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11432
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 155 comments found
In looking at Ed Solero’s ad on the top of the page, I see 2 theatres in New Jersey that I actually worked at as a projectionist years ago. The Ritz in Elizabeth and the Royal in Perth Amboy, where my father also worked, and I was working the last day it was opened, July 13, 1988.
The address ribbon across the top of the listing has one Jamaica too many. It should read “New York>Jamaica>RKO Alden.” And the Merrick Theatre should be on the “Nearby theaters” list instead of the Main Street Cinemas, which is in Flushing.
So is this place still intact? The retail seems to be just in the lobby.
I saw “The Warriors” at the Alden and that came out in 79….i believe.
I also saw Blacula, Dr. Phibes, Enter The Dragon, etc there. I also frequented the Valencia (across street from alden as well as Rochdale Movie Theater when i was a teen…..great times
Hi vyurkevich… If you mean the ad for the movie “Bigtime” that is at the top of the page, I posted it. It’s just a photo I took of a page from an old Daily News paper that I have. My grandfather saved it for some reason – not sure what it was in that particular edition that held significance for him, but when he passed, I got possession of it. I hold no ownership, since it’s a newspaper ad, so you are free to use it. If you like, I will send you a copy of the original photo file, which you’ll be able to open up much larger than is currently allowed here on Cinema Treasures. Just let me know your email address and I’ll forward it.
Hello. Who posted this picture? and is it possible to use it for a story I am working on about the theater for Ny1news? Thank you
So do I !The Florida one is the first, so perhaps there’s hope.
Hey Ed! Great name! I grew up in Laurelton and went to many a movie in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Lawrence, Rockville Centre, etc.
DLC… did not hear about the Florida cruise. I’m hoping that, one of these days, TCM brings its film festival out east to NYC!
Changing gears a bit [although related to old movies]: has anyone seen the info on or signed up for Turner Classic Movies first cruise, out of Florida?
Ed (my name is also Ed), I have no intention of being argumentative either, especially not with people who share my passion for the old movie palaces. People on this website are extraordinarily knowledgeable, as well as civilized, and how often do you see that, in this day and age? Ed, your documentation is superb, and I will defer to you. That said, lol, I’m certain that there was a period in the 70s when the Alden was shuttered, and you’ve come up with a perfectly plausible explanation. Here we are, the two Eds, both of whom used to ride the Q5! I actually grew up in Valley Stream, just over the county line, and the Q5 stop that I used on Hook Creek Boulevard was just two blocks from my home. I took the bus to and from Jamaica to catch the E and F trains at 169th Street.
No doubt that typos abound in movie ads. But I’m sure the RKO Alden is correctly listed. I rode the Q5 bus up and down Merrick Boulevard on a daily basis from 1977 through 1982 to get to and from both my junior high school and my high school. And I was one of those kids who loved just looking out the windows at the passing scene, day in and day out. I used to pay particular attention to the progress of dismantling the old elevated tracks and took pleasure in seeing the two movie theater facades being revealed as the structure came down. My memory might not be as sharp as rafaelstorm – as I don’t remember the Alden’s closure – but I’m sure that the Alden was in operation (even if briefly interrupted) during the entire time I rode that bus back and forth for school. I think the newspaper ads help to support that as fact. And please understand, I do not mean to be argumentative, just trying to arrive at the true history of the theater and reconcile our collective memories here. I hope my efforts are taken in that spirit!
But these ads have errors so they are not 100% reliable. Case in point on the ad Ed posted. It shows that one of the theatres which was showing Bigtime was the Rialto in Riverhead. Never was a Rialto in Riverhead. There was (and is) the Suffolk and the former Riverhead (which started out life as the Capitol)
Dug through some more newspaper clippings. While I don’t have all the gaps, I do show that the Daily News edition on January 25, 1978, has an ad for a movie called “Big Time” which played the RKO Alden (I’ve posted the ad here). Jump forward to December 11, 1980, and an ad in the Post for “Flash Gordon” shows it playing at the “RKO Alden 2.” While some newspapers listed the theater only as “Alden 1, 2, 3 and 4” in ads and movie clocks (with no “RKO”), I do see a March 6, 1982, ads for the movies “The Seduction” and “Death Wish II” that list the theater as “RKO Century’s Alden” (the same paper has ads for “Enter the Ninja” and the 3D re-release of Hitchcock’s “Dial M for Murder” that list only “Jamaica Alden.” My guess, rafaelstorm, is the theater was closed for renovations by RKO to divide the auditoriums, sometime between early 1978 and late 1980. This is when you remember seeing it shuttered. RKO evidently held on to the theater into the 1980’s, even if it neglected to list it in block ads.
I was no longer traveling in the Jamaica area in the early 80s, and I distinctly remember the Alden being closed soemtime in the 70s. This can all be easily explained, however. Maybe it was closed for a time, and then reopened as a multiplex.
I’ve seen the same RKO block ads from 1980 and 1982 and also found the Alden missing – but the Alden still shows up in movie clock listings in those same newspaper editions. It is entirely possible that the Alden was operated independently its last few years. The listing I referenced above did not cite “RKO Alden,” merely “Alden 1,” “Alden 2,” “Alden 3” and “Alden 4.”
I found a ad for RKO Century Warner which is laden with theatres from RKO, Mann, Prudential and whatever, circa 1981. RKO Keith’s in Flushing is on but not the Alden. Also, among the missing from earlier ads are the Merrick (Jamaica) and Queens & Community (Queens Village). The Lynbrook by that time had reverted back to Skouras/UA.
The Alden was definitely divided in four at some point and lasted several years beyond the Valencia. I have clippings from the Daily News in March of 1982 that show the Alden 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the movie clock listings. By October, 1985, the Alden has dropped off movie clock listings in both the News and Newsday.
I believe rafaelstorm may be right about the Alden remaining a single screen to the end. The Valencia, Merrick, Savoy, Hillside and all the others theatres along Jamaica Avenue in Queens and Jericho Turnpike in Nassau went out as single screen theatres.
The bus terminal behind Loew’s Valencia is still there and operating. That site is now directly opposite the chief branch of the Queens Public Library, whose Long Island Reserch Division is a great place for finding information about Queens and Long Island theatres.
I have to take exception to the profile that states that the Alden was turned into a quad. Not in my excellent memory bank, it wasn’t. It closed around the same time as the Valencia, across Jamaica Avenue, but while that theater was given a rebirth as a church, the Alden just remained a hulking derelict, without ever being divided. I used to catch the Q-5 bus at Hillside and 169th, and ride it all the way to the end of the line, in Rosedale, and the bus route passed right next to both theaters. As a matter of fact, there was a bus terminal behind the Valencia, and the Q-5 would sit there for about ten minutes, before moving on its route. Gone are the days!
I just came across this very interesting page. I especially liked the great photo posted last June 4th by J.F. Lundy. As one who frequently rides the Q-54, the current embodiment of the old trolley line depicted in this picture, I could just imagine traversing the long, Jamaica to Williamsburg Bridge Plaza route, in that ancient tram.
A question that came to mind while perusing this page is why more modest movie houses like the Alden survived longer than their more elaborate competitors, like the Valencia. The same point can also be made regarding the Astoria and the Ridgewood on the one hand and the Triboro and the Madison on the other.
My guess is that the more elaborate palaces were initially considered just “too beautiful to twin” – a paraphrase of “too big to fail” – at the same time that their more modest competitors bent to the economic realities and sub-divided themselves. This bought the latter some additional time, while the uneconomical single screen marvels just could not survive the modern era. This reminds me of something I learned years ago in my college geology class. In studying the old fossils, I noticed that the most elaborately developed species also proved to be the ones that were most vulnerable to extinction when climactic conditions changed. The less elaborately developed species, on the other hand, adapted to these changes far more successfully.
While exceptions to this “rule” certainly exist – I remember seeing a film at an already divided Bronx Paradise during the mid-1970’s – I thing it stands up pretty well – especially in Queens. Any ideas?
David, there were photos of the current interior posted in the past above, but I didn’t check to see if the links still work. In the meantime, here’s a link to one photo, the top photo is the Valencia as a church:
View link
The theater is completely intact, and well maintained. The colors they have chosen to paint the interior is a little garish, but it’s better than the alternative, which would be not maintained. It still looks good.
The Carlton was also originally a “legit” playhouse and known as the Cort Jamaica, but larger and more ornate than the Alden. But it was too many blocks from the heart of the shopping district to ever be succssful with plays, vaudeville, or movies.
Interesting comment by T'toes. Thanks. My recollection is that each theater had its own magnificant architectural feature. Sounds, however, like the Lowes Valencia was the architectural winner. Has anyone posted interior photos of any of the theaters?
There has been some mention on this site of the Carlton Theater, several blocks to the east on Jamaica Avenue. My family went there back in the ‘50s to see the Red Badge of Courage. The total admission cost for the four of us was less than a dollar. The cost for my sister and me was, I recall, 9 cents and probably 25 cents for my parents. Years later, my sister’s wedding reception was held in that recycled theater, which by then was a catering hall.
David, the Valencia was the one with the gold fish pond, as well as the magnificent ceiling with twinkling stars. The much smaller Alden was a rather plain theatre built originally for “legit” plays as the Shubert Jamaica.