Cinemart Cinemas
106-03 Metropolitan Avenue,
Forest Hills,
NY
11375
106-03 Metropolitan Avenue,
Forest Hills,
NY
11375
4 people
favorited this theater
Opened as the Metropolis Theatre on March 10, 1927. It closed in the late 1950’s as the Inwood Theatre. The renamed Cinemart enjoyed huge popularity as a dollar house showing second run double bills, revivals and foreign films. In 1982 it was twinned and modernized and then in 1995 it was totally redone as a top-notch five-plex. It now shows first run and leans toward offbeat and foreign releases.
Contributed by
RobertR
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Recent comments (view all 181 comments)
Thanks Warren. Hope you as well as the Cinemart, which is doing very nicely.
This scan of a printed copy of the Queens Chronicle provides a more detailed image of the Inwood than the one at their website. The marquee looks original except for the side attraction panels, which probably have been changed from a black background with white lettering to the more modern reverse. The entrance doors and poster cases also look original. The Inwood’s current program was the sub-run “Caught” and a revival of “Penny Serenade”:
View link
Great shot Warren, and welcome back.
Warren, can you please re-post your scan from Sept 4th?
My memory of the Cinemart of the 70s and 80s is that it was a shabby dump. The movies that we saw there were on their last run, which fits the dollar format. “On a Clear Day” (the fifth time I saw it!) “Airplane,” and “Flashdance” are the ones I remember seeing there, though I know there were more. Nice to see it’s been reborn, and no reason why it shoudn’t be. Great neighborhood!
Fifty years ago tomorrow, the Inwood Art Cinema opened an exclusive one-week engagement of “Ecstasy” in what was claimed to be the original uncut, uncensored version of the 1933 Czech melodrama that helped to turn featured actress Hedwig Kiesler into a world sex symbol known as Hedy Lamarr. Added to the program was “Naughty Paris Nights,” featuring stars of the Folies Bergere, Moulin Rouge, Casino de Paris, and the Lido, and climaxing with “the most amazing Can-Can ever filmed.” Last complete shows started at 10:30 pm, with “Ecstasy” screening at midnight. Advertising boasted of “Ample Parking,” but didn’t specify where or for how much.
After seeing 17824 cinema releases in my life (tons on TV),and 12 years living in Queens, I finally saw my first film at the Cinemart. It was a documentary called “Inside Job” and has 1 showing a day in their 92 seat theater. Theater didn’t seem that small, 11 rows of 4 on each side with 4 by themselves in the back. Never saw a theater with screens behind others. Usually screens are side by side,opposite one another or on top of one another. Here 1 and 2 are seperated by a hall which leads to 3, 4 & 5.
An August 31st, 1953 New York Times article reads:
SIGN ASSAILS THEATRE TAX; Forest Hills Show Owner Says It Forced Closing of House.
A sign reading, “Thank You, Mr. Eisenhower, your 20 per cent tax closed this theatre,” was prominently displayed yesterday outside the Inwood Theatre at 106-03 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills, Queens. The theatre gave its last movie show last night.
So now you all know the exact closing date.
Very cool, Flynn. That fits with the PSA two-reeler that I’ve seen on TCM, where theater owners and managers assail the government for the enormous taxes levied on movie theaters. I think the date of that film is also circa 1953, and shows a remarkable number of vintage theaters.
Here’s an early view as the Metropolis, and already “closed for the summer”: nyc.gov