Savoy Theatre
152-04 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11433
152-04 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica,
NY
11433
2 people
favorited this theater
Located in the Jamaica section of Queens. One of my favorite downtown Jamaica theaters in the days when they ran triple features which changed three and four times a week during the 1950’s. There was always a western on the bill, followed invariably by a “Bowery Boys” feature and a Realart, Columbia or RKO reissued main feature.
I believe it went porno in the 1970’s and later was closed and eventually demolished.
On many visits to the theater, I recall seeing a framed sign mounted in the lobby indicating something to the effect that the Savoy Theatre was the first theater to show “talkies” on Long Island. I know this contradicts with the claim elsewhere on this site that the Arion Theatre in Middle Village was the first. Perhaps someone in the know could clarify this point.
Contributed by
Erwin Markisch
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Recent comments (view all 46 comments)
This bold 1929 presentation was apparently part “live” and part film, and required separate performances for women and men. One can only wonder about the meaning of “Actual scenes—shows everything.” And what was that frightened lady “never warned” about?
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/jamrialto.jpg
A Midmer-Losh theater organ was installed in the Rialto Theater in 1920.
In January, 1935, the Savoy announced that 1934 had been a record-breaking year for the theatre, with more than 1,000,000 tickets sold (adults and children combined). If true, that meant an average weekly attendance of about 19,231, or 2,740 per day. Advertising in the LI Daily Press gave the reason: “Because we present THE GREATEST SHOW VALUE IN N.Y.” To accommodate the crowds, the Savoy extended its hours, opening daily at 9:30 AM (except 11:45 on Sundays). No admission prices were cited, but I would guess a sliding scale of no more than 25 cents for adults and ten cents for children. The movies were last run for downtown Jamaica, but double bills of “A” product, such as “Kid Millions” & “Imitation of Life” and “Babes in Toyland” & “Marie Galante.”
Believe it or not, in its final period as a porno theatre, the Savoy had the New York City Housing and Development Administration as its landlord. That happened in July, 1973, when the city purchased the Savoy and other buildings in the block for demolition as part of the Jamaica Center Development Project. The occupants were given until June 30th of the next year (1974) to vacate. In the interim, Savoy Amusement Corporation, which had been showing hard-core pornography at the theatre for two years and soft-core for two years before that, would pay the city a monthly rental of $1,416. In September, 1973, a fire broke out in the theatre and destroyed several rows of seats. The city refused to make repairs or replace the seats, so the management did so at its own expense. “I have a steady clientele who come every week. They’re mostly male, 50-50 blacks and whites. You could say we have high class pornographic films. They’re 16 millimeter,” corporation owner Edward Quinn told a reporter for the New York Post. Some of the Savoy’s recent attractions were “Six Easy Pieces,” “Hooker’s Holiday,” “Sex in a Mobile Home,” “Snow Job” and “The Stud Who Came to Dinner.” Quinn said he had an agreement with local police to keep the outside posters low-key, with only film titles and no photographs or illustrations.
These previously posted photos have new direct links:
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Don’t think I have seen those pics before. Thanks, Warren!
Check out those titles
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A short history, with a color photo of the Savoy in its final “adult” phase, can be found here: View link
Thanks Tinseltoes.Nice link.
I was looking at the Century Brooklyn Rialto and found reference this “second” one built by Schwartz. Kind of unusual to have two theatres with the same name in a small local chain.