Laurel Theatre
West Park Avenue & Laurelton Boulevard,
Long Beach,
NY
11561
West Park Avenue & Laurelton Boulevard,
Long Beach,
NY
11561
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This Long Beach theatre was opened in May 1932. It was last operated by the Interboro chain and closed sometime in the 1970’s.
Contributed by
RobertR
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
In May of 1969 the Laurel had the exclusive Nassau County showing of Catherine Deneuve in “Belle de Jour”. This was an unusual area to play an exclusive like this. Maybe this was a subsequent release.
In the late 50’s this was a Rugoff house.
In the early seventies my father and uncle bought this theater and the Lido. I worked there and you can find my entry under the Lido’s comments. The Laurel Theater got a mention in Billy Crystal’s show on Broadway. He had his high school graduation there as well as many a date.
The Laurel Theatre had Charles Sandblom as architect and was situated on the southwest corner of Park Street and Laurelton Boulevard, according to an article in the March 20, 1932 issue of The New York Times, which said that the Laurel would be officially opened in May of that year. It was being built at the cost of $425,000 and would seat 2,000, occupying a ground site of 180 by 100 feet. The Times described it as “one of the largest building projects ever started in the amusement field at Long Beach.” The Laurel would be the only theatre in the town to present vaudeville as well as first-run movies. The Lido showed movies exclusively, while the Boardwalk was devoted to stage productions. All those theatres, including the new Laurel, were owned and operated by Fink, Rugoff & Becker. (I must add that Film Daily Year Books give a seating capacity of 1,531 for the Laurel, which is nearly 500 less than reported by the NYT.)
This website has a 1970’s photo of the Laurel Theater. This link has a 1950’s photo that shows the Laurel Theater.
The 1957 photo of the Laurel’s marquee reveals a boldface lie with “ALL VISTAVISION COLOR SHOW.” While both movies were in VistaVision, only “Funny Face” was in color. “Fear Strikes Out” was a stark B&W biopic about baseball star Jim Piersall’s struggles with mental illness.
I guess that there were no truth in advertising laws at that time. Is it too late to ask for a refund? Until an exact address is posted, the location for this theater should be West Park Ave & Laurelton Blvd.
Sorry, Warren, “Fear Strikes Out” was a black-and-white VistaVision movie, filmed in 1.85/1 aspect ratio.
The Laurel Theatre opened on May 28th, 1932, according to a news item in Box Office Magazine at the time. Box Office reported 1,700 seats, 300 of which were “oversized” and located in a loge section at the front of the balcony.
This site has a 1986 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/chnyz2