Nah. They don’t know me, I don’t think they noticed I was not looking at their merchandise. I sort of walked around pretending like I was a shopper, as opposed to a curiosity seeker.
I visited the Liberty Dept Store back in July (I think) of last year. I couldn’t even tell you what merchandise they had in the store, because I spent the 20 minutes I was in there just looking up at the walls and ceiling, trying to find (unsucessfully) anything that remained. There were two open doors, one in the area to the left of what was the stage (which is not recognizable as such, I just assumed that’s where the stage was) that looked into an office area, that had plain sheetrock walls. The other area was to the right of the stage into what appears to be a long narrow storage area, and that too had sheetrock walls, and drop ceiling, although it also had doors to what appeared to be the former theater emergency exits (probably out to Wyckoff Ave).
I left the store without buying anything, and a bit sad.
Just to add…
Yes, the Ridgewood is definitely a 5-plex, not a 6-plex.
As for the grand marble staircase in the Madison Theater’s lobby, it is completely unrecognizable today, although it does exist in it’s exact location, within the now Liberty Dept Store (which is now basically one big room. There is not one artifact existing within the old Madison Theatre to even say that it was a theater at one time, except for the curvature of the huge balcony right through the middle of the store, which divides the store to two ceiling heights a lower one for the area that was once under the balcony, and part of the lobby area, and then the ceiling past the balcony curvature in the main auditorium, that has a false drop ceiling installed, which is about two feet higher than the level of the ceiling under the balcony area.
The only other visable artifact remaining is the grand marble staircase. The catch is though that the staircase looks nothing like it did in it’s Madison days. It has been completely stripped of it’s white marble and it’s ornate railing. It now has black rubber linoleum on it, and a modern horizontal bar railing. There is a chain across it. I often wonderd what lies behind the chain and the curve of the stairway, and up in the old balkcony area. I wonder if anything is visible up there yet. Could the original walls remain? Could the Madison’s balcony area also over look the area above the false ceiling of the auditorium area, and actually have the ceiling of the Madison Theater visable yet (what’s left of it anyway, what with decades of neglect and fire)?
No, you don’t have to pay admission to Disneyland to go to the movie theater. It’s outside both theme parks in the shopping, entertainment, and restaurant area. Downtown Disney is in the area that separates the California Adventure Theme Park and the Disneyland Theme Park. There is also a special parkinglot that you park in that is totally free for 3 hours (so you don’t have to pay a Disney parking fee like you have to do for the Theme parks), and if you stay longer such as one of the many restaurants in Disney, or go to the movie theater, you just use you movie ticket stub as a validation, and I think that is good for free parking for at least 6 hours, more than enough time.
They still use what seems to be the original movie sign and letters in front to place what coming events will happen at the swap meet. You can clearly see the “Santa Fe Springs Drive In” sign all lit up when passing through Sante Fe Springs on I-5.
I drove by on I-5 a few times last week when I was in the area, and the place was all lit up with the stadium lighting, meaning one of the swap meets must have been going on.
I’m glad you benefited from all our research and legwork. I (as did others) had a great time while doing it. Unfortunately, we uncovered most of the mysteries and history the area holds, but I’m sure there are a few more here and there.
Wow, we should have bought the place in 2000, before it almost doubled in value by just under a million!
As for the 40 by 65 feet, lost memory is correct, the actally theater building is 65 feet back. The lobby is the 40 X 65 dimentions given.
Oh, and I forgot to comment! Notice how the market value is going down as opposed to up on the building. That could have something to do the fact that the theater has become vacant, but maybe the owbers did “play” with it’s status (such as the incorrect seating, etc). Someone mentioned in this thread that they observed seats being removed from the building.
Interesting.
The theater had 1400 seats, maybe they revised that to get the taxes down, because it says “less than 400 seats”?
Also, I believe the Commodore is on a corner, but maybe I am wrong.
And didn’t the COmmodore have a balcony? Or do they not consider a balcony a “2nd floor”?
But anyway, it’s NYC, I’m sure there are mistakes everywhere in their records.
I really wish that someone could save this theater before it’s too late.
Jim, thanks! That’s just what I was looking for!
I suspected it may be a set (meaning not a real theater), and that website is great that shows the progression of the set building!Were the interior scenes a set too?
I also noticed that in the movie “The Majestic” with Jim Carrey, they use the Graumann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood both outside in the courtyard and in the auditorium at the beginning of the movie.
However, does anyone know where the “Majestic” Theater is that they use in that film is? They use the interior and exterior of an old theater as the basis of the film, and was wondering if it was a real theater, and if it is, where it is and what it’s called.
I didn’t know where to ask this (and I of course know it’s not this “Majestic Theater”), but didn’t know where else to ask this.
I also noticed that in the movie “The Majestic” with Jim Carrey, they use the Chinese theater both outside in the courtyard and in the auditorium at the beginning of the movie.
Also, while on the subject of “The Majestic”, does anyone know where the “Majestic” Theater is that they use in that film is? They use the interior and exterior of an old theater as the basis of the film, and was wondering if it was a real theater, and if it is, where it is and what it’s called.
Quote: Brian: That was my exact thought….why get rid of that seal.
The only thing missing from the fasade of the RKO Bushwick is the marquee and that little round window up top. The theater was in complete shambles. In photos I have seen from before the construction began, while it was abandoned, the ornamentation around that little round window were already damaged and gone.
Quote:
*I’m for educating our youth, but why this Lamb theatre!?! *
I agree, but unfortunately the theater was a wreck before the construction began. Years of abandonment and neglect had taken it’s toll. The roof and theater were all open to the elements, and water found it’s way in. The interior was in pretty sorry shape.
I hate to see it gone as a theater, but it was either something like this, or we could be taking photos of an empty lot. This is the lesser of two evils, and at least the exterior was preserved.
I have not been in the theater since very early 90’s. It has the be at least 15 years or so. (They also do flea markets on Sundays for anyone that wants to take a peak inside). From the description, it appears that the theater has changed little and is exactly like I remembered it the description of it I gave above in this thread, right down to the curtain still being there.
Yeah, I noticed that Chinese Restaurant last night too. It was called Wing Wang or something like that, and a typical small store in a shopping center. I guess the theater was roughly in the location where the Chinese restaurant is now, but of course, not the same building, because the former building was demolished.
This is the shopping center that now has US1 Auto Parts and El Dorado BBQ and Bar. I was just at El Dorado this evening. Where was the theater in this shopping center? On the El Dorado west side or the AutoZone auto parts store side on the east?
I was only in the building once when it was a theater (can’t even count the times now that it’s a bar!), so I really can’t remember, and was a kid at the time.
Maybe it should be changed to “twin” in the description above.
Hmm, I don’t know if it was twinned, but it sure was possible.
Yes, Play World used to be in this shopping center. It was where Staples is now. It closed some time around 1995 or so.
It is a building that had cinema seats, projectors, film, a screen, and customers who entered…. departing satisfied. To me, thats a cinema.
Heh. Well considering this cinematreasure masterpiece, the customers who entered, departed satisfied in more ways than one.
I agree with “manwithnoname”, I hope they burned the seats afterwards.
In all seriousness, yes, I do feel these “priceless” cinematreasures belong here just as much as much as the true theaters. After all, considering what happened in Times Square in the 70’s, many of the true gem theaters had to go through this fate for a while too (well maybe not gay porn, but regular porn just the same). I think even the New Amsterdam Theater had porn for a while, and now it’s beaautiflly restored and has Disney shows in it….how much more opposite can you get than that!
Thanks! Actually, I was going to email it to you too, I figured you’d like it for both subject matters mentioned. BTW, this weeks Times has a nice photo taken from a roof of a builing of the “Woolworth’s” block on Myrtle, south of Onderdonk.
Here’s an article that was in the Timesnewsweekly this past week. It’s an article about what the M subway line is now, but mentions a nice description of the Grandview Theater, as well as the Belvedere in Glendale:
Please keep posting your memories of all the theaters. They are great to read.
Nah. They don’t know me, I don’t think they noticed I was not looking at their merchandise. I sort of walked around pretending like I was a shopper, as opposed to a curiosity seeker.
I visited the Liberty Dept Store back in July (I think) of last year. I couldn’t even tell you what merchandise they had in the store, because I spent the 20 minutes I was in there just looking up at the walls and ceiling, trying to find (unsucessfully) anything that remained. There were two open doors, one in the area to the left of what was the stage (which is not recognizable as such, I just assumed that’s where the stage was) that looked into an office area, that had plain sheetrock walls. The other area was to the right of the stage into what appears to be a long narrow storage area, and that too had sheetrock walls, and drop ceiling, although it also had doors to what appeared to be the former theater emergency exits (probably out to Wyckoff Ave).
I left the store without buying anything, and a bit sad.
Thanks Peter, as usual for you memories.
Just to add…
Yes, the Ridgewood is definitely a 5-plex, not a 6-plex.
As for the grand marble staircase in the Madison Theater’s lobby, it is completely unrecognizable today, although it does exist in it’s exact location, within the now Liberty Dept Store (which is now basically one big room. There is not one artifact existing within the old Madison Theatre to even say that it was a theater at one time, except for the curvature of the huge balcony right through the middle of the store, which divides the store to two ceiling heights a lower one for the area that was once under the balcony, and part of the lobby area, and then the ceiling past the balcony curvature in the main auditorium, that has a false drop ceiling installed, which is about two feet higher than the level of the ceiling under the balcony area.
The only other visable artifact remaining is the grand marble staircase. The catch is though that the staircase looks nothing like it did in it’s Madison days. It has been completely stripped of it’s white marble and it’s ornate railing. It now has black rubber linoleum on it, and a modern horizontal bar railing. There is a chain across it. I often wonderd what lies behind the chain and the curve of the stairway, and up in the old balkcony area. I wonder if anything is visible up there yet. Could the original walls remain? Could the Madison’s balcony area also over look the area above the false ceiling of the auditorium area, and actually have the ceiling of the Madison Theater visable yet (what’s left of it anyway, what with decades of neglect and fire)?
No, you don’t have to pay admission to Disneyland to go to the movie theater. It’s outside both theme parks in the shopping, entertainment, and restaurant area. Downtown Disney is in the area that separates the California Adventure Theme Park and the Disneyland Theme Park. There is also a special parkinglot that you park in that is totally free for 3 hours (so you don’t have to pay a Disney parking fee like you have to do for the Theme parks), and if you stay longer such as one of the many restaurants in Disney, or go to the movie theater, you just use you movie ticket stub as a validation, and I think that is good for free parking for at least 6 hours, more than enough time.
This AMC Downtown Disney is sort of the sister multiplex for the much larger one in Pleasure Island in Downtown Disney in Florida.
/theaters/8697/
They still use what seems to be the original movie sign and letters in front to place what coming events will happen at the swap meet. You can clearly see the “Santa Fe Springs Drive In” sign all lit up when passing through Sante Fe Springs on I-5.
I drove by on I-5 a few times last week when I was in the area, and the place was all lit up with the stadium lighting, meaning one of the swap meets must have been going on.
I’m glad you benefited from all our research and legwork. I (as did others) had a great time while doing it. Unfortunately, we uncovered most of the mysteries and history the area holds, but I’m sure there are a few more here and there.
Wow, we should have bought the place in 2000, before it almost doubled in value by just under a million!
As for the 40 by 65 feet, lost memory is correct, the actally theater building is 65 feet back. The lobby is the 40 X 65 dimentions given.
Oh, and I forgot to comment! Notice how the market value is going down as opposed to up on the building. That could have something to do the fact that the theater has become vacant, but maybe the owbers did “play” with it’s status (such as the incorrect seating, etc). Someone mentioned in this thread that they observed seats being removed from the building.
Interesting.
The theater had 1400 seats, maybe they revised that to get the taxes down, because it says “less than 400 seats”?
Also, I believe the Commodore is on a corner, but maybe I am wrong.
And didn’t the COmmodore have a balcony? Or do they not consider a balcony a “2nd floor”?
But anyway, it’s NYC, I’m sure there are mistakes everywhere in their records.
I really wish that someone could save this theater before it’s too late.
Jim, thanks! That’s just what I was looking for!
I suspected it may be a set (meaning not a real theater), and that website is great that shows the progression of the set building!Were the interior scenes a set too?
I also noticed that in the movie “The Majestic” with Jim Carrey, they use the Graumann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood both outside in the courtyard and in the auditorium at the beginning of the movie.
However, does anyone know where the “Majestic” Theater is that they use in that film is? They use the interior and exterior of an old theater as the basis of the film, and was wondering if it was a real theater, and if it is, where it is and what it’s called.
I didn’t know where to ask this (and I of course know it’s not this “Majestic Theater”), but didn’t know where else to ask this.
I also noticed that in the movie “The Majestic” with Jim Carrey, they use the Chinese theater both outside in the courtyard and in the auditorium at the beginning of the movie.
Also, while on the subject of “The Majestic”, does anyone know where the “Majestic” Theater is that they use in that film is? They use the interior and exterior of an old theater as the basis of the film, and was wondering if it was a real theater, and if it is, where it is and what it’s called.
Quote:
Brian: That was my exact thought….why get rid of that seal.
The only thing missing from the fasade of the RKO Bushwick is the marquee and that little round window up top. The theater was in complete shambles. In photos I have seen from before the construction began, while it was abandoned, the ornamentation around that little round window were already damaged and gone.
Quote:
*I’m for educating our youth, but why this Lamb theatre!?! *
I agree, but unfortunately the theater was a wreck before the construction began. Years of abandonment and neglect had taken it’s toll. The roof and theater were all open to the elements, and water found it’s way in. The interior was in pretty sorry shape.
I hate to see it gone as a theater, but it was either something like this, or we could be taking photos of an empty lot. This is the lesser of two evils, and at least the exterior was preserved.
Here’s the online version of the story, but unfortunately, the online version does not have the photo in it.
View link
(free nytimes login account needed)
I have not been in the theater since very early 90’s. It has the be at least 15 years or so. (They also do flea markets on Sundays for anyone that wants to take a peak inside). From the description, it appears that the theater has changed little and is exactly like I remembered it the description of it I gave above in this thread, right down to the curtain still being there.
Ooops, I just noticed a typo in my post above lostmemory’s. It’s now an “Autozone” auto parts store. US1 was the store before the mall was demolished.
Yeah, I noticed that Chinese Restaurant last night too. It was called Wing Wang or something like that, and a typical small store in a shopping center. I guess the theater was roughly in the location where the Chinese restaurant is now, but of course, not the same building, because the former building was demolished.
This is the shopping center that now has US1 Auto Parts and El Dorado BBQ and Bar. I was just at El Dorado this evening. Where was the theater in this shopping center? On the El Dorado west side or the AutoZone auto parts store side on the east?
I was only in the building once when it was a theater (can’t even count the times now that it’s a bar!), so I really can’t remember, and was a kid at the time.
Maybe it should be changed to “twin” in the description above.
Hmm, I don’t know if it was twinned, but it sure was possible.
Yes, Play World used to be in this shopping center. It was where Staples is now. It closed some time around 1995 or so.
Quote KenRoe:
It is a building that had cinema seats, projectors, film, a screen, and customers who entered…. departing satisfied. To me, thats a cinema.
Heh. Well considering this cinematreasure masterpiece, the customers who entered, departed satisfied in more ways than one.
I agree with “manwithnoname”, I hope they burned the seats afterwards.
In all seriousness, yes, I do feel these “priceless” cinematreasures belong here just as much as much as the true theaters. After all, considering what happened in Times Square in the 70’s, many of the true gem theaters had to go through this fate for a while too (well maybe not gay porn, but regular porn just the same). I think even the New Amsterdam Theater had porn for a while, and now it’s beaautiflly restored and has Disney shows in it….how much more opposite can you get than that!
Quote:
*Does this really qualify as a “cinema treasure?” *
Well with the “great cinema masterpieces” this place must have seen….
Lost, thanks for the great information on this theater.
Thanks! Actually, I was going to email it to you too, I figured you’d like it for both subject matters mentioned. BTW, this weeks Times has a nice photo taken from a roof of a builing of the “Woolworth’s” block on Myrtle, south of Onderdonk.
Here’s an article that was in the Timesnewsweekly this past week. It’s an article about what the M subway line is now, but mentions a nice description of the Grandview Theater, as well as the Belvedere in Glendale:
View link