Great ad, Warren! You think anyone could get away with such a racist Al Quaeda caricature today as the Japanese one seen in the center of that block of ads?
Nearly a year after its initial release, Peter Seller’s critically lauded performance in “Being There” was still being enjoyed in theaters (probably on third run re-release). The Glen Oaks shared Queens exclusivity with the Coninental in Forest Hills.
The ad for “The Seduction” in the upper left corner of the image advertises only the single feature, but most theaters – including the Glen Oaks – paired it up with the grind house horror flick “Evilspeak” that gave Ron’s brother Clint Howard (a perennial supporting player) the chance at a leading role. At this time, the circuit was RKO Century’s.
Yes. And Lee Major’s film career really took off after that, didn’t it? Remember “The Norsemen”, the ridiculous Viking epic he starred in with Mel Ferrer and an aging Cornel Wilde? I also seem to recall some sort of horrible killer piranha movie he was in around this same time. I guess they made for a few decent paychecks between the end of “Six Million Dollar Man” and the beginning of “The Fall Guy”!
Saw that too, Warren. “The Meadows” might have been how folks referred the place informally, but Warren is correct that the AKA here should be “Century’s Meadows” while the theater’s new name is being updated. I wonder if the signage (that has been out of date for sometime) will now be updated to include the “AMC Loews” logo.
I found the following block ad in an old copy of the Post I saved from the time of John Belushi’s death. The Hollywood Twin was in operation at this point as a revival house (as many of us have discussed above) but apparently there was an all-male twin adult cinema named the Night Shift that occupied the floors above the Hollywood and shared the same address:
I used to attend revivals at the Hollywood quite frequently during this period and, frankly, I just don’t specifically remember anything about the Night Shift. Here’s a full shot of that very same page including the Post’s Movie Clock that reveals the Hollywood Twin featuring the Richard Lester double bill “How I Won the War” & “Bed Sitting Room” in one auditorium and in the other a pairing of two 1970 films, “Boys in the Band” and “Something for Everyone”:
Here’s a question for anyone reading this… You guys know anything about the porn theater called Frisco that is listed in the Movie Clock? I couldn’t find a listing for it on CT.
Yeah, Al… I didn’t notice the Night Shift Twin, but I was going to inquire here about the Frisco. I have some of those block porno ads that the Post and News would cluster at the bottom of the mainstream movie ads that I plan on posting at the appropriate theater pages here on CT and was going to pose the question. I don’t see the Frisco listed in any of those blocks, but I do see the Night Shift, which was apparently an all male adult cinema carved out of office space on the two floors above theHollywood Twin on 8th Ave near 47th. I’ll post the ad for it on that theater’s page since it lists the very same address of 777 8th Ave.
Here’s an ad from the 12/12/80 edition of the Daily News that advertises a film that seems to have been booked into the Times Square exclusively for Manhattan (while playing nabes all over the boroughs and burbs):
The really interesting thing is that this seems to be a re-release of a 1979 film originally entitled “The Great American Girl Robbery” that, according to IMDB.COM, did not involve Leon Isaac Kennedy (who is featured prominently in the advertising) in any capacity whatsoever!!! What a set on the guys at Aquarius Releasing for pulling that stunt, huh? Shamelessly trying to make a buck off the popularity of Kennedy’s exploitation circuit hit “Penitentiary”!
I remember seeing this particular twin bill at the Midway in Forest Hills – where my buddies and I often took in grind house type fare in winter months when daylight hours were preciously short for a trip to the Duece!
Of course, all three Manhattan theaters opted for a different 2nd feature. I saw this pairing as advertised either at the RKO Lawrence or the Studio 1 in Lynbrook.
Some appellations die hard, Al… I wonder if “Boulevard” just stuck around on the theater’s letterhead out of habit for many years (since at the time of the Meadows' construction in the 1940’s it was surely located on Horace Harding Boulevard)? Just like how the Jackie Robinson Parkway will continue to be the “Interboro” to many folks and for many years to come. Or how I’ll always remember my telephone # exchange in Elmhurst as “HAvemeyer 8” rather than “428”.
As long as I’ve been frequenting the area (since I attended Junior High School there at I.S. 216 in 1977) it’s been “Expressway”. It’s possible some old street signs were still in place on certain corners back in the day (you know the City), but I think they’ve all been replaced by now.
This topic sure has “legs”, eh? I’ll stop aiding and abetting now.
I assume the three theaters (all in various parts of Queens) fell under the same ownership during the time. The ad appeared in the 12/9/80 edition of the Daily News grouped in a lower corner of the page with an ad for a Kung Fu grind feature and some local “short stay” Motels.
I’m not sure if anything remains beneath the current banal facade, Native. There is a vintage work of neon signage inside a small room off the theater’s lobby (perhaps a former box office or manager’s office?) but aside from that, I believe all was gutted and lost with the multi-plexing. Perhaps, as with the Cinemart, some remnant of the original lobby exists above the current drop ceiling?
Here’s an ad from the 12/9/80 edition of the NY Post for the old XXX Austin, Olympia and Queens theaters (I presume they fell under the same ownership at the time):
Here’s a shot I took in the fall of 1993 showing the Lyric and Victory at a time when most of the Duece theaters were shuttered (the Harris and Harem were still kicking around) and their marquees and facades subject to public art and poetry:
I also have these images from the NY Post in December 1980 and March 1982 reavealing that the Post did include 7 of the Duece grind houses in their “Movie Clock” listings. Aside from the Cine 42, they are all clustered together in the 2nd column in each image below:
The last shot is a full view of the 3/10/82 Movie Clock that reveals all the porn theaters that were listed – inlcuding the Harem, making it 8 Duece theaters on the list. Not listed are the New Amsterdam (which was on the verge of closing down in ‘82), Harris, Anco and Rialto Theaters. I also checked contemporary copies of the News and Newsday I have and none of these theaters are listed at all. Meanwhile, the Apollo was flirting with legitimacy:
The other feature both the Post and News ran in those days was something called the Neighborhood Movie Guide. The Post ran nearly a full page listing, while the News' version barely filled a single column (and in those abbreviated versions seemed mostly filled with XXX Porn listings). Here are a couple of samples to jog some memories:
Here’s an ad from December 1980 for the double feature re-release of “The Blues Brothers” (originally released the summer of that year) and 1979’s “The Jerk” that played the Anco and Criterion as well as a number of neighborhood theaters:
This is how I recall the Anco, even though I was already visiting the Duece houses by 1980. As I stated previously, I tended to avoid this end of 42nd Street.
Lost… you can go over to the latest poll topic about “The DaVinci Code” and debate the subject of blasphemy if you like!
On a more topical note vis-a-vis the Meadows… I took some digital photos of a bunch of ads from the local newspapers I saved just after the murder of John Lennon. Seems at the time the Meadows Twin featured Redford’s “Ordinary People” in one theater and Woody Allen’s “Stardust Memories” in the other:
A couple of years later (the time of John Belushi’s death) the twin auditoriums featured the family drama “Shoot the Moon” and the infamous Pia Zadora in “Butterfly”:
Love the little block of porn ads at the bottom of the page. Both the News and Post used to run these along with the mainstream ads. You just don’t see that anymore (not that there are many porn theaters left in NYC).
To add to this tempest in a teapot, all the street signs for the service road still read Horace Harding Expressway… at least from Queens Blvd east to the Nassau border. West of Queens Blvd, the service road doesn’t run continuously. At some point it is called “Queens Midtown Expressway” and eventually gives way to Borden Ave which runs under the elevated LIE on its home stretch through Long Island City to the Tunnel toll booths. Out on Long Island, depending on the town, I’ve seen everything from N. Service Rd and S. Service Road to Powerhouse Rd, Nassau Blvd, Old Westbury Road, etc. Anyway… let’s lay this one to rest, now that we’ve gotten completely off topic!
Below is a photo I took of the Community back in the fall of 1993 sometime after it had closed down. Some of the lettering from the last attractions were still lingering on the side panel of the time worn marquee… looks like the English-language feature was “White Man Can’t Jump” from 1992:
Here’s a vintage shot from almost the very same angle taken in 1924 (and previously posted here by Warren) as well as a more recent shot I took from a similar vantage point from December of 2005 for comparison:
On first blush it appears that the latter day marquee might be original, but it doesn’t take too much time to figure out that at some point the height of the marquee’s advertising space was increased and the fins atop the side boards were replaced with near identical units spelling out the theater’s name. And of course the big name fin out front was later added (I assume to clear up the street facing side of the marquee for advertising).
Robbie… “The Wild Bunch” was released in June of 1969. Not sure how that film rolled out, but if you saw it on first run at the Valencia, it was probably sometime that Summer. The theater held on for another 8 years – though they surely were not the best of times for this magnificent show place.
The old neon border on the marquee was already masked by aluminum flashing by this time, but the original facade above the marquee still evidenced original (albeit worn) ornamentation, which has been completely eradicated with the theater’s sprucing up as the Bombay:
Below are a few shots I took in 1993 of the New Amsterdam facade and entrance. It appeared at the time that some work was going on within, as one of the doors was ajar and some lighting and light construction equipment could be seen down the outer lobby hall.
I think its interesting to compare that first shot of the theater entrance with the somewhat wider angle view of the same area (from almost the same vantage point) taken some 30-plus years earlier that Warren posted a while back:
I took a series of photos of the vacant Duece grind houses in 1993 and recently scanned them to my photobucket account. Here is a shot of the Lyric and neighboring Victory, stripped of their billboard signage and their marquees displaying some sort of public poetry project:
Great ad, Warren! You think anyone could get away with such a racist Al Quaeda caricature today as the Japanese one seen in the center of that block of ads?
Nearly a year after its initial release, Peter Seller’s critically lauded performance in “Being There” was still being enjoyed in theaters (probably on third run re-release). The Glen Oaks shared Queens exclusivity with the Coninental in Forest Hills.
Daily News 12/9/80
Less than two years later, the exploitative Morgan Fairchild opus “The Seduction” was booked here and at other nabes:
NY Post 3/9/82
The ad for “The Seduction” in the upper left corner of the image advertises only the single feature, but most theaters – including the Glen Oaks – paired it up with the grind house horror flick “Evilspeak” that gave Ron’s brother Clint Howard (a perennial supporting player) the chance at a leading role. At this time, the circuit was RKO Century’s.
Yes. And Lee Major’s film career really took off after that, didn’t it? Remember “The Norsemen”, the ridiculous Viking epic he starred in with Mel Ferrer and an aging Cornel Wilde? I also seem to recall some sort of horrible killer piranha movie he was in around this same time. I guess they made for a few decent paychecks between the end of “Six Million Dollar Man” and the beginning of “The Fall Guy”!
Saw that too, Warren. “The Meadows” might have been how folks referred the place informally, but Warren is correct that the AKA here should be “Century’s Meadows” while the theater’s new name is being updated. I wonder if the signage (that has been out of date for sometime) will now be updated to include the “AMC Loews” logo.
I just noticed in that Night Shift ad… “Free continental breakfast Sat & Sun”!!! I can’t make out the times.
I found the following block ad in an old copy of the Post I saved from the time of John Belushi’s death. The Hollywood Twin was in operation at this point as a revival house (as many of us have discussed above) but apparently there was an all-male twin adult cinema named the Night Shift that occupied the floors above the Hollywood and shared the same address:
Night Shift NY Post 3/8/82
I used to attend revivals at the Hollywood quite frequently during this period and, frankly, I just don’t specifically remember anything about the Night Shift. Here’s a full shot of that very same page including the Post’s Movie Clock that reveals the Hollywood Twin featuring the Richard Lester double bill “How I Won the War” & “Bed Sitting Room” in one auditorium and in the other a pairing of two 1970 films, “Boys in the Band” and “Something for Everyone”:
Post Movie Clock 3/8/82
Here’s a question for anyone reading this… You guys know anything about the porn theater called Frisco that is listed in the Movie Clock? I couldn’t find a listing for it on CT.
Yeah, Al… I didn’t notice the Night Shift Twin, but I was going to inquire here about the Frisco. I have some of those block porno ads that the Post and News would cluster at the bottom of the mainstream movie ads that I plan on posting at the appropriate theater pages here on CT and was going to pose the question. I don’t see the Frisco listed in any of those blocks, but I do see the Night Shift, which was apparently an all male adult cinema carved out of office space on the two floors above theHollywood Twin on 8th Ave near 47th. I’ll post the ad for it on that theater’s page since it lists the very same address of 777 8th Ave.
Here’s an ad from the 12/12/80 edition of the Daily News that advertises a film that seems to have been booked into the Times Square exclusively for Manhattan (while playing nabes all over the boroughs and burbs):
Cheerleader’s Wild Weekend
The really interesting thing is that this seems to be a re-release of a 1979 film originally entitled “The Great American Girl Robbery” that, according to IMDB.COM, did not involve Leon Isaac Kennedy (who is featured prominently in the advertising) in any capacity whatsoever!!! What a set on the guys at Aquarius Releasing for pulling that stunt, huh? Shamelessly trying to make a buck off the popularity of Kennedy’s exploitation circuit hit “Penitentiary”!
Below is an ad from the Daily News for a pair of horror flicks that opened at the Liberty (and elsewhere) on December 12, 1980:
Electrifying Terror
I remember seeing this particular twin bill at the Midway in Forest Hills – where my buddies and I often took in grind house type fare in winter months when daylight hours were preciously short for a trip to the Duece!
Double feature ad from the Daily News (12/12/80) listing the New Amsterdam as well as the RKO Cinerama and a number of neighborhood grinds:
Steel/The Children
Of course, all three Manhattan theaters opted for a different 2nd feature. I saw this pairing as advertised either at the RKO Lawrence or the Studio 1 in Lynbrook.
Some appellations die hard, Al… I wonder if “Boulevard” just stuck around on the theater’s letterhead out of habit for many years (since at the time of the Meadows' construction in the 1940’s it was surely located on Horace Harding Boulevard)? Just like how the Jackie Robinson Parkway will continue to be the “Interboro” to many folks and for many years to come. Or how I’ll always remember my telephone # exchange in Elmhurst as “HAvemeyer 8” rather than “428”.
As long as I’ve been frequenting the area (since I attended Junior High School there at I.S. 216 in 1977) it’s been “Expressway”. It’s possible some old street signs were still in place on certain corners back in the day (you know the City), but I think they’ve all been replaced by now.
This topic sure has “legs”, eh? I’ll stop aiding and abetting now.
Here’s a small ad for the Queens (as well as the Austin and Olympia Theaters) from its XXX porn days:
Prisoners of Paradise
I assume the three theaters (all in various parts of Queens) fell under the same ownership during the time. The ad appeared in the 12/9/80 edition of the Daily News grouped in a lower corner of the page with an ad for a Kung Fu grind feature and some local “short stay” Motels.
I’m not sure if anything remains beneath the current banal facade, Native. There is a vintage work of neon signage inside a small room off the theater’s lobby (perhaps a former box office or manager’s office?) but aside from that, I believe all was gutted and lost with the multi-plexing. Perhaps, as with the Cinemart, some remnant of the original lobby exists above the current drop ceiling?
Here’s an ad from the 12/9/80 edition of the NY Post for the old XXX Austin, Olympia and Queens theaters (I presume they fell under the same ownership at the time):
Prisoners of Paradise
Typically, the small ad was clustered in a lower corner of the page with another ad for a Kung-Fu grind house feature and a few “hourly rate” motels!
5th smash week for Seka at the “Nations Red Carpet Adult Theater” at the bottom of the page:
Post 12/11/80
And a couple of years later, a new leading lady has a hit:
Post 3/8/82
I wondered the same thing, Robert. But it looks like they listed the theaters alphabetically in the ad.
Here’s a shot I took in the fall of 1993 showing the Lyric and Victory at a time when most of the Duece theaters were shuttered (the Harris and Harem were still kicking around) and their marquees and facades subject to public art and poetry:
1993 marquee poetry
I also snapped these two photos in 2002 while attending a show with the kiddies at the New Victory:
2002 Facade detail
2002 side boxes
I also have these images from the NY Post in December 1980 and March 1982 reavealing that the Post did include 7 of the Duece grind houses in their “Movie Clock” listings. Aside from the Cine 42, they are all clustered together in the 2nd column in each image below:
Movie Clock 12/11/80
Movie Clock 3/10/82
Full Movie Clock 3/10/82
The last shot is a full view of the 3/10/82 Movie Clock that reveals all the porn theaters that were listed – inlcuding the Harem, making it 8 Duece theaters on the list. Not listed are the New Amsterdam (which was on the verge of closing down in ‘82), Harris, Anco and Rialto Theaters. I also checked contemporary copies of the News and Newsday I have and none of these theaters are listed at all. Meanwhile, the Apollo was flirting with legitimacy:
News Theater Directory 12/9/80
The other feature both the Post and News ran in those days was something called the Neighborhood Movie Guide. The Post ran nearly a full page listing, while the News' version barely filled a single column (and in those abbreviated versions seemed mostly filled with XXX Porn listings). Here are a couple of samples to jog some memories:
Post Nabe Movie Guide 12/11/80
Post Nabe Movie Guide 3/9/82
News Movie timetable 12/15/80
Mews Movie Directory 12/9/80
Here’s an ad from December 1980 for the double feature re-release of “The Blues Brothers” (originally released the summer of that year) and 1979’s “The Jerk” that played the Anco and Criterion as well as a number of neighborhood theaters:
Daily News 12/12/80
Also… Not sure I’ve seen this photo posted here, but it shows the Anco in it’s latter days as XXX grind:
1985 Anco XXX
This is how I recall the Anco, even though I was already visiting the Duece houses by 1980. As I stated previously, I tended to avoid this end of 42nd Street.
Lost… you can go over to the latest poll topic about “The DaVinci Code” and debate the subject of blasphemy if you like!
On a more topical note vis-a-vis the Meadows… I took some digital photos of a bunch of ads from the local newspapers I saved just after the murder of John Lennon. Seems at the time the Meadows Twin featured Redford’s “Ordinary People” in one theater and Woody Allen’s “Stardust Memories” in the other:
Daily News 12/12/80 Ordinary People
Daily News 12/12/80 Stardust
A couple of years later (the time of John Belushi’s death) the twin auditoriums featured the family drama “Shoot the Moon” and the infamous Pia Zadora in “Butterfly”:
NY Post 3/10/82
Love the little block of porn ads at the bottom of the page. Both the News and Post used to run these along with the mainstream ads. You just don’t see that anymore (not that there are many porn theaters left in NYC).
To add to this tempest in a teapot, all the street signs for the service road still read Horace Harding Expressway… at least from Queens Blvd east to the Nassau border. West of Queens Blvd, the service road doesn’t run continuously. At some point it is called “Queens Midtown Expressway” and eventually gives way to Borden Ave which runs under the elevated LIE on its home stretch through Long Island City to the Tunnel toll booths. Out on Long Island, depending on the town, I’ve seen everything from N. Service Rd and S. Service Road to Powerhouse Rd, Nassau Blvd, Old Westbury Road, etc. Anyway… let’s lay this one to rest, now that we’ve gotten completely off topic!
Below is a photo I took of the Community back in the fall of 1993 sometime after it had closed down. Some of the lettering from the last attractions were still lingering on the side panel of the time worn marquee… looks like the English-language feature was “White Man Can’t Jump” from 1992:
White Men Jump
Here’s a vintage shot from almost the very same angle taken in 1924 (and previously posted here by Warren) as well as a more recent shot I took from a similar vantage point from December of 2005 for comparison:
1924 spiffy and new
2005 at dusk
On first blush it appears that the latter day marquee might be original, but it doesn’t take too much time to figure out that at some point the height of the marquee’s advertising space was increased and the fins atop the side boards were replaced with near identical units spelling out the theater’s name. And of course the big name fin out front was later added (I assume to clear up the street facing side of the marquee for advertising).
I snapped the photo below in 1993 when the theater was vacant and about to be taken over by the church that presently occupies the building:
Coming Soon: New York Deliverance Gospel Tempel
I haven’t driven by the place in a while, but I do know that the word “Queens” has been removed from all sides of the current marquee.
Robbie… “The Wild Bunch” was released in June of 1969. Not sure how that film rolled out, but if you saw it on first run at the Valencia, it was probably sometime that Summer. The theater held on for another 8 years – though they surely were not the best of times for this magnificent show place.
Here’s a 1993 shot of the Mayfair when it was still the Mayfair and when it was showing XXX porn:
XXX New Show Every Weds & Sun
The old neon border on the marquee was already masked by aluminum flashing by this time, but the original facade above the marquee still evidenced original (albeit worn) ornamentation, which has been completely eradicated with the theater’s sprucing up as the Bombay:
2005 view as Bombay
Below are a few shots I took in 1993 of the New Amsterdam facade and entrance. It appeared at the time that some work was going on within, as one of the doors was ajar and some lighting and light construction equipment could be seen down the outer lobby hall.
The front door
Marquee and blade sign
New Amsterdam and Cine 42
I think its interesting to compare that first shot of the theater entrance with the somewhat wider angle view of the same area (from almost the same vantage point) taken some 30-plus years earlier that Warren posted a while back:
Exploitation Mania
I took a series of photos of the vacant Duece grind houses in 1993 and recently scanned them to my photobucket account. Here is a shot of the Lyric and neighboring Victory, stripped of their billboard signage and their marquees displaying some sort of public poetry project:
1993 Lyric and Victory
Here’s a 2002 shot I took of the restored Lyric facade used as the entrance to the big Ford Center for the Performing Arts complex:
2002 Ford Center restoration