And yes, I agree with you, the 10 plex is badly run down. It still brings in a crowd but that won’t continue if they build the proposed 16 screen megaplex at the Plaza. It’ll kill this sucker off big time. And frankly, the way they’ve NOT been keeping it up, good riddance. The shame is that this theater, in one form or another, has been a fixture in the area for years.
No, the theater WAS where the David’s Bridal is now. I wish I could find the picture I saw of route 4 westbound that showed it. It was taken around the early 60’s.
I had this one completely mixed up. This one was on Penninsula (sp?) Blvd in the shopping center. Kind of large, gaudy sign on the street. It was about a mile or so south of Sunrise Highway. Kind of near Valley Stream.
I saw “The Karate Kid” and “Another Woman”. “Another Woman” was an annoying experience though it wasn’t the movie that annoyed me (I actually liked it..). I saw this on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the winter. But the way the auditorium was setup, everytime someone opened the auditorium doors, the place and the screen would fill with light. It got so annoying that people started yelling.
This was a decent movie theater in a good location.
At least when this first opened as a DMV, they did a really, really nice job with this. The dome was still intact with a beautiful chandelier hanging from it. This was back in 1986 or so. I don’t know how it is now. You could also see where the balcony was.
My parents moved to LI in 1956 and said that Hempstead was THE place to live, shop and go for fun. They saw “Dr. No” here as well as a lot of other theaters. My Mother and Father said there were at least three great theaters in Hempstead. Decline really set in around 1970 but even in 1972, there were still very nice sections of the village. Not anymore.
This was still a fairly decent theater in the 80’s when I went to the movies a lot. I saw a late night showing of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” here in 1988 and the place was immaculate. And packed. It was a great location too.
It’s doomed. Sorry but the neighborhood is in decline and has been for years. And there’s way too much competition in the area with the new megaplexes.
I grew up in Nassau County and I go back there fairly frequently to visit friends and relatives (I’m in NJ now). Nassau is becoming like a borough of NYC now, demographic wise. I was shocked two years ago by the horrible condition of the Roosevelt Field Mall and it’s movie theater. The mall removed that great “spitting” fountain that they had for what???!!!! A kiddie train ride…to generate revenue. Ugh!
Back in the 80’s, Roosevelt Field was THE mall to go to. And the theater, though mightily multiplexed, was fantastic. It was clean as hell and just a great theater to go to. HELL, even this Westbury place was OK. It was one of the few close by places to show unusual fare such as “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”, “My Life as a Dog”, “Jean DeFlorette”, “Murmur of the Heart” and so many others. The only other theater on LI that show stuff like this was the New Community Cinema in Huntington. And that was quite a schlep. I would never have gotten the chance to see these fine films without the Westbury. Yes, the owners were a well documented couple of nut-burgers but they booked good stuff in the mid to late 80s.
Also, just one other comment/question that I’ve wondered about even in today’s megaplexes: how they HELL did you guys sit through the same movie over and over and over and over and over without losing your minds? I mean, at least in today’s movie going environment, the films change over a lot. But “back in the days” (even when I was a kid in the 70’s) films would stay in the same single screener for months. “Jaws” played at the Green Acres in Valley Stream from it’s release in May or June of 1975 until Christmas. I thought it would never leave. The projectionists there must’ve gone out of their minds!
I heard about the cue mark (like a quick DOT on the screen) before the reel change when I was a kid and went to the movies a lot. As a kid, I began to look for it. In the cheaper theaters (like the UA Farmingdale…second run but nice theaters) I’d could see the cue and then a few seconds later, I could tell when the reel was different because sometimes (very often, I hate to say) the next reel’s quality was not the same as the first, either good or bad. And there was occasionally a bit of a “blip” in the sound and a tiny jump. I guess that’s where the change over was.
All this must’ve been hard enough with a normal movie at or under 2 hours. But those longer flicks like “Ben Hur” or “My Fair Lady” must’ve been murder.
I was very interested in becoming a projectionist when I was younger in the 80’s. But my friend’s father, who was the projectionist at the Port Washington multiplex, kind of talked me out of it because he said it was difficult to get int the union AND the jobs were drying up. He had to supplement his income by doing office cleaning (ran his own firm). He started out at the Oceanside when he was around 20 years old.
RCDTJ: Please be patient with me if you feel I’m asking idiotic questions. I’ve never been in one of the older projection booths and this stuff fascinates me. Anything about movies does…
So you have two projectors. Is the “window” through which the image is projected big enough so that the projectionist doesn’t have to slide one projector out of the way when transferring to the next reel? I’m assuming that in the two machine method, they are pretty much right next to one another, correct? Were they also bolted to the floor and such to avoid shaking?
The platter method did away with this two projector operation, right? When did this start to be used?
During the two machine operation, it must’ve required the projectionist to pay attention while watching the film for those cue marks especially if it was a new movie and they were not sure where they were. Did you ever “fall asleep at the wheel”?
The shopping center also had a Pergament (remember those)?
You would think that the location would’ve made it a prime theater? It’s strange how sometimes all the elements are there but a theater fails. And then in other cases, the opposite is true.
Was this the one that was pretty much at the end of Rockaway Blvd before you hit that long and “lovely” strectch of barren road heading toward Kennedy?
This theater was virtually identical to the Century’s Baldwin EXCEPT that the balcony (which was removed from the Baldwin) was intact here. That’s the reason why I think the Baldwin closed and this one remained to be multiplexed. This one’s still sucessful because there aren’t many (any?) theaters in the area. The Argo in Elmont was about the only one that might’ve given it competition but the neighborhood declined and so did that theater…
Jesus…I never knew there was so much to the projector! This is fascinating.
I once had a friend who’s father was the projectionist at the Port Washington Multiplex. He gave me a quick tour of one of the projector rooms. I saw that they had layed out the movie “A Fish Called Wanda” on the huge platter, which I understand, was a fairly new development (don’t know the year but from other posts for other theaters, it seemed that way). No offense, but in the “olden days” without the platter, how did the projectionist change reels without any disruption? I know that near the end of a reel, all films have a tiny “blip” that appears in one of the corners to alert the projectionist to change reels. Can someone explain how this is done?
ALSO…does anyone here realize the wealth of great information that people like RobertR and Warren and so many others (especially on the Radio City Music Hall board) are writing here? This subject and the various memories are perfect for a documentary.
Correct me if I’m wrong but the Green Acres in Valley Stream and the Fantasy in Rockville Centre did get this so-called Midway treatment, right? In some ways I find that more brutal as it complete destroys anything that resembled the old theater.
I was on LI over Thanksgiving and went by the Lynbrook. GOD that place was huge. You can see how high up the arched ceiling goes. I guess a creative architect could’ve maintained the original architecture while multiplexing it but the cost would’ve been cost prohibitive.
I find it amazing that there’s not more comments about this theater. There’s a lot written about the Lynbrook (‘cause that sucker was huge) but not about this lovely place. Well, OK…formerly loveley. Again, I have a lot of memories of the place that I’d love to know more about it. I think part of the reason is that it wasn’t really gigantic or anything. In size, it was probably bigger than the Century’s Baldwin but definately no where near as large as the Lynbrook.
Was The Fantasy ever part of any Roadshows? Just curious…
Like I said above, this was always known as a crap-ola theater even back in the 70’s when every neighborhood had a theater. The Century’s Baldwin was so much better maintained. That’s why I’m surprised that this one has remained around for so long.
And what is the benefit to the owners to have the light on the screen so dim? Does it save electricity or something?
There’s another theater from the Five Towns that I don’t see listed on this site either. It was located on Peninsula Blvd in a shopping center. I’m not sure if the area was Valley Stream (south) or Hewlett. What I remember was seeing Woody Allen’s “Another Woman” there on a Sunday afternoon. Everytime someone came into the auditorium, the theater would be flooded by light. It was really annoying. Not sure when it closed but I’m sure it is…anyone recall this theater? It was NOT near Rockaway Blvd but much closer to Sunrise Highway, maybe a mile or so south of it.
As much as I did not like this theater and preferred the Century’s Baldwin over this one, I did see a lot of movies here. The one strange thing about the place that go to me even as a kid was the fact that there were no doors to the auditorium. The box office was on the left as you entered the front doors. Then you went into a smallish lobby where there was one concession stand and to the right of that was the restrooms. The auditorium was just a few feet up from the concession stand and there were no doors. There was a wide entry area right behind the rear seats. At some point I guess the owners realized the stupidity of this so they installed (get this) louvered doors…you know the kind that fold up against the wall. When the movie would start, they’d pull it closed. But they had to leave part of it open so people could leave and go to the bathroom or concession stand. I remember a lot of times having light flood into the auditorium when someone would go out. It was annoying and I could never figure out why they designed it like that.
The one and only time I was here was in 1987 to see an Ingmar Bergman double bill of “Wild Strawberries” and “Persona”. Between the features, they played the WC Fields short “The Dentist”. Absolutely wonderful time. I loved “Wild Strawberries” and to this day, when I see it, I think of the great time I had here. The auditorium itself was very narrow if I remember correctly with very few seats on either side of the aisle. But it was nicely maintained by people who obviously just loved to show films. A great experience.
Over the summer, I happened to see “Sweet Smell of Success”. Great movie…enjoyed it a lot and was glad to finally see it.
Anyway…what made the movie sensational (and dated in a great way) was the superb on location filming. I mean, this movie seemed to have been shot entirely in midtown NY locations. J.J. Hunsecker’s office/apartment is located in the Brill Building which is located right across the street from The Rivoli. When I saw this movie, the thing that struck me was WOW! Look at all the theater marquees! When I saw the movie, I did not know about this website. I think that if you watch this movie, you’ll be able to get at least a glimpse of these theaters. I can’t wait to see it again so I can pay better attention.
Can I ask a question about digital? What exactly is the “medium”? Is it a DVD or something? How exactly does the movie get projected?
A few years ago, the NYTimes ran an extensive article about theaters that would receive the movie through a satellite transmission beamed from a source location. The issue was how to prevent hackers from getting the signal and sending it to some other place. Movie piracy of the highest order.
With digital, do the theaters receive a DVD or something of the movie to be shown?
And yes, I agree with you, the 10 plex is badly run down. It still brings in a crowd but that won’t continue if they build the proposed 16 screen megaplex at the Plaza. It’ll kill this sucker off big time. And frankly, the way they’ve NOT been keeping it up, good riddance. The shame is that this theater, in one form or another, has been a fixture in the area for years.
No, the theater WAS where the David’s Bridal is now. I wish I could find the picture I saw of route 4 westbound that showed it. It was taken around the early 60’s.
Was the Roxy the largest movie theater ever built in terms of seating capacity? Or at least in the US? Or was that RCMH?
I had this one completely mixed up. This one was on Penninsula (sp?) Blvd in the shopping center. Kind of large, gaudy sign on the street. It was about a mile or so south of Sunrise Highway. Kind of near Valley Stream.
I saw “The Karate Kid” and “Another Woman”. “Another Woman” was an annoying experience though it wasn’t the movie that annoyed me (I actually liked it..). I saw this on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the winter. But the way the auditorium was setup, everytime someone opened the auditorium doors, the place and the screen would fill with light. It got so annoying that people started yelling.
This was a decent movie theater in a good location.
I believe it was built in the early 60’s as a twin.
At least when this first opened as a DMV, they did a really, really nice job with this. The dome was still intact with a beautiful chandelier hanging from it. This was back in 1986 or so. I don’t know how it is now. You could also see where the balcony was.
My parents moved to LI in 1956 and said that Hempstead was THE place to live, shop and go for fun. They saw “Dr. No” here as well as a lot of other theaters. My Mother and Father said there were at least three great theaters in Hempstead. Decline really set in around 1970 but even in 1972, there were still very nice sections of the village. Not anymore.
This was still a fairly decent theater in the 80’s when I went to the movies a lot. I saw a late night showing of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” here in 1988 and the place was immaculate. And packed. It was a great location too.
It’s doomed. Sorry but the neighborhood is in decline and has been for years. And there’s way too much competition in the area with the new megaplexes.
I grew up in Nassau County and I go back there fairly frequently to visit friends and relatives (I’m in NJ now). Nassau is becoming like a borough of NYC now, demographic wise. I was shocked two years ago by the horrible condition of the Roosevelt Field Mall and it’s movie theater. The mall removed that great “spitting” fountain that they had for what???!!!! A kiddie train ride…to generate revenue. Ugh!
Back in the 80’s, Roosevelt Field was THE mall to go to. And the theater, though mightily multiplexed, was fantastic. It was clean as hell and just a great theater to go to. HELL, even this Westbury place was OK. It was one of the few close by places to show unusual fare such as “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”, “My Life as a Dog”, “Jean DeFlorette”, “Murmur of the Heart” and so many others. The only other theater on LI that show stuff like this was the New Community Cinema in Huntington. And that was quite a schlep. I would never have gotten the chance to see these fine films without the Westbury. Yes, the owners were a well documented couple of nut-burgers but they booked good stuff in the mid to late 80s.
Also, just one other comment/question that I’ve wondered about even in today’s megaplexes: how they HELL did you guys sit through the same movie over and over and over and over and over without losing your minds? I mean, at least in today’s movie going environment, the films change over a lot. But “back in the days” (even when I was a kid in the 70’s) films would stay in the same single screener for months. “Jaws” played at the Green Acres in Valley Stream from it’s release in May or June of 1975 until Christmas. I thought it would never leave. The projectionists there must’ve gone out of their minds!
I heard about the cue mark (like a quick DOT on the screen) before the reel change when I was a kid and went to the movies a lot. As a kid, I began to look for it. In the cheaper theaters (like the UA Farmingdale…second run but nice theaters) I’d could see the cue and then a few seconds later, I could tell when the reel was different because sometimes (very often, I hate to say) the next reel’s quality was not the same as the first, either good or bad. And there was occasionally a bit of a “blip” in the sound and a tiny jump. I guess that’s where the change over was.
All this must’ve been hard enough with a normal movie at or under 2 hours. But those longer flicks like “Ben Hur” or “My Fair Lady” must’ve been murder.
I was very interested in becoming a projectionist when I was younger in the 80’s. But my friend’s father, who was the projectionist at the Port Washington multiplex, kind of talked me out of it because he said it was difficult to get int the union AND the jobs were drying up. He had to supplement his income by doing office cleaning (ran his own firm). He started out at the Oceanside when he was around 20 years old.
RCDTJ: Please be patient with me if you feel I’m asking idiotic questions. I’ve never been in one of the older projection booths and this stuff fascinates me. Anything about movies does…
So you have two projectors. Is the “window” through which the image is projected big enough so that the projectionist doesn’t have to slide one projector out of the way when transferring to the next reel? I’m assuming that in the two machine method, they are pretty much right next to one another, correct? Were they also bolted to the floor and such to avoid shaking?
The platter method did away with this two projector operation, right? When did this start to be used?
During the two machine operation, it must’ve required the projectionist to pay attention while watching the film for those cue marks especially if it was a new movie and they were not sure where they were. Did you ever “fall asleep at the wheel”?
Thanks for the info…
The shopping center also had a Pergament (remember those)?
You would think that the location would’ve made it a prime theater? It’s strange how sometimes all the elements are there but a theater fails. And then in other cases, the opposite is true.
Was this the one that was pretty much at the end of Rockaway Blvd before you hit that long and “lovely” strectch of barren road heading toward Kennedy?
This theater was virtually identical to the Century’s Baldwin EXCEPT that the balcony (which was removed from the Baldwin) was intact here. That’s the reason why I think the Baldwin closed and this one remained to be multiplexed. This one’s still sucessful because there aren’t many (any?) theaters in the area. The Argo in Elmont was about the only one that might’ve given it competition but the neighborhood declined and so did that theater…
Jesus…I never knew there was so much to the projector! This is fascinating.
I once had a friend who’s father was the projectionist at the Port Washington Multiplex. He gave me a quick tour of one of the projector rooms. I saw that they had layed out the movie “A Fish Called Wanda” on the huge platter, which I understand, was a fairly new development (don’t know the year but from other posts for other theaters, it seemed that way). No offense, but in the “olden days” without the platter, how did the projectionist change reels without any disruption? I know that near the end of a reel, all films have a tiny “blip” that appears in one of the corners to alert the projectionist to change reels. Can someone explain how this is done?
ALSO…does anyone here realize the wealth of great information that people like RobertR and Warren and so many others (especially on the Radio City Music Hall board) are writing here? This subject and the various memories are perfect for a documentary.
Correct me if I’m wrong but the Green Acres in Valley Stream and the Fantasy in Rockville Centre did get this so-called Midway treatment, right? In some ways I find that more brutal as it complete destroys anything that resembled the old theater.
I was on LI over Thanksgiving and went by the Lynbrook. GOD that place was huge. You can see how high up the arched ceiling goes. I guess a creative architect could’ve maintained the original architecture while multiplexing it but the cost would’ve been cost prohibitive.
“it will get the Midway treatment” from saps above dated 8/2/04.
What is the Midway Treatment?
It doesn’t surprise me that the Oceanside would do that. It’s in a long tradition. God I loathed that place. Avoided it like the plague.
I find it amazing that there’s not more comments about this theater. There’s a lot written about the Lynbrook (‘cause that sucker was huge) but not about this lovely place. Well, OK…formerly loveley. Again, I have a lot of memories of the place that I’d love to know more about it. I think part of the reason is that it wasn’t really gigantic or anything. In size, it was probably bigger than the Century’s Baldwin but definately no where near as large as the Lynbrook.
Was The Fantasy ever part of any Roadshows? Just curious…
Like I said above, this was always known as a crap-ola theater even back in the 70’s when every neighborhood had a theater. The Century’s Baldwin was so much better maintained. That’s why I’m surprised that this one has remained around for so long.
And what is the benefit to the owners to have the light on the screen so dim? Does it save electricity or something?
There’s another theater from the Five Towns that I don’t see listed on this site either. It was located on Peninsula Blvd in a shopping center. I’m not sure if the area was Valley Stream (south) or Hewlett. What I remember was seeing Woody Allen’s “Another Woman” there on a Sunday afternoon. Everytime someone came into the auditorium, the theater would be flooded by light. It was really annoying. Not sure when it closed but I’m sure it is…anyone recall this theater? It was NOT near Rockaway Blvd but much closer to Sunrise Highway, maybe a mile or so south of it.
As much as I did not like this theater and preferred the Century’s Baldwin over this one, I did see a lot of movies here. The one strange thing about the place that go to me even as a kid was the fact that there were no doors to the auditorium. The box office was on the left as you entered the front doors. Then you went into a smallish lobby where there was one concession stand and to the right of that was the restrooms. The auditorium was just a few feet up from the concession stand and there were no doors. There was a wide entry area right behind the rear seats. At some point I guess the owners realized the stupidity of this so they installed (get this) louvered doors…you know the kind that fold up against the wall. When the movie would start, they’d pull it closed. But they had to leave part of it open so people could leave and go to the bathroom or concession stand. I remember a lot of times having light flood into the auditorium when someone would go out. It was annoying and I could never figure out why they designed it like that.
The one and only time I was here was in 1987 to see an Ingmar Bergman double bill of “Wild Strawberries” and “Persona”. Between the features, they played the WC Fields short “The Dentist”. Absolutely wonderful time. I loved “Wild Strawberries” and to this day, when I see it, I think of the great time I had here. The auditorium itself was very narrow if I remember correctly with very few seats on either side of the aisle. But it was nicely maintained by people who obviously just loved to show films. A great experience.
Over the summer, I happened to see “Sweet Smell of Success”. Great movie…enjoyed it a lot and was glad to finally see it.
Anyway…what made the movie sensational (and dated in a great way) was the superb on location filming. I mean, this movie seemed to have been shot entirely in midtown NY locations. J.J. Hunsecker’s office/apartment is located in the Brill Building which is located right across the street from The Rivoli. When I saw this movie, the thing that struck me was WOW! Look at all the theater marquees! When I saw the movie, I did not know about this website. I think that if you watch this movie, you’ll be able to get at least a glimpse of these theaters. I can’t wait to see it again so I can pay better attention.
Can I ask a question about digital? What exactly is the “medium”? Is it a DVD or something? How exactly does the movie get projected?
A few years ago, the NYTimes ran an extensive article about theaters that would receive the movie through a satellite transmission beamed from a source location. The issue was how to prevent hackers from getting the signal and sending it to some other place. Movie piracy of the highest order.
With digital, do the theaters receive a DVD or something of the movie to be shown?