Loew's Valencia Theatre

Oh, and one more thing. Did anyone ever find out whether the Valencia is still capable of playing movies like the 175th St Theater is? That one, as mentioned above, is also a church now, very similar in style, but they rent it out occasionally for movies, and other functions – or has the Valencia only held church services for the last few decades?

Yes, that is gaudy, but I’m glad it’s so well preserved !

Thanks for the link !

Well, I guess we should be happy it’s being maintained, but wow, it is a bit gaudy with that paintjob. Thanks for the link. Here’s a direct url to it:
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=9940

I had never been in the Valencia when it was still a theater (nor as a church either), but when I passed by once on the side street, and the “emergency” exit doors were open once, I took a peak inside. The way it is painted it appears as if you almost need sunglasses to sit in that theater. It was a bit overwhelming and bright. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that the theater is being maintained, even if not a theater anymore, but they sure used some bright and shiny colors when they last repainted it!

John Eberson was known for some vivid colorations as seen in many of his theatres and as brought out in the article “Fancy Dress” in the Oct. 1984 issue of INTERIOR DESIGN magazine where a lengthy article and ten color photos of his LOWE’S in Richmond Virginia (now the Virginia Center for the Performing Arts). In the final paragraph of the article, the restoration architect, Fred Cox, is quoted as saying: “During the restoration there were times that we were a little worried we’d end up with something vulgar, especially as we got down to the original layers of paint and discovered what an eccentric colorist Eberson was. But a funny thing happened as we applied the finishing touches to the interior — it seemed to crystallize, become whole and complete. That was Eberson’s vision.” As was pointed out in the 1930 book AMERICAN THEATRES OF TODAY, the colors used often had to be far more vivid than normal due to the often subdued lighting coming from amber or rose colored lights. We today are used to much higher light levels, but too high a light level in a restoration can make the colors look garish and destroy the subtle ambience designed by the architect. These palaces were to be ‘carriages’ to lands of fantasy, after all, not the duplication of a living room.

HI BDWAY, THANKS FOR THE INFO. ON THE DEMISE OF THE ELEVATED LINE IN FRONT OF THE VALENCIA THEATER. ARE THE PRESENT COLORS IN THE LOBBY AND AUDITORIUM THE COLORS THAT WERE USED BEFORE IT BECAME A CHURCH? I RECENTLY VISITED THE CHURCH AND FOUND IT TO BE WELL MAINTAINED AND CARED FOR.PETE CULLEN

The Long Island Press for 4/28/58 has an ad advertising the 4th smash week of “Ten Commandments” at the Valencia. COMPLETE, INTACT, NOTHING CUT BUT THE PRICE. The showtimes Sunday through Friday were 2pm and 8pm. On Saturday 10am, 230pm and 8pm. Tickets were on sale in advance for all future shows. Children are advertised as 60 cents at all times, and the management will give special consideration to theatre parties. The phone number was REpublic 9-8200. I wish I could go back and see that classic under the Valencias stars and clouds.

I WAS WONDERING IF WARREN OR OTHERS HAVE ANY IDEA WHEN THE EL SUBWAY LINE IN FRONT OF THE THEATER ON JAMAICA AVE WAS TORN DOWN?

Is this theatre still capable of showing movies like the 175th Street? or did Loew’s take out all the projection equipment when they donated it to the Tabernacle of Prayer in the late 70’s?

That was an exciting time in Summer ’53 when theaters were installing wide screens. As an eleven-year-old, I wondered how managers could do it without interrupting screenings. To replace a flat 15x20 sheet with a panel-curved 20x40 framed by movable masks to accommodate CinemaScope (which wasn’t available until the following winter!) must have invited a lot of chaos. I imagine that from midnight until morning, roving bands of workers moved from theater to theater in a given circuit until each house was equipped. Did it take two or three nights to set up the new screen behind the old one, and then strike the latter when the work was done? But how a new screen be set up behind the old one while the original sound-speakers were still in place? Stereophonic sound installation must have required an additional step afterwards, no? All of this without missing a single frame from any show! At my local RKO nabe, the Dyker, I remember seeing on the old screen “Titanic” (the Negulesco one, with “Destination Gobi” as co-feature, another example of a second-billing that topped the first), while hearing the sounds of hammering and sawing behind the proscenium. A few inches of backstage light shone out beneath the bottom mask. When I returned to the theater a few days later to see “The Maze” (a b&w 3D schlocker), the miracle-mirror wide screen was up and running, but low-grade and disappointing since I’d hoped for something mammoth, on the scale of Cinerama. For my Loew’s nabe, the Alpine, I should address questions on that site to someone who might know how the unique design of that house (no stage, no conventional proscenium) created special problems for hanging a wide screen. If memory serves, that theater installed a temporary one, fairly hulking and squarish, which it replaced scant months later with a wonderfully large, elegantly proportioned, and amazingly seamless one.

I thought of the slogan on the one sheet of The French Line “J.R. in 3-D, need we say more”? Miss Russell was made for that process for sure.

O, and “Strategic Air Command” with “Moonfleet”: a good example of how a second feature could sometimes tower over the top billing (though Anthony Mann has his fans, as many currently at Lincoln Center will surely attest).

Warren, what about “The Ten Commandments”(1956) ?