Main Street Cinemas

Thanks, Lost. So it’s technically theater’s 3 and 4 up in the old loge area – which I presume based on the identical capacity of those theaters at 72 persons each. The site is acting up again, as evidenced by your C/O comment being attributed to Warren on an entirely different theater page, not to mention Warren’s triple listing above in this page. Anyhow… If the other 4 auditoriums are located on the ground floor, then the disparity in their seating capacities would indicate something other than an even dividing up of the old auditorium space. Anyone familiar with the layout?

Warren… I was at this theater as a single many years ago. I was also at the Utopia Theater a few times during the early ‘80’s. One of these theaters definitely had a proper balcony, because I remember sitting up there to watch the Mel Brooks version of “To Be or Not to Be” in 1983 or thereabouts. I used to get the two theaters confused in my memory, but I’m pretty sure I raised the question on the Utopia page and learned that it was THAT theater that did not have a proper balcony and that the Main Street did.

5 and 6 are upstairs

I grew up around the corner and down the block from the Main Street Cinema in the 1950s. I went to Saturday morning kids' double features for 25 cents and saw Japanese horror films like Godzilla. Brings back old memories!
Ron Alexander

Lesser is a film buying firm, they don’t own the theatre. They just book the films

Prices are cheap, but it’s not a good atmosphere. I went there once when the roof was leaking so much that they had to block off some rows in the theater and move customers from them — during the movie!

The correct address of the Main Street Cinemas is 72-66 Main Street. All Queens street address numbers are hyphenated, the first number representing the block within that street the building resides within (i.e., the 72nd block of Main Street), the second number representing its address within that block (think of each block as its own street). Hope that helps…

Warren
You are correct since Interboro it was the Main Street Playhouse, then Main Street Twin and when it was quaded it became the Main Street Cinema, which it has been ever since. The manager here for many years was named Flo Deane, she worked for many years at the Lefferts before she came here.

It is a cash cow. A bad smelling one though.

The Main was my neighborhood movie house, 1955 – 1964, though I was only reached moviegoing age in 1960. It was where I began my lifelong love of movies. On Saturdays in 1962, and probably 1963, there would be special childrens' double-feature matinees, often including a science fiction or “monster” feature. The movies were usually several years old, which was perfect, because all of us kids were avid fans of the “Famous Monsters” magazine. The magazine carried appreciations of both old and new releases, and we were only too delighted to get a chance to see the movies we had read about, on a big screen and in color. This included some fine Japanese scifi — The Mysterians, The H Man, Gigantis. Also fondly remembered is The Blob, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Atlantis the Lost Continent.
Other kid-memories of the Main:
— In those years it showed the same main features as The Parsons, but a week later, and usually with a different second feature.

—It had an unusual aroma, different from any of the hundreds of different theaters I’ve been to over the years — unusually vivid popcorn, mixed with a pungent air-conditioner smell and — what — mildew? It blended into a pleasant, almost magical scent and if someone opened the door as I walked past the theater, the aroma would make me dizzy with desire to see a movie (a rare treat, stingily parcelled out by my stingy parents).

— Mounted on the auditorium walls were, I think, torch-like lighting sconces.

I can’t imagine the Main as a six-plex! I don’t suppose it has the magical movie smell either.

The theater is located in Kew Gardens Hills, where I grew up. Its a landmark in the community, although it is not an official City landmark. Its famous for always having shown family-friendly fare. The theater used to have something called the Disney Film Festival every summer in the 1970’s, during which Disney films would be shown. I saw a lot of Disney films there, including Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Gus and Follow Me Boys. I distinctly remember watching movies from the balcony during the ‘70s.

The theater remained a single screen facility until sometime during the 1980’s, when competition from the widespread availability of VCR’s and video stores became serious. It was then twinned and then quaded. The theater was closed and fell into a state of disrepair in the early ‘90s and everyone thought that it would be converted into a social hall of sorts for the community, which by that time had been heavily Orthodox Jewish (which it still is). However, the theater was sold, renovated and reopened as a six plex. The upstairs theaters used to be the balcony when the theater was a single, so the screens and seating areas are quite small, almost like a private viewing room.

Today, the Main Street theater is thriving. My mom still lives in the area and whenever I visit her, I drive past the theater. They are showing first run movies and the theater is also apparently available for private screenings for birthday parties. Whenever a hit movie opens there, there are lines down the block. The Main Street should be around for quite some time to come.