RKO Madison Theatre
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
21 people
favorited this theater
Showing 476 - 500 of 1,251 comments
It was a record store, Panzer65. I remember albums in its window, The SalSoul Orchestra, “Nice N Nasty”, the bare-assed chick looking over her shoulder at you, and Redd Foxx, “You Gotta Was Your Ass”. Madison’s foyer / lobby was never part of the store.
Warren, nice photo! Thanks for sharing, that pretzel boy to the right appears again, as New York Dave has mentioned. This angle shows the Marinette Frocks store to the left, as in Dave’s photo.
Question:The frocks store appears to be integrated into Madison’s facade, was there any reason to suspect it was associated with the theater?
Another question: What store occupied the frock store’s space in Madison’s last days? I must assume a quaint establishment of this type would not last into the 70’s. Did Madison’s foyer/lobby become part of the store?
bushwickbuddy,The only deli that exists today that seems to come close to Gottleib’s is Katz’s on Houston St. in Manhattan, a genuine old time deli.
Koletty’s and Gottleib’s were a favorite place for my mother and I to stop after a hard day of shopping on Myrtle Avenue when we were on our way to catch the Putnam Avenue bus to go home. The hot pastrami and Reuben sandwiches couldn’t be beat. And for ice cream treats and chocolates … Koletty’s was the place to go on all special occasions. I took my husband to Gottleib’s when we were dating … he’s from Oklahoma … and he fell in love with Hot Pastrami on Rye and with the Reuben … but you can’t find them the way they made them at Gottleib’s … and we’ve had them in lots of places … but he still compares them to the first one he ever ate.
Mr. Fenczak,
Indeed, it is a department store. I took a tour to view the interior for the first time, see my July 11 posting, along with Bwy, also at an earlier date.
Looks like a department store now.
one more try: View link
Perhaps this link: 6.photobucket.com/albums/bb60/panzer65/madisontheater.jpg
NewYorkDave, I have a photo from forgottenny.com perhaps you may have already seen it, taken from a different angle.
Click here: <img src=“http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb60/panzer65/madisontheater.jpg” alt=“Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket”>
Do any of you still live in the neighborhood and have a digital camera? It would be interesting to get a current photo, taken from the same perspective, and compare the two scenes—almost exactly 60 years apart!
What was the fate of Gottlieb’s deli? Someone on another message board indicated that they moved to Kew Gardens, but the only Gottlieb’s I can find listed currently is in Williamsburg. I don’t know if there’s any relation.
I showed the picture to my father, and he remembers his Pop bringing home chocolate (I think that’s what he said) Easter eggs from Koletty’s.
Let me join in and say “great photo” NY Dave! Thanks for sharing.
Panzera65… if I may answer for PKoch, “AIP grind run” refers to the film production company American International Pictures, founded by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff in the mid 1950’s. The company specialized in low- to modestly-budgeted genre (some would say “exploitation”) films that made the rounds at drive-in theaters and neighborhood grind houses throughout the country in the ‘50’s, '60’s and '70’s. Roger Corman was the company’s most prolific and recognizable filmmaker. Apparently, by the '70’s, the Madison frequently booked AIP product (most probably on a double feature policy – as was common with AIP bookings).
PKoch… did the Madison literally operate on a classic round-the-clock grind like the houses in Times Square? Or are we talking mostly about the product moreso that the scheduling?
New York Dave, Thanks you for your reply concerning the Madison photo. One other thing I noticed in the photo, just to the right of the RKO sign on the marquee is a vintage traffic light,without the amber light. I remember these lights on Myrtle Ave.They were cast iron and painted black on the pole.There were low ones and high ones, the high ones were ornamental,and had a spoked wheel at the top of them. They were replaced sometime during the early 80’s I believe.
The reason I think it’s pretzels is because if you look closely at his basket, there are round objects stacked up on the side, possibly sitting on a stick. This is consistent with my Dad’s recollections of selling pretzels on the streets of Ridgewood as a boy in the early ‘50s.
On the other side of the street, note the signs for Gottlieb’s deli and Koletty’s. I’m too young to remember these places, but I’ve heard of them.
The long exposure gives a ghostly appearance to the people walking by, which seems eerily appropriate.
PKoch,
Quick question, what is the" AIP grind run" that you mentioned on August 24?
Outstanding photo New York Dave, its like going back in time and walking up to the box office! The boy sitting under the marquee does appear to be a boy selling something,could be pretzels. The store directly to the left advertises “frocks”, a remnant of a bygone era.
Does anyone know when the vertical Madison sign was removed?
Hello, all. Amongst my modest collection of Ridgewood memorabilia I have a great photo of the Madison’s marquee and Myrtle Ave. from 1947. I’ve made a high-resolution scan of the photo and uploaded it here for your viewing pleasure:
View link
It’s a 558kB JPEG. I wanted to keep the resolution high so one could make out the details, including the signs of businesses on Myrtle Ave. and the boy selling pretzels (I think) in front of the theater!
“Squirm” release date (USA) : 30 July 1976
“Tentacles” release date (USA) : 15 June 1977
Another factor may have been that the Madison was on the AIP grind run by the 1970’s, although it still showed top films like “Taxi Driver” in May 1976. That was the last really good film I saw at the Madison.
Good points, Panzer65. Thanks.
We are getting closer to finding Madison’s last day and kudos to all for your efforts. I do find Warren’s posting interesting, concerning RKO’s sale of five theaters in 1959, a time when the movie industry could see into the future and predict that the one screen houses future was bleak. Sice the lease was 20 years, its logical to assume
that this was reason number four in my opinion of why Madison closed.
RobertR, I don’t have any memory of this, but I can’t say for sure it didn’t happen.
When did you see “Squirm” and “Tentacles” at the Madison ? Summer 1976 ? What is the date on the block ad you cut out of the Daily News for these two films ?
Check out these postings I made in 2004 as to the possibility that an indie reopened it shortly.
R143, this indeed was a beautiful place, even at it’s end it might have been a little beat up but still a palace. I have so many fond memories of going to this theatre growing up and spending a whole day at double features. I have a question for everyone. A projectionist friend swears that when RKO closed this theatre an independant opened it up again for a short time. I dont recall this, but he says that RKO had removed the screen and the new one was smaller and installed half assed with cheap maskings. He recalls it only staying open another year. Is he right or is he recalling another place?
posted by RobertR on Sep 14, 2004 at 9:10am
Peter K.
I also have a vague memory of walking by the theatre and seeing an unusual placement of large metal coca-cola signs (or was I hallucinating) on each side of the marquee to the left of where the plexiglass panels were that held the letters. Was there an RKO logo there that they were trying cheaply to hide? I have thought about this many times because I know they were not there earlier. I know when I saw “Squirm” and “Tenticles” there it was RKO, because I still have the block ad I cut out of the Daily News.
posted by RobertR on Sep 14, 2004 at 11:56am
Thanks, Bway and Warren, for this information.
That is extremely odd clipping Panzer. For one, I don’t understand why the Oasis is listed in Brooklyn. Two, how can there be two “Ridgewood” theaters playing two different movies at the same time? The Ridgewood wasn’t multiplexed until some years later (and even if it was, they wouldn’t have listed the balcony in Brooklyn, and the orchestra level in Queens! So what was playing Smokey and the Bandit, and what was playing Sasquatch….that is the question. Was it the Madison in it’s last stand?
You and me both, Panzer65. Thanks.