RKO Madison Theatre

Jim, even if the if the express track was ripped up, Myrtle-Bway should have been listed as an express stop, as of course it was an express on the Broadway El with the Jamaica line. Marcy Ave, which currently is an express stop, was originally a local stop. It was supposed to be rebuilt into a formal express stop at Williamsburg Bridge Plaza ( and look like Myrtle-Bway, etc), however, it was never done.

Quote PKoch:
“Should I look for you in the film ? Did you get on-camera as an "on-the-spot extra” ?"

Actually, my shadow is in Malcolm X, standing above in the Mezzanine at Wyckoff Ave in that opening scene, a bunch of us were standing up there…. We were told to move when the director saw us standing up there. Apparently, we in our 1990’s clothes may have been caught in their 1930’s scene….. They didn’t reshoot it though, and instead, we are sort of blurred to a shadow up above….

My, my – all these RKO Madison movie stars…

In answer to why the depot was used as Boston, my guess is Spike Lee’s low WB budget. Don’t forget that to complete “X,” he had to obtain outright gifts from the likes of Oprah, Cosby & others.

Bway & Peter, I checked an old 1928 Ohman transit map which has both the Broadway-Myrtle and Wyckoff Ave. stations circled as express stops, lending some creedence to a limited third track back then. Central & Knickerbocker Aves. were the only stations on the line so designed like that. (A 1935 copy of the Brooklyn Redbook only lists Essex St. in NYC as the single express station on the Myrtle-Broadway-Chambers St. lines. One would think B'way-Myrtle should’ve gotten an equal boldface entry there, too, even if the express track had been torn up by then.)

My other transit material is in NY, so I’ll be searching out more next month. To be continued…

We probably rubbed shoulders there, as I also watched many many scenes being taped at Seneca Ave in the 80’s. I saw the funeral procession scene filmed, the scene where he eats the pickle, the scene where the mother and sister go to the ice cream parlor, the scene where the sister goes on a date in this guys car (that was pulled by another car, as in real life it apparently didn’t run)….the scene where he lies on the sidewalk after going to the pool hall, and also the scene where they are standing on the el mezzanine stairway when the brother goes to enlist in the military.
Fun stuff, it was good for a few evenings entertainment watching all that.

Good for you, Bway !

BklynJim, thanks in advance for the shot of the trolley under the el between Forest & Fresh Pond Rd.

The Myrtle El DID have an express track between Wyckoff and Myrtle-Bway, hence the two platforms and three trackways at Wyckoff. I think express trains ceased operation in 1946. Bway would have more details. Also “The Old Timer” of The Times Newsweekly, formerly the Ridgewood Times.

The tower did obscure the marquee of the Madison, but not the western wall. I think I’ve seen that el video with the view of the wall of the Madison at the GCT Transit Museum Store, summer 2002 or 2003. As I’ve already posted, the background music was “East side, west side, all around the town …”. It was very poignant watching it with my 7 or 8 year old son, wanting to share it with him, yet knowing that that view into my past couldn’t possibly mean to him what it means to me.

More power to you for the “Malcolm X” DVD. Wonder why they selected “the depot” as Boston for that film.

http://www.sundayriverproductions com

(The parentheses may have KO’d the blue highlight to that link.)

Thanks, Bway, for all the details. I think I was able to read MADISON THEATRE from the western wall of the RKO Madison Theater in summer 1976 from the outdoor observation deck of the World Trade Center, using one of the 25 power pay binoculars, available there. Another guy up there was reading telephone numbers off billboards in Flatbush using his Questar telescope.

Please excuse the repetition if I’ve already posted about this.

PKoch,
As a young man, I was always fascinated by trolleys, so my father, (greatest man in my life), took me to the trolley museum in Connecticut to look and feel the experience of something I missed out on. Just like Madison, I want to walk in and feel what I missed!
As for that stretch of right of way through Ridgewood, again my father showed me those exposed tracks one sunny day, to help me appreciate the past, he did even one better, a friend of his was a contractor who did construction on streets. He had this man cut a section of trolley track and paint it silver, which i use as a book shelf end piece. My father was a great man, i’m sure yours was too!

Your welcome PKoch
My report on Madison’s interior will be shortly!

Thanks, Panzer65. Bway’s got lots of details from his recent exploration of the building.

Panzer65, your link doesn’t look like it’s active. Try putting it on a line of its own.

Hello friends,http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb60/panzer65/madisontheater.jpg heres of RKO Madison’s few remnants, a faded but vintage sign on the right side wall.