A large working fountain until they yanked it out for a candy counter, that is. When did that happen, exactly? When it became a triplex?
Like many things in life, I didn’t appreciate the glories of the RKO Keith until it was gone. Turning it into a triplex was an act of vandalism, but nothing compared to what followed. It’s too bad that today’s young moviegoers know movie houses only as the sterile, box-like rooms of today’s multiplexes. Something like the RKO Keith is beyond the imagination today.
I worked across the street from Cinema Village from 1980-84 when Fairchild Publications owned the 7E 12 St. building (it’s now owned by NYU). I remember going to see “Dr. Strangelove” there. These kinds of theaters are now so rare and so important to maintain. If New York can’t support indie houses, which city will?
My sister tells me that she attended a screening at the RKO Keiths of the Mel Brooks movie “The Twelve Chairs” in which Dom DeLuise made a live appearance. She remembers that hidden under twelve seats at the theater were some kind of door prize. I think that movie came out around 1969.
That’s an awesome photo of the Grand Foyer, Dave! It really makes me wish the RKO could be restored as a theater, but finding the money is a major hurdle. Maybe we could suspend the war in Iraq for a few minutes, and that would pay for it nicely.
Oops..forgot the directions. Punch in the address – Northern Blvd. and 157th Street, 11354 – then after the map comes up, click on satellite. You can zoom in pretty close.
I know that neighborhood so well…I worked at the McDonald’s on the first day it was open in 1972. I was 17 and made $1.85 an hour! We used to eat at the International House of Pancakes quite a lot – is that still there? Also used to hang out at the Jack-in-the-Box across the street from the Shell station. Are any of those places still open?
I meant that all the same structures are still in place – except for one of the mailboxes. Also notice that on top of the apartment building the antennas have changed…in 1990 they were the traditional aerials for TV reception, and now they look like possibly satellite antennas. Other than that, only the signage looks different. When I lived in the neighborhood from 1968-79, Flushing still was a mostly caucasian area – in fact, it was hard to find a decent Chinese restaurant! Now it’s become mostly Asian. I’m sure decades ago the local residents were complaining about all the Italians and other non-English folks moving into the area. Things change, that’s life.
Oh, if only the Castro Theater could get the refurbishing it truly deserves. There is so much detail that could be restored – the ceiling alone would be worth cleaning and restoring. Probably decades of cigarette smoke has blackened it. It would probably take several million dollars to properly refurbish the place.
But even in its tarnished state, it remains a marvelous theater, one of the cultural gems of San Francisco. And you haven’t lived until you’ve seen the Wizard of Oz or some other movie loved by gay people there – the audience is just as much fun as the picture sometimes.
Cheebs, you missed a truly great experience by not visiting the Keith’s before it got carved up into a triplex. That wonderful lobby fountain, the whole atmosphere of the place made seeing a movie a special experience.
I posted my website early this year, but for those who missed it, here are photos I took of the Keith’s in 1990 and ‘94, after it had already closed.
I saw many movies at the Towne during the ‘90s, mostly art-house type flicks. They showed many gay/lesbian movies. Unfortunately, the main theater desperately needed to be refurbished – the seats were very uncomfortable, and the air conditioning system was terrible. I saw “Boys Don’t Cry” here and it was so noisy when the heating system kicked in that it was hard to hear the dialogue. Last I saw, it was showing movies from India. The place was once owned by the Camera Cinemas, which operate theaters in San Jose and Campbell that are important locales for film festivals and art-house flicks.
Wow, I can’t believe the Main Street is still open and operating! I remember seeing “The St. Valentine Day Massacre” here in the mid-60s! So many theaters have disappeared from the area that it’s good to know this one is still around.
I saw a Gone With The Wind re-release here around 1969 when it was still the Roosevelt Theater. My recollection is that the place didn’t have air conditioning. After it became the Quartet, I saw many, many movies here – Animal House, The China Syndrome and Rocky are three I remember most. The place was a typical multiplex, almost no ornamentation and box-like rooms to see the films. Two instances stand out for annoying audiences, though – at Grease a girl behind me sang all the songs loudly! But the worst was a psychopath at Midnight Express who went apeshit in the scene when a cat was hanged – he thought it was hilarious. Funny, over 20 years later and I still can’t get that idiot out of my mind. Anyway, the Quartet was a functional place that gave a lot of people a neighborhood place to see movies. Along with the Prospect and RKO Keith’s, it’s just another movie house that’s disappeared from Flushing.
It’s really a shame that there’s nothing left of the theater, no indication that a theater was once there. Because many people have a lot of fond memories of the Prospect. Not just movies, but also graduations – I graduated from JHS 189 at the Prospect in 1970. I recall seeing those dumb Disney movies on Saturday matinees in the ‘60s – 75 cents for kids to get in. I saw Jaws there for the first time in 1975, the theater packed and people screaming! A treat after a movie was going for ice cream at Jahn’s or a slice of pizza at Gloria’s. A big part of my childhood was seeing films at the Prospect and the RKO Keith’s down the street, and now both are history. Ah well, time marches on!
I grew up in Flushing and saw more movies at RKO Keith’s than I can count. The best movie for the locale was “Murder on the Orient Express” in 1974. The elegant costumes and decor in the film perfectly matched the ornate RKO Keith’s. This was before they chopped up the theater into a triplex, so that cool fountain was still in the lobby. So many memories at the RKO – both Godfather and Godfather II, Star Wars, Stepford Wives….it’s nice to remember them all. I’m glad that at least a small piece of the theater will remain, unlike the Prospect just down the street, which is now a bank with absolutely no sign a theater ever existed there.
A large working fountain until they yanked it out for a candy counter, that is. When did that happen, exactly? When it became a triplex?
Like many things in life, I didn’t appreciate the glories of the RKO Keith until it was gone. Turning it into a triplex was an act of vandalism, but nothing compared to what followed. It’s too bad that today’s young moviegoers know movie houses only as the sterile, box-like rooms of today’s multiplexes. Something like the RKO Keith is beyond the imagination today.
This is starting to sound like a gothic horror movie: The Phantom of the RKO Keith!
I worked across the street from Cinema Village from 1980-84 when Fairchild Publications owned the 7E 12 St. building (it’s now owned by NYU). I remember going to see “Dr. Strangelove” there. These kinds of theaters are now so rare and so important to maintain. If New York can’t support indie houses, which city will?
My sister tells me that she attended a screening at the RKO Keiths of the Mel Brooks movie “The Twelve Chairs” in which Dom DeLuise made a live appearance. She remembers that hidden under twelve seats at the theater were some kind of door prize. I think that movie came out around 1969.
That’s an awesome photo of the Grand Foyer, Dave! It really makes me wish the RKO could be restored as a theater, but finding the money is a major hurdle. Maybe we could suspend the war in Iraq for a few minutes, and that would pay for it nicely.
Oops..forgot the directions. Punch in the address – Northern Blvd. and 157th Street, 11354 – then after the map comes up, click on satellite. You can zoom in pretty close.
Take a look at the street from space:
http://www.google.com/maphp?hl=en&tab=wl&q=
I remember the Jack-in-the-Box later was called Jack’s. Is there anything in the building anymore?
I know that neighborhood so well…I worked at the McDonald’s on the first day it was open in 1972. I was 17 and made $1.85 an hour! We used to eat at the International House of Pancakes quite a lot – is that still there? Also used to hang out at the Jack-in-the-Box across the street from the Shell station. Are any of those places still open?
I meant that all the same structures are still in place – except for one of the mailboxes. Also notice that on top of the apartment building the antennas have changed…in 1990 they were the traditional aerials for TV reception, and now they look like possibly satellite antennas. Other than that, only the signage looks different. When I lived in the neighborhood from 1968-79, Flushing still was a mostly caucasian area – in fact, it was hard to find a decent Chinese restaurant! Now it’s become mostly Asian. I’m sure decades ago the local residents were complaining about all the Italians and other non-English folks moving into the area. Things change, that’s life.
Thanks for the updated photo, Tom! I’ve posted your picture on my site:
http://bobby19850.tripod.com/id3.html
Amazing how little has changed in the last 16 years!
Oh, if only the Castro Theater could get the refurbishing it truly deserves. There is so much detail that could be restored – the ceiling alone would be worth cleaning and restoring. Probably decades of cigarette smoke has blackened it. It would probably take several million dollars to properly refurbish the place.
But even in its tarnished state, it remains a marvelous theater, one of the cultural gems of San Francisco. And you haven’t lived until you’ve seen the Wizard of Oz or some other movie loved by gay people there – the audience is just as much fun as the picture sometimes.
Cheebs, you missed a truly great experience by not visiting the Keith’s before it got carved up into a triplex. That wonderful lobby fountain, the whole atmosphere of the place made seeing a movie a special experience.
I posted my website early this year, but for those who missed it, here are photos I took of the Keith’s in 1990 and ‘94, after it had already closed.
http://bobby19850.tripod.com/
Here is a webpage I created showing the RKO Keith in 1990 (top) and 1994. I took the photos from almost the exact same spot.
http://bobby19850.tripod.com/
In the top picture, you can see the windows on the second floor, many of them broken. By 1994, they were all boarded up.
I have a photo showing the Quartet in July 1990. Click on the following website and then click on the “UA Quartet 1990” link on the left hand side.
http://bobby19850.tripod.com/
I saw many movies at the Towne during the ‘90s, mostly art-house type flicks. They showed many gay/lesbian movies. Unfortunately, the main theater desperately needed to be refurbished – the seats were very uncomfortable, and the air conditioning system was terrible. I saw “Boys Don’t Cry” here and it was so noisy when the heating system kicked in that it was hard to hear the dialogue. Last I saw, it was showing movies from India. The place was once owned by the Camera Cinemas, which operate theaters in San Jose and Campbell that are important locales for film festivals and art-house flicks.
Wow, I can’t believe the Main Street is still open and operating! I remember seeing “The St. Valentine Day Massacre” here in the mid-60s! So many theaters have disappeared from the area that it’s good to know this one is still around.
I saw a Gone With The Wind re-release here around 1969 when it was still the Roosevelt Theater. My recollection is that the place didn’t have air conditioning. After it became the Quartet, I saw many, many movies here – Animal House, The China Syndrome and Rocky are three I remember most. The place was a typical multiplex, almost no ornamentation and box-like rooms to see the films. Two instances stand out for annoying audiences, though – at Grease a girl behind me sang all the songs loudly! But the worst was a psychopath at Midnight Express who went apeshit in the scene when a cat was hanged – he thought it was hilarious. Funny, over 20 years later and I still can’t get that idiot out of my mind. Anyway, the Quartet was a functional place that gave a lot of people a neighborhood place to see movies. Along with the Prospect and RKO Keith’s, it’s just another movie house that’s disappeared from Flushing.
It’s really a shame that there’s nothing left of the theater, no indication that a theater was once there. Because many people have a lot of fond memories of the Prospect. Not just movies, but also graduations – I graduated from JHS 189 at the Prospect in 1970. I recall seeing those dumb Disney movies on Saturday matinees in the ‘60s – 75 cents for kids to get in. I saw Jaws there for the first time in 1975, the theater packed and people screaming! A treat after a movie was going for ice cream at Jahn’s or a slice of pizza at Gloria’s. A big part of my childhood was seeing films at the Prospect and the RKO Keith’s down the street, and now both are history. Ah well, time marches on!
I grew up in Flushing and saw more movies at RKO Keith’s than I can count. The best movie for the locale was “Murder on the Orient Express” in 1974. The elegant costumes and decor in the film perfectly matched the ornate RKO Keith’s. This was before they chopped up the theater into a triplex, so that cool fountain was still in the lobby. So many memories at the RKO – both Godfather and Godfather II, Star Wars, Stepford Wives….it’s nice to remember them all. I’m glad that at least a small piece of the theater will remain, unlike the Prospect just down the street, which is now a bank with absolutely no sign a theater ever existed there.