ydorap you can use photobucket.com to post images. Gerald A. DeLuca suggested that I use that site to post images of the Beekman a couple of years back, and it was free of charge, simple, and the links still work. If you have a computer and a digital photo, you can use Photobucket easily
Just pased by this evening, the marquee says Renovations are underway and the theater will be reopening soon. Doesn’t look like any work is being done at all, it looks the same as always except locked and dark.
Looks like it will be just another place for the wealthy to live and feel good about themselves. That lobby and grand foyer were once accessible to all who could afford to see a movie. Now they will exist only for overpaid rich residents who will not doubt strut and primp their way through while the rest of us look in from the street, like urchins at a window. Just another microcosm of the growing class problem in this country. That landmarked area had better be accessible to all who want to see it, or I just might rampage through it. Sorry for the bitter post everyone!
My dad served in the navy during the early 1950s. Recently he let me go through the many photographs he took during that time. There were lots of pictures of him and his navy buddies in various ports. In the background of one photo there is a theatre called the Loew’s State, taken in New Orleans when my dad went there on leave.
A closeup of the marquee reveals the movie playing as MGM’s Wide-Vision Screen, Technicolor “Latin Lovers” starring Lana Turner and Ricardo Montalban, which was released in 1953:
On St. Patrick’s Day 2007 I went by the site of the erstwhile Beekman and took 3 pictures of the new construction. I was cynical and all set to find a placard advertising the new center plus a luxury tower above it, but looks like it will be a purely medical facility after all.
Welcome Back Ed Baxter!! I would love to get inside the Keith’s but it seems like it isn’t going to happen. I think I’ll give up on this theater, the disappointment and frustration is too much to deal with. If I lived in the area I would case it daily, perhaps befriend and bribe the Boymelgreeners with donuts and coffee or some other goody (liquor?) for a chance to enter and photograph, but it is quite some distance for me to travel. It would have been nice to take more detailed photos of the foyer, I am working on an painting using the Keith’s foyer as inspiration for the background, but Lamb’s original drawings and the Chang Lee photo will have to suffice. :(
PS Ed Baxter, thanks for the description of your tour of the Keiths that you posted in Feb. 2005, I have reread it many times!
hmm well if you got a picture of the plaster gallery that is over the ticket lobby, which that last “foyer detail” photo appears to show, you must have run into someone who works on the premises for Boymelgreen…isn’t that lobby where they set up temporary on-site offices?
Yesterday I equipped myself with camera and flashlight and rode the 7 Train to Main Street, hoping to gain access to the interior of the RKO Keith’s through the open storefront. I found not one but three open storefronts, and a crew of mean-looking workmen filling a dumpster with wreckage from the interior of the theatre. They were using one of those miniature bulldozers. There was so much dust and grit flying around that it nearly choked me as I walked past the open storefronts, trying to appear casual as I peered inside. Nothing was visible beyond the big holes torn into the rear walls of the stores. The workmen were shouting and moving very fast and looked like they were stressing out big time…perhaps a deadline? I could not tell what debris was being carted out, it looked like big chunks of concrete and plaster. I hope Boymelgreen is not stripping the landmarked areas or damaging them out of spite. Instead of interior pictures I took a few exterior shots and left, as the work crew was eyeing me with suspicion!
The ornate window-like feature in Mike’s image matches the design element marked “Art Glass Illuminated Panel 2 like this” in the drawing of the proscenium. Unfortunately it looks like most of the structure above the window has been destroyed but there is still a significant amount of the plasterwork fairly intact.
Holy crappoly those are amazing photos no matter the darkness, a billion congratulations Mike69!!!! If you can go back next week on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday I would be happy to join you and bring my digital camera, it is a rather old Samsung (three years maybe) but sometimes I get good pictures with it in very dark areas using the flash, though they might be a bit blurry. Your images evoke all the pathos of lost civilzations! Thank you for posting them. :)
Both scanned from “Marquee.” Notes for this theatre included:
The  theatre was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and opened on May 16, 1927 with 3160 seats. Operated by RKO from 1929. Redecorated in 1944. Demolished 1960s. Re the Mezzanine photo: “A favorite Thomas Lamb approach and here at the 86th Street with the elegant crystal chandeliers a truly outstanding room. With the potted plants and the fringed lamp shades this view obviously dates from the original opening.”
Ed thanks for that great color close-up shot of the fountain! It gives a good idea of the color scheme of the room’s decor. I was wondering what color the faux facade’s walls were, looks like a lovely earthy sand color. I bet that was once a working fountain, in the old pic I posted there is a floor basin surrounding the fountain which is gone in the image you posted, removed along with that tile pattern during ronovation, no doubt. The ornate door frames were probably destroyed as well. All for the bottom line, money money money!
I scanned them from the Second Quarter 1994 issue of “Marquee,” The Journal Of The Theatre Historical Society of America. This issue of the journal features photographs from the collection of Michael R. Miller (1947-1993). The theme is “RKO Theatres of Metropolitan New York.”
Notes accompanying the two pictures above indicate that this was the last vaude house Queens 1932; Original marquee replaced 1949; Triplexed March 1976; Closed August 1986. And: “Spanish style atmospheric. The main lobby was also atmospheric, one of the most pleasant surprises to greet customers, with large working fountain in the center.”
ydorap you can use photobucket.com to post images. Gerald A. DeLuca suggested that I use that site to post images of the Beekman a couple of years back, and it was free of charge, simple, and the links still work. If you have a computer and a digital photo, you can use Photobucket easily
Just pased by this evening, the marquee says Renovations are underway and the theater will be reopening soon. Doesn’t look like any work is being done at all, it looks the same as always except locked and dark.
Looks like it will be just another place for the wealthy to live and feel good about themselves. That lobby and grand foyer were once accessible to all who could afford to see a movie. Now they will exist only for overpaid rich residents who will not doubt strut and primp their way through while the rest of us look in from the street, like urchins at a window. Just another microcosm of the growing class problem in this country. That landmarked area had better be accessible to all who want to see it, or I just might rampage through it. Sorry for the bitter post everyone!
I found this page (very slow-loading) which shows a “National Airdome” outdoor theater on Center Street:
http://thrall.org/middletown/c4_31.htm
Wow it even shows Alexander’s! That’s a blast from the past indeed. So few movie theaters left in this area. Thanks for that ad image, Al.
http://www.callicoontheater.com/
My dad served in the navy during the early 1950s. Recently he let me go through the many photographs he took during that time. There were lots of pictures of him and his navy buddies in various ports. In the background of one photo there is a theatre called the Loew’s State, taken in New Orleans when my dad went there on leave.
A closeup of the marquee reveals the movie playing as MGM’s Wide-Vision Screen, Technicolor “Latin Lovers” starring Lana Turner and Ricardo Montalban, which was released in 1953:
View link
View link
Here is a picture of the merit award plaque on this building:
View link
At least they left the sidewalk trees intact. Probably city property.
On St. Patrick’s Day 2007 I went by the site of the erstwhile Beekman and took 3 pictures of the new construction. I was cynical and all set to find a placard advertising the new center plus a luxury tower above it, but looks like it will be a purely medical facility after all.
View link
View link
View link
Welcome Back Ed Baxter!! I would love to get inside the Keith’s but it seems like it isn’t going to happen. I think I’ll give up on this theater, the disappointment and frustration is too much to deal with. If I lived in the area I would case it daily, perhaps befriend and bribe the Boymelgreeners with donuts and coffee or some other goody (liquor?) for a chance to enter and photograph, but it is quite some distance for me to travel. It would have been nice to take more detailed photos of the foyer, I am working on an painting using the Keith’s foyer as inspiration for the background, but Lamb’s original drawings and the Chang Lee photo will have to suffice. :(
PS Ed Baxter, thanks for the description of your tour of the Keiths that you posted in Feb. 2005, I have reread it many times!
hmm well if you got a picture of the plaster gallery that is over the ticket lobby, which that last “foyer detail” photo appears to show, you must have run into someone who works on the premises for Boymelgreen…isn’t that lobby where they set up temporary on-site offices?
asphoto those are exellent pictures. How did you get inside? Is the storefront still open?
Here are the few exterior shots from Friday, December 29, 2006:
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Yesterday I equipped myself with camera and flashlight and rode the 7 Train to Main Street, hoping to gain access to the interior of the RKO Keith’s through the open storefront. I found not one but three open storefronts, and a crew of mean-looking workmen filling a dumpster with wreckage from the interior of the theatre. They were using one of those miniature bulldozers. There was so much dust and grit flying around that it nearly choked me as I walked past the open storefronts, trying to appear casual as I peered inside. Nothing was visible beyond the big holes torn into the rear walls of the stores. The workmen were shouting and moving very fast and looked like they were stressing out big time…perhaps a deadline? I could not tell what debris was being carted out, it looked like big chunks of concrete and plaster. I hope Boymelgreen is not stripping the landmarked areas or damaging them out of spite. Instead of interior pictures I took a few exterior shots and left, as the work crew was eyeing me with suspicion!
Yes, indeed!
Happy Holidays to all!
I am free Wednesday and Friday and would love to get into the RKO to take some totally radical pics.
:)
Let’s hope Mike69 is ok and did not plunge into the hole where the stage was, or, worse, get caught. Or, worst, both.
I compared Mike69’s photo:
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with the Thomas Lamb firm’s original design of the Keith’s proscenium:
View link
The ornate window-like feature in Mike’s image matches the design element marked “Art Glass Illuminated Panel 2 like this” in the drawing of the proscenium. Unfortunately it looks like most of the structure above the window has been destroyed but there is still a significant amount of the plasterwork fairly intact.
Holy crappoly those are amazing photos no matter the darkness, a billion congratulations Mike69!!!! If you can go back next week on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday I would be happy to join you and bring my digital camera, it is a rather old Samsung (three years maybe) but sometimes I get good pictures with it in very dark areas using the flash, though they might be a bit blurry. Your images evoke all the pathos of lost civilzations! Thank you for posting them. :)
WOW MIKE that is amazing!! Congratulations, you can use Photobucket to post the photos. What were the subjects of the murals?
Reposts but still interesting images! Scanned from “Marquee.”
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A view of the proscenium:
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Notes for the RKO Proctor’s 58thStreet Theatre in “Marquee” included:
“The asbestos curtain is a copy of the original curtain of the old Proctor’s Pleasure Palace, which stood on the same site.”
These have probably been posted here before:
RKO Proctor’s 86th Street marquee:
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The Mezzanine Promenade of the RKO 86th:
View link
Both scanned from “Marquee.” Notes for this theatre included:
The  theatre was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and opened on May 16, 1927 with 3160 seats. Operated by RKO from 1929. Redecorated in 1944. Demolished 1960s. Re the Mezzanine photo: “A favorite Thomas Lamb approach and here at the 86th Street with the elegant crystal chandeliers a truly outstanding room. With the potted plants and the fringed lamp shades this view obviously dates from the original opening.”
Ed thanks for that great color close-up shot of the fountain! It gives a good idea of the color scheme of the room’s decor. I was wondering what color the faux facade’s walls were, looks like a lovely earthy sand color. I bet that was once a working fountain, in the old pic I posted there is a floor basin surrounding the fountain which is gone in the image you posted, removed along with that tile pattern during ronovation, no doubt. The ornate door frames were probably destroyed as well. All for the bottom line, money money money!
These are reposts, I know they have been here before on this massively long message board:
View link
View link
I scanned them from the Second Quarter 1994 issue of “Marquee,” The Journal Of The Theatre Historical Society of America. This issue of the journal features photographs from the collection of Michael R. Miller (1947-1993). The theme is “RKO Theatres of Metropolitan New York.”
Notes accompanying the two pictures above indicate that this was the last vaude house Queens 1932; Original marquee replaced 1949; Triplexed March 1976; Closed August 1986. And: “Spanish style atmospheric. The main lobby was also atmospheric, one of the most pleasant surprises to greet customers, with large working fountain in the center.”