RKO Madison Theatre
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
21 people
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Showing 1,101 - 1,125 of 1,251 comments
About three to four weeks shy of fifty years (Thanksgiving weekend 1927 to Halloween 1977).
RobertR, the sign “THIS IS HOW YOUR ….” was either to get the RKO Madison rented, or to get NYC to do something about it, to protect the public, by keeping it from staying derelict.
the madison theater was open for exactly fifty years almost to the day
Was that sign to rent the place? I do not remember that. The place went down fast.
Was that sign to rent the place? I do not remember that.
I think your theater book is mistaken. I have seen this “1980 closing” error elsewhere. Posted above on this page (or at least it should be) is the closing of the RKO Madison a few days after its Halloween 1977 movie show. I myself remember that the RKO Madison was definitely closed the last Saturday of February 1978. I also remember that, at that time, it had a prominent sign on it reading :
THIS IS HOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STARTS TO DECAY. IF THIS BOTHERS YOU, CALL : (phone number)
In late February 1978 the RKO Madison was an ugly, empty, unused hulk, inviting squatting by the homeless, vandalism, and being a “shooting gallery” for junkies. By early April 1979, the inside had burned, making it more derelict.
the madison closed in 1980 I read that in my theatre book
On another theater board some people are talking about another Madison theater in NYC before the RKO-Madison. Perhaps that is the reason for the original Beacon name.
Robert. Thanks for commenting. Your mother is correct. That’s how it was. But she’s obviously younger than me. The incident I refer to was exactly in the year 1950.
I asked my mother about this incident, since she was a regular customer of the Madison in the 50’s. She remembers Hallooween shows taking place for sure in the late 50’s. She said they very very cheesy like a Coney Island sideshow and would have coffins and sometimes “monsters” running among the audience. Then you would see a grade Z horror flick.
I wonder if anyone can recall an incident that occurred back in October, 1950. The Madison Theater had Halloween shows fairly consistantly till then and then I screwed that up. Between the showing of horror films they put on a live show that depicted the bedroom scene where Dracula crosses the stage in an attempt to bite a lovely lady in a bed on center stage. I climbed to the stage and tried to jump Dracula to prevent him from ‘biting'the woman. I only succeeded in making her scream, jump fro the bed and run off. Then the actor playing Dracula having seen me with my hands raised ran from the stage.
The stagehands tried to capture me, but I escaped. The curtain was brought down and the small play was ruined. I scrambled beneath seats and hid here and there for awhile and when at least half a dozen cops came searching for me I alluded them. Then I beat it out of the theater.
The Madison didn’t have another Halloween show for at least two years. Then in 1952 or 1953 they resumed the horror show and this time it starred Bela Lugosi. Unfortunately he was a no-show. The newspapers the next day said they would no longer have a Halloween show and they alluded to the 1950 incident as well. They sued Bela, but I don’t know what the outcome was. I never guessed that my juvenile prank would result in such chaos and I was lucky to escape. That was 54 years ago this month. Does anyone remember it?
Fortunately, we soon had both beer and the RKO Madison for about 44 years !
Great article! Thanks for posting it!
Just think, if it hadn’t been for Prohibition, the Madison Theater may not have been built – well at least not in that location. Was that worth not having beer during the 20’s for the Madison? Hmmm, that’s a tough call!
Actually, Madison Street nearby must also be named for President Madison. Along with Jefferson St being named for President Jefferson.
Lostmemory – Thanks for the article – FANTASTIC!
I too remember that clock in the auditorium. Thanks for jogging my memory.
The Loew’s Jersey in Jersey City, and other old-fashioned “movie palaces” are making a comeback.
Television will either refine itself, or put itself out of business, if it continues to be mostly a trivial wasteland of sex, violence, cheap thrills, greed and materialism.
The Rko Madison was a awsume place in the fiftys I spent so many fun times there I sure wish these old theatres would come back and put the television wasteland out of business.
Groundstar, I vaguely remember those stairs off to the left as soon as one entered the outer lobby. There must have been a ticket taker at the foot of those stairs, as well as the door between the outer and inner lobbies. I also remember turning 45 degrees to the right as one went from the outer to the inner lobby. The outer lobby was parallel and at right angles to Myrtle Avenue, but the inner lobby and auditorium (orchestra and balcony) was square with Wyckoff Avenue and Madison Street. The stage and screen, then, must have been parallel to Madison Street, between Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues.
I remember the balcony of the inner lobby, the Oriental carpet on the floor, and the mirror behind the candy counter. I also remember needing to turn 45 degrees in going from a balcony seat to the rest rooms, which had windows out onto Myrtle Avenue.
When I saw “My Fair Lady” there with my mom in the summer of 1965, I remember noticing a clock, with luminous face and hands, to the left of the screen, between the proscenium arch and one of the box seats.
I do not know why it was called the Madison, as its facade, entrance and marquee was at Myrtle Avenue and Woodbine, not Madison, Street.
I have a very clear memory of two sets of stairs to the balcony in the Ridgewood Theater. As in the Madison, one from the outer lobby and one from the inner lobby. That’s because I’ve been in the Ridgewood much more recently than in the Madison (September 12, 1992 as opposed to June or July 1976).
Pete – What I most remember about the “Tingler” is that there were only some seats wired – and that it was rigged to start in the rear of the theater and “work” its way down to the front -
Back to the balconey/bathroom area – were there two sets of stairs going up there? I remember the “Large” set that was in the back of the lobby (staight in from the door with the candy counter to the right) but was there also a set on the left as soon as you entered the “main” lobby – I sort of remember this, but can’t quite see it in my mind.
Groundstar, I checked the IMDb. It says “The Mysterians” was released in the USA in 1959.
“House On Haunted Hill” had “bone-chilling Emergo” and “The Tingler” had “spine-tingling Percepto”. I missed the original releases (I was too young) but saw them on TV, and saw them, complete with gimmicks, at the Fall 1988 Gimmick-O-Rama at Film Forum in lower Manhattan, which see on this site.
I think “The Mysterians” was released in 1957. Why not check it out at :
www.imdb.com
I have a VHS copy from a friend about your age who was thrilled with it as a kid but now bored with it as an adult. He also gave me a VHS of a Commando Cody serial.
Back to William Castle “gimmick flicks” : In “Mr. Sardonicus” it was the “punishment poll” : Hold those cards up ! Thumbs up for mercy ! Thumbs down … no mercy !!! (only one ending was ever filmed).
My favorite bits in “The Tingler” were when Vincent Price injects himself with “LSD25”, and when he says to his vampy, trampy wife, with a cat in the room with her :
“You two have met ? In the same alley, perhaps ?”
Did you have fun screaming during “The Tingler” ? When they did it at Film Forum they had a staff member run around the auditorium with a rubber tingler !
The Madison also had “First Men In The Moon” and “Godzilla vs. The Thing” in fall and winter of 1964, but I didn’t see them there.
The one William Castle movie I saw at the Madison was “I Saw What You Did”, with Joan Crawford, in summer 1965.
Pete – we must have been there together – I rember seeing all of those movies.
I also remember ALL of the Vicent Price movies. The Madison had the skelatin come out of the screen at the end of “House On Haunted Hill” and had the seats “wired” for the “Tingler” – I rmember scores of props in the lobby – I don’t remember the movie but they had this electric chair set up which scared the hell out of me.
The first time I had to wait in line to see a movie was at the Madison. I remember it was cold (October or Novemember I’d guess) it was a Saturday morning and the “Special Showing” was going to start at 9am. My friends and I got to the theater around 8:30 and the line went from the box office down the blcok to Wyckoff Ave. And the name of this Japanese Epic, you ask – (Drum rool please) – The Mysterians and I don’t remember the year…
I remember those bathrooms. The boy’s / men’s room looked out over Myrtle Avenue. The window at its end was the westernmost one in the second floor of the facade.
I remember being in the balcony summer 1968 with my cousin watching “The Odd Couple” and this vague feeling we weren’t supposed to be there, because we were kids.
I vaguely remember matrons and a children’s section.
The first films I remember seeing at the Madison were monster / sci fi flicks : “King Kong vs. Godzilla”, “Three Stooges In Orbit”, “Mothra”, “Reptilicus” and “Journey To The Seventh Planet”, about 1961 and 1962.
Some more memories of The Madison – as I said earerlier we (kids) were stuck on the main floor on the right side – the balcony was the smoking section and “OFF LIMITS” to kids – but fortunatly for us – the bathrooms were on the second floor – so we would go and see the movies (Usually two movies, a short and “coming attractions” and sometime a newsreel) then go to the bathroom and then sneak into the balconey to see the movies from a whole new perspective – of course we would sit real low in the seats so no one would notice us (lol) and be on our best behavior so as not to get thrown out – but if we did get “pinched” and kicked out – it was OK since we had seen the movies already anyway.
Yes, it is sad, but not as much as if it had been totally demolished.
The Myrtle Avenue facade still exists, has been cleaned, and is still mostly visible. “RKO MADISON THEATRE” is still faintly visible on the front western wall, from the Wyckoff Avenue el platform. Unfortunately, it’s gradually fading, and becoming obscured by new, fresh, bold, graffiti.
Yes, the RKO Madison would have been great as a church. Grover Cleveland High School had its graduation ceremony there in 1972, among probably many other years.
Hi! I’ve just discovered Cinematreasures and I’m lost in my youth.
I grow up on Knickerbocker ave. in the 50’s & 60’s. The Madison was the teater of choice for me and all my friends. The Ridgewood showed more adult films and it was the Madison that had the Saturday Matanee’s with all of the great horror movies of the time. The “Bad” part of the Madison from a kids point of view was that we always had to sit on the right side of the theater with these matrons watching over us –
The store to the right of the theater was a Hardee Shoe Store when I was in High School and my best friend Billy used to work in that store – he would trade off shoes for movie tickets with the kids who worked in the theater – I don’t know how the deal worked except to say I saw a lot of free movies. Oh! The criminality of youth.