Syosset Theatre
7500 Jericho Turnpike,
Woodbury,
NY
11797
7500 Jericho Turnpike,
Woodbury,
NY
11797
20 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 174 comments
Let’s not start a war over this, but I have a sneaky feeling that the photograph of the D-150 installation on the “fromscripttodvd” pages (NY theatre photos) supposedly of the Syosset LI is in actuality that of the UA Lefrak City (Queens, NY). Reason # 1: I’ve been in both; the photo in question was obviously taken from above orchestra level…the Lefrak had a balcony. The Syosset didn’t. Reason #2: check out Steve Kraus' D-150 pages at “www.govst.edu/users/gaskrau/index.html”. Enlarge the top photo so that you can see the caption “UA Lefrak City.” Reason #3: The Syosset’s screen was much larger than the one in this photograph. I might be wrong, but I was in the Lefrak on opening day to the public, and several times at the Syosset since then. Comments?
i have no knowledge of this stuff, but River Oaks 9 & 10 still has the huge screen, and seats 1000 people…just theater 9…my favorite place to see a movie since I was a kid…
This really needs to move to the proper place, the Pequa page. You always looked overworked back then.
BobT, the “Stop Making Sense” night was great. People were having a huge dance party in front of the screen during the showing.
Still remember how the door you held was bending from the rush of the crowd for Rocky IV in Massapequa.
Concerning GWTW. I saw this film in 70mm at the Rivoli and the Bellevue in New Jersey back in the 70’s. The prints were pristine and the showmanship first class. Not having been that familiar with the original ratio I thought it was pretty wonderful(especially seeing it in those two theaters with their large 70mm screens.) I wonder what I would think today though we’ll probably never get that chance again.
saps, those are two films filmed in 70mm or D-150, which is far better than the many blowups during the 60s and 70s. Glad you had the chance to experience that. Roger Ebert, bless him, is a big promoter of 70mm I think if it were up to him we would film just about everything that way.
The best 70mm prints I’ve seen were at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, Illinois, during the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival…crystal clear and amazingly detailed viewings of Patton and Lawrence of Arabia. Both truly stunning.
le, sorry we never had a chnace to work together, it was as you said a geat place to work and see a movie. I am not sure bookings were the problem since the property owners wanted us out to develop the land. The rent would have been too much not substain a movie theatre.
As for 70mm, prints were scarce towards the end, but there was no better place on L.I to see them.
saps, I was disapointed in the experience you had with “GWTW”, I beg you please don’t blame the folks at the D-150, the 70mm prints of that movie were awful, it was a bad idea to blow it up to 70mm in the first place. The image was cropped, faded and not always sharp.
I hope you had a chance to return to see a proper 70mm print in all it’s glory at the D-150 and to experience it’s friendly, professional staff.
The first time I saw Gone With the Wind was here in the late 70s/early 80s, with a wretched 70mm print that cropped the image at the top and bottom and seemed to be terrbily out of focus, even after changing my seat several times and complaining to the manager (who stated that was because of the curved screen!) I couldn’t believe that this was the number one box office attraction of all time. I was really disappointed, until I saw it again years later in the proper ratio and clarity. Of course it’s magnificent.
hi I was the last manager at the 150 and like the rest of you was sad to see it close I loved watching movies there especially when the house was sold out if they had gotten better bookings for that theater i believe it would have still been around today I to enjoyed the projection booth although i never got to play the 70 mm prints i do know that the lense were still in the booth at the time of closing and in great shape i may add
Pablo I was talking about 2001. I did see This Is Cinerama at the Ziegfeld and was very disappointed.
Bill its really too bad that there are no theaters left like the Warner Cinerama or the Rivoli so we could have that same experience again. I’m all for saving the Beekman(which I love) and the Cinema 1(which was ruined when they twinned it) but where were these people who were powerful and claimed to love film Like Scorcese when the great midtown theaters were torn down.
However to be fair even people like Christoper Reeves and Joseph Papp couldn’t save the Morosco and the Helen Hayes from the wrecking crew. Now according to the Post there is a play glut and not enough theaters to put them in!
I guess you have to go to the website to play the clip
For those of you who never heard the intro to “This is Cinerama”
http://www.cinema-astoria.com/all/realplayer.gif
Vincent, while it’s true the end of the print say CINERAMA, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is always seen that way. Since it was shot for the Cinerama process of this time period, the Cinerama credit at the end of the film is part and parcel of the films ending credits. Prints made in various formats from the printing negative will all say Cinerama. The 1- strip Cinerama (as I understand it) used the 70MM format which was printed and/or projected in such a way as to make the image fit on the large curved screen without distortion, thereby achieving the Cinerama image without the use of 3 cameras and projectors. I’ve read that it doesn’t quite compare to 3 strip Cinerama but is stunning just the same. So, as I see it, technically, your friend is correct.
This is Cinerama never played the Rivoli. You saw it at the Ziegfeld. The presentation was a poor, poor imitation of the original. Ask anyone who has seen them both.
Pablo
Bill I’m told that the original one strip Cinerama is no different from the 70mm print. I saw it in ‘77 at the Rivoli in Manhattan and at the end of the print it said in Cinerama. I told this to an expert in wide screen matters and he said it was the same thing.
However that being said that '77 presentation was unlike any other that I’ve been to. The depth and brilliance of the print sucked you into that huge curved screen so that this was for me a truly spiritual and religious experience. Well we all have our own individual beliefs.
I am jealous of those who worked at the Cinema 150. Every time I went there I thought “Wow! I’d love to work here.” I did work in a UA theatre – The Sayville Theatre – now a triplex. We showed a lot of indies there. Some good. Most bad. And the occassional gem like Chinatown. We were four walled for “The Trial of Billy Jack” with a Taylor/Laughlin employee in the lobby to discourage free entry.
The 150 was a class act from start to finish. My partner thinks I’m a little too crazy about my love for this theatre. He’s never been there. It was always an event for me. Regardless of the film, the theatre itself and its operation was, for me, all part of the experience. Thank God I was able to see 2 of my all time favorites there. “Fantasia” (a great print with the original analog soundtrack in 4 track stereo – beautiful!) and “2001: A Space Odyssey” (a great 70MM print in either 4 or 6 track stereo – I can’t recall). I was awed by just how good the original “Fantasia” sountrack was with a good sound system and great acoustics. Finally seeing “2001” in 70MM was awesome (I still long to see it in one strip Cinerama). Once again, the theatre’s excellent sound system showed how refined a soundtrack it really was.
The 150 was truly in a class by itself here on Long Island.
Bill
Bob, Gee it was great hearing those D-150 stories, I only did relief work at the D-150 and missed out on a lot of the fun. I think Yentl was my favorite, boy we sure packed em in for that one.
I am glad you mentioned the great non-sync music we had playing thru Joe Kelly’s dynamite sound system. I can still remember parking my car and walking thru the side door leading to the auditorium and hearing Annie Lenox filling the theatre with music, remember how you would play music before we opened? Speaking of Joe, after I retired I did not hear much about him. I do know he started his own projector and sound repair company but I am not sure he’s still at it. Speaking of lenses, he was also very proud of the 3-D lens he developed. I always had a smile on my face when the union business agent would say “Vito, I need you at the D-150 for a while” I can honestly say there was no better place to work, mainly because of managers like yourself with a happy, fun staff and just the thrill of working at Long Island’s best theatre. I did not even mind working the double shifts, lifting those huge 70mm reels all day.
Thanks for writing, those days are gone for ever but we have our memories
Of course, it’s all about the money. It’s the way of the world. We’ll never see the likes of the Cinema 150 or the Syosset again.
Sadly Bill, it’s all about the real estate and the money. UA could not afford the rent at the D-150
Alas, I, too, morn the loss of both Syosset Theatres. I had a particular fondness for the UA Cinema 150. I was shocked and extremely disappointed when I learned of its demise. I began to wonder why it was no longer listed in the local theatre listings. I drove there to see what happened. I always admired the fact that the theatre was so accessable. A hop onto the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway North to the last exit and Voila! The gold at the end of the rainbow!
Unquestionably, it was one of two great film theatres on Long Island. It always amazed me that the two were less than a half mile apart on the same road in the same town. If only more people knew of its impending fate. I don’t know if any attempts were made to save it. I’d like to think, in my own naive way, that there was such a movement afoot. It’s not just a loss to film goers. It’s a loss to the community. I recall the Bayshore Theatre on Main Street in Bayshore. A grand old house with a foyeur fit for a palace. A large plush lobby and an auditorium with box seats (no longer in use), a beautiful screen curtain, and a chandelier that looked like the space ship in the end of “Close Encounters”. If ever a place cried out to be a cultural arts center for film, theatre and concerts. What is it today? A YMCA. No slam here. It’s a great organization. But why this theatre?
And what of the UA Cinema 150? A gym! Like we don’t have enough of those. W'eve lost something so valuable in these theatres. Where can I go now to see a film in all its glory while situated in luxury? A mulitplex? I don’t think so.
OOk now you guys have opened a wound, lol. I worked as a relief projectionist at Hicksville North and South. As veyoung mentioned we presented Grand Prix in 70mm Cinerama on the South side which was
the only house with two Century JJ 70mm projectors. The North had two 35mm Simplex XL projectors. Both sides had Ashcraft Super Core Lite Carbon lamp houses burning about 135 amps. The theatres were
rather nice, simple but not your standard twin boxes we saw later.
Both had full traveler screen curtains and working masking.
Then that dreadful day in November 1986. the theatre was cut up into six horrible theatres. North and South were each cut up into three. A wall was placed down the middle cutting each theatre in half, creating theatres 1-2-3-4 Then a portion of the rear of each auditorium and a part of the lobby was used for theatres 5 & 6. The last two theatres were very small. One seating only 75 people. A tiny little projection booth was placed in the rear of both 5 & 6
with a small Christie platter and a Christie almost portable 35mm projector. Oh yes, and a POWERFULL 50 watt sound system WOW!
The original booth was left intact for theatres 1 thru 4 with the two projectors moved apart and fitted with a platter. Although both sides of the old south theatre had 70mm projectors, only one side had the six track sound system. I remember running “Silverado” and one of the “Star Trek IV” amoung others. Buy the way Robert, yes it was a maze, or should we say mess.
re Hicksville: the only notation from the Int'l Cinerama Society is that it ran Cinerama from 3/22/67 with “Grand Prix.”
I posted this theatre under it’s original name Fox Plaza North & South. Only South had Cinerama (70mm single projector). This was a real mess when they made it 6 theatres it had weird hallways that ran all over like a maze. I wish I had a blueprint to see what the actual setup was.
Does anybody out there know anything more about the Hicksville North/South? Were both houses set up for cinerama, what were the seat counts and when was it ‘plexed? I remember going to this place only after it had been broken up into a six-screen theater. Though I have no recollection of how they did the division, I do recall that a couple of the auditoriums were tiny.