Thanks, Teri. And are you positive this is where those two films played in 1980? There is also a 5-Star Theater listed here that is supposed to have been porno at some point. As for not being listed because it was never more than a small, dirty movie house… you should check out some of the hole-in-the-wall porn houses listed on this site for New York City!
Those ‘73 shots are from a bygone era, SWC. The Keith’s was still in operation as a single-screener, Shea Stadium still had its original concrete beige color (remember those blue and orange pastel shingles on the rampways?), and all the signage is in English! Thanks for sharing.
In one of your more recent photos, it looks as if there’s some sort of rather expensive-looking marker in front of the building pointing out the former theater’s historic significance. When was this taken? Is this something that is there now?
I used to frequent the Hollywood Twin when it was a revival house in the early ‘80’s. I know I had a number of the old colored-paper fliers that they used to print up with the upcoming month’s schedule. Lousy theater, but great programming!
Here’s a local.live.com view of 227 Sunrise Highway as it exists today. I’d say this is the same building – although it appears that the stage housing at the rear of the structure has been demolished leaving only the front portion of the building.
I’ve driven past numerous times and thought this might have been the site of this theater. I’ll have to take note of what currently occupies the structure next time I pass.
Thanks, Teri… I don’t see The Flick listed here. Do you have enough info to list it? What was the location in reference to downtown LV? I know it wasn’t on Fremont (at least not down near all the action by Golden Nugget, Four Queens, Binion’s, etc.), but I seem to recall it was on an older type of downtown commercial strip mid-block amongst various storefronts.
I’ve been using local.live.com a lot to try and identify and pinpoint locations for some of the theaters I used to frequent as a youth. The Five Towns Theater is particularly difficult to pin down because it was buried so inconspicuously within the shopping mall that even from this aerial shot you can’t make out a possible outline for the auditorium.
The one possibility is the sort of square slightly raised structure that sits towards the back behind the Modell’s (which is immediately to the left of the large Big K store that used to be the TSS – and Mays prior to that – anchor). Still, that structure seems pretty far back from the entrance… I don’t recall the lobby/foyer being so deep and long to get to the auditorium way back there.
Does anyone know which space in the Peninsula Mall was occupied by this theater? The mall is largely a single level strip, however, there is a two story unit that seems like the likely location of the former theater. The unit is occupied by Matty’s Toy Stop and is adjacent to the Blockbuster outlet in the mall. If I’m correct about this, that would make the address 1350 Peninsula Blvd, Hewlett, NY 11557.
According to their website, they’ve been open since 1988 – which would fit the timeline established above. I’d never been to this theater – I used to haunt the theaters in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Center and Lawrence in the ‘80’s, and for discount late-run we used to go to the Five Towns Theater in Woodmere. I do recall the Hewlett being listed in the discount run advertisements, however. Anyone have an approximate size here? Was there a balcony?
Here’s a local.live.com view where one can make out Matty’s Toy Stop as the narrow two story space with the three blue awnings on the 2nd floor. The blue awning of the adjacent Blockbuster can be seen to the left of the site. Can anyone confirm if this is the former Hewlett Theater?
Has the theater been razed yet? I recently moved to Lynbrook and I’m not all that far from the site. I remember passing last year on my way to Long Beach and seeing it still standing.
This view from local.live.com shows the theater still standing next to the rubble strewn lots where the adjacent stores had burned down.
Interestingly, this local.live view to the south (which can’t be seen in close-up for some reason) is a much older view showing the adjacent structures still very much intact.
Wow. Hadn’t thought about this theater in a long while… I visited Las Vegas with my Great Grandmother when I was all of 15 years old in the summer of 1980. My Great Uncle lived in North Las Vegas and we stayed with him for about a month. While there, I hooked up with an old friend of my Mother’s and he took me to this multiplex to see the perposterous film “The Final Countdown” with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen about a modern nuclear powered air-craft carrier that somehow is catapulted back in time to just before the attack on Pearl Harbor and wrestles with the temptation to alter the course of history. Bad movie, but an interesting multiplex nonetheless – at a time when the concept of a multiplex of this size was a new one to me! Back in NY the most I’d been used to was the triplexes and quartets that had been carved from old neighborhood single screeners. The Sunrise Cinemas in Valley Stream, NY, had only just been open since the previous Christmas Holiday and even that complex featured only 6 screens. I’m almost positive the full compliment of 11 screens was in place at the Red Rock by August of 1980 when I visited.
Now that this memory has been liberated from the recesses of my mind, I have to figure out the name of the XXX theater near downtown Las Vegas (I think) where I snuck off one day on the bus and saw my first porn films – a double feature of “Debbie Does Dallas” and “Behind the Green Door!” If I’m not mistaken, I recall having passed the XXX theater while on the bus on the way to the Red Rock! So I kept a mental note of the bus route and convinced my Uncle to let me go wandering on my own downtown one afternoon! To my utter amazement he did! I rushed off, ducked in midway through one of the films and then stayed until the point I came in and rushed back to hop the bus back to NLV. It was definitely an eye-opening experience for me!
I walked past this theater today. The theater building and the attached strip of stores that run along Atlantic Avenue are listed for sale, per this website. Several of the store fronts are vacant, including the former Super Video store on the corner that saps says occupies part of the old theater space. That would make the address of the theater 447 Atlantic Avenue, East Rockaway, NY 11518.
Construction was going on in the old video store and the doors were open so I peaked in. Assuming this was the old lobby and foyer space, the place was completely gutted with a drop ceiling in place. A bit down the side street (Maxwell Street) a pair of doors that look like they might have been former exit doors for the theater were also wide open – and revealed no more than a completely refinished storage room bearing no signs of a former theater. The auditorium structure runs parallel to Atlantic Ave and behind the other store fronts. It is now occupied by offices and a warehouse of some kind – a large loading bay door is evident in the alley that runs behind the building. There also seems to be an odd dormer on the roof of the former auditorium.
Here’s a local.live view that shows the entire structure. Saps and CConnolly… can you guys confirm that the entrance and foyer/lobby space for the theater was on the corner of Atlantic and Maxwell where the video store was?
Let me join in and say “great photo” NY Dave! Thanks for sharing.
Panzera65… if I may answer for PKoch, “AIP grind run” refers to the film production company American International Pictures, founded by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff in the mid 1950’s. The company specialized in low- to modestly-budgeted genre (some would say “exploitation”) films that made the rounds at drive-in theaters and neighborhood grind houses throughout the country in the ‘50’s, '60’s and '70’s. Roger Corman was the company’s most prolific and recognizable filmmaker. Apparently, by the '70’s, the Madison frequently booked AIP product (most probably on a double feature policy – as was common with AIP bookings).
PKoch… did the Madison literally operate on a classic round-the-clock grind like the houses in Times Square? Or are we talking mostly about the product moreso that the scheduling?
Warren… have you ever attended a Baptist service with gospel music? In addition to the choir, there is often a small electric combo of varying size providing the music (bass, drums, organ, guitar).
I may have posted this before, but does anyone know what NYC theater might be depicted in this photo? I found this on the web listed as a “Times Square Burlesque” circa 1942 – and I’m sure I’ve seen this image before in a book on the area, but I’ve never seen it specifically identified. Seems to me that the Victory is a likely candidate.
Apparently there weren’t a whole lot of telephones in Amityville back in 1928, eh? The theater’s phone # is listed as “Amityville 221!” Too bad that the program doesn’t even mention an intersection for the theater’s location. I drove through Amityville going west down Rt. 27A before turning north on Rt. 110. The older “downtown” area seems to be along 110 (Broadway) to the north of 27A (Merrick Rd) and south of the LIRR tracks. The location of this theater was probably somewhere near the area where Broadway crosses Union Avenue – but that’s just a guess.
I wish my Grandparents were still with us so I could ask them about this theater. I remember my Grandfather used to play “448” for the daily lotto number because my Grandmother lived at 448 W. 125th Street in the late 1930’s when they were dating. That address was on the block between B'way and Amsterdam that was bulldozed to make way for the projects that also claimed this theater. I imagine they might have enjoyed a few dates at the Columbia.
Here’s an aerial view from local.live.com. I was wrong about 403 being only one story – in fact it is the two story town house-like structure to the right of the larger building on the corner that we thought may have been a theater. It does appear as if some sort of connection was made between the structure on the corner (391-397 Evergreen) and #403. The connection runs through the building that had been known as #399 Evergreen and appears to include a 2nd story extension.
All of these structures sit on what are now 2 lots (391-399 being one and 403 being the other) and are all classified as Church/Synagogue use and owned by Metro Innercity Children’s Campaign, Inc. Metro acquired title in 1996 from the obviously related Metropolitan Assembly of God, Inc, which took title in 1981. Prior to that, looks like a Social Club owned and operated out of this building. By the way, the church also owns the vacant lot at the other corner of the block where the school buses are parked.
Hey Bway and Lost. I was just checking on oasisnyc maps and dept of buildings database and I think the theater-like building you’re referring to is actually 391-397 Evergreen Avenue. 403 Evergreen is listed as only being a single story with 1820 square feet and would be the low lying building to the right (and just out of frame) of the structure in Bway’s photo. The only C/O I can find for the larger structure dates to 1929 and describes an alteration to existing building with occupancy as a “Public Garage.”
Looks like there was a C/O going back to 1918, but that one can’t be viewed in the online database. A later 1952 C/O shows this became a “Ribbon Factory” and “Shoe Factory” on the ground and 2nd floors, respectively. Jump 30 years ahead to 1982 and a new C/O is issued for “Manufacturing Establishment” on the ground floor with a “Banquet Hall (accessory Bingo) upstairs. My guess is that the Church utilizes this "Hall” space on the second floor for services – unless they’ve made renovations to the ground floor. There is no C/O I can find on 403 Evergreen, but it seems that the two buildings are now somehow associated with each other (perhaps via a breakthrough of the common wall between them) as each file “bin” refers to the other.
In any case, it doesn’t appear that this was ever a theater.
I passed down Main Street in Bay Shore earlier today. This is definitely a theater where I caught at least one movie in 1985. It is on the southwest corner of West Main Street and South Clinton Avenue, directly across from St Patrick’s Church and Catholic School and now a YMCA. The former Regent (now Boulton Center), which had been a XXX porn theater back in the ‘80’s, is located further to the east mid-block and on the north side of West Main Street.
One thing that struck me is the size of this building. Much work has been done to the place and I had to stop and wonder for a bit if they didn’t tear the old place down and start from scratch. However, it seems that the main building is definitely the old theater structure, though I believe they may have added to that structure near the corner of the inetersection.
I passed by this theater earlier today and it is in sad shape. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. The two story glass front (through which one could clearly see the entire two tier lobby) is obscured with graffiti. There is a sign high up on the glass that is partially damaged advertising a spanish language church. The building itself seems to be in a state of neglect. On the flat canopy above the entrance and box-office, a small fragment of the word “Theater” still hangs in red letters.
This clipping from the 3/8/82 NY Post shows that this was actually a twin – at least by 1982.
This image shows the Post movie clock from 12/11/80 and one can find the Night Shift listed as what appears to be a single screen showing “3 XXX all male films” on a 24 hour grind.
Thanks for creating this page, David. I think I might have posted these already over on the Hollywood Twin page.
Ha ha, saps. I’ll try not to take it too personally if it does come to that.
I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would be making arrogant remarks in the first place (though, given some of the cantankerous know-it-alls we encounter on this site, I’m hardly surprised). All CT members should be thankful that Hollywood was eager to share his photographs with us. I would think that such posts are among the most (if not THE most) popular kinds of submissions on the site. It’s one thing to wax poetic about a vanished cinema treasure – but to offer up an image of that which no longer exists (regardless of one’s definition of “treasure”) would seem to me to be an invaluable contribution.
Hey PKoch! Your memory is playing slight tricks on you regarding that trip to the Madison in 1973. The film you’re thinking of is not “French Connection II” (which came out in ‘75 and takes place entirely in Marseilles, France), but “Badge 373,” which starred Robert Duvall and featured the real-life “French Connection” cop (Eddie Egan) portraying a fictional cop. In fact, Egan co-wrote the story with NY newspaper columnist and novelist Pete Hamill.
Anyway, although it’s buried under a multitude of posts since then, on September 18th last year, I reported the same thing as Warren regarding the movie-listing trail for the Madison going cold after 9/23/77. I even posted this image from the NY Times movie clock of that date.
Interestingly, the movie clock in the NY Daily News for 1/25/78 lists a mysterious theater in Ridgewood under the Queens listings in addition to listing the Oasis and Ridgewood Theaters under Brooklyn. Here’s the image of that clipping that I posted back in August of last year. Could the Madison have been briefly re-opened as an independent or perhaps could it have hung on beyond 9/23/77 with only the Daily News listing it in its movie clock? Warren – had you checked microfilm of the Daily News for listings from around this time?
That’s a crying shame, Hollywood. Email me privately, please. I loved your collection and would love to see some of the latter photos you posted since I was last on here (I’ve been on a CT sabbatical) if we can arrange it. On behalf of the good citizens of NYC, may I say we’re not all that bad! Thanks so much!
Thanks, Teri. And are you positive this is where those two films played in 1980? There is also a 5-Star Theater listed here that is supposed to have been porno at some point. As for not being listed because it was never more than a small, dirty movie house… you should check out some of the hole-in-the-wall porn houses listed on this site for New York City!
Those ‘73 shots are from a bygone era, SWC. The Keith’s was still in operation as a single-screener, Shea Stadium still had its original concrete beige color (remember those blue and orange pastel shingles on the rampways?), and all the signage is in English! Thanks for sharing.
In one of your more recent photos, it looks as if there’s some sort of rather expensive-looking marker in front of the building pointing out the former theater’s historic significance. When was this taken? Is this something that is there now?
I used to frequent the Hollywood Twin when it was a revival house in the early ‘80’s. I know I had a number of the old colored-paper fliers that they used to print up with the upcoming month’s schedule. Lousy theater, but great programming!
Here’s a local.live.com view of 227 Sunrise Highway as it exists today. I’d say this is the same building – although it appears that the stage housing at the rear of the structure has been demolished leaving only the front portion of the building.
I’ve driven past numerous times and thought this might have been the site of this theater. I’ll have to take note of what currently occupies the structure next time I pass.
Consider the absurdity fully justified, Jeffrey:
Butterfly 3/10/82
And now – thankfully – we can put this baby to bed!
Thanks, Teri… I don’t see The Flick listed here. Do you have enough info to list it? What was the location in reference to downtown LV? I know it wasn’t on Fremont (at least not down near all the action by Golden Nugget, Four Queens, Binion’s, etc.), but I seem to recall it was on an older type of downtown commercial strip mid-block amongst various storefronts.
True, bobosan… But the fringe benefits of being with the lovely (if talentless) Miss Zadora might have been well worth the investment for Riklis!
I’ve been using local.live.com a lot to try and identify and pinpoint locations for some of the theaters I used to frequent as a youth. The Five Towns Theater is particularly difficult to pin down because it was buried so inconspicuously within the shopping mall that even from this aerial shot you can’t make out a possible outline for the auditorium.
The one possibility is the sort of square slightly raised structure that sits towards the back behind the Modell’s (which is immediately to the left of the large Big K store that used to be the TSS – and Mays prior to that – anchor). Still, that structure seems pretty far back from the entrance… I don’t recall the lobby/foyer being so deep and long to get to the auditorium way back there.
Anyone have a clearer memory than I do?
Does anyone know which space in the Peninsula Mall was occupied by this theater? The mall is largely a single level strip, however, there is a two story unit that seems like the likely location of the former theater. The unit is occupied by Matty’s Toy Stop and is adjacent to the Blockbuster outlet in the mall. If I’m correct about this, that would make the address 1350 Peninsula Blvd, Hewlett, NY 11557.
According to their website, they’ve been open since 1988 – which would fit the timeline established above. I’d never been to this theater – I used to haunt the theaters in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Rockville Center and Lawrence in the ‘80’s, and for discount late-run we used to go to the Five Towns Theater in Woodmere. I do recall the Hewlett being listed in the discount run advertisements, however. Anyone have an approximate size here? Was there a balcony?
Here’s a local.live.com view where one can make out Matty’s Toy Stop as the narrow two story space with the three blue awnings on the 2nd floor. The blue awning of the adjacent Blockbuster can be seen to the left of the site. Can anyone confirm if this is the former Hewlett Theater?
Has the theater been razed yet? I recently moved to Lynbrook and I’m not all that far from the site. I remember passing last year on my way to Long Beach and seeing it still standing.
This view from local.live.com shows the theater still standing next to the rubble strewn lots where the adjacent stores had burned down.
Interestingly, this local.live view to the south (which can’t be seen in close-up for some reason) is a much older view showing the adjacent structures still very much intact.
Wow. Hadn’t thought about this theater in a long while… I visited Las Vegas with my Great Grandmother when I was all of 15 years old in the summer of 1980. My Great Uncle lived in North Las Vegas and we stayed with him for about a month. While there, I hooked up with an old friend of my Mother’s and he took me to this multiplex to see the perposterous film “The Final Countdown” with Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen about a modern nuclear powered air-craft carrier that somehow is catapulted back in time to just before the attack on Pearl Harbor and wrestles with the temptation to alter the course of history. Bad movie, but an interesting multiplex nonetheless – at a time when the concept of a multiplex of this size was a new one to me! Back in NY the most I’d been used to was the triplexes and quartets that had been carved from old neighborhood single screeners. The Sunrise Cinemas in Valley Stream, NY, had only just been open since the previous Christmas Holiday and even that complex featured only 6 screens. I’m almost positive the full compliment of 11 screens was in place at the Red Rock by August of 1980 when I visited.
Now that this memory has been liberated from the recesses of my mind, I have to figure out the name of the XXX theater near downtown Las Vegas (I think) where I snuck off one day on the bus and saw my first porn films – a double feature of “Debbie Does Dallas” and “Behind the Green Door!” If I’m not mistaken, I recall having passed the XXX theater while on the bus on the way to the Red Rock! So I kept a mental note of the bus route and convinced my Uncle to let me go wandering on my own downtown one afternoon! To my utter amazement he did! I rushed off, ducked in midway through one of the films and then stayed until the point I came in and rushed back to hop the bus back to NLV. It was definitely an eye-opening experience for me!
I walked past this theater today. The theater building and the attached strip of stores that run along Atlantic Avenue are listed for sale, per this website. Several of the store fronts are vacant, including the former Super Video store on the corner that saps says occupies part of the old theater space. That would make the address of the theater 447 Atlantic Avenue, East Rockaway, NY 11518.
Construction was going on in the old video store and the doors were open so I peaked in. Assuming this was the old lobby and foyer space, the place was completely gutted with a drop ceiling in place. A bit down the side street (Maxwell Street) a pair of doors that look like they might have been former exit doors for the theater were also wide open – and revealed no more than a completely refinished storage room bearing no signs of a former theater. The auditorium structure runs parallel to Atlantic Ave and behind the other store fronts. It is now occupied by offices and a warehouse of some kind – a large loading bay door is evident in the alley that runs behind the building. There also seems to be an odd dormer on the roof of the former auditorium.
Here’s a local.live view that shows the entire structure. Saps and CConnolly… can you guys confirm that the entrance and foyer/lobby space for the theater was on the corner of Atlantic and Maxwell where the video store was?
Let me join in and say “great photo” NY Dave! Thanks for sharing.
Panzera65… if I may answer for PKoch, “AIP grind run” refers to the film production company American International Pictures, founded by James H. Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff in the mid 1950’s. The company specialized in low- to modestly-budgeted genre (some would say “exploitation”) films that made the rounds at drive-in theaters and neighborhood grind houses throughout the country in the ‘50’s, '60’s and '70’s. Roger Corman was the company’s most prolific and recognizable filmmaker. Apparently, by the '70’s, the Madison frequently booked AIP product (most probably on a double feature policy – as was common with AIP bookings).
PKoch… did the Madison literally operate on a classic round-the-clock grind like the houses in Times Square? Or are we talking mostly about the product moreso that the scheduling?
Warren… have you ever attended a Baptist service with gospel music? In addition to the choir, there is often a small electric combo of varying size providing the music (bass, drums, organ, guitar).
I may have posted this before, but does anyone know what NYC theater might be depicted in this photo? I found this on the web listed as a “Times Square Burlesque” circa 1942 – and I’m sure I’ve seen this image before in a book on the area, but I’ve never seen it specifically identified. Seems to me that the Victory is a likely candidate.
Apparently there weren’t a whole lot of telephones in Amityville back in 1928, eh? The theater’s phone # is listed as “Amityville 221!” Too bad that the program doesn’t even mention an intersection for the theater’s location. I drove through Amityville going west down Rt. 27A before turning north on Rt. 110. The older “downtown” area seems to be along 110 (Broadway) to the north of 27A (Merrick Rd) and south of the LIRR tracks. The location of this theater was probably somewhere near the area where Broadway crosses Union Avenue – but that’s just a guess.
I wish my Grandparents were still with us so I could ask them about this theater. I remember my Grandfather used to play “448” for the daily lotto number because my Grandmother lived at 448 W. 125th Street in the late 1930’s when they were dating. That address was on the block between B'way and Amsterdam that was bulldozed to make way for the projects that also claimed this theater. I imagine they might have enjoyed a few dates at the Columbia.
Here’s an aerial view from local.live.com. I was wrong about 403 being only one story – in fact it is the two story town house-like structure to the right of the larger building on the corner that we thought may have been a theater. It does appear as if some sort of connection was made between the structure on the corner (391-397 Evergreen) and #403. The connection runs through the building that had been known as #399 Evergreen and appears to include a 2nd story extension.
All of these structures sit on what are now 2 lots (391-399 being one and 403 being the other) and are all classified as Church/Synagogue use and owned by Metro Innercity Children’s Campaign, Inc. Metro acquired title in 1996 from the obviously related Metropolitan Assembly of God, Inc, which took title in 1981. Prior to that, looks like a Social Club owned and operated out of this building. By the way, the church also owns the vacant lot at the other corner of the block where the school buses are parked.
Hey Bway and Lost. I was just checking on oasisnyc maps and dept of buildings database and I think the theater-like building you’re referring to is actually 391-397 Evergreen Avenue. 403 Evergreen is listed as only being a single story with 1820 square feet and would be the low lying building to the right (and just out of frame) of the structure in Bway’s photo. The only C/O I can find for the larger structure dates to 1929 and describes an alteration to existing building with occupancy as a “Public Garage.”
Looks like there was a C/O going back to 1918, but that one can’t be viewed in the online database. A later 1952 C/O shows this became a “Ribbon Factory” and “Shoe Factory” on the ground and 2nd floors, respectively. Jump 30 years ahead to 1982 and a new C/O is issued for “Manufacturing Establishment” on the ground floor with a “Banquet Hall (accessory Bingo) upstairs. My guess is that the Church utilizes this "Hall” space on the second floor for services – unless they’ve made renovations to the ground floor. There is no C/O I can find on 403 Evergreen, but it seems that the two buildings are now somehow associated with each other (perhaps via a breakthrough of the common wall between them) as each file “bin” refers to the other.
In any case, it doesn’t appear that this was ever a theater.
I passed down Main Street in Bay Shore earlier today. This is definitely a theater where I caught at least one movie in 1985. It is on the southwest corner of West Main Street and South Clinton Avenue, directly across from St Patrick’s Church and Catholic School and now a YMCA. The former Regent (now Boulton Center), which had been a XXX porn theater back in the ‘80’s, is located further to the east mid-block and on the north side of West Main Street.
One thing that struck me is the size of this building. Much work has been done to the place and I had to stop and wonder for a bit if they didn’t tear the old place down and start from scratch. However, it seems that the main building is definitely the old theater structure, though I believe they may have added to that structure near the corner of the inetersection.
I passed by this theater earlier today and it is in sad shape. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. The two story glass front (through which one could clearly see the entire two tier lobby) is obscured with graffiti. There is a sign high up on the glass that is partially damaged advertising a spanish language church. The building itself seems to be in a state of neglect. On the flat canopy above the entrance and box-office, a small fragment of the word “Theater” still hangs in red letters.
I’ll have to get back there soon for some photos.
This clipping from the 3/8/82 NY Post shows that this was actually a twin – at least by 1982.
This image shows the Post movie clock from 12/11/80 and one can find the Night Shift listed as what appears to be a single screen showing “3 XXX all male films” on a 24 hour grind.
Thanks for creating this page, David. I think I might have posted these already over on the Hollywood Twin page.
Ha ha, saps. I’ll try not to take it too personally if it does come to that.
I’m still trying to figure out why anyone would be making arrogant remarks in the first place (though, given some of the cantankerous know-it-alls we encounter on this site, I’m hardly surprised). All CT members should be thankful that Hollywood was eager to share his photographs with us. I would think that such posts are among the most (if not THE most) popular kinds of submissions on the site. It’s one thing to wax poetic about a vanished cinema treasure – but to offer up an image of that which no longer exists (regardless of one’s definition of “treasure”) would seem to me to be an invaluable contribution.
Hey PKoch! Your memory is playing slight tricks on you regarding that trip to the Madison in 1973. The film you’re thinking of is not “French Connection II” (which came out in ‘75 and takes place entirely in Marseilles, France), but “Badge 373,” which starred Robert Duvall and featured the real-life “French Connection” cop (Eddie Egan) portraying a fictional cop. In fact, Egan co-wrote the story with NY newspaper columnist and novelist Pete Hamill.
Anyway, although it’s buried under a multitude of posts since then, on September 18th last year, I reported the same thing as Warren regarding the movie-listing trail for the Madison going cold after 9/23/77. I even posted this image from the NY Times movie clock of that date.
Interestingly, the movie clock in the NY Daily News for 1/25/78 lists a mysterious theater in Ridgewood under the Queens listings in addition to listing the Oasis and Ridgewood Theaters under Brooklyn. Here’s the image of that clipping that I posted back in August of last year. Could the Madison have been briefly re-opened as an independent or perhaps could it have hung on beyond 9/23/77 with only the Daily News listing it in its movie clock? Warren – had you checked microfilm of the Daily News for listings from around this time?
That’s a crying shame, Hollywood. Email me privately, please. I loved your collection and would love to see some of the latter photos you posted since I was last on here (I’ve been on a CT sabbatical) if we can arrange it. On behalf of the good citizens of NYC, may I say we’re not all that bad! Thanks so much!