The last film I saw at the RKO Madison Theater was the trashy thriller “Lipstick” starring Chris Sarandon as an electronics freak rapist, Margaux Hemingway as his victim, and younger sister Mariel as his would-be younger victim who witnessed the rape of her older sister. This was in July 1976. The following month the Madison was showing a re-release of “The Exorcist” along with “The Yakuza”, a film about Japanese organized crime. I also remember “Godzilla vs. Megalon” as one of the last films shown by the Madison.
If anyone can tell me the exact or approximate date the Madison closed, and stopped showing films, I would very much appreciate it. It is something I should remember, and yet I do not. Thank you all in advance.
This site does not have a page for the Rivoli Theater that once stood in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn so I will mention it here.
The Rivoli Theater once stood on the south side of Myrtle Avenue between Greene Avenue and Harman Street, and just west of Knickerbocker Avenue, a busy and important shopping street. It was about a half mile almost due west of the RKO Madison Theater along Myrtle Avenue. It is adjacent to the eastbound platform of the Knickerbocker Avenue station of the Myrtle Avenue elevated line (M train). It may appear in the “shadows” at the left edge of this image :
The renowned and legendary American satiric standup comedian, Lenny Bruce, did a show at the Curran Theater the night of Sunday November 19 1961. The show is available on a 2 CD set.
Some of these photos were taken in the late afternoon. It is interesting to see how the direction of the shadows changes with the date (time of the year). These photos face east, and the sun is clearly to the northwest in August 1970 and clearly to the southwest on New Year’s Day 1977.
Image 5557 shows the cross-shaped sign for the “Tabernacle Of Prayer” church attached to the baroque facade.
Thank you, Warren. Do you know of an outdoor theater nearby, consisting of a vacant lot or block, screen (perhaps a wall of the Colonial ?)and projectionist’s booth, that operated in the 1920’s and 1930’s ? My father, born 1919, grew up in the neighborhood, and remembers this.
The Decatur was an even smaller theater that once stood not far away at 1674 Broadway, near Decatur Street. I think it has since been demolished.
As you can see from the apartment bldgs. at the left edge of the image, the side wall alone is seven stories high, with the roof peaking several stories above that. The high, nearly block-long brick side wall, the zigzagging exterior fire escape metal staircase, and individual water tower above the roof, are all dead giveaways of older,larger theaters in NYC.
The marquee is visible in this image, but I do not know, and cannot read, what was playing then. Perhaps some cinema buffs can figure it out from the date of the photo, and from their knowledge of films, as was done for that image I posted the link to for the Loew’s Hillside Theater in Jamaica, Queens. Thanks.
In Image 25755 it is just above the elevated J train, and in Image 2637 it is just above the far end of the silver QJ train.
The roofline of the Colonial Theater at 1746 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY is visible in both of these images near the vanishing point. The Colonial once stood at Broadway and Rockaway Avenue, two el stations into the distance in the above two images. The building was still there as of April 30, 2004 when I last observed it. I do not know what it is now used for. A rectangular frieze surmounted by two stone lanterns remains atop the brick facade, visible above the
Rockaway Avenue end and exit of the Chauncey Street el station, and was probably once the entrance.
Description given above in my previous comment still applies.
The theater was named after the nearby Madison Street but is actually one block west at Myrtle Avenue and Woodbine Street in Ridgewood, Queens, NYC, NY.
What was once the Parthenon Theatre can be seen in the following image. It is the half of slant-roofed frieze at the upper left corner, with the red and yellow sign beneath it reading “RIDGEWOOD BINGO” :
The western wall of the RKO Madison Theater can also be glimpsed in the same image, to the right of the green tower. It is a brown brick wall with the name RKO MADISON erased but with newer and bolder graffiti beginning to prevail.
Look above the canopy over the el platform on the right side of the images. “LOEW’S HILLSIDE” can be faintly seen in white on that uppermost trapezoidal part of brick wall above the el platform canopy, to the left of the roofline.
For objective proof of the date of the February 9, 1969 blizzard in Ridgewood, Queens, go to :
The Ridgewood section of : http://www.queenspix.com and look at the images of the snow-covered Myrtle Avenue el between Forest Avenue and Fresh Pond Road dated 2/9/69.
Dear Fernando, thank you for talking to your brother yesterday, and for providing all this detail. I very much appreciate it. Do you think you might try to scan and post your 1980 photo of the Casino Theater ? It would be better than no photo at all, and the only other available image would be the one of the Kosciuszko St. el station from nycsubway.org that “Bway” posted the link to.
Thank you also for the info on Bud Abbott and where he once worked as a cashier. “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” is one of my all-time favorite films, and now, my son (age 9)has known it for several years as well.
Thank you, Fernando and Bway ! The “huge three-towered rusty steel look ” hospital is Woodhull Hospital, which was still under construction in July 1972, as one can see from images of Flushing Avenue el station on the BMT Broadway el on www.nycsubway.org
I rode by on the J last Friday about noon and glimpsed the roof line
of what once may have been the New (now so old !) Casino Theater. It’s hard to be sure. One has to literally “get down” into the street, walk around, and look up !
On that same ride I caught glimpses of the old Colonial Theater, Loews Gates, and RKO Bushwick.
I think the name came solely from the now abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station on the subway lines that ran under Flatbush Avenue and over the Manhattan Bridge. There was no direct connection to the Myrtle Avenue elevated that I know of : there was Navy St. station to the east, named after the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Bridge-Jay to the west, but no Myrtle el station directly over Flatbush Avenue. See www.nycsubway.org for more details if you wish.
Interesting to know of this sub-category of “Negro” theaters. Hopefully not Jim Crow or apartheid in Bklyn, rather, theaters of African-American interest ?
The last film I saw at the RKO Madison Theater was the trashy thriller “Lipstick” starring Chris Sarandon as an electronics freak rapist, Margaux Hemingway as his victim, and younger sister Mariel as his would-be younger victim who witnessed the rape of her older sister. This was in July 1976. The following month the Madison was showing a re-release of “The Exorcist” along with “The Yakuza”, a film about Japanese organized crime. I also remember “Godzilla vs. Megalon” as one of the last films shown by the Madison.
If anyone can tell me the exact or approximate date the Madison closed, and stopped showing films, I would very much appreciate it. It is something I should remember, and yet I do not. Thank you all in advance.
This site does not have a page for the Rivoli Theater that once stood in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn so I will mention it here.
The Rivoli Theater once stood on the south side of Myrtle Avenue between Greene Avenue and Harman Street, and just west of Knickerbocker Avenue, a busy and important shopping street. It was about a half mile almost due west of the RKO Madison Theater along Myrtle Avenue. It is adjacent to the eastbound platform of the Knickerbocker Avenue station of the Myrtle Avenue elevated line (M train). It may appear in the “shadows” at the left edge of this image :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6608
I have the address from another site and will include it in a subsequent comment.
The renowned and legendary American satiric standup comedian, Lenny Bruce, did a show at the Curran Theater the night of Sunday November 19 1961. The show is available on a 2 CD set.
Thank you William !
Part of the facade, and /or the vertical sign, of Loew’s Valencia, on Jamaica Avenue, is visible at the left side of the following images :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3021
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3022
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?12230
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5557
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4642
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26369
Some of these photos were taken in the late afternoon. It is interesting to see how the direction of the shadows changes with the date (time of the year). These photos face east, and the sun is clearly to the northwest in August 1970 and clearly to the southwest on New Year’s Day 1977.
Image 5557 shows the cross-shaped sign for the “Tabernacle Of Prayer” church attached to the baroque facade.
Is / was 1619 Broadway in Manhattan, NYC, the Brill Building ?
The Alden is visible on the right side of the following images :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6367
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6397
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24041
Loew’s Valencia (q.v. on this site) is also visible in image 24041. The pointed top of the baroque facade is visible in the upper left corner.
Here are links to the aforesaid eight images showing the former Willard Theater:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4593
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4450
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5631
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2215
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2121
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2136
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2168
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2109
Repetitious, but ample.
The Hopkinson Theater once stood five short blocks to the east of the Pitkin at Hopkinson and Rockaway Avenues. I do not know its size.
I know of no theater that once stood at the once-busy intersection of Pitkin and Rockaway Avenues in Brownsville.
The Ambassador is visible above the el train and station at the right side of the following images :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2785
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3234
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3356
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3848
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?8102
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?12293
Thank you, Warren. Do you know of an outdoor theater nearby, consisting of a vacant lot or block, screen (perhaps a wall of the Colonial ?)and projectionist’s booth, that operated in the 1920’s and 1930’s ? My father, born 1919, grew up in the neighborhood, and remembers this.
The Decatur was an even smaller theater that once stood not far away at 1674 Broadway, near Decatur Street. I think it has since been demolished.
Sorry, I meant right edge of aforesaid image.
The Oriental is visible in the background in this image :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?5262
As you can see from the apartment bldgs. at the left edge of the image, the side wall alone is seven stories high, with the roof peaking several stories above that. The high, nearly block-long brick side wall, the zigzagging exterior fire escape metal staircase, and individual water tower above the roof, are all dead giveaways of older,larger theaters in NYC.
The marquee is visible in this image, but I do not know, and cannot read, what was playing then. Perhaps some cinema buffs can figure it out from the date of the photo, and from their knowledge of films, as was done for that image I posted the link to for the Loew’s Hillside Theater in Jamaica, Queens. Thanks.
The roofline of the Loews Gates is visible above the el platform canopy in this image :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26229
In Image 25755 it is just above the elevated J train, and in Image 2637 it is just above the far end of the silver QJ train.
The roofline of the Colonial Theater at 1746 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY is visible in both of these images near the vanishing point. The Colonial once stood at Broadway and Rockaway Avenue, two el stations into the distance in the above two images. The building was still there as of April 30, 2004 when I last observed it. I do not know what it is now used for. A rectangular frieze surmounted by two stone lanterns remains atop the brick facade, visible above the
Rockaway Avenue end and exit of the Chauncey Street el station, and was probably once the entrance.
More images of the RKO Bushwick :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?25755
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2637
Sorry, that third image should be :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2198
Description given above in my previous comment still applies.
The theater was named after the nearby Madison Street but is actually one block west at Myrtle Avenue and Woodbine Street in Ridgewood, Queens, NYC, NY.
The west wall of the RKO Madison can be glimpsed to the right of the green signal tower in the following images :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6847
Letters “RK AD THE” of the painted sign are visible.
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1409
The painted sign has been blurred and newer and bolder graffiti is beginning to prevail.
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2918
In this view, one el station due west on Myrtle Avenue, the theater, especially its silver-white roofline, is visible near the vanishing point.
What was once the Parthenon Theatre can be seen in the following image. It is the half of slant-roofed frieze at the upper left corner, with the red and yellow sign beneath it reading “RIDGEWOOD BINGO” :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1409
The western wall of the RKO Madison Theater can also be glimpsed in the same image, to the right of the green tower. It is a brown brick wall with the name RKO MADISON erased but with newer and bolder graffiti beginning to prevail.
More images of the Hillside can be seen at :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4516
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?4538
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2233
Look above the canopy over the el platform on the right side of the images. “LOEW’S HILLSIDE” can be faintly seen in white on that uppermost trapezoidal part of brick wall above the el platform canopy, to the left of the roofline.
The Fresh Pond Road el station image can be seen at :
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26343
For objective proof of the date of the February 9, 1969 blizzard in Ridgewood, Queens, go to :
The Ridgewood section of : http://www.queenspix.com and look at the images of the snow-covered Myrtle Avenue el between Forest Avenue and Fresh Pond Road dated 2/9/69.
The Old Timer / Our Neighborhood at : http://timesnewsweekly.com
http://www.nycsubway.org BMT Myrtle, Fresh Pond Road station, image dated 2/9/1969.
Dear Fernando, thank you for talking to your brother yesterday, and for providing all this detail. I very much appreciate it. Do you think you might try to scan and post your 1980 photo of the Casino Theater ? It would be better than no photo at all, and the only other available image would be the one of the Kosciuszko St. el station from nycsubway.org that “Bway” posted the link to.
Thank you also for the info on Bud Abbott and where he once worked as a cashier. “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” is one of my all-time favorite films, and now, my son (age 9)has known it for several years as well.
Thank you, Fernando and Bway ! The “huge three-towered rusty steel look ” hospital is Woodhull Hospital, which was still under construction in July 1972, as one can see from images of Flushing Avenue el station on the BMT Broadway el on www.nycsubway.org
I rode by on the J last Friday about noon and glimpsed the roof line
of what once may have been the New (now so old !) Casino Theater. It’s hard to be sure. One has to literally “get down” into the street, walk around, and look up !
On that same ride I caught glimpses of the old Colonial Theater, Loews Gates, and RKO Bushwick.
I think the name came solely from the now abandoned Myrtle Avenue subway station on the subway lines that ran under Flatbush Avenue and over the Manhattan Bridge. There was no direct connection to the Myrtle Avenue elevated that I know of : there was Navy St. station to the east, named after the nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Bridge-Jay to the west, but no Myrtle el station directly over Flatbush Avenue. See www.nycsubway.org for more details if you wish.
Interesting to know of this sub-category of “Negro” theaters. Hopefully not Jim Crow or apartheid in Bklyn, rather, theaters of African-American interest ?