Syosset Theatre
7500 Jericho Turnpike,
Woodbury,
NY
11797
7500 Jericho Turnpike,
Woodbury,
NY
11797
20 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 174 comments
Robert, Veyoung has the right idea. I could be done, non-D-150 70mm could be projected using less than the full screen even though technically with D-150’s lens they could have filled the screen.
A couple of problems, the lenses were never actually purchased but leased. I never saw a pair of lenses in the booth. I understand the lenses were eventually made available for sale but by that time UA had no interest in buying them. Also the screen would have to be a low-gain matt surface with a low scatter coating to help keep cross reflections and loss of contrast to a minimum.
As to the “curtain runners” during “Sound of Music”. I never heard that story. Perhaps some theatre manager thought it would be a cute idea and did it on his/her shift bit I ran that movie and never saw it happen.
Hi, don’t have the actual dates. All of the TIC70 engagements in the Northeast that I am aware of ran during the first six or seven months of 1973. The first was at the Beacon Hill in Boston in February or March. The DC Uptown followed thereafter. It didn’t open at the Ziegfeld NY until the last week in May. Assuming that the Syosset and Upper Montclair runs followed the Ziegfeld’s, I would say June or July. Inasmuch as Cinerama Releasing Corp. is long gone, and that Variety never “tracked” Long Island or North Jersey theatres, my only suggestion for dates (as well as ads) would be a search through the appropriate newspapers of those areas if they are available on microfilm/fiche. I am no longer in touch with the person with whom I saw it. If I can think of anything that could in any way joggle my memory, I’ll post it immediately. Hope this helps. Vince
ve young wrote: BTW, inasmuch as you might as well consider the 70mm “This Is Cinerama” of 1973 a 70mm Cinerama film, then your question is answered, as that film ran there after the Ziegfeld. Also played the Bellevue, Upper Montclair. Cant remember at the moment if it also ran at the Claridge.
Hi,
You wrote that “This Is Cinerama” (70mm version) also ran at the Bellevue, Upper Montclair and possibly the Clairidge. Do you happen to have the ads and dates for these engagements? Thanks.
I have always kicked myself for missing “This is Cinerama” at the Ziegfeld, even though to see it without curtains had to ruin the effect. Now I just read the above post that it actually moved to Syosset. Where was I in 1973????????????????
Maybe Vito can answer this one. This is purely anecdotal, and I havent the foggiest idea where I heard it. During the run of “Sound of Music” at the Syosset at the end of the film during the walkout credits the closing of the curtain panels was accompanied by two gorgeous ladies who walked along the stage each one holding a panel making it appear as if these ladies were closing the curtains themselves. Any truth to this, or is it another widescreen “urban legend”?
Amazing place. Shocked to hear that they closed it. I saw a mediocre “musical” there in 1986 called “Abosolute Beginners” here. The movie was so-so BUT it’s presentation was awesome. The screen was curved and you actually felt like you were surrounded by everyting. Amazing.
More Syosset stuff courtesy of the “International Cinerama Society."
Theatre No. 42 (meaning the 42nd world-wide installation); 3-screen from 6/25/59 to 5/26/64; press preview of "Mad World” 10/22/63; public showings of 70mm Cinerama beginning 5/27/64. 146 degree louvered screen. Hope this helps.
Here’s a photo of the Syosset auditorium with the 3-strip screen in place: http://cinerama.topcities.com/syosset.htm
I would think that the non-rectified 70mm Cinerama prints could have been used in a D-150 house with the D-150 lenses just as easily as with any 5-perf 70m film. The rectified films usually involved a degree of anamorphosis and would have appeared “unsqueezed” to a degree if projected without an anamorphic attachment. BTW, inasmuch as you might as well consider the 70mm “This Is Cinerama” of 1973 a 70mm Cinerama film, then your question is answered, as that film ran there after the Ziegfeld. Also played the Bellevue, Upper Montclair. Cant remember at the moment if it also ran at the Claridge
Vito
I always felt both Syosset theatres were the best theatres Long Island ever had. I have a question maybe you can answer. Was it possible to run the 70mm single strip Cinerma films in the D-150? Could you have used the D-150 lens?
It seemed strange to me that in all the years I spent in both the Syosset and D-150 I had never heard of Cinerama being presented at Syosset. After reading all the threads regarding this, I phoned a few old timers who did in fact remember Cinerama at Syosset. My time at these locations was post 3 strip Cinerama. I only presented the 70mm version. I was there when the Syosset was carved into three, it was a sad time, and now even sader,they are both gone.
Yes, Vito, Cinerama, the original 3x35mm 6-perforation process, did run at the Syosset. Photos of the install are available online. When Cinerama closed at the Manhattan Warner in 6/59 the equipment was removed immediately following the close of “South Seas Adventure” that Sunday night and moved to Long Island. It was the 25th and final (of the original Cinerama era) 3-panel installation in the U.S. A few trade mags of that era had articles about “Cinerama Comes Home,” referring to the fact that Cinerama itself was “born” not too far away in Oyster Bay, L.I. I was in the Syosset myself only once at one point in the seventies. As I recall you could see traces of the Able and Charlie booths near the fire escapes.
Looking at the Syosset page, there are a few posts from some very knowledgeable guys who tell us the theatre did in fact play 3 strip Cinerama. I stand corrected.
By the way, I may have been wrong regarding the Syosset running 3 strip Cinerama, a friend tells me he recalls the theatre having that capability in the 50s. I stated working as a projectionist in 1957 and never worked the Syosset until the mid 60s (Sound Of Music) however because I don’t recall any evidence of three strip dosen’t mean it did not at one time have that capability. I will look into this a bit more.
Hello Bob, I’ll try and answer some of your questions. First of all
the markings on the screen, sadly no one realized that the screen would get dusy or fade unevenly when it was left in the flat position for very long. Years ago when I worked for Century theatres we would always leave the masking in the full opoen position every night to prevent this. Alas, this was not done at the D-150 so yes, you would se a difference in the discoloring of the screen, and no, masking did not rub on the screen. There were 2 sets of masking , one side masking and one top masking, which went up and down. The control box was not all used, a few of the available settings were not needed. The box did however control just about everything in the theatre. First of all there were at least 10 masking settings. (control buttons). The side and top maskings each had five settings , two flat, 1:85 and 1:33, one scope 2.35, one 70mm,
and one for D-150 (never used. In addition there were four sound
controls (buttons),non sync (intermission music, 35mm optical sound, 35mm four track magnetic sound, and 70mm magnetic 6 track. Then there was the lighing, house and stage light dimmers, along with projector controls and changeover switches, one button would make both the sound and picture changeover. The curtain controls were also capable of stopping the curtain in several different posiitions, so that if we ran 35mm flat, the curtain would not fully open exposing all that masking. However, That funtion was not always used. As far as I know D-150 was never used. “The Bible” played in 70mm but not D-150. I was not there at the time but I believe it played down the street at Syosset. I don’t recall “Patton” playing in either 70mm or D-150 on Long Island. I did however open the masking top and bottom to the D-150 settings on several occasions just for the hell of it. The masking could be opened and closed with the curtains opened, however it was always my policy to “delux” between flat and scope, which meant I would close the curtains and raise the stage lights between, lets say, the trailers and the main feature and change the masking settings behind the closed curtains. As a matter of fact, I would do that even if the feature was the same format as the trailers. As to the pictures you mentioned, I can tell you the Syosset, which was later triplex, had the words SYOSSET in huge letters on the side of the building and a simple 2 or 3 line attraction board (no marquee)on the front. The D-150 had a large pylon sign on the main road away from the theatre which advertised the movie playing. My last movie in 1987 was “Dirty Dancing” and my last 70mm was “White Nights” a short time earlier. By the way, when we cut the Syosset into three theatres the original booth was left intact for house #3 upstairs. Both 35/70mm Norelco projectors were left along with a newly installed platter system. The idea was that when 70mm was presented we would have two projectionists on duty running 70mm reel to reel rather than on a platter. and only the 35mm shows would use the platter. I hope I answered some of your questions, feel free to ask any others
vito, first of all the sad thing is that both these theatres are gone! Second of all, I was interested in the fact that you were a projectionist at this theatre and pehaps you or someone else can answer some questions about D-150 for me. As far as I can recall I have only been in two D-150’s, the UA 150 in Oakbrook, Illinois which was later twined and then torn down years and years ago, and the River Oaks 9 in Calumet City, Illinois. Both of these are in the Chicago suburbs and I haven’t been to the River Oaks in years. The first thing I noticed was that you could see very plainly where the different maskings on the screen had been when it was opened to a bigger screen. Was the part of the screen covered most of the time what was dirty or was it the part that was exposed the most that was dirty, I can’t remember. In other words did the maskings rubbing on the screen make it dirty or was it from the air in the theatre? On the curtain, masking and ? control box, can you remember what all the buttons were for? Could you change the maskings with the curtain open, that would have been neat to see? Did you ever get to really show one of the two D-150 movies? Did you ever use the D-150 lens to show a regular 70mm movie? Any thing else you can think of that would be interesting about D-150 to those of us out in the non projectionist world? Thirdly about CINERAMA at the “other” theatre, you should know, you were the projectionist! I took my info from some CINERAMA lists, the Cinema Treasures, Syosset Triplex site, [url=http://cinerama.topcities.com/syosset.htm,] I see that box on the side of the building, is this picture of some other Syosset? and http:www.in70mm.com/news/2003/syosset/syosset_li.htm. I’m doing this by long distance from Chicago, so what do I know? It would be nice if you would put an entry on the other theatre site to straighten this all out.
Having been a projectionist at both theatres I can tell you neither one was a Cinerama house. The Syosset was a 70mm roadshow theatre, and the Cinema 150, or D-150, as it was called, was built for D-150 and was also a 70mm roadshow theatre. The only Cinerama theatre on Long Island was the Hicksville Twin South, which showed 70mm Cinerama (Grand Prix for one), it was not equipt for three strip Cinerama. As for Bill and Michael, bravo for an outstanding job. I learned a great deal, it is a wonderful trip down memory lane.
I am greatful for time they spent putting that very informative site together and I am sure I shall reference that article often.
“70mm In NY” is a great site. It does have a bit of confusion. It lists Cinema 150/The Syosset and on the next line Syosset/Syosset Triplex/The Syosset. I think the real “The Syosset” was the CINERAMA/Todd-AO/70mm roadshow theatre down the street not this D-150 theatre. I’ve seen a picture of the back of this theatre and it has a curved wall that matches the screen. Loews Cineplex River Oaks 9 in Calumet City, Illinois in the South Suburbs of Chicago has the same neat kind of back wall. At least the River Oaks D-150 is still standing, is still a theatre and has not been twined. tonite 10/13/04 it is showing TAXI. The Cinema 150 in Syosset was not a CINERAMA Theatre, but a D-150 Theatre, perhaps a new style for D-150’s needs to be made. Alas as far as I know only 38 D-150’s got built world wide!
Dear Cinema Treasures Readers,
After years of research, Michael Coate and I are proud to announce that “70mm In NY” has been posted on our site, www.fromscripttodvd.com
To navigate directly to this part of the site, copy and paste the following into your browser:
View link
We’ve included a number of interesting features about “70mm In NY,” including an introductory article about the history of 70mm In NY; a theatre list of 70mm equipped houses; a list of the longest running 70mm engagements in NY, and much, much more.
We feel the most exciting part of the site is the list of 70mm engagements. You can click on any year from 1955 through 2004 and find out information on which films played in the NYC-region in 70mm.
As we’ve seen on this wonderful site, there are quite a few 70mm fans from the New York/New Jersey region, and we hope that you will enjoy this look back on 70mm presentation in your area.
There are some sections of “70mm In NY” that are coming soon, so we please check back.
We encourage your feedback.
Best regards,
William Kallay
Michael Coate
“70mm In NY”
almost no foyer on the second floor this would not have been a theater that you could split the balcony.
Orlando
You are right, this was the only UA house they still treated with class. The renovations that had been done spared no expense and they did not let this place get run down. I wonder though if it would have survived if they had closed off the balcony and made 2 more theatres. It would not have affected the look of the place or the orchestra at all. The main problem was there was no booth upstairs.
The UA CINEMA 150 opened with HELLO, DOLLY! on Reserved Seats in 1970, the parking lot was not paved or ready for opening. It also rained on opening day causing the mud to be tracked into the new showplace. This engagement was not “day & date” with the Rivoli which opened HELLO, DOLLY! in 1969. The soundtrack album “used during the intermission” was in an office at the Syosset Theatre someeight years later. This thearte was not open anytime in the 1960’s. The loss of this theatre was a shame, you can’t blame the theatre circuit but the landlord who refused to continue the lease as a theatre when he saw “$” signs in office rental space versus the theatre’s rent. The above “GWTW” engagement at the SYOSSET THEATRE above lasted over eight months from 1968-1969. (It was unheard of run for a re-release from 1939!). I believe PAINT YOUR WAGON followed it.
Vincent
I bet except for collectors all those prints were destroyed. I think that also may have been the first time GWTW was released in Metro Color and by now they would be all pink.
GWTW in 70mm played the Rivoli twice in the ‘70’s and being that this is the way I first saw the film as a boy(on showcase in 12/68) it never bothered me. Maybe if i saw it today it would be another matter though I would like to give it a try. Perhaps though all these prints are long gone and it would be impossible to even present GWTW today in that format.
I remember the Music Hall engagement and the wide re-release in 1976. I saw it at the UA Oasis on that go around. It was not too long ago but Flashdance played almost 8 months at the Loews Trylon and the Woody Allen films Radio Days and Hannah and Her Sisters played many months at the UA Forest Hills.