My Family moved from Brooklyn to Roosevelt in 1959….and if I recall correctly, the little Theater was called the Nassau………..One tear-jerker that I took a date to there was “Imitation of Life” with Lana Turner——-what a mistake that was as the gal cried all night—lol—-but the little movie house was very cozy—-it was one level, with a very small lobby on Nassau Road in Roosevelt, L.I.——-Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
The first date I ever had with my future wife was at the Rivoli……It was in 1959 and the film was “The Mysterians…..The Toho production that received a lavish build-up by MGM for its theatrical release here in the USA……We went there many times after that as my wife came from Uiondale, L.I.——-BTW, when I started collecting films in the late 60s, one of the first titles I got for my Collection was "The Mysterians AKA: Chikyu Boeigun-1957-Japan…….any one who would like info on this film( as its very interesting indeed. drop me an e-mail)——Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—–
I took many dates to the Apollo and introduced then to Italian films……Even WOR-TV in NY could not stop me from going there when they showed Italian movies once a week—-in the 1950s——Sponsor was Hormel Meats……The Willoughby Movie House in my old neighborhood of Brooklyn showed Italian films, and all I had to do was walk 3 blocks to the Wagner to see German films…..Now I collect them on dvd and video—-A mutual friend, Brian Simmons told me to contact you last September, but Hurricane Frances demolished my house, and it took 5 months for me to get back in——Hope to talk to more about Italian Cinema Gerry—-Great to hear from you….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—–
My Mother at age 15, in 1930, met Kate Smith & William (Hopalong Cassidy) Boyd at the Gates…….She never forgot how kind they were to her, may she rest in piece….I saw Red River with John Wayne there as a kid…..Joe From Florida
Bought my first house in Levittown in 1963 when my First daughter was born(have two)——and Welcome Wagon gave us two tickets to the Levittown Theater—-it was small and we saw “Donovan’s Reef”….Later when I started collecting 16mm, I bought a print of Donovan’s Reef and showed it to my Daughter;s 5th grade class at Wisdom Lane school….I was also the Commisioner of the LMAA Softball League from 1969 until 1975…..I have fond memories of that little Move House and taking my Daughters to Sat Matinees…..Joe From Florida——sasheegm—–
The Decatur was one of the oldest Movie houses that I went to in the early 50s….It was very much like the Rogers on Broadway—-One level—-wood floors & Hard seats….I saw a Johnny Mack Brown western there—-I can remember that….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
In Jan 1957, I had a Rock N'Roll Group called The Kents…we travelled with a band called the Vandels——We appeared in a R&R show there( a one nighter ) with a few of the groups from the area including The Elegants, The Fascinators etc…..The Elegants followed us, and since we had to leave by the front of the Theater, we were almost torn apart by the girls in the audience…….It was a wild time, and as I remember, a dark theater…..Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—-P>S> We were also appearing at the China Lantern Nightclub at the same time in Canarsie
The Greatest of all of Allan Freed’s Rock n' Roll shows was held at the Brooklyn Paramount in 1957…….In it were Little Richard & His Band, Fats Domino & His Band, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Joanne Campbell, The Platters etc etc……Little Richard closed the show by coming out in Pastel Pajamas and taring off the sleeves and throwing them to the audience….Nobody, but nobody could follow Little Richard in those days….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm——
I started going to the Apollo in the mid 50s to enjoy Foreign films…….It was a big theater compared to those in my Brooklyn neighborhood; but then every Move House on 42nd st. was a fairly good size………Some of the films i saw if my memory serves me right were, Abel Gance’s “Lucrezia Borgia” from 1934, Martine Carol’s re-make of Lucrezia Borgia….and many Italian films such as Cronaca Di Una Amore with Lucia Bose', Jolanda La Figlia del Corsaro Nero among others…..What a block that was……Each Movie House showed different variety or Genre of films….The Laff-Movie House with many Vintage shorts, the one House on the Corner of 8th Ave and 42nd st that showed ‘Cult" trash films……Then the late 60s came & all of the sleaze…….I have many fond memories of enjoying Movies on that row of Theaters, but my favorite there was the Apollo………If I recall in the mid-50s, you could get in for $35 cents……Joe From Florida sasheegm
Hello all: I grew up in that neighborhood on Willoughby Ave, between Central & Evergreen Aves……..That photo looks like the top of the old Rogers to me, on a corner……..The Rogers main fare were Western Movies…..and as a kid in the late 40s and early 50s, the place was packed when a Durango Kid Western was shown…..All other Cowboys of the day appeared there….Further east on the corner of Stocton & Bway was the Loews Broadway…..at the Flushing Ave exit on the Jamiaca/Broadway/Chambers St. Metropolitan Ave/Canal st BMT line was the Alba theater on Flushing Ave itself——a very darkly lit movie house, it showed 2nd and third run plus re-releases….I remember seeing Boris Karloff there in “The Old Dark House:…and the setting was perfect since the house was so dark——further west off of Bway was the Sun Theater which closed down very early as I recall…..On Empire Blvd, was the Empire theater which showed Serials along with their re-releases all week long——-Heading east on Broadway in the Bushwick section toward Highland Park were the Lowes Gates, Rko Bushwick, and across from the Bushwick, the Monroe theater, another third run house like the Starr & Empire——Continuing up BWAY towards Highland Park under the El came the Decatur theater, which I remember showed the oldest films I ever saw from the 30s….It had wooden seats i believe….then came the Colonial on Broadway under the Chauncey St, Station———The Colonial had the coolest AC of any theater in the neighborhood, and i remember one Summer a sign outside saying that is was 56 inside——It was cold——-Going in the other direction towards the Williamsburg Bridge that crossed the east river, you found the Williamsburg…..another 3rd run house——I saw one of the longest double features there as i recall——-The Four Feathers & Drums, both by Alexander Korda……But back to the Rogers since it was unique in specializing in Westerns……..The begining of the end came when B-Westerns were being shown free on TV….But I believe the Rogers held on as ong as it could by showing as many Durango Kid westerns as they could get, as they were not on TV…..the last time I past by that neighborhood was in the late 60s, and it was closed…and through the glass on the front of the entrance, I could see a torn Durango Kid one sheet hanging in it very small lobby…….The Rogers put sawdust on the floors and also had cats roaming around for rats I guess…..I only remember a center aisle with two sections on one floor…..One thing all of these Houses had in common were a Stage and a piano beneath the stage——I guess for the Silent days, and Vaudeville…….BTW, that train stopped at the Flushing St station in the older photo, was one used on the Myrtle Ave/Chambers St./Metropolitan Ave line, which turned off Broadway after stopping at Myrtle Ave——Up-above the Broadway line was the Fulton St line…the oldest in Brooklyn with wooden cars and gates….The newer photo shows the Jamaica Ave line theat went to Eastern Pkwy and terminated in Jamaica…….Some memories for a 64 year old guy…..Joe From Florida—sasheegm
I grew up in the late 40s and 50s on Willoughby Ave, between Central & Evergreen Aves…….Three blocks from me, was the Starr theater….In the photo that BWAY took, a Candy Store Newspaper stand stood on the corner…..Knickerbocker Park is what you see with the Trees on the other side……The Starr was right in the middle, with sall shops on each side of it between Starr & Troutman……….The Starr showed Third run features & Minor Studio films when I was a kid there circa 1948 to 1955……A typical weekly program would have shows Sun & Mon——Tues and Wed…Thurs & Fri….& Saturday only for the kids….many times the Saturday show would be 21 Cartoons plus three 3 stooges shorts, and a weeks coming attractions….a flyer was always at the ready when leaving a showing to let the patron know what was coming the following week…….Like the sister theater, the Wyckoff, the Starr showed re-releases and small Company films from Monogram, Eagle-Lion……..It was one level with three sections as I recall…..Two side sections, with one for smoking, the other for children…and the center rows of seats….The lobby was small and the concession stand inside just as small……and the lobby always had one sheets & lobby cards of the next attraction———-One vivid memory I have regarding the Starr theater occured in the early 1950s, and it involved Buster Crabbe……….I believe it was in the Summer, but don’t remember the day………Universal had re-released the two feature versions of the first two Flash Gordon Serials in the neighborhood——-The old Colonial theater on Broadway near Decatur St., was the first house to show them……Then they went to the Starr……..Buster Crabbe had his own local TV show at the time showing his old PRC movies and others…….Well a new modern Meat Market was opening on Knickerbocker Ave next to Knickerbocker Park and Buster Crabbe was to cut the ribbon for the opening…….At the same time on early TV in the New York City area, the Serial Theater show was on 5 afternoons a week….and at this time they were showing all 3 Flash Gordon serials——So here was the Starr theater showing “RocketShip”-1936, feature version of the 1st Flash Gordon serial with “Mars Attacks the World”-1938, the feature version of the 2nd Serial, and Buster Crabbe with a horde of kids trying to get an 8x10 signed photo of Buster, cutting the ribbon for a new Meat Market on Knickerbocker Ave….He had his own Tv show, Serial theater was running the 3 complete serials of his, and he was opening a Meat Market only 1 block from the Starr———-Buster Crabbe day n Brooklyn, NY—-No I never got close enough to even see him….but then I started working Part Time when I was 10 years old in 1951 sweeping out Pauline’s Dress Shop on Troutman St, between Central & Evergreen Aves. for $1.00 a week—-3:30pm to 6pm mon through Friday 5 days a week…….It gave me movie money!……and I hope to give some of my memories of other movie houses in the old neighborhood such as the Rogers, Parthenon, Sun, Alba, Rivoli, Ridgewood etc etc—-oh yes, the beautiful chains also—-Ciao, Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
My Memoies of the Freeport Theater on Sunrise Hwy, in Freeport, L.I.——The date was June 24th 1963, and my wife had given birth to our first Daughter at 5am…….She and the baby were at Hempstead General Hopital…….I had to take the day off from work and had gone home(in Roosevelt LI) to get some sleep……At 11;30 am I called the Hospital and they said the babies were feeding and not to come up until 2pm( ot was alot different back then……With a couple of hours to kill, I went to the Freeport Theater to the Matinee and sat in the Balcony——I was the only adult up there as it was a Monday——-But below in the Orchestra seats were about 500 Kids screaming and yelling as we all watched the Japanese, now classic, “King Kong Vs, Godzilla”……It is a time & day I will never forget……..Sasheegm….Joe From Florida—P.S. The kids Summer vacation began the previous Friday!
Hello to everyone: I grew up on Willoughby Ave, in Brooklyn during the 40s and 50s……..When I lived there, the Willoughby Theater showed only Italian Cinema because its location was in an Italian neighbrhood……..It;s neighboring Theater was the Star Theater on Knickerbocker Ave between Willoughby Ave and Troutman St…….Iwent to the Willoughby on many occasions to see Italian Cinema with the Old Greats such as Gino Cervi, Amedeo Nazzarri, Alida Valli, Isa Miranda etc etc……….It was part of my childhood & now I have been a Classic film collector for over 40 years——First 16mm, then video, and now dvd…..My Family and I moved from the old neighborhood in 1959 and moved to Long Island….I have very fond memories of the neighborhood…as i grew older, I remember the Theater closing down…….I then would go into Manhattan to the Apollo Theater on 42nd St.(before the sleaze took over) to see European films including Italian……A few blocks from the Willoughby was the Wagner Theater on Wykoff Ave I beleive, which only showed German Cinema, since that area was predominantly German——These areas were known as the Bushwick/Ridgewood section of Brooklyn…..and we had many theaters all over the area….but that’s for another post…Ciao, Joe From Florida
My Family moved from Brooklyn to Roosevelt in 1959….and if I recall correctly, the little Theater was called the Nassau………..One tear-jerker that I took a date to there was “Imitation of Life” with Lana Turner——-what a mistake that was as the gal cried all night—lol—-but the little movie house was very cozy—-it was one level, with a very small lobby on Nassau Road in Roosevelt, L.I.——-Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
The first date I ever had with my future wife was at the Rivoli……It was in 1959 and the film was “The Mysterians…..The Toho production that received a lavish build-up by MGM for its theatrical release here in the USA……We went there many times after that as my wife came from Uiondale, L.I.——-BTW, when I started collecting films in the late 60s, one of the first titles I got for my Collection was "The Mysterians AKA: Chikyu Boeigun-1957-Japan…….any one who would like info on this film( as its very interesting indeed. drop me an e-mail)——Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—–
I took many dates to the Apollo and introduced then to Italian films……Even WOR-TV in NY could not stop me from going there when they showed Italian movies once a week—-in the 1950s——Sponsor was Hormel Meats……The Willoughby Movie House in my old neighborhood of Brooklyn showed Italian films, and all I had to do was walk 3 blocks to the Wagner to see German films…..Now I collect them on dvd and video—-A mutual friend, Brian Simmons told me to contact you last September, but Hurricane Frances demolished my house, and it took 5 months for me to get back in——Hope to talk to more about Italian Cinema Gerry—-Great to hear from you….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—–
My Mother at age 15, in 1930, met Kate Smith & William (Hopalong Cassidy) Boyd at the Gates…….She never forgot how kind they were to her, may she rest in piece….I saw Red River with John Wayne there as a kid…..Joe From Florida
Bought my first house in Levittown in 1963 when my First daughter was born(have two)——and Welcome Wagon gave us two tickets to the Levittown Theater—-it was small and we saw “Donovan’s Reef”….Later when I started collecting 16mm, I bought a print of Donovan’s Reef and showed it to my Daughter;s 5th grade class at Wisdom Lane school….I was also the Commisioner of the LMAA Softball League from 1969 until 1975…..I have fond memories of that little Move House and taking my Daughters to Sat Matinees…..Joe From Florida——sasheegm—–
The Decatur was one of the oldest Movie houses that I went to in the early 50s….It was very much like the Rogers on Broadway—-One level—-wood floors & Hard seats….I saw a Johnny Mack Brown western there—-I can remember that….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
In Jan 1957, I had a Rock N'Roll Group called The Kents…we travelled with a band called the Vandels——We appeared in a R&R show there( a one nighter ) with a few of the groups from the area including The Elegants, The Fascinators etc…..The Elegants followed us, and since we had to leave by the front of the Theater, we were almost torn apart by the girls in the audience…….It was a wild time, and as I remember, a dark theater…..Joe From Florida—-sasheegm—-P>S> We were also appearing at the China Lantern Nightclub at the same time in Canarsie
The Greatest of all of Allan Freed’s Rock n' Roll shows was held at the Brooklyn Paramount in 1957…….In it were Little Richard & His Band, Fats Domino & His Band, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Joanne Campbell, The Platters etc etc……Little Richard closed the show by coming out in Pastel Pajamas and taring off the sleeves and throwing them to the audience….Nobody, but nobody could follow Little Richard in those days….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm——
I started going to the Apollo in the mid 50s to enjoy Foreign films…….It was a big theater compared to those in my Brooklyn neighborhood; but then every Move House on 42nd st. was a fairly good size………Some of the films i saw if my memory serves me right were, Abel Gance’s “Lucrezia Borgia” from 1934, Martine Carol’s re-make of Lucrezia Borgia….and many Italian films such as Cronaca Di Una Amore with Lucia Bose', Jolanda La Figlia del Corsaro Nero among others…..What a block that was……Each Movie House showed different variety or Genre of films….The Laff-Movie House with many Vintage shorts, the one House on the Corner of 8th Ave and 42nd st that showed ‘Cult" trash films……Then the late 60s came & all of the sleaze…….I have many fond memories of enjoying Movies on that row of Theaters, but my favorite there was the Apollo………If I recall in the mid-50s, you could get in for $35 cents……Joe From Florida sasheegm
Hello all: I grew up in that neighborhood on Willoughby Ave, between Central & Evergreen Aves……..That photo looks like the top of the old Rogers to me, on a corner……..The Rogers main fare were Western Movies…..and as a kid in the late 40s and early 50s, the place was packed when a Durango Kid Western was shown…..All other Cowboys of the day appeared there….Further east on the corner of Stocton & Bway was the Loews Broadway…..at the Flushing Ave exit on the Jamiaca/Broadway/Chambers St. Metropolitan Ave/Canal st BMT line was the Alba theater on Flushing Ave itself——a very darkly lit movie house, it showed 2nd and third run plus re-releases….I remember seeing Boris Karloff there in “The Old Dark House:…and the setting was perfect since the house was so dark——further west off of Bway was the Sun Theater which closed down very early as I recall…..On Empire Blvd, was the Empire theater which showed Serials along with their re-releases all week long——-Heading east on Broadway in the Bushwick section toward Highland Park were the Lowes Gates, Rko Bushwick, and across from the Bushwick, the Monroe theater, another third run house like the Starr & Empire——Continuing up BWAY towards Highland Park under the El came the Decatur theater, which I remember showed the oldest films I ever saw from the 30s….It had wooden seats i believe….then came the Colonial on Broadway under the Chauncey St, Station———The Colonial had the coolest AC of any theater in the neighborhood, and i remember one Summer a sign outside saying that is was 56 inside——It was cold——-Going in the other direction towards the Williamsburg Bridge that crossed the east river, you found the Williamsburg…..another 3rd run house——I saw one of the longest double features there as i recall——-The Four Feathers & Drums, both by Alexander Korda……But back to the Rogers since it was unique in specializing in Westerns……..The begining of the end came when B-Westerns were being shown free on TV….But I believe the Rogers held on as ong as it could by showing as many Durango Kid westerns as they could get, as they were not on TV…..the last time I past by that neighborhood was in the late 60s, and it was closed…and through the glass on the front of the entrance, I could see a torn Durango Kid one sheet hanging in it very small lobby…….The Rogers put sawdust on the floors and also had cats roaming around for rats I guess…..I only remember a center aisle with two sections on one floor…..One thing all of these Houses had in common were a Stage and a piano beneath the stage——I guess for the Silent days, and Vaudeville…….BTW, that train stopped at the Flushing St station in the older photo, was one used on the Myrtle Ave/Chambers St./Metropolitan Ave line, which turned off Broadway after stopping at Myrtle Ave——Up-above the Broadway line was the Fulton St line…the oldest in Brooklyn with wooden cars and gates….The newer photo shows the Jamaica Ave line theat went to Eastern Pkwy and terminated in Jamaica…….Some memories for a 64 year old guy…..Joe From Florida—sasheegm
I grew up in the late 40s and 50s on Willoughby Ave, between Central & Evergreen Aves…….Three blocks from me, was the Starr theater….In the photo that BWAY took, a Candy Store Newspaper stand stood on the corner…..Knickerbocker Park is what you see with the Trees on the other side……The Starr was right in the middle, with sall shops on each side of it between Starr & Troutman……….The Starr showed Third run features & Minor Studio films when I was a kid there circa 1948 to 1955……A typical weekly program would have shows Sun & Mon——Tues and Wed…Thurs & Fri….& Saturday only for the kids….many times the Saturday show would be 21 Cartoons plus three 3 stooges shorts, and a weeks coming attractions….a flyer was always at the ready when leaving a showing to let the patron know what was coming the following week…….Like the sister theater, the Wyckoff, the Starr showed re-releases and small Company films from Monogram, Eagle-Lion……..It was one level with three sections as I recall…..Two side sections, with one for smoking, the other for children…and the center rows of seats….The lobby was small and the concession stand inside just as small……and the lobby always had one sheets & lobby cards of the next attraction———-One vivid memory I have regarding the Starr theater occured in the early 1950s, and it involved Buster Crabbe……….I believe it was in the Summer, but don’t remember the day………Universal had re-released the two feature versions of the first two Flash Gordon Serials in the neighborhood——-The old Colonial theater on Broadway near Decatur St., was the first house to show them……Then they went to the Starr……..Buster Crabbe had his own local TV show at the time showing his old PRC movies and others…….Well a new modern Meat Market was opening on Knickerbocker Ave next to Knickerbocker Park and Buster Crabbe was to cut the ribbon for the opening…….At the same time on early TV in the New York City area, the Serial Theater show was on 5 afternoons a week….and at this time they were showing all 3 Flash Gordon serials——So here was the Starr theater showing “RocketShip”-1936, feature version of the 1st Flash Gordon serial with “Mars Attacks the World”-1938, the feature version of the 2nd Serial, and Buster Crabbe with a horde of kids trying to get an 8x10 signed photo of Buster, cutting the ribbon for a new Meat Market on Knickerbocker Ave….He had his own Tv show, Serial theater was running the 3 complete serials of his, and he was opening a Meat Market only 1 block from the Starr———-Buster Crabbe day n Brooklyn, NY—-No I never got close enough to even see him….but then I started working Part Time when I was 10 years old in 1951 sweeping out Pauline’s Dress Shop on Troutman St, between Central & Evergreen Aves. for $1.00 a week—-3:30pm to 6pm mon through Friday 5 days a week…….It gave me movie money!……and I hope to give some of my memories of other movie houses in the old neighborhood such as the Rogers, Parthenon, Sun, Alba, Rivoli, Ridgewood etc etc—-oh yes, the beautiful chains also—-Ciao, Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
My Memoies of the Freeport Theater on Sunrise Hwy, in Freeport, L.I.——The date was June 24th 1963, and my wife had given birth to our first Daughter at 5am…….She and the baby were at Hempstead General Hopital…….I had to take the day off from work and had gone home(in Roosevelt LI) to get some sleep……At 11;30 am I called the Hospital and they said the babies were feeding and not to come up until 2pm( ot was alot different back then……With a couple of hours to kill, I went to the Freeport Theater to the Matinee and sat in the Balcony——I was the only adult up there as it was a Monday——-But below in the Orchestra seats were about 500 Kids screaming and yelling as we all watched the Japanese, now classic, “King Kong Vs, Godzilla”……It is a time & day I will never forget……..Sasheegm….Joe From Florida—P.S. The kids Summer vacation began the previous Friday!
Hello to everyone: I grew up on Willoughby Ave, in Brooklyn during the 40s and 50s……..When I lived there, the Willoughby Theater showed only Italian Cinema because its location was in an Italian neighbrhood……..It;s neighboring Theater was the Star Theater on Knickerbocker Ave between Willoughby Ave and Troutman St…….Iwent to the Willoughby on many occasions to see Italian Cinema with the Old Greats such as Gino Cervi, Amedeo Nazzarri, Alida Valli, Isa Miranda etc etc……….It was part of my childhood & now I have been a Classic film collector for over 40 years——First 16mm, then video, and now dvd…..My Family and I moved from the old neighborhood in 1959 and moved to Long Island….I have very fond memories of the neighborhood…as i grew older, I remember the Theater closing down…….I then would go into Manhattan to the Apollo Theater on 42nd St.(before the sleaze took over) to see European films including Italian……A few blocks from the Willoughby was the Wagner Theater on Wykoff Ave I beleive, which only showed German Cinema, since that area was predominantly German——These areas were known as the Bushwick/Ridgewood section of Brooklyn…..and we had many theaters all over the area….but that’s for another post…Ciao, Joe From Florida