I was in a livery cab this afternoon that drove past the now-closed Abbracciamento Restaurant, and I thought it looked like an old movie theater. It hasn’t been demolished yet, but everything was boarded up.
I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron here last night (downstairs in Theater 5) and it was awesome. Lots of space between rows, so you barely have to move your feet if someone is trying to get to/from their seat. I’ll definitely be coming to this theater a lot from now on, unless I want to see something in IMAX.
This was a pretty popular place in my social circles during its second-run phase (I was in my late teens through early twenties), when it was known as “the $2 movie place”, “the $3 movie place”, etc… I remember seeing lots of fun stuff here: Mortal Kombat, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Scream, High Fidelity, etc. I was crushed when they closed it. Good times!
BTW, here is a documentary on the construction of Worldwide Plaza:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKq6r7opNY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuc7ok-4rdo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Z-rfLtYIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77yhLMUAq-w
Hey SamDaman, please let us know if & where you upload the rest of your dad’s photos. I’d love to see old UWS pictures. Also, I take it from the movie titles in the ad that this photo is from around 1942?
I think I saw The Fox and the Hound here in 1981, and it may have been my first movie ever.
There was a Chalet Suisse built here at some point in the 80s. I think it closed in the 90s, and it looks like a completely new building was put up in the 2000s (I haven’t been back to Montreal since 1997).
Pretty sure there are a few other area theaters that aren’t listed on CT. Someone with better memories should submit entries about the old and new theaters at the Plaza Cote-des-Neiges.
Earlier today, I was browsing the Greater Astoria Historical Society’s photos, looking for pictures of the Vernon Theatre, when I came across a picture of the Masonic Temple:
http://astoriahistory.smugmug.com/Neighborhoods/Hunters-Point/i-dJd9Vgm/L
It is indeed the building I mentioned in my previous comment (24-20 Jackson Ave).
I also put together a collage of the above Idle Hour photo, with the Google Street Views of the same location. If the theatre’s front entrance was positioned the way I think it was, the roadway in front of it has been filled in as a pedestrian area with trees, in recent years:
By the way, the location in my previous comment matches where Ed Solero determined the Idle Hour was: the current 24-29 Jackson Ave.
Also, in a comment, Ed wondered about the location of the Masonic Building whose auditorium was used as the original Idle Hour. Google brings up references to a “masonic building” or a “masonic temple” located at 244 Jackson Ave (246 Jackson Ave also comes up in a search result). This issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1931-12-10 describes it as a 3-story brick structure. As I suspected, this matches the current 24-20 Jackson Ave (where Sage General Store, a hip brunch place, is located), which has a kinda fancy masonic look, even at first glance.
Also, there is an alley on Court Square (which you can see on Google Maps), where you can see how far back the building goes. It appears to go far back enough where one can imagine it can fit an auditorium. I’m in that area somewhat regularly. If I’m ever in the mood, I may go in and try to poke around.
You can find old maps of Queens online. This map looks like it might show where the Idle Hour was. If you zoom & scroll over to the upper right, you can see a building labeled “Photo Play”, right on the corner of Jackson & 12th St (now 45th Ave), next to 249 Jackson Ave. I’m guessing this is the Idle Hour.
Just FYI, a large painted reproduction of the “He Walked By Night” photo is on the wall of the new TD Bank that opened on 74th & Grand Avenue. Maybe I’ll take a photo of it the next time I’m there.
This is now called the NYIT Auditorium, but it’s sometimes still rented out for some screenings and/or premieres of smaller movies. I walked past a couple of years ago and saw Maggie Gyllenhaal being interviewed here for “Won’t Back Down”.
Phyllis Nagy, who wrote the screenplay for Carol, just gave a shoutout to this theater in her NYFCC award acceptance speech.
I was in a livery cab this afternoon that drove past the now-closed Abbracciamento Restaurant, and I thought it looked like an old movie theater. It hasn’t been demolished yet, but everything was boarded up.
I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron here last night (downstairs in Theater 5) and it was awesome. Lots of space between rows, so you barely have to move your feet if someone is trying to get to/from their seat. I’ll definitely be coming to this theater a lot from now on, unless I want to see something in IMAX.
This was a pretty popular place in my social circles during its second-run phase (I was in my late teens through early twenties), when it was known as “the $2 movie place”, “the $3 movie place”, etc… I remember seeing lots of fun stuff here: Mortal Kombat, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Scream, High Fidelity, etc. I was crushed when they closed it. Good times!
BTW, here is a documentary on the construction of Worldwide Plaza: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCKq6r7opNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuc7ok-4rdo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Z-rfLtYIY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77yhLMUAq-w
Hey SamDaman, please let us know if & where you upload the rest of your dad’s photos. I’d love to see old UWS pictures. Also, I take it from the movie titles in the ad that this photo is from around 1942?
I think I saw The Fox and the Hound here in 1981, and it may have been my first movie ever.
There was a Chalet Suisse built here at some point in the 80s. I think it closed in the 90s, and it looks like a completely new building was put up in the 2000s (I haven’t been back to Montreal since 1997).
Pretty sure there are a few other area theaters that aren’t listed on CT. Someone with better memories should submit entries about the old and new theaters at the Plaza Cote-des-Neiges.
Earlier today, I was browsing the Greater Astoria Historical Society’s photos, looking for pictures of the Vernon Theatre, when I came across a picture of the Masonic Temple: http://astoriahistory.smugmug.com/Neighborhoods/Hunters-Point/i-dJd9Vgm/L It is indeed the building I mentioned in my previous comment (24-20 Jackson Ave).
I also put together a collage of the above Idle Hour photo, with the Google Street Views of the same location. If the theatre’s front entrance was positioned the way I think it was, the roadway in front of it has been filled in as a pedestrian area with trees, in recent years:
http://imgur.com/cH3sco6
By the way, the location in my previous comment matches where Ed Solero determined the Idle Hour was: the current 24-29 Jackson Ave.
Also, in a comment, Ed wondered about the location of the Masonic Building whose auditorium was used as the original Idle Hour. Google brings up references to a “masonic building” or a “masonic temple” located at 244 Jackson Ave (246 Jackson Ave also comes up in a search result). This issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1931-12-10 describes it as a 3-story brick structure. As I suspected, this matches the current 24-20 Jackson Ave (where Sage General Store, a hip brunch place, is located), which has a kinda fancy masonic look, even at first glance.
Also, there is an alley on Court Square (which you can see on Google Maps), where you can see how far back the building goes. It appears to go far back enough where one can imagine it can fit an auditorium. I’m in that area somewhat regularly. If I’m ever in the mood, I may go in and try to poke around.
You can find old maps of Queens online. This map looks like it might show where the Idle Hour was. If you zoom & scroll over to the upper right, you can see a building labeled “Photo Play”, right on the corner of Jackson & 12th St (now 45th Ave), next to 249 Jackson Ave. I’m guessing this is the Idle Hour.
Just FYI, a large painted reproduction of the “He Walked By Night” photo is on the wall of the new TD Bank that opened on 74th & Grand Avenue. Maybe I’ll take a photo of it the next time I’m there.
This is now called the NYIT Auditorium, but it’s sometimes still rented out for some screenings and/or premieres of smaller movies. I walked past a couple of years ago and saw Maggie Gyllenhaal being interviewed here for “Won’t Back Down”.
The New York Transit Museum has a photo from 1930 that features the Queensboro Theater’s sign in the upper right.