Since the Brunswick was the first movie theater that I worked in I’d like to name my home theater room after it.
It would be nice to put up some sort of sign or marquee in a style or look that matches the old place. Anybody out there got any pictures of the RKO Brunswick Theater ? the front of the building or the marquee ? The looked a lot like the Hamilton that used to be across town. But in the 70’s was there a small sign out front that announced the movie title and times ?
I’ve gone thru my old bits of 35 mm film. I’ve found a piece with that matches the “Feature Presentation” one already ready cover in the messages here but has “Coming Attractions” instead… at least that’s what it looks like from the markings and some of the frames… I didn’t un-roll the whole thing. Also, it looks a it scratchy…it likely that I only was able to obtain it because it was in too bad a shape to continue using it in the theater….
So, should I bother pursuing the idea of having it transferred to
some digital form ? How or where ?
I remember a version from the early 70’s that was a white logo and letters on a light blue background. I think the blue was about the same shade as our GCC usher jackets. I didn’t manage to swipe a jacket but I do have a patch or two still.
I also have a few bits of 35 mm film. If I find anything useful that doesn’t break when I un-roll it ( after 30 plus years ), how would I go about getting it transferred to some form of video or digital ?
I worked at the Loew’s Jersey in 1975 and 1976 after it was converted to a triple. I loved the old place and it was being badly abused. People just tossed their garbage off the balcony into the abandoned front section of the orchestra. The dressing rooms, etc. in the basement were like opening up a time capsule and finding it weathered and covered with dust. I never got to hear the organ but you could just imagine how’d sound in such a place… the three story lobby… the huge balcony.. the projection booth way up the top with all those old antigues wasting away…. the black carbon pieces for the lamps that seemed to be a half inch thick or more. ( I was used to much smaller ones with a copper color coating on them. )
There was in the 1970’s an usher/handyman/janitor working there named
Willie. Nobody seemed to know just how long he’d worked there but the
guess started at 30 years and went up. Anybody know what happened to
him ?
There was a manager there named Mrs. Rausch ( sp? ) and an assistant
named Lenny Franco. Another assistant was a coptic christian Egyptian
fellow named Mr. Ibriham or Abraham.
The Capitol was as said on Broad St. in downtown Trenton. The GCC’s
Capitol Plaza Cinema was/is a different place. The GCC’s Capitol
Plaza Cinema started out as a one screen theater in the 60’s. I
vaguely remember an empty lot covering the whole area around 1960. I
believe it was still a single in Dec. 1971 when I saw Godfather there
on my first movie date. By the time I worked there in 1973, it had a
wall down the middle making it a duplex.
The theater was/is in the corner of a roughly L shaped strip mall on
Olden Ave. between Princeton Ave. and the Arctic Parkway. The “back”
of the Cinema faced Spruce St. and Princeton Ave. The marquee was a
big white rectangle way out across the parking lot by Olden Ave.
Changing that thing late on a Tuesday night in the winter wasn’t much
fun. Between the theater and the Sav-on Drug Store that was to the
left of it was a passage way through which you could access the rear
parking lot.
I worked there the summers of ‘73 and '74 and during college breaks
in between.
The manager back then was a fellow name Hank Czubach ( sp ? ) who
later managed GCC’s Mercer Mall Cinema, a four-plex a few mile away.
Last time I went by there, the building was still there but I didn't
look to see how it’s being used.
I worked at the Brunswick in 1973 as it re-opened as a non-RKO theater. And I also remember us playing “The Class of ‘44”.
At that time, the two owners stopped by to check things out on occasion. I believe they were from the New York area, owned/ran a few other theaters, and were named Perlburg and Friedlander or close.
While I was there we also ran “Caberet” for a couple weeks. It was shown for several days with a couple
of the reels in the middle reversed. We only realized it after a paying customer pointed it out.
There as at that time an older fellow who worked there as the doorman. His wife worked the candy stand
and the two of them did the cleaning at night. He or they had been connected to that theater for many years.
I think his first name was John.
The manager for most of the short time I was there was a fellow named Bob Barker. He also drove a bus. He left
the theater abruptly and was replaced by the assistant whose name was Ralph something. Soon after, I left for
a job at the Capitol Plaza Cinema a few blocks away. ( The GCC’s Capitol Plaza cinema on N. Olden Ave. should
not be confused with the Capitol which was in downtown Trenton. )
After I left the Brunswick, I still was acquainted with some of the people who worked there through school, etc.
Crazy Bob, were you the projectionist who was reported to be smoking pot with the some of the ushers up in the
booth ? I can’t remember exactly who worked there after me… was it Gus, Dean, and Drew or some subset of the
three ?
I’ve been by there lately and since at least Sept. it’s been completely gone. It surprised me, I’d really hoped someone would use the building for something.
Since the Brunswick was the first movie theater that I worked in I’d like to name my home theater room after it.
It would be nice to put up some sort of sign or marquee in a style or look that matches the old place. Anybody out there got any pictures of the RKO Brunswick Theater ? the front of the building or the marquee ? The looked a lot like the Hamilton that used to be across town. But in the 70’s was there a small sign out front that announced the movie title and times ?
Thanks,
Hal Wolverton
Yes, that used to be the Korvette’s shopping center.
I’ve gone thru my old bits of 35 mm film. I’ve found a piece with that matches the “Feature Presentation” one already ready cover in the messages here but has “Coming Attractions” instead… at least that’s what it looks like from the markings and some of the frames… I didn’t un-roll the whole thing. Also, it looks a it scratchy…it likely that I only was able to obtain it because it was in too bad a shape to continue using it in the theater….
So, should I bother pursuing the idea of having it transferred to
some digital form ? How or where ?
Thanks,
Hal Wolverton
I remember a version from the early 70’s that was a white logo and letters on a light blue background. I think the blue was about the same shade as our GCC usher jackets. I didn’t manage to swipe a jacket but I do have a patch or two still.
I also have a few bits of 35 mm film. If I find anything useful that doesn’t break when I un-roll it ( after 30 plus years ), how would I go about getting it transferred to some form of video or digital ?
thanks… I’ve wanted to show all of these to my kids in our video “home theater”. Now at least I have the one.
thanks… I’ve wanted to show all of these to my kids in our video “home theater”. Now at least I have the one.
I worked at the Loew’s Jersey in 1975 and 1976 after it was converted to a triple. I loved the old place and it was being badly abused. People just tossed their garbage off the balcony into the abandoned front section of the orchestra. The dressing rooms, etc. in the basement were like opening up a time capsule and finding it weathered and covered with dust. I never got to hear the organ but you could just imagine how’d sound in such a place… the three story lobby… the huge balcony.. the projection booth way up the top with all those old antigues wasting away…. the black carbon pieces for the lamps that seemed to be a half inch thick or more. ( I was used to much smaller ones with a copper color coating on them. )
There was in the 1970’s an usher/handyman/janitor working there named
Willie. Nobody seemed to know just how long he’d worked there but the
guess started at 30 years and went up. Anybody know what happened to
him ?
There was a manager there named Mrs. Rausch ( sp? ) and an assistant
named Lenny Franco. Another assistant was a coptic christian Egyptian
fellow named Mr. Ibriham or Abraham.
I’m glad they’ve been able to save the place.
To correct/clarify TC’s post of 3/2/2006:
The Capitol was as said on Broad St. in downtown Trenton. The GCC’s
Capitol Plaza Cinema was/is a different place. The GCC’s Capitol
Plaza Cinema started out as a one screen theater in the 60’s. I
vaguely remember an empty lot covering the whole area around 1960. I
believe it was still a single in Dec. 1971 when I saw Godfather there
on my first movie date. By the time I worked there in 1973, it had a
wall down the middle making it a duplex.
The theater was/is in the corner of a roughly L shaped strip mall on
Olden Ave. between Princeton Ave. and the Arctic Parkway. The “back”
of the Cinema faced Spruce St. and Princeton Ave. The marquee was a
big white rectangle way out across the parking lot by Olden Ave.
Changing that thing late on a Tuesday night in the winter wasn’t much
fun. Between the theater and the Sav-on Drug Store that was to the
left of it was a passage way through which you could access the rear
parking lot.
I worked there the summers of ‘73 and '74 and during college breaks
in between.
The manager back then was a fellow name Hank Czubach ( sp ? ) who
later managed GCC’s Mercer Mall Cinema, a four-plex a few mile away.
Last time I went by there, the building was still there but I didn't
look to see how it’s being used.
In answer to Crazy Bob’s post:
I worked at the Brunswick in 1973 as it re-opened as a non-RKO theater. And I also remember us playing “The Class of ‘44”.
At that time, the two owners stopped by to check things out on occasion. I believe they were from the New York area, owned/ran a few other theaters, and were named Perlburg and Friedlander or close.
While I was there we also ran “Caberet” for a couple weeks. It was shown for several days with a couple
of the reels in the middle reversed. We only realized it after a paying customer pointed it out.
There as at that time an older fellow who worked there as the doorman. His wife worked the candy stand
and the two of them did the cleaning at night. He or they had been connected to that theater for many years.
I think his first name was John.
The manager for most of the short time I was there was a fellow named Bob Barker. He also drove a bus. He left
the theater abruptly and was replaced by the assistant whose name was Ralph something. Soon after, I left for
a job at the Capitol Plaza Cinema a few blocks away. ( The GCC’s Capitol Plaza cinema on N. Olden Ave. should
not be confused with the Capitol which was in downtown Trenton. )
After I left the Brunswick, I still was acquainted with some of the people who worked there through school, etc.
Crazy Bob, were you the projectionist who was reported to be smoking pot with the some of the ushers up in the
booth ? I can’t remember exactly who worked there after me… was it Gus, Dean, and Drew or some subset of the
three ?
I’ve been by there lately and since at least Sept. it’s been completely gone. It surprised me, I’d really hoped someone would use the building for something.