Mid-Island Triplex
4045 Hempstead Turnpike,
Bethpage,
NY
11714
4045 Hempstead Turnpike,
Bethpage,
NY
11714
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 31 comments
3 screens on March 11th, 1994. No grand opening appeared in Newsday.
The Mid-Island theatre opened on November 10th, 1961. Grand opening ad with Johnny Prudential posted.
I saw an early Brian Depalma movie there “Sisters"starring Margot Kidder.I remember in the "80’s"they used to show movies and rented videos to stay in bussiness.
The first movie I saw at this theater was “Ghostbusters 2” in 1989. It was when they housed a video store. The video store was selling giant “Ghostbusters” cookies. That was a treat.
Through the years, I saw a few others here – “Sgt. Bilko,” “The Frighteners,” “Independence Day,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Home Alone 2,” “The X-Files Fight the Future,” – and then some indie flicks, like “Pieces of April.”
A cool little theater. It’s a shame it’s not there anymore.
Mike Abrahams who had the Lefferts and the Bethpage also operated this.
This was my favorite movie theater. The original/one-screen setup had love seats in it, so couples could sit with eachother. The bathroom was also located right in the back of the theater, so if you had to go during the movie, you could just walk right into the back. They converted it to three theater’s in the early 90’s, because that was the height of the movie theater business and selling out three crappy little theaters was no problem.
I remember next to the theater was “Cheap John’s,” which sold dollar store items. They had a wall of candy, and it would be 3 candies for 1 dollar. In 1993 I saw Jurassic Park there about 7-9 times and it was 3 dollars per show. I must have been to that theater at least 100 times or more in my life. You could even rent out a theater and watch whatever movies they had in their possession, which spanned twenty years or more. It is still sad to drive past what is now a 2 floor office building that, up until last year(2011), had no tenants. I am not sure why people aren’t more nostalgic on Long Island, but some things can be repurposed…
The original auditorium was so plain that the ceiling girders were exposed. I found that odd. Although there was originally a loge area with better seats and a metal railing around it they eventually became general admission. When they split it up there were three long narrow auditoriums. If I remember correctly the beams were no longer exposed. They also supplemented their income by renting videos, which has to be unique.
Thanks Joey.
TLSLOEWS: The front was originally all-glass, but they changed it to that ugly black when they built the strip mall attached to it on the left (there was originally a free-standing supermarket in that general area).
Joe V: I believe the triplexing was done in the late 80s, early 90’s. IIRC, they just put up 2 walls running the length of the theatre (from front to back), so you ended up with 3 skinny theatres.
(that just jogged my memory of when the left section of the original theatre was the “smoking” section…those were the days :–)
Pretty plain looking theatre.
The Mid-Island Theatre was a Prudential house when it opened in 1961. Boxoffice of November 13 said the Mid-Island had opened on the 10th. There were 600 seats in the original single screen house. I’ve been unable to discover how or when the triplexing was done, but it probably changed the capacity.
“MIDWAY” was in SENSAROUND as was “BATTLESTAR GALATICA”.But they must have played at a different theatre,Joey.
I used to go to this theatre all the time, having lived within walking distance. I remember when they had Sensaround (sp?) installed in the ‘70s for Earthquake. I think they only showed one additional movie with that technology (Rollercoaster). For that one they had the entire glass front painted up to look like a big rollercoaster.
In the 80’s, when the VCR became popular, they opened up a video store in the lobby. I remember my friend paying something like $50 or $60 for a lifetime membership.
The layout of the auditorium in the original single screen theatre.
The most desirable location center and the last dozen or so rows were railed off from the rest. The seats were luxurious and there was a premium admission price. This was the loge
I saw a several films in here back in the 70’s. It was located right next to a small cemetery. The two films that stand our for me are “Help” and “Hard Days Night”. I saw them on school nights with my older brother Chas (He’s the best). He also took me to see “Woodstock” too, but that was in the Huntington, NY theater. Great brother, and he is missed.
Yes it is indeed the dump that I remember fondly. Good job!
I suppose this site isn’t updated very often anymore, since the banner above still lists this theater as open. A generic-looking medical/office building occupies the space now.
Generic, just like the rest of Long Island.
I remember this place… I went to a few birthday parties there when i was a kid. It was ancient inside, not really messy or anything but you could tell it hadnt seen a rennovation since probably ever. On the outside it wasnt really very inviting and i was kinda scared of it, its a shame it closed but its to be expected since there’s a multiplex just down the street. They’re building some kind of office building on the site now.
I went to the Mid-Island in the early to mid 80s when it was a fairly large single screen theatre. During that time, they also seemed to have a curious booking strategy. It seemed like nearly every week they played whatever independent horror film was released during that time. I remember seeing Mother’s Day, The Evil Dead, The Thing, Nightmare on Elm Street, Silent Night Deadly Night and just about every god-awful Italian zombie film released in the 1980s. I also remember a showing of a terrible would-be thriller called Beyond the Limit with Michael Caine and Richard Gere, and an scene where one hapless guy gets drowned in a tub of excrement. Fun times.
right now its just an empty lot
whats in its place,,,,,,,,,,
this theater has been demolished about 2 months ago
This has been around for ever…..lasted a good 15 years longer than one would have thought.
The theatre is now closed. Please update the listing.
Avco Embassy released “The Graduate” many times. Here is a Jan 69 run
View link
The Mid-Island Triplex is being booked with a somewhat curious mix of Bollywood flicks, major studio move-overs, and expanded engagements of art-house and indie-type flicks; its current offerings- ‘Waqt’, ‘Lucky’, The Ballad of Jack and Rose', ‘Nina’s Tragedies’, ‘Robots’, ‘The Pacifier’, and ‘Born Into Brothels’.