RKO Bushwick Theatre

Bobby, the Bushwick Theater was gutted. All that remains it’s it’s shell. The interior was so bad, and so neglected after about 30 years of abandonment (and I am sure it was in need of help even before it closed), there wasn’t much of the inside that was salvagable, even if they wanted to. While I think they did a great job on preserving the exterior, and it’s great that it’s now being used, it would not have been bad at all (perhaps better) if it was gutted and made a Loews multiplex….as the exterior would probably also have been preserved, just as it is now….and inside it’s walls…would still be movies, even if not in the old theater.

Jim, I know what you mean about the dubbing. It reminds me of what yet another friend at work, who lent me “Gojira” on VHS, said about it : it lets the Japanese characters speak for themselves, in their own language, rather than let them be “props” talked about by the Greek chorus narration of Raymond Burr in the American release “Godzilla”.

Thanks for the news about “Giant Behemoth” on DVD. That must have been something to see on the Willard’s big screen, in deepest, darkest Queens, so far out on the Jamaica el from lil' ole Bklyn !

I think I first saw it on WOR Channel 9’s “Million Dollar Movie”, fall 1961. I remember my Mom tuning it in, saying, “Oh I hope this is good, and not a lot of British mumbles !”

It’s second in a triad of dinosaur-monster flicks directed by Eugene Lourie, the first and third being “Beast From 20,000 Fathoms” and “Gorgo”. I have all three on VHS, and grew up with all of them on TV.

My dad almost took me to see “Gorgo” at the Ridgewood, in 1961, but didn’t, because he was afraid I would be too scared. He saw it there himself, though. I finally saw it on The Big Preview on Channel 9 on a Sunday night in Spring 1964. Way cool !

Yes, it’s great to have wives that cater to our … interests. My wife figured, at a buck per DVD, she couldn’t go wrong !

Thanks, Warren. I just re-read it.

BklynJim, “The Mysterians” never matching its TV ads doesn’t say much for it. It also shows how misleading and misrepresenting of the films that they advertise, that those ads can be.

“The Mysterians” was one of those Japanese monster flicks that thrilled a certain friend of mine from work as a child, but left him totally cold as an adult. (He’s about two years your junior.) As a result, he passed his VHS of the film on to me. It’s still sitting behind me and to my right in my cube at work. I still haven’t take it home to watch it. But I might, soon, given your recent reaction to the DVD Toho-Scope release you just bought and watched. It’s good those adult sub-texts finally came through.

Honda reads like a good director. I’m recalling another Japanese sci fi flick of that time in which people were reduced to pools of living green ooze, and a man told a woman to “take off all your clothes”. I wonder what I might be remembering : “The H-Man” ?

Incidentally, Sat. Aug 25th, when I got home from our outing in Ridgewood with frankie, my wife had two “Sci Fi Invasion” DVD’s at home waiting for me : so far, I’ve watched Roger Corman’s “Wasp Woman”, and Chiller Theater’s “Killers From Space”, with Peter Graves vs. the bug-eyed aliens in black hoods and cumberbunds that look like Marty Feldman from “Young Frankenstein”.

How did RKO become attached to Bushwick, Warren ?

Thanks, EdSolero. Look forward to talking with you soon. I’ve got that Gojira sampler DVD and a VHS from BklynJim for you.

Ed, it’s good to know that that ESPN mini-series is available as a book, in case I’m not able to see the TV show.

Jim, I’m glad ESPN didn’t misrepresent Bronx for Brooklyn at all.

You probably know that Son Of Sam was dramatized also in the Spike Lee film, “Summer Of Sam”.

Summer 1978 I cynically joked about “The Tonight Show, with guest host David Berkowitz” and a co-worker thought I was serious !

“The other Koch” … Sixteen years ago, my then-fiancee got so tired of being asked about “Uncle Ed”, she started saying, “Oh yeah, he’s coming to the wedding !”

Summer ‘77 or '78, my dad met campaigning Ed Koch, who asked my dad if he would vote for him. I forget what my father said.

I hope ESPN reruns that mini-series. I’d now like to see it.

Your taffy-fused molar, still up somewhere in the RKO Bushwick … ouch !

Thanks, Warren.

Thanks, Chris.

“ … performing human sacrifice on the stage of the RKO Bushwick” : I hope that never really happened there. It’s a far cry from the innocent days of 1942 : “The Lodger”, “Women In Bondage” and vaudeville live on stage Tuesday and Wednesday evenings !

The closest thing would be the three small boys buried alive there in 1910. See Jan 26 2007 post above.

I hope “The Bronx Is Burning” doesn’t mis-represent the Bushwick blackout, and subsequent riots and looting, as being in The Bronx.

My dad remembers that the RKO Bushwick had two balconies : upper and lower.

ESPN’s recent miniseries set in 1977, “The Bronx Is Burning,” used actual TV news and film footage to highlight the Bushwick Blackout and subsequent riots and looting. (Note: www.deepdiscountdvd.com will be offering it 9/25 for just $30.15. My copy’s already reserved.]

PKoch, in a private e-mail you asked what was the last movie I saw at the Bushwick and why did I stop going. I decided to post my answer here because my reasons might touch on some common threads regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity.

I’m pretty certain that the last movie I’d seen there was a 1961 Hammer release starring Oliver Reed, “Curse of the Werewolf.”

As to why I stopped going, in random order:

1) Price of admission at the RKO Bushwick had gone up again, from 60 to 75 cents. Remember, we had had been spoiled by the 20-cent deals at the Peerless since ‘53, and when they raised prices in '61, two bits became the going rate. They closed soon afterward. The Bushwick was a far classier theater, no question, but it was getting expensive for us kids.

2) I wasn’t going to any theaters as often, as I felt the quality of movies was getting worse. Equally valid, I suppose, was my own changing tastes regarding the horror and sci-fi genres.

3) Travel involved the #15 Jamaica el, now the J train. Even though we high schoolers had the reduced transit passes, they couldn’t be used on weekends. It was easier to walk to other local theaters.

4) The Peerless (on Myrtle between Clinton and Waverly) and the Embassy (Fulton St. – ENY) were nabes where kids and teens knew each other. There was a comraderie not unlike some of the friendships and acquaintances here on CT. I never found that at all at the Bushwick. You wuz on yer own, Jack.

5) Dating age caused a shift in our movie-going habits from Saturday afternoons to Saturday evenings. It was not uncommon for us to take our dates to their own local theaters. I couldn’t imagine taking a date at night to the RKO Bushwick, located in a tough and hardened area, not if I ever wanted a second date with her!

Here’s an aerial view from local.live.com. I was wrong about 403 being only one story – in fact it is the two story town house-like structure to the right of the larger building on the corner that we thought may have been a theater. It does appear as if some sort of connection was made between the structure on the corner (391-397 Evergreen) and #403. The connection runs through the building that had been known as #399 Evergreen and appears to include a 2nd story extension.

All of these structures sit on what are now 2 lots (391-399 being one and 403 being the other) and are all classified as Church/Synagogue use and owned by Metro Innercity Children’s Campaign, Inc. Metro acquired title in 1996 from the obviously related Metropolitan Assembly of God, Inc, which took title in 1981. Prior to that, looks like a Social Club owned and operated out of this building. By the way, the church also owns the vacant lot at the other corner of the block where the school buses are parked.