When “Godfather II” opened in ‘74, I hadda depend on the subway to whisk me to the RKO 86th in record time. I mean, with a 200 minute running time, you don’t want to get shut out for the next performance. I ran like a track star and made it!
A very worthy sequel to the original, some of which I saw filmed on 5th and 51st back in March, ‘71, when I worked at Rockefeller Center. (More on that when I post about “The Godfather” which ran at NY’s State Theater – at Broadway and 45th? – in '72.)
Will need to solicit your assistance, however, as I don’t have e-mail capability. The guy who runs the site occasionally removes the archive files. There are some 17 transit archives (where the 165th pic is on) and 11 bus archives. Oddly, he still has the 3 rail archive sites accessible. His e-addy is Perhaps you could drop him a quick line to ask where he may have posted them now. And maybe if you describe the photo, he’ll e-mail an attachment to you. It doesn’t hurt to ask, right? Thx!
My first experience with a drive-in theater was during the summer of ‘61. Neighbors on the block were bigtime movie aficianados and knew that the Sunrise was just over the Queens line in Valley Stream. We got to see the sprawling re-make of Edna Ferber’s “Cimarron,” with Glenn Ford and Maria Schell. (Was Whit Bissell in THIS one, too??? He may have been!) A bit on the long side, and too lengthy a timespan (these epics were Ferber’s forte in novels, such as “Giant” and “Ice Palace”), it still held my interest overall. And the Sunrise was a fun place for all the nuances involved. (The URL posted just above is a hoot! Large thx, RobertR!)
I later learned the downside of drive-ins in ‘64, out Port Jefferson way. Never trust any theater’s car heaters, especially in March. Our breath condensed on the windshield and instantly froze!
2-9-64: I was firmly planted on the sofa of my college girlfriend’s house on 83rd St. in Glendale, a block below Myrtle. Nothing would have prevented Debbie and me from watching Old Stoneface and the Beatles that night. Those became some pretty exciting times.
The only downer, record-wise, was U.S. Capitol. The EMI Canadian LP had 16 tracks for “Meet the Beatles,” whereas we got 12. Subsequent American albums had 11, so Capitol could later turn around and release a “brand new” Beatles LP just for us. I swear they took lessons from Dick Clark’s School For Shills.
P.S.: I really did like Brian Donleavy and the astronaut dude with the cactus growing out of his hand in “The Creeping Unknown.” What surprises me is that our local theater, the Peerless, never booked the sequel (“Enemy From Space” or “Quatermass 2”) in ‘57, the very next year! Finally got it on DVD. Not shabby at all.
Sure is, robbie. The Highland Park reservoir has three large sections, but two are now completely drained, looking like barren forests, and the middle one only appears to be at 20% capacity. Were you referring to the paintball battlefields employed there now?
My cousin Carol Lee got married at St. Michael’s in ‘64, and my “former” sister (totally looney toons – LOL!) attended her final two years of high school there, as Saints by Flushing or Lorimer had closed its doors.
With you guys jumpin' on some TV talk, wish some of you might have remembered Zacherle (and Gasport!) on Channel 7’s “Shock Theatre.” It was so bad that it was great!!!
Thanks, Peter. Greg was only 23 when a rare form of cancer nailed him last year. He was a diehard movie critic. He was friends with French actress/writer/director Agnes Jouie, met his hero David Lynch and even got to do a walk-on for a late ‘05 episode of his fave TV show, “Gilmore Girls.” He loved anything connected with film and Hollywood. We hope to issue a book of his reviews, articles and interviews next year, with all profits going to the Film School Scholarship his film critic peers established at San Diego State University.
We are never good at making sense out of random stuff like this, but I always liked what one of his peers had said: “God needed a foreign film critic He could understand.” That sure works for me.
Robbie, some nun just told me to write out PENGUIN 100X – I spelled it wrong in an earlier post. Damn!
The Highland Park reservoir (where I held a memorial service and scattering of ashes for my son Greg on 3/25) is now fully drained in two of its rather large compartments, and the middle one is only about 20% capacity. Am I correct that weekends now see it as a paintball battleground?
My cousin Carol Lee was married at St. Michael’s in ‘64, and my former sister (she’s looney toons) attended the high school for her last two years, as Saints by Flushing or Lorimer had closed. I was very surprised to see the Friars sell the building back to the Diocese!
For diehard Carradine fans, “The Unearthly” is avaible on widescreen DVD for less than 10 bucks. As a bonus, it also features the non-acting skills of Allison Hayes, who was the 50-foot woman with a terminal case of P.M.S..
To save you guys some dough, try this site that my late son turned me on to a while back. The beauty is that there’s NO tax and NO shipping fees, and delivery is fast:
After reading and posting this morning about dads and movies such as “Midnight Cowboy” (which I saw twice here in the same week), I thought this might be a good time to cross the river and bridge and post one here.
It was in front of the Sutton while on line in 1975 that a young lady “forced” me to sign an autograph for her because she was thoroughly convinced I was Henry “Fonzie” Winkler. Aaaay!
Back in ‘69, Newman & Woodward co-starred in a novel western about two minor bandidos of the old wild west. Intentional humor was pretty much a novelty in westerns of any era, so I fell in love with this one. (“Think ya used enough dynamite ther, Butch?”)
My dad was on disability at the time and rarely got out of the house. For his 11/1 birthday, I decided to treat him to subway fare, a cold six-pack of beer to carry with him, and the price of admission to see this movie at the Sutton. To my amazement, he went. To my even greater amazement, he actually LIKED it, this from a man who showed few visible displays of having any kind of sense of humor.
I never regretted that gift. It was the last movie he ever saw in a theater, and he passed away less than two years later, 3 weeks shy of his 60th. Glad you could make it, Dad…
OTOH, the “Death Wish” rape scene was extremely brutal and graphic, and I’m glad many of my female relatives and friends decided to pass on this movie. I was with a gal I liked and cringed in my seat. That scene, though, certainly gave the character and plot its impetus.
Regarding police/politico corruption: Does life imitate art, or vice versa? (Subtle emphasis placed on the word “vice.”)
Ed, I don’t have the necessary equipment to scan that photo when I find it, but I will search my transit files on the Web. I know I’ve seen it and can post a link to it that way.
Peter, I still laff whenever I hear Melvyn Douglas (as Wild Eyed Homer Bannon) growl at Whit Bissell, the hapless vet, in “Hud” after he’s just been told his cattle have the worst thing they could have: Foot and Mouth Disease:
“Yer not a bad feller. Ya just got a cruddy job.”
But, yes, Bissell WAS everywhere!!! Jeez Louise!!!
I’d seen “Serpico” at the Casino, a theater I didn’t frequent often simply because it was off my beaten path in those days. (Years later I’ve still enjoyed Al Pachino’s performance. FYI, Director Sidney Lumet filmed the storyboards from end to beginning, from Frank’s hippie “‘clothes” days, to the less-bearded cop timeframe, to the Academy rookie.)
A year later, my date and I viewed the first Bronson “Death Wish.” As a neighborhood at that time, East New York and surrounding areas, with their local gendarmes in blue, were experiencing an out-of-control crime rate, seemingly higher than many other areas of Brooklyn or Queens. So I was more than amused to have so many old duffers out on leave from “the home” in attendance that night as well. After seeing their jaws squared and with eyes boring burning intensity upon leaving the Casino, I remarked to my date that I would actually feel sorry for any stupid would-be mugger who attempted to rip ‘em off that evening. The word “vigilante” could now be associated with a flavorful connotation of geriatric power.
Just thought of something about the Peerless, and I’m not sure how common it was regarding other small outlets in other neighborhoods.
There was a door to the immediate right of the 4 main doors by which we frenzied ones gained admittance to the kiddie matinee virtually every Saturday. This door was exclusively for the apartment dwellers who lived on the two floors directly above the theater.
I’d never given this much thought until now, but I’m wondering how acoustically soundproofed those apartments were. The sound system of the Peerless was quite loud – it hadda be to drown all 400 of us out at fever pitch! The theater opened at noon all week long and ran features until midnight, or an hour or so before. If the walls were thin plaster and the floorboards made of wood, how did those people ever cope with the incessant noise emanating from below?
Farmer’s Oval. A blast from the past, that name – and field.
Bought a few garish sports jackets and flared pants at Times Square Stores back in ‘74. (Saying '74 in relation to flared pants is totally redundant, yes?)
PKoch, 42nd St. ran the gamut of entertainment from my time in the ‘50s until now. Between 7th and 8th Avenues, there were a bunch of theaters lit up like mad. (Some are still there.) This was before the porno wave of the late '60s and '70s. Can’t recall any specific theaters on 42nd St., but two films stand out in my mind:
1) “The Thing (from Another World)” – originally out in ‘51, I saw the '57 re-release. All of us Brooklyn street urchins hit the floor simultaneously when Ken Tobey opened the greenhouse door behind which was 8-foot James Arness as the vegetable from space! shudder
2) “Hud” (‘63) with Paul Newman, Patricia Neal, Brandon de Wilde, Melvin Douglas and others, including the ubiquitous Whit Bissell! The widescreen B&W panorama of Texas – breathtaking! – won the Cinematography Oscar for James Wong Howe, and Neal and Douglas got one for their supporting roles. Watched it twice on the same day!
As for the RKO Alden, it may have been the only theater I’d known to have 2 marquees, the main one on Jamaica Ave. and the other on 165th St. Somewhere I have a color shot of the latter on a NYC Transit calendar which shows not only a battered silver & blue J train pulling out of the 168th St. station, but also a gray & orange LIRR train a bit farther down on Archer Ave. Gotta try to find that one to see how clearly the Alden’s marquee is and perhaps what was playing…
Believe it or don’t, despite the Hillside’s proximity to the el and Jamaica (pre-mall) shopping center, and to the LIRR depot, I only attended ONE single flick there in the spring of ‘64 – but it was a gem and a lalapalooza!
To put the era in context, Nov. 22, 1963 forced us kids to experience a presidential assassination. The loss of JFK put the country in a deep gloomy funk. In retrospect, it appeared as if four loveable moptops from Liverpool and their music helped take us teens out of the trauma of 11/63.
By the following spring, all of us would-be wanna-be rock stars cum guitar players at SJU (also known as the “Hillcrest-Utopia Parkway Country Club”) couldn’t learn Beatles songs fast enough to impress the coed womenfolk. And their latest album released on United Artists records was the soundtrack of “A Hard Day’s Night.” We had all died and gone to music heaven!
The movie was playing at the Hillside, the only convenient theater to the University, so I cut a boring afternoon Philosophy class and scooted down to Sutphin and Jamaica to see it. I was surprised that, considering the group’s popularity in England and Germany for at least two prior years, that no one who financed the picture could spring for anything other than B&W (but more like sepia-tone. At least “Help!” the following year was in color.)
Regardless, I loved the movie. Loved the songs. Loved the Fab Four. Loved Wilfred Brambley as Paul’s grandpa, “a clean old man.” This was the Brit version of the Marx Bros. gone amuck, and took that country’s films to a level far exceeding “The Creeping Unknown” (or “The Quatermas Experiment” overseas).
But I was destined never to be within the Hillside’s comfortable surroundings again… (???)
Really appreciate your filling me in on the missing years via your collective musings. My fiancee then, from Forest Ave., and I attended the Oasis or the Ridgewood when we didn’t want to stray too far. We were part of the audience that watched Sly Stallone’s “Rocky” in ‘76 and cheered like crazy. I had no idea that this movie would represent the final bill there. Didn’t know about the subsequent roller rink or fire. I shopped at CVS (near Kark Ehmer’s) recently, wondering what exactly was missing. Thanks to you, now I know!!!
Correct on my H.S. colors! I still have a white varsity sweater with blue trim, but I’d be hard-pressed to get them buttons to close.
“Pezzonovante” is an Italian expression meaning “ninety pennies.” In the old days, when folks were poor, the big shots would walk around, jingling 90 pennies in their pants pockets to impress everyone else. So I used it here figuratively as the big shot bosses of the Vatican.
Episcopal and Lutherans seem to share that humorous phrase. The other way I put it is to say “catholic with a small c.” Back in Queen of All Saints, across from Rudy Giuliani’s alma mater, Bishop Loughlin, I used to be tortured by the good Sisters of St. Joseph. Later, without too much disrespect intended, our gang referred to them as “penquins” and also the “Little Sisters of the Bleeding Feet.” Somehow, I feel I’m gonna pay dearly for having a warped sense of humor about all this…
Crown Heights and Park Slope were already in ethnic transition during my HS years (‘59-'63). The area then was about half black, half Jewish. Today’s very orthodox Hassadim have supplanted the older Jewish folks who’d lived there.
Now here’s where I need some help: I saw “the Time Machine” in 1960 with Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux at a decent-size Loew’s theater on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand, but for the life of me, I cannot think of its name over the last week or two! Ayudu! (Help!)
That theater was the site of a few of my dates then – for under $5! Check it out: subway fare for 2 at 15 cents each way (60 cents), dinner for two at a Chinese restaurant – with tip – came to $2.50 (the meal was $1.10 each) and the movie admission, 60 – 75 cents each. Do the math, guys. LOL!
Appreciated the link, Lost Memory. As a NYC railfan, (as well as being a movie and theater buff,) I’ve always enjoyed the photography of Joe Testagrose and the transit gems from his extensive files. But as for “R.K.O.,” complete with a period after each letter, it is there in the mid-‘50s on the very top line in big white letters. (The theater owners may have painted over it down the line, however, hence the variance in recollections.)
Back in 1910 or so, in ritzy La Jolla, CA, the same kind of theater thrived, Warren. I once did a before & after photo feature on it in my old newspaper column. I’m not certain if it even had a name, but I made mention of local kids who’d sit up on tree branches in the rear just beyond a wooden fence to avoid paying the admission price.
Y'know, on my next trip back, hopefully later in the year, mebbe some of the guys like you, PKoch, robbie, JoeB, Bway, ‘Tonino, etc. could get together at Junior’s or some good eatery over in Ridgewood. (There goes my bella figura!) Let’s give it some thought, movie fans…
Robbie, the Indian Bridge is still there and lookin' good – I took a walk across it (in CA tennies, of all things) during Brooklyn’s last snowstorm on 3/2/06. We used to refer to the lower level of Highland Park as “Lowland Park,” if that’s what you meant by “second park.”
‘Tonino, paisan, que se dice? Yep, I remember so many of those great festas in the old days, not only in the neighborhood, but also over in Little Italy, Manhattan. Gad, you described multiple scenes outta “The Godfather” Trilogy! They were real, especially the statues and the dollars! As for St. Rita’s, always a strong Italian-American enclave, I tried to get my 91 year old mom a copy of THE TABLET last trip, but no luck. They may have already wrapped yesterday’s fish in them. Had to get one at St. Michael’s, a bit farther down on Atlantic Ave. (And a good fish place on the block before it! Lobster tails 6 for $10!)
I graduated from Brooklyn Prep (the Jesuits), Nostrand & Carroll, in Crown Heights back in ‘63.
PKoch, a few years ago, I got tired of fighting the pezzonovante in the Vatican, so I switched over to a Lutheran church close by: “Catholic – Lite!”
You da man, EdSolero! Can’t believe ya got it so fast! Impressive!
I know what you mean about telephoto lenses. The 165th St. marquee was probably 5-6 doorways down toward Archer and the LIRR.
When “Godfather II” opened in ‘74, I hadda depend on the subway to whisk me to the RKO 86th in record time. I mean, with a 200 minute running time, you don’t want to get shut out for the next performance. I ran like a track star and made it!
A very worthy sequel to the original, some of which I saw filmed on 5th and 51st back in March, ‘71, when I worked at Rockefeller Center. (More on that when I post about “The Godfather” which ran at NY’s State Theater – at Broadway and 45th? – in '72.)
EdSolero, I found the website I’d told you about:
www.subwaywebnews.com
Will need to solicit your assistance, however, as I don’t have e-mail capability. The guy who runs the site occasionally removes the archive files. There are some 17 transit archives (where the 165th pic is on) and 11 bus archives. Oddly, he still has the 3 rail archive sites accessible. His e-addy is Perhaps you could drop him a quick line to ask where he may have posted them now. And maybe if you describe the photo, he’ll e-mail an attachment to you. It doesn’t hurt to ask, right? Thx!
My first experience with a drive-in theater was during the summer of ‘61. Neighbors on the block were bigtime movie aficianados and knew that the Sunrise was just over the Queens line in Valley Stream. We got to see the sprawling re-make of Edna Ferber’s “Cimarron,” with Glenn Ford and Maria Schell. (Was Whit Bissell in THIS one, too??? He may have been!) A bit on the long side, and too lengthy a timespan (these epics were Ferber’s forte in novels, such as “Giant” and “Ice Palace”), it still held my interest overall. And the Sunrise was a fun place for all the nuances involved. (The URL posted just above is a hoot! Large thx, RobertR!)
I later learned the downside of drive-ins in ‘64, out Port Jefferson way. Never trust any theater’s car heaters, especially in March. Our breath condensed on the windshield and instantly froze!
2-9-64: I was firmly planted on the sofa of my college girlfriend’s house on 83rd St. in Glendale, a block below Myrtle. Nothing would have prevented Debbie and me from watching Old Stoneface and the Beatles that night. Those became some pretty exciting times.
The only downer, record-wise, was U.S. Capitol. The EMI Canadian LP had 16 tracks for “Meet the Beatles,” whereas we got 12. Subsequent American albums had 11, so Capitol could later turn around and release a “brand new” Beatles LP just for us. I swear they took lessons from Dick Clark’s School For Shills.
P.S.: I really did like Brian Donleavy and the astronaut dude with the cactus growing out of his hand in “The Creeping Unknown.” What surprises me is that our local theater, the Peerless, never booked the sequel (“Enemy From Space” or “Quatermass 2”) in ‘57, the very next year! Finally got it on DVD. Not shabby at all.
Sorry for the re-write above, guys. The site crashed and did not show that the first had made it. Cinema Treasures strikes again!
And again!
Sure is, robbie. The Highland Park reservoir has three large sections, but two are now completely drained, looking like barren forests, and the middle one only appears to be at 20% capacity. Were you referring to the paintball battlefields employed there now?
My cousin Carol Lee got married at St. Michael’s in ‘64, and my “former” sister (totally looney toons – LOL!) attended her final two years of high school there, as Saints by Flushing or Lorimer had closed its doors.
With you guys jumpin' on some TV talk, wish some of you might have remembered Zacherle (and Gasport!) on Channel 7’s “Shock Theatre.” It was so bad that it was great!!!
Thanks, Peter. Greg was only 23 when a rare form of cancer nailed him last year. He was a diehard movie critic. He was friends with French actress/writer/director Agnes Jouie, met his hero David Lynch and even got to do a walk-on for a late ‘05 episode of his fave TV show, “Gilmore Girls.” He loved anything connected with film and Hollywood. We hope to issue a book of his reviews, articles and interviews next year, with all profits going to the Film School Scholarship his film critic peers established at San Diego State University.
We are never good at making sense out of random stuff like this, but I always liked what one of his peers had said: “God needed a foreign film critic He could understand.” That sure works for me.
Robbie, some nun just told me to write out PENGUIN 100X – I spelled it wrong in an earlier post. Damn!
The Highland Park reservoir (where I held a memorial service and scattering of ashes for my son Greg on 3/25) is now fully drained in two of its rather large compartments, and the middle one is only about 20% capacity. Am I correct that weekends now see it as a paintball battleground?
My cousin Carol Lee was married at St. Michael’s in ‘64, and my former sister (she’s looney toons) attended the high school for her last two years, as Saints by Flushing or Lorimer had closed. I was very surprised to see the Friars sell the building back to the Diocese!
For diehard Carradine fans, “The Unearthly” is avaible on widescreen DVD for less than 10 bucks. As a bonus, it also features the non-acting skills of Allison Hayes, who was the 50-foot woman with a terminal case of P.M.S..
To save you guys some dough, try this site that my late son turned me on to a while back. The beauty is that there’s NO tax and NO shipping fees, and delivery is fast:
www.deepdiscountdvd.com
And if you’re music lovers to boot:
www.deepdiscountcd.com
After reading and posting this morning about dads and movies such as “Midnight Cowboy” (which I saw twice here in the same week), I thought this might be a good time to cross the river and bridge and post one here.
It was in front of the Sutton while on line in 1975 that a young lady “forced” me to sign an autograph for her because she was thoroughly convinced I was Henry “Fonzie” Winkler. Aaaay!
Back in ‘69, Newman & Woodward co-starred in a novel western about two minor bandidos of the old wild west. Intentional humor was pretty much a novelty in westerns of any era, so I fell in love with this one. (“Think ya used enough dynamite ther, Butch?”)
My dad was on disability at the time and rarely got out of the house. For his 11/1 birthday, I decided to treat him to subway fare, a cold six-pack of beer to carry with him, and the price of admission to see this movie at the Sutton. To my amazement, he went. To my even greater amazement, he actually LIKED it, this from a man who showed few visible displays of having any kind of sense of humor.
I never regretted that gift. It was the last movie he ever saw in a theater, and he passed away less than two years later, 3 weeks shy of his 60th. Glad you could make it, Dad…
Probably the most famous quote in “Serpico:
“Who can trust a cop that doesn’t take money?”
OTOH, the “Death Wish” rape scene was extremely brutal and graphic, and I’m glad many of my female relatives and friends decided to pass on this movie. I was with a gal I liked and cringed in my seat. That scene, though, certainly gave the character and plot its impetus.
Regarding police/politico corruption: Does life imitate art, or vice versa? (Subtle emphasis placed on the word “vice.”)
Ed, I don’t have the necessary equipment to scan that photo when I find it, but I will search my transit files on the Web. I know I’ve seen it and can post a link to it that way.
Peter, I still laff whenever I hear Melvyn Douglas (as Wild Eyed Homer Bannon) growl at Whit Bissell, the hapless vet, in “Hud” after he’s just been told his cattle have the worst thing they could have: Foot and Mouth Disease:
“Yer not a bad feller. Ya just got a cruddy job.”
But, yes, Bissell WAS everywhere!!! Jeez Louise!!!
I’d seen “Serpico” at the Casino, a theater I didn’t frequent often simply because it was off my beaten path in those days. (Years later I’ve still enjoyed Al Pachino’s performance. FYI, Director Sidney Lumet filmed the storyboards from end to beginning, from Frank’s hippie “‘clothes” days, to the less-bearded cop timeframe, to the Academy rookie.)
A year later, my date and I viewed the first Bronson “Death Wish.” As a neighborhood at that time, East New York and surrounding areas, with their local gendarmes in blue, were experiencing an out-of-control crime rate, seemingly higher than many other areas of Brooklyn or Queens. So I was more than amused to have so many old duffers out on leave from “the home” in attendance that night as well. After seeing their jaws squared and with eyes boring burning intensity upon leaving the Casino, I remarked to my date that I would actually feel sorry for any stupid would-be mugger who attempted to rip ‘em off that evening. The word “vigilante” could now be associated with a flavorful connotation of geriatric power.
Just thought of something about the Peerless, and I’m not sure how common it was regarding other small outlets in other neighborhoods.
There was a door to the immediate right of the 4 main doors by which we frenzied ones gained admittance to the kiddie matinee virtually every Saturday. This door was exclusively for the apartment dwellers who lived on the two floors directly above the theater.
I’d never given this much thought until now, but I’m wondering how acoustically soundproofed those apartments were. The sound system of the Peerless was quite loud – it hadda be to drown all 400 of us out at fever pitch! The theater opened at noon all week long and ran features until midnight, or an hour or so before. If the walls were thin plaster and the floorboards made of wood, how did those people ever cope with the incessant noise emanating from below?
Color me curious, George.
Farmer’s Oval. A blast from the past, that name – and field.
Bought a few garish sports jackets and flared pants at Times Square Stores back in ‘74. (Saying '74 in relation to flared pants is totally redundant, yes?)
PKoch, 42nd St. ran the gamut of entertainment from my time in the ‘50s until now. Between 7th and 8th Avenues, there were a bunch of theaters lit up like mad. (Some are still there.) This was before the porno wave of the late '60s and '70s. Can’t recall any specific theaters on 42nd St., but two films stand out in my mind:
1) “The Thing (from Another World)” – originally out in ‘51, I saw the '57 re-release. All of us Brooklyn street urchins hit the floor simultaneously when Ken Tobey opened the greenhouse door behind which was 8-foot James Arness as the vegetable from space! shudder
2) “Hud” (‘63) with Paul Newman, Patricia Neal, Brandon de Wilde, Melvin Douglas and others, including the ubiquitous Whit Bissell! The widescreen B&W panorama of Texas – breathtaking! – won the Cinematography Oscar for James Wong Howe, and Neal and Douglas got one for their supporting roles. Watched it twice on the same day!
As for the RKO Alden, it may have been the only theater I’d known to have 2 marquees, the main one on Jamaica Ave. and the other on 165th St. Somewhere I have a color shot of the latter on a NYC Transit calendar which shows not only a battered silver & blue J train pulling out of the 168th St. station, but also a gray & orange LIRR train a bit farther down on Archer Ave. Gotta try to find that one to see how clearly the Alden’s marquee is and perhaps what was playing…
Believe it or don’t, despite the Hillside’s proximity to the el and Jamaica (pre-mall) shopping center, and to the LIRR depot, I only attended ONE single flick there in the spring of ‘64 – but it was a gem and a lalapalooza!
To put the era in context, Nov. 22, 1963 forced us kids to experience a presidential assassination. The loss of JFK put the country in a deep gloomy funk. In retrospect, it appeared as if four loveable moptops from Liverpool and their music helped take us teens out of the trauma of 11/63.
By the following spring, all of us would-be wanna-be rock stars cum guitar players at SJU (also known as the “Hillcrest-Utopia Parkway Country Club”) couldn’t learn Beatles songs fast enough to impress the coed womenfolk. And their latest album released on United Artists records was the soundtrack of “A Hard Day’s Night.” We had all died and gone to music heaven!
The movie was playing at the Hillside, the only convenient theater to the University, so I cut a boring afternoon Philosophy class and scooted down to Sutphin and Jamaica to see it. I was surprised that, considering the group’s popularity in England and Germany for at least two prior years, that no one who financed the picture could spring for anything other than B&W (but more like sepia-tone. At least “Help!” the following year was in color.)
Regardless, I loved the movie. Loved the songs. Loved the Fab Four. Loved Wilfred Brambley as Paul’s grandpa, “a clean old man.” This was the Brit version of the Marx Bros. gone amuck, and took that country’s films to a level far exceeding “The Creeping Unknown” (or “The Quatermas Experiment” overseas).
But I was destined never to be within the Hillside’s comfortable surroundings again… (???)
Really appreciate your filling me in on the missing years via your collective musings. My fiancee then, from Forest Ave., and I attended the Oasis or the Ridgewood when we didn’t want to stray too far. We were part of the audience that watched Sly Stallone’s “Rocky” in ‘76 and cheered like crazy. I had no idea that this movie would represent the final bill there. Didn’t know about the subsequent roller rink or fire. I shopped at CVS (near Kark Ehmer’s) recently, wondering what exactly was missing. Thanks to you, now I know!!!
Correct on my H.S. colors! I still have a white varsity sweater with blue trim, but I’d be hard-pressed to get them buttons to close.
“Pezzonovante” is an Italian expression meaning “ninety pennies.” In the old days, when folks were poor, the big shots would walk around, jingling 90 pennies in their pants pockets to impress everyone else. So I used it here figuratively as the big shot bosses of the Vatican.
Episcopal and Lutherans seem to share that humorous phrase. The other way I put it is to say “catholic with a small c.” Back in Queen of All Saints, across from Rudy Giuliani’s alma mater, Bishop Loughlin, I used to be tortured by the good Sisters of St. Joseph. Later, without too much disrespect intended, our gang referred to them as “penquins” and also the “Little Sisters of the Bleeding Feet.” Somehow, I feel I’m gonna pay dearly for having a warped sense of humor about all this…
Crown Heights and Park Slope were already in ethnic transition during my HS years (‘59-'63). The area then was about half black, half Jewish. Today’s very orthodox Hassadim have supplanted the older Jewish folks who’d lived there.
Now here’s where I need some help: I saw “the Time Machine” in 1960 with Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux at a decent-size Loew’s theater on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand, but for the life of me, I cannot think of its name over the last week or two! Ayudu! (Help!)
That theater was the site of a few of my dates then – for under $5! Check it out: subway fare for 2 at 15 cents each way (60 cents), dinner for two at a Chinese restaurant – with tip – came to $2.50 (the meal was $1.10 each) and the movie admission, 60 – 75 cents each. Do the math, guys. LOL!
Appreciated the link, Lost Memory. As a NYC railfan, (as well as being a movie and theater buff,) I’ve always enjoyed the photography of Joe Testagrose and the transit gems from his extensive files. But as for “R.K.O.,” complete with a period after each letter, it is there in the mid-‘50s on the very top line in big white letters. (The theater owners may have painted over it down the line, however, hence the variance in recollections.)
Back in 1910 or so, in ritzy La Jolla, CA, the same kind of theater thrived, Warren. I once did a before & after photo feature on it in my old newspaper column. I’m not certain if it even had a name, but I made mention of local kids who’d sit up on tree branches in the rear just beyond a wooden fence to avoid paying the admission price.
Y'know, on my next trip back, hopefully later in the year, mebbe some of the guys like you, PKoch, robbie, JoeB, Bway, ‘Tonino, etc. could get together at Junior’s or some good eatery over in Ridgewood. (There goes my bella figura!) Let’s give it some thought, movie fans…
Robbie, the Indian Bridge is still there and lookin' good – I took a walk across it (in CA tennies, of all things) during Brooklyn’s last snowstorm on 3/2/06. We used to refer to the lower level of Highland Park as “Lowland Park,” if that’s what you meant by “second park.”
‘Tonino, paisan, que se dice? Yep, I remember so many of those great festas in the old days, not only in the neighborhood, but also over in Little Italy, Manhattan. Gad, you described multiple scenes outta “The Godfather” Trilogy! They were real, especially the statues and the dollars! As for St. Rita’s, always a strong Italian-American enclave, I tried to get my 91 year old mom a copy of THE TABLET last trip, but no luck. They may have already wrapped yesterday’s fish in them. Had to get one at St. Michael’s, a bit farther down on Atlantic Ave. (And a good fish place on the block before it! Lobster tails 6 for $10!)
I graduated from Brooklyn Prep (the Jesuits), Nostrand & Carroll, in Crown Heights back in ‘63.
PKoch, a few years ago, I got tired of fighting the pezzonovante in the Vatican, so I switched over to a Lutheran church close by: “Catholic – Lite!”