I quite agree with you, Zkid. I always pick up after myself, whether it’s in a movie theater or anywhere else. I commend you for seeing the owner and manager about the missing toilet seat.
I’m glad you enjoyed “Live Free Or Die Hard” at the Ridgewood. Did you see it at orchestra or balcony level ? I saw the original “Die Hard” at balcony level at the Ridgewood in September 1988. I think I posted about it somewhere on this Ridgewood Theater page
Panzer65, Bway, I’m glad you guys are finally talking to each other on this Madison Theater page, especially about your recent visits to the Madison.
Panzer65, you might enjoy a visit to RKO Keith’s on Hillside Avenue near Myrtle Avenue, in Richmond Hill. It’s a flea market and a bingo hall, but it’s still very much recognizable as a theater inside. Bway, I know you’ve been there, and have posted about it extensively. I think it’s page # 3972 on this site.
You are quite right on the money about the exceptional quality of those old movie palaces, and what special places they were.
Thanks, Joe G. Where was the Key Food that your mom was mugged when she went to it ? Thanksgiving Eve, what year ? Thanks in advance for your answer. My parents and I had similar fears living in Ridgewood, but our home there was only sold after my father had entered a nursing home, and my mother had died : ten years ago today, in fact.
I, too, cannot belive the rents and prices that are now being asked for apts. and homes in Bushwick. I wonder who is buying and renting at such prices ?
I think the theater itself is important, to the extent that it is beautiful to look at, a special place, so that merely GOING THERE is an event, an afternoon, or night out, from humdrum, workaday reality, let alone what one is going there to see or hear. The theater is also important as a boundary around the film or live event, the special place in which it is seen or heard, that helps to separate the film or live event from humdrum, chore-burdened reality.
I can’t see today’s kids getting nostalgic about current cinema auditoriums per se, only about their boyfriends or girlfriends, and the shopping malls containing the cinemas, as a special place where they hung out with their friends.
I remember A & S in downtown Brooklyn on Fulton Street having a small, squarish, plain, inexpensive cafeteria in its basement, with yellowish walls, where I remember having a breaded veal patty with tomato sauce when I was eleven, in 1966, and a fancy restaurant on its fourth floor, where I had shrimp creole, which at the time (1962 or 63 when I was seven) tasted like heaven on a plate !
I remember a Chock Full O' Nuts on Jamaica Avenue (north side, I think)under the end of the el, the 168th Street station, from spring 1968, when I went there with my dad.
Thank you so much for your first RKO Madison Theater post, Jack Tomai. Welcome to the Madison Theater page ! Yes, that life size electric chair replica must have been impressive to you as a kid.
Wow ! Bette Davis and Joan Crawford together on Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood ! A movie fan’s dream come true !
I remember THE ILLUSTRATED MAN at the Madison in May 1969, and the ads on the radio (WMCA), with that creepy violin music. Big spender, huh ? Didn’t go to Gottlieb’s, huh ? At least you didn’t go to that little triangular hole-in-the-wall Madison Coffee Shop, which is still there on the north side of Myrtle, close to the corner of Woodbine.
I saw BONNIE AND CLYDE at the Madison with my folks, late 1967 or early 1968. From early 1967 I remember WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF ? at the Madison and THE BOBO with Peter Sellers late Sept. 1967. I saw THE DETECTIVE at the Ridgewood in a spring 1972 re-release : “Penis cut off !”
Saw THE ODD COUPLE, THE GREEN BERETS, at the Madison, summer 1968, the latter film, instead of a Doors concert, at Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park, August 2, 1968. Saw ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS at the Madison with my folks, spring 1970, ditto THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY ?.
I remember Jack Zimmer’s, Kolletty’s (at the northeast corner of Myrtle and Palmetto) very well.
I agree, back then, the movie house itself was something to behold, instead of “a concrete bunker at the end of the shopping mall”.
Some of us ex-Ridgewoodites are planning to meet at the Ridgewood Theater next month to see a film there and afterwards have a meal in a nearby Ridgewood eatery.
What are YOU doing to preserve, protect, and upgrade the Ridgewood Theater ?
As for “hype”, I maintain that there is something significant in the Ridgewood Theater page being one of the longest, if not THE longest, pages, on the Cinema Treasures website, attesting to the presence of a large, vocal and strong cyber-community of current and ex-Ridgewoodites.
Roy, for old photos of Sutphin Blvd, you might try that link to the past history of Jamaica that Lost Memory posted on the Loew’s Valencia page, queenspix.com, or the archives of the central Queensboro Public Library on either ….. you guessed it, (duh !?)Sutphin Blvd. or Hillside Avenue.
Panzer65, I know all too well that feeling of important landmarks, that are links to significant events in one’s past, being lost or destroyed, one by one. As in the Emmy-nominated episode of Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery”, “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar”.
And Wimpy’s specialty was hamburgers, leroyelliston ? In Great Britain, a hamburger stand is known as a “Wimpy Bar”.
Thanks for posting all your memories of growing up on Cooper Street.
I walked on Cooper Street from Bway to Bushwick on Saturday August 6, 2005, (the bells of the Wayside Baptist Church within the former Colonial Theater were just chiming 3 pm as I stepped off the Manhattan bound el train at the Chauncey St station) thence southeast on Bushwick, past St. Thomas Methodist-Episcopal Church, former old age home (1420 Bushwick Avenue, now the Bushwick Health Center, curved staircases still in front) 1454 Bushwick Avenue, my dad’s last address as a single man, before he wed my mom in 1945, thence to the Bushwick Avenue gate of Evergreen Cemetery for a shortcut through the cemetery to Ridgewood and the Cozy Corner.
Didn’t walk down to Bway and Chauncey, to the remaining bldg. of the hospital (Evangelical Deaconess) I was born in. Have seen pictures of it, though.
My condolences, Panzer65, on the death of your wife.
Re : “Ghost” : The spirit of hired assassin Willie Lopez was shown being dragged into hell by demons under the el at Myrtle and Bway, four el stops southeast of Marcy Avenue on the Bway el.
I may have mentioned this already, but the last film I saw at the RKO Madison which really moved me, grabbed me by the throat, as it were, was “Taxi Driver” in May 1976.
I enjoyed your lengthy, detailed report very much, Panzer65. Thanks very much for posting it. I was just thinking of the last time I really noticed the opulence of the RKO Madison Theater : it was in January 1969, when I had gone there with a friend and fellow monster movie fan from the Ridgewood YMCA to see Christopher Lee in “Dracula Has Risen From The Grave”. I remember standing on line in the carpeted inner lobby for refreshments and noticing my reflection in the mirror behind the counter. Stairs up the balcony off to the rear, marble railings : beautiful !
Thanks for the details, Warren. The term “sulphur redhead” comes to mind, also the poem “Red Silk Stockings” by Langston Hughes.
As for the cleanup between matinee and evening performances : I’m reminded of a porno theater or peep show. I never knew the Casino had such a sexually charged past, although, now that you mention it, I suppose many theaters did. I suppose that’s mostly what the Puritans had against theaters. Also, Warren, that’s the most sexually explicit comment I’ve ever seen you post on this site.
I quite agree with you, Zkid. I always pick up after myself, whether it’s in a movie theater or anywhere else. I commend you for seeing the owner and manager about the missing toilet seat.
I’m glad you enjoyed “Live Free Or Die Hard” at the Ridgewood. Did you see it at orchestra or balcony level ? I saw the original “Die Hard” at balcony level at the Ridgewood in September 1988. I think I posted about it somewhere on this Ridgewood Theater page
Panzer65, Bway, I’m glad you guys are finally talking to each other on this Madison Theater page, especially about your recent visits to the Madison.
Panzer65, you might enjoy a visit to RKO Keith’s on Hillside Avenue near Myrtle Avenue, in Richmond Hill. It’s a flea market and a bingo hall, but it’s still very much recognizable as a theater inside. Bway, I know you’ve been there, and have posted about it extensively. I think it’s page # 3972 on this site.
You are quite right on the money about the exceptional quality of those old movie palaces, and what special places they were.
Thanks, Joe G. Where was the Key Food that your mom was mugged when she went to it ? Thanksgiving Eve, what year ? Thanks in advance for your answer. My parents and I had similar fears living in Ridgewood, but our home there was only sold after my father had entered a nursing home, and my mother had died : ten years ago today, in fact.
I, too, cannot belive the rents and prices that are now being asked for apts. and homes in Bushwick. I wonder who is buying and renting at such prices ?
I think the theater itself is important, to the extent that it is beautiful to look at, a special place, so that merely GOING THERE is an event, an afternoon, or night out, from humdrum, workaday reality, let alone what one is going there to see or hear. The theater is also important as a boundary around the film or live event, the special place in which it is seen or heard, that helps to separate the film or live event from humdrum, chore-burdened reality.
I can’t see today’s kids getting nostalgic about current cinema auditoriums per se, only about their boyfriends or girlfriends, and the shopping malls containing the cinemas, as a special place where they hung out with their friends.
I know Baisley Pond Park, HeMan, but know nothing of the anti-aircraft weapons there. Makes sense, though.
“It came only in vanilla flavor, but you could have some chocolate or strawberry syrup drizzled into it at no extra charge.”
Thanks, Warren. That reminds me of “For Two Cents Plain” by Harry Golden, about getting a flavored soda for the two cent price of a plain seltzer.
Thanks, Warren and Jack Tomai.
I remember A & S in downtown Brooklyn on Fulton Street having a small, squarish, plain, inexpensive cafeteria in its basement, with yellowish walls, where I remember having a breaded veal patty with tomato sauce when I was eleven, in 1966, and a fancy restaurant on its fourth floor, where I had shrimp creole, which at the time (1962 or 63 when I was seven) tasted like heaven on a plate !
I remember a Chock Full O' Nuts on Jamaica Avenue (north side, I think)under the end of the el, the 168th Street station, from spring 1968, when I went there with my dad.
Thanks for your post, anniegirl. Always a pleasure reading you.
Thank you so much for your first RKO Madison Theater post, Jack Tomai. Welcome to the Madison Theater page ! Yes, that life size electric chair replica must have been impressive to you as a kid.
Wow ! Bette Davis and Joan Crawford together on Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood ! A movie fan’s dream come true !
I remember THE ILLUSTRATED MAN at the Madison in May 1969, and the ads on the radio (WMCA), with that creepy violin music. Big spender, huh ? Didn’t go to Gottlieb’s, huh ? At least you didn’t go to that little triangular hole-in-the-wall Madison Coffee Shop, which is still there on the north side of Myrtle, close to the corner of Woodbine.
I saw BONNIE AND CLYDE at the Madison with my folks, late 1967 or early 1968. From early 1967 I remember WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF ? at the Madison and THE BOBO with Peter Sellers late Sept. 1967. I saw THE DETECTIVE at the Ridgewood in a spring 1972 re-release : “Penis cut off !”
Saw THE ODD COUPLE, THE GREEN BERETS, at the Madison, summer 1968, the latter film, instead of a Doors concert, at Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park, August 2, 1968. Saw ANNE OF A THOUSAND DAYS at the Madison with my folks, spring 1970, ditto THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY ?.
I remember Jack Zimmer’s, Kolletty’s (at the northeast corner of Myrtle and Palmetto) very well.
I agree, back then, the movie house itself was something to behold, instead of “a concrete bunker at the end of the shopping mall”.
Thanks, Warren. I should have asked about “Sutphin” with a capital “S”.
Some of us ex-Ridgewoodites are planning to meet at the Ridgewood Theater next month to see a film there and afterwards have a meal in a nearby Ridgewood eatery.
Zkid, you are so right.
What are YOU doing to preserve, protect, and upgrade the Ridgewood Theater ?
As for “hype”, I maintain that there is something significant in the Ridgewood Theater page being one of the longest, if not THE longest, pages, on the Cinema Treasures website, attesting to the presence of a large, vocal and strong cyber-community of current and ex-Ridgewoodites.
Roy, for old photos of Sutphin Blvd, you might try that link to the past history of Jamaica that Lost Memory posted on the Loew’s Valencia page, queenspix.com, or the archives of the central Queensboro Public Library on either ….. you guessed it, (duh !?)Sutphin Blvd. or Hillside Avenue.
Anybody know what a “sutphin” is, anyway ?
Panzer65, I know all too well that feeling of important landmarks, that are links to significant events in one’s past, being lost or destroyed, one by one. As in the Emmy-nominated episode of Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery”, “They’re Tearing Down Tim Riley’s Bar”.
And Wimpy’s specialty was hamburgers, leroyelliston ? In Great Britain, a hamburger stand is known as a “Wimpy Bar”.
Thanks for posting all your memories of growing up on Cooper Street.
I walked on Cooper Street from Bway to Bushwick on Saturday August 6, 2005, (the bells of the Wayside Baptist Church within the former Colonial Theater were just chiming 3 pm as I stepped off the Manhattan bound el train at the Chauncey St station) thence southeast on Bushwick, past St. Thomas Methodist-Episcopal Church, former old age home (1420 Bushwick Avenue, now the Bushwick Health Center, curved staircases still in front) 1454 Bushwick Avenue, my dad’s last address as a single man, before he wed my mom in 1945, thence to the Bushwick Avenue gate of Evergreen Cemetery for a shortcut through the cemetery to Ridgewood and the Cozy Corner.
Didn’t walk down to Bway and Chauncey, to the remaining bldg. of the hospital (Evangelical Deaconess) I was born in. Have seen pictures of it, though.
You’re welcome, Panzer65. I can well imagine that seeing the Commodore destroyed would be like losing your wife all over again.
My condolences, Panzer65, on the death of your wife.
Re : “Ghost” : The spirit of hired assassin Willie Lopez was shown being dragged into hell by demons under the el at Myrtle and Bway, four el stops southeast of Marcy Avenue on the Bway el.
You’re welcome, Panzer65.
Thank you, Panzer65. Yes, the classic theaters were the perfect venues in which to view horror films.
What # theater is the Commodore on this site ? Is that the one on Bway near the Marcy Avenue el station in Williamsburg, Bklyn, that closed recently ?
Thanks, Jeffrey1955, for posting about the history of Rego Park.
I may have mentioned this already, but the last film I saw at the RKO Madison which really moved me, grabbed me by the throat, as it were, was “Taxi Driver” in May 1976.
I enjoyed your lengthy, detailed report very much, Panzer65. Thanks very much for posting it. I was just thinking of the last time I really noticed the opulence of the RKO Madison Theater : it was in January 1969, when I had gone there with a friend and fellow monster movie fan from the Ridgewood YMCA to see Christopher Lee in “Dracula Has Risen From The Grave”. I remember standing on line in the carpeted inner lobby for refreshments and noticing my reflection in the mirror behind the counter. Stairs up the balcony off to the rear, marble railings : beautiful !
Thanks for the details, Warren. The term “sulphur redhead” comes to mind, also the poem “Red Silk Stockings” by Langston Hughes.
As for the cleanup between matinee and evening performances : I’m reminded of a porno theater or peep show. I never knew the Casino had such a sexually charged past, although, now that you mention it, I suppose many theaters did. I suppose that’s mostly what the Puritans had against theaters. Also, Warren, that’s the most sexually explicit comment I’ve ever seen you post on this site.
Thanks, Lost Memory.
I do, very much, Lost Memory. Thanks for posting it.
I just sent the link to three friends via e-mail.
So Jamaica, as well as John Jacob Astor’s fortunes, owes its existence to beaver pelts.
Somewhat related to the coneys, or rock badgers, of Coney Island, I would think.
I won’t belabor the double entendre of “beaver hunt”.