UA Forest Hills Twin Theatre
107-16 Continental Avenue,
Forest Hills,
NY
11375
107-16 Continental Avenue,
Forest Hills,
NY
11375
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This picture should replace the one above, although I am trying to find a picture from before the twinning with the marquee before they altered the sides.
Does anyone who is familiar with theatres in Queens have information on a place that in the 1950s was called the “Inwood Art Theatre” that ran silent films? I have an ad clipping of a run of Chaplin’s THE GOLD RUSH which had a very long play in 1959. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, with live piano accompaniment, were listed as the upcoming program. The address was 106-03 Metropolitan Ave., Forest Hills, Queens.
I loved this theatre I have lived a few blocks away from it all my life and was so saddened when they closed it. It always played better films like Woody Allens pics, La Cage Aux Folles ran six months here. It also opened Return of the Jedi when it was still single screen. Its all in the past now just like the concerts a few blocks away at The Forest Hills Tennis Stadium.
I know it may seem unclear, but we have two definitions for open. If a theater isn’t showing movies, “open” can also mean that it’s accessible to the public, even if it’s no longer a theater.
You can’t really consider this “open”. The entire old theater was completely demolished. The only thing preserved was the front facade.
Pointless trivia… the windows you see in the photo over the marquee were actually in the bathrooms on the balcony level. I miss this theater… it really worked as a twin. The balcony theater was fair, but the orchestra theater was really spacious and preserved the original ambience of the theater before it was split. A pity. At least the exterior facade was preserved and restored, despite the garish red Staples and Duane Reade awnings and signage.
This was a special local place where the “good movies” would play as opposed to the latest flicks. The concessions, the carpet, and low-key atmosphere made it a very memorably special place
My first visit to this theater in fall 1939 was for “The Wizard of Oz.” On the theater’s closing night (the reopening night of the Midway around the corner), the film on the upstairs screen was the revival of “The Wizard of Oz.”