Colonial Theatre

Thanks, Peter L. What shocked you about Brando’s performance in “Streetcar” ?

“STELLA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Sorry, couldn’t resist that !

Yes, Joe G., I remember those William Castle “gimmick” movies well. I didn’t see any of them in their initial release, but experienced them at Film Forum on Watts St. in lower Manhattan in September 1988 at their “Gimmick-o-Rama”, hard on the heels of their summer sci fi -fantasy – horror festival. Summer and fall 1988 were very rich that way.

“House On Haunted Hill” : bone-chilling Emergo !

“The Tingler” – spine-tingling Percepto !

“Mr. Sardonicus” – punishment poll ! Thumbs down : no mercy !

“Macabre” – ambulance parked outside theater : “You MUST have your blood pressure taken in the lobby before you see this film !”

The first William Castle flick I saw in its original release was “I Saw What You Did” at the RKO Madison, with Joan Crawford, as the murder-plot mistress, summer 1965.

Thanks for the details about “Day Of The Triffids” at the RKO Bushwick, and “The H-Man” at Loew’s Gates. They sound great !

leroyelliston, I remember “Smell-a-Vision”, and the old “3D” movies i.e. “House of Wax”, “They Came From Outer Space”, again, at Film Forum in the late 1980’s.

Instead of plain old lobby cards or lifesize cardboard displays, many theaters had all kinds of gimmicks. Remember William Castle’s schlock horror movies like “House on Haunted Hill,” with a skeleton attached to a wire, swinging over the heads of the audience? Or “The Tingler,” with seats wired electrically to give a mild shock to the patrons? I saw the trailer for that at the Colonial and remember burying my face in my mother’s coat to hide. The RKO Bushwick had a lobby display for “Day of the Triffids” with a huge, 9-foot-high box, inside which was a periodic thumping. They supposedly had a live “triffid,” a kind of carnivorous plant, inside trying to get out. Even scarier, the Loews Gates had a display for “The H-Man,” an obscure Japanese horror flick about an atomic liquefied mutant green slime that dissolves everybody. They had an outfit of men’s clothing on display, supposedly the remnants of one of its victims, and dared people to touch it and not get “slimed.” At 5 years old, I was so terrified I went home and threw up. Seriously.

I moved to Cooper Street, Brooklyn in 1948 and remember well the “Cooled by Refrigeration”. All the movie houses had that great gush of cool air when you entered. The two theaters that stands out in my memory with the biggest blast were the Loew’s Valencia and the Hillside. Things like that are not appreciated anymore! Too much taking things for granted! Please don’t take me for an ol' grouch. That I am definitely not! Just fond memories.

No, Peter L, I don’t remember that. About what year would that have been ?

Thanks, Joe G. Good comment. So you were a senior at the Prep when I was a freshman. We overlapped in the 1969-70 academic year. Cool. Small world.

Yes, Bway, all the Polish stores on Forest Avenue, Polish rap can be heard at night near Forest and Grove.

I also went to St. Francis Prep, 66-70. Greenpoint is another neighborhood that was Polish working class then, hipster doofus capital now. Lisa, I knew Father Smith well, and Tom Lovett was also in my class. I’ll be 55 soon. I remember Mr. Tops burger place, where I got drunk for the first time in my life, at about 15, on Ripple wine, in the parking lot. Highland Park and its lovers lane. Jimmy the Bungalow Bar man – he had red hair and looked like Mickey Mantle. The OLL bazaars. Rudy Vera and Alan Norris, a couple of schoolmates of mine who both died in Vietnam, their names are on The Wall. I used to play basketball, and there were some incredible ballplayers there, who mostly succumbed to drugs or idleness. It was a great old neighborhood. You look back on this board and you’ll see plenty written about it. You’ll see stuff I wrote about the famous people who lived there: Jackie Gleason, Serpico, etc. Lot of ghosts there.

Lisa, Joe G, Peter L, hope to see you all on Bushwick Buddies. I think you’d like it there :

http://www.bushwickbuddies.com/

Joe G., that’s good to know about the Franciscan friary on Aberdeen Street. I had Franciscan brothers as teachers, first at St. Brigid’s in Ridgewood, 1965-69, then at Saint Francis Prep in Williamsburg, Bklyn, 1969-73.

Yes, Lisa, the robbery and burning of Our Lady Of Lourdes was very sad. Your Key Food story is scary. I hope you and your Mom weren’t shot that day. I’m glad you and your family got out of Bushwick alive.

THANKS JOE G. I ALSO MOVED AWAY LABOR DAY WEEKEND 1971. SO LOUIE WAS IN YOUR CLASS. HE ALSO HAD A SISTER A COUPLE OF YRS OLDER THEN ME HER NAME WAS JOYCE. I WAS IN HE’S OTHER SISTER’S CLASS HER NAME WAS DONNA AND SHE HAD A TWIN BROTHER NAMED KEVIN…YES NOW I REMEMBER THE FRANCISCAN BROTHERS HOUSE ON ABERDEEN ACROSS FROM THE SCHOOL. I MUST HAVE SEEN YOU AROUND WAY BACK THEN.. AT THAT TIME THE BOYS WERE SEPARATE FROM THE GIRLS, WE HAD NUNS TEACHING US AND YOU MUST OF HAD THE BROTHERS. DO YOU REMEMBER FR. SMITH? REMEMBER THE FIRST HAMBUGER PLACE CALLED MR. TOPS ON BUSHWICK AVE. ACROSS FROM THE CEMETERY ENTRANCE? DONNA AND I GOT MUGGED THERE ONCE A FEW KIDS TOOK OUR MEAL. DO YOU REMEMBER THEY USE TO CALL THE MEN THAT USE TO PATROL THE CEMETERY AT NITE “CHICKIES”? A FEW OF THE KIDS ON THE BLOCK WOULD GO INTO THE CEMETREY LATE AT NITE AND THEY WOULD COME OUT RUNNING SAYING THE CHICKIES ARE AFTER US. THERE WAS ALSO A DELI ON THE CORNER OF BROADWAY AND DESALES PL. I DON’T REMEMBER THE NAME BUT ALL THE KIDS WOULD GO THERE FROM SCHOOL AND BUY THERE SNACKS. REMEMBER THE BAZAARS THEY HAD IN THE SCHOOL YARD, AND THE SCHOOL TRIPS TO THE WORLDS FAIR AND RYE BEACH? DID YOU KNOW THE LOVETT’S FAMILY THEY WENT TO OLL. I THINK THERE WERE ABOUT 7 KIDS, THE OLDEST WAS TOMMY AND A SISTER NAMED PAT. I STILL HAVE A FEW OF THOSE CLASS PICTURES. I’LL TELL YOU, I HAD A GOOD TIME GROWING UP THERE. WHEN I WENT BACK THE OTHER DAY IT WASN’T THE SAME. I ASKED SOMEONE HOW MUCH THE HOUSES WHERE GOING FOR AND HE SAID IN THE 400..AND TO THINK MY FATHER PAYED ABOUT 7,000 BACK IN 64. I’M 52 SO YOU MUST BE 55 NOW RIGHT?

What did the Colonial Theater do for the health of its patrons ? Smoking permitted in the balcony was obviously not healthy. Those movies shown on the outdoor wall during the summer probably did much for the mental, emotional and social health of the adjoining neighborhood. My dad remembers people watching the films on summer nights from fire escapes of tenements on Rockaway Avenue and Chauncey Street.

How about economic health ? Dish nights ? Price of admission, one can of Heinz beans ?

How about Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, where I was born, across Broadway from the Colonial Theater ?

I remember that candy store when I was going to Our Lady of Lourdes. in 1948 when I was in the 8th grade we would buy cigarettes from that store. The candy store owner used to break open the pack and sell the cigs loose. 2 cigarettes would cost five cents. We would rush off to Highland park and find a secluded spot to puff away and rebel against society. Boy, we had a lot to learn.

ONE MORE THING DO YOU REMEMBER THE CANDY/SODA SHOP AT THE CORNER OF BROADWAY AND ABBERDEEN ST. ACROSS FROM THE SCHOOL…I REMEMBER AFTER SCHOOL OR CHURCH GOING IN TO BUY PENNY CANDY OR HAVING A LIME RICKY WITH FRIENDS…DON’T REMEMBER IF THEY HAD BOOTHS IN THE BACK…I KNOW THEY HAD STOOLS…