Whitman Theatre
160 Walt Whitman Road,
Huntington Station,
NY
11746
160 Walt Whitman Road,
Huntington Station,
NY
11746
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P.S. The seating for the Whitman was 778, sorry about the error. This count is from the original Century Directory (1980) which was the last one done when ALMI took over Century. This directory also has the seating for all the ALMI (former UA houses) and the already twinned or triplexed Century Theatres.
The Morton Village didn’t have comedy / tragedy masks but some other type of steel art work as the Whitman had. I worked both houses and can remember them, but their descriptions escape me. The opening movie at the Whitman was the first James Bond movie, “DR. NO” and the proceeds went to a local charity as was the habit of all Century openings.
I remember the comedy and tragedy masks in the Glen Oaks.
This was the district office for century /cineplex odeon for all its years
SINGLE SCREENS ON LONG ISLAND 1.The Sag Harbour 2.Bellmore
3.Brentwood 4.montauck
Many of the Century houses had the comedy and tragedy masks , including The York theater down the street. There are a few single screens left on Long Island
I have some shots of the lobby just before the “gutters” came in. When it opened in the early ‘60’s with a James Bond movie it was a success and had a lot of “exclusives” like Annie Hall and so on. Any theatre is able to do well as long as the product itself is worthy. Show garbage and gross nothing. With the twinning, triplexing and quadding of the Shore (Century had no foresight, they carved it up as they needed to) the better films were given to the Shore so they could sell out quickly and create overflow for the remaining 3 screens. This was the first nail in the coffin. After Century was absorbed by Almi and then they took over RKO, and every other circuit that followed cared less and less about the theatre. After all, it was a leased property. At one time, Century also operated two kioska in the Walt Whitman mall under the Century banner. I worked this theatre in 1980, just a year before Century sold out. The seating of this theatre was 880 seats, not the 700 listed above.
It’s really a shame because with money, time and effort, they really could’ve made this theater something. My friend and I thought about somehow getting money together (this would’ve taken a MAJOR miracle) and turning this place into a hip 2nd run house and coffee shop (next door). I loved the giant tragedy & comedy masks that hung there and I loved the fact that it was only a single screen—are there ANY single (or even twin) screens left on Long Island? The last movie I saw here was “Galaxy Quest.”
And yes, I remember that 56 week run of E.T. in 1982. That was the first movie we took my sister to (she was four at the time). She cried through the WHOLE thing—she was afraid of E.T.! She sat with her back to the screen the rest of the picture.
the seat count is wrong for this theater
The WHITMAN THEATRE is the correct name located at the Walt WHITMAN mall
only the pylon is still visable today
they left this theater open for years because they had a 100 year lease , the last 4 years they had wanted to put in a 10 plex but the town would not give them the permits..
The reason the Whitman died was the bizzare booking habit of taking theatres that are only performing so-so and using them as a dumping ground for moveovers and garbage product. I always wonder if they somehow do this to justify closing them? The Whitman was in an upscale area and could have made a good house to open big films in and then move them over to the Shore Quad. Loews destroyed the Smithaven Mall theatre when they opened Stoneybrook down the road. They also did the same to Cinema 5 (city) in Fresh Meadows. Cineplex redid the theatre and when Loews merged with them they let the outside become such an eyesore that business dwindeled. Even though they have the Fresh Meadows 7 across the street there was ample product for both. I remember when Centurys still had the Glen Oaks. The last big film they played there first-run was Silkwood. It did really good grosses. Then for some reason they followed it up with weekly second run pictures that were playing every where for $1 or $2 (remember those great days). Why would anyone pay first prices when it was playing in a dozen or so neighborhood houses at the same time. They did tyhis for about a year and then closed it. If anyone remembers it, it was almost identical to the Whitman, right down to the masks and was in pristine condition till the end.
I used to see the figures for this theatre in 2000 and 2001 – in a seven-day period there were 10 or 12 customers all week and grosses of under $100 – for weeks at a time – I’m surprised they didn’t close it sooner than they did.
century had 5 theaters on this street in there hayday .comedy and tragedy masks in this auditorium like many of the other century theaters. Never a shining star in century chain but famous for playing ET for 56 weeks.
As of 01/30/03 this theater and its adjoining stores have been gutted.. possibly to clear the way for more retail store space.